Steven Alan - help please

[Debaser]

I've been browsing the Steven Alan website (stevenalan.com) and I'm interested in picking up a dress shirt or two, and possibly even the velvet blazer he offers. I could use some feedback on a couple decisions:

*By the way LA guy, the reason I asked for your help specifically is that we appear to have very similar tastes in clothing. But due to my locale, I will be unable to see or try on any of these in person.

1. Regarding the dress shirts...I am curious as to what patterns appear most flattering and/or versatile. They certainly aren't cheap so I can't really afford to pick up a dozen varieties. If it influences your opinion, note that I have pretty fair skin. I'm not extremely pale, but not very tan either. I have light blue eyes.

2. I've been wanting a velvet blazer for quite some time, and am considering dropping the cash here ($400). This isn't exactly a bargain (at least for me), and would like to both decide if this particular brand is worth investing in jacket-wise, and also which color I should stick with. I think brown might be best, as it would most likely compliment denim (which is what I'll generally be wearing it with) better than the blue.

I appreciate any and all comments or suggestions.

 

[Debaser]

Bump please...

Now I'm leaning toward the blue a bit more...that way if I get a corduroy blazer at some point it can be in dark brown and I'll have the variety.

I have no idea. Has anyone seen either of these in person?

 

[Oltmann]

Just to give this another bump because I haven't seen the stuff in person; I don't like bold vertical stripes or pink these days and so I like the red stripe, gingham, and deep blue small stripe. In that price range, there are a lot of interesting shirts on yoox to check out too.

I think $400 is actually a reasonable price for a designer velvet blazer. The model looks a bit pregnant in the brown one though, bad cut or bad picture?

 

[Nick M]

Debaser, Do you live in the US? Steven Alan's return policy seems pretty liberal - you could buy a couple and return the ones you don't like. You're out shipping, of course, but still... As for the shirts, I like the pink, the 'thick grey stripe', the 'deep blue stripe', and the 'blue wide stripe'. I don't really have a preference for the velvet blazer. Maybe the brown if you were to wear it mostly during the day, or the blue for evening semi-casual going-out events. I would buy the color which will go best with the rest of your wardrobe now. Realistically, though, the world probably won't run out of either velvet nor corduroy blazers any time soon, so there's no need to rush a decision...

 

[Sevcom]

Not LA Guy, but my thoughts:

1. The gingham, the deep blue stripe, the blue wide stripe and the white all seem like good choices, esp. for your complexion. The good thing about these shirts is that they're of a thicker, more casual material and slimmer than the played-out speciments you see on every third dude on the street. Also, none of the striped shirts is obnoxiously coloured.

2. I'll try to stop by the store sometime this week and let you know more about the velvet jackets. From the looks on the Web site, the blue would probably be more versatile, but you don't see that many brown velvet sportcoats around, which ups their cool factor.

 

[LA Guy]

I've actually been away from my computer for a while.

I would say that the blue velvet blazer would be more disctinctive, and more in keeping with the velvet texture. I the balzer were a sturdier material, like twill or corduroy, I would choose the brown. Note of caution - Steve Alan clothes are made for the sort of angular hipster guy, and I know that you do strength athletics, so I'm not sure exactly how his blazers would fit on you.

As for the shirts, I think that with your complexion, pretty much anything Steve Alan has, perhaps with an exception for shirts with lots of yellow, would look fine.