The unofficial Drake's London Appreciation Thread

[aristoi bcn]

Raw silk. I wish I could find a similar model in blue/navy.

 

[wigglr]

 

[NikInLondon]

Hey all,

A newbie here ?

I've been looking for a cotton suit for a while and seems my best option is Drake's Games Blazer and Chinos.
Does anyone have any experience with these? How do we feel about the ripstop cotton?

Thanks!
Nik

 

[dieworkwear]

Hey all,

A newbie here ?

I've been looking for a cotton suit for a while and seems my best option is Drake's Games Blazer and Chinos.
Does anyone have any experience with these? How do we feel about the ripstop cotton?

View attachment 1463078

Thanks!
Nik

I don't have any experience with the Games suit, but it's a fully unstructured jacket and that kind of construction looks better on some guys than others. I think their Easyday stuff, which is designed for a younger, more casual crowd, is also very softly tailored.

The upside to a more structured look is that it can give you a more flattering sihouette. So if you have narrow shoulders and/or wide hips, a tailored, slightly structured jacket can give you a V-shaped silhouette.

But if you don't have that structure in a jacket, then the jacket's silhouette wil be supported by your own body.

Some guys pull off that kind of cut really well. I think it helps to have broad shoulders or just a certain way about you. But hard to know until you try it on.

 

[othertravel]

I don't have any experience with the Games suit, but it's a fully unstructured jacket and that kind of construction looks better on some guys than others. I think their Easyday stuff, which is designed for a younger, more casual crowd, is also very softly tailored.

The upside to a more structured look is that it can give you a more flattering sihouette. So if you have narrow shoulders and/or wide hips, a tailored, slightly structured jacket can give you a V-shaped silhouette.

But if you don't have that structure in a jacket, then the jacket's silhouette wil be supported by your own body.

Some guys pull off that kind of cut really well. I think it helps to have broad shoulders or just a certain way about you. But hard to know until you try it on.

Can you post examples? Genuinely curious.

 

[dieworkwear]

Can you post examples? Genuinely curious.

Some examples of Boglioli, where I think this issue comes up a lot.

Since the jacket is very soft, you end up getting a very soft, rounded shoulder. Which can look great if you have broad, square shoulders. Or if you just have a cool vibe about you. But on some guys, it doesn't look very flattering.

Compare that to the sport coat above. This photo isn't ideal because the model is stuffing his hands into his pockets, which is puling the jacket down. But you can see from the buttoning point up that the shoulder line is a little more extended, which creates a V-shaped silhouette. This is The Armoury's Model 3. It has a bit more room in the chest and a canvas that extends through the shoulder. It's still very, very soft (no padding). But with a little more structure, you can extend the shoulder just a tad, which I think looks more flattering.

This is a Solito sport coat with a 1-ply shoulder pad. Simon has fairly sloped shoulders, but the single ply brings things up a little and extends the shoulder line by just the tiniest amount

Here's Steed. 1.5 ply for the shoulder and a much heavier chest piece. You can see more shaping through the chest as a result. The chest looks a bit rounded, whereas the Boglioli above has little to no shape.

If you have narrow shoulders or wide hips, a very soft, unstructured jacket can make you look pear-shaped. This is especially true if the jacket is short.

But sometimes very soft jackets, even short ones, also just work out. Here's one from Barena, which has no structure whatsoever. I'd characterize this more as a casual jacket than tailoring, but I think the idea is similar.

I don't think soft jackets are bad, but they don't look great on everyone. And the more structure you take out of a jacket, the more it's going to fit like a shirt.

 

[TheShetlandSweater]

With the Bogliolis, there are a few things that exacerbate the problem considerably.

1) The camera is way too low down. This gives you an effect similar to staring straight up at a skyscraper from down below: the top (or in this case, the shoulders) will look much smaller than they actually are. I am not sure when clothing website will learn this, but your camera shouldn't be so low, especially if it is close to the model.

2) The jacket is way too short. This gives the body weird proportions.

3) The gorge and buttoning point are much too high. This make the chest look much smaller.

If you fix all of these things, the jacket would look much better,

 

[dieworkwear]

With the Bogliolis, there are a few things that exacerbate the problem considerably.

1) The camera is way too low down. This gives you an effect similar to staring straight up at a skyscraper from down below: the top (or in this case, the shoulders) will look much smaller than they actually are. I am not sure when clothing website will learn this, but your camera shouldn't be so low, especially if it is close to the model.

2) The jacket is way too short. This gives the body weird proportions.

3) The gorge and buttoning point are much too high. This make the chest look much smaller.

If you fix all of these things, the jacket would look much better,

I agree, but I don't want to post people's personal photos, as it seems unnecessary and mean. The other photos are often very stylized models or lookbook shots, which aren't representative of how something will look on the average person.

But if you look up brands like Lardini, Boglioli, LBM, etc, you'll often see this issue. At least when they're worn on real people.

Those brands also often cut their jackets short and slim. But that's also an effect of them using very little structure. Without any real structure, if you cut the shoulder past the shoulder bone, the end would just flop over like a shirt.

High gorge, short jacket, high buttoning point, etc are often part and parcel with no structure because guys who buy that stuff want a more casual look. They don't want a stuffy and traditional suit jacket. I think it can look good on some guys, but just something to be aware of when you're buying into that silhouette.

 

[TheShetlandSweater]

I agree, but I don't want to post people's personal photos, as it seems unnecessary and mean. The other photos are often very stylized models or lookbook shots, which aren't representative of how something will look on the average person.

But if you look up brands like Lardini, Boglioli, LBM, etc, you'll often see this issue. At least when they're worn on real people.

Those brands also often cut their jackets short and slim. But that's also an effect of them using very little structure. Without any real structure, if you cut the shoulder past the shoulder bone, the end would just flop over like a shirt.

High gorge, short jacket, high buttoning point, etc are often part and parcel with no structure because guys who buy that stuff want a more casual look. They don't want a stuffy and traditional suit jacket. I think it can look good on some guys, but just something to be aware of when you're buying into that silhouette.

Mostly agree, but in this case it's not really the lack of structure that is the main problem per se, but rather these other factors.

The question was about the Games Suit. The Games Suit has a much better gorge height, buttoning point and overall length, and for these reasons, I think it looks much better than the Bogliolis above. I think this is pretty clear in the pictures on Drake's website, although one of their models appears too tall (another thing I don't get about a lot of product photography).

 

[SimonC]

their models appears too tall (another thing I don't get about a lot of product photography).

Average morphology of fashion models is not the same as average morphology of customers. However, as someone who is tall and slim it’s helpful as I can avoid things which look silly on people like me...

 

[polyfusion]

Some examples of Boglioli, where I think this issue comes up a lot.

View attachment 1463295
View attachment 1463290


Since the jacket is very soft, you end up getting a very soft, rounded shoulder. Which can look great if you have broad, square shoulders. Or if you just have a cool vibe about you. But on some guys, it doesn't look very flattering.


View attachment 1463308

Compare that to the sport coat above. This photo isn't ideal because the model is stuffing his hands into his pockets, which is puling the jacket down. But you can see from the buttoning point up that the shoulder line is a little more extended, which creates a V-shaped silhouette. This is The Armoury's Model 3. It has a bit more room in the chest and a canvas that extends through the shoulder. It's still very, very soft (no padding). But with a little more structure, you can extend the shoulder just a tad, which I think looks more flattering.


View attachment 1463309


This is a Solito sport coat with a 1-ply shoulder pad. Simon has fairly sloped shoulders, but the single ply brings things up a little and extends the shoulder line by just the tiniest amount


View attachment 1463310


Here's Steed. 1.5 ply for the shoulder and a much heavier chest piece. You can see more shaping through the chest as a result. The chest looks a bit rounded, whereas the Boglioli above has little to no shape.

If you have narrow shoulders or wide hips, a very soft, unstructured jacket can make you look pear-shaped. This is especially true if the jacket is short.


View attachment 1463311


But sometimes very soft jackets, even short ones, also just work out. Here's one from Barena, which has no structure whatsoever. I'd characterize this more as a casual jacket than tailoring, but I think the idea is similar.

I don't think soft jackets are bad, but they don't look great on everyone. And the more structure you take out of a jacket, the more it's going to fit like a shirt.

This was an excellent and thoughtful response. Thankyou DWW.

I wonder though - what qualifies wide hips? And how does one know what jacket may suit him? It’s so hard to understand our own shapes.

 

[dieworkwear]

This was an excellent and thoughtful response. Thankyou DWW.

I wonder though - what qualifies wide hips? And how does one know what jacket may suit him? It’s so hard to understand our own shapes.

I think you just have to put the jacket on and be honest about how you look.

 

[markphilly]

I really enjoyed reading your assessment and the examples, Derek. That was very insightful.

I personally struggle with cotton suits, particularly in lighter colors. The navy is surely easier to pull off. I have enjoyed a cotton blazer, but I feel like there's more risk of a suit looking like pajamas.

 

[dieworkwear]

I really enjoyed reading your assessment and the examples, Derek. That was very insightful.

I personally struggle with cotton suits, particularly in lighter colors. The navy is surely easier to pull off. I have enjoyed a cotton blazer, but I feel like there's more risk of a suit looking like pajamas.

I think a navy cotton suit can be nice. But cotton fades more easily than wool, and this fading will show up more visibly in darker colors such as navy, rather than tan.

 

[othertravel]

Some examples of Boglioli, where I think this issue comes up a lot.

View attachment 1463295
View attachment 1463290


Since the jacket is very soft, you end up getting a very soft, rounded shoulder. Which can look great if you have broad, square shoulders. Or if you just have a cool vibe about you. But on some guys, it doesn't look very flattering.


View attachment 1463308

Compare that to the sport coat above. This photo isn't ideal because the model is stuffing his hands into his pockets, which is puling the jacket down. But you can see from the buttoning point up that the shoulder line is a little more extended, which creates a V-shaped silhouette. This is The Armoury's Model 3. It has a bit more room in the chest and a canvas that extends through the shoulder. It's still very, very soft (no padding). But with a little more structure, you can extend the shoulder just a tad, which I think looks more flattering.


View attachment 1463309


This is a Solito sport coat with a 1-ply shoulder pad. Simon has fairly sloped shoulders, but the single ply brings things up a little and extends the shoulder line by just the tiniest amount


View attachment 1463310


Here's Steed. 1.5 ply for the shoulder and a much heavier chest piece. You can see more shaping through the chest as a result. The chest looks a bit rounded, whereas the Boglioli above has little to no shape.

If you have narrow shoulders or wide hips, a very soft, unstructured jacket can make you look pear-shaped. This is especially true if the jacket is short.


View attachment 1463311


But sometimes very soft jackets, even short ones, also just work out. Here's one from Barena, which has no structure whatsoever. I'd characterize this more as a casual jacket than tailoring, but I think the idea is similar.

I don't think soft jackets are bad, but they don't look great on everyone. And the more structure you take out of a jacket, the more it's going to fit like a shirt.

Thanks for posting this, Derek. I see what you mean.

Daniel Craig also pulls off an unstructured look well in Spectre (he’s got a broad chest and shoulders).