The SwissArmySuit™: a sartorial strip tease

why wait until Thursday?

Originally Posted by anon

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why wait until Thursday?

April Fool's Day is holy to my kind.


- B

Originally Posted by iammatt

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I think they look big because there is nothing else around them. Otherwise, the fit is better than any other suit I have seen on you.
I agree, this to my eye is also the best looking suit I've seen on you, and I can quantify it, albeit sans any technical sartorial mumbo jumbo: the cut de-accentuates your powerful-looking upper body and provides a more harmonious line from top to bottom. At times you appear as a power-lifter jammed into a nice suit, and that distracts from the overall balance, imo. You should definitely continue to pursue this look. (um, am I supposed to quip 'no ****' now?) edit- the above, put more succinctly by srivats: "As I have said before, I personally think that you look much better donning undarted jackets, your physique supports it."

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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April Fool's Day is holy to my kind.


- B
what's wrong with today?

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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Not at all. As I said in the first post, this is just my way to have an option for packing less when traveling, similar to Manton's BlazerSuit but a different approach. I just wanted a wider range.
Except that you can pretty much wear a suit for everything now or a pair of jeans with that jacket. The odd jacket vs. suit barrier crumbled quite a while back.

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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So far, I think it can be seen that the SwissArmySuitâ„¢ can be done up more formally...very much so with the vest, but still entirely townish without the vest.
This has to be true if only because of the absence of patch pockets and off color buttons. I think vests can be nice. I wish you had chosen a bold lining for this project. Maybe Steed will swap out linings for you with something fancy? Swiss army red with little white crosses?

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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On Thursday, we'll find out if we can go more to the casual side than what the BlazerSuit does. Even if it is about the same, because of the greater formality possible, the range is still wider. - B
I would imagine the wearer will have as much to do with this as the design of the suit.

Reversing the jacket is too complicated (shoulders, sleeves, lapels). The vest is reversible. That's why it's double-breasted - you put the same buttons and holes on left and right, with the buttons on both the inside and outside, and there is no breast pocket. That takes care of the whole left/right button/hole problem when reversing.

When reversed, the vest has a more casual fabric and is without lapels. I suspect the color isn't too far from navy, such as charcoal or mid gray, so that the areas where they meet, such as the waist seam and lapel fold, aren't obvious. (It might look like yellow piping if the reverse was buff colored.) The buttons might also be interchangeable.

Some of the engineering problems to resolve are matching vest and jacket drape. The jacket has normal lining while the vest has two cloths. Heat also becomes an issue, so likely two very light fabrics were used on the vest, about 7-7.5 oz each, giving 13-14 oz fabric. A straight 13-14oz would be a bit hot for most, especially in a three-piece with a double-breasted vest. Now with such a light single cloth on the jacket, careful construction with the canvas and lining must be done without looking cheap to approximate the vest.

If there is an extra pair of pants to match the reverse vest, that would give six combinations for an outfit (all with jacket) by only packing one pair of pants, since he'd be wearing the rest. Having the contrasting colors reduces the formality.

Am I close?

pbc

Originally Posted by pbc

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Reversing the jacket is too complicated (shoulders, sleeves, lapels). The vest is reversible. That's why it's double-breasted - you put the same buttons and holes on left and right, with the buttons on both the inside and outside, and there is no breast pocket. That takes care of the whole left/right button/hole problem when reversing.


Pretty neat idea ... this might actually work if done right. However, I don't see how it address the 'wide gap' between formal and casual wear that Vox mentions. Whatever is visible of the vest when wearing the jacket isn't going to be much, and one still has to choose shirts (and ties?) carefully.

Here's another thing. The suit can also be.... a hat. LINK Am I on to something, B?

The one-button front looks forced. This feature alone relegates this suit to evening wear, not proper formal business attire. (Unless you work in advertising or similar field.)

It's been years since so many men have thought so hard about so little.

Men (and whnay), I salute you!

- B

Originally Posted by srivats

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Pretty neat idea ... this might actually work if done right. However, I don't see how it address the 'wide gap' between formal and casual wear that Vox mentions. Whatever is visible of the vest when wearing the jacket isn't going to be much, and one still has to choose shirts (and ties?) carefully.

You are correct on the wide gap issue. I just don't see how the jacket can be reversible without a lot of problems and looking odd. If he did pull that off, it is quite a fete. Maybe nothing is reversible and we're all barking up the wrong tree. Reversing the vest and changing the jacket buttons is a possibility, though.

If the reverse vest is a mid gray with brown buttons, that might help the informality. Perhaps the revers is a linen or buff color or it has a subdued or dark pattern in a plaid, check, or houndstooth. Matching pants could then qualify the SwissArmySuit for a "wide gap" in formality.

pbc

I bet that there is a razor sewn into one of the pockets and using it you can almost instantly convert the pants into shorts!

Unfortunately you can only do this once, so you have to pick your moment.

Whilst I lack the imagination to play this game, I salute those of you who do -- this is simply splendid!

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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April Fool's Day is holy to my kind.


- B
So we'll find tomorrow that there's no secret? That's my hunch. We shall see ce qui se passera.

Originally Posted by JibranKhan

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So we'll find tomorrow that there's no secret?

That's my hunch. We shall see ce qui se passera.

As a frenchspeaking guy, I can't help finding it amusing that you guys often stick a french expression in your sentences.

It's quite flattering to see one's language when you're not expecting it.