Toxic antibiotics, Achilles tendonitis, Recovery and a Brooks Brothers Suit Cut Review

[Closer]

For the last 7 months I have been recovering from bilateral achilles tendonitis brought on by a toxic reaction from fluoroquinolone antibiotics. I recommend that everyone on this board avoid ever taking this class of antibiotics. Over 90% of people have no reaction but a bad reaction can lead to achilles tendonitis that lasts for 6 months to several years or even tendon rupture. It is a long recovery. Anyways, enough about that.

I quit wearing suits for a few months because the only shoes I could wear were New Balance running shoes. That has been an akward period for me, but hey it worked for Steve Jobbs. Let's just say I had to dumb my look down big time to make that work. I ended up adopting RL Rugby type look temporarily. Lots of slim fit chinos in bright colors, oxfords, unstructured blazers, and ribbon belts. No tie.

I finally found a pair of dress shoes that are more comfortable than the New Balnce on Friday. So by Saturday I was itching to get back in suits as soon as possible. Not wearing suits for months, also means not buying suits for months. I had already given away 2 RLBL suits and a Dior Homme suit to my friend months ago. I knew that I did not want that type of cut anymore. I used to work out 4 or 5 days a week and play tennis at least twice a week. I haven't gained much weight I am still 5' 8' and 155 pounds, but I no longer have a six pack. My waist size has bloated from a 30-31to a 31-32. It is possible that I may gain another inch while going through this recovery. Plus while I can still pull of the extremely fitted short jacket with ball busting pants look, I am getting older and trying to move up the ladder. So I felt I needed something that still looked young and slim but not too young and slim.

So last night I am looking at what suits I have left. I gave away everything that had an obvious designer label already. What I had left was:
-a charcoal grey Piombo, winter weight suit (I like this suit btw)
-a Piombo heavy winter weight tweed unstructured brown/black sportscoat (okay for occasional wear)

Everything else was ****. So I am basically starting over.

So last night I ordered some suits online. I can walk pretty well now, but I am not supposed to walk long distances at a time. I am not supposed to go to the mall for example. So I go to Brooks Brothers website. I don't know why I decided to go so cheap but I bought 4 suiting essentials suits. I convinced myself that they would be a good value and maybe the Regent cut was just what I needed. Well I tossed and turned all night having nightmares of ill fitting suits in rough fabrics.

I wake up today and call Brooks customer service and cancle the order. I want to go to the Brooks in my neighborhood and try on the Milano, the Fitzgerald and the Regent. The only thing is that the Brooks store is in a shopping center and the parking situation is terrible. Walking from the car to the store is doable but it is a considerable hike and may set my recovery back a little. There is an italian restaurant with valet parking way on the other side of the shopping center though. So I head to the Italian restaurant and convince the valet, Hector, to drive me across the street to Brooks, and that I would call him to come pick me up after I was done shopping.

So Hector drops me off and now I am in Brooks Brothers. This is awesome. I found a way to get to Brooks Brothers without walking a mile or having to depend on someone to drop me off at the door. You do not understand how great this is for me. I have not been able to go shopping in 7 months. Sure, I have bought some stuff online, but it is not the same. So I am determined to revitalize my wardrobe,and to use 6 years of styleforum wizdom to my advantage. I have made many bad purchases in my past as well and learned much from that as well.

So the first thing I did was try all the cuts in 38S. Here are my impressions:

The Milano: The Milano is fantastic. It is my favorite ever slim cut. I loved it way more than I ever loved RLBL. RLBL has pronounced shoulders but no room in the chest. The Milano is very, very slim but has room in the chest and room everywhere you need it. There is plenty of room in the chest and waist of the coat. I felt like I could gain some weight and still wear it, but it was still supper slim. It is a great cut. The Milano has a softer shoulder and almost no padding. The armholes are high. The sleeves are the perfect slimness. The jacket is short with open quarters. Of course they only had one SB Milano and it was a brown winter weight suit.

The Regent: I tried on a suiting essentials Regent in 38S. All I can say is yuck. When I looked in the mirror my first reaction was to just get it off my body as soon as possible. Let's just say the look did not inspire confidence. Here is what I noticed. The 38 jacket had the shoulders of at least a 39 jacket, maybe even a 40. They were hanging off my physical shoulder. The jacket had no shape. The jacket did taper down agressively. The Regent is a 7 inch drop, but the jacket had no natural waist suppression at all. I felt like my shoulders could have fit into a 36 Regent. I didn't want to try it tough. I just did not like the cut. The Suiting Essentials fabric, I believe is 120s with 2% Lycra or something like that. I could be wrong. The important thing is that it has the appearance and feel of 80s worsted wool with some stretch. If you like the SE line or Regent cut please do not take offense to my comments. I could see it being a workable option as an athletic cut. It just did not make me look good at all.

The Fitzferald: This ended up being the "Goldilocks cut". I bought 4 of these suits today. The only alterations we did were adjust sleaves to show 1/2 inch shirt cuff and we hemmed the pants to have zero break with 2 inch cuffs. We did no other alterations at all. The back and neck was clean. The Fitzgerald has a 6 inch drop (size 32 pants) and they all fit great in the waist and seat. The narrow, soft shoulder worked perfect on me. I liked the high arm holes. The jacket does have a slight bell shape, but still has really nice natural waist suppression on the sides. I definitely could have taken the sides in a little, but I do not like altering the sides of a coat. I have had so called fantastic tailors ruin the shape of a jacket, trying to follow my instructions. I prefer to buy the right cut now instead. So I did not take in the sides. These suits are very slim fitting but not too slim fitting. I feel like I could gain 15 pounds and these suits woud still fit great and hide the extra weight. I am really pleased with them. I think this cut is very young looking but still very professional.

After I got fit for all of the alterations and paid, I called Hector and he came to pick me up in may car.

It was really terrific to get out there today and buy suits that I know will look great on me. Thank you for reading my long thread. I know it is not much of a contribution to the board. The fits of these brooks suits are pretty well documented.

 

[Cedric]

Are you kidding me?
I dont remember last time i took antibiotics, but i have had Achilles Tendonitis for at least 5 months, i believe a pair of Nike Shox was at fault while working out on a treadmill, but i cannot remember. Honestly, i have been neglecting my injury.

I cannot run anymore without limping, i walk just ok, and my pair of New Balance 778 runners are the most comfortable shoes i wear.
It hurts like crazy when i get out of bed or walk barefooted.

Not to threadjack, but What does the treatment consist of? Which doctor did you go to see?

To stay on topic, i still am able to wear my suits.

 

[iroh]

 

[Closer]



Are you kidding me?
I dont remember last time i took antibiotics, but i have had Achilles Tendonitis for at least 5 months, i believe a pair of Nike Shox was at fault while working out on a treadmill, but i cannot remember. Honestly, i have been neglecting my injury.
I cannot run anymore without limping, i walk just ok, and my pair of New Balance 778 runners are the most comfortable shoes i wear.
It hurts like crazy when i get out of bed or walk barefooted.
Not to threadjack, but What does the treatment consist of? Which doctor did you go to see?
To stay on topic, i still am able to wear my suits.

I can definitely sympathize so here is some advice:
The reason the new balance feel good is becuse they are a wedge. The lift on your heel take spressure of the achilles. Standing flat footed puts more pressure on the achilles. The reason it hurts in the morning is because your toes point forward at night, effectively shortening the achilles. Then when you stand up it stretches it. If you want to resolve this buy some dorsiflexion night splints. They will gently stretch the achilles while you sleep. That may be all you need for such a mild case, but only a real good physical therpist will suggest it. You can actually buy them on Amazon. The best thing to do is to see an ortho Dr and get a prescription for physical therapy. They will do ultrasound therapy and make you do stretches and strengthening exercises. I have been in therapy for 4 months.

You can PM me for more advice. Good luck.

 

[a tailor]

my way of facing the morning.
before getting out of bed. i turn up my feet hard as much as possible, for 6 seconds.
then relaxing and repeating at least 6 times. this stretches the tendon and relaxes it.
if i miss doing this more than one day, its like driving a sharp awl up into the bottom of my heel.