How to stop overdressing

[smittycl]

I just have to add, that even though menswear has been evolving (or trending) more towards the casual for quite a while now, the opposite seems possible as well, or at least it's not impossible. For example, it could just be a fleeting trend, but the "old money aesthetic" seems to be all the rage now with younger TikTok crowd. Basically it's something akin to emulating Ralph Lauren catalog. I don't know how widespread it is, but it seems like quite a big change from how youth has been dressing in the recent years. Perhaps the whole trend and aesthetic is a little bit superficial, but it'll be interesting to see how the future unfolds.

I work in DC and still wear tailoring five days a week. Happy to dress up on weekends/evenings for a night out but have defaulted to safari jackets and overshirts in my off hours for the most part.

It's also quite warm here all year round now. Nice to have thinner, less structured garments.

 

[EricAlex]

I work in DC and still wear tailoring five days a week. Happy to dress up on weekends/evenings for a night out. I've defaulted to safari jackets and overshirts in my off hours for the most part.

Yes, I guess it probably varies somewhat by country and the workplace. Of course I'd say age matters too. I would imagine the dressing culture is a tad more formal in DC than in some other places in the US. I work in the legal field in Finland, and for a court day a suit is naturally the only accepted form of attire. During the regular working days it varies greatly, people could be wearing anything from sweats to suits without judgement. During normal days I generally dress business casual (perhaps more towards the casual side of that), unless the situation calls for a suit.

 

[JJ Katz]

Per the OP's actual question:
How would you feel in chinos/dark jeans + casual mocs/plain sneakers + BD shirt + sweater (when cool) but not a tailored jacket?
You can always wear more formal clothes in your spare time, assuming your social circle is less slovenly than your colleagues are.
That should be casual enough? Frankly if someone objected to that I would be ready for a bit of gentle push-back.

 

[bicycleradical]

When I first got into tailoring, I received occasional comments from the jeans and hoodies crew.

Now, everyone is used to how I dress. I show up to my performances wearing a sport coat and no one bats an eye anymore.

Roll with it.

 

[FlithyButler]

If your boss wears gym shorts to work, your boss, unless he works in a gym is a clown. End off, or a 12 year old.

Do you hunt animals on horseback for sport?

If not you have no business wearing a Sportcoat.

 

[TomTom]

Do you hunt animals on horseback for sport?

If not you have no business wearing a Sportcoat.

This is false comparison, but lets go down that road. Do you wear work boots ala Red Wings, get them off you don't work at a building site or as a lumberjack, do you wear a trench coat, off as you are not a WW1 officer, flannel shirt, off as you are not a lumberjack, tweed?, off you are not a Scottish 19th century game keeper. Gym shorts are to be worn at the gym, same with speedos , ski boots , or a fuckin GI. You would look like a clown if you worn a full Football outfit, a full baseball kit or a F1 overall. That is where gym shorts belong , in the gym.

 

[JJ Katz]

Do you hunt animals on horseback for sport?

If not you have no business wearing a Sportcoat.

seriously... Jeeves was a fictional character... Set in the 1920s...

 

[FlithyButler]

seriously... Jeeves was a fictional character... Set in the 1920s...

Are you not able to grasp the point being made; you know that's where Sportcoats originate from, right?

 

[FlithyButler]

This is false comparison, but lets go down that road. Do you wear work boots ala Red Wings, get them off you don't work at a building site or as a lumberjack, do you wear a trench coat, off as you are not a WW1 officer, flannel shirt, off as you are not a lumberjack, tweed?, off you are not a Scottish 19th century game keeper. Gym shorts are to be worn at the gym, same with speedos , ski boots , or a fuckin GI. You would look like a clown if you worn a full Football outfit, a full baseball kit or a F1 overall. That is where gym shorts belong , in the gym.

Er... so to prove me wrong you have decided to provide several more examples proving me right?

Congratulations on successfully arguing that gym shorts are equally valid in being adopted from their original purpose as any of the other mentioned examples have been (exactly the same as your precious sportcoats).

 

[TomTom]

Er... so to prove me wrong you have decided to provide several more examples proving me right?

Congratulations on successfully arguing that gym shorts are equally valid in being adopted from their original purpose as any of the other mentioned examples have been (exactly the same as your precious sportcoats).

SO you decided to completly ignore this part:

You would look like a clown if you worn a full Football outfit, a full baseball kit or a F1 overall. That is where gym shorts belong , in the gym.

Well done..

 

[FlithyButler]

If your boss wears gym shorts to work, your boss, unless he works in a gym is a clown. End off, or a 12 year old.

Nothing there to do with "full kit" (you only added that *after* having to try and argue the point), you even used the exact same epithet of clown again.

Well done on the irrelevant distraction from your perfect self-own, though.

 

[TomTom]

Nothing there to do with "full kit" (you only added that *after* having to try and argue the point), you even used the exact same epithet of clown again.

Well done on the irrelevant distraction from your perfect self-own, though.

A grown man wearing gym shorts to work makes him unprofessional , slovenly and disrespectful or just a pure slob, a man child. Unless he works in a gym or is a personal trainer ,an athlete etc..Than I apologise . Otherwise my clown statement still stands .

 

[FlithyButler]

A grown man wearing gym shorts to work makes him unprofessional , slovenly and disrespectful or just a pure slob, a man child. Unless he works in a gym or is a personal trainer ,an athlete etc..Than I apologise . Otherwise my clown statement still stands .

All I'm pointing out is these are nothing but socially codified and conditioned norms, and little if anything of any intrinsic eLeGaNcE in the garments themselves.

If you wore a sportcoat, back when they were originally devised and used (for sport, just like gym shorts), to eat in a prestigious dining establishment, you too would have been sneered at as "slovenly and disrespectful or just a pure slob, a man child" among the ElEgAnT people in attendance.

And what if *today* you walked into a fancy a restaurant dressed in the way those elite were back then - what would be the first word to instinctively enter the mind of everyone else surrounding you there? That's right, it would be "Clown".

Welcome to the circle of life, it is all just smoke.

 

[Kingstonian]

The standard fare of most women at the time, tights and a large sweater that went below the waist with Cinderella puddle hopper slippers for shoes.....sigh.

I still remember saying to this one guy, I was quite senior to this manager, just looking at him and shaking my head, and suddenly in my head that scene from "Arthur" just came out of my mouth.

"Usually one would have to go to a bowling alley to meet a woman of your stature." was the best line in that film.

I wonder what the butler would have made of 'The Big Lebowski' ?

 

[Phrank]

"Usually one would have to go to a bowling alley to meet a woman of your stature." was the best line in that film.

I wonder what the butler would have made of 'The Big Lebowski' ?

God I love that movie....thanks for the reminder, think it's time to watch that classic again.

Cheers and take care!