Help This 'Style Newbie' Thread

[flipstah]

Fair warning: this is going to be long winded.

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So at the recommendation of various SFers, I have my own thread for us to have a healthy and critical discussion with the Style Forum family.

My overall goal/objective is to have enough knowledge on the details of men's style so I can effectively present myself with no effort.

First, some background information.

When I graduated from university, my first job out of school was a desk jockey so I got away with dress shirt or golf shirt, and dress pants; end of story.

Style or appearance didn't take a huge precedence; just be clean and somewhat presentable.

However, my new position in a new company forces me to facilitate to stakeholders and be more public. That's where SF comes in. I googled style and this forum came up to which I became inundated with all style variations/lingo/nuances.... It's overwhelming.

I do review both CM and S&D forums regularly and I've embraced a more casual wear, which is not acceptable in my new position: business casual to one step down from 'suit everyday' life. So I have to be formal flipstah Monday to Friday; flipstah on weekends.

Right now, I'm throwing things on the wall and see what sticks. I dont want to do this any longer and want to be knowledgeable.

I'm still trying to figure out my style, and I'm appreciative of the help I've gotten from the forum (you know who you are!)

I *think* I have my casual wear down pat, but the business casual world is a new venture to me and I'd like to be presentable in a positive manner.

Anyways, I might be overthinking it but this forum has provided valuable advice that I definitely wouldn't have gotten elsewhere so I look forward to reading from all walks. Maybe we have built enough discussion points that another newbie can read this and grow as well. Or perhaps some tips on how you perfected your style? How did you know what works and what doesn't?

What I've learned here are:

- Don't take things personally as each reply has good intentions but various representations just like in reality
- Fitting pants are hard
- I have a sense of color coordination but not making it fluid; it looks like halves (does that make sense?)
- I need to get a full length mirror and I'm trying to find a spot in my condo with adequate lighting for that

Thanks for your patience and let's chat!

 

[Reginald Bartholomew]

Can you post something that is acceptable for your new workplace?

 

[flipstah]

Can you post something that is acceptable for your new workplace?

So the blazer combinations I posted earlier are acceptable. If it's acceptable here is a different story.

 

[Waldo Jeffers]

The navy jacket / gray pants one looks good to me

What are you trying to achieve?

if you just want to blend in in a corporate environment I would keep this outfit as your starting point and jettison the rest

all depends on your goals though and how much you care about the potential downsides of being primarily noticed for your dress at work

 

[flipstah]

So I don't mind being noticed at work for how I dress @Waldo Jeffers. I just want it for the right reasons.

I believe how you dress shows your knowledge to the world and it's one of the many ways of sharing that with others. A detail-focused lifestyle would also help in my career so why not live it in other aspects?

I want style to be fun and right now, it's frustrating. That's all

 

[dfagdfsh]

OK, couple things from a casual angle:

- try not to take pictures with your hands in your pockets, makes it hard to see if pants fit in the thigh
- I think proportionally you look a lot better in casual clothing with an untucked shirt -- the last fit looks the best to me, although I think the shoes are too casual (a nice suede blcher would be better, for example)
- I think the kapital ring jacket is a little aggressive for your wardrobe and (to my eye) would look better with similar pieces -- right now it's like very mall casual and BAM kapital ring jacket. I'd sell it.
- You need some better casual shoes. Black indy boots are nice, but they're tougher to wear because of how bulky they are (same with the Danner hikers) and how casual they are. You should look into some nice brown suede chelseas or boots. There's a middle ground between white sneaker and hiker.

now, specifically for pants:

- I think you're a little knock kneed which is part of the challenge -- it also looks like you have wider hips. to help with this I'd suggest a few things:

pants with stretch are your friend! it'll fit your hips better without having to size up

key to trousers/chinos fitting well is drape, i.e. how the fabric falls. thats why some of your pants look
awkward -- and some things that can help with that are: a clean break (vs. the half break you seem to favor) with a crisp crease, OR a heavier fabric. wool is also going to drape better than cotton, especially a rough milsurp inspired cotton which it seems your chinos are made of.

I'd also like to see how you look in something more tapered. it'll help clean up the ankle area.

How tall are you?

Could you post some pictures of posters you think dress well?

 

[flipstah]

Thanks for the detailed message, @Teger. I'll reply in kind.

- So I did have some suede boots in my rotation but where I live, we see snow 8-9 months per year. I barely wore them to justify the cost, but I do have some dark brown Chelsea boots that I use on my CM rotation. I like them a lot, but I can never make suede work...

- Funny how you mention 'mall casual'. As I observe more and more posts in the WAYWT thread, on both CM and S&D side, I've been doing the 'safe' way of upgrading my style. I like it, but I've realized that I want to step it up a bit and be more daring. I leaned toward Kapital stuff. I'm saving up for more pieces from them, so cross fingers I can execute properly. Maybe because I have two personalities (work self and weekend self) that I can't get it to work (extremes on both ends?)

- I am also focusing on getting less chunky boots to complement my style (selling my Vasque hiking boots to make room) so some black cap-toe boots may be in store. Or what are your thoughts?

- So I have been reading up more on fabric selection and observing what others have done. For me, what worked is that heavy wool pants (this grey piece you see in the photo reel). It has great drape and fits well to me. However in the wee summer months that we have, I'm not sure what to do. I have bought some heavy denim and that helped a lot with the casual fit but not the work side.

- So any break I have is unintentional and not my goal. I have gotten some heavier fabric pants but I'm just waiting for my tailor to recover from the flu so I can get them altered (28 inseam)

- I am 5ft7 and people I think dress well are @macjedi, @Zanification, @penanceroyaltea, and @KamoteJoe to name a few. Their fits just gravitate toward me.

 

[noob in 89]

Really, though, what person’s going to be like, No, it’s a Kapital jacket with mall clothing, burn it!... rather than like, Oh, cool jacket.

Keep it.

 

[KamoteJoe]

Thanks for the shout!

From my observation of your fits there are a couple of things I want to highlight:
- Your low contrast fits come off as more effortless and that's because similar toned colors are easier to match than ones on opposite ends of the color wheel
- Your strongest fit in my opinion is the ring coat one. I don't think it's an oddball piece since it's just a mashup of an M65 field jacket with an oversized hood and a peacoat button configuration. You'd be surprised at how many accessible pieces are made by Kapital. It's the loud ones that gain hype because Travis Scott wore them to one of his concerts. Their Ringoman coverall is a versatile piece with the Kapital details and I see these kinds of items working in your wardrobe

Some suggestions:
- Pant fits are tough to nail down. I say take down the measurements of your favorite fitting pair of pants (not too skinny or slouchy) and try to find similar fitting pairs. Try pants on in stores and find whether you prefer aggressive tapers or a slight taper. I'm guessing for you it might be the latter to accommodate for your chunkier shoes
- Some fits of yours don't seem to work because the pant and shoe interaction looks off. For example, sneakers wouldn't work well with pooled wool trousers but if you matched those sneakers with rolled up milsurp cargos, then you'd be in business

- I highly recommend you browse No Man Walks Alone and find inspiration in their lookbooks. Their buys are excellent because they cover CM-leaning looks and casual looks too

- I'm slightly taller than you and have an athletic build, you would enjoy exploring brands under the "Japanese Americana" umbrella. Their clothes are made for folks like us and what I love about their pants is they usually hit right by my ankles which is a perfect inseam for me. Some brands you can probably look into are Orslow, Kaptain Sunshine, Nonnative, Margarett Howell, and Engineered Garments

- @dieworkwear has an amazing "brands I'm following" column that got me started on my brand discovery years ago. You should read through his archives and see which of those brands sit with you

- I think if you want to improve your outfits quickly, try cuffing/rolling up your pants a bit. For us shorter folks, it gives the visual illusion of height and you'll get a better sense of how you should wear your pants.

Good luck and have fun! I wish I was still in the days of figuring out my style. I made lots of mistakes and weird purchases but but ultimately, that led me to this point.

 

[dieworkwear]

I like how that Ring coat looks on you, OP. If it were me, I'd probably wear the coat open. I just think outerwear often looks better when it's open, save for some designs.

For the blue sport coat, I think you may want to size up. It's hard to find ready-to-wear tailoring that fits. If you can afford it, No Man Walks Alone and The Armoury have good house labels. Otherwise, try Spier & Mackay or Suitsupply. Try to get a coat that has a bit more room in the chest and shoulders, and fits a little longer. Among the fits you posted of the ones you like, I notice that people's clothes generally fit a little looser.

FWIW, these are some of my posts on brands I've been watching. Some of these posts are kind of old, so the companies may already be familiar to people. I'll try to get another one up soon

Seven New(ish) Brands I’ve Been Watching — Die, Workwear!

In an interview with The Telegraph, Patrick Grant of Norton & Sons and E. Tautz once described fashion as being an “ever-moving feast.” I often find that the quick-paced nature of fashion – where things are constantly being created and destroyed – makes the field endlessly interesting. There’s...

dieworkwear.com

Seven New(ish) Brands I’ve Been Watching — Die, Workwear!

In an interview with The Telegraph, Patrick Grant of Norton & Sons and E. Tautz once described fashion as being an “ever-moving feast.” I often find that the quick-paced nature of fashion – where things are constantly being created and destroyed – makes the field endlessly interesting. There’s...

dieworkwear.com

Seven New(ish) Brands I’ve Been Watching — Die, Workwear!

In an interview with The Telegraph, Patrick Grant of Norton & Sons and E. Tautz once described fashion as being an “ever-moving feast.” I often find that the quick-paced nature of fashion – where things are constantly being created and destroyed – makes the field endlessly interesting. There’s...

dieworkwear.com

Six New(ish) Brands I've Been Watching — Die, Workwear!

Yves Saint Laurent was once quoted as saying, “I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style.” I wish I had that kind of singular focus. While I’m mostly interested in tailored clothing, my eye wanders when it comes to casualwear. I find myself...

dieworkwear.com

Seven New(ish) Brands I’ve Been Watching — Die, Workwear!

In an interview with The Telegraph, Patrick Grant of Norton & Sons and E. Tautz once described fashion as being an “ever-moving feast.” I often find that the quick-paced nature of fashion – where things are constantly being created and destroyed – makes the field endlessly interesting. There’s...

dieworkwear.com

 

[flipstah]

Thanks for the informative posts, @KamoteJoe and @dieworkwear. I extracted some great fits on your recommendations and I feel like I'm going the right way because I'm already a big fan of EG stuff (even got some of their collab with Uniqlo).

Another challenge I've had is I've been doing weightlifting recently and went up from 38 to 40-41 in blazers. That's why that navy blazer looks tight and looking to replace it.

As I look through my selections though, there are some common patterns:

- Muted color scheme
- Less blazers and more chunky sweaters

Meanwhile my fit today, I feel it works but it's also 'geography teacher' vibes. I found my tripod but lighting still needs work. My work lighting is way better.

 

[dfagdfsh]

much better photo.

pants and shoes are fine and work well, but they are very business casual -- which I assume you want because you're at work?

for dress shirts I would focus on simple blue/white shirts and blue/white shirt patterns -- and personally I don't like half zip sweaters.

i think the risk with buying expensive 'exciting' pieces when building a wardrobe is it has an opportunity cost of quite a few useful basics -- and the challenge with that is you have to wear something every day, and you don't want to be the guy who is wearing his boro shirt every single day cause its all he owns.

 

[flipstah]

much better photo.

pants and shoes are fine and work well, but they are very business casual -- which I assume you want because you're at work?

for dress shirts I would focus on simple blue/white shirts and blue/white shirt patterns -- and personally I don't like half zip sweaters.

i think the risk with buying expensive 'exciting' pieces when building a wardrobe is it has an opportunity cost of quite a few useful basics -- and the challenge with that is you have to wear something every day, and you don't want to be the guy who is wearing his boro shirt every single day cause its all he owns.

Yes it's my work vibes which doesn't give me much leeway unless it's Thursday/Friday then all bets are off.

I do have some solid blue/light blue OCBD for staple wear but I'm still looking to see how I can pop on the weekends.

 

[dfagdfsh]

Don't think about dressing in terms of "pop" - leave that **** to GQ

 

[ter1413]

Great coat...4th pic in the original post.

Outside of that, I have no idea what you are looking for in this thread.