Introduce Yourself

Hello, I am CodPiece. I'm a refugee from certain forums and trying to navigate the sartorial transition from software to consulting. I'm told 'smart casual' is the way to go.

I'm more of a lurker than anything else, but I'm glad to have somewhere sensible to ask questions. Thanks.
 
Hello.

I have gotten so sick of most of the usual igent blogs run by nobodies trying to market themselves as somebodies, giving advice, much of it wrong, to a public which probably knows as much as they do. There seems to be a whole circuit of these people, all connected. Most have no background in tailoring or design and a few years ago were clueless nerds. A few exceptions really stand out and are worth listening to, but only a few. Most are what I call second tier bloggers.

Top tier I would call Crompton and some others. I don't really know why he gets beat on so bad here. His blog at least has the appearance of being written for adults and avoids bad grammar, slang and so called relationship advice that the losers are so desperate for. But I am really an amateur in this field so maybe I am missing some things.

I myself am a frustrated clothing afficianado. Frustrated because I can't afford real bespoke. Also, because I am on the short side and a difficult OTR fit. I have often come close to completely giving up and going back to ratty old jeans and t shirts.

Anyway, I am hoping to find something different here.
 
Rollo il Gatto said:
Hello.

I have gotten so sick of most of the usual igent blogs run by nobodies trying to market themselves as somebodies, giving advice, much of it wrong, to a public which probably knows as much as they do. There seems to be a whole circuit of these people, all connected. Most have no background in tailoring or design and a few years ago were clueless nerds. A few exceptions really stand out and are worth listening to, but only a few. Most are what I call second tier bloggers.

Top tier I would call Crompton and some others. I don't really know why he gets beat on so bad here. His blog at least has the appearance of being written for adults and avoids bad grammar, slang and so called relationship advice that the losers are so desperate for. But I am really an amateur in this field so maybe I am missing some things.

I myself am a frustrated clothing afficianado. Frustrated because I can't afford real bespoke. Also, because I am on the short side and a difficult OTR fit. I have often come close to completely giving up and going back to ratty old jeans and t shirts.

Anyway, I am hoping to find something different here.
Click to expand...

perhaps if we had an idea of where you are located and your budget for a suit we could offer some advice.
 
Rollo il Gatto said:
I myself am a frustrated clothing afficianado. Frustrated because I can't afford real bespoke. Also, because I am on the short side and a difficult OTR fit. I have often come close to completely giving up and going back to ratty old jeans and t shirts.
Click to expand...

You can still look more than acceptable with RTW and MTM. Depends on your build, finding stuff made from a block that suits your body or with some town tailoring. The draw backs are obvious: you won't get the cloth you want, the ideal fit or the details. I'm pretty much dissatisfied with this model at the moment. But what am I going to do about it, that's what I am deliberating at present.
 
FriendCustomer,

I am in the Philadelphia suburbs. I know some very good tailors here but they do get expensive. There is a Suit Supply nearby but I think they cut their patterns for Netherlandish giants, not me. I haven't found they right fit there yet, but that is probably the fault of their awful customer service.

Pimpernel Smith,

I can fit RTW ok when I find it in my size, which is rare. Some tailoring still required.

The problem to me is this...if you want to look sharp, and I mean look really good, you have to get things better than just "ok". You need near perfect. This is more and more true the higher up the style register you go or the more of a statement you make. If you fail, then you look like any other drone out there or worse perhaps. When you up your style game, you are stepping into a cage match. You have declared something about yourself and people will notice and judge you accordingly. If you dress like anyone else, then no one notices you so no worries really.

So to look really good, to make the effort of dressing well worth the effort, you need to get close to perfect. That takes more resources than are available to me with clothing selection OTR and more than I have monetarily at the moment.

maybe my frustration will pass. Maybe all this is just a temporary spell of negativity. Hopefully motivation will return.
 
Rollo il Gatto said:
Pimpernel Smith,

I can fit RTW ok when I find it in my size, which is rare. Some tailoring still required.

The problem to me is this...if you want to look sharp, and I mean look really good, you have to get things better than just "ok". You need near perfect. This is more and more true the higher up the style register you go or the more of a statement you make. If you fail, then you look like any other drone out there or worse perhaps. When you up your style game, you are stepping into a cage match. You have declared something about yourself and people will notice and judge you accordingly. If you dress like anyone else, then no one notices you so no worries really.

So to look really good, to make the effort of dressing well worth the effort, you need to get close to perfect. That takes more resources than are available to me with clothing selection OTR and more than I have monetarily at the moment.

maybe my frustration will pass. Maybe all this is just a temporary spell of negativity. Hopefully motivation will return.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with a bit of town tailoring. If I am ordering online sometimes I will go up a size this gives some room to alter to my body i.e. I am a 42/42L, but I will get a 44R if I don't know the fit.

The drone look only applies if you're buying cheap and nasty gear. You can avoid all of this with a bit of common sense and dare I say it canny buying. You can pick-up decent second hand stuff on ebay. There's risk of course. And you're better having a few good quality items rather than a large collection of inferior stuff.

If you can't afford bespoke then you need to look at alternatives. It might not be perfection, but in 99% of circumstances it will be more than good enough. And perhaps less than 1% of people will get it anyway.

Suitsupply got mentioned in conversation yesterday. A very successful business model. They're riding the wave whilst others are failing in the menswear sector. They're innovative and are the equivalent of the Dutch established watch brand Frederique Constant i.e. big bang budget brand. My understanding is that the CEO use to work at Oger, which is another shop here that is doing extremely well. Albeit you wouldn't see me in Oger if you paid me! But they're doing well because they're offering unique services in an otherwise saturated market.
 
Hello all. New here, and new to dressing well in general. Mostly tech guy stuff - hoodies, etc. Yeah, I know. Pretty terrible.

Typed in Google search and ended up here.
 
Welcome, Odin Allfather! Please share with us the sartorial wisdom gained from drinking at the well of Mimir!
 
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