Random Style Thoughts

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An associate of mine does some work for a couple of the traditional mens stores come tailors over here. He was telling me the sorry plight of the businesses which haven't really recovered since 2008. There were a lot of rich people who lost a lot money at the time and the first things to go after the boats where the cars and bespoke/MTM suits. Also since then the politicians have quit traditional tailors and gone for the new competition which is cheaper. He himself gets a reduction at one place, but always shops elsewhere, blaming his wife when asked. He said he prefers more sporty jackets as I noticed his jacket ended half way up his backside.
 
How tiny is Foo? I can barely squeeze into a 54, and appears that leather is wearing him.

I hope he is not diverging himself into that genre of clothes, he does not have neither the body frame nor the attitude.
 
When has that kind of fact ever entered into his thought processing? He’s gone from clothes to interior design to sports cars to watches, becoming an overnight expert in each - maybe a boat is next.

I always think it funny when people set themselves up as experts, doling out advice and critique and collecting up a posse of slavvering acolytes. Then they have a damascene change of heart leaving a whole bunch of broken-hearted empty-walleted sycophants in their wake.
 
Great White Snark said:
When has that kind of fact ever entered into his thought processing? He’s gone from clothes to interior design to sports cars to watches, becoming an overnight expert in each - maybe a boat is next.

I always think it funny when people set themselves up as experts, doling out advice and critique and collecting up a posse of slavvering acolytes. Then they have a damascene change of heart leaving a whole bunch of broken-hearted empty-walleted sycophants in their wake.
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Here is a Foo quote from that leather jacket thread:

Hold up. I love classic tailored clothing. I am not abandoning it. But I'm sick of the delusional, internet hobbyism around it. For me, clothes are to enjoy. They are a selfish, expensive indulgence. So, the experience should be fun. Dealing with mistakes, unresponsiveness, delays, haggling over fixes, etc.,is decidedly not fun. I would happily get my suits from a vending machine if they popped out perfect. Romantic nostalgia around the tailor experience is blinding people to how shitty most tailors are and how shitty their business practices are. We should be demanding more from our tailors, not falling in love with them.

In short, talking about MC has become boring to me. I know what I need to know. I know what I like. I definitely know what I don't like. And everyone else seems to have their heads and hearts in a different place.

Out of arrogance and ignorance, I shunned streetwear for a long time. Mea culpa. Now I want to catch-up. And so far, it is pretty damned fun.

dieworkwear said: ↑
Also, SLP is bad and you should return that jacket (ducks flying bricks in the SLP thread).
It is only "bad" in that it is a lot of money for a type of jacket that could be equally well-crafted for far less. However, with something like this, you are not buying just a jacket. You are buying a piece of pop culture. Buying something you want to be part of. Or that speaks to you or provokes something in you. I really love what Hedi Slimane has done at SLP (and Dior prior). Comparing to bespoke misses the point.
 
I never ever ever want to see another post from some shmuck showing off their latest purchase captioned “maiden voyage for ...”

It’s clothing, not a fucking cruise ship.
 
I get that Barbour tattersall shirts are supposed to be sporting or for tubby old country lords or something, but surely they are swimming in them too?
 
Ok, I get that braces and side adjusters are making a comeback and I fully support (pun) the return of the high waist that goes with them ... but what I don’t understand is that sudden aversion to belts. All these IG iGent posers with empty belt loops just look half-dresses to me.
 
Dropbear said:
Ok, I get that braces and side adjusters are making a comeback and I fully support (pun) the return of the high waist that goes with them ... but what I don’t understand is that sudden aversion to belts. All these IG iGent posers with empty belt loops just look half-dresses to me.
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they are too dense to realize that they should remove the belt loops from the RTW trousers so they can better pretend they have bespoke slacks.
 
Dropbear said:
Ok, I get that braces and side adjusters are making a comeback and I fully support (pun) the return of the high waist that goes with them ... but what I don’t understand is that sudden aversion to belts. All these IG iGent posers with empty belt loops just look half-dresses to me.
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Belt loops with no belt are disgusting. And everywhere
 
Belt loops and adjusters are an even worse look! I agree, if your trousers have loops, don a belt.

Personally, I hate belts. Which is also why I am lucky enough to rarely wear RTW trousers.
 
Barbour’s brand-name wax is worth the extra money. I don’t know what they put in there, but it is much easier to apply than the half dozen other brands I’ve tried.
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I wanted to provide a long-term review on the longevity of a SWD high-end brand jacket. I bought a Wings + Horns down-filled Ventile shirt jacket circa 2007.

Wings + Horns is a Canadian-made SWD brand with roots in Japanese SWD production. Classic design, quality materials/construction which also combines old school with performance fabrics.

It originally looked like this. Classic quilted shirt jacket. Single layer Ventile. Down-filled. Leather backed snaps. Good pockets, except for no internal packet. Shirt-tail design with ass coverage for cold days. Good design utility in pocketing as the chest pocket fits my iPhone 11 (not the giant one) and the hand warmers are deep enough to fit more than just gloves in.

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I wore it and still wear it casually and for work around Flat Broke. Less in town now as I will explain in a moment. A very useful jacket in spring, fall and early winter. Ventile is shower-proof and windproof. I've walked for hours in a Vancouver drizzle wearing it and no wet-out or wet-through. The down still insulates well.

The only downside of well-used Ventile is that the colour fades and with the navy Ventile you get red streaks where the fading happens. It is not unique to this jacket a because I have two others Ventile jackets from other makers and an Etaproof version that all have various stages of fading. Wet, sun, moisture, perspiration dirt and rubbing take their toll.

Still, after all this time no snaps have fallen off. I have had other high end menswear brands where such things happened. The down has not slumped due to the baffle design. No seams have pulled loose. But it is definitely it is more ranch appropriate now.

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No rips, no holes, the lining is completely intact even in the armholes. Inside and out the fabrics have endured and the construction is admirable.

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Minimal cuff wear

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The Ventile "patina" compared to new

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So do you get what you pay for from this high-end SWD brand? I say you do. I think it was $450 retail and I got it for $200ish. A good deal for Ventile as it is not cheap as it is the original performance fabric. It would be worth it at retail. I used and abused it for outside work for 13 years and it would be in better shape if I just used it to put together my "all-time classic capsule collection" for IG. Or wore it sensibly.

Obviously it is well made. It rarely shed down. I never found loose threads. W + H quality is bulletproof. I have a couple of pairs of venture pants from circa the same time as I bought the jacket and I have numerous of their Westpoint chinos and jackets that are all of similar quality to the jacket. It is a solid SWD brand that stands up over time.

We don't often see long term reviews of gear on the fora do we? It is "what I just kopped" to showing up in the buy & sell or on eBay. Do we ever see reviews or just appreciation threads?

So, less than $20 per year my cost. Where you going to find this kind of bang for the buck? I dig shirt jackets because they are also practical and useful for me but good ones are damn hard to find. And expensive. Crescent Down Work's down shirt jacket in 60/40 cloth or nylon is $550 USD.

Anyway, here is proof that a SWD brand can deliver the ethos of classic workwear at the same level of quality of the jackets they are channeling.

Should have bought two.

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How come I have lately seen more and more twenty-something couples where the woman looks put-together and confident, whereas the man is slouching, unshaven, and dressed up like a preteen?
 
Ambrosius08 said:
How come I have lately seen more and more twenty-something couples where the woman looks put-together and confident, whereas the man is slouching, unshaven, and dressed up like a preteen?
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I actually witnessed something like this in a restaurant yesterday. as it 'appens.

The woman was dressed very nicely and attractive. Her beau was dressed in Tan Nubuck Timberlands which were badly scuffed at the toe and only fastened halfway up with the tongue pulled out and turned over (like football boots). Distressed jeans tucked into the boot, denim shirt worn untucked and topped off with a stupid tweed cloth cap that he continued to wear throughout the meal! I rarely clock and even more rarely remember what men wear in restaurants (too busy stuffing my cakehole to care) but this was particularly bad given the contrast with his partner.

Oh, he had a straggly beard too which probably explains everything.
 
formby002 said:
I actually witnessed something like this in a restaurant yesterday. as it 'appens.

The woman was dressed very nicely and attractive. Her beau was dressed in Tan Nubuck Timberlands which were badly scuffed at the toe and only fastened halfway up with the tongue pulled out and turned over (like football boots). Distressed jeans tucked into the boot, denim shirt worn untucked and topped off with a stupid tweed cloth cap that he continued to wear throughout the meal! I rarely clock and even more rarely remember what men wear in restaurants (too busy stuffing my cakehole to care) but this was particularly bad given the contrast with his partner.

Oh, he had a straggly beard too which probably explains everything.
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You ran into Kingstonian Kingstonian ?
 
More thoughts disguised as grumpy old man gripes:

The same people who were posting ‘cuff check’ pictures a few years ago are describing their new jeans as ‘a new project’ or say they are ‘working on breaking these in’.

Same with people ordering a custom leather jacket. It is not a ‘project’ you are working on with the maker and it is not a ‘collaboration’. You are the customer making fit and detail requests that they will then make for you. That doesn’t make you a fashion designer.
 
People who don't understand that the plural of pair is pairs don't deserve to wear shoes.
 
Interesting article. Not sure where to put it so will leave it here, random like.

masonandsons.com

Pope & Bradley - As Worn in London

The New Mayfair Edwardians (photo Norman Parkinson) Nothing could epitomise the image of the English City Gent more than "The New Mayfair Edwardians" photoshoot by legendary British photographer Norman Parkinson. One of the images was used by Vogue magazine to illustrate an article entitled "As...
masonandsons.com masonandsons.com
 
Sauce said:
Interesting article. Not sure where to put it so will leave it here, random like.

masonandsons.com

Pope & Bradley - As Worn in London

The New Mayfair Edwardians (photo Norman Parkinson) Nothing could epitomise the image of the English City Gent more than "The New Mayfair Edwardians" photoshoot by legendary British photographer Norman Parkinson. One of the images was used by Vogue magazine to illustrate an article entitled "As...
masonandsons.com masonandsons.com
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There's lots of stuff on ex-Guards officers adopting this dress as a tonic against the decline and fall of Empire after WWII. It eventually filtered down to the working class Teds, who were big into Edwardian style motiffs. At the same time, you also had the red trousers and suede shoes as a code you were homosexual and available in London. Again, same dissafected officer class, or certain members amongst them.
 
It seems that vests/waistcoats worn in place of a jacket are making a return. Today I saw one guy wearing a black vest with tie and white shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows - he looked like a hip waiter or algebra teacher. The other guy I saw was wearing a notch lapel green tweed vest and an open collared Oxford type shirt. I might be mistaken but I think it even had bellowed patch pockets on the bottom. All he needed was the fedora to complete the cosplay English winter safari look.
 
Dropbear said:
It seems that vests/waistcoats worn in place of a jacket are making a return. Today I saw one guy wearing a black vest with tie and white shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows - he looked like a hip waiter or algebra teacher. The other guy I saw was wearing a notch lapel green tweed vest and an open collared Oxford type shirt. I might be mistaken but I think it even had bellowed patch pockets on the bottom. All he needed was the fedora to complete the cosplay English winter safari look.
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Its the age old problem of people trying to up the formality on casual or down the formality on biz. Without a clue

My pet hate is blokes with a T shirt and vest (waistcoat to the poms) over the top - worst of all worlds.
 
Dropbear said:
It seems that vests/waistcoats worn in place of a jacket are making a return. Today I saw one guy wearing a black vest with tie and white shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows - he looked like a hip waiter or algebra teacher. The other guy I saw was wearing a notch lapel green tweed vest and an open collared Oxford type shirt. I might be mistaken but I think it even had bellowed patch pockets on the bottom. All he needed was the fedora to complete the cosplay English winter safari look.
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Aesthetically, I can understand why someone would sport a waist coat, but modern heating makes them a bit of an anachronism.
 
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