Suite Fit

[ebracer05]

I am planning on buying a new suite and I'd like it to be something that will last a while. I currently have 3 high quality 100% suits right now, black, dark grey, and navy with very light pinstripes. I also have a lower quality (but still not really bad) wool blend suite that's like a charcoal with a very subtle plaid pattern and a Linen khaki suite. They're slim fit and has the best fit of all the suites. I am in good shape physically and really like the slim fit style that is popular right now, but I'm not sure if that's a trendy fad that will pass within another few years or so, or something that will endure. I'm not talking about a "skinny" suit or anything like that, but a well fitted suit that doesn't hang but also that isn't skin tight - like what Neil Patrick Harris would wear in How I met your Mother.

The navy and black suits I have are not slim fit. The Grey suit is but quite honestly, it could be slimmer. I had the navy and black suites tailored last year to match the fit of the grey suite, but like I said, it's not quite slim enough.

I'd like a wider variety of colors to choose from... if I got something different I'm thinking about either a charcoal plaid, light grey, taupe, or olive. But I'm also thinking about buying a slim fit black suit that fits the way I'd like. Now that I think about it, it would be cheaper just to take the suit back to my tailor and have her fix it rather than buy a new one.

But my original question still remains, is the slim fit style something that is going to endure (provided you maintain the physique to wear one complementarily) or would you opt for a more traditional and looser fit when considering the long term investment of an expensive suite?

 

[Greasy Pig]

I think slim-fit is the way to go....if you have the frame to pull it off.

I'm currently being measured up for a tailored suit and the tailor recommended slim-fit. For $1500 the bast@ard had better be right.

I also figure that paying that much for a suit which fits me now, will be a good incentive to keep trim. A looser fit might tempt me to think it's ok to put on a few pounds.....

 

[ebracer05]

I really like the slim fit style and the incentive that buying a very expensive suite carries with it to stay in shape. I am also aware however, that styles change and don't want to become heavily invested in a certain style that will not be popular in the next 10 years.

I have already seen some styles change... when I was in middle school and early high school, it was really cool to wear really baggy pants and baggier clothes. Now it's almost the exact opposite. But I guess when you think back to older movies, like the James Bond series, his suites were always heavily tailored and "slim fit" even in the beginning.

Maybe a better question is: Is the slim fit suite style really anything new? It seems like it's just an advertising ploy for fit people to avoid having to visit the tailor. Correct?

 

[backbreaker]

ebracer05,


FASHION TRENDS change


STYLE never changes.


there is a huge difference between the two.


your suit should fvcking fit. there are no if's and's or but's about that.

now there is some wiggle room in that statement. Like take me, I'm very broad. I can't wear like tom ford off the rack no way in hell my shoulders are too big. so while my suites "fit" THEY AREN'T like this

http://www.liweddings.com/chat/p/8444520_1.jpg


this is more me

http://fashionstyle9.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/bespoke-mens-suits.png

so i guess i am saying i don't care for slim suits. It's too cheesy for my tastes. I like classic style. that suit in the 2nd pic will still be as hot as it is now 50 years from now. in fact quite a few of my clothes are that old and still look great. I have a selfridge navy blue pinstripe suit that i got from a antique clothing store that's is from the late 30's/early 40's and it's easily one of my 3 best suits in my entire wardrobe; cold as fvck.


to me, slim suits say I'm a trendy guy, a classic suit says I have classic style.

STYLE never gets old.

PS- bond never wore slim suits. that's just what a suit is suppposed to look like when it's tailored correctly.

 

[ebracer05]

Thanks BB. Maybe I don't know what the functional definitions of the terms are that I'm using. I was assuming "slim fit" meant "tailored correctly". Most guys I see, even who are significantly older than me, do not have their suites optimally tailored. Particularly guys my age though generally don't even know what tapering is. The arms aren't right, the suite puckers, it's not proportioned well and it's either entirely too loose, way too tight, or sometimes I'll see that just the thigh area or the jacket is too tight. But anyways, I don't see a lot of guys who have a correctly tailored suite and assumed the "slim fit" label was an attempt to create a mass market version of a "correctly tailored" suite.

IMO, the first picture is the suite equivalent to skinny jeans and is not cool. I don't see how a man with any muscle on him at all could wear that and move and I don't even think it looks cool. It might be trendy, but it immediately makes me feel like the guy has no sense of self identity, is a try hard, and approaches life the same way he approached getting the suite - pulling something off the rack a sales associate told him to. Everything about the guy, beyond the suite, looks like it's a fabricated attempt at being "too perfect", and I'm sure the Ralph Lauren suite is not on par with something higher end like Brooks Brothers.

For my taste, the jacket in the second picture could maybe be taken in a little more towards the waist, but it's hard to say. It's definitely a better fit, no question. It also looks like a higher quality suite... the jacket looks like it's made of a higher quality (and maybe heavier) material with better construction all around, from the weave to thread count. If you were to shrink the jackets to the same as in picture one, I don't think it would look right.

Thanks for the input. Style doesn't get old... but trends do.

One more question - how do you differentiate between pure STYLE and a stylistic TREND?

Like, the three piece suite used to be very popular and it seems like the vest disappeared for a while... they have returned, but not with as much popularity. I see them in the stores, but I don't see people wearing them outside of my ballroom dance competitions. Pocket watches are gone. Fedoras and other high style hats were popular and outside of the guys on Mad Men and a few hipsters, no one wears a fedora. Pocket squares, tie clips, and cufflinks (outside of Mad Men) are another thing that seems to have disappeared, although whenever I wear one I always get compliments.

However, the navy and black suite have endured. So have wingtip oxfords with perforations. Jack Purcell Converse shoes are still a staple for casual wear, as well as the Chuck Taylors and Vans shoes. Blue Jeans are still here, but their presentation has definitely changed from Levi's original to this washed out distressed look that has been popular for a while (TREND maybe?) The white dress shirt and solid polo have also endured.

Maybe it's not as evident to me since I'm a younger guy and guys my age tend not to give a second thought to how they present themselves.

 

[backbreaker]

yeah that's the battle i have with myself. I'm about as close to a metrosexual as one can be, I love clothes, but I love working out. so it's a constant battle. if i were to lose 15-20 pounds off my frame i could easily get into those skinny suits but it's not worth it for me. so i hoover around 170ish with a 31-32 waist; skinny enough to look good in clothes, but not so skinny to where i look like effeminate or something
some of that skinny **** is like a 28-29 in the waist fvck that. there actually was a time i could fit that, not worth it.

Like, the three piece suite used to be very popular and it seems like the vest disappeared for a while... they have returned, but not with as much popularity. I see them in the stores, but I don't see people wearing them outside of my ballroom dance competitions. Pocket watches are gone. Fedoras and other high style hats were popular and outside of the guys on Mad Men and a few hipsters, no one wears a fedora. Pocket squares, tie clips, and cufflinks (outside of Mad Men) are another thing that seems to have disappeared, although whenever I wear one I always get compliments.

all those things will still look good and turn heads if worn correctly. **** i wear fedoras in winter all the time, especially if we go back home (arkansas) where it's colder.

more than anything it's not that like, take the three piece suit, it's not that it's out of style, it's that, if you want to wear say a 3 piece, you have to know when would be the appropriate time to wear one; i.e regardless of how bad ass a three piece i have, it not wearing it on a date lol that's not correct.

another forum i am a member of is http://thefedoralounge.com/

like i'm going to take my wife out to dinner tonight at an outside venue, and i will be most likely wearing a summer suit

but I think what I am trying to say is.. i can't tell you what to wear and what not to wear.. the way style works is like, you have to learn all the do's and the don't, what looks good and what does not look good, how clothes should fit, etc and then you have to create your own style and be you. I'm probalby bnot the person youw ant to take true style advice from becuase I am very much into classic type clothing/fedoras/spectator shoes and while with my persona i can pull it off effortlessly because that's just who I am, and i get complicated more than often on the way I dress and how well put together I am, it's not something i'm going to tell you to go out and blow money on.

get you a few books (that goes for everyone here)

The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men's Style - this is the style equivalent to the DJ bible

The Men's Clothing Guide: How and Where to Buy the Best Men's Clothing in America

Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion

Clothes and the Man: The Principles of Fine Men's Dress

Gentleman Gets Dressed Up: What to Wear, When to Wear it, How to Wear it (Gentlemanners Book.)

The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie: The Science and Aesthetics of Tie Knots (no one knows how to really tie a fvcking tie anymore)

Esquire's Things a Man Should Know About Style

The Elegant Man: How to Construct the Ideal Wardrobe

The Modern Gentleman: A Guide to Essential Manners, Savvy and Vice

Gentleman: A Timeless Fashion

Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men's Wear


while that's probably more books than you hoenstly have to have, i assure you that by the time you are reading (and I mean they aren't like Ayn Rand novels or anything you can finish most in a few days) you won't have to ask anyone a god damn thing about clothes ever again. Then take what you read, and work on your style. I like to dress up. right now i'm wearing some blue kahki polo shorts with a light blue polo and some boat shoes and this is about the most dressed down as you will ever find me.

so by STYLE I really mean the principles of how to dress. as long as you are within those anything you can do from that is just your personal taste.


as a side note, you want to know how to grab a woman's attention without saying a word to her regarldes sof how she is? show up somewhere perfectly put together like someone who has a clue how to do something besides drink beer and watch basketball. she might out come over and say something to you but she will notice you.

seriously, and more than anything I wish we had this sub forum here; most guys I know just don't have a fvcking clue and take pride in their girls picking out their **** like women are just natural born dressers and **** hell i dress my wife (seriously) lol can't tell you how many women I know who think "looking cute" is flip flops and shorts

take the time learn how to dress yourself and carry yourself like a freaking man. the game is that much easier.

 

[krishnavi]

The original and enduring style is a slim-fitting dark coloured suit, worn with a lighter coloured shirt and thin, dark tie, along with a pair of dark shoes. Of course this is a style that can be worn by many a person walking along the street.

 

[BeDJ]

If you have the physique for it, slim fit will look MUCH better on you. It shows off your chest, similar to women wearing fitted dresses. I would not consider slim fit a trend, it is a style/size

For comparison

http://imgur.com/pkyY0[URL=http://imgur.com/pkyY0]Classic[/URL]

Slim (before tailor)

 

[Colossus]

The #1 rule of dressing well for men is to BUY CLOTHES THAT FIT!!! And if they dont fit, get them tailored.

Slim fit suits are nice but you do have to have a <200 lb frame to pull them off. Otherwise, a non-tapered leg and jacket that will accomodate your arm and shoulder size without being redundant around the waist is key.

Pick up a GQ mag, or a J. crew or Banana Republic catalog for ideas. Also, You should put as much thought and money into your shoes as you do your suit, relatively speaking. Shoes make or break an outfit. Tie and watch follow. Go for brighter more fun socks. Check your haircut. Stubble is fine these days but it needs to be tight with no neck scruff. Shave a cheekline.

Remember that less is usually more and a lot can be done with the right cut of suit, a striped shirt with a solid thin tie, or a solid shirt with a plaid or striped tie.


Also on the note of style, a lot of it depends on where you live. For example I live in Delaware, and for me to be going out on a saturday with a summer suit on would just look ridiculous, because no one in this dump of a state dresses that way. In Boston, this would be fine. Backbreaker had great advice. Know your venue, event, environment. Know the basic rules and complements of style. Then you can start putting together looks. I learned a lot of this just by looking at GQ and J. Crew mags. Women generally have a better eye for style, but not always. I'm telling you, dressing fresh and stylish will do as much or more for your game as working out. Even if you are in an LTR----you'll get more attention from other women and she'll start looking up to you more.

But it is a process. A part-time job almost. Rebuilding a wardrobe realistically takes 3-6 months.

 

[Tiguere]

this is the style

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfftNj8jcNU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[DonJuanabe]

Don't mean to nitpick but it's "suit" not "suite".

Slim fit with the really thin lapels is just stupid looking, IMO. A fitted suit, however, is what you want. It will taper in at your waist, providing a slight V shape -- and it will fit your body. It will not hang off your body, it will silhouette it. As BB says it is classic and will always be the mark of style.

I just had two high end suits custom tailored. The guy took a bunch of measurements and I looked through dozens and dozens of wool samples. Went with 150S thread count, one is polished navy self-stripe, the other black with gray pin stripes and black herring bone stripes. These suits put Brooks Brothers, Nordstrom, and various name brands to shame. $465 each.

Do you know the wool of your suits? Higher end will be pure wool, not blended with poly or cotton. The higher the count the better the drape and feel of it (if you go beyond 180 or 200 the suits will be very delicate so I would not go beyond those counts). Also, you want the suit to be canvased not fused.

Jos A. Bank is fine if you want a decent but not prime suit. While the company always has good sales, twice a year you get a major steal on the suits. Like 70% off. Don't get Executive or Traveler level stuff - it's cheap quality. Signature isn't great but it's better and works. Joseph (fitted) and Signature Gold (does not come fitted) is good if you can get them on a good sale. But remember, fitted does not mean fitted to you, it just means it tapers from chest to waist.