Australian Members

[fxh]

Those Beatles pics are more than 50 years old*.

I think it still looks good - even if you wouldn't wear it now.

Narrow pants, high rise, narrow ties, highwater (ish) pants, short ish jackets - current.

Main thing that makes it look NOT 2012 is the Chelsea boots and hard 3 or 4 button jackets and almost exclusively white shirts..

*Poetic license - they are from '64/'65

 

[sliq]

@Gerry Nelson; great fitting suit. gaddamn you have massif hands!!

 

[Plestor]



Well it sounded like he had some basics covered with mid greys and blues (do you have a navy?). If not then sure get some more versatile basics

(yes)
Given he has

Mid grey
Mid grey pin
Navy (Possibly a shade light to be called navy but I'll give it the benifit of the doubt)
Black*

*Which hes mentioned he'd rather not wear.

I'd suggest that in this case basics would be the better option than 2 patterned/ textured suits in 4(5).

Seeing the Navy/Blue suit only confirmed my choice.


Even with more suits than this I'd strongly consider seasonality^ before I went off onto say checks (of any type).


^Obviously you'll get some texture here.

 

[Gerry Nelson]

Well it sounded like he had some basics covered with mid greys and blues (do you have a navy?). If not then sure get some more versatile basics

I've got a badly fitting navy suit which I've retired so for all intents and purposes, the answer is no

@Gerry Nelson; great fitting suit. gaddamn you have massif hands!!

Thanks! Yes, I've got big hands - really helped when I was playing the piano!

(yes)
Given he has
Mid grey
Mid grey pin
Navy (Possibly a shade light to be called navy but I'll give it the benifit of the doubt)
Black*
*Which hes mentioned he'd rather not wear.
I'd suggest that in this case basics would be the better option than 2 patterned/ textured suits in 4(5).
Seeing the Navy/Blue suit only confirmed my choice.
Even with more suits than this I'd strongly consider seasonality^ before I went off onto say checks (of any type).
^Obviously you'll get some texture here.

My preference is for a patterned odd jacket rather than a patterned suit. Anyway, based on its intended use, my gut feel is to go for a solid dark colour and add patterns in via the shirt/tie/handkerchief.

 

[Plestor]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Well it sounded like he had some basics covered with mid greys and blues (do you have a navy?). If not then sure get some more versatile basics

I've got a badly fitting navy suit which I've retired so for all intents and purposes, the answer is no 

@Gerry Nelson; great fitting suit. gaddamn you have massif hands!!

Thanks! Yes, I've got big hands - really helped when I was playing the piano!

(yes)

Given he has

Mid grey

Mid grey pin

Navy (Possibly a shade light to be called navy but I'll give it the benifit of the doubt)

Black*

*Which hes mentioned he'd rather not wear.

I'd suggest that in this case basics would be the better option than 2 patterned/ textured suits in 4(5).

Seeing the Navy/Blue suit only confirmed my choice.

Even with more suits than this I'd strongly consider seasonality^ before I went off onto say checks (of any type).

^Obviously you'll get some texture here.

My preference is for a patterned odd jacket rather than a patterned suit. Anyway, based on its intended use, my gut feel is to go for a solid dark colour and add patterns in via the shirt/tie/handkerchief.

+1 (with the edit, I don't even own a patterned shirt)

 

[blahman]



Those Beatles pics are more than 50 years old*.
I think it still looks good - even if you wouldn't wear it now.
Narrow pants, high rise, narrow ties, highwater (ish) pants, short ish jackets - current.
Main thing that makes it look NOT 2012 is the Chelsea boots and hard 3 or 4 button jackets and almost exclusively white shirts..
*Poetic license - they are from '64/'65

I have absolutely no idea why this forum hates narrow ties though. Is it because there is an over-representation of aging overweight people on the MC?

 

[suitedcboy]

That's odd, in my visits here my observations would be thate SF hates wider ties.

 

[fritzl]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Those Beatles pics are more than 50 years old*.
I think it still looks good - even if you wouldn't wear it now.
Narrow pants, high rise, narrow ties, highwater (ish) pants, short ish jackets - current.

Main thing that makes it look NOT 2012 is the Chelsea boots

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

and hard 3 or 4 button jackets and almost exclusively white shirts..
*Poetic license - they are from '64/'65

lol wut.

do you mean the atrocious doublemonks are todays chelseas? no?

 

[Henry Carter]



I have absolutely no idea why this forum hates narrow ties though. Is it because there is an over-representation of aging overweight people on the MC?

I'd say that thinner ties, and I mean under 7cm's are interpreted as fashion items and 8-9cm is more classic, hence why they aren't that popular. I wore some thinner ones around 6cm about 3-4 years ago, probably when I still read GQ rather than Monocle (or style forum)! There is also the proportion argument of having reasonably slimmer lapels if you are wearing thinner ties too and most thin lapeled suits are fairly fashion forward too, and not favoured on here.

 

[tobiasj]



I have absolutely no idea why this forum hates narrow ties

It's because they look bad

 

[Gerry Nelson]

+1 (with the edit, I don't even own a patterned shirt)

Agreed! I have one or two that I bought when I didn't know my preferences any better and they're still used but not as much as the plain blue and plain white shirts I have.

 

[sliq]

i think, each to his own. i have a mix of skinny through to classic sizes. otherwise we'd be drones if we all wore 8-9cm ties

 

[ColdEyedPugilist]



I'm thinking about a charcoal/dark grey suit similar to the colour of one on the left for my next PJ commission. Right now I have the following suits - blue, mid-grey, mid-grey pinstripe, black. The latter only gets used for funerals now so thankfully - worn very little (and I hope it bloody well stays that way!). The upcoming weddings I'm attending have made me realise that aside from the black one, I don't actually own any dark suits.

I've had the blue suit for awhile now and it's gotten a fair bit of use as a suit as well as separately. It perfectly fills a gap in my wardrobe and feels extremely comfortable. In fact, the only downside to this suit is that I like it so much that I may be in danger of wearing it too much. I even want to wear the thing on weekends. I'd even be perfectly happy wearing it around the house to be honest - that's how comfortable it is. It will be exciting if I can get a similar result but in a darker grey. Thinking back, to the process, what worked really well was to think about exactly what I wanted in a suit, let Tom know and trust that he'd deliver the goods. I'm pleased to say that he delivered on all counts.

I'd even go so far as to say that the blue PJ is the best suit I've ever owned.

There's nothing that I would change about the fit for the next one except maybe to try peak lapels this time.

Thoughts?

I think you're on the right track.

I'd just make sure to keep it quite conservative business dress, as dark gray is very much a sober conservative business dress shade. This means a welted breast pocket and flapped and welted hip pockets with dark horn buttons; not patch pockets, lighter horn buttons, or any other rusticating elements. I'd also go with a hardier Dugdale Bros worsted farbric and not an LP wool twill. Trust me, it sounds boring, but really it makes for a very versatile suit.

I'd do side tabs with the pants; no belt loops. As always, a pair of spare pants is recommended!

 

[ColdEyedPugilist]



I have absolutely no idea why this forum hates narrow ties though. Is it because there is an over-representation of aging overweight people on the MC?

From personal experience, I believe that the width of your tie (and for that matter, the width of your lapels) should correlate to the width of your shoulders.

The skinniest I would go is 6-6.5 cm IF we're talking knit ties. For all other ties, 7 cm is acceptable, but my ideal width is between 8-9cm.

Proportion is key, and all decisions concerning length and width should be slaved to it.

 

[Gerry Nelson]

I think you're on the right track.
I'd just make sure to keep it quite conservative business dress, as dark gray is very much a sober conservative business dress shade. This means a welted breast pocket and flapped and welted hip pockets with dark horn buttons; not patch pockets, lighter horn buttons, or any other rusticating elements. I'd also go with a hardier Dugdale Bros worsted farbric and not an LP wool twill. Trust me, it sounds boring, but really it makes for a very versatile suit.
I'd do side tabs with the pants; no belt loops. As always, a pair of spare pants is recommended!

Thanks, CEP. The trousers for the PJ suit have side tabs, brace buttons and no belt loops. After wearing this for awhile, I really do think it's the way to go.

Thanks for the thoughts - what you write makes a lot of sense and it's kind of what I had in mind but without the details. I think Lennier and CHECKstar have similar suits as well and that may have well been the reason my thoughts were heading that way.

In any case, I know exactly where I will be using this suit and that's guiding me in the direction you mentioned.