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The Look goes on...

donkeyjacket2

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Six inches bigger than 40 but a double breasted should fit a bit roomier in a late 80s/early 90s way.
I'm fond of DAKS clothing and have a suit very similar to @donkeyjacket2 's coat (nice buy his, btw).
I think it's more recent, but still a good one, labeled an UK 40 with 34" (double pleated) waist trousers and the only alteration I had made is lenghtening strides to the max, while slimming the hem at 21 centimeters. Jacked was slightly wider than needed but I simply moved the buttons outward of about 1,5 cm and called it done.
Pit to pit is 55 cm (about 21" 3/8) which fits well my 187 cm. x 83 kg frame.
The pit to pit measurement should be as worn, not with the jacket open, so DB and SB shouldn't matter. Measuring across the back would probably give an easier measure.

I have a SB DAKS flannel suit which I bought last year. I don't know how old it is but it is quite generously cut. That might put it in the 80s or 90s but it has more shape than you sometimes get from back then.
Yeah, this. If the person measuring knows what they are doing, they will have buttoned the jacket as-worn and placed it flat before measuring. Sizing being equal, even a straight jacket measured pit-to-pit should produce the same measurement as a single breasted one ;)

Thanks Guys, think ill just move the the buttons back a bit if its a bit big.
DAKS have an interesting history. I believe they were the first company to produce ‘self-supporting’ trousers.

I particularly like their house check and have a cap (which has a brief history of DAKS woven into the lining) and scarf in the check. View attachment 1536929

View attachment 1536932

Nice cap like the check, goes well with the scarf. I have quite a few caps, my favorite ones are my gamekeeper tweed ones i got from rydale, made in england teflon coated for 17 quid, cant argue at that price.
Untitled.jpg
 

Mr Knightley

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Thanks Guys, think ill just move the the buttons back a bit if its a bit big.


Nice cap like the check, goes well with the scarf. I have quite a few caps, my favorite ones are my gamekeeper tweed ones i got from rydale, made in england teflon coated for 17 quid, cant argue at that price.
View attachment 1536951
You can’t. I had to Google Rydale. The caps look good. Do they run more or less true to size? I have given a few caps away lately and feel like topping up again ?
 

donkeyjacket2

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Perhaps a little bit small, i wear a size XL from them which is meant to be a 61 but fits more like a 60 which is fine with me as i'm a 60.

Tempted to get this second hand jacket.
s-l1600.jpg
 

covskin

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Mens-Blue-Hardwick-Check-Formal-Shirt-MSHASK.jpg

To complete my move into simple horizontal stripes and grids. Tattersall is old hat of course, but it's new to me, and hopefully my aim is a bit 'off'.
 
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Kingstonian

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DAKS have an interesting history. I believe they were the first company to produce ‘self-supporting’ trousers.

As worn in a Marks and Spencer, charcoal, terylene fabric version by a whole generation of British schoolboys.

A marvellous idea. No need for belts. Far better support than the strap and clip mechanism you mostly see nowadays, which really require braces as well.
 

Kingstonian

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All these charcoal chalk stripes are very business-like. Good luck finding an opportunity to wear them in lockdown.

However, a double breasted orphan suit jacket in the same material AND a jumper will require even more imagination.
 

Mr Knightley

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Yes, @Kingstonian millions of us grew up with the self-supporting trousers. By the time I could afford bespoke the buttons were giving way to a little zipper arrangement. We thought they looked very cool ?. Perhaps not quite as effective but we were slim in those days, with a pronounced waist! Today, I don’t find my self-supporting trousers quite so self-supporting! I have added brace buttons to most pairs.

I agree with you about not laying out too much on formal clothing just now. The longer the current crisis goes on, the more we will adapt to casual styles. I am still trying to rebalance my own wardrobe as even national meetings that I have to attend have become very informal things...
 

covskin

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I agree with you about not laying out too much on formal clothing just now. The longer the current crisis goes on, the more we will adapt to casual styles. I am still trying to rebalance my own wardrobe as even national meetings that I have to attend have become very informal things...

A nice challenge though. Formal doesn't have to mean being stiff, it's how you wear it, so maybe think back to our days in school uniform and the little things we used to do to 'rebel'.
 

donkeyjacket2

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Yes, @Kingstonian millions of us grew up with the self-supporting trousers. By the time I could afford bespoke the buttons were giving way to a little zipper arrangement. We thought they looked very cool ?. Perhaps not quite as effective but we were slim in those days, with a pronounced waist! Today, I don’t find my self-supporting trousers quite so self-supporting! I have added brace buttons to most pairs.

I agree with you about not laying out too much on formal clothing just now. The longer the current crisis goes on, the more we will adapt to casual styles. I am still trying to rebalance my own wardrobe as even national meetings that I have to attend have become very informal things...

It's not stopping me from wearing my clobber when i go to the shops etc, if people think it's a bit weird it's there problem not mine, going for a more 30's look when everyone wore a suit jacket waistcoat and trousers in general(but i guess it was the only clobber they had!).
 

Kingstonian

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It's not stopping me from wearing my clobber when i go to the shops etc, if people think it's a bit weird it's there problem not mine, going for a more 30's look when everyone wore a suit jacket waistcoat and trousers in general(but i guess it was the only clobber they had!).
A Thirties look is probably the easiest way to do it - ‘When the boat comes in’, ‘The road to Wigan Pier’ if it was ever made into a movie.

You will have to be careful to wear the appropriate trahseez though.
 

donkeyjacket2

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I don't really wear the super baggy trousers they wore compared to today, that would be going to far perhaps, 9 inch width is enough.
 

Thin White Duke

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Yes, @Kingstonian millions of us grew up with the self-supporting trousers. By the time I could afford bespoke the buttons were giving way to a little zipper arrangement. We thought they looked very cool ?. Perhaps not quite as effective but we were slim in those days, with a pronounced waist! Today, I don’t find my self-supporting trousers quite so self-supporting! I have added brace buttons to most pairs.
In the lmid eighties I thrifted two suits that were obviously from the sixties. One was a plain grey and I don’t remember how it was held up but the other was a midnight blue with a sort of teal mottled colour running through it (not sure if there’s a correct name for that!). It was originally a three piece but as I’ve never taken to waist coats I gave that away. I definitely remember it had those small horizontal zips on the sides and brace buttons on the outside of the waist band.
 

Mr Knightley

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I agree @donkeyjacket2 and @covskin that formal need not mean stiff or starchy and, so that I don’t forget completely who I am, I have, as you know, opted for my ‘formal Fridays’ since lockdown began last spring. I have managed to stick to them most weeks and, of course, there other opportunities to dress up like going to the shops indeed.

Couple of recent shopping trips:
F2C84100-D5A6-441C-892B-E3DD6536EBDC.jpeg

908425C0-DED2-46AB-8E1E-DA3E738C9A64.jpeg
 

Yorky

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I agree @donkeyjacket2 and @covskin that formal need not mean stiff or starchy and, so that I don’t forget completely who I am, I have, as you know, opted for my ‘formal Fridays’ since lockdown began last spring. I have managed to stick to them most weeks and, of course, there other opportunities to dress up like going to the shops indeed.

Couple of recent shopping trips:
View attachment 1537817

View attachment 1537818
Is the cardigan you are wearing under your blazer sleeveless? I have purchased 3 made by Brooks Brothers recently from TKMaxx, a dark blue, mid blue, and orange, l also have one in grey. I bought 2 back in my late teens from Benetton and wore them regularly over button downs, but never saw anyone else on the scene wearing them. Were they part of the look back in the day?
 

Mr Knightley

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@Yorky good to see you over here, mate.

Yes, it is. I have a few also. Three from Charles Tyrwhitt - orange and burgundy as well as the green. A navy one from Viyella and a beige zip-up version from Smedley. They are a good way of taking some of the formality out of an outfit, I think.

We wore them back in the day, but I don't recall them being especially popular or widespread.
 

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