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Hey. I'm Drew.

Drew Rocker

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Hey. I'm Drew. I'm an architect in Portland, though mostly I work in San Francisco. 60 though I imagine young-looking.

Men's fashion has always been important to me just for the love of it. Suddenly I hit my stride professionally and it matters a lot.

I've lost 35 lbs. since Septermber 1. At this rate I'll be down to 150 lbs. by April. That's skinny for 6'-0" but right for me. I inventoried my suit collection and realized I'm about to donate $30 K. I found styleforum.com by asking if baggy trousers could be narrowed. I'm encouraged by the moderators' responses to someone else. I'll find a way to return the favor, I promise. The bigger question is whether the jackets can be cut down, too. I'll lose at least one shoulder size. This has nothing to do with saving money. It's about making a fantasy come true. As far as I'm concerned the tailor can disassemble the suits and cut new from the fabric. Certainly the Armani's which are all about fabric. Portland has one or two really nice men's clothes shops, so I'm hoping a local is up to it. If not, I'll take it to San Francisco. Otherwise I restart.

This feels a little like going back into the dating market after awhile.

When I get where I'm going I'd love to meet other style-conscious guys. If it matters, I'm gay.

I'm not just into suits. I'm into style.
 

Harold falcon

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I usually like to mock new members, but I think you deserve a pass. You'll find many of the answers to your questions in the Classic Menswear sub-forum. Avoid Streetwear and Denim like the plague. Once you post like 20 or 30 times you get access to a few more sub-forums. If you value your sanity stay out of Current Events.

EDIT - Oh, and congrats on the weight loss.
 
Last edited:

Journeyman

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I've lost 35 lbs. since Septermber 1. At this rate I'll be down to 150 lbs. by April. That's skinny for 6'-0" but right for me. I inventoried my suit collection and realized I'm about to donate $30 K. I found styleforum.com by asking if baggy trousers could be narrowed. I'm encouraged by the moderators' responses to someone else. I'll find a way to return the favor, I promise. The bigger question is whether the jackets can be cut down, too. I'll lose at least one shoulder size. This has nothing to do with saving money. It's about making a fantasy come true. As far as I'm concerned the tailor can disassemble the suits and cut new from the fabric. Certainly the Armani's which are all about fabric. Portland has one or two really nice men's clothes shops, so I'm hoping a local is up to it. If not, I'll take it to San Francisco. Otherwise I restart.

Congrats on the weight loss - just make sure that you keep it off, rather than starting to let the pounds creep on again over time!

With regard to getting your suit jackets re-cut, it's not going to be easy, nor cheap. When you lose that much weight, you'll most likely go down by a couple of suits sizes and so it will be difficult to recut your jackets and trousers to have them fit you properly.

The problem, when altering jackets and trousers that much, is that they're originally made for, say, a size 44/54 or 46/56. So, when a tailor tries to cut them down to a smaller size, the pockets and patterns will quite possibly end up looking "off" - pockets will be brought in so that they are too close together, or patterns will no longer match once the fabric's been trimmed down.

Also, if you need to get the shoulders of your jackets adjusted, the tailor will need to detach the sleeves, re-cut the armhole, and then re-attach the sleeves. That is one of the most expensive alterations that you can have done and that alone will quite possibly cost a couple of hundreds dollars or more per jacket and most tailors don't like doing it because it's difficult, time-consuming and the shoulders sometimes don't look or sit quite right afterwards.

In all honesty, while I realise that you like your suits or jackets, it would most likely be far easier, and probably not that much more expensive, to simply start again.
 

Drew Rocker

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Thanks so much for responding thoughtfully. I reluctantly reached the same conclusion from older posts, but now I understand why there's no working around it. I'm already down from 44 to 42. Under the circumstances I decline to feel bad about it.

Fortunately I've forgotten what it's like to eat dinner.

Cheers.

Drew
 

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