whnay.'s good taste thread

[TheFoo]



For you to tell us how to make your outfit pop in a corporate environment.

Ah, thank you for the re-calibration. I lost my bearings for a bit.

 

[in stitches]



What exactly is the point of this thread, again?

in theory, "good taste." in reality, a place for decent conversation, a place to learn stuff, and the knowledge that if your fit is not up to snuff within a specific set of guidelines, you will be told as such.

its also a place for discussion of socks and other fun topics. and if not for the side tracks and other such stuff, this thread would have died long ago. ebb and flow, foo, ebb and flow.

 

[TheFoo]



in theory, "good taste." in reality, a place for decent conversation, a place to learn stuff, and the knowledge that if your fit is not up to snuff, you will be told as such. its also a place for discussion of socks and other fun topics. and if not for the side tracks and other such stuff, this thread would have dies long ago. ebb and flow, foo, ebb and flow.

I'm really digging collar pins these days. They're traditional and preppy, but really add vintage personality.

 

[in stitches]



I'm really digging collar pins these days.

so you are a fan of southernstyle then?

 

[Syeknom]

I don't like shirts with grey in them unless they are casual chambray, or end-on-end shirts. Also, I don't like the width of the stripes. I much prefer bengal stripes where the color and white are the same width. That to me looks like a casual shirt and it is paired with a white TV fold, which is off.

I think tdude's shirt was light blue stripe, but would you mind expanding on this? What do you (or anybody else) find distasteful about shirts with grey? I've been tossing around the idea of a light-grey and white bengal stripe shirt for a while but don't quite know how I feel about it yet.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Light grey bengal is fine, but anything dark on a non-casual shirt, imo, looks bad. Looks very mafia-ish or something. The above just looks too casual with the scale of the grey to white.

 

[Syeknom]

Certainly agreed about darker colors - I see where you're coming from. In my head the shade is more like an pale blue/white bengal stripe but with the colour information stripped.

Thanks!

 

[CaymanS]

The question about men under 70 is an interesting one.

If you look at Tweed in the City and other blogs that feature well-dressed men, they're usually old (maybe not quite 70, but old): Luca di Montezemolo, Beppe Modenese, Vittorio Feltri, Luciano Barbera, Gianni Agnelli (RIP), Antonio Liverano, G. Bruce Boyer.

It's because they honed their style over decades. Thus, there is no harm in looking to their dress as a model of good taste, since their days of experimentation/peacockery are behind them and they have settled into a style that is timeless and tasteful.

As Foo once said when I critiqued one of the pics on his blog for showing a man wearing a tie and square that match: "Well, I do agree his square is questionable. I would not have been merciful grading him in this thread. But it just goes to show: this **** ain't easy."

 

[JayJay]



I'm pretty anti-sweater in general. More so with a business suit.

Same here. I've seen awful examples of sweaters worn suits during the lingering cold spell we've had in these parts. As for me, I prefer 3-piece suits.

 

[TheFoo]



Deets on the hats? The white ones.

 

[Wallcloud]

I am getting 6 shirts made and wanted to run some thoughts by you guys. My shirt wardrobe is nearly as backwards as my suit wardrobe so I am kinda starting over. I do have a white FC and 2 blue shirts with barrel cuffs and point collars. I also have a blue shirt with french cuffs. I have a very pale pink BC. I also have an ecru BC. I believe all of these shirts are broadcloth. I have various other dress shirts all of which will be phased out when these shirts are finished.
Tell me what you think about what I am adding.

3 more dress shirts in broadcloth in varying shades of blue, all barrel cuffs. one with a button down collar.
2 oxford cloth BDs. One blue and one blue with stripes.
1 blue linen or linen/cotton dress shirt. Barrel cuffs. Unsure on collar.

Thanks in advance.

 

[edmorel]

Before you make any shirt decisions, read this thread:

http://www.styleforum.net/t/341010/...ashes-4-3-13-update-new-chambray-arrived/0_10

 

[in stitches]

WC - i think your list is pretty sensible. though for me, id get all 3 broadcloths in non BDs considering that both oxfords are BDs. im also not super keen on the striped BD, id sooner get solid BDs and have one of the broadcloths in a tasteful smaller scale stripe, maybe a pencil stripe or candy stripe, blue and white, but YMMV. im also not a huge linen shirt fran, but thats just a personal preference, if you think you will use it, i see no reason not to have one. just my 2 cents.

 

[JPHardy]

 

[tdude]

Thanks for the feedback PB. TBH, I posted the pic as a new blood sacrifice to support the efforts of diaz, SB and some others (to varying degrees of reception like stitches) to help sustain the thread if possible. The thread started off with great stuff from Nay, Manton, Foo, GDL, gazman, others. Then they decided pics are too much effort. Rather than a full-blown sellout to the inevitability forecast by "Manton's Law," others chimed in--several in earnest I believe. Well . . . since the good taste gods ceased, who else was there? Not surprisingly, the efforts of some newcomers were more unsuccessful than successful, and described accordingly. (Yes, there was insincerity from some folks who don't like negative critique and from others who simply mock the idea of normative good taste, but that wasn't the only level of participation.) Foo started a rating system that some received well and some did not (I liked it). He quit, and then he had a meltdown which, regrettably is the most tasteless aspect of the thread in some time. Then, a few (mentioned earlier) tried to post in earnest again, and (mostly) Manton maintained some streaming level of feedback.

Now what?

I think everyone would agree that some pics are necessary or the thread dies. But the gods won't post them. That leaves the mortals. I recall emptym's suggestion that the thread become collateral to the tailor's thread. The mortals post pics (hopefully in good faith), and the gods critique. Works for me. So ill try. If, however, the idea wasn't to set a barometer of good taste for outsiders, but rather a private club for the old-timers to interact without disruption or distraction, then say so and we'll (or at least I'll) probably go away.

I expected comments on my shirt since its stripe is asymmetrical, and I hadn't seen that discussed. PB commented (it is blue, not grey), and thanks. Any others? I also expected comments on the suit material. For example, I suspect that Manton will conclude that the almost anemic glen plaid is prototypical of the eyetalyun lux stuff produced by Kiton and its RTW ilk. After admiring the fabrics on display from foo, gazman, and GDL from earlier in the thread, I kind of agree. Foo could comment on whether the white square works with the shirt similar to Manton's first pic or whether some aspect of the entire ensemble results in a failure (linen tie/linen square fail perhaps).

The point is, even when I see a pic from others that I admire, a piece or two from my closet usually looks at least slightly different (like this shirt) and so I wonder "what would the traditionalists think?" But I can't just walk up to Iammatt or Vox or Manton or Doc and say "waddaya think?" So this thread is it. Admittedly, I'm being selfish. I want to learn. Maybe i'm taking this stuff too seriously. But, I'm a young professional, with an even younger sense of men's dress. The question then is will the gods condescend?

One final point, just so I'm not misunderstood, I use the terms gods and mortals not to mock--just illustrate.