Did you dress like an adult today?

[LiteraryBotany]

Today's outfit: Yellow and grey.



Did I dress thoughtfully? Did I dress with a sense of occasion? This was my attempt.

I don't usually wear three patterns together like this, but each is of a different scale and texture, so they blend into solids when seen from a distance.

Thoughts about the fit of the trousers? After a decade of skinny fit everything, I've been stocking up on full cut trousers over the past few years. I have slight shoulders (36R) and a "generous" seat (size 34 waist), so, to balance out my pear shape, I thought a straight legged trouser would be best. I'm starting to have second thoughts, though.

 

[Miles R.]

Thoughts about the fit of the trousers? After a decade of skinny fit everything, I've been stocking up on full cut trousers over the past few years. I have slight shoulders (36R) and a "generous" seat (size 34 waist), so, to balance out my pear shape, I thought a straight legged trouser would be best. I'm starting to have second thoughts, though.

Nice material. As for the cut, if you don't mind swimming against the stream, I don't see any problem. The broad opening is, of course, out of fashion now, but it accords with the wide lapels and wide necktie. Are they from the 1990s?

 

[jiredell]

Today's outfit: Yellow and grey.



Did I dress thoughtfully? Did I dress with a sense of occasion? This was my attempt.

I don't usually wear three patterns together like this, but each is of a different scale and texture, so they blend into solids when seen from a distance.

Thoughts about the fit of the trousers? After a decade of skinny fit everything, I've been stocking up on full cut trousers over the past few years. I have slight shoulders (36R) and a "generous" seat (size 34 waist), so, to balance out my pear shape, I thought a straight legged trouser would be best. I'm starting to have second thoughts, though.


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I don’t see a problem with the trousers, even if the going style is a slim fit. But I will say that—knowing you irl—you do not have as much of a pear shape as you might think. So I don’t think slimmer trousers would not suit you.

 

[LiteraryBotany]

Nice material. As for the cut, if you don't mind swimming against the stream, I don't see any problem. The broad opening is, of course, out of fashion now, but it accords with the wide lapels and wide necktie. Are they from the 1990s?

I don’t see a problem with the trousers, even if the going style is a slim fit. But I will say that—knowing you irl—you do not have as much of a pear shape as you might think. So I don’t think slimmer trousers would not suit you.

Thank you both! I think I will have these trousers tapered slightly and the hem taken up a hair, just to add a bit more structure. After a critique in our other thread, I'm concerned that several other pairs of trousers will require a similar treatment.

You're both looking dashing and handsome, by the way. I love your outfits in the main WAYWRN thread!

Should we continue this as a backchannel to the main WAYWRN thread? On the one hand, I'm glad to have a thread in which three academics get to share outfits without all the preening and hierarchy that characterizes WAYWRN. On the other, I realize crossposting gets tiresome. What might we do differently here?

 

[LiteraryBotany]

Nice material. As for the cut, if you don't mind swimming against the stream, I don't see any problem. The broad opening is, of course, out of fashion now, but it accords with the wide lapels and wide necktie. Are they from the 1990s?

The make is Hart Schaffner Marx, so I'm suspecting 90s or early 2000s.

 

[jiredell]

Thank you both! I think I will have these trousers tapered slightly and the hem taken up a hair, just to add a bit more structure. After a critique in our other thread, I'm concerned that several other pairs of trousers will require a similar treatment.

You're both looking dashing and handsome, by the way. I love your outfits in the main WAYWRN thread!

Should we continue this as a backchannel to the main WAYWRN thread? On the one hand, I'm glad to have a thread in which three academics get to share outfits without all the preening and hierarchy that characterizes WAYWRN. On the other, I realize crossposting gets tiresome. What might we do differently here?

We could talk about our outfits and I can admonish @Miles R. for not having read Orwell since HS, which I believe I read somewhere earlier.

 

[Miles R.]

We could talk about our outfits and I can admonish @Miles R. for not having read Orwell since HS, which I believe I read somewhere earlier.

I know that your intent was facetious, but I cannot let your equation of the name "Orwell" with "1984" pass without objection. As I stated in my post, I have recently read The Road to Wigan Pier, Burmese Days, Homage to Catalonia, Animal Farm, The Lion and the Unicorn, and other essays---far more of Orwell than most readers of 1984 ever read.

 

[jiredell]

Hahaha, yes, I'm just messing around.

 

[am55]

As for Orwell--honestly, I'm not so sure I want to teach him again. Rereading him was harrowing. While I understand why Orwell wants us to experience discomfort, the whole thing read like despair Appreciation in the end.

Spoiler

I have a different take, particularly w.r.t. his non-fiction (such as Road to Wiggan Pier). By highlighting one of many useful models of the underpinnings of the world - in particular the humans within it and their boundless complexity and interconnectedness - he allows for some degree of catharsis / metacognitive awareness/ a certain (Camus') Sysiphean freedom and embracing one's fate and living for the moment, what I believe you Americans call "mindfulness", and which Thoreau became famous for attempting to describe in his log cabin. To name one interesting idea, the yearning for school years in his analysis of Wodehouse shaping the reality and actions thereof. But surely it is up to the reader to despair, or be inspired and amused - and the latter is more common with Wodehouse, would you not say?
(is the unique emergent property of this thread literary sidetracking?)

Regarding your trousers I would vote against an extensive narrowing. You already dress anachronistically and distinctively and to yield to modern ideas (beyond practical considerations that is) against your heart would damage the impression, IMHO. You could optionally have a somewhat more extended shoulder to counter the shape issues you believe having but that is hard to find without expensive trial and error. It'd feel like txtspk in Victorian genre fiction. These things should be done sparsely and with purpose...

If looking at proportions it is important to be aware of the distortion inherent to photos taken from short distances and from small sensors behind wide field of view lenses (this includes looking at yourself in a mirror). You will get a less neat, but proportionally more accurate shot by having someone photograph you from ten meters (eleven yards) away and cropping the photo. We mentally correct for distortion in person but not when viewing photos.

 

[LiteraryBotany]

Spoiler

I have a different take, particularly w.r.t. his non-fiction (such as Road to Wiggan Pier). By highlighting one of many useful models of the underpinnings of the world - in particular the humans within it and their boundless complexity and interconnectedness - he allows for some degree of catharsis / metacognitive awareness/ a certain (Camus') Sysiphean freedom and embracing one's fate and living for the moment, what I believe you Americans call "mindfulness", and which Thoreau became famous for attempting to describe in his log cabin. To name one interesting idea, the yearning for school years in his analysis of Wodehouse shaping the reality and actions thereof. But surely it is up to the reader to despair, or be inspired and amused - and the latter is more common with Wodehouse, would you not say?
(is the unique emergent property of this thread literary sidetracking?)

Regarding your trousers I would vote against an extensive narrowing. You already dress anachronistically and distinctively and to yield to modern ideas (beyond practical considerations that is) against your heart would damage the impression, IMHO. You could optionally have a somewhat more extended shoulder to counter the shape issues you believe having but that is hard to find without expensive trial and error. It'd feel like txtspk in Victorian genre fiction. These things should be done sparsely and with purpose...

If looking at proportions it is important to be aware of the distortion inherent to photos taken from short distances and from small sensors behind wide field of view lenses (this includes looking at yourself in a mirror). You will get a less neat, but proportionally more accurate shot by having someone photograph you from ten meters (eleven yards) away and cropping the photo. We mentally correct for distortion in person but not when viewing photos.

Thank you for your critique. I take it as a complement that I dress anachronistically, so thank you for that. I think I'm going to have a few pairs of my trousers either shortened or tapered to correct their shape and add a bit of structure. The taper will be slight, since I find that I like the full seat. Some of these are trousers I've had for years, so it's about time I have them adjusted to my weight fluctuations. Not all of my jackets have a sharp shoulder like this DB blazer, so I intend the adjustments to be slight, that way the trousers will still be interchangeable with my other jackets. As you aptly put it, "these things should be done sparsely and with purpose."

As for taking photos at a distance: I use the self-timer on my phone (which, I'll add, is something of an antique from 2015, hence the somewhat fuzzy quality of my pictures). There are certain spots on campus where the trees shade out direct sun, and where I can balance my phone on a ledge. I try to head out to these spots when I know there won't be too many prying eyes about, lest my vanity be found out. On the handful of occasions when a friend takes a picture for me, the result is always better, for the reasons you point out.

As for the literary sidetracking: well, back in September I tried keeping the thread on topic, and seem to have done so a bit too aggressively, leading to the thread going quiet. So I'm all for literary sidetracking. I will only say that 20th-century literature is a weakpoint of mine. As I often tell my students, I've seen the 20th century. I'm not going back.

 

[Miles R.]

As for the literary sidetracking: well, back in September I tried keeping the thread on topic, and seem to have done so a bit too aggressively, leading to the thread going quiet. So I'm all for literary sidetracking. I will only say that 20th-century literature is a weakpoint of mine. As I often tell my students, I've seen the 20th century. I'm not going back.

I recommend Evelyn Waugh: a twentieth-century writer for those who loathe the twentieth century.

 

[Miles R.]

Ivy League with a bit of British Country Gentleman, I think? Brown and green. The tie, though very wool-like in texture, is of silk.

 

[LiteraryBotany]

Ivy League with a bit of British Country Gentleman, I think? Brown and green. The tie, though very wool-like in texture, is of silk.

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That double-breasted cardigan is fabulous!

 

[LiteraryBotany]

Today's outfit: Autumn Uniform.



Did I dress thoughtfully? Did I dress with a sense of occasion? This was my attempt.

As I often do, I took secondary colors from the tie and brought them out into the accessories: beige, olive, and blue.

The "autumn uniform" here refers to navy DB blazer plus everything in my wardrobe.

 

[Miles R.]

That double-breasted cardigan is fabulous!

Thank you. It is one of the many appealing items that Boggi Milan used to make, before it decided to shape its offerings around the tastes of eighteen-year-old boys. (Current featured offerings: "B tech" nylon; "jersey blazers"; et cetera. ?)

Today's outfit: Autumn Uniform.



Did I dress thoughtfully? Did I dress with a sense of occasion? This was my attempt.

As I often do, I took secondary colors from the tie and brought them out into the accessories: beige, olive, and blue.

The "autumn uniform" here refers to navy DB blazer plus everything in my wardrobe.

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Nice socks. I would call that shade of green "sage" rather than "olive." But the trousers look gray in the first photo!