Help This 'Style Newbie' Thread

[flipstah]

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

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

Just tips and ideas on how to dress effectively in an effortless manner. The previous replies are what I was looking for.

 

[Waldo Jeffers]

Just tips and ideas on how to dress effectively in an effortless manner. The previous replies are what I was looking for.

one strategy is to pick a color scheme of like 3 to 4 colors that all match (I like blue, gray, brown and green personally) and just buy basics in those colors that are all pretty interchangeable and coordinate

 

[Peter1]

I take it you are looking for MC casual style clothes to wear M-F. There are a few really good posters in the CM forum thread, and a lot of bad ones.

Two things about "work" clothes in an office environment: Fit trumps everything, and keep it simple. Work is complicated enough; you don't want to spend 30 minutes every morning picking out an appropriate outfit, then worry all day long whether you got it right.

It sounds like your work requires business casual, but on the more formal end. That to me means sports coats, collared shirts and trousers or well-fitting chinos. I'd nail down your pants fit -- as noted, your physique might very well mean MTM, and once you have tightened up the pant/shoe interface (little or no break, a bit of a taper), go for neutral colors (charcoal/navy/olive in three-season fabrics, either wool or cotton. Just go flat-front, medium rise, basic styling.

For shirts, I've noticed that a lot of yours are a bit long in the sleeves but fit OK in the chest/neck. That means, again, MTM, especially if you're lifting for mass. I'd go broadcloth, button down collar, not oxford cloth. in blue/white or maybe a tattersal, to start. But make sure they fit, no billowing etc. You could do a spread collar but it needs to be good quality to stand up if you're not wearing a tie.

Sports coats could be tough, but I think you could get away with unstructured/half lined/patch pocket. I am not a sports coat expert but as mentioned NMWA has lots of inspirational/aspirational choices.

I'd ditch the sweater unless it's a simple cashmere/merino v-neck. Just not an office look.

Your shoe choices should also be simple, maybe not as basic as a plain-toe blucher, but a norwegian toe would work, as would just about any sleekish broque boot, then maybe a black longwing. Stick with Topy'd leather soles or maybe Dainite, but no chunkier.

If this sounds like a boring recipe, well yes, it is. But well-made, good-fitting boring clothes are the foundation.

 

[Peter1]

Also...where do you live where you get snow 8 or 9 months a year? Antarctica? Northern Norway?

 

[flipstah]

Thanks @Waldo Jeffers and @Peter1 for the advice. I'll definitely work on dialing-in the fit right, especially with the pants situation. I have found a tailor to resolve my sleeve/inseam situation so it is definitely in the works.

Also...where do you live where you get snow 8 or 9 months a year? Antarctica? Northern Norway?

 

[noob in 89]

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

Just tips and ideas on how to dress effectively

People seem to be talking about a whole number of issues at once — but since you mentioned EG, it is, IME, a good brand for building a simple, worry free business-y wardrobe that can branch out to crazier things on the weekend. I wear their jackets pretty much daily. Everything unlined and easy (if it’s not wool, it’s probably in a pile on the guest bed). At work, they look good over a blue or white shirt and boring slacks; weekends, they’re thrown over a t shirt, fun shirt, crazy pants, etc. They can feel both versatile and unique.

Anyway, I think it might help to set (or articulate) more specific goals. Your work stuff is likely just fine or even better than average by, uh, US standards.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I'm not sure what to say about clothing to people awho say they've gained 2-3" in the chest from lifting. It's really hard to advise you to buy anything if your weight and build are changing, really hard to say 'concentrate on fit' when what that means is going to be shifting.

I think you have to decide on your fitness goals first. What's the weight and shape you plan on maintaining? (and please be realistic about this). Don't buy on expensive new clothes until you get there AND you have managed to comfortably maintain it for a few months.

This also makes a huge difference to the brands / cuts that you will want to buy when you do get to that 'maintainable' phase. For work stuff, you will probably have to look at MTM (well as others have said, it would probably be good to do this anyway).

For casual, well it gets harder the more built you are. A lot of high fashion brands are cut for 6' beanpoles with 28" waists. Japanese brands work on the assumption that men have narrow shoulders and hips. And so on... EG is pretty forgiving provided you know what fits you and keep on eye on the seasonal changes they sometimes make to the fit (e.g. 2016 AW was generally tighter and shorter compared to before or after). Same with brands like 18 East that are following that sort of 'vibe.'

 

[Reginald Bartholomew]

Yeah, seconding FlyMonk on the body change stuff. I had a great wardrobe I was very happy with in ~2014, then started exercising and went up a shirt size. This left me out a whole bunch of cool clothes, and it required another round of buying (but this is SF, a safe space, so I can say that while not being able to replace most of the pieces sucked, and it was expensive to rebuild my wardrobe, that partial reset was a lot of fun and my clothes got a lot more interesting). Finding out what your body's stability point is matters a lot here, especially with biz cas stuff, where fit is the difference between looking pro and looking slovenly. If you are going down the Japanese Americana path, you can layer and oversize and so on, and it's lot more forgiving, though obviously you're still better off waiting to drop serious coin here.

 

[flipstah]

Great advice, @FlyingMonkey and @Reginald Bartholomew ! I've been trying to keep a maintainable lifestyle and being consistent with my diet and exercise so I don't lose mass and gain it again.

This is great dialogue and appreciates the effort.

 

[troika]

Ok, I've got many thoughts. But for now, I'll just challenge the footwear idea. Either bring something awesome to change into while at work, or just rock it.

Here's beep:

 

[Peter1]

Good advice regarding physique. I lost a bunch of weight last year training for bike racing. Not sure I want to be that skinny again and am now working on gaining a few kilos and core strengthening. Waist size went down, thigh size went up. Bad combination -- nothing less comfortable than a waistband gap and too-tight thighs on suiting trousers.

Regarding EG, I would suggest you only focus on their sports coat style jackets like the Baker or Andover, but only in conservative fabrics, and ignore pants and honestly even shirts. I was thinking more like the LBM 1911 jackets that were popular a couple of years ago.