Bold suits - choosing the rest of the look

Originally Posted by greger

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The fundamental issues with this fit IMO:

1) the scale of every pattern is roughly the same
2) the shirt and tie are too close in color
3) the color of the shirt and tie do not complement the suit

It's an FU look, and he has the bravado to avoid looking like a clown, but that doesn't mean he looks good.

Originally Posted by barims

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I'm surprised no one else included this:

How bold are we talking? Like "I made my SC from the draperies" bold?



Or just "It was supposed to be a kilt but the tailor screwed up" bold?

Saw a blog post recently on a look termed the "Italian background" - essentially a blue shirt & navy knit/grenadine tie, used to tone down loud suits & sportcoats. There are some examples from the Sartorialist in the link, and Lapo demonstrating the idea below. (Though his coat isn't really that loud.)

http://www.permanentstyle.co.uk/2008...ackground.html

Originally Posted by edmorel

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That is the point. I actually really like Hamish's first outfit. I would never wear it nor would I even wear any of those pieces individually but here is an example of an outfit that works very well in the context of who the person is and his figure. A skinny fashion editor looks great in "weird" ensembles. Obviously if Hamish wanted to dress normal, he has access to and can afford any classical tailor he wants so, right or wrong, you look at him and think that he knows exactly what he is doing and the outfit is not a mistake. On the other hand, Joe in the accounting dept., 5'8" and a bit overweight, looks like a fool in the company cafeteria wearing this outfit.
That's because Hamish is not trying to blend the diverse elements in like someone like Will would advise, dressing for fashion events is very often about putting forward a bold piece; fashion can be seen before you something which traditionalists would revile.

People are misunderstanding checkered dude's intention. He isn't trying to harmonize anything really, he wants visual tension. He does an excellent job of creating tension without pushing all the way into eyesore. Graphic design people try these same kinds of tricks all the time.

Originally Posted by mjphillips

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Saw a blog post recently on a look termed the "Italian background" - essentially a blue shirt & navy knit/grenadine tie, used to tone down loud suits & sportcoats. There are some examples from the Sartorialist in the link, and Lapo demonstrating the idea below. (Though his coat isn't really that loud.)

http://www.permanentstyle.co.uk/2008...ackground.html

That is very nice...

GREAT thread HF. You've been thinking about this for a while haven't you...it was you who decided the "Pattern Challenge" yes?

Originally Posted by edmorel

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Joe in the accounting dept., 5'8" and a bit overweight, looks like a fool in the company cafeteria wearing this outfit.

This. As with almost all things in life and particularly dress, your personality and confidence plays a bigger role than anything else. You just can't "know" someone from a picture on the internet, but a look of confidence can go a long way, if you really are confident in the suit then you're good, if its a pout for the camera, then you risk looking the fool for the remainder of the day.

I also think Will is dead on with taking a minor color from the boldest item, and playing off of it. I think this plays just as an important role as pattern when doing this. All the colors from this take off the blue hue this suit's grey has.




Its easy to be confident when you're surrounded by 14 year old kids who don't know **** about **** all day...

I also think BOLD suits are more like this (country), and not necessarily just plaids, which can be very conservative. Of Mike's I think he has that one country three piece and the rest I'd say can be more conservative business dress (well for me at least)

Originally Posted by pvrhye

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People are misunderstanding checkered dude's intention. He isn't trying to harmonize anything really, he wants visual tension. He does an excellent job of creating tension without pushing all the way into eyesore. Graphic design people try these same kinds of tricks all the time.
Tension needs to have some resolution to be effective. This dude is like a John Cage sonata. And not in a good way.

Im still really pissed that suit did not fit me, Rob. I cant believe you sold it.

Originally Posted by SpooPoker

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Im still really pissed that suit did not fit me, Rob. I cant believe you sold it.

LOL, you know, I liked it, no I loved it, but it just simply could not get the wear it needed. Maybe twice or three times a year? If I had a wardrobe of similar suits it would be different, so I decided I'd rather have more bold SC's and more conservative suiting. One day I'll have a similar one made up, when I feel I've achieved what I want with the rest of my wardrobe, though knowing me (and most of us) I may never get there. Having said that, if I had a bigger place I'd have kept it.

Originally Posted by pvrhye

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visual tension.

I like this term.

Originally Posted by barims

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I'm surprised no one else included this:

Another example of using contrast collars with bold suits, as discussed earlier. The intensely coloured square is another example of adding a competing point of interest, as is the use of a bow tie. I'm not a big fan of the final result, but it is interesting to note the methodological similarity of approach to some of the concepts already being discussed.

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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That's because Hamish is not trying to blend the diverse elements in like someone like Will would advise, dressing for fashion events is very often about putting forward a bold piece; fashion can be seen before you something which traditionalists would revile.

Originally Posted by pvrhye

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People are misunderstanding checkered dude's intention. He isn't trying to harmonize anything really, he wants visual tension. He does an excellent job of creating tension without pushing all the way into eyesore. Graphic design people try these same kinds of tricks all the time.

Both these posts essentially make the same point - the clothes here are being used to illustrate a conceptual approach that is fundamentally different from a traditional aesthetic. I would even go so far as to say that the focus here is about creating a portrait, not about dressing well. I love that intellectual approach to the use of clothes.

Now, I wouldn't use it all the time for myself, naturally, but as an alternative approach I think we forget this use of clothes/fabrics at our peril. Traditional stealth wealth is only one of many ways to approach creating an outfit.

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

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GREAT thread HF. You've been thinking about this for a while haven't you...it was you who decided the "Pattern Challenge" yes?

Good catch; yes, exactly so. Think of that as being a little experiment in observing how people approached the concept.

Since you posted your great suit, I feel obliged to post pics of a suit that I'm currently experimenting with, over each successive wear, to try to create a look that employs some of the techniques we're discussing in this thread.

first attempt
[/SPOILER]
second


third