Sons of well dressed fathers?

[seanpatrickb]

I think we will all agree that sf is a large collection of extraordinarily well dressed men, and was curious how many people caught this fever from their fathers.

Personally, when I was much younger my father would dress me in suits and penny loafers for school, and while he no longer dressed like that always encouraged my interest in it. As I got older he handed me down some sf worthy shoes and suits, some shoes that are still worn, the suits unfortunately grown out of. While I have went much deeper into the intricacies of menswear, it was there that I got set on the right path. How many others out there inherited their interest and base fashion knowledge from their fathers?

I am most interested because I have absolutely no idea which way the poll will turn out. I believe a large part of the community here has such a deep knowledge and understanding that it was necessary to seek out a large amount of it themselves; so it may be surprising how many are totally self taught.

 

[NORE]

I, for one have. He was (and still is) always sharp and bespoked up. And my 8 yo asks me on Sundays, "dad, which pocket square should I wear today, this or this?"

 

[seanpatrickb]

I will also say that this knowledge is something I greatly look forward to passing on, assuming he (or she) is the least bit interested. I am still surprised at how much my father knows, since for most of my life he has insisted on wearing jeans and t shirts despite my attempts to bring him back to the dark side. Recently I told him how i had switched out a sc's buttons for horn ones, ready to explain the difference, to which he responded, "Ahh, like the toggle button's material on duffle coats". A great asset.

 

[in stitches]

i almost fell out of my chair laughing when i read this post, my father who i love dearly is the polar opposite of me when it comes to clothes. i think i got the bug from my mother and her side of the family

 

[bing]

definitely not... my dad has one grey suit from the 70's that he wears whenever a suit is required, which is not often for him.

The rest of his wardrobe is my old t-shirts.

I had searched for but did not find a pics of our well-dressed children thread though... seems slightly on-topic here. Shall we start one?

 

[Philip1978]

God no. My dad thinks anything over $150 spent on a suit is a waste of money.

 

[in stitches]

Originally Posted by Philip1978

God no. My dad thinks anything over $150 spent on a suit is a waste of money.

he almost killed me in high school when i bought a tie for 60 bucks if he knew what i spent on my suits he might faint

 

[Sazerac]

For me it was my mother, who worked as a costume designer. I've been wearing the stage version of bespoke (no lining, looks good on the outside but like hell on the inside) since I was eight or nine.

When I needed a tuxedo for prom, she pulled out this Victorian velvet frock coat she she had made for an Ibsen play. It was far from "correct" black tie, but with a wing collar shirt it looked quite dashing. Of course, the gawky sixteen year old wearing it still looked like a gawky sixteen year old.

In later years she would rebuild whole suits for me that were salvaged from some thrift store. I'll never forget the enormous cashmere overcoat from the 30's or 40's (in midnight blue, no less) that she recut for me as a going-off-to-college present.

Love that woman.

 

[seanpatrickb]

Now that is absolutely invaluable^.

Originally Posted by bing

definitely not... my dad has one grey suit from the 70's that he wears whenever a suit is required, which is not often for him.

The rest of his wardrobe is my old t-shirts.

I had searched for but did not find a pics of our well-dressed children thread though... seems slightly on-topic here. Shall we start one?

I say feel free to post them here. Possibly less creepy than a whole thread devoted to children.

 

[Philip1978]

Originally Posted by bing

I had searched for but did not find a pics of our well-dressed children thread though... seems slightly on-topic here. Shall we start one?

Let's not.

 

[TC (Houston)]

Yes and no. When my father was working he was very well dressed in the modern Italian OTR sense for that period (brioni, armani, etc.). He didn't know anything about classic men's style and tended to buy the most expensive items that were in style. For example he changed his entire collection of ties almost yearly. Lately he has expresses a lot of admiration for my style and tailoring in particular. He had suggested that we should have some suits made together so that he can draw from some of my influences. Pretty cool how it almost comes full circle. Clothing has always been one of the few things we have bonded over through the years.

 

[GradSchooler]

It's quite the opposite with my father and I, in both senses. I have had a positive influence on his manner of dress. We just bought him his first suit EVER for my sisters wedding. He's 55. Up until now, his idea of "dressing up" was track pants, black running shoes, and a sweater. He's a gym teacher.

 

[Mac]

Confession time: I'm seventeen years old.

The first time I ever wore a suit was at a '50s themed party and it was 'obligatory'. Since my dad and I are roughly the same size (6'4" and 36" waist) I asked to borrow one of his suits. He gave me an old Hugo Boss suit and said: "This was when Hugo Boss made good suits, now they're crap." It was a three piece, three button that didn't fit very well, but nonetheless I loved the smartness of wearing it.

A year or so on, I buy my suits from Chester Barrie and whenever there's any type of party people expect me to be the only one wearing a suit - my friends are soon catching on but are still making deplorable attempts with suits that are too big etc. Now I spend $40-$50 on Tom Ford pocket squares and $100+ on shirts. My dad thinks I'm insane.

And before any reciprocal remarks: no, I'm not a spoilt child - I run my own business. So while I got my first suit from my father, I would conclude that my main style influences are James Bond, Chuck Bass and of course, Spoo. Am I the son of a well dressed father? Perhaps.

 

[Metlin]

Waiting for the inevitable "Vox (or Manton) is my Daddy!" post.

 

[1969]

My father was a professional violinist and wore tails twice a week. He was not well dressed in his off time, perhaps as a result. As a teenager in the sixties though, every photograph I've ever seen of him he was wearing a sport coat or suit and tie.