8 Button Front Flannel Purple Label Pinstripe Suit

[Edward Appleby]

Originally Posted by Soph

--- I agree to a point, but I find art hip but I wouldn't wear it persay, this is an artistic suit and obviousy not meant to confine itself to a rule. I wouldn't go so far as to say any clothing not made for formal rules is gaudy/ignorant/hollywood or whatever else;. It strictly something to look at like a painting on a wall. As a side note formality, I have a Kiton one button peak lapel tuxedo as I dress according to the event/audience and hopefully good taste.
Not to be quarrelsome (I just want something to help me put off my homework), but I would have to disagree. Clothing, by its nature, cannot exist separate from the act of wearing it. Whether or not it is actually worn is one thing (for example, a dress in a museum can be appreciated as clothing), but it must always be judged in the context of being worn. Otherwise, it's not much more than a glorified collage of some mixed media bullshit, is it?

Re your point about clothing not made according to the rules, I would argue that if a garment has a pretention, so to speak, of being formal, but grossly violates the rules defining said formality it is either a. gauche or b. ironic and probably po-mo to the point of irritation.

 

[whoopee]

A side note: I think it is a chalk stripe.

 

[zjpj83]

I think it's honestly not bad. I think it's circa 2001 or so, if my memory serves correctly. He did a whole line of these. I wouldn't wear them, but yeah...

 

[Despos]

It is a surprise to me but some how this style works on this jacket. It has very graceful lines and is proportioned well. I usually don't care for RL suitings and this is far from his typical look but somehow it works.
Who, when and where to wear it is another thing.

 

[Nick M]

Originally Posted by zjpj83

I think it's honestly not bad. I think it's circa 2001 or so, if my memory serves correctly. He did a whole line of these. I wouldn't wear them, but yeah...
Fall 2003.

I like it, and I liked the 4-button SB three-piece suits from the same season. If they were longer than standard suit jackets in order to accommodate the extra buttons, then they'd run into Steve Harvey territory, but I find them quite nicely proportioned.

I'm all for a little more diversity in men's suit silhouettes.

Here it is on a real live person:

 

[GreyFlannelMan]

It really does work. I like it.

Wouldn't Steve Harvey territory be an orange SB 5-button jacket?

 

[chorse123]

Royal Tenenbaum? I believe his is a six button, which gets you this look without the ridiculousness.

 

[Get Smart]

I have a donna karan 8 button double breast that looks nearly identical to that one, sans the quality. These suits were real popular around '95-6 with everyone doing 6 or 8 button DBs.

*just remembered I have a 6 button charcoal flannel chalkstripe that I got in Seoul back in 96 that is lurking in the deep recesses of my closet, so count me in for having TWO of these cuts *D'OH*!

 

[A Y]

Sorry, I don't like this jacket, because the lapels are too short, too much shirt is covered up and the emphasis is on the vertical lines of the jacket with the 8 buttons in front. I can see a sportscaster wearing this for Sunday football, which doesn't help its case for me, either. Maybe it's good for shorter people? And I like DBs, too, but because DBs give you a more interesting set of lines to look at, with the longer diagonal lines of the crossing lapels blending into the vertical lines of the jacket. A 6-2 DB has my favorite balance of this effect, while a 6-1 or a lower 4-1 is like the opposite of this jacket: too much diagonal, not enough vertical. Here's an example of what I'm talking about (sorry about the tie): There's also a definite waist on this jacket that works with the physical features of the jacket (the 2nd button row), which makes it look more functional than the 8 buttons on the RLPL, but that's just my prejudice. --Andre

 

[DocHolliday]

I drew the Steve Harvey comparison as a joke, of course, but I think there's a grain of truth in it. I can't see what this suit accomplishes, except to step up the "look at me" factor of the already dramatic DB suit. It works well, for what it is, but that doesn't make it wearable.

Soph's art analogy is apt, I think, in that the wearer of this suit becomes an easel for the canvas. I'd rather avoid that.

 

[tiger02]

Originally Posted by Edward Appleby

My implication being that the aforeposted suit was hip in the same way that a faux tuxedo might be. That is, hip through a combination of utter ignorance of the rules (going back to the tux analogy, the black suit and long tie), a certain outre gaudiness (the silver long tie), and an affectation of formality/occaision (the spread collar.)

I wasn't suggesting that you ever said anything about tuxedos at all, I was just pointing out that the rationale for finding a suit like this one hip seems similar to that behind the Hollywood tux.
There's no ignorance of the rules here--it is RL, and as whoopee pointed out almost that exact cut was worn by Dorian Gray (movie was 1945 but set in the mid 1800s, IMMSMC

). What's more, the aesthetic is quite far removed from the mafiesque faux tux you're suggesting.

I think V Man has got it--it's for a dude who's cocksure and in great shape. Has its place, just not for me.

Tom

 

[j]

I'd wear it. Unbutton the bottom button and maybe the top one and it wouldn't look that weird at all.

 

[Margaret]

Originally Posted by j

I'd wear it. Unbutton the bottom button and maybe the top one and it wouldn't look that weird at all.

I think that might work. At least the top one.

The pants look too slim cut for my taste, though.

 

[Cantabrigian]

It's different but not in a Steve Harvey sort of way. If anything, it's more stuffy than fashion-forward. Except for the button stance, it's a very traditional coat and reminds me a lot more of Dege 6x3 I saw than anything else.

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by Cantabrigian

It's different but not in a Steve Harvey sort of way. If anything, it's more stuffy than fashion-forward. Except for the button stance, it's a very traditional coat and reminds me a lot more of Dege 6x3 I saw than anything else.

Now that's handsome. And it achieves the same effect without the flashy nonsense. Just needs the bottom button undone.