Ask A Question, Get An Answer... - Post All Quick Questions Here (Classic menswear)

[Kid Nickels]



I assume he is Sean Connery, from probably 50 years ago. I never much cared for James Bond movies, although the few I enjoy are almost all from the Sean Connery era.

I have no idea who the four guys in the other photograph are.

I agree with your previous post Michael... and I was joking... yeah, that's definitely Sean Connery.

 

[msulinski]



I do own these blazers already. My current suits are all winter weight.  Budget not strong enough to invest in a suit I'd really really  want at this time. I'm thinking 200 max.



The nuptials are in the morning and the reception in the afternoon to early evening. All takes place at an Italian restaurant.  California location

Formality is business casual( i think).  The wedding party is definitely formal.

 

Since most of the events are taking place during the day, I'd go with the light blue jacket. I would go with a very light beige for the pants.

 

[aravenel]



lol...and non-twat guy bears a striking resemblance to Sean Connery while the twat guy on the left looks like a Henry Rollins wanna be celebrity impersonator.

Yeah, that's because it is Sean Connery

 

[Archer]

I bought a couple of pairs of Slim Fit Smart Pants of ASOS as an experiment... pictured here is the navy version. Aside from the other stuff that is wrong - the pants are very tight around my calves and thighs, creating this bunch up effect. It gathers in strange areas. The break is fine, the waist is great, the colours are fantastic (first navy suit pants in my wardrobe).

Do I stick it out and wear them, and do they have a place in a classical menswear wardrobe? Or should I return them?

 

[E TF]

I have no idea who the four guys in the first photo are btw. But imagine them without tie clips - just a bunch of badly dressed guys, fine, no problem, lots of badly dressed guys in the world. That they all decided to add the little bit of man jewellery (at look-at-me eye catching height) is what elevates them to twatdom imo. Sean Connery manages to wear it in a way that doesn't scream "hey look at me and my tie clip, aren't we cool."

 

[mimo]

But also in a way that looks untidy and clumsy. Because it's pulling against his shirt when he moves and is neither holding his tie in place (it's bowing out from his body), nor serving any function as his tie is tucked Mr Bean-style into his pants . The four stooges are wearing their ties too short a-la-hipster, and Connery's is tucked into his waistband. Frankly, both examples are awful.

Fleming's James Bond also was a great advocate of short sleeved shirts and nylon Y-fronts. The James-Bond-As-Style-Reference thing is an eternal red herring. The "real" Bond was, like most fictional heroes, a fantasy of his author, who like many creative types preferred lazy slip-on shoes, easy tie knots (if wearing a tie at all) and loose, utilitarian attire. Hardly the SF-standard. Peter Sellers, John Lennon...two more examples of great creators described by their peers as "too lazy to do up laces". As for the movie Bonds, they have been just as susceptible to the whims of fashion, and more lately, sponsored sartorial idiocy, as any other media creation. One might just as well cite Don Johnson in Miami Vice as an eternal style reference. So just because Fleming's Bond didn't like windsor knots or proper shoes because they're time-consuming, or because Daniel Craig had a DJ with no waistcoat and a size too small. doesn't mean we should all follow.

The gentlemen (and I use the word loosely) in the other picture look awful for all sorts of reasons, mostly related to their awful suits and pretentious posturing, but also silly hair, awful ties and general hipster wankery. The only thing bothersome about the tie clips is that they all seem to match, giving a rather peculiar sense of boy band clubbishness. But for all that, their hideous ties are all perfectly straight and flush to the body. Sean's isn't. Then again, Sean Connery still looked like Sean Connery in a poly-cotton safari shirt and sandals. But it's all relative.

Personally, as I said, I don't really like tie clips an awful lot - really only when I have that short back blade issue, as I mentioned - in which case it goes in its most functional location.

 

[mimo]

Should I return them?

Yes. They don't fit. Your jacket also looks a little big for you around the chest: if you've gone for a slim fit, perhaps try a standard fit in a smaller size instead.

But your tie clip is in the right place.

 

[BossMoore]

Should I spend 80 dollars on these hangers?
http://www.butlerluxury.com/product-p/dmw-sh-1.htm
http://www.butlerluxury.com/product-p/dmw-su-1.htm
Or are there any good alternatives?

 

[inimitable]

I need some recommendations for spring/summer RTW trousers.

Current options are:

Tropical Wool from Howard Yount at £125
or alternatively
Local MTM in Minnis fresco for £295

Opinions welcome.

 

[othertravel]



Should I spend 80 dollars on these hangers? 
http://www.butlerluxury.com/product-p/dmw-sh-1.htm
http://www.butlerluxury.com/product-p/dmw-su-1.htm
Or are there any good alternatives?

I think Steve Smith (on the forum) is selling a bunch of Golden Fleece hangars.

 

[12345Michael54321]



Current options are:

Tropical Wool from Howard Yount at £125
or alternatively
Local MTM in Minnis fresco for £295

Start with the fit question - do the tropical wool trousers from Howard Yount fit you well? Is there a need to spend far more for MTM trousers for a proper fit?

Naturally, there are considerations beyond fit - fabric is but one of the more obvious additional considerations. But fit should always be the first thing to consider. Because no matter how wonderful the trousers, if they do not fit you properly, you shouldn't be wearing them. (And I'm talking about meaningful problems with fit, not trivial stuff which can be fixed by an alterations tailor without much trouble or expense.)

If the Howard Younts do fit you, then you have to determine whether whatever it is the local MTM trousers offer is worth an extra £170 per pair to you. And there's no real way for us to answer that question for you. Only you know how much you value whatever it is the MTM trousers offer over and above what the Howard Younts offer, and only you can judge whether you value it more than you do an extra £170.

I would only note that while MTM clothing can be very nice, on a purely "value for dollar (or pound, or Euro, or whatever)" basis, assuming off-the-rack fits you, off-the-rack will tend to win. It will tend to give you more than will MTM at an equivalent price point, in most cases short of the very high end of the price scale. If your body is such that off-the-rack is not a good fit - perhaps you have an uncommon physique due to obesity, weightlifting, genetics, whatever - then MTM can be the sensible choice. Or if there's some specific clothing feature you value, which off-the-rack does not commonly offer, but which can be obtained from MTM, well, that's the other big reason to go that route. But off-the-rack simply represents certain economies of production with which MTM cannot easily compete. (If it could easily compete, off-the-rack wouldn't exist, and all clothing would be MTM (or bespoke, in limited cases).

So, to recap -

How do those Howard Younts fit you? If they fit fine, great. If they don't, then that also suggests which way you need to go with this. If you don't know, because you've never tried on a pair of Howard Younts, well, then you're essentially buying blind. Okay, you're soliciting advice from others, which is something even if it's not nearly as valuable as simply trying the damn things on, so let's say you're flying half-blind.

Next, assuming they fit okay, tell me specifically what it is about those MTM trousers which you really value very highly, and which the Howard Younts cannot provide. If you can't do this, then again, your choice is easy to make.

Finally, if the Howard Younts fit you okay, but you can name specific reasons why you believe the MTM trousers would make you happier, ask yourself whether those qualities you value so highly in the MTM trousers would make you happier than would having an extra £170 (per pair) in your wallet. And again, figuring out how to go from there is obvious.

 

[Mr Engineer]

who makes Barney's in-house brand sportcoats?

 

[12345Michael54321]



Should I spend 80 dollars on these hangers? 
...
Or are there any good alternatives?

Many good alternatives exist. There are dozens (hundreds, more likely) of sources of quality wooden hangers of various sorts, ranging from Jos. A. Bank during a "Buy 1, Get 2 FREE!!!" sale, to amazon.com, to places like HangersandHangers.com and ClosetHangerFactory.com , and on up to Kirby Allison's HangerProject.com . Many of my hangers come from HangerClassics.com .

FWIW, my personal experience has been that it's pretty easy and affordable to find quality shirt hangers. Quality pants hangers are almost as common, once you decide whether you prefer a felted bar, or a "grippy" bar, or clamps, or clips, or whatever.

It's when it comes to suit (and sport coat) hangers, that it pays to really understand what you want/need and to do some research. For example, most suit hangers are about 17 - 17.5" wide. As I'm a big, broad backed and shouldered guy, and wear suits that are cut accordingly, I find that 17" isn't enough to best support my suits and jackets. So I bought hangers in a larger size. For some smaller guys, the problem will be in the opposite direction, and they'll want a 15.5" suit hanger, not a 17.5" one. (A discussion of suit hanger size issues may be found at http://www.hangerproject.com/blog/Suit-Hanger-Sizing/.)

'Course, if you need 20" suit hangers, make sure your closet can accommodate them. I've heard of one fellow whose closet had the... pole, you know, the rod that the hangers hang from... positioned such that a 20" suit hanger was just a little too big - the shoulder of the suits hung in that closet, on 20" suit hangers, would rub against the back wall of his closet. So he re-mounted the rod forward, by a couple of inches. A nuisance, but nothing more. Result? His suits now barely rubbed against the closet doors, when they were completely shut. The moral of this story might be "Measure twice, mount once," or something like that.

 

[Kid Nickels]

do Lanvins with the old CP-style sole from around 2008 NOT have the Lanvin-ringed eyelet on the first hole? Just wondering... Thx!

 

[E TF]



But also in a way that looks untidy and clumsy.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Because it's pulling against his shirt when he moves and is neither holding his tie in place (it's bowing out from his body), nor serving any function as his tie is tucked Mr Bean-style into his pants . The four stooges are wearing their ties too short a-la-hipster, and Connery's is tucked into his waistband. Frankly, both examples are awful. Fleming's James Bond also was a great advocate of short sleeved shirts and nylon Y-fronts. The James-Bond-As-Style-Reference thing is an eternal red herring. The "real" Bond was, like most fictional heroes, a fantasy of his author, who like many creative types preferred lazy slip-on shoes, easy tie knots (if wearing a tie at all) and loose, utilitarian attire. Hardly the SF-standard. Peter Sellers, John Lennon...two more examples of great creators described by their peers as "too lazy to do up laces". As for the movie Bonds, they have been just as susceptible to the whims of fashion, and more lately, sponsored sartorial idiocy, as any other media creation. One might just as well cite Don Johnson in Miami Vice as an eternal style reference. So just because Fleming's Bond didn't like windsor knots or proper shoes because they're time-consuming, or because Daniel Craig had a DJ with no waistcoat and a size too small. doesn't mean we should all follow. The gentlemen (and I use the word loosely) in the other picture look awful for all sorts of reasons, mostly related to their awful suits and pretentious posturing, but also silly hair, awful ties and general hipster wankery. The only thing bothersome about the tie clips is that they all seem to match, giving a rather peculiar sense of boy band clubbishness. But for all that, their hideous ties are all perfectly straight and flush to the body. Sean's isn't. Then again, Sean Connery still looked like Sean Connery in a poly-cotton safari shirt and sandals. But it's all relative. Personally, as I said, I don't really like tie clips an awful lot - really only when I have that short back blade issue, as I mentioned - in which case it goes in its most functional location.

Mimo, I just want you to know I think you're a fantastic poster and a breath of fresh air round this place. But I'm afraid we must from now on we must be mortal enemies because of this tie clip issue.