Your Sartorial Evolution. Photos encouraged.

Originally Posted by Telefonica

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TC..... WOW. Incredible transformation. I've copied some of my fav's below.

Excellent work, sir... simply excellent.

Thanks for the kind words, those are some of my favorites too.

Same coat, 8 months apart. April 2009 December 2009

OK - this thread inspired me to graduate from lurking status.

My evolution is just now beginning. I have been lurking around here for a few months, and have upgraded some of my stuff from simply awful to just plain bad in the last month while I learn. Think Perry Ellis shirts, Mens Warehouse (the 2 for $500 kind) suits, and grocery-store ties. The fanciest I got was AE shoes.

Upgraded some stuff recently with the goal of trying to gain some confidence. Not much of a leap just yet - nicer, but still crappy suits like Lauren and HSM, but most importantly finding shirts that actually fit me better (still grocery-store being Ben Shermans, but the fit is what I am after). Bought some nicer ties and another pair of AE's.

I don't even know what to ask let alone where to go from here, but I guess I find myself wanting to develop a fit first before developing style. I am only 145# at 6' so it has always been tricky for me and always easy to mask my thin figure with overly baggy clothes. Gaining confidence wearing clothes that actually fit will likely be my biggest hurdle, but one I am ready to conquer.

Stay tuned...I guess...and thank you all very much for the inspiration. Hopefully my evolution will be noteworthy enough to post some pics here sooner than later.

Fun thread OK, here's my story: I grew up with a maternal grandfather who was a tailor; he and my grandmother (who was a seamstress) made mostly men's custom suits in the Savannah, GA area. My dad was also something of a dandy when he was in his late 20's - he liked side zip boots with cuban heels, slim suits with wide lapels, and sported a fly moustache. He was like the hetero Label King, but hey, it was the 70's. He was also a 5'4" 130 lb somewhat soft-spoken trial lawyer, so he needed to stand out somehow. My grandfather (his father-in-law) made most of his suits off a single pattern he drew so he could make my dad's wedding suit. I recall him telling my dad not to gain too much weight because he didn't want to redraw the pattern. My father's father was also a dandy, but in the clueless rich-guy mode. Picture Kitonbrioni in the 1930's, with better fit. He liked to hang out with various ne'er-do-wells in the Hollywood, Florida area, and he dressed like the Italian and Jewish transplants from the NE who he hung around with. My tailor grandfather died when I was in high school and only ever made me one suit, but I saw a lot of them being made since my grandparents did a lot of the sewing at the house. In fact, the worst trouble my cousin and I ever got into was running around the house wearing a sleeveless, just basted jacket. In retrospect, I'm sure we destroyed it. So I knew about tailoring but really didn't ever think it was relevant to my life until I was much older. I have no idea how, with that background, I ended up so clueless. Part of it was that every male adult I knew wore a suit, so I didn't want to. The other part is I think that, when I finally had to dress up for work, Kitonbrioni grandfather might have been a bigger influence. Also, by that time my dad had moved on and needed to look less fashion forward - something to do with the public trust My freshman year of HS, all my suits were rented: I think I had the SW&D look down ok by my soph year: P.S. - 1000 points if you can ID the guy on the far right, he's semi-famous: I got older and went through a pleated pant phase, but I did OK. This is 1998: Finally got some suits, started thinking about a bit more coordination. Unfortunately, I was thinking about purple(?). And aren't stripes supposed to be slimming? 2004 This is me in December 05, doing better rocking the bowtie, but you can't see the horror that is the pants. In 2006- early 2007, I was still wearing a lot of bowties, but (que horror!) a BLACK suit??? And what's with all the French Blue shirts? I didn't work in the dot.com industry . . . . Nothing here fits right, and shortly after this trip I started to think more about what I was wearing . . . . As a side note this pic illustrates the two reasons I don't **** my assistant, even though I occasionally see her in the bathtub. OK, so I started at AAAC, where according to one douchy poster, I complained too much about people calling Polo "Blue Label." I wore a suit I just sold a lot: By the time I got over here in '08 I seemed to favor a lot of pink, but hey, I'm from Florida. Kinda matchy: Fast forward to more recent times. If anything, I think I've gotten more conservative . . . . Though still use some color: Though sometimes I still swing and miss . . . . Looking through those pics was fun, though I'm not sure much has changed since I got here. I started wearing knit ties - stolen directly from PG. Before I saw one of his posts, I hadn't considered a knit tie for 20 years. I've gotten a little more muted in my color palate. Other than that, the constraints of changing sizes, changing finances, and lack of time have kept me pretty much in the same place.

Big, well done. You have indeed become more conservative and I think you dress really well.

Did I read that right? That pic with the bow tie is from 98? You don't look any older 11 years later.

Originally Posted by Mr. Moo

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Big, well done. You have indeed become more conservative and I think you dress really well. Did I read that right? That pic with the bow tie is from 98? You don't look any older 11 years later.
No, it was a typo - I had a brain fart. It's from 2005. I don't seem to have many pics from 1998-2003 or so. Actually, I'm sure I do, but they're all in "analog" form. I edited to add a bit of backstory too. Hope it isn't too much b.s. for one thread.

Big A,

I always enjoy your threads. This was no exception. Fantastic.

JP

Originally Posted by JPHardy

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Big A,

I always enjoy your threads. This was no exception. Fantastic.

JP


+1. Well done.

What a great thread especially at the end of the year. Many great transformations. Kudos to Moo and SG for their evolutions. Big A and TC demonstrate refinement of one's style. I'm still a newbie having only joined SF around 18mos ago. I'll echo the utility of posting scans and receiving feedback.

One of my first fit posts:

Baggy pants, baggy shirt, coat too big

Often not so much. (Who is this bloated guy?)

This captured so much that was wrong. Pants, sweater, shirt all needed to go on diet.



Casual fits still are a bit of a struggle

Some better than others


Still I tried to stay on course finding my style. I love my bows.


Perhaps the most dramatic changes in fit are illustrated in my tux...


Spent 2009 working on fit


My first pair of post SF pants that fit.



My most recent post. Still evolving....


Goals for 2010.
Continue to reduce the number of items in my closet which fit poorly. Buy less, use more.
Seek to better understand use of color and texture.
Allow my personal style to evolve (ie. Learning from SF but not applying group formulas to my fits).

Ktown, that tux before & after is really cool, definitely illustrates what I think is a common evolution for a lot of us. I was sitting in a waiting room this morning surfing SF on my phone and decided that there are a generation of us between the ages of 30 and 50 that were put off track by the prevalence of the Armani silhouette - a baggy mess that never "fit" but was the standard throughout the 80's and even very early 90's. I honestly didn't realize all my stuff was at least a size too big until roughly 2004-2005. We all owe Giorgio a kick in the nads. Thanks TC and JP

Originally Posted by KtownGreg

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What a great thread especially at the end of the year. Many great transformations. Kudos to Moo and SG for their evolutions. Big A and TC demonstrate refinement of one's style. I'm still a newbie having only joined SF around 18mos ago. I'll echo the utility of posting scans and receiving feedback.

One of my first fit posts:

Baggy pants, baggy shirt, coat too big

Often not so much. (Who is this bloated guy?)

This captured so much that was wrong. Pants, sweater, shirt all needed to go on diet.

Casual fits still are a bit of a struggle

Some better than others

Still I tried to stay on course finding my style. I love my bows.

Perhaps the most dramatic changes in fit are illustrated in my tux...

Spent 2009 working on fit

My first pair of post SF pants that fit.

My most recent post. Still evolving....

Goals for 2010.
Continue to reduce the number of items in my closet which fit poorly. Buy less, use more.
Seek to better understand use of color and texture.
Allow my personal style to evolve (ie. Learning from SF but not applying group formulas to my fits).

This is a great post. I think it not only shows your style evolution but also your evolving comfort with your clothes. You look so much more relaxed, comfortable, and natural as this progression of photos evolves. How much weight did you lose? I would guess 20-25 pounds? If not that much then it is a great illustration of how much fit can affect body style.

Great job. Best wishes for 2010 and nicely done!

Originally Posted by Mr. Moo

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December 2009

Those your fuzzy slippers in the background Moo?

Originally Posted by teddieriley

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Those your fuzzy slippers in the background Moo?

I used to wear my shorts around ****** in middle school and oversized tees with graffiti-like prints, I now wear tailored Purple Label. Transformation complete.

KTown... awesome stuff. You've really improved your look. It looks like you lost some weight, trimmed your clothing and grew a beard. I think it all works really, really well. Keep up the good work!