MC General Chat

[gdl203]

I wear cardigans under suit and sport coats as soon as it starts getting cold. I see it as the relaxed, less stuck-up cousin of the waistcoat.

 

[dieworkwear]



I've been wearing Uniqlo for several seasons FWIW, a new one each season, and they are more fitted. They do look a bit fussy but with an OCBD that has a nice collar roll, looks fine. However, I don't think it looks as flattering compared to a jacket. The cardigan due to its cut and choice of fabric hugs my body more so than hangs, which Boyer's cardigan does very well in the latter.

I have the same experience with cardigans. Mine are usually somewhat fitted - or at least, they hug the body more than Boyer's. I find it makes my narrow shoulders look narrower than they are, which in turn makes me look paunchier than I am. Not sure if I just don't have the body type for it. Or maybe I should try embracing a looser fit.

I like a v-neck on its own. Fond as I am of crewnecks, I read them as kind of an Ivy cue that makes me gravitate towards chinos and an overall kind of "what a nice young man" look, which is not always what I'm looking for: sometimes I want jeans and a more open collar if I'm choosing to wear just a sweater. Sort of a more louche thing. Kinda like this guy, from Allan Warren's 1986 book The Dukes Of Great Britain.*

I also like just a v-neck under a coat, either with an open collar and jeans, or with cord/moleskin trousers and tie. I don't think it automatically looks too fussy, but it is a risk one runs. I tend to wear that kind of thing when I want to be a bit more dressed, but not more formal. I don't know if I'd do one with wool trousers, for example, or with a spread collar shirt (other than a tattersall).

Also, this is unrelated, but those Meermin shell boots of yours are fantastic.

Yea, I like all those Milstil/ Italian Industrialist photos of guys in v-necks and cardigans, but feel like there's often a glamour about British royalty and Italian industrialists that clouds the picture. At least, when I and other Americans put on a v-neck and chinos, it just looks a bit too ... not sure what the word is ... maybe boring? Or at least not as great as those Milstil photos.

Thanks for the kind words about the boots, btw.

I wear cardigans under suit and sport coats as soon as it starts getting cold. I see it as the relaxed, less stuck-up cousin of the waistcoat.

Actually, you were one of the examples I could think of. I think there are some photos of you in a cardigan and sport coat floating around that I liked a lot. A couple from the last StyFo trunk show come to mind.

Mark/ yfyf also pulls them off well.

 

[YRR92]

Yea, I like all those Milstil/ Italian Industrialist photos of guys in v-necks and cardigans, but feel like there's often a glamour about British royalty and Italian industrialists that clouds the picture. At least, when I and other Americans put on a v-neck and chinos, it just looks a bit too ... not sure what the word is ... maybe boring? Or at least not as great as those Milstil photos.

Thanks for the kind words about the boots, btw.

Yeah, there's a glamour factor that I don't exactly have, though I try to look through that as much as possible. That shot is accompanied by this one, which has a little less coolth:




Also, what were you positing as the alternative to the casual v-neck? Because my mind went to "crewneck," which is more square (and ministerial, with the wrong shirt). I also have trouble with a sweater and chinos (unless I'm aiming for square), but in the cooler months, my go-to pants are denim.

 

[dieworkwear]



Also, what were you positing as the alternative to the casual v-neck? Because my mind went to "crewneck," which is more square (and ministerial, with the wrong shirt). I also have trouble with a sweater and chinos (unless I'm aiming for square), but in the cooler months, my go-to pants are denim.

I mostly wear crewnecks. IMO, a simple merino one (like the v-necks we're talking about, but with a different collar style) won't have that baggage of making you look like you're trying to "dress up." I feel like I've seen too many guys think that dressing up is putting on a collared shirt and v-neck, and it's created a stigma that I just can't shake from my head. As you said, it has a quaint "nice boy look." (At least when worn alone with a collared shirt and chinos).

More than that though, I think you have a wider variety of sweaters in crewnecks, any of which would be more interesting. Lots of stuff with patterns, textures, etc. You can have those too in v-necks, but when I'm talking about v-necks, I'm talking about those plain, thin merino kind you find everywhere.

 

[Baron]

I wear v-necks with button down collar shirts all the time. Cardigans less often but they make it into the rotation. Generally without a sport coat, but with a windbreaker, paired with slim chinos or 5 pocket cords and chukka boots. It's that late 60's west coast ivy look - Paul Newman, John Cassavettes, Steve McQueen. I feel like I've been dressing that way since high school.

 

[YRR92]

I mostly wear crewnecks. IMO, a simple merino one (like the v-necks we're talking about, but with a different collar style) won't have that baggage of making you look like you're trying to "dress up." I feel like I've seen too many guys think that dressing up is putting on a collared shirt and v-neck, and it's created a stigma that I just can't shake from my head. As you said, it has a quaint "nice boy look." (At least when worn alone with a collared shirt and chinos).

More than that though, I think you have a wider variety of sweaters in crewnecks, any of which would be more interesting. Lots of stuff with patterns, textures, etc. You can have those too in v-necks, but when I'm talking about v-necks, I'm talking about those plain, thin merino kind you find everywhere.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there: trying to make a sweater without a coat look "dressy" is a move ruined by people doing it badly.

I think I'm picturing the kind of look you take issue with now: merino v-neck, shirt in some non-classic pattern, indifferent chinos, bad shoes. If young, make everything too tight and add narrow, wire-rimmed glasses, if older, make everything too loose and add cell phone holster.

If you're playing with some of the same cues as that kind of thing, then yeah, a crewneck would be better.

I tend to go for heavy gauge cottons, shetlands, or cable knits, plus more casual trousers/shoes/attitude, so the individual neckline doesn't play into it quite as much.

 

[Christopher Essex]

Not having to wear a jacket and tie to work in my office (although I do on Fridays as a F-U to the casual Friday vibe), wearing a cashmere v-neck with an open-collar shirt and trousers (moleskin, corduroy, flannel) is my go-to winter outfit.

While I like the idea of a cardigan, I too feel it's more of a lounge-y at-home garment and I don't have any currently.

I really like the idea of a shawl-collar cardigan that's a bit longer than most as a replacement for a sport coat, but the only one I've ever seen that I like was one that someone had made custom (@gettoasty, wasn't that yours from Inis Meain?)

 

[gettoasty]

@Christopher Essex It was a MTO 6A Inverallan shawl cardigan (made into a long robe)

I wish I can reorder... it was great.

 

[Christopher Essex]



@Christopher Essex It was a MTO 6A Inverallan shawl cardigan (made into a long robe)

I wish I can reorder... it was great.

Was? Not is?

 

[gettoasty]

It did not quite fit into my typical rotation though in hindsight I should have kept for lounging around at home during fall-winter. Like I said, I'd reorder if MTO was still available

I ended up selling on the buy&sell marketplace

 

[gdl203]

Come on. No one lounges around in an Inverallan - it rough as an urchin chainmail coat...

 

[LA Guy]

Come on. No one lounges around in an Inverallan - it rough as an urchin chainmail coat...

Not everyone has your baby soft skin

 

[dieworkwear]



Not everyone has your baby soft skin

Wearing Inverallans naked is actually how I exfoliate.

 

[Claghorn]

Didn't know where else to put this. F. Scott Fitzgerald was into texture it seems. Though perhaps the tie is just patterned:

 

[JubeiSpiegel]

I love texture, I am bored with the worsted smooth fabrics of the world right now. That fabric would make a great sports coat...