Don't shun... embrace the corduroy suit.

[Jovan]

Rare today are whole suits made in tweed, much less three piece suits. More rare a breed is the suit made up of corduroy. Both are mostly consigned to sport coat duty. While that's all good and well, I'd like to see more clothiers going all the way with cord.

I start this thread with one of my favourite examples.

Note the throat latch and leather buttons, features you usually only see on sport coats. It sure looks nice and cozy.

Thoughts? Pictures? Flames? Fistfights?

 

[Edward]

I like them. The only problem I ever had with corduroy is that the trousers wear relatively quickly - ended up with a "bald" spot between the upper thighs (always where my trousers wear out) faster than with any other material. Otherwise, I like the look a lot and I would indeed consider a suit in that fabric.

 

[Flitcraft]

Thoughts? Pictures? Flames? Fistfights?

Wow! Perfect summary of my typical dating experiences!

But, to return to the topic at hand...
I think if you're going to wear a three-piece suit made of corduroy, you should probably opt for something in a fine wale with a softer hand. To me, the bigger wales and burlier fabric are better in individual pieces, i.e., wide wale corduroy trousers paired with a wool sweater or a corduroy jacket with flannel tousers.
Having said that, the brown suit in that photo does look sharp
Where's the photo from?

 

[Feraud]

Where's the photo from?

Superman Returns.

I have a brown corduroy jacket that looks great w/a fedora or cap.

 

[Fletch]

Ask the Unlicensed Cultural Deconstructionist

Note the throat latch and leather buttons, features you usually only see on sport coats. It sure looks nice and cozy.

Thoughts? Pictures? Flames? Fistfights?

A film costumer picked this for a supervillain, to help outline the character visually for the mass culture. So we're kind of obligated to look at the message it sends.

It bespeaks eccentricity, indulgence, and a bit of pretentiousness. The casual fabric plus the formal tailoring, along with Luthor's bald head of course, are meant to create unease and underscore the idea that Luthor is out of balance and at odds with society.

Ask yourself: Could Clark Kent wear this? Of course not. He's the ultimate good guy. Mild-mannered Kansas-raised superheroes don't send out cross-messages with their clothes. Especially not if they have space-age circus outfits underneath.

This is an outfit that makes a statement. The statement is "Go to hell, world," in a hissy whisper that not everyone will hear but anyone can (subliminally) understand.

(In addition to everything else - the damn thing is brown.)

There are very few places you could wear this without coming off a little snooty, altho unless you're (say) George Soros*, no one is going to think you are bent on world domination.

*George Soros is not a supervillain, or at least not obvious enough about it to wear a 3pc corduroy suit.

 

[Jovan]

No matter what the fabric... waistcoat means "snooty" to a lot of people. [huh]

(I also think you may have over analyzed.)

 

[Fletch]

I'm a UCD...overanalysis is just part of the job.

DGMW - a 3pc cord suit is cool thing to have. Just be very very careful where you wear more than 2pcs of it at a time. Separates? Knock yourself out.

 

[Alan Eardley]

Ordinary suit in Britain. University professor wear.

Alan

 

[Feraud]

I wonder if more than two pieces of any style suit brings funny looks..

 

[Hemingway Jones]

No matter what the fabric... waistcoat means "snooty" to a lot of people. [huh]

(I also think you may have over analyzed.)

You asked for opinions and then you criticize? Interesting.

Waistcoats are acquiring an entirely different connotation than the stuffy banker looks of the past. Think Daniel Craig at the end of "Casino Royale," sleek, dangerous and modern.

Cordoroy has a 70s vibe to me. The suit pictured above cannot escape that. Cordoroy suits were worn by hippies who had to wear suits; educators for instance. Many of my teachers growing up wore them.

I have seen golden era cordoroy suits and the material is finer and the lapels are broader.

Tweed suits, by the way, are everywhere, at least here in Boston.

 

[Lucky Strike]

As Jovan observed in the WAYWT thread, I'm a great fan of corduroy suits (and tweed, for that matter). I have four of them to date, one of which will have to be given a decent funeral soon.

My job requires me to at least wear a jacket and tie, and preferrably a suit. (I work at an auction house.) On the other hand, I do a lot of carrying, attic-crawling and generally dusty work, much of which includes nails and sharp edges, so a bespoke Super 150s suit would be a waste and a liability for me on most regular work days.

Good-quality corduroy can be extremely robust and hard-wearing; consider that it originally was a cloth intended for labourers' clothes, or "workwear".

Corduroy and tweed are ideal. They're old-school in the sense that nobody seems to think they're not formal enough, while the people who would react negatively to a too formal get-up seem to not mind a corduroy or tweed suit, even if it's three-piece. Some may think it's too countrified for town, but I don't really care.

I have a habit of taking short naps at work, typically when working late, and a corduroy suit will survive a nap perfectly. A shake and a brush is all it takes to fluff it up again. Tweed is much the same. Being rumpled suits them.

An added bonus: Both tweed and corduroy suits can easily be split up and worn as separate jackets and trousers, which provides them with a second life when one part of the suit is worn out or damaged, as opposed to most (or all) striped suits.

 

[Lucky Strike]

Waistcoats are acquiring an entirely different connotation than the stuffy banker looks of the past. Think Daniel Craig at the end of "Casino Royale," sleek, dangerous and modern.

Cordoroy has a 70s vibe to me. The suit pictured above cannot escape that. Cordoroy suits were worn by hippies who had to wear suits; educators for instance. Many of my teachers growing up wore them.

Yep, waistcoats are back, according to the NYT.

I understand the 70s thing, though. I remember my father - a typical reluctant suit-wearer of the age - wearing one to work in the 70s.

 

[Feraud]

Yep, waistcoats are back, according to the NYT.

I was just going to reply that waistcoats have recently become popular.

Each new trend is a golden opportunity to acquire some fine outfits.

 

[Clarke]

I had a handsome 3p beige curduroy suit...until the growth spirt prompted it to be donated to goodwill (I wish that I knew of the Lounge then )

 

[Tomasso]

the trousers wear relatively quickly - ended up with a "bald" spot between the upper thighs faster than with any other material..

Yep, I should have ordered two pairs of trousers with my cord suit. Well, at least I have a nice sportcoat. [huh]

 

[Matt Deckard]

I thought Luthor in the latest movie was a joke all around, including the bloused trousers he wore. Not eccentric, just tacky. The three piece has never been snooty as far as I have seen and it's comeback is pretty strong.

Not that corduroy suit above... It looks good though it's for a dumbed down Luthor, not the Luthor I know that can make a hologram to escape a prison cell, reprogram nuclear missiles so they trigger earthquakes to break apart the coast of California... Now that luthor, that was a grand knowledgeable man that could carry off a crazy opulent look and he knew what eccentric meant!

 

[resortes805]

Believe it or not, I am actually a big fan of vintage styled corduroy (the thin, velvety kind). Belted Hollywood jackets look quite nice in corduroy, as do spread collar loafer coats.

 

[Jovan]

You asked for opinions and then you criticize? Interesting.

I ask for opinions and discuss them. Perhaps I should have put a "lol" at the end of what I said.

Matt: That's probably part of the reason it wasn't as good a film overall. I thought the boots really ruined the look too, like someone wearing beat up sneakers with suits. I can look at his clothes and like them -- if it's not from the knee down. :eusa_doh:

Lucky Strike: You were the inspiration for this thread.

 

[Orgetorix]

Ordinary suit in Britain. University professor wear.

Alan

I want to be a British university professor when I grow up. lol

 

[Patrick Murtha]

chorse123 is wearing a very nice corduroy suit in the "What are you wearing today?" thread at Style Forum. Check it out!