Sartorial integrity

[sloaney]

I like the American ivy league/trad/preppy look for its simplicity, casualness and purity. It also has lots of conotations of social and moral superiority, whether real or imagined. And it brings back warm memories of the times I spent in college where everyone more or less dressed the same and agreed on certain standards of beauty and deportment.....i.e. if you dressed hip, trendy, grunge or whatever, you were not exactly hated but people will wonder why don't you dress "nice"..... and since I'm an intellectual person (I feel "at home" in libraries and colleges), this look more than any other I think really shows who I am.

On the other hand it is quite dashing to go about town in a spread collar shirt, brown cord jacket, jeans and a bright striped scarf worn around the neck .... a very popular casual English look. The London "City" look, the spread collar business shirt, is the correct way to dress in modern international business settings (as opposed to oxford cloth button downs).

.... then there's the charming, understated, quiet and luxurious elegance of Italian clothes.

I think it is not consistent to mix and match these styles or alternate between them..... which style have you chosen to adopt and why?

 

[VMan]

I like minimal style. Jil Sander, Helmut Lang, Hussein Chalayan, etc. Clean, well-designed, simple pieces of high quality and craftsmanship. I think this works best with my personality and general aesthetic.

I also like to wear some of the high-end English and Italian items - they present a very relaxed yet structured European vibe, and also work well due to textures and patterns and such.

I also have some wild, LSD-Dandy sort of items. I like to wear them under more subdued items for contrast - for instance, a lime green, yellow, white, and hot pink floral spread collar shirt under a dark brownish-olive wool sweater with a pair of dark jeans, ankle boots, and a slim navy jacket.

 

[Will]

60% English, 20% prep and 20% Neapolitan.

I think it's fine to mix and match. For example, the English climate did little to stimulate thinking about hot weather clothing. So it's much easier to get an unlined summer suit in Naples than in London.

 

[LARon]

Originally Posted by Will

60% English, 20% prep and 20% Neapolitan.

Slightly different mix: 60% English, 30% Italian, 10% trad/prep (mostly sweaters and bow ties)

 

[Cantabrigian]

Originally Posted by sloaney

I think it is not consistent to mix and match these styles or alternate between them.....

I'd much rather be consistently dressed for the situation than consistently dressed in the same style.

If anything, I think it's a mark of sophistication as a clotheshorse to be able to employ different styles to your advantage, rather than simply the appropriate version of one style for each situation.

 

[sloaney]

i've been thinking about this for a while, and already planning on how to put some of my year-end bonus money to work..... realistically i don't think i could show up wearing oxfords/khakis/penny loafers one day and when spread collar shirts/wool pants/ralph lauren mckays

yes, it will seem that i am very versatile with clothes and know the rules of style, etc.... but that is not really my purpose. my purpose is to develop some sartorial integrity and use clothes to cultivate my personality, which should have some consistency, don't you think?

 

[Get Smart]

your clothes shouldnt be cultivating your personality, it should be the other way around.

"sartorial integrity"....that's an odd phrase. Unless you belong to some kind of subculture with a very distinct attitude towards dressing, what values are you showing integrity towards? The values of middle management corporate types throughout modern history???

 

[Cantabrigian]

Originally Posted by sloaney

i've been thinking about this for a while, and already planning on how to put some of my year-end bonus money to work..... realistically i don't think i could show up wearing oxfords/khakis/penny loafers one day and when spread collar shirts/wool pants/ralph lauren mckays

yes, it will seem that i am very versatile with clothes and know the rules of style, etc.... but that is not really my purpose. my purpose is to develop some sartorial integrity and use clothes to cultivate my personality, which should have some consistency, don't you think?
I should have been more specific. I can see having a similar style for work everyday, though I think that most people's jobs put them in a wide enough variety of situations as to justify different styles. For instance, I could see a drape fan wearing A&S for internal meetings but something more Roman or Huntsman to see clients.

And I definitely don't think the style you employ at work should necessarily determine what you wear after hours, etc.

 

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

your clothes shouldnt be cultivating your personality, it should be the other way around.

"sartorial integrity"....that's an odd phrase. Unless you belong to some kind of subculture with a very distinct attitude towards dressing, what values are you showing integrity towards? The values of middle management corporate types throughout modern history???

I am with you on this Jason. I am not sure I even understand what is being discussed here

. Style is something that just grows organically (for lack of a better descriptor) for me. Sure, when I was a (boy) scout, when I was at school and while in the army I had to wear very specific things, But other than that I don't know what to say here.

 

[sloaney]

well it seems to me looking around the office most people whether they realize it or not, and regardless of whether they dress well or not, do dress in the same style every day.

 

[Cantabrigian]

Originally Posted by sloaney

well it seems to me looking around the office most people whether they realize it or not, and regardless of whether they dress well or not, do dress in the same style every day.

In that case, I think you should make your own kinda music and sing your own special song. Make your own kinda music even if nobody else sings along.

I can't wait for Lost to start back up...

 

[Get Smart]

Originally Posted by sloaney

whether they realize it or not....do dress in the same style every day.

as do most guys on this forum.

 

[kitonbrioni]

This just seems to be another way of saying, that most forum members have developed or are developing their personal style--which is often a mixed of English, trad and Italian styles.

 

[lakewolf]

Could sound strange but the style I prefer and wear is British influenced Italian made.

 

[luk-cha]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

your clothes shouldnt be cultivating your personality, it should be the other way around.

"sartorial integrity"....that's an odd phrase. Unless you belong to some kind of subculture with a very distinct attitude towards dressing, what values are you showing integrity towards? The values of middle management corporate types throughout modern history???

this is a good statement, as i like both style and fashion and tend to dress in accordance to my mood and taste on a perticular day, it could be big baggy sportswear or even a sharp suit. but what every it is i try to make sure it is me and not just the clothes - as 1 get man once wrote "absorb what is useful and discard the rest"