King of Spain at the final day of Wimbledon. This looks great.
Very rare to see this level of tailoring nowadays, even on the wealthy. So let's talk about some of the reasons why it's great. 🧵
King Felipe consistently looks great, and it seems that all of his suits are cut by the same tailor.
Some basic points:
1. Collar always hugs the neck 2. No pulling anywhere. Things hang cleanly 3. Lapels end about halfway from collar to shoulder bone (nice proportion)
His coat here also ends about halfway from the collar to the floor, which is again a very classic and flattering proportion. His sleeves hang very cleanly. His trousers are well-proportioned for his coat.
This contrasts with many stars nowadays, who wear short, tight coats. The sleeves grip their arms, which means they never hang cleanly. When the sleeves grip your arms like this, they are prone to riding up on you.
Coats are often too short. On many men, this gives the the impression of wide hips
King Felipe's trousers are also well-proportioned for his coat. The coat's lines flow into the trousers, making the outfit a coherent whole.
A lot of guys nowadays insist on wearing very slim trousers. But when you don't have a very slim upper-body, you end up creating two separate awkward blocks for the top and bottom halves of your outfit. You look like a popsicle stick.
Slightly fuller trousers also means the fabric hangs cleanly. King Felipe seems to prefer a single break on his trousers (I think either a single break or "no break" is fine, so long as the material at least grazes your shoes). Look at how clean the trouser hangs in second pic
Compare that with the recent NATO summit. With the exception of Biden, all of these trousers are too long, and more than some are too slim to hang cleanly even when the wearers are standing still. The fabric clings to the back of their calves.
King Felipe's shoulder line is also just slightly extended, the chest area a little fuller. There's a bit of "roundness" in the upper half of his jacket, which gives the illusion of a more athletic figure underneath.
Many men nowadays wear very slim coats that do little more than reveal the actual shape of the body underneath. Or they wear a size too small.
A small detour: while no one in real life will likely recognize this, the curvature you see in this lapel roll is a sign of very fine tailoring. Typically requires hand pad stitching and hand ironing to create this "springy" roll where the lapel folds over.
A lot of tailoring you see nowadays is quite flat in comparison. Does not have the same three dimensional shaping.
There's also something called "quarters," which refers to coat's front edge below the buttoning point. Here we see the King of Spain with the Bulgarian President. The King's quarters sweep away, creating a more dynamic line. President's quarters fall almost straight down.
Bulgarian President's coat is also shorter and has narrower lapels. The trousers are a touch too slim for the coat. King's lapels are more classically proportioned, coat is longer, quarters open, and the trousers well cut for the coat. The effect is better.
The King's shirt collar is also long enough to reach underneath his lapels. This creates a smooth transition from his shirt to jacket, allowing the eye to move upwards and focus on the wearer. Many men nowadays wear small shirt collars that end up creating a mess under their chin
This is almost impossible to get nowadays unless you go bespoke. But the gorge—the technical tailoring term for the seam that connects a coat's collar to its lapel—is positioned in such a way that lapel's notch sits even with the shirt collar points. Very classic.
Finally, the King wears a four-in-hand. The four-in-hand (or the double four-in-hand) is the only knot you should wear. It is small, tasteful, and doesn't create a meatball sized knot underneath your chin. The asymmetry gives a sense of ease.
Very well done.
One more thing. These principles work for any body type: short, tall, large, slim. One of the great things about tailoring is what once you figure out some of these basic principles, you can apply them to your own dress: collar hugs neck, things hang cleanly, flowing lines, etc.
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The year is 2024 and you're browsing for a new shirt online. You come across a store selling shirts from Portuguese Flannel. You do your research and find they make quality garments: clean single-needle stitching, flat felled seams, quality fabrics, MOP buttons, classic designs
So you go ahead and purchase one. The shop charges 139 Euros and throws in free shipping. Given the exchange rate in 2024, that means you paid $163.19.
First, let's do an experiment. Here are two relatively similar outfits: a blue shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans.
Which do you like better? Reply to this tweet with your answer. This way, people can see how the majority of people "voted."
If you said the right, then we have the same taste. This is despite the outfit on the left following this exact guide — and the outfit on the right not appearing in the guide at all.
I both agree and disagree that it's subjective. Like with anything, my views on tailoring stems from a "first principle." That principle is that men wore tailored clothing better in the past (specifically the period from about the 1930s through 80s). 🧵
If we agree on this, then there are certain ideas that naturally flow from this principle, partly because men's dress during this period was governed by time, place, and occasion. As stated before, one such idea was city vs country clothing.
Another such idea was resort or evening wear. Or summer vs winter wear. And so forth.
One can carry these ideas forward into today's age without it look like historical cosplay. Just like how we are currently using words to communicate, some from the early 1900s.
Twitter has a character limit, so I assume (intelligent) people will read context and know I'm talking about interior design and fashion, which today are coded as "gay interests" for men. Not painting or architecture, which carry no such stigma.
IMO, it's absolutely true that American Protestants were uniquely against certain forms of ornamentation, including fashion. For instance, the Quakers deliberately shunned adornment and extravagance in dress, stressing the importance of simplicity.
In his book "The Suit," Christopher Breward writes about how Quakers would talk about "troubling lapses into self-fashionableness by wayward members" during meetings. However, the Quakers were small in number and often seen as unusual by their fellow non-Quaker community members
I believe this jacket is from Dobell, a company that produces their tailoring in Turkey. I'll show you some telltale signs of quality and where you can buy a tailored jacket made in Britain. 🧵
I don't think there's anything wrong with buying clothes made abroad (I believe in free trade). However, I think it's strange when people rail against "globalism" and free trade, while benefitting from these things. Talk is cheap; one should put their money where their mouth is.
I asked Lee where he bought his jacket, but have thus far received no word. However, we can guess whether this is a high-end or low-end garment from two things.
I disagree that this is an aesthetically pleasing photo. Tristan's outfit ruins it and I'll tell you why. 🧵
I'll assume Tristan is telling the truth when he says he used Photoshop and not AI. If so, this is a very impressive Photoshop job. By removing the scaffold tarp, you reveal more of the building. By removing the other cars, you also achieve more aesthetic coherence.
What is aesthetic coherence? It's the idea that things based on shared history or spirit go together. For instance, I've long said that the Cybertruck could look very cool if you wore certain outfits (futuristic techwear) and lived in a Brutalist home.