WAYWRN: Classic Menswear, Casual Style

[bnovc]

Not "bad" but forgettable. If you were smiling or engaged in witty conversation, though, it would look better.

Agreed. I've been trying to figure out where I can take pictures that won't look so dull, too. It looks just as weird if I try make some type of interesting pose near my closet door.

Probably wouldn't hurt if my eyes weren't accidentally closed though.

My goal was just to get something that was acceptable, compared to my current clothes. Suggestions on clothing things that would make it better? I was thinking that I should also get a brown watch to wear.

The trousers seem a bit too long. If you buffed the shoes, that would help, too, IMO. Is the shirt slightly too baggy, or is just doing that notorious ****-you-I'm-coming-up ****?

I'll try to make them shine more. I apply polish every few wears, but it doesn't seem to give any type of shine. Make I need to brush more vigorously or something.

Maybe a bit of both to the cloth. It does keep riding up, and I'm not sure how to fix that without pushing it down all the time.

 

[sugarbutch]

I think this is partly why people crop out/obscure their faces. We're so attuned to expressions that it's sometimes hard not to let our impression of your expression affect our impression of your clothes.

 

[inlandisland]



Boom

Pants came unhemmed ($25 Incotex). I had just enough for a 2.5" cuff with nothing turned under so the serged edge is visible. Most of my casual pants are done this way.

I also noticed that this was an old pic right away... cheater.

RE bolded: That's wierd man - I've never heard of or seen this before I would suggest doing a 2" cuff with .5 turned under. Serged edges are not meant to be seen.

 

[NORE]



I also noticed that this was an old pic right away... cheater.
RE bolded: That's wierd man - I've never heard of or seen this before I would suggest doing a 2" cuff with .5 turned under. Serged edges are not meant to be seen.

Someone, please get this man a medal. Quickly.

 

[james_timothy]



Only a small segment of the activity in SW&D can be "useful" or illuminating for guys who are primarily or entirely active in MC.
This is because most of the stuff discussed in SW&D is not a casual aesthetic that fits in with wearing coat and tie: most of the stuff in SW&D represents a replacement aesthetic.
There is no "formal" or "casual" in SW&D, by and large. It's the same stuff top to bottom, day in day out, morning, noon and evening. Jeans to work. Jeans to a casual sports bar. Balmain by day. Balmain by night. There are many different types of it, and many different designers and retailers, true. The concepts might range from low brow to high, but there really isn't a forum-common "off duty" concept for SW&D as there is neither a forum-common "formal" concept.
In contrast, there is a common "formal" concept (such as it is) in MC: that is suit, shirt, necktie and leather shoes. The way that this common concept plays out in the contemporary world implies a lot of the day and week might be spent in other clothes; thus, "casual" clothes.
So, I don't view SW&D's favorite topics as "casual" clothes, but a minority selection...a tip of intellectualized or designer-y clothes atop a larger iceberg...of a casual world wearing cheap, floppy, slobby clothes. This casual world ever encroaches on and displaces the world of formality that still endures in the habit of wearing coat and tie, in dressing for occasion and place.
This is why it is very hard to fit the two together. The few guys on SF who wear things from both types of makers tend to abandon the other when they're doing one. gdl203 has mentioned that if he could, he would stop wearing coat and tie entirely and that American traditional casual dressing depresses him. He also mentioned that Parker is almost exclusively active now in SW&D. Neither seems like a method to bridge any gaps; it just seems like an attitude that says everyone should dress in SW&D types of things, and coat and tie only if they must because of external forces.
Switch one light on. Switch the other light off.
And then there's fuuma, of course. He's made some ridiculous and amusing statements in the last few pages that come from a very narrow place. That narrow place is a type of good taste that will have zero utility for the guy who loves...not likes, not must, not forced...but who loves to dress in coat and tie and can do so in the ever-diminishing world in which others do so as well.
That's really it, I think. There is a lot of uncomfortable evidence in this thread and in the main WAYWRN that a lot of the posters are actually from the casual world that dominates the present, and are new to the habit of wearing any type of classic clothes, whether "formal" or "casual."
This is the point, usually, when someone will say, "At least they'll find out about nicer jeans."
Yes, that's true. Big deal.
When something fails in this thread, it is not from lack of knowledge of what people like in SW&D. There would almost certainly be equal levels of failure if that knowledge was acquired.
After all, dudes in SW&D fail right and left no differently than in MC.

For posterity.

 

[Rambo]



I

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

reached again for my new Epaulets the other day to see if they'd serve well for a dressy-casual affair I was attending. The event was lunch with some colleagues at a semi-upscale restaurant.
I received many compliments, but of course, the only opinions that truly matter are those of my SF frenemies. Flame away.

You had me right up until the pant cuffs. I even liked the sc/pant color contrast, mostly because I like loud combos, but the cuff's have got to go. ESPECIALLY when you're wearing a sport coat and wingtips. Just looks so out of place.

 

[inlandisland]



Someone, please get this man a medal. Quickly.

I hope I didn't sound snarky - I like your style, and your posts are entertaining and add value to the fora.

 

[Kappelan]

 

[Rambo]

You just weren't trying today were you?

 

[IrateCustomer]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Here are some things I'm noticing here:

The jacket is so wrinkled, it is distracting, especially against a crisp, white dress shirt. Everything here is very casual except the shirt. One option would be for a button down collar. Many don't like those with a tie, but for a casual look it would work here. Even for a knit tie, it is on the more formal side whereas you could go with a more textured, flatter look. Jeans look like a dated wash. I really like an Indigo wash with the look you are going for here.

 

[Hampton]

Not the best outfit you have posted. I would lose the tie and the ps just to make it all very casual instead. Now it's just weird. And I think a belt always should be used with jeans.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Kappelin, I find that the clothes you wear, or the angle of the photograph makes you appear as though you have wide birthing hips. It may also be what makes your pants look weird; hiked up, weird creases everywhere.

 

[Threadbearer]



TB: Too much contrast between pants and jacket.

I disagree, sb. Check out the jacket in the closeup. It's dove gray, only a shade or two lighter than the shoes, and I think maroon and light gray look great together.

You had me right up until the pant cuffs....ESPECIALLY when you're wearing a sport coat and wingtips.

I hear you, my friend, and you're not wrong, but I still think the cuffs work in this summertime, dressy-casual context. Perhaps, though, I should have done the full Sonny Crockett and rolled up the jacket sleeves, too.

 

[cptjeff]



Here are some things I'm noticing here:
The jacket is so wrinkled, it is distracting, especially against a crisp, white dress shirt. Everything here is very casual except the shirt. One option would be for a button down collar. Many don't like those with a tie, but for a casual look it would work here. Even for a knit tie, it is on the more formal side whereas you could go with a more textured, flatter look. Jeans look like a dated wash. I really like an Indigo wash with the look you are going for here.

A button down oxford is a good idea, though your point about the jeans is off to me. A good broken in pair (not stonewashed, but ones that started out dark and got lighter as worn) would be perfect there. The dark newness of a new indigo pair, and even to some extent, the ones in the picture, which don't have a whole lot of character, would be at odds with the beat to hell nature of the jacket.

 

[sugarbutch]

TB: Too much contrast between pants and jacket.

I disagree, sb. Check out the jacket in the closeup. It's dove gray, only a shade or two lighter than the shoes, and I think maroon and light gray look great together.

I agree that the colors can look great together, but in the proportions you have there, the maroon is jarring to my eye. I think this demonstrates the high degree of difficulty in light jacket/dark pants combos. I like the shoes with the trousers, though. In fact, I like the top half by itself, too.