Conduit cut

[ct2272]

As a long time lurker I would like to personally thank everyone for their insight.

To that end I have searched the archives and haven't really found anything about this style, the Conduit cut.  

I understand the history (re: Anthony Sinclar / Sean Connery's early suits) but was wondering if it is still considered fashionable (in 2004) or should simply remain as part of the 60's.

Regards,
CT

 

[Thracozaag]

In my opinion, it's the height of elegance.

koji

 

[Huntsman]

Am not familiar with that cut...can you give a description, ct or Thracozaag?

Huntsman

 

[ct2272]

Sure thing. I found this photo on Ravis. Nothing came up on Google. http://www.mycustomtailor.com/fabrics.php?styleID=2642 Regards, CT Note: I am just looking for feedback, I am not making an advert for Ravis.

 

[Keith T]

CT2272, welcome aboard.

Probably not.....fashionable....to use your word, in 2004. But it also seems like anything goes nowdays. I do think it is bad in general for one to wear a suit about which the comment could be made, "That looks like a suit from the 60's", or "That looks like a suit from the 80's".

So I suppose the question then becomes, is the conduit cut timeless? And I think the argument COULD be made that it is. I may not be the best guy to make it, but if you are tall and built like Sean Connery circa the filming of Goldfinger, man, go for it. However, that cut is absolutely not going to work on a guy who is a boxy type or out of shape. And I think it would lend itself to a minimalist line of accessories, with the appropriately skinny ties to match the lapel width.

On a related note, there has been some previous discussion of the "flowback" shirt cuffs that Connery sported as 007. They seem like a lot of trouble to handle, but I've often been curious about having a shirt custom made to try it. Spike TV was showing Live and Let Die the other night, and Roger Moore was wearing a shirt with such cuffs in his first turn in the role also.

Back on point, I think conduit cut guys are probably born and not made. If you have really wide shoulders, I think the lapels would look out of whack, for instance. But gosh, Connery truly was the epitome of cool in those suits, and it could certainly IMO be brought back today given the right circumstances.

 

[ct2272]

Keith and everyone.  Thank you for the kind words.

I don't necessarily know if I'm built like Connery, but the shoulder to waist differential is 20 inches so I have a bit of a taper.  The minimalist commentary is very insightful.

Separately I do actually wear the "flowback cuffs" and have several shirts made that way.  I really like the look.  It is not as sophisticated as a French cuff but I feel is better than a regular 1 or 2 button.  Let me explain how I mean sophisticated because it can be interpreted as flowbacks being a "notch below" french which I disagree with.  I equate french cuffs to tuxedo wear.

My CEO has French cuffs.  Some internal candidates when applying for department transfers who have to be interviewed by him have worn French cuffs (when they not normally do so).  His comment has always been "They did that just to get points".  My office is 1 door over.  When he sees me in my turnbacks he never says 1 word. Turnbacks in my office are very stylish and unique.

Thanks again, folks.

Regards,
CT

 

[brescd01]

What are turnback cuffs and can anyone post pictures?

 

[faustian bargain]

direct from jantzen's site:

 

[Alias]

For further references to Connery's suit, there's a scene in Catch Me If You Can in which Leo DiCaprio is wearing one.

 

[jimboni]

Maybe the Conduit cut might not be for big men.

 

[faustian bargain]

...the case of the mysterious shrinking lapels...

 

[The_Foxx]

I think I've heard about this very style/ cut; there might be some pix in these articles, if you find them at the library. I've only seen one shot of the suits, which look just like Connery's Bond to me. Maybe someone could check this out at Bergdorf Goodman in NYC for us?

Feb. 16, 2004 TIME MAGAZINE
Thom Browne

By KATE BETTS


When it comes to men's suits, says influential New York City tailor Thom Browne, the skinny leg is in. Designers like Dolce & Gabbana and Ralph Lauren are waving so long to the slouchy oversize look, showing pencil-thin suits straight out of a 1960s Sears catalog. Even at mass-market retail stores like H&M and the Gap, the new style for spring is narrow jeans cropped at the ankle. The move toward the straight and narrow was launched in large part by Browne, 38, who favors what he calls the Congressman suit "” the lean look favored by J.F.K. when he was a junior Senator. Browne's $2,800 suits...


Feb 01 '04 Esquire

To look at his suits, you'd think that he was born from the meticulous tradition of Savile Row or perhaps that he's a descendant of the original nineteenth-century suit tailors of Abruzzi. But Thom Browne is neither. He is as American as they come. Born in Pennsylvania, Browne went to Notre Dame and even toted himself to Hollywood to try his hand at acting. But for the past seven years, clothes have been his calling, so much so that in an arena dominated by tailors from across the Atlantic, he has become the wunderkind of the custom-suit world, fusing the classic American uniforms of the 1950s and '60s with modern fabrics and accents. Make no mistake, his slim $3,000 suits are not for every man, but they are for every guy who feels young even if he isn't. Narrow lapels, beautiful grosgrain details, short-cropped sleeves, and pants best worn over bare ankles make his suits the most unique of any American designer's in years. New York's überluxury department store Bergdorf Goodman is even building Browne his own shop within its revered walls, offering men the chance to get measured for their own Thom Browne suit or simply to buy one that's ready to wear off the rack. "I used to look at pictures of my father when he was growing up, as well as the old JCPenney catalogs from the '60s," says Browne. "There was a sense of uniform that worked so well because men felt comfortable in it and it was predictable. Why not take that principle and update it with subtle but personalized detail, so that a guy can feel comfortable and creative at the same time?" And he's right. Browne's suits are masterworks of simplicity and custom nuance, distinctive enough to set you apart but subtle enough not to get you kicked out of the inner circle. Even if you're not wearing any socks.

 

[ct2272]

While I have a lot of respect for Mr. Connery's style in the early Bond movies, Mr. Burr's picture made me realize to just stick with the standard lapel size.

Thanks everyone.

Regards,
CT

 

[Keith T]

Jimboni: kudos....that picture just nailed it. I'm giving you a polite, suppressed golf tournament clap.

Foxx: seems like I saw some pix of those Thom Browne suits somewhere, and the models, or perhaps Mr. Browne himself, were truly wearing the suits sans socks, as the article that you posted here mentioned.....Shirt and tie, dress oxfords, and no socks. Plus, the pants were very short. And I don't mean short like in not enough break. I mean short like not even coming close to touching the tops of the shoes. Maybe not quite man-capris, but definitely high-waters. Other than that, it seemed like a reasonable facsimile of the old conduit cut. Whatever happened to less is more?

 

[Alias]

I suppose people with thin to normal shoulders can pull off the cut. Facial structure would also be important; I don't think men with overly square jaws and broad features can cut it.