Getting a lot of pushback on the idea that you need more than two weeks to shop for a suit. I think this is bc most people don't know how a suit should fit. So here are five things people often overlook
I've already talked about collar gaps. This can be caused by various things: a tight chest, shoulder slope doesn't match your own, or jacket doesn't fit ur posture. From this, you can see how fit is a 3D concept, not as simple as chest size
Another common issue is shoulder divots, which is when you see an indentation on the sleevehead. This can be caused by poor make. Or an overly narrow shoulder, esp across back. Sometimes can be fix by alteration; sometimes not.
3. Jacket is Too Tight
If the chest is too tight, the lapels may also buckle away from the body. If the waist is too tight, you will see pulling at the waist button when it's fastened.
4. Jacket is Too Short
A good rule of thumb is that the jacket should always cover your bum. A better rule of thumb is that the jacket should bisect you halfway between your collar and the floor when you're wearing heeled shoes.
5. Sleeve Pitch
Sometimes the jacket's sleeves don't match the natural way your arms hang. This will cause drag lines when you are standing naturally. This can be a very difficult and expensive alteration, which is why you should take time to shop around
6. Balance
A coat's hem should hang evenly when viewed from the side, or the front can be slightly lower than the back. However, the front should never be higher than the back. This will make the coat look like it's riding up on you.
7. Overly Long Back Rise
RTW manufacturers often build pants with an overly long back rise to sell suits to a broader range of ppl. But as a result, the trousers end up collapsing under the seat. Look at yourself in a three-way mirror and aim for a clean fit
These are just some basic fit issues. Then there's the issue of how you want the silhouete to look—clean, drapey, elongating, rounded, etc. See this post on how to understand silhouettes in tailoring
Ultimately, any garment, whether a suit or casualwaer, is about making you look and feel good. But it takes a while to train your eye. This requires sampling things and mulling for a while. I wouldn't want you to plunk $1k on something and regret it later.
If you want to learn more about how tailored clothing should fit, you can read these posts:
The US Army celebrated its 250th year today with a massive parade in Washington, DC. It appears @ComfortablySmug believes that this is an appropriate tie for the occasion.
It's once again worth reminding that men's dress used to be governed by time, place, and occasion (TPO). If you were of a certain social station and had to do a certain thing, you were expected to wear a certain outfit.
This tradition can be seen in men's neckwear.
In Britain, where we derive most of our traditions for classic men's dress, the term "regimental stripe" refers to neckwear with diagonal lines, like you see below. These were not purely about decoration. Each design symbolized belonging to some organization.
This is the suit in question. It's a bespoke suit by Anderson & Sheppard in London. The cloth is a 60/40 mohair-wool blend from Standeven's "Carnival" book. The stylist was George Cortina.
To understand why this suit is interesting, you have to know a bit about tailoring history
In the early 20th century, Dutch-English tailor Frederick Scholte noticed that a man could be made to look more athletic if he belted up his guard's coat, puffing out the chest and nipping the waist. So he built this idea into his patterns. Thus the "drape cut" war born.
In 1881, Hans Wilsdorf was born in Bavaria, then part of Germany, to parents who died not long after he was born. At a young age, Wilsdorf set off into the world. He landed in England in 1903, which at the time had virtually no formal immigration controls.
Lucky for him. Two years later, fear of poor Eastern European Jews flooding the UK led to 1905 Aliens Act, which moved the country from an open-door policy to one of stricter control. This was the first British law that labeled certain migrants as "undesirable."
I can tell you who goes to cobblers. And a bit about the trade. 🧵
In the 18th century, men got shoes from two types of people. The upper classes went to cordwainers, who measured feet and made shoes from scratch. The lower working-classes went to cobblers, who cobbled together shoes using scraps from salvaged pre-owned footwear.
A cobbler was also someone who repaired footwear. Hence the Middle English term cobeler ("mender of shoes") deriving from an early form of cobble ("to mend roughly, patch"). In shoemaking, cordwainers and cobblers were considered distinct trades. Cobbler was lower on the ladder.
An offhand comment about how Prince Harry doesn't dress very well seems to have stirred up his fans. So here's a thread on how both Harry and William don't dress well when compared to the older men in their family — and how this represents a broader decline in taste. 🧵
I should say at the outset that I don't care about the drama surrounding the Royal family. I don't care if you're Team Markle or Team Middleton or Team whatever. I am simply talking about clothes. The following is also not meant to be personal jabs; just an honest review.
The first thing to understand is that select members of royal family were incredible dressers. Most notable is Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor. For a time, whatever he wore, others followed. He popularized cuffed trousers, belts, and a tailoring style known as the "drape cut."
When we zoom in on the wallet, we see the label "Saint Laurent Paris," a French luxury fashion house that became popular about ten years ago when Kanye started wearing the label. This was also when Hedi Slimane was at the company's creative helm.
For many young men at the time, Saint Laurent was their entry into designer fashion, partly because the designs were conceptually approachable (LA rocker, Hot Topic), while the Kanye co-sign made them cool and the prices signaled status (and for the uninformed, suggested quality)