whnay.'s good taste thread

[Geezer]



Only in the upper class Italian style of dress which you (and to a lesser extent I) prefer. In certain other traditions, including certain circles in England, the shirt is the centerpiece. I used to dress more that way myself, not so much anymore, though today I have on a rather busy red check shirt.

The idea was that a true "gentleman" only wore his school/club/regimental ties, or else solids, and also only wore blue and gray city suits, so the only leeway he had for fun was shirts. This is why Jermyn street is so much more "vibrant" than what you see in shirtmakers in Italy, where the question is basically, "Which shade of light blue would you like, signor?"

Re-posting on grounds of accuracy, importance, and insight.

The same principle applies (at least here) to busy or colourful pocket squares on an otherwise ultra-conservative business dress get-up.

 

[RDiaz]

 

[Manton]

Taste is good, Shirt collar is a little small, not enough roll.

 

[unbelragazzo]

Great tie, RD. I've seen you wear it a few times now, always looks great.

 

[TheFoo]



Re-posting on grounds of accuracy, importance, and insight. The same principle applies (at least here) to busy or colourful pocket squares on an otherwise ultra-conservative business dress get-up.

The problem with fancier shirts per the English city tradition is that they are very limiting unless one dresses in the English city tradition. Of course, you can put together a good outfit with a boldly colored and patterned shirt, but it will be much harder to use that shirt across the rest of your wardrobe if you like to, say, wear tweed in the city. That's why the blue shirt should still be viewed as a close-to-universal staple.

Suit or jacket? I hope the former. Color combination is decent. Pattern-matching is almost there, but the square versus jacket patterns are too equally dense. I like the way you've stuffed the square, but that should be obvious! The square could also stand to be a bit darker to contrast more clearly with the jacket. Final score: :foo::foo:

 

[Axelman 17]

Foo is not going to like the tie, I think the orange color is more attractive in real life than in the pictures. Suit is a Lesser 13oz herringbone, more blue less grey than in the pics.

 

[Manton]

that's not bad. If the tie is wool, I might even like it.

 

[Axelman 17]

The tie is wool.

 

[TheFoo]

Rdiaz, here's the square a few shades darker:

 

[RDiaz]

Suit or jacket? I hope the former.

Color combination is decent. Pattern-matching is almost there, but the square versus jacket patterns are too equally dense. I like the way you've stuffed the square, but that should be obvious! The square could also stand to be a bit darker to contrast more clearly with the jacket.

Final score:

It's a jacket, and just in case I'll say it's not grey; it's a stone-ish colour, and the weave is quite loose and flimsy - I think I wouldn't have a suit made out of it, though the pattern does look like suiting.

Oddly enough I might be making progress with my pattern matching skills, because I had the same thought about jacket vs. square density being too close; but this was the only one in my collection that worked colour-wise. It definately looks better a few shades darker as your edited picture shows. Wondering if it looks any better in this picture with different lighting, though there still isn't enough contrast?:






Manton, I like button-down collars with long points too, but this was the largest I could find RTW around here - if I go the MTM route with shirts, I'll get longer points for sure. Thanks

 

[sprout2]

Manton, I like button-down collars with long points too, but this was the largest I could find RTW around here - if I go the MTM route with shirts, I'll get longer points for sure. Thanks

If I may,

You do very well putting together a range of RTW clothing and show a lot of promise in your sensibilities and choices of colors, etc. I think if you dial back on the impulse purchases (Drakes ties and Cappelli squares, hint hint) you can build your MTM/bespoke fund and be well on your way to new heights of elegance. Based on what I see you have plateaued with RTW and cannot improve more on it (this is a good thing).

 

[acridsheep]



Where is UrbanComposition and NiiDawg? I always thought they are among the most tasteful dressers on this forum yet they both seem to be conspicuosly absent from this thread.

Someone steer him over here. WAYWRN is a wasteland.

 

[RDiaz]

If I may,

You do very well putting together a range of RTW clothing and show a lot of promise in your sensibilities and choices of colors, etc. I think if you dial back on the impulse purchases (Drakes ties and Cappelli squares, hint hint) you can build your MTM/bespoke fund and be well on your way to new heights of elegance. Based on what I see you have plateaued with RTW and cannot improve more on it (this is a good thing).

Thank you! However, I think tasteful ties and squares are in fact very much needed in my wardrobe (you might have noticed I'm wearing the same 2-3 ties quite often). What I need to dial back, if not stop completely, are impulse purchases on RTW jackets, trousers, and shirts. In a way, I'm happy I have bought so much cheap crap in the past, not only because weight loss makes clothing "expendable", but also because looking for bespoke when I was not experienced enough would have resulted in a disaster. But I'm gonna try to make the most out of my (scarce) money from now on; I'd rather get 2 nice jackets per year than a s**tload of awful ones

 

[RogerC]

That's what I've been doing over the past years. As Churchill says: first nothing, then a trickle, then a flood.

 

[sprout2]

Thank you! However, I think tasteful ties and squares are in fact very much needed in my wardrobe (you might have noticed I'm wearing the same 2-3 ties quite often). What I need to dial back, if not stop completely, are impulse purchases on RTW jackets, trousers, and shirts. In a way, I'm happy I have bought so much cheap crap in the past, not only because weight loss makes clothing "expendable", but also because looking for bespoke when I was not experienced enough would have resulted in a disaster. But I'm gonna try to make the most out of my (scarce) money from now on; I'd rather get 2 nice jackets per year than a s**tload of awful ones

Hmm, a fair point. I like your Drakes medallion print, however, so I invite you to wear it as often as you wish.
As for the emphasis, it is quoted so all latecomers can take heed of it! This is seldom talked about but, I think, an essential part of building an understanding. Not the investment of time, not the investment of self-study, but the investment of cold, hard cash. Is that the elephant in the room? People talk, with hindsight, as though it would be so much cleverer to practice RTW austerity while preparing for the "real deal." That is a terrible idea. You need those failures to help you calibrate.I think there would be a lot less hand-wringing if everyone just acknowledged that the best way to learn is to play fast and loose. Better early on than with custom clothing, where the pricetag is exponentially more.

Edit: By the way, regarding where you stand now, I find there is a kind of zen quality to this -- by the time you realize you should stop impulsively buying RTW jackets and shirts, you have immediately reached the precipice of understanding why they fall short of the proportions you seek. In other words, it's a milestone. A sudden flash of insight, shall we say?

This is not to say that the first few commissions (with any tailor) are not a bumpy road, for they are...