the problem with very slim tapered, low rise trousers, particularly on certain men, is that they can emphasize your hips. see matt gaetz below. tristan tate suffers from a similar problem, although to a lesser degree.
there are no universal rules in fashion. everything is contingent on aesthetics, which is contingent on culture. skinny jeans make sense in a rock and roll aesthetic bc the look is rooted in cultural history. but they look terrible with a tailored jacket bc that makes no sense
most men don't have enough aesthetic direction one way or another. they're likely in very basic clothing, often business casual. so they should go for more middle of the road cuts. the overton window on trouser silhouette is so shifted, anything not suction-fit looks "baggy."
but if you look through men's fashion history, a high rise, straight legged cut is the middle of the road path.
often, when i talk about this, someone will post some ridiculous photo and say "that looks like this." no, it does not. if you can't tell the diff, you need help.
look through photos of style icons: cary grant, gary cooper, gianni agnelli, steve mcqueen, robert redford, harrison ford, and such. the trousers are often high rise and neither baggy nor slim. they simply are middle of the road.
this same cut can look great today. the best bespoke tailors have made pants like this for generations because it flatters almost everyone.
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Many people go about this the wrong way: they throw some wacky item into an outfit, thinking this makes things more interesting. This is like inserting random letters into a sentence. When you do so, you spoil the meaning. The tchotchkes here ruin the business suit.
To make an outfit more interesting, you have to know what you want to say. This requires knowledge: knowledge of self (who are you), knowledge of cultural hitsory, knowledge aesthetic language, and knowledge of what do you want to say.
I think very slim trousers in a tailored outfit can work on certain men, but the percentage is much smaller than many believe. It often doesn't work in real life for a variety of reasons. Here are some. 🧵
When you slim the trousers beyond a certain point, you end up breaking the silhouette into two distinctive blocks: upper and lower. This ruins the harmony of a tailored aesthetic. To me, the coat and trouser should have some relationship so they form a coherent whole.
The second reason has to do with the rise. The cut of the legs typically moves in concert with the rise. Full legged trousers have a high rise; slim trousers typically have a low rise. It would be weird to switch these bc you'd mess with the proportions of pants.
The controversy is basically about these pants. Some people called this "feminine," "gay," and even "pretentious." Many said that this looks good on Wisdom (true) but that no one else can pull them off (not true).
Others also said that this proves that skinny fit is categorically bad. But in the same video, Wisdom posts two outfits that involve relatively slim fitting pants.
Kash Patel runs an "America First" clothing line with t-shirts that say "Protect our People" and "American Pride." But the t-shirts are printed on Next Level blanks ... which are made in Central America and Haiti.
Turning Point USA makes things easy by simply labeling things for us. In the corner of their product page, they say these are made on Next Level blanks. Thanks!
this is one of the worst trends to emerge in men's tailoring in recent years. any clothier who offers you this option doesn't have your best inerest in mind. they simply want to give you a bunch of customization options you can tick to feel special, so they can make a sale.
Some people asked me to elaborate. So here is my attempt.
What is the point of a contrast buttonhole? Whimsy? Personalization? A way to show off workmanship? I encourage you to pinpoint your motivations before getting one.
If your answer is whimsy or fun, I encourage you think more about the total outfit. There are lots of ways to have fun with tailoring. You can get suits in cotton, linen, Thornproof, corduroy, or wool-mohair blends (nice at night). The outfits below are fun.
I should note that I know not everyone can afford a $500 sweater. That's why my Black Friday post includes things such as this $80 J. Crew sweater. In the past, I've also written guides on how to to get top-of-the-line vintage Scottish cashmere knits on eBay for ~$50.
But since I appreciate craft and wish to see craftspeople be able to earn a living, I'm also happy to promote things that I think help keep these traditions alive.
So, why is this Chamula sweater $500? It's because of how it was made.