First, let's recognize why people are doing this. As dress norms have become more relaxed and casual, many men are trying to straddle the line between looking nice and looking overly dressed up. So they are trying to find ways to dress down their tailoring.
The problem with this outfit is that there's no harmony between the upper and lower halves. It's a business suit jacket with a white dress shirt up top, faded jeans and cowboy boots down bottom. This outfit looks like a giant mullet.
What you want to do is bridge the gap between the formality of the tailored jacket and the casualness of the jeans the best you can. This means paying attention to details and fine-tuning your outfit so there's less of a gap between the top and bottom halves of your fit.
To start, know the difference between a suit jacket and a sport coat. A suit jacket can only be worn with jeans if it convincingly passes for a sport coat. You never want to wear a jacket that's obviously part of a suit with jeans.
Generally speaking, a suit jacket can pass for a sport coat if it's made from a more casual fabric, such as tweed, cotton, corduroy, or linen, rather than smooth worsted wools. It also helps to have casual details like patched pockets instead of flapped, and swelled edges
You also want to wear a more casual shirt, such as a light blue oxford cloth button-down, rather than a dressier spread collar shirt made from white poplin
Despite what u see in fashion ads, u should also forgo the tie when wearing jeans. Combining the two often looks contrived.
Next is the cut. Jeans should never fit like tailored trousers, but you also want some harmony between jacket and pants in terms of silhouette. That means avoiding overly slim or low-rise jeans. Aim for a slim-straight leg with moderate rise.
Levis Vintage Clothing's 1947 501s, Orslow 107 and 105, 3sixteen CT-100x, Blackhorse Lane NW3, Full Count 0105, Warehouse 1002, The Armoury, and Drake's are all good models to check out.
While not an ironclad rule, it's also generally easier to wear dark jeans with tailoring.
Finally, avoid dress sneakers. Go for a classic, but slightly more casual version of a traditional shoe. Suede chukkas and loafers work well. If you must wear sneakers, do a simple all-white shoe, not some wingtip with a sneaker sole.
When put together, you get something like this: a slightly more casual version of a sport coat paired with a casual shirt and classic, but casual shoes. There is coherence between the jacket and pant silhouette.
The idea is to avoid all the mistakes you see here: obvious suit jacket + white dress shirt + red tie + low rise, skinny jeans + athletic or dress sneakers. There's no coherence between any of the pieces. Top half is too formal for bottom half.
Personally, I think most guys should just avoid the combo, as it can take a while to develop your eye for what works. Most guys are better off buying sport coats, not repurposing suit jackets as sport coats, and wearing these with traditional tailored trousers and dress shoes.
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When I was on a menswear forum, navy trousers were of great controversy. Discussions about them lasted many years, resulting in long-lasting rivalries. Sometimes people refrained from speaking about them out of fear of dredging up old debates.
First, I should state at the outset that there's no way to have this conversation without, in some way, speaking crudely about certain classes of people. I make no judgements about their worth or dignity. I am only describing the semiotics of men's dress.
Second, everything depends on your goals. Dress is not a science, so there are no overriding laws. Everything is contextual to culture. More on this later
Before we start, here are two outfits involving green sport coats. Which do you like better? Please choose before moving on.
I get this question a lot. I don't have strong views on how transmasc people should dress, but since I often get the question, I've thought about it a bit. Will share some thoughts in this thread. 🧵
My general feeling is that this question often approaches the idea of style from a perspective I don't share. I don't believe in approaching dress first from the perspective of body type. For instance, there are a lot of guides online that break down body types like this.
I disagree with this perspective because they always seem to be about forcing the person into one narrow ideal. So if you're short, they tell you how to wear certain things to give the illusion of height. Or if you're heavy, they say how you can dress to hide your weight.
I don't think people such as Hegesth are intentionally choosing to dress like this to signal they're "not like the swamp." I think we're simply in a generational change in terms of taste. Will show some examples. 🧵
A hundred years ago, men's dress was governed by time, place, and occasion (TPO). If you were of a certain social position and had to do a certain thing, you were expected to wear certain outfits. If you didn't know these rules, a tailor would tell you.
Over the course of the 20th century, these rules loosened, partly because society became more accepting of different social groups and their lifestyles (which is a good thing). By the close of the 20th century, the rise of business casual swept tailoring out of offices
Anthony Constantino, CEO of Sticker Mule, says that he would use a US manufacturer for his company's t-shirts. However, he feels the US company doesn't meet his quality standards and they "must maintain quality."
So what constitutes a quality t-shirt? Let's find out. 🧵
For reference, I'm comparing Sticker Mule's t-shirts (made in Nicaragua) to Bayside Apparel (fully made in the US from fiber to finish). Sticker Mule charges $19 for their t-shirts. Organizations that print on Bayside blanks sell their merch for $27.
I should state at the outset that to properly determine quality, I would need to send these t-shirts to a lab, which I'm unable to do because I don't own a Sticker Mule t-shirt. Additionally, quality can be subjective, as it depends on your preferences.
It's very hard to find a suit jacket that can be worn with jeans, assuming you mean the kind of suits that would be worn for business. Let me show you. 🧵
What do we mean by "suit?" The term suit simply means that the jacket and pants were cut from the same cloth. You can have corduroy suits or linen suits. But when most people say suit, they mean the kind of outfits that would be worn for business, funerals, and court.
Such materials are typically dark in color and slick in feel. Historically, men wore these things with white dress shirts, dark ties, and black oxford shoes to do business in London. This history is why this outfit telegraphs "I'm here for serious business."
I disagree. In this thread, I will tell you what's wrong with Stephen Miller's outfits. Hopefully, this will help you judge whether a suit fits when you're shopping for one. 🧵
For context, here is the video that @FischerKing64 is responding to. Can you spot the issue with this suit?
It appears that Miller has spent a considerable sum upgrading his wardrobe since his time in Trump's first administration. I suspect these are all made-to-measure suits because they look new and come in a wide variety of materials. Unfortunately, all of them exhibit a collar gap.