HOF: What Are You Wearing Right Now - Part III - Page 2012

There is something about black shoes that scare the ever living sh*+ out of me. I don't know if it is taking formality over the edge but I feel like I'm walking into a funeral.

I felt empowered wearing freshly shined black shoes with khakis.

Woh, lets clear this up, I am in no way shape or form Sir F...(btw, its Snoogz...with a z  )

What would make you think that?  My posts are nothing like his, and my join date does not correlate to his post's being compromised, which in turn would return him to creating a new account / alias on SF.

 

...now that its clear...our regular broadcast may continue 

 

Don't get me wrong here; for the most part, this outfit deserves the fawning and adoration it's been receiving. The jacket is superb, and the color combination all around is great. But damn it, man, I just can't get behind the pleats. Put me in the contrarian camp on this one.

 

These pleats look better than 99.99% of pleats I've seen in person or in pictures, but they still create a billowy look at the hips. They don't give you true birthing hips, the way a lot of pleated pants are prone to doing. But the effect is still noticeable, and less than entirely flattering.

 

I guess the litmus test people have been using here is to look at the pleated pants and ask themselves "Do these look terrible, the way I expect pleated pants to look?" And the answer is a definite "no." But I look at them and ask "Would this fit look better with flat-front pants?" And I can't help arriving at "yes."

I like browns with grey suits most of the time, but Ed's (pretty accurate) point was the fact that the shoes have antiquing, and perhaps the medallion was too much with the suit. If it were a plain brown cap, it would have been the better option.

Finally had an opportunity to dip into the wardrobe again after months of black shirts and khaki pants.

Evening wedding, outdoors. The invitation specified "Semi-formal". Not everyone understood. I hope that someone else's camera has a less unfortunate pose but for now, this will have to do. I keep getting "Chris Noth/Big".


Deets (Click to show)

I always ask that myself, and I always arrive at the same conclusion that you do. Every few years most fashion designers run out of things to do with pants and try rolling out pleats again, but it never lasts very long and the only place you'll consistently find them in abundance year after year is in the "loose fit" section of your largest menswear concerns.

I've been scratching my head over the small but vocal pro-pleats crowd here, because I know there can't be that many old farts, fatties, Mens Wearhouse and/or IT department nerds reading SF. And the only thing that explains it, I think, is that there's a subset of society that sees a different ideal in the human form than the rest of us. Just as there's a set of fetishists out there who prefer "BBW" porn, similarly, there's a crowd that gets wood over puffy lower abdomens. I'll probably never understand it, but to each his own.

I've heard just about every justification for pleats that can be offered. Some men -- even the slim or athletic ones -- claim that pleats offer better "freedom of movement." Unless these men are hung like donkeys (if so, good for them!), I don't understand how much freedom they really think they're sacrificing by going flat fronted.

Some men claim pleats help pants drape better, and thus, look cleaner. To whatever extent this is true, surely it must be negated by the odd aesthetics of the puffy hips?

And finally, some men claim pleats are more "traditional." Such an assertion usually inspires a spirited and competitive reaching back into history, Wikipedia, blogs, Google, and dusty tomes to one-up each other by citing earlier examples of either pleats or flat fronts. And all of this debate misses the point, which is that not every tradition is worth keeping.

I won't begrudge a man his pleats. But I reserve the right not to like them.

Some of us like canned alcopop, a few know how to enjoy fine champagne.

I don't think the champagne lovers really care what the alcopop swillers think about their champagnes.

 

Comfort issues aside (though, for reasons mentioned recently, they are definitely a factor for me), well done pleats, like maomao's above, add a certain elegance that plain front trousers do not. They are as appropriate for fit/skinny men (perhaps more so!) as they are for the more portly among us.

They do not exaggerate the width of his hips; rather, they flatter his trim waistline.

Outstanding, this is why I come here.  Deets please?

SMH

Your tie might be to wide for your stature. You ever think of trying something slimer? Maybe a 2.5-2.7" width?

He should also learn to make his bed.