To avoid further hijacking the "Movies I Have Seen Lately" thread, and because there seems to be some interest in men's attire, I've created this discussion to pursue it. (If I'm wrong abut the level of interest, this discussion can die on the vine harmlessly, with no offence to me.)
It's been only in the last five years or so that I've been something of a clothes horse. For nearly thirty years, my day-to-day wear was a uniform. But, when in civilian clothes, I was never one of the "t-shirt, blue jeans, and baseball cap" crowd. I was a bit more upscale than that, but otherwise, I never paid much attention to what I wore. The one exception was in my civilian suits. I'd always admired the look of the suit-dressed man of the 1930's, so, twenty-five years ago, I went to a tailor and showed him a men's wear advertisement from a 1930's magazine and directed him to make me two suits pattered after that. He did, and they fit wonderfully.
Since I retired from the Navy, I've taken more of an interest in my clothing. I frequent the various men's wear blogs on line (The Gentlemen's Gazette, being the best), and I've learnt a great deal about the details of men's clothing. The Good Mrs. Benson always said I should find a hobby, and as it turns out, clothing was it. I started by increasing my casual wear. Contemporary dress trousers pose a problem for me, because the current style is to have them hang from the hips, when trousers should properly come to the waist. Consequently, I went and had a half-dozen pair of dress trousers tailored to fit at my waist, along with adding pleats and cuffs. I was lucky with dress shirts. Van Heusen makes a classic dress shirt that happens to fit me perfectly, so I bought eight of those.
As far as suits, believe it or not, those two suits from twenty-five years ago still fit. (I weigh ten pounds less now than when I had them made.) However, my cargo has, shall we say, shifted in the last quarter-century, so I took them back to a tailor to have them altered to adjust. (He was impressed at how good a condition the suits were in after all this time.) Since then, I've had him tailor a third suit (because I needed a good summerweight suit)---aye, from that same 1930's men's-wear ad which I've kept all these years---and two sport coats.
Then,there were the accessories. I shifted from belts to suspenders. First, because they are more comfortable than a belt. Second, because they give you a straight silhouette, rather than the cinching at the middle created by a belt. There's a learning curve with suspenders, but it doesn't take long to master.
Then, as my pal Jeff pointed out, some sage fellow stated, "A man is never fully dressed without a hat." That presented a bit of a problem, though. It's impossible to really know how you'll look in a given hat until you try it on, and there were no brick-and-mortar haberdasheries near me from which I could select a fedora. There are plenty of sources of good dress fedoras on line. I became versed in the various details and styles of fedoras---snap brim, slouch brim, short brim, crown types, dents, bands, and curls. Still, I ordered and sent back seven or eight possibilities because, once I received them and tried them on, they didn't look quite right. Finally, I found an on-line hatter who was gracious enough to work with me, and I found the perfect fedora for me. Now, I've got two; one in steel-grey (to go with my black and grey suits) and one in brown (to go with my brown suit). I also have a black bowler, American style, from the 1930's that I purchased at a flea market.
I have an eye on another suit, a single-breasted suit (all of my others are double-breasted) with a double-breasted vest. In the 1931 Dracula, the character of Jonathan Harker (David Manners) wore a suit of that type in one scene. I'm putting it on hold for awhile, as I'm having trouble justifying it. My need for a suit doesn't come up all that often. Believe it or not, the Good Mrs. Benson doesn't like to dress to the nine's nearly as much as I do, so my occasions to wear a suit don't arise as often as I'd like. ("If you wear a suit, then I have to get dressed up.")
Now, on to your posts on the subject, over on the "Movies" discussion . . .
Mr. DeLuzio, you indicated that you did not replace your fedora because "The 2000s saw the style usurped by Angry Young Nerds." Sadly, there's truth in that. Your comment reminded me of this image I came across not too long ago . . .
That sort of consequence can be avoided. But, as I indicated, it can take a great deal of effort to obtain a genuine classic look in a fedora, and I don't fault you for just skipping on it.
Flatcaps have their own pinache and work just fine. They're just not for me. Nor is the ubiquitous baseball cap. Oh, I own quite a few Navy baseball caps---I even had one specially made. But they're not for social wear. I wear them when I'm outdoors in situations when work clothing is called for.
Jeff, old buddy, your post leads me to think that you are man after my own heart when it comes to men's wear. I certainly like your style sense. Wearing a bowtie (when not in formal or semi-formal attire) is a bold move these days, and I bet you pull off the look just fine. I like the idea of an ascot. I considered it for myself, but I don't think they would work with my size and build. I do appreciate the way they fit that middle ground between going open collar and wearing a necktie.
I didn't really notice before I turned my attention to clothing, but it's striking how poorly most men dress to-day. And I'm not talking about just on the street, in day-to-day life. Last year, the GMB and I went out to an upscale, five-star restaurant for our anniversary (one of the few occasions when she didn't mind going all out in her appearance). During dinner, I happened to notice the people at a near-by four-top---two couples. The ladies were dressed to the nines. Cocktail dresses, nothing expensive, but certainly stylish; their hair elegantly coiffed. The guys were a different story. One of them wore a plaid flannel shirt and blue jeans; the other was "resplendant" in his blue jeans, "dress" t-shirt, and baseball cap. Both of them had beard stubble; I couldn't tell if they were following the fashion of the time or simply hadn't bothered to shave before going out.
Setting aside all the excuses some men proclaim for not dressing well, I couldn't help but think shouldn't those fellows have shown their ladies the respect of going to as much trouble in their appearances for the occasion as the gals did?
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When it comes to hats, I have a bunch. Mostly, baseball caps. There are usually a few in regular rotation. The one I wear the most currently is a Texas Rangers World Series cap, but I'll probably "retire" it once the season ends. I would guess about half the caps I got for free. Including some from a friend of mine that worked in advertising, and he gave me some prototypes that never saw production.
I have a few knitted hats, but it rarely gets cold enough for me to wear them. I have one Miller Lite visor.
Finally, I have a Jughead Hat, which I just learned is called a Whoopee Cap. Neat!
Is this a commercial Whoopee Cap, or did you make your own in the traditional style?
(I doubt that I was the only little kid who wondered why Jughead wore "a crown").
It was a commerical Whoopee Cap. A Jughead hat, solicited through Previews all of those years ago. I've had a few people offer to buy it from me...
For my dress pants, I use the attachable suspender buttons. They grip to the trousers with a remarkable hold, but don't damage the fabric.
I will definitely look into those. (As a matter of fact, I already have. Now I need to buy some new suspenders!)
That was back in August. After I found the suspender buttons, I went out looking for the proper kind of suspenders... and couldn't find any. Then, in January, I was in a thrift shop and found two pair for $1 apiece. Our saying is, "Ya can't go wrong for a buck," so I bought them both. I have been wearing suspenders ever since.
I'm surprised you had difficulty finding suspenders that affixed to suspender buttons. When I decided to dive into suspenders, I searched among several providers at first, but then decided on the Suspender Store (www.suspenderstore.com). It has provided me with all the suspenders and related materials I needed.
Admittedly I didn't look that hard. (I didn't look online at all.)
I opted for the Suspender Store's braces made of grosgrain. I eschewed elastic suspenders; they provide a firmer hold at first, but eventually will lose their elasticity. Silk suspenders violated the law of diminishing returns; they aren't that much more comfortable or attractive than grosgrain but are too much more expensive.
So far, I've stuck with neutral tan and grey suspenders, but I'm considering going off on a wild hair and finding something snazzier.
Hmmm.... I have a friend who has gone the suspender route. I never really thought about it because they're not my thing, but now I'm curious about where, say, he shops for suspenders.
Suspender Store
That's an interesting site. I never considered other colors (mine are black), but now I am.
In return, I direct you to The Bow Tie Club.
Back in the '90s, just before my office went business casual, I switched to bow ties. I bought all of my bow ties from this company (a paper catalogue at that time). I had so few I bought exclusively from the discounted "bow tie of the month" section and was able to accumulate a nice selection at a more economical price point.
Interesting. I wore a bow tie (very) occasionally in the late 80s. In recent years I've only worn them with a tuxedo, and I've only had a couple of occasions for that. My day-to-day tends to be informal and casual. However, we went to an upscale restaurant for New Year's Eve and someone asked if we had an event afterwards. We didn't this NYE, as it happened. They said they assumed we did, because of how we were dressed. You know, formally, for an upscale restaurant on New Year's Eve.
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