HOF: What Are You Wearing Right Now - Part IV (starting May 2014)

[ShawnBC]

So what made you choose it? The shirt I mean.

You've taken the most conservative of suits, grabbed all the right accessories (except for the cufflinks), and then decided to put on a casual shirt. Why a shirt like that was made with french cuffs I don't know, but to casualize the look even more with those cufflinks makes even less sense to me in terms of coherency.

Maybe I'm thinking from too deep in the box (heh), but it seems to me that a charcoal suit is the box and that you can rarely pick anything but a solid white or blue shirt. I've seen one exception I really liked, which was @Cleav who wore a white shirt with a small dark grey check paired with a black grenadine.

Beyond that, I know you've gotten this feedback before, and also that you have lots of pre-SF stuff, but moving forward I believe less-structured shoulders, softer spread collars with points that sit under your jacket, and wider lapels are all things to work toward.

Please don't take any of that as anything but friendly feedback (from someone who has been guilty of every single one of the points I brought up). I think you're one of the most improved posters since you started, which wasn't all that long ago!

Please, someone educate me on why a grey check/gingham shirt is inherently casual? I mean, except for the use of French cuffs (I would've preferred regular buttons), the shirt didn't particularly strike me as inappropriate for this outfit? On paper, I understand the reasons, but seeing it in the flesh? I'm not particularly offended!

I like your trousers @colco , are they Luxire?

First time contributing to this thread, hi gents! Also, coincidentally my first time wearing a white tie. I don't have a decent picture taking setup at the moment, so the selfie'll have to do.

Eidos suit/shirt
Borrelli tie
old Dockers cotton pocket square that I cut the edges off and fringed myself

You can't tell in the above pic but the Eidos shirt is a really nice, lightweight, textured cotton. Better shot of the texture here:

We don't see white ties around a lot. I'm still undecided if I like them or not. Although the jacket/shirt/pocket square matching is lovely (still, I'm pretty sure someone will stand up and elaborate on why a white shirt is not the most appropriate choice in this setting).

Looking forward to more fit pictures from a fellow CDN!

 

[colco]

@ShawnBC, thank you, they are Corneliani for Polo

 

[EliodA]

Please, someone educate me on why a grey check/gingham shirt is inherently casual? I mean, except for the use of French cuffs (I would've preferred regular buttons), the shirt didn't particularly strike me as inappropriate for this outfit? On paper, I understand the reasons, but seeing it in the flesh? I'm not particularly offended!

I agree. Gingham shirts with a high contrast (like navy blue/white) or a non-standard colour (red or purple) are very much casual, but the light blue/white here looks ok to me. And I think gentlemen in the City wouldn't mind either.
What bothers me more in @SYCSYC 's fit , in addition to what @jcmeyer already wrote, is the really bad fit of the suit...

 

[colco]

I agree. Gingham shirts with a high contrast (like navy blue/white) or a non-standard colour (red or purple) are very much casual, but the light blue/white here looks ok to me. And I think gentlemen in the City wouldn't mind either.
What bothers me more in @SYCSYC 's fit , in addition to what @jcmeyer already wrote, is the really bad fit of the suit...

When I saw the fit, and jcmeyer's feedback I thought that is was a fairly typical British look of a somewhat strongly patterned shirt paired with a conservative suit. I do not like the shirt collar, I think the combo works though.

 

[jcmeyer]

More than happy to be incorrect about the shirt pattern, especially if it has something to do with regional tastes, but to me gingham of any color is a formality mismatch with a conservative/worsted suit - though especially with charcoal. Checks could be fine, stripes too obviously. Maybe really smalle scale gingham in the lighter contrast that @EliodA mentioned (that effectively resolves to a solid), but at that larger scale I just don't see it working. YMMV.

 

[Koala-T]

 

[ShawnBC]

@ShawnBC, thank you, they are Corneliani for Polo

Thank you for the answer!

I agree. Gingham shirts with a high contrast (like navy blue/white) or a non-standard colour (red or purple) are very much casual, but the light blue/white here looks ok to me. And I think gentlemen in the City wouldn't mind either.
What bothers me more in @SYCSYC 's fit , in addition to what @jcmeyer already wrote, is the really bad fit of the suit...

This was my idea as well (although I could be very wrong) that gingham and checks of high contrast or vivid colors very much more casual than their low contrast, toned down colors counterparts (very light brown, grey and blues). But this is simply an opinion, not a fact.

When I saw the fit, and jcmeyer's feedback I thought that is was a fairly typical British look of a somewhat strongly patterned shirt paired with a conservative suit. I do not like the shirt collar, I think the combo works though.

I was strictly speaking of the shirt color and pattern. I, too, do not like the shirt collar and the use of French cuffs.

 

[Seamless]



I want this tie.

 

[Mr. Six]

Isn't a gingham shirt with a conservative suit and solid tie a fairly standard London combo?

Casual today. Not sure what was up with the front of my coat.

 

[JapanAlex01]

A darker tie or a blue shirt would be better here.

 

[Lucan]

This is more my everyday look, white shirt and blue tie.
Kamakura shirt is on it's first wear, and I'm really pleased with it, but was too impatient to wash it before wearing. Do they shrink a little after the first wash? I could do with the sleeves coming up half an inch (I 'manually adjusted' for this pic).







Suit - M&S Sartorial with Alfred Brown fabric - dark grey herringbone
Tie - Lewin
Shirt - Kamakura
Links - Dalvey
Belt - Bexley

 

[SYCSYC]

So what made you choose it? The shirt I mean.

You've taken the most conservative of suits, grabbed all the right accessories (except for the cufflinks), and then decided to put on a casual shirt. Why a shirt like that was made with french cuffs I don't know, but to casualize the look even more with those cufflinks makes even less sense to me in terms of coherency.

Maybe I'm thinking from too deep in the box (heh), but it seems to me that a charcoal suit is the box and that you can rarely pick anything but a solid white or blue shirt. I've seen one exception I really liked, which was @Cleav who wore a white shirt with a small dark grey check paired with a black grenadine.

Beyond that, I know you've gotten this feedback before, and also that you have lots of pre-SF stuff, but moving forward I believe less-structured shoulders, softer spread collars with points that sit under your jacket, and wider lapels are all things to work toward.

Please don't take any of that as anything but friendly feedback (from someone who has been guilty of every single one of the points I brought up). I think you're one of the most improved posters since you started, which wasn't all that long ago!

Actually, I'm away from home atm and just brought with me a part of the stuff I own. I somehow need to think of what I will wear up to the end of the weeks and so may have made some choices that would have been better if I had all of my shirts available.
That being said, I have often been told to go more formal around a bolder piece, so it somehow seemed legit to me to mix casual shirt with conservative suit, PS and tie.

I want to add here that I thank you guys for your opinions and advices. This suit is an older one, but those I purchased recently meet most of the key figures that you suggest me to wear. And they indeed look good.

Quote:
Suit happens to be from TM Lewin, for what it's worth on the analysis

Quote:
Well, maybe you are right.
I'd say that the more it looks kind of plain from a distance, the more it could be seen as formal.

Quote:
I'm a french guy and I love french cuffs... You all will have to bear with it. And pointy shoes, too (although, I may reconsider this in my next purchases)

 

[EliodA]

@SYCSYC , whether your defence is successfull or not, you've certainly convinced the jury because your fit is on the front page. Congrats!

(where is the suit from?)

 

[sartorialscott]

New member and first post - so hi all!

Taking advantage of the sun in London today with light grey frescos and half lined jacket. New EG Laughtons on the 890 last.

Apologies for the poor quality pics but my wife refuses to fuel my narcissism.

 

[mcobinad]



Eidos suit/shirt You can't tell in the above pic but the Eidos shirt is a really nice, lightweight, textured cotton. Better shot of the texture here:

Looks linen to me. Like it