Looking more professional, a fashion thread

[jackflashdrive]

Also a codpiece never goes out of style.

[geica]

I wish you success with this and I hope you find the answers you are seeking. Also to the forum thanks for having me here and I hpe to meet everyone ! Pleae take care and may God bless !

[SossMan]

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Most men wear their jacket sleeves too long and their shirt sleeves too short.


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I just bought a suit for Jos A Bank. The tailor there actually wanted to make the sleeves longer than the shirt sleeves. I had to specifically ask for the cuff to show. I thought it odd that a tailor had to be told to show cuff.

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This is a specifically American problem, and on large part it's a matter of the fact that too many people wear barrel cuffs here. I routinely see it said (as it already has been in this thread) that french cuffs are somehow "too flashy" (or something) for interviews or work in conservative offices. This is absurd.

This highlights one of the huge problems of finding a good tailor: often when you just pick one out of the blue, YOU'LL know more about how your clothes should fit and look than they will.

Anyone have any recommendations in DC? I know of a custom shop in Alexandria, but I don't drive and am not keen to make the hump down there.

Other notes off the top of my head for guys who are trying to figure out how to dress:

*Learn how to tie a tie. It goes a long damn way to making you look like you know what you're doing. The President has all the money in the world and the best tailors on hand to make clothes for him, but he looks ridiculous with his 7th-grader tie knot.

*Good shirts will go a long way, even when worn under a suit. A lot of people in America (in politics in particular) wear cheap-looking straight-collar white dress shirts that look as if they were bought at Target. Don't. Nice shirts aren't cheap, but they're worth the extra money when it comes to durability, comfort, and overall quality. I buy almost all my shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt (~$80-$100 ea., though they have a lot of great internet specials) or Thomas Pink (~$125 ea.).

*As others have noted, black is for nighttime. Charcoal and navy are generally recognized as the best colors for business. Leave the greens and browns and eggplants and such to Michael Irvin. Buy a quality suit in a basic color and put your personality into bolder shirts and ties, not silly-patterned suits.

*Buy good shoes. Johnston & Murphy, one pair black, one pair brown, out the door for $250. Get belts to match.

*Button-down collars look stupid with a suit or even just with slacks and a tie (and really in just about every other instance except with jeans). Don't dress up with a button-down.

*A shirt with a pocket is less formal than one without. Obviously the same is true for any sort of logo. Don't wear shirts with pockets or logos with a suit.

*Match socks to pants, not shoes. Obviously if you're wearing a charcoal suit and black shoes, you're fine with black socks. But don't wear brown socks with brown shoes and navy slacks. And if you eventually get comfortable with dressing well, socks are one of the places you can mix it up a bit without going off the deep end -- think like a pocket square on your feet, except that most of the time people won't even see them.

*Read "The Style Guy" in GQ. Yes, seriously. That column answers a lot of beginners' questions about how to dress like a grown-up.

*Matching the color of your belt buckle to your jewelry is a little over the top. If you wear a silver watch and a gold belt-buckle (assuming it's not some big rectangular solid thing, which you probably shouldn't be wearing with a suit anyway), you're probably ok.

*If anyone starts to talk to you about how a man should dress and uses the word "fashionable," stop listening. You don't want fashionable, you want classic. Tie bars aren't just out of fashion, they're stupid. Men don't need extra jewelry. Don't wear a tie pin or one of those bars that connects your collar points behind your knot, either -- if you can pull that off, your collar's too narrow.

*Don't ever wear a colored shirt with contrast (white) cuffs and collar. Just don't. Trust me. While we're on the topic of Pat Riley, don't ever wear a shirt with rounded leading edges on the collar. Or big long points. Or anything else "fashionable" or otherwise freakish.

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wow..that was about 12 for 12 there.

great advice. i esp like the advice on collars. There's nothing worse that an otherwise great shirt ruined by a [censored] up collar w/ rounded edges or too narrow or button down or it's white and my shirt is blue. WTF? I'm not casting for Wall Street 2 here.
Also, I always am losing the plastic tabs that go in the collar, so I generally ask for extras when I buy my shirts and I will usually get a few thrown in.

[gusmahler]

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*Learn how to tie a tie. It goes a long damn way to making you look like you know what you're doing. The President has all the money in the world and the best tailors on hand to make clothes for him, but he looks ridiculous with his 7th-grader tie knot.


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Really? He has an odd love of light blue ties. But I've never noticed him being sloppy with it. http://www.defenselink.mil/photos/Fe...0000D-001.html

I've read that he usually wears custome suits and shirts.

[Freakin]

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just be balla all the time like this badass dude. the old school phone is key too.


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It's not too late
temporarily out of stock though

[cjmewett]

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*Learn how to tie a tie. It goes a long damn way to making you look like you know what you're doing. The President has all the money in the world and the best tailors on hand to make clothes for him, but he looks ridiculous with his 7th-grader tie knot.


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Really? He has an odd love of light blue ties. But I've never noticed him being sloppy with it. http://www.defenselink.mil/photos/Fe...0000D-001.html

I've read that he usually wears custome suits and shirts.

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The photo you linked is one of the best knots I've seen the President wear. Usually he's got some kind of lame-looking limp square working. Hint: the bottom of the knot should be tight, meaning that your tie narrows dramatically where it comes through the knot. I almost always wear a double windsor in a cutaway/English-spread collar, which looks something like this:


Here's an example of a horrible one where the bottom of the knot isn't pinched tight enough:


More example mistakes here -- ill-fitting shirt with narrow, button-down collar, logo, and poorly-tied tie:


Now, someone who dresses very, very well (though most people can't pull off what he does and his knot could be better in this photo):


So there are some examples on knots.

[lapoker17]

you give a lot of good advice, but these few things deserve comment:


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Buy a quality suit in a basic color and put your personality into bolder shirts and ties


Buy good shoes. Johnston & Murphy, one pair black, one pair brown, out the door for $250. Get belts to match.


And if you eventually get comfortable with dressing well, socks are one of the places you can mix it up a bit

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the majority of people do not know how to dress. i think giving them license to experiment with "bolder" shirts and ties is a recipe for disaster.

though johnston and murphy shoes are fine, this recommendation, combined with your obvious knowledge, may lead people to believe that they are the gold standard for fine footwear, which is, of course, not the case.

on the socks thing, i think "mixing it up" is never correct and is very 80's in the wrong way. also, in most casual to semi-casual situations, no socks is a fine option.

[firstyearclay]

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Buy good shoes. Johnston & Murphy, one pair black, one pair brown, out the door for $250. Get belts to match.

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though johnston and murphy shoes are fine, this recommendation, combined with your obvious knowledge, may lead people to believe that they are the gold standard for fine footwear, which is, of course, not the case.

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lapoker brought up a good point.

Shoes are VERY important.

I have had nice shoes from J&M, ecco, mephisto, and they are all great as they last forever (with regular cleanings) but, I am having a problem locating nice "shoes" for my jeans, t-shirt, suit pants nights.

Basically, when I am ready to go out I have all of the outfit ready to go......For Example:

Suit Jacket

T-Shirt

Deisel Jeans

Cream/off white Polo socks
(no pic)

and then shoes!#@*$*(#$*(&@#(*$&#@!@#@!$!!!!!!!!!!

Here is what I wear sometimes:

Mephisto Javelin Dark Brown

This is where I run into a problem. I have a nice outfit and then lame kinda more dressy for this outfit "dress shoes".

So I have been going back to something better suited but definitely less formal. Such as:

Adidas Original 74 Italia

So this outfit is ok for strolling around bars, but when i want to go to a club I get shot down for either earing sneakers or flops. I guess I am looking for more ideas for shoes to wear "out" instead of being too dressy or too sneakery. I was looking on zappos last night at some sneakers that fit the in between mold in my mind. These shoes I think would be dressy sneakery:

Lacoste

Puma Sport fashion Van Slobbe Korbballschuh

Michael Toschi (little bit more dressy)

adidas Originals Porsche Classic


Any other recommendations?

Thanks.


FYC


P.S. For some reason, I was unable to post pics, and had to go back and post the URL's....Did I have to many pics??? WTF!

[Manque]

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This is a specifically American problem, and on large part it's a matter of the fact that too many people wear barrel cuffs here. I routinely see it said (as it already has been in this thread) that french cuffs are somehow "too flashy" (or something) for interviews or work in conservative offices. This is absurd.

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I don't think barrel cuffs are the problem. It's simply that most men buy/are sold shirts with too short sleeves. Barrel or not, the sleeve should cover the wrist and just touch the root of the thumb.

Another problem is that shirts shrink after washing them.


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*Button-down collars look stupid with a suit or even just with slacks and a tie (and really in just about every other instance except with jeans). Don't dress up with a button-down.

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Oh, I don't know about that

[gusmahler]

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Lacoste

Puma Sport fashion Van Slobbe Korbballschuh

Michael Toschi (little bit more dressy)

adidas Originals Porsche Classic


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With the exception of the third shoe, don't these run into the problem of not being let into a club because you're wearing sneakers?

How about a dress boot? Like this: http://www.allenedmonds.com/aeonline/pro...mp;occasion=189

They come in a variety of materials. Brown suede might be good.

Or the chukka boot:
http://www.aldenshoes.com/DrawOneShoe.asp?CategoryID=90