Sartorial Objections

[Lady Day]

This pic is fab! Where did you get it, who did it?

And boy, dont all three looks great. The lady is so cool, she needs TWO escorts! lol

LD

 

[Jovan]

Lady Day: I'll link to another forum, there's many more pictures in the thread. It's from Hart Schaffner Marx catalogues dated 1920-21. I found it quite interesting as well. (Especially when I found that belt-backs had been popular before the '30s!)

http://styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=28152

Interesting picture, Jovan. Personally, I can't stand trousers that don't cover up the shoe when you're standing. I wear some of mine a little on the short side, but for my dress trousers, I always make sure they have the propper break in them. For whatever reason, it bothers me when the trousers don't fit just that way. If I wear shorter trousers, I feel completely not at ease. But, to each his own. I notice you have Ewan McGregor wearing a Thom Browne suit as your avatar, so I'm guessing you're a big fan of shorter trousers. What about shorter jackets?

Slightly shorter is okay to me. I don't like trousers or jackets worn short to the extent that Thom Browne himself does it. He's a cool guy, but his appearance and fashion shows border on self-parody most of the time.

I should note that Ewan's suits in that movie have a normal length jacket and his trousers are no break, not highwater. (Possibly worn a size larger?) He does wear a nice pair of mustard chinos later that are as high as Browne likes them, and that's the only aspect of the movie wardrobe that dropped the ball, IMO. They'd be nice trousers otherwise. I don't own any formal wear yet, but I can assure you I'd wear it in good taste.

 

[Dapper Dan]

I hope I didn't make you think I was impuning your good name there, Jovan. As far as the pants go, my fear of the shorter pant is more a personal nerurosis than anything. It's just that I figure if I wear shorter pants, 96% of the populace will just assume I don't know what size I wear, not that I'm being fashionable. And I agree with you about Thom Browne. If he wore his pants an inch or so longer, he'd look so much more dapper and so much less desperate for attention.

 

[OldSkoolFrat]

We can all agree that Ryan Seacrest is a waste of space.

 

[vonwotan]

I do like a break in my pants, and have enough confidence in one or two tailors to ask for a full break. However, I don't think pants with the fabric bunched around the ankles is a flattering look for anyone, especially for shorter men. I am often tempted to shorten my pants a bit more than usual just to distance myself from what, to my taste, are overly long pants.

 

[Ruby Slippers]

Things I am not a fan of:

Footless tights: dance class, acceptable. I simply am not a fan of the look, but its not as bad under a miniskirt than it is with nothing at all. In fact, I think leggings with nothing over them falls under this category as well.

A-shirts/"beaters": Last summer and the one before that, I saw MANY girls wearing these with only a brassier underneath. It looks just awful, and these shirts are sheer.

The Hosiery Issue: I have to agree. I dislike the look of ladies wearing miniskirts with three inch heels and no hose. I think it looks incomplete and off.

As far as gentlemen's faux pas, they've all been more or less mentioned: the floor-grazing pants, bumcrack exposure, etc.

 

[Jovan]

OBJECTION!!!

Not at all, Dan. I can see your point of view, and I once worried about that too. No break is safe. Highwatering is more risky for sure, but it looks more polished if you have it hemmed to the bottom of your ankle, top of shoe, etc. I'm sure you see what I'm getting at.

 

[Feraud]

Seeing a dozen or so vintage ties cut and sewn into a dress is highly objectionable.
A true sighting..

 

[Jovan]

WHAT? WHERE? WHO? WHY?

That's almost like sewing a country's flag into a dress.

 

[Mr. 'H']

Seeing a dozen or so vintage ties cut and sewn into a dress is highly objectionable.
A true sighting..

Yeah? So what? What's wrong with that?*
























*just kidding , that's awful . What a dozy so-and-so!

 

[Jovan]

One little nitpick of mine is when guys wear belted pants when they really shouldn't. For instance, my friend wore a belt AND cummerbund at a formal occasion. It looked kind of tacky, and made me wonder where the hell he got his formal wear. Waistcoats with belts never look right, yet a lot of companies (notably Men's Wearhouse brands and Express) are still making three piece suits where the trousers have belt loops. I understand that they market "the three piece suit is flexible," but you can wear pants without belt loops in a two piece, and side adjusters exist for a reason. [huh]

 

[Lady Day]

Seeing a dozen or so vintage ties cut and sewn into a dress is highly objectionable.
A true sighting..

Um...I have a jacket I made of thrift store ties. Im sure some were vintage...

LD

 

[Feraud]

WHAT? WHERE? WHO? WHY?

That's almost like sewing a country's flag into a dress.

I saw the skirt in a thrift store on Melrose Avenue.

Um...I have a jacket I made of thrift store ties. Im sure some were vintage...

LD

I hope you were only the innocent who purchased it and not the one who did the slicing and dicing.

 

[OldSkoolFrat]

One little nitpick of mine is when guys wear belted pants when they really shouldn't. For instance, my friend wore a belt AND cummerbund at a formal occasion.

I noticed that look on Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers. He was wearing a belt with his formal? ensemble, can see the buckle peaking out from under his vest.

 

[Jovan]

Man, two no-nos in one movie. J. Crew makes their formal wear this way. :-/

 

[OldSkoolFrat]

Man, two no-nos in one movie. J. Crew makes their formal wear this way. :-/

And Owen Wilson's Dinner Jacket was a notch lapel, and the weddings all took place during the day.

J. Crew formal wear?

 

[Jovan]

I thought they both had peaks. Regardless, they were bad. Maybe on purpose?

Yes, J. Crew makes formal wear now. Link. Their trousers are non-pleated, sure, but they have belt loops and the jacket has notched lapels and a back vent. :-/

 

[OldSkoolFrat]

And a very limited size range, so I am safe from them for now. As I watched the movie, I was thinking that maybe the wardrobe dept did that on purpose to show the characters as scoundrels.

But I must admit to owning a notch lapel Dinner Jacket, I have to wear it at least once a month and peaks do not hold up with all the use I give mine, they start to droop. So I wear a notch as it holds up better and needs to be cleaned/pressed far less. Compromise is never pretty.

 

[Jovan]

Eh, one should never compromise. And that makes me wonder if you have one with proper construction. You could always go with shawls, too, you know. More dignified.

 

[OldSkoolFrat]

But the shawl makes me look more, "in shape," with, "round," being said shape.