whnay.'s good taste thread - Page 64

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manton 

Those dots are fine with me, it's when they get bigger that you start to have problems. I think that's about as big as dots can get and always be safe.

My one nitpick is that I like the square and I think the whole upper half works well, if you are going to wear an earthy sqaure like that, you need brown shoes. Black shoes require a crisper, more citified square.

You know, I really struggle pairing a navy suit with anything other than black shoes. I've tried in the past and nearly always hated the result when I look back at photos. Dark brown feels like a mistake ("thought they were black when I picked them out of the wardrobe and was too lazy to go back in again for a black pair") and light browns grab the eye in a scary way. And a mid-brown just feels too continental for me.

So, yeah, I suppose a more restrained square would probably have been a better option. I was initially thinking about a blue/white cotton (felt too matchy) and of course white linen (but you know me, I'm easily persuaded to add a dollop of flashy colour!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by unbelragazzo 

HF -
Manton will probably hate your suit stripes. I'm not a huge fan either I guess. But I think it might be nice to have something other than a blue tie - otherwise gets a tad matchy. Square is too much for me. Perfect spot for white linen.

It's funny; the suit stripe feels quite English to me. Even red pinstripes would be acceptable in this regard IMO (though not with exactly the same outfit; I mean in themselves as being conservatively tasteful within an English look). He just posted to say he didn't like the blue stripe (the suit looks solid from a distance though). What would you say about a red on navy pinstripe (in general, not for this outfit, obviously), Manton?

(speedily edited to keep pace with the thread!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by whnay. 


I like high(er) collars, generally speaking, but show no more than an 1.5 inches above the suit collar.

Thanks for that thought. 1.5 inches is high. I was thinking of some balance between how much cuff and collar shows, and I doubt people are showing 1.5 inches of cuff. But maybe equality or near equality between the two isn't a constraint on good taste. I don't mind the collar heights that people are showing in recent posts. Looks quite good, but are any of you showing 1.5 inch of collar usually?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manton 

Holdfast, the only stripes I like are white, off white, or pale gray. For some reason, I have no problem with blue or (dark) red windowpanes, but I can't stand them as stripes.

Interesting (and of course agreed that the red under discussion has to be a very dark to make any sense for this thread). Conceptually, I can understand where you might be coming from: windowpanes are slightly less formal than pinstripes, so can "take" a slightly less conservative colour.

Do you like thin-stripe windowpanes at all, though? I must admit that I find them quite unlikeable. My one windowpane suit has a much broader stripe (old pic of mine, purely for illustrative purposes). Single threadwidth windowpane fabrics (especially worsted ones) feel neither fish nor fowl to me. Almost "weedy", somehow. No particular conceptual basis for this, just my gut instinct. I greatly prefer a pinstripe (or indeed, chalkstripe where fabric appropriate) to that kind of pane. What position would traditional convention take around this?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarbutch 

HF: I'll second the PS feedback, but the biggest violation of good taste is that tie knot. Still, looks good overall. I probably wouldn't go with the blue stripe for myself, but I have no philosophical objection to it.

I guess the my natural leeriness just can help oozing out of every pore! But it's just my usual knot, which I don't think usually attracts much comment. The arc and photo-angle is probably making it foreshorten though, making it look fatter than it does IRL, I think. Yeah, yeah, blame photo angle for everything, I know... :D

Originally Posted by unbelragazzo 

I've come to the position that for me personally, stripes on suits are just to fraught with peril to consider for a purchase. I'm not a banker/lawyer type, I'm an academic, so the connotations of pinstripes are never really appropriate for anything I'm doing. On top of that the cheeziness of a large percentage of available stripes that Manton has impressed upon me, and there's really just plenty else for me to wear before getting bored without ever having to worry about stripes of any kind on a suit.

Well, there are a lot of cheesy stripes out there for sure. Some I like (like my purple tramline suit; definitely too louche to be in good taste!) and some I really dislike (those really "blocky"-striped worsteds, or even worse, linens). But a simple grey chalkstripe fuzzy flannel with an off-white stripe is so classic as to work in even an informal-ish context, I think. Navy suit with white pinstripes are much more associated with a businessy look these days, it's true. But yes, there are lots of options if you don't like stripes, I'm sure!