The Official Dieworkwear Appreciation Thread

[d4nimal]

True, but sometimes good sense takes a back seat when you stumble on something you really like. Your wardrobe wouldn’t be complete without a few ill advised choices lurking shamefully in the back

This is an interesting concept. In my field of work, there are certain things you do sometimes that may have a success rate of 4/5, but knowing 1/5 will fail. The reason you do it anyways is that you would otherwise hold off too long or altogether on potentially successful cases by being too conservative. Maybe this translates into clothing as well. If I didn't take any chances on the things I wear, I think I'd be missing out on some of my favorite things (on top of being bored). I'll also say that, at least in my experience, there are times when I didn't consider elements in my wardrobe to be cohesive with each other until I put them together.

 

[Keith Taylor]

I expect a lot of it depends on your average price point. If most of my clothing was bespoke or MTM I’d probably insist on something approaching a 100% success rate, because the cost of failure would be too great to justify taking many risks.

Personally I wear almost exclusively vintage, and as I live in a country that doesn’t really do vintage (it’s considered bad luck to wear used clothing here) I have to buy most things based on poor eBay photos, bad descriptions and often inaccurate measurements. Fresh out of the box my success rate is something like 50%, increased to maybe 75% since I learned how to make my own alterations. The lottery is worth it when something arrives that’s beyond your wildest expectations, though.

 

[mak1277]

When a client picks a cloth for a jacket my next question is what trousers or shirts will you wear with this. then we look thru sample books. Not to sell trousers or shirts but to see how practical the jacket is. Also to see if the trousers you pick are already in your wardrobe. Can be a deal breaker if the cloth is difficult to pair with a trouser or you have to find that one perfect shade of color to work. Or if it is limited to working with only a specific weave/texture of cloth.
Next input is; buy a jacket that works with several trouser combinations or else you just bought an odd jacket that is worn in the same way a suit is. Always with the one trouser. If you have 30 jackets it’s not the end of the world. If you want expansive wardrobe possibilities with a few jackets, get jackets that accessorize easily. It’s the accessories that alter the look/application of the jacket. Casual to dressed up.
Resist picking cloths that on their own are home runs because of unique colors or patterns but aren’t easy to wear.
Real life example is a client loves a cloth, makes it up as a jacket. 6 months later I ask how he likes it or does he wear it often and I hear, “ don’t wear it, I don’t know what to wear with it”

This is brilliantly simple advice that I wish I followed more often.

My wife bought me a sport coat once that I never would have bought for myself. I asked how she chose it and she said, "It looked good in the pictures and you already have all the shirts and pants they paired it with." As usual, she was right.

 

[Despos]

This is brilliantly simple advice that I wish I followed more often.

My wife bought me a sport coat once that I never would have bought for myself. I asked how she chose it and she said, "It looked good in the pictures and you already have all the shirts and pants they paired it with." As usual, she was right.

Descriptor on my business card and stationary says

“Custom clothing...pure and simple”

 

[rob]

When a client picks a cloth for a jacket my next question is what trousers or shirts will you wear with this. then we look thru sample books. Not to sell trousers or shirts but to see how practical the jacket is. Also to see if the trousers you pick are already in your wardrobe. Can be a deal breaker if the cloth is difficult to pair with a trouser or you have to find that one perfect shade of color to work. Or if it is limited to working with only a specific weave/texture of cloth.
Next input is; buy a jacket that works with several trouser combinations or else you just bought an odd jacket that is worn in the same way a suit is. Always with the one trouser. If you have 30 jackets it’s not the end of the world. If you want expansive wardrobe possibilities with a few jackets, get jackets that accessorize easily. It’s the accessories that alter the look/application of the jacket. Casual to dressed up.
Resist picking cloths that on their own are home runs because of unique colors or patterns but aren’t easy to wear.
Real life example is a client loves a cloth, makes it up as a jacket. 6 months later I ask how he likes it or does he wear it often and I hear, “ don’t wear it, I don’t know what to wear with it”

A good piece of advice from Alan Flusser is, if the jacket doesn’t look good with gray trousers, take a pass.

rob

 

[losrockets]

Chiming in to say I've owned 4 gunchecks in the past 3 or 4 years and sold or donated each of them within 12 months of taking ownership. Some tonal, some w/ a cream base, some navy, others brown. I still get tempted whenever I see one, but I know better now (at least for today).

 

[TheShetlandSweater]

Urgh, tell me about it. I’d bought my third gun club check sport coat without ever wearing them out of the house before I figured out the problem was that I didn’t own a single thing that went with them.

Most gun club checks should be easy to wear, no?

 

[hpreston]

A good piece of advice from Alan Flusser is, if the jacket doesn’t look good with gray trousers, take a pass.

rob

Chiming in to say I've owned 4 gunchecks in the past 3 or 4 years and sold or donated each of them within 12 months of taking ownership. Some tonal, some w/ a cream base, some navy, others brown. I still get tempted whenever I see one, but I know better now (at least for today).

Most gun club checks should be easy to wear, no?

I always wear mid gray trousers and a blue shirt to shop. If a sport coat works with that, then it works.

Several gunclub sport coats hanging in the closet right now and I find them pretty easy to pair.

 

[Keith Taylor]

Most gun club checks should be easy to wear, no?

Technically, yes. I’m sure I have plenty of pants, shirts and ties that would look just fine with a gun club on a mannequin. It’d be weird if I didn’t, as I own so many clothes that my wife genuinely takes friends on a comedy tour of our closets when they visit to showcase the ridiculousness of my hobby

I guess the more accurate thing to say would be that I can’t find a combination that magically makes me feel comfortable wearing such a large block of bold and colourful patterns. I fall in love with certain pieces, but when the time comes to wear them I usually drift back towards the safe and conservative.

 

[TheShetlandSweater]

Technically, yes. I’m sure I have plenty of pants, shirts and ties that would look just fine with a gun club on a mannequin. It’d be weird if I didn’t, as I own so many clothes that my wife genuinely takes friends on a comedy tour of our closets when they visit to showcase the ridiculousness of my hobby

I guess the more accurate thing to say would be that I can’t find a combination that magically makes me feel comfortable wearing such a large block of bold and colourful patterns. I fall in love with certain pieces, but when the time comes to wear them I usually drift back towards the safe and conservative.

Sounds like you just need to put the jackets on and get over your insecurities.

 

[Keith Taylor]

Sounds like you just need to put the jackets on and get over your insecurities.

Maybe, maybe not. If you don’t feel comfortable in your clothes you’re unlikely to look good in said clothes. Experimentation is always worthwhile, but there’s an argument to be made for staying in your lane to a certain extent.

 

[TheShetlandSweater]

Maybe, maybe not. If you don’t feel comfortable in your clothes you’re unlikely to look good in said clothes. Experimentation is always worthwhile, but there’s an argument to be made for staying in your lane to a certain extent.

Just wear it. Maybe I agree with what you said if the garment in question is way outside your aesthetic, but this is a gun club check and you are on a cm forum.

 

[driving glove]

Gun club checks are a busy pattern. Scale and brightness have a lot to do with how inclined I am to wear one. Scale is one of the reasons I don't like "horse blanket checks", for instance. I had an odd jacket made up from a small scale pattern in the Glorious Twelfth book that I would gladly get made again.
Brightness is the second consideration for me. I tend to like "low value" cloths, which means they are low on the brightness scale where white is high value. That is the reason I liked the saturated purple jacket posted, it was offset by being dark, a cool colour.
DWW used this point in discussing warmer versus colder (but similar) shades of suede shoes.
In other words, not all gun club checks are equal in being challenging to wear in my opinion.

 

[driving glove]

In further reflection, I do like some overscale patterns if they are in subtle colours.

 

[losrockets]

I think it was a combination of a soft construction and having some extra weight on me that made them unflattering. They also helped me realize I needed more solid shirts. If I do a gun club check again in the future I think I might go for something with a more defined V silhouette and straighter lapels.