Chalk (make that "Rope") stripes - I don't want to be a gangster

[thenewguy]

This suit was in the marketplace a while back and is now on ebay. I really like it, but I'm not 100% sure of how it would come off. Confidence in wearing something bold isn't the issue. I just don't want to come off like a hit man.

Any one have any thoughts and/or pics on pulling this off in a classy manner?

 

[GBR]

Then don't buy it then.

More like a rope stripe than chalk anyway.

 

[thenewguy]



Then don't buy it then.

More like a rope stripe than chalk anyway.

I will take it that you didn't actually read what I typed in the post. At least you gave me the term "rope stripe" to search.

 

[Balfour]

Accessorise with violin case.

 

[suitedcboy]

Don't wear a black shirt and a white tie and it won't be gangster.

White shirt and dark red or maroon tie would make a great look.
Light blue shirt with a nice tie in paisley or patterned in some manner would be great too.

 

[Mute]

Don't be silly. Plenty of non-assassins where chalk stripe.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Don't be silly. Plenty of non-assassins where chalk stripe.

Yeah, yeah, you just believe them when they say they aren't assassins...

 

[YRR92]

I have a chalk stripe suit -- charcoal DB, too. I don't think I'm likely to be mistaken for a hitman. I have the skin tone of someone wearing concrete shoes, though.

Your problem is not being mistaken for a gangster, it's being mistaken for somebody who, with a totally straight face, wants to look like a gangster. Now, I admit it. My chalk stripe suit has not yet seen the light of day -- it's seriously heavy flannel, and I bought after the weather turned warm. I have to admit, the slightly funny gangsterishness of it makes me like it more. It's sort of 100% awesome and 100% ridiculous at the same time. It's the Bat Out Of Hell of suits. Of course, I have near-infinite social/sartorial capital to get away with crazy stuff during the cooler months.

That said, the pictured suit doesn't push it too far. I think you could wear it without playing with those connotations, but you have the option...

 

[Kai]



Don't be silly. Plenty of non-assassins where chalk stripe.

Yes. I have a couple of chalk stripe suits. Love them.

 

[E TF]

^^Says Colonel Sander's bodyguard, like the ole' boy never asked you to introduce troublemakers to the deep fat fryer.

The stripes on that suit are too stark. A nice subdued chalk stripe would be infinitely preferable. I may be making this up, but I've always thought chalk stripes were called that because they looked like they'd been drawn on with chalk - i.e. have a soft, fuzzy edge, rather than a sharp line. This makes them more subtle. To my mind they are best as DBs, in which format I imagine them being worn by senior barristers or harley st consultants in hushed, panelled rooms somewhere.

Here though, is a picture of a paid killer (of sorts) in one -

 

[add911_11]



Worth a re-quote

 

[FlaneurNYC]

I don't think that's a rope stripe. Rope stripes look like ropes. They have an obvious diagonal "pattern."