HERE AND NOW

[Clouseau]

Wherever we come from, wherever we are living, we had sartorial influences in our youth.

But there comes a time to develop our own style.

In this thread i would like to talk about a style that is contemporary without being fashion, with timeless elements.

A style that is your style, here and now.

Today, most of us wear casual clothes, that's why i start this thread on the SW&D board. But there are some time, some situations, to dress up, and we could discuss that too.

Be it casual or formal, the most important is quality clothing, quality shoes, and the right fit. What's your take on it ? What are your favorite items ? What is the next purchase you plan ?

I decided not to post inspiration pictures as i want to talk about you, and i would like you to post pictures of "fits" or items, that might contribute to show your own style.

Let's start ?

 

[Swampster]

Without wishing to curry favour with the OP's origins, my most consistent item has been the Breton shirt.
I know that I was put into stripy tee-shirts even when I was a toddler. Once I was old enough to buy my own clothes (early 80s), proper ones didn't seem easy to find. Even a day trip to Roscoff didn't pay dividends. In 1989, I spent ages in Dieppe trying to find one - then as the ferry left port I could see a shop with a whole load taunting me.
I then found a company in the small ads of a newspaper (or perhaps Priivate Eye) which imported them and I bought a couple which I still wear (luckily I bought big, so they still fit) and are in good condition. They have been supplemented over time with others - first from Normandy and then various other sources as they became more available. My favourite was actually a very cheap one from Poland - the way the material hung made it very comfortable. Despite the cheapness, I think it was 15 years of fairly regular wear before it was consigned to the painting and decorating garb.

The originals I own have a wide neck - almost a straight ****. I have no idea what the proper term is. I tend to prefer a rounder neck and have had some with a higher neck which I liked. Most have been the normal blue on white, but I do like the reverse where the white rings are narrower. I bought a couple of these from Uniqlo a couple of months ago and was pleasantly surprised. Whether they will last the 30 years of my originals is another matter.

Once in a while I will wear one under a jacket but I then feel like I'm in need of a yacht.

 

[Clouseau]

Without wishing to curry favour with the OP's origins, my most consistent item has been the Breton shirt.
I know that I was put into stripy tee-shirts even when I was a toddler. Once I was old enough to buy my own clothes (early 80s), proper ones didn't seem easy to find. Even a day trip to Roscoff didn't pay dividends. In 1989, I spent ages in Dieppe trying to find one - then as the ferry left port I could see a shop with a whole load taunting me.
I then found a company in the small ads of a newspaper (or perhaps Priivate Eye) which imported them and I bought a couple which I still wear (luckily I bought big, so they still fit) and are in good condition. They have been supplemented over time with others - first from Normandy and then various other sources as they became more available. My favourite was actually a very cheap one from Poland - the way the material hung made it very comfortable. Despite the cheapness, I think it was 15 years of fairly regular wear before it was consigned to the painting and decorating garb.

The originals I own have a wide neck - almost a straight ****. I have no idea what the proper term is. I tend to prefer a rounder neck and have had some with a higher neck which I liked. Most have been the normal blue on white, but I do like the reverse where the white rings are narrower. I bought a couple of these from Uniqlo a couple of months ago and was pleasantly surprised. Whether they will last the 30 years of my originals is another matter.

Once in a while I will wear one under a jacket but I then feel like I'm in need of a yacht.

i like that Swampster ! I do own a couple of breton shirts, but not the yacht yet !
Welcome to the thread !

 

[Swampster]

Somewhere I have a picture of myself on the boat to Capri rather hamming it up with full-on catalogue pose and jumper tied around the shoulders

 

[Clouseau]

Somewhere I have a picture of myself on the boat to Capri rather hamming it up with full-on catalogue pose and jumper tied around the shoulders

That would be great if you could post it (if you can put your hands on it).

I want you guys to show us your own style.

 

[Mr Knightley]

Wherever we come from, wherever we are living, we had sartorial influences in our youth.

But there comes a time to develop our own style.

In this thread i would like to talk about a style that is contemporary without being fashion, with timeless elements.

A style that is your style, here and now.

Today, most of us wear casual clothes, that's why i start this thread on the SW&D board. But there are some time, some situations, to dress up, and we could discuss that too.

Be it casual or formal, the most important is quality clothing, quality shoes, and the right fit. What's your take on it ? What are your favorite items ? What is the next purchase you plan ?

I decided not to post inspiration pictures as i want to talk about you, and i would like you to post pictures of "fits" or items, that might contribute to show your own style.

Let's start ?

Nice one, Inspector! I hope to contribute soon.

I wish the new project success.

 

[am55]

Don't have many rules but one that has pretty much cemented itself is no jeans. A few years ago I realised it was OK to wear chinos or linen or wool pants, they breathed better, were lighter, warmer, more versatile, shaped better, etc. In tropical heat, they're particularly heavy and humidity trapping.

Another "rule" is blending into the context, I don't have a standard style but rather a palette that evolves depending on the place I'm in. This does make it trickier to keep a steady packing list.

Despite sharing origin with Clouseau I never wear the Breton shirt, many in my family do but there's something hypnotic about those stripes. For the same reason my ropestripe DB suit has mostly stayed in the closet, accumulating only tailoring alteration bills.

Love the Meermin unlined loafers and despite having filled two shoe cabinets, always revert back to those. Right shape, right colours, right simplicity, right comfort.

Mostly negative rules because I am always tempted to go wild, to buy stuff I won't wear, etc. You've heard it all before.

 

[am55]

Another negative rule is avoiding being too close to the rules. Not sprezz mind you, but more of a being aware of what is the "right" way to do something and deliberately ignoring it to instead pick a contemporary idea, to draw less attention.

For example I like my trousers with a clean straight line front and back, but that much volume is... difficult in 2020. So I reluctantly bought some suits with a more "modern" styling.

Another one is never wearing blazers anymore, I'm thinking of swapping all the brass and silver buttons on mine for corozo or some dark horn of sorts. There's a distinctly Harry Enfield "I'm considerably richer than yew" feel to wearing them outside the UK or sailing/rowing clubs.

Love dandies and artists (of the fashion kind) but I'm neither so...

 

[Clouseau]

Don't have many rules but one that has pretty much cemented itself is no jeans. A few years ago I realised it was OK to wear chinos or linen or wool pants, they breathed better, were lighter, warmer, more versatile, shaped better, etc. In tropical heat, they're particularly heavy and humidity trapping.

Another "rule" is blending into the context, I don't have a standard style but rather a palette that evolves depending on the place I'm in. This does make it trickier to keep a steady packing list.

Despite sharing origin with Clouseau I never wear the Breton shirt, many in my family do but there's something hypnotic about those stripes. For the same reason my ropestripe DB suit has mostly stayed in the closet, accumulating only tailoring alteration bills.

Love the Meermin unlined loafers and despite having filled two shoe cabinets, always revert back to those. Right shape, right colours, right simplicity, right comfort.

Mostly negative rules because I am always tempted to go wild, to buy stuff I won't wear, etc. You've heard it all before.

Speaking of Breton shirt my friend, i wear the plain Navy one, not the striped version.

 

[am55]

On that topic I heard a possibly apocryphal story about Star Wars which was that Lucas' wife did some cutting on the original trilogy, holding him back from going full crazy. The success allowed him the might to say no to such censorship (maybe she left by then? - I'm not good on celeb bios) and so the prequels were Lucas with unlimited budget and no editing, with the results we know.

And looking back, individually, each frame of the prequels was stunning. He came up with not one but two architectural styles for a planet, had fascinating ships, etc. - right out of my dreams when I was about 7. Catapults with purple glow balls! It was just too much, all squashed together into 3x1.5 hours.

The same problem plagues the Valerian movie, which is, amazingly, less crazy than its source material. I actually quite like it on reflection but the sales spoke for themselves. It does not help that Valerian inspired Star Wars, making the ideas in the former feel like plagiarism due to the pervasiveness of the latter in popular culture today.

 

[Clouseau]

On that topic I heard a possibly apocryphal story about Star Wars which was that Lucas' wife did some cutting on the original trilogy, holding him back from going full crazy. The success allowed him the might to say no to such censorship (maybe she left by then? - I'm not good on celeb bios) and so the prequels were Lucas with unlimited budget and no editing, with the results we know.

And looking back, individually, each frame of the prequels was stunning. He came up with not one but two architectural styles for a planet, had fascinating ships, etc. - right out of my dreams when I was about 7. Catapults with purple glow balls! It was just too much, all squashed together into 3x1.5 hours.

The same problem plagues the Valerian movie, which is, amazingly, less crazy than its source material. I actually quite like it on reflection but the sales spoke for themselves. It does not help that Valerian inspired Star Wars, making the ideas in the former feel like plagiarism due to the pervasiveness of the latter in popular culture today.

If i follow you well, you mean that Lucas could develop more his "own style" on the prequels, but that it can be double-edged ? Sure, we also have some doubtful experiments sometime on SF.

 

[Kingstonian]

Without wishing to curry favour with the OP's origins, my most consistent item has been the Breton shirt.
I know that I was put into stripy tee-shirts even when I was a toddler. Once I was old enough to buy my own clothes (early 80s), proper ones didn't seem easy to find. Even a day trip to Roscoff didn't pay dividends. In 1989, I spent ages in Dieppe trying to find one - then as the ferry left port I could see a shop with a whole load taunting me.
I then found a company in the small ads of a newspaper (or perhaps Priivate Eye) which imported them and I bought a couple which I still wear (luckily I bought big, so they still fit) and are in good condition. They have been supplemented over time with others - first from Normandy and then various other sources as they became more available. My favourite was actually a very cheap one from Poland - the way the material hung made it very comfortable. Despite the cheapness, I think it was 15 years of fairly regular wear before it was consigned to the painting and decorating garb.

The originals I own have a wide neck - almost a straight ****. I have no idea what the proper term is. I tend to prefer a rounder neck and have had some with a higher neck which I liked. Most have been the normal blue on white, but I do like the reverse where the white rings are narrower. I bought a couple of these from Uniqlo a couple of months ago and was pleasantly surprised. Whether they will last the 30 years of my originals is another matter.

Once in a while I will wear one under a jacket but I then feel like I'm in need of a yacht.

))
Breton shirts are not for me I’m afraid. Too many associations with arty types like Picasso. Arty types then have poseur possibilities. Breton shirts look nice on women though, as none of the above applies.

I was interested to see that Breton onion sellers, who wore these shirts as well as French navy types, could speak Welsh more easily than English as the Breton language is closely related to Welsh.

 

[Clouseau]

It is interesting that @Swampster first mentioned the Breton shirts, as the navy ones are really part of my own style, and one of the rare French item in my possession (i mainly wear Brit, American, Japanese stuff).



I just took a picture of the two I own, with the distinctive buttoning on the shoulder. They are very authentic, both were bought in Brittany. The one on the left in Quiberon, the one on the right in the Ile de Batz (Batz Island), a very small island were you can only go by the sea on certain days, as the sea is very dangerous there. There is only one shop on the all island, where they sell almost everything and where i got this pull-over something like 30 years ago. Those are normally sold to the local fishermen, and are really robust.

 

[Swampster]

))
Breton shirts are not for me I’m afraid. Too many associations with arty types like Picasso. Arty types then have poseur possibilities. Breton shirts look nice on women though, as none of the above applies.

I was interested to see that Breton onion sellers, who wore these shirts as well as French navy types, could speak Welsh more easily than English as the Breton language is closely related to Welsh.

I suppose my Cornish fishing smock would definitely be beyond the pale then! In my defence, I do teach art sometimes, so it is practical.

The woman’s version is certainly very common these days- it so happens that my wife and Diane Keaton are each wearing them as I type. One of them is on television but I’m not saying which.

The whole Welsh/Cornish/Breton link is certainly interesting - Cornwall and Brittany both get called little Britain (so no more viewing them on Netflix)

I think the proper button shoulder ones look better like that in the solid blue. I don’t think I could carry it off in a stripy one though I did look at one at TK Maxx just before the lockdown.

 

[Kingstonian]

It is interesting that @Swampster first mentioned the Breton shirts, as the navy ones are really part of my own style, and one of the rare French item in my possession (i mainly wear Brit, American, Japanese stuff).

View attachment 1409548

I just took a picture of the two I own, with the distinctive buttoning on the shoulder. They are very authentic, both were bought in Brittany. The one on the left in Quiberon, the one on the right in the Ile de Batz (Batz Island), a very small island were you can only go by the sea on certain days, as the sea is very dangerous there. There is only one shop on the all island, where they sell almost everything and where i got this pull-over something like 30 years ago. Those are normally sold to the local fishermen, and are really robust.

Solid colour takes the curse off it and it has provenance too.

I keep looking at submariner sweaters but I am not sure I would actually wear one much. They would be too warm for most indoor occasions. I think I mostly like the history.

I would also like a top quality Scottish cashmere V neck. It would be costly and there are moth worries but there would be more opportunities to wear one than the submariner.