HOF: What Are You Wearing Right Now - Part IV (starting May 2014)

[heldentenor]

Don't let them measure, but do it yourself. Then just tell them how long you want the inseam to be.
Originally Posted by John L

This is the truth.

Living in a rural area, I interact with a pile of someone-elses-grandmothers as my army of alterationists. You have to be exactly specific and give them hard numbers. They can work with numbers.

This is good advice--thanks guys.

For my money, something like yours are almost preferred to a firm no break hem for me. I've found that strictly adhering to no break cuts a rather silly (see: pants riding up far more than intended) figure when you actually walk and move around.

That said, for the purpose of robopose, I agree that the break could be a touch less.

I'm in your camp depending on fabric--fresco's so stiff that I'll go a bit shorter than I will with a soft flannel.

Whether it's a blind hem and doing cuffs, it's incredibly easy. Even if you don't have a sewing machine, it can be done by hand. Practice on an old pair and you'll see what I mean...plenty of tutorial videos on YouTube.

Might just try that out--sounds like it could be both practical and kinda relaxing.

@heldentenor love that second pic man

Thank you sir.

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

 

[Mr. Six]

4. Shirt collar fabric could use some space by the neck between where the right and left collar fabric are touching each other I believe.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you on this one Stitch. It's obviously personal preference, but I much prefer the look when the collar leaves touch or have the most minimal space above the tie.

 

[ericgereghty]

Apologies for the lack of SC (and potentially pants). My office doubles as the 7th gate of hell during the "colder" months in LA. Just wanted to show some love for solid makers.

Shirt: Proper Cloth
Tie: Yellow Hook
Braces: Thurston (via Shibumi)
Links: Gassmann (via NMWA)

 

[Jim Chu]

If no pants, what are braces attached too?

 

[Jim Chu]

UC said we were wearing navy suits this week. Sorry for the direct light/shadows.

That's a great looking suit. But just for the sake of discussion, I think if the quarters were opened just a little bit more, it would provide some vertical balance being that the lapels are on the wider side - which I really like. Obviously, this is a matter of taste and, as I mentioned, the suit looks great as is. Some prefer more closed quarters in any case. My eye does a balancing act with the lapels and quarters of a jacket. Of course, I am no expert by any means. Maybe one of the tailors could offer an opinion on vertical balance - if there is such a thing to begin with.
'Any thoughts?

 

[SYCSYC]

Aaah POW... Looks good even when pics are bad










SuitSupply
Charles Tyrwhitt
Ralph Lauren
Meermin

 

[Jim Chu]

Simple today. This suit might be familiar, as @Michael81 has the same model (although I bought it before I started reading SF, I promise!). It is my favorite from the SuSu roster and one of my only bought-new suits. I convinced myself that it's a *lightweight* flannel, so it was OK to buy even though I live in a distinctly unflannellish clime. The universe punished my folly by forgetting to have winter this year. It hasn't gotten the love it deserves, but it is unseasonably cool today so here I am.

I got plain bottoms on the trousers, which at the time I thought was the fashionable thing. These days I think I am moving toward a preference for 1.75" cuff and quarter break.

For those who have been following SF and the menswear world more generally for longer than I, how long have cuffed pants been "back"? Or did they never go out of fashion? Non-menswear focused guys my age seem to universally favor plain bottoms, while the SF set is cuff-obsessed (@Andy57 's dissent is of course noted). Have the menswear set been cuff-happy since time immemorial or is this a sign that the wheel is turning? Will H&M be advising cuffs in 5 years? (If they are, will the menswear set countersignal with a return to plain bottoms?)

My guess is that cuffs are classic and have been around for a long time. In fact it was de rigueur in the ('30's), 40"s (maybe '50's?). I think you see less (or none) of them in the 60's and more of them with the wide legs of the '70's and '80's. So, they seem to go in and out of fashion.

It seems like when "fashion" trousers had pleats, cuffs were in. Then pants went flat front and streamline and the cuffs were considered too bulky for flat front pants and the cuffs went away. Now that single pleats seem to be coming back in style, you're seeing cuffs more and more I think. In my personal opinion, trousers without cuffs appear more formal, but I go sans cuffs rarely just because I like the way they anchor my pants and help them drape better, especially with lighter weight pants. This is all anecdotal and subject to correction by more knowledgeable and thoughtful gentlemen.

 

[in stitches]



Yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you on this one Stitch. It's obviously personal preference, but I much prefer the look when the collar leaves touch or have the most minimal space above the tie.

Happy to acquiesce to this being strictly personal preference.

- - -

Have more to say on some previously posted fits. Will hopefully respond when at my computer again tonight, only on mobile for now.

 

[Braddock]

Aaah POW... Looks good even when pics are bad

Amazing!

-----------

 

[EliodA]

That's a great looking suit. But just for the sake of discussion, I think if the quarters were opened just a little bit more, it would provide some vertical balance being that the lapels are on the wider side - which I really like. Obviously, this is a matter of taste and, as I mentioned, the suit looks great as is. Some prefer more closed quarters in any case. My eye does a balancing act with the lapels and quarters of a jacket. Of course, I am no expert by any means. Maybe one of the tailors could offer an opinion on vertical balance - if there is such a thing to begin with.
'Any thoughts?

Completely agreed. Not being an expert either, I once got ridiculed (deservedly so, probably) for posting this admittedly rather nerdy diagram about what I believe makes a well balanced jacket:

 

[in stitches]



This is perfect and exactly what I was looking for. What type of ties do you recommend with a suit? This is a grenadine. Also I should probably mention that I work in an office setting that is very informal and there are only 2-3 people that regularly wear suits in the office, so I try to keep it somewhat casually formal as to not bring too much unwanted attention onto myself.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Even so, completely agree about the bluchers and fun socks. It just so happens my only pair of oxfords are currently at the cobbler and I have a pair of jfitzpatricks on their way. For some strange reason I've only ever really had bluchers (probably because I knew nothing of fashion until the last year or so).
It is a suit, the lighting is terrible in my office, the fit is actually a little too tight in the jacket but Im hoping it forces me to shed some much needed pounds.

Again greatly appreciate the feedback. Live and learn and at least now I know I won't make this mistake again.

@LAluck5

My pleasure!

As far as ties to wear with that suit, the world is your oyster. Its a solid suit of a pretty normative shade of brown, so as long as the colors are right, you could wear solids, stripes, neats, and even dots. The issue with your tie is that both the shade of red and the larger more spread apart dots are kind of innately loud/fun (imo, anyways), so its by default not on par with the formality of a suit. If it was more of a darker, sedate maroon, and the navy dots were smaller, it probably would have been A-Ok. The idea is not that any one type of tie design would work, its that it should be a design equally as formal as that suit.

So, whether solid, neat, or stripe, as long as the colors work, and the scale/shade/type of design are all as formal as the suit, you should be fine. This is actually really easy for a tie, you managed to pick the outlying non-formal tie, sorry, :/

As far as your office, one kind of has to choose where they want to prioritize and what actually matters.

Meaning, if you feel you just want to dress really nice, and dont give a hoot about your co-workers, go full out boss look with a navy suit, white shirt, PoW tie, white PS, and black cap toes, and sneer at all around. But, if like most people at work, you dont want to do that, and feel you have to tone down your nice look because it makes you out of place in the office, chances are you will end up with, by SF standards, an incoherent fit in some way or another. That said, while I dont know your office, I do doubt that a more formal tie and shoes would have made you look any more different than your more casual cohorts. Could be wrong there, the borderline "FUN" tie might have made it cash enough that people didnt think you were OOT formal, but maybe not. You know better than I.

My advice then would be to either shoot for a more casual type formal look, such as a SC and trousers, or a suit that has a fabric or styling which is less stiff looking, so you dont look like a total NARC. Or, go full formal, if its not going make a difference any more than what you are already wearing. Only you can speak to what is past the line in your workplace, so to satisfy both work and SF, if you are interested in doing so, you need to find a mode of dress that allows you to be fully coherent in look while also not making you stand out like a sore thumb at work. Coherency is key, doesnt matter the level of formality. If it all ties together nicely, its an A+ on SF, regardless of exactly how formal your formal attire is.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Patrick R]

Quote:
I'm with Six.

 

[in stitches]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

UC said we were wearing navy suits this week. Sorry for the direct light/shadows.

My good pal heldentenor! Hope you are cool with my critiquing you. Overall I think its really good fit, and while perhaps some of teh following may be more subjective, it is, for me at least, what holds it back from being just right. 1. As noted previously, the pants drape is sub-optimal. The consensus seems to be that the legs are hemmed too long, and that is probably true. But what all this talk about trouser fit has reminded me is that one of the primary benefits, imo, of cuffs, is the added weight to the hem of the trouser, which often makes the drape nicer. What this also can accomplish is that when the length is off, it is only right at the hem where it is noticeable. As opposed to in your case, and that of others as well, the rumples go all the way up to the knee almost. We could do an experiment by having you cuff the trousers but keeping the length the same, and I would venture to say that the weight of the cuff would improve the overall drape, even if the length was static. Again, I would prefer cuffs even if the drape was perfect, but I think this is an added benefit. I'll probably get a lot of blow-back on this cuff/drape philosophy, both scientifically and aesthetically, but so is my hypothesis. As an aside, I think many tailors botch trouser length when they measure, mine included at times as well. Which is odd, because many can easily accomplish far more complex clothing surgeries and still struggle with pents length. Anyways, what I did was, I wore my finished pants that had the best drape and leg length and had the tailor measure from the ground (wearing shoes of course) to the bottom of the pant leg. I believe it is 3.5 inches. And now, any time I bring pants I just have her mark the back of the leg 3.5 inches from the ground (again, wearing shoes) and she has that spot as the end of the trouser leg. So far, this has done the trick. 2. Also agree with others that the PS is not quite right. Needs more formal I think. 3. The shoes. I think the issue here is the lighting. Your right shoe appears to be in direct sunlight, which is washing out the suede and making the shoe look like a light suede that was also worn a lot and has a lot of character. Which is awesome, but would not work with such a formal fit. Your left shoe, however, looks to be a bit more shaded, and as such, the suede looks darker (I suspect it is even darker than that irl), much crisper, and even the last looks more crisp, making it more in sync with the rest of the rig. That said, I personally would have preferred dark oak calf or probably even black calf, with that ensemble. Hard to say that a dark brown crisp suede is wrong there, but I think that dark oak or black calf would have been just a smidge better and would have more effectively pulled the room fit together. Ymmv? 4. Something about the fit is bothering me, but I cant describe it, its probably just the pants throwing it off. Also, I personally would have preferred flap pockets over welt, but that is totally a me problem. That sums it up for me I think.

 

[bry2000]

I think it is just the trousers and shoes that throw the fit off (giving you a stubby stature) The jacket is fine, even with the welted pockets (not my preference either but ymmv).