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How to dress well in CM without standing out too much

TheChihuahua

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Fwiw I think those are both good looks. By sheer coincidence, here I am in a grey linen suit and white canvas trainers, just a couple of weeks ago (shirt is a linen jersey polo):

View attachment 1673132

(That cafe is in the centre of Amsterdam, and tbh I think I stood out a bit. Maybe not too much. Not sure.)

I am not saying they are bad looks. It’s the incredible inconsistency displayed by our resident authority that is humorous.
 
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TheChihuahua

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Harry Styles also has some wild suits which I like on him but personally can’t pull off.

that’s a big thing that dieworkwewr doesn’t understand.
he loves what most 5-6 170 lb petite 20 something’s wear in an urban social or laid back work environment,
He is very critical of what many larger framed 50+ year old men wear in a professional setting

doeworkwewr doesn’t understand that what works for the first two photos here, might not be appropriate for the guy in the 3rd photo.

(2 looks dieworkwear adores)

(
FCBE7D39-E779-43A8-821C-5A81816ABDE2.jpeg

A884F2C9-3AB6-4DF1-8883-57D933DDF137.jpeg



(an aesthetic dieworkwear is very critical of)
4DE74D1D-3354-4614-A0D5-5B9E2B504A06.jpeg
 
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FlyingMonkey

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I find it interesting what people think they can or can't 'pull off'... I would totally wear that yellow suit, except I don't think it's my colour. I wore a unstructured blue and red ikat fabric suit the other day with a purple shirt (I am not saying that this is CM, by the way)...

Photo on 2021-09-13 at 10.40 AM.jpg
 

ValidusLA

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It's expected on rock stars apart from maybe grungy, Metal-types who have their own uniform. As much as an Edward Sexton white suit would seem cool to me there have been zero times in my life so far where I could have worn it.

Entertainers are expected to entertain and be in the spotlight so they can dress that way. Kinda cool but not for the majority of us.

I also don't think Jagger looks particularly good in those yellow suits. Its not particularly illustrative to throw a picture of a man up who was for decades maybe considered one of the top 5 coolest/most popular men on the planet, and draw any conclusions about what he is wearing. Put him in a burlap sack and a ton of people will think he looks cool/avant/laid back.

I do think Prince looks good in the yellow, but that cut and colors like that are pretty constituent with his style and just kinda worked for him (in my opinion). I also think Hendrix looked good in the velvet suit.

I agree though. Would never wear anything like that. I've looked at white suits admiringly as well, but I cannot think where or when I'd possibly wear one. In LA I'm sure I could "get away" with it, but pretty sure I'd just look like a douche.
 
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radicaldog

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older conservative business look

There is nothing conservative about that atrocious pocket square with decorative stitching (?) along the edges. The rest is hard to argue with and I doubt DWW would take issue with it, except perhaps for the boxy cut of the suit and the fake pick-stitching along the lapels (just an informed guess).
 

pasadena man

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I also don't think Jagger looks particularly good in those yellow suits.

I do think Prince looks good in the yellow. I also think Hendrix looked good in the velvet suit.

I've looked at white suits admiringly as well, but I cannot think where or when I'd possibly wear one.
As I have started to try to think about menswear more generally (as opposed to just what looks good on me), I’ve migrated towards not evaluating colors in the abstract too much. Rather, I think of them in regard to speciric skin/hair/eye tones. Some of the bright yellows and adjacent jewel tone colors seem unworkable for me personally, with my light, low contrast, coloring.

A lot of these colors more frequently work, to my eye, with Black (Prince, Hedrix, etc.) and some South Asian, among other, skin tones.
 

ValidusLA

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As I have started to try to think about menswear more generally (as opposed to just what looks good on me), I’ve migrated towards not evaluating colors in the abstract too much. Rather, I think of them in regard to speciric skin/hair/eye tones. Some of the bright yellows and adjacent jewel tone colors seem unworkable for me personally, with my light, low contrast, coloring.

A lot of these colors more frequently work, to my eye, with Black (Prince, Hedrix, etc.) and some South Asian, among other, skin tones.

Totally. One of my best friends from Kinder and my college roommate is South Asian. He looks badass in purple, yellow and orange. I look pretty bad in all of those.

I have a gala to go to in Oct at Annandale. Not BT... still deciding what to wear. Wedding at Descanso this weekend, haven't decided either!
 

dieworkwear

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Ozwald Boateng sells some pretty wild suits. I don't know how many of his customers are actually buying these jeweled toned suits, rather than your standard navy and grey worsteds. But his shop on Savile Row basically feels like you've gone spelunking in a jewel-encrusted cave. So I assume that the colors are drawing in customers and that some of them are buying the wilder designs.

There's a BBC documentary about him called Why Style Matters. It's available on YouTube.


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#AFRICANISM_Book21.jpeg
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ValidusLA

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Ozwald Boateng sells some pretty wild suits. I don't know how many of his customers are actually buying these jeweled toned suits, rather than your standard navy and grey worsteds. But his shop on Savile Row basically feels like you've gone spelunking in a jewel-encrusted cave. So I assume that the colors are drawing in customers and that some of them are buying the wilder designs.

There's a BBC documentary about him called Why Style Matters. It's available on YouTube.


View attachment 1673405 View attachment 1673404 View attachment 1673407 View attachment 1673408

Can look good on some in suppose. Pro studio shots obviously make it easier.

I would not recommend these to anyone I know in real life.
 

lordsuperb

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Can look good on some in suppose. Pro studio shots obviously make it easier.

I would not recommend these to anyone I know in real life.

Those colors work on individuals with a dark complexion. I would recommend for a night out on the town.
 

ValidusLA

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Those colors work on individuals with a dark complexion. I would recommend for a night out on the town.

Sure. The colors yes. I still wouldn't recommend them for suits generally.

I've had surprising success getting similar aged friends into my tailor, and most of them aren't pasty white guys like me.

Most of my darker complexioned friends who wear tailoring choose to wear shirts or ties in colors that complement their skin tone, which don't look good on me (lookin at your Hermes orange).

But none of them would wear clothing like that.
 

lordsuperb

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Sure. The colors yes. I still wouldn't recommend them for suits generally.

I've had surprising success getting similar aged friends into my tailor, and most of them aren't pasty white guys like me.

Most of my darker complexioned friends who wear tailoring choose to wear shirts or ties in colors that complement their skin tone, which don't look good on me (lookin at your Hermes orange).

But none of them would wear clothing like that.

I wouldn’t wear anything Ozwald is pushing but I do like wearing colors that aren’t typically worn around these parts.

Pink for the summer and purple for the winter.
 

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