Looking more professional, a fashion thread

[Manque]

[ QUOTE ]
cjmewett, the contrast cuff/collar shirt does have the unfortunate association with 80s Wall Street power brokers. Also, the phenomenon of turning personal opinion into "holy writ" is something I find myself doing when posting as well.

Aloysius, it has to do with the pale skin and dark hair. The high contrast between the two is best complimented by other high contrast colors. God bless Alan Flusser's book for this tip -- it's something I've internalized and actually think about when I'm throwing clothes on in the morning. Not like it matters though cause I dress super casual for work. Go go tech industry!

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You really want to take style advice form this guy?

[gusmahler]

Speaking of shirts, check out http://mytailor.com/

Made to measure shirts starting at $49.

Never used them myself, but saw them recommended at http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/f...splay.php?f=31 which is a highly regarded forum for men's fashion.

[Wilco23]

Try Charles Tyrwhitt. I swear by their stuff.

[turnipmonster]

this weekend I am going to a kentucky derby party, and have borrowed a coworker's seersucker suit. I need a shirt to go with it, as well as a tie/whatever and appropriate shoes (white bucks?).

two pieces of advice:
1) recommendations for shoes, tie and shirt (color/style/etc).

2) anyone know a good place in nyc to get this stuff? cheap is better, as this is a one time thing.

[gusmahler]

[ QUOTE ]
this weekend I am going to a kentucky derby party, and have borrowed a coworker's seersucker suit. I need a shirt to go with it, as well as a tie/whatever and appropriate shoes (white bucks?).

two pieces of advice:
1) recommendations for shoes, tie and shirt (color/style/etc).

2) anyone know a good place in nyc to get this stuff? cheap is better, as this is a one time thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

White bucks are the traditional shoes for seersucker. Not sure how fast they ship, but try http://www.shoes.com/stores/bass/pro...7194&hix=1

Usually you go with a more casual shirt (button-down collar) in a "summery" color like yellow or pink (or white). But I have no idea about the tie.

Try searching around at http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/index.php

Also see http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=13299 (and search around on that site as well).

[gusmahler]

[ QUOTE ]
Speaking of shirts, check out http://mytailor.com/


[/ QUOTE ]

Since I mentioned them, I thought I'd follow up. They actually send their tailors throughout the country to measure people. They were in my area yesterday. I found out that I'm actually a 16.5" neck and about a 37" sleeve. Moreover, my left arm is longer than my right arm. If you've ever shopped for similar sizes, you know the problem: few ready-to-wear shirts are made with 37" sleeves. I often end up buying 35" sleeve shirts that only fit me a few times before they shrink to unusability.

But another great thing about them is that you can specify a lot of customization on the shirts. E.g., I don't like shirt pockets, so the shirts I'm getting won't have them. You can specify french cuff, or button cuffs. With button cuffs, you can specify the number of buttons. You can specify the type of collar you want (spread, button down, cutaway, tab, contrast, etc.)

You also have literally thousands of different shirt fabrics to choose from. I chose a simple dark blue oxford cloth shirt for my test shirt. But I'll be picking a lot more once my measurements are set (some people prefer to only have a single shirt made at first, to tweak the measurements, before they place their first major order).

The bonus to the fabrics is that while they have a lot of conservative choices (solid white and blue broadcloth and oxfords), they also have a lot of stripes and checks that are sportier. From my experience, many "sportier" shirts are only available in S, M, L, and XL, so my sleeve problem was even worse--to get a sleeve to fit me, I had to get a shirt that was way too big for my body. Now, I'll be able to get "sportier" shirtings that are made to fit my body.

The only problem is that it takes time to make shirts, so I won't have mine until the end of June. So it's not handy if you need shirts quickly. On the other hand, once the measurements are perfected, I can just go to the website and order shirts on an as needed basis.

[Jurollo]

For what it's worth I just bought 2 Oscar De La Renta pin striped suits and love them. Both were about $250 each on sale and are quite the bargain.

[gusmahler]

Since you mentioned suits, I'll mention that Ebay is a great source. I bought two Hickey Freeman suits (solid navy and a navy pinstripe) for under $100 each. I just set up a search for Hickey Freeman and my size and waited until I found styles and prices that I liked.

For those who don't know Hickey Freeman is one of the highest regarded suits in the US. My tailor says they make the best suits you can buy for under $2000 (brand new, they retail for $1200 to $1500).

[NajdorfDefense]

[ QUOTE ]
For those who don't know Hickey Freeman is one of the highest regarded suits in the US. My tailor says they make the best suits you can buy for under $2000 (brand new, they retail for $1200 to $1500).

[/ QUOTE ]

Or on sale for $600, or on closeout sale at Barney's for $340, I got mine on today. You can always find a deal.

[Doug Funnie II]

This thread's a little long for me to read, but I remember GQ ran an article of the 10 best suits under $500 several months ago.

The brands they had were

Nautica
Perry Ellis
Armani Exchange
Tommy Hilfiger
Calvin Klein
United Colors of Benetton
Clairborne
H&M
Target Men
Express design Studio

They also seem to be pretty big fans of Jcrew and Banana Republic suits.