This question haunts me, as I have a coat and tie personal uniform, and most of my suits are vintage. I agree that feeling like yourself in your clothes is much of the battle. But I think there are two other elements that can help steer you out of costume territory, though in our casual age...
I run into this problem often. Even if you are willing to tuck the back blade down your trousers, there is just a maximum point after which any knot you try to tie will look unsightly in size. I remain mystified about why tie makers haven't remedied the problem, given that trouser rises have...
agree about modern tie lengths. Because most of my suits are vintage, I tend to pair them with quiet modern foulards from Drakes/Cappelli/Marinella et al to avoid a costumey vibe. Often end up sticking many inches of back blade down the front of of my trousers. Thankfully, among those makers at...
I think this discussion comes down to body type. I have learned through trial and error that an extended shoulder harmonizes my large head and slight body, but a shoulder that is also horizontally built up shortens my neck in an unappealing way. So the shoulder lines of post-war suits, like the...
I prefer collar pins, because you can forego them if you want. A tab collar shirt is less versatile because it can't be paired with ties that tie thick knots. I also prefer a pin to a clamp-style bar because a pin doesn't slip down the collar points during the day. I don't like eyelet collars...
It's 40's. Palm Beach cloth is a holy grail among vintage tailoring aficionados. The details of the proprietary fabric blend were lost when Goodall Mills closed. PBC is extremely cool-wearing, doesn't wrinkle like linen, drapes well. The only drawback is that the mohair in the mix gives the...
Matt, my English tailor (an Anderson's/Hitchcock alum) delivered a suit to me recently where the stripes don't match at the gorge, but they DO match up across the back. It's a pretty wide striped, heavy-but-modern gray worsted. Their intimation was that matching across the back was a...
I've found a photo of a sport coat/odd trouser combo, but I think it'd look just as good if the trousers matched the coat. The coat has all the right details to make a tie-less look work - a soft, sloped shoulder and patch pockets, a casual 3-2 button stance, and it is cut from a textured...
I think it can work, provided you use the right sort of suit, and the right sort of shirt. I'd avoid dark city suits in smooth worsteds. But I think it can be pulled off with more casual suits, with defined textures, bold checks, or lighter colors, with a softer more casual shoulder line, and...
A beautiful coat for a great price! Your two options are to have the holes darned or rewoven. Darning is cheaper, and given that the fabric is quite dark, and the holes relatively small, you can probably get away with going that route. I'd take them to a local tailor for that work - darning...
Was that belted back that overattired vintage was selling on etsy? It's quite nice. Would love to see a photo of the back. Re: the navy suit in your first post, it's really had to tell from those photos how old it is. Shots of the inside of the coat, any union labels in the inside pocket, and...
Indeed. Plenty of Fellows illustrations of men wearing black waistcoats to work as part of their black lounge kit. While I agree that pairing separates in the same shade is generally unwise, I haven't had any trouble pairing black items purchased separately. Cobbled together a white tie kit...
Yes, I'd already planned on having the coat and waistcoat cut from the same fabric, precisely for the reason you named. Hounds-check trousers is a brilliant thought too. May have to add that to the list of ideas...
I'm not sure I'd go with a cotton sweater-vest. TOO informal for even a more...
i will be anxious to see the final results of this experiment. I am considering commissioning a black lounge combination from my tailor, and have been trying to brainstorm ways to remove the "semi-formal wedding" connotations that have adhered to the style in the US in recent decades...
For me, there are two things to consider when thinking about suit shoulders - the proportions of your body and the formality of the coat in question.
I find that my head is large relative to my body (figuratively AND literally!). I weigh a scant 155 and my shoulder-to-shoulder measurement is...
Y'all are nuts about pockets. I use the pockets of my suit-coats all the time. I keep things in 'em - pens, sunglasses, and especially my hands. I especially do that with vintage suits that have no vent, making the trouser pockets a bugger to reach when you are looking for an easy place to stow...
Exactly what Guttersnipe said. Fair isles would be fine with fuzzy, patch pocketed casual suits - tweeds, flannels, the like. Probably a bit incongruous with a dark worsted city suit. For a suit such as that, I think you can still very much do knitwear, but it has to be a dressier sweater - no...
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