The Look goes on...



Mr Knightley said:

I joined Ask Andy in Jan 2006 and to quote cocostella above it did feel like 'Nothing better than just one or two folks getting what it is you're putting down' .  I met one or two guys that shared my particular interest and views and we became quite matey over the next couple of years. 

But I think we have moved over the last 7 or 8 years from a tiny niche of forumites to a great mass of men jumping on the bandwagon.  Some by their own admission had no interest in clothes at all until a certain point in their lives.  So they have no yardstick and the idea of rejection is foreign to them.  So, like everything else it becomes mainstream.  All very familiar. 

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I started browsing online forums just over a year ago before alighting here, I like the open-endedness of this thread and can pop over to the other one occasionally to give a kids-eye view.

I agree that you need some sort of hinterland to be guided by because the way you dress expresses your past.

Just had a run round the shops looking for a crombie/chesterfield with no luck, not sure I like a ticket pocket on an overcoat. Seen more blokes in DM/Solovair today than for a long time. Lots of black MA1s in Urban Outfitters and some noticeably 'attack skinhead' looks in various windows. Liked the look of a couple of roped pullovers but not the logos attached (Farah and Lacoste; would fit back then but not now, for me).



covskin said:

I started browsing online forums just over a year ago before alighting here, I like the open-endedness of this thread and can pop over to the other one occasionally to give a kids-eye view.

I agree that you need some sort of hinterland to be guided by because the way you dress expresses your past.

Just had a run round the shops looking for a crombie/chesterfield with no luck, not sure I like a ticket pocket on an overcoat. Seen more blokes in DM/Solovair today than for a long time. Lots of black MA1s in Urban Outfitters and some noticeably 'attack skinhead' looks in various windows. Liked the look of a couple of roped pullovers but not the logos attached (Farah and Lacoste; would fit back then but not now, for me).

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I've been browsing the shops this pm.

Like you I struggled to find anything I really wanted to buy. I got a new battery for an old Timex, upgraded my iPhone plan and The Lady Vanishes!

Theres some nice BD shirts in M+S at th moment,some reduced to less than £15,not just checks but plain and stripes,long and short sleeved.
I am wearing BD shirts with a v neck,Farah trousers and plain shoes or boots,I think that has something of "the look" about it whilst not being fancy dress.



cerneabbas said:

Theres some nice BD shirts in M+S at th moment,some reduced to less than £15,not just checks but plain and stripes,long and short sleeved.
I am wearing BD shirts with a v neck,Farah trousers and plain shoes or boots,I think that has something of "the look" about it whilst not being fancy dress.

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I would agree with you. Some might claim the outfit as Ivy but except for a couple of buttons it is really just part of the common western inheritance. The look is in the execution. Not a fan of the button-down shirt myself so am thinking of a navy v neck over a pink polo for spring, with nicely fading 501s and black Loake 771s. Something a bit English about navy and pink.

covskin said:

I would agree with you. Some might claim the outfit as Ivy but except for a couple of buttons it is really just part of the common western inheritance. The look is in the execution. Not a fan of the button-down shirt myself so am thinking of a navy v neck over a pink polo for spring, with nicely fading 501s and black Loake 771s. Something a bit English about navy and pink.

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Yes,myGF bought me a blue Hugo Boss long sleeve polo for xmas and I wear that under a navy v neck with the Farahs but I could wear jeans,I would still like to find a pair of brown plain shoes like my Waverleys.
At the moment its usually a light blue BD (plain,striped or check) under a navy v neck,maybe my brogues have taken a back seat because I see so many ( crap) ones about at the moment.
I definitely try not to wear too many skinhead/suedehead associated items at the same time as I would be mortified if someone said are you trying to dress like a skinhead?,reenactor phobia perhaps ?.

Thank you, gentlemen for bringing me back to earth. I have spent too long of late browsing WAYWRN, competing from time to time in the Friday Challenge (with very little success) and of course, for the last few days, it has been Pitti, Pitti, Pitti wherever I look.

Although, as we have said, Italian conservative business dress and the 'Pitti look' share certain aspects with The Look, it has still been too rich a diet and I seek plainer, simpler fare. Thanks.

Today I have adopted again a simple look. Marled grey shetland wool crew neck from H&M (their LOGG range), Armani greige BD, bespoke black and white dogtooth trou and burgundy beefroll Weejuns. My 1980s Redaelli (designed by Ferre) dark navy donkey jacket and my dad's 1960s Tootal scarf complete the look - if not quite The Look!

Thought it was a bit quiet here Mr K, welcome back. There is certainly something to learn from Italian conservative business dress (greyness yes, browness unsure), WAYW less so.

At the moment I am perhaps a little into re-enactor mode, Cerneabbas, in black ma1 and black 10 hole Solovairs, albeit with fairly blank innards (no button-down gingham or madras for me!) and minimal turn ups, a sort of skinhead normcore lol, but I am enjoying the reboot! Perhaps edge it towards that 20s look with a tunic 'grandad' shirt, cardy and even (gasp!) braces at some point - completely different to the navy v neck and pink polo outfit I mentioned earlier but both within the canon.

One of the things that interests me the most on this thread is how we all start off with the same influences and yet end up with different ideas,I think that's more healthy than a slavish adherence to a certain look.

Besides my failure to find a brown version of the Loake Waverley ( something that I have emailed Loake about), I still want a jacket to replace my Harringtons in the winter months;
I find a Harrington too short and too thin in the winter,I have bought "parka" type jackets but although they do the job of keeping me warm and dry they do not fit into "the look" IMO.

Car coats I have hated them since I was a kid,to me they epitomised the word boring,worn by middle aged blokes who drove an Austin 1100 or Maxi.
No style at all,bland,practical,sold in BHS or M+S or at the market,I always said that I would never be old enough to wear one.
Yet they could be different,now that I am a middle aged bloke driving a hatch back I can see some virtues to them.
A good length for the winter,much better than a bomber / Harrington length,showerproof material,lightly padded for warmth,but that's where the good news stops for me.
Why doesn't some designer revamp them,diferent pockets, a fly front covering the poppers,maybe a detatchable hood like Barbours,just cut them better and lose the name car coat,I would definitely have a look at a coat like that.

Yep the car coat and parka look very staid to me still. The parka, being the basic model for the outdoor/mountaineering jacket, seems to block any adoption from that direction too, sadly. My own winter mountaineering jacket is the paramo cascada in light green, which does an excellent job with no superfluous bells and whistles but is lacking in fit and is, in particular, very floppy and undefined at the collar. My summer mountaineering jacket, Marmot precip, is optimised for light weight and small pack size so is even less defined. I think this is where Barbour wins out over the Rabs and Mountain Equipments of this world, decent definition particularly at the collar. The dual collar/hood seems like an intractable problem, full stop!

Casual Friday - new Austin Reed sox



cerneabbas said:

Car coats I have hated them since I was a kid,to me they epitomised the word boring,worn by middle aged blokes who drove an Austin 1100 or Maxi.
No style at all,bland,practical,sold in BHS or M+S or at the market,I always said that I would never be old enough to wear one.
Yet they could be different,now that I am a middle aged bloke driving a hatch back I can see some virtues to them.
A good length for the winter,much better than a bomber / Harrington length,showerproof material,lightly padded for warmth,but that's where the good news stops for me.
Why doesn't some designer revamp them,diferent pockets, a fly front covering the poppers,maybe a detatchable hood like Barbours,just cut them better and lose the name car coat,I would definitely have a look at a coat like that.

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Agreed. You have to be a certain age to understand this though. Otherwise people just look at you and wonder what you are complaining about.

I genuinely believe car coats are unredeemable.

Lots of outer garments are simple too short. Sh*t rain coats etc. Rally coats were another manifestation and begat the dreadful, quilted polyester garments that aspire to be country kit. To me,it is grannies' dressing gown material. Pea coats are no use to me. Too boxy.

The good old sheepskin is an honourable exception to the rule.

A tweed hunting shooting jacket might do the trick as well. You would need to be comfortable about being linked to the green welly brigade though.

Kingstonian said:

Agreed. You have to be a certain age to understand this though. Otherwise people just look at you and wonder what you are complaining about.

I genuinely believe car coats are unredeemable.

Lots of outer garments are simple too short. Sh*t rain coats etc. Rally coats were another manifestation and begat the dreadful, quilted polyester garments that aspire to be country kit. To me,it is grannies' dressing gown material. Pea coats are no use to me. Too boxy.

The good old sheepskin is an honourable exception to the rule.

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I wonder why a coat cannot be practical AND look good as well ?, Covskin pointed out earlier the gulf between performance and looks,perhaps its the same with everything cars,dogs,boots,the best looking are not always the best practically ?, dare I even add women too that list ?.

I agree with the pea coat being too boxy,I have one its quite smart but I rarely wear it, I have toyed with the idea of another sheepskin but the specialist cleaning is so expensive,and they are only an option if you know that the weather will stay cold but dry.

I bought a Barbour Ashby in the sales last year,not particularly warm but good for a rainy day although when I attatch the hood it doesnt look so good ( again looks v practicality ),the pockets look big and bulky made for shotgun cartridges but they take all the junk I seem to have to carry these days,glasses phone etc. The other thing that I don't like about wearing a Barbour is that I feel that its not quite me,as if I am pretending to be some hunting/shooting horsey type.

Hugo Boss make coats about the length of a car coat in various designs,not sure of their practical performance weather wise.

Not sure that a car coat is the only practical garment length. If you want to wear it driving a car maybe.

I see lots of people with no cover for their legs against rain and cold. I am not sure that is practical. Thermals might protect against cold but even so...

A coat that closes all the way up to the neck appeals, but I do not see why it has to be short also.

Before anyone else mentions it, I am not advocating an Arsene Wenger style long quilted job either.