To me, Ralph is above the law, so even if I don't care for many of his outfits, I think he's beyond reproach because he's Ralph Lauren. But I'll explain why DeSantis' outfit doesn't work with chinos. 🧵
As mentioned in another thread, when people think of tailoring today, they often think of these suits they see at the mall. These dark worsted suits are what you wear for weddings, funerals, and court appearances.
The term "dark worsted" here refers to these smooth, silky wool fabrics, which sometimes have a bit of sheen. These fabrics should be reserved for suits, which means the jacket should be worn with matching pants.
However, there are more casual fabrics. They can be casual bc of fiber (e.g., linen is more casual than wool); texture (e.g., tweed is more casual than silky wool); pattern (e.g., larger patterns are more casual than fine patterns); color (e.g., brown is more casual than black)
DeSantis here is clearly wearing a suit jacket. You can tell bc the fabric is very smooth, silky, and shiny. Jacket also has tonal buttons, flapped hip pockets, and no edge stitching. These on their own aren't a big deal, but together they form a sentence that says "business"
What he needs is a more casual jacket (a sport coat). The most important element here is fabric. A navy jacket with more texture would have swung this more into sport coat territory, allowing it to be easily worn on its own. Zoom in and see how this fabric is matte and textured
Other things could have swung it more into sport coat territory. In the first photo, we see someone wearing a jacket with contrasting buttons (here being metal). In the second photo, we see a lapel with a swelled edge and patch pockets. These are both very obviously sport coats
The second problem is his trousers. Setting aside the wrinkles around his lap, these chinos are double-needle sewn, which results in the puckering you see along the inseam and cuff. This makes them very casual, more at home with trucker jackets than tailored jackets.
What he needs are single-needle chinos, which are basically pants built like wool trousers, except they're made from cotton. This particular pair has not yet been hemmed, but a proper tailor will know that these should be hemmed like dress pants, not casual pants. No puckering.
The higher rise, clean cut, single needle sewing here will make the cotton trousers look more dressy, bridging the gap between the formality of the tailored jacket and the casualness of the pants. You want to aim for coherence.
The problem with DeSantis' outfit is that it's too dressy up top (this is a suit jacket, not a sport coat) and too casual down bottom (the most casual iteration of chinos). He needs a more casual jacket (a sport coat) and dressier chinos. These details make all the difference.
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Check out the fit of these two dress shirts. What do you notice? 🧵
To me, aside from the tightness in the sleeves, the most noticeable thing is the position of these cuffs. So here's something easy to check for when buying dress shirts.
When shopping for a dress shirt, you should try to find a place that has them sized according to your neck and sleeves. If you don't know your size, just look up guides online (you need a measuring tape).
I've done a few threads on how to dress slutty as a man, but here's another. Note, by slutty, I don't mean gaining sexual attraction from your desired gender. But rather, getting attention from menswear nerds involved in menswear discourse. 🧵
The first and most obvs is the adoption of a mesh shirt. These will make you look like a delicious Asian pear.
A mesh shirt—either made with a coat front or in a pullover style—can be worn on its own with shorts or breezy trousers and espadrilles. Think: Côte d'Azur. If you're shy, you can it layered over a t-shirt or a ribbed tank top.
Have you ever heard the phrase, "you have to know the rules before you break them?" What does that mean? Why would you have to know the rules if they're going to be broken anyway? Let's talk about it. 🧵
In his book Status & Culture, @wdavidmarx talks about how our pursuit of status drives culture. While it's not necessarily about clothes, it explains a lot about why we wear what we wear.
As David notes, we wear clothes to both signal our belonging to a group and our individuality within a group. And the best dressers often do something in an unexpected way. This requires knowing a little bit about the established dress practices within a group.
I should note there's a lot of body shaming on Twitter; this thread is not meant to do that. Rather, it's intended to do the opposite: how anyone can look good, regardless of body type, if they pay attention to a few things regarding fit, silhouette, and tailoring tricks
Here's how Vance dressed before his MAGA makeover. Notice a few things: the narrowness of the shoulders, the short jacket, the low rise pants, and the slim tapered legs. He does not have a muscular figure. Kind of typical office worker build and attire.
— Tie and square should never look like they came in a matching set. This looks contrived.
— Except for white, solid silks are almost always bad. They make you look like a magician. Or in this case, like you've nicked a pair of women's underwear
Instead, it should look like you've plucked something from a dresser drawer and thrown it into your pocket (but not your wife's underwear drawer). It should look pleasing, but not overly coordinated. This gives the impression of effortlessness, even if you've put in effort.
This is nothing personal to Ryan Reynolds. but he consistently wears his pants too tight, so his photos are illustrative.
Here's something easy you can check for when buying pants. 🧵
Broadly speaking, there are two types of pant pockets: ones where you put your hands in from the top (as you'd find on jeans) and ones where you'd put your hands in from the side (such as you'd find on wool trousers and most chinos). This discussion is only for the second type
If you're buying pants with side entry pockets, try them on, stand naturally, and look to see if your pockets flare out like this.