Let's compare the tailoring in two film scenes. Here is Fred Astaire dancing in Broadway Melody of 1940. Pay attention to how his clothing moves with him. 🧵
Here's the opening scene of Spectre. Daniel Craig is basically just walking in this scene.
Despite his more extreme movements (dancing vs walking), Astaire's tailoring moves with his body, rather than fighting against him. You can see this first with how Craig's jacket lifts off his neck when he raises his arm (collar gap). No lifting on Astaire.
Before someone suggests that Astaire's jacket collar may be pinned down, you can see it's not when he flies into the air. The jacket collar shifts up and down, but still stays glued to his neck throughout the scene. This is the result of high armholes and good tailoring.
Astaire's lapels always lay flat on his chest. Craig's lapels buckle away from his chest because his jacket is too small for him.
More of a stylistic matter, but Craig's shirt showing beneath his jacket's buttoning point ruins the visual fluidity of the suit, breaking things into distinct pieces. Astaire's high-rise pants and longer jacket achieve continuity.
Craig's jacket is too tight across the upper back. His sleeves are also too tight for his arms. As a result, the sleeveheads often have a divot. Astaire's sleeves don't have divots. They fall cleanly.
You can see the tightness towards the end of the scene. The side seams are straining on him. Whoever worked on this film tailored this suit within an inch of its life. The armholes are also quite low.
Since the suit is so shrunken, the scene opens with a collar gap and ends with a collar gap. The suit fights against Craig's body the whole time.
IMO, a lot of tailoring in films looks bad because:
1) Brand placement deals force actors into ready-made designer suits, rather than quality bespoke suits made for their body.
2) The trend towards shrunken silhouettes in the last 20 years. Does not work for everyone.
3) Questionable costume direction. A bespoke tailor told me that he made suits for a famous actor with a muscular build, but was told to keep taking in the seams because the costume dept wanted to show off the person's muscular figure. The result is bad from tailoring POV.
I would slim up Astaire's trousers just a tad in the original clip, but the quality of the tailoring is much better. Suit should allow for movement. At the very least, it should fall cleanly. This can be done even on muscular builds.
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Ahead of the NATO summit last month, President Zelenskyy arrived at the Paleis Huis ten Bosch wearing this outfit: a black jacket with matching black pants and a black shirt. Many debated whether this qualifies as a suit, as there's a $50M bet on it at Polymarket.
To understand the suit, we must place it in history.
During the Regency period (early 1800s), British men in high positions wore a long fitted garment known as the frock coat, which had a waist seam and full skirt. These garments were often quite colorful and expressive!
Any time I talk about a wealthy person's outfit, someone in the comments is quick to reply: "They're rich, you think they care?" No one has to care about my opinions or clothes, regardless of net worth.
But let's talk about the connection between wealth and aesthetics 🧵
About a year ago, Tucker Carlson told Chris Cuomo that "postmodern architecture" is intentionally designed to deaden the spirit. The clip was widely circulated online by people such as Benny Johnson, who seemingly agreed.
Postmodern architecture was actually a very brief movement that emerged in the 1960s as a counter-reaction to modernism's austerity and uniformity. Examples of postmodernism include Michael Graves's Portland Building and Guild House. Also Phillip Johnson's PPG Place.
Trump released a $250 fragrance (one for women, one for men).
Sometimes a fragrance can be expensive because it contains certain ingredients or involve artisanal, small-batch production. But with no note breakdown or even a description of the scent, what justifies this price?
I'm reminded of this 2016 blog post by Luca Turin, one of the best writers on fragrances. Even for niche perfumery he warns: "Niche perfumery stands a good chance of disappearing up its own rear end if it merely becomes yet another golden opportunity to rip off the customer."
If you're into fragrances, as I am, I encourage you to not support celebrity bullshit like this. Go to real perfumers. Some of my favorites include:
— AbdesSalaam Attar: He's a self-taught Sicilian Sufi perfumer who only uses natural ingredients. Many of his perfumes feel like you're walking through a Middle Eastern bazaar or spice market. Milano Caffe, Cuoio dei Dolci, and Tabac are worth a sniff. He can also do bespoke perfumes using your favorite notes.
— DS & Durga: David Moltz describes himself as doing "scent travel." He has an uncanny ability to transport you to far off places. I like Cowboy Grass, Debaser, Amber Kiso, and Burning Barbershop. If you can get a sample of his Pale Grey Mountain, Small Black Lake Sample (made part of his Hylands collection), it's really good with tailored tweeds.
— Anything by Jean Claude Ellena: One of the most famous perfumers in the world. His scents have been likened to watercolor paintings and chamber music because they're light, airy, and have a transparent quality. This makes them particularly good for spring/ summer. Check his scents from Hermes, such as Terre d'Hermes and Un Jardin sur le Nil, which are easy to find on discount. L'Eau d'Hiver for Frederic Malle is also great, but a bit more expensive.
— Tauer Perfumes: Andy Tauer is a chemist and self-taught perfumer who specializes in dry, spicy, woody scents. L'Air du Desert Marocain makes you feel like you're in the middle of the desert at night. Lonestar Memories is like being next to a crackling campfire while picking up on the scent of tobacco and leather. IMO, a must try if you're exploring niche perfumery.
Always try to get samples before buying a bottle. Check shops such as Luckyscent, Surrender to Chance, and The Perfumed Court. Also pick up a copy of Perfumes by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez.
People think I'm biased against Jeff Bezos, but here's F. Caraceni Sartoria, widely considered one of the best bespoke tailoring houses in the world, commenting on Bezos's wedding suit.
"The most terrible, frightening, horrible tuxedo ever seen in my life. I'm really suffering"
Nothing to do with politics, only quality tailoring. F. Caraceni made suits for Silvio Berlusconi, who was hardly beloved by progressives. Many people don't know much about tailoring, which is fine, but this doesn't mean that rich or expensive = good.
Caraceni's work:
Here is a dinner suit F. Caraceni made for Yves Saint Laurent.
Let me make the case for why the NHL should abolish its dress code, which currently requires players to wear a suit and tie while heading to and from games. 🧵
The arguments I've seen for the dress code fall into one of two categories: players look better in a coat-and-tie (some use descriptions such as "classy"). Others say that requiring players to dress in this way shows respect for the game. I will address each argument in turn.
It's true that tailoring once played a larger role in sports. Basketball coaches, for instance, used to wear tailored jackets pretty regularly, even at games. Some even looked quite good in these outfits.