The Suit Room

2013-04-24

Seconded. Especially that second look.

evolutionofagentleman:

J. Press Japan S/S 2013..

Just bring this stateside.

2013-03-18

Stock up on tweed! 25% off any Newton Street Vintage Purchase of $20 or more!

Enter the coupon code “NSVSpring13” at checkout to receive the discount.

Preach. The rational, tasteful case for suspenders. Excerpts here but worth reading in full. I would also add that to my eye belts disrupt the clean lines of a suit, particularly when the jacket is unbuttoned.

I would also add that every time braces are worn with high-rise trousers, somehow, somewhere, a pair of low-rise trousers dies.

ivorytowerstyle:

…But as my frustration with having to yank up my pants all the time waxed and my aversion to garments associated with old men and the early twentieth century waned, I began to consider braces. And today that consideration has flowered into adoption, as I am wearing braces for the first time. And let me tell you, it is fantastic. Your trousers are exactly where you want them, draping beautifully, all the time. It’s also more comfortable because you can afford to have a looser waistband, since the braces are what holds them up….

…And hence lower rise trousers, the final potential cause of the disappearance of suspenders. The shorter your rise, the longer the distance from your shoulder to your pants line, and the more odd you will look wearing suspenders. And the less functional they will prove. You wear suspenders so that your high-rise, pleated pants continue to sit high at your waist as God intended, not slipping down to your hip bones, leaving your pleats sagging and sad-looking….

If you prefer higher-rise trousers, however, consider suspenders.

Source: ivorytowerstyle

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Ease and drape. They’re your friends.

thetradrejection:

Brooks Brothers 5th Floor

Source: thetradrejection

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goodgulfgas asked: Are you working at the Andover Shop?

Yes indeed. Come say hello if you’re in the neighborhood. Lots of good stuff going on at sale time.

2013-02-26

Anonymous asked: Thank you for answering my question concerning the difference between Houndstooth vs. Gun Club Check. In your most recent post: 2013-02-26Learn To Like It: Second-Hand and the Acquired Taste, what brand of shirt is underneath the jacket? Is it a Mercer and Sons Straight Collar shirt? Or is it a Mercer and Sons Button Down Collar Shirt? Also, are all your shirts bought second hand? Or do you order from Mercer and Sons?

The shirt under the check jacket is a Luigi Borelli which I thrifted. I order my Mercers, although I have had luck finding them second-hand. If you’re interested you should try ordering a Mercer. The roll on their button-down can’t be beat, and their soft semi-spread is also supposed to be very nice.

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Learn To Like It: Second-Hand and the Acquired Taste

Since my day job is in custom tailoring and retail, I get asked quite a bit if I still buy stuff for myself second-hand. The answer is yes. Because it’s more fun that way.

If custom clothing is about commitment, second-hand is about promiscuity, about playing the field. Yes, you can get “the basics” for cheap, which is great if you’re a college student or just starting out in the workplace, but to me, menswear media can be too obsessed with “the essentials” and “the basics,” and it seems that every day there is another “essential” thing coming down the pipeline for you to buy.

Clothing is more fun when it’s unessential, and buying second-hand is the best way for a young guy to experiment without saddling himself with debt and regret. It’s like getting drunk at an open bar. I’m not saying there won’t be a hangover, but you certainly won’t feel as bad about it.

The fun, rewarding challenge of thrifting isn’t finding that perfect blazer or that mint Belstaff jacket; if you go into a thrift store with a laundry list of requirements you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Thrifting challenges your taste and your preconceived notions of what works for you personally, but that challenge allows you to change your tastes and cultivate new ones. This is all a long-winded excuse for me to show you this awesome jacket (pictured above) I found and explain why I like it, and why I almost didn’t take it.

I passed this jacket up once because I thought it was too 70s and too old-mannish, but I couldn’t let it go so I went back and luckily it was still there. There’s much to like about it. It’s totally handmade vintage Savile Row, tailored by Norton and Sons.

The cut is serious. It’s got a really nipped waist with a draped chest, and it’s a big F-U plaid check with F-U roped shoulders. Hacking pockets, ticket pocket, side vents.

This thing fit me well, and I loved the details, but I was put off by the cloth, which I found to be somehow too drab and too bold at the same time.

If I were ordering a jacket, would I pick this cloth out of a book? Not a chance, but I wasn’t ordering a jacket, I was buying one second-hand for a tiny fraction of what such a beautifully made jacket would cost normally.

Point is, I took the jacket home with the full intention of reselling it if I decided it wasn’t to my taste. But I didn’t let my initial hesitation dissuade me; I took it for a spin, and now the check is growing on me. It requires a heavy trouser, and I’ve worn it with olive whipcords and tan cavalry twills, and a stiff dark gray serge twill. Knit or wool challis ties in rust or burnt orange really bring out the color in the overcheck.

Looking back, I never would have worn double-breasted anything, tassel loafers, spread collars, or knit ties if I hadn’t been able to find them cheap and wear them without commitment.

You can take the jacket home without marrying it first.

2013-02-24

The REAL Traditionalism

Lately I’ve found myself more and more drawn to tailoring that breaks the rules, defies the classifications, and by that I don’t necessarily mean ultra-loud or assertive tailoring. Call it more of a “broad stroke” traditionalism. I like spread collars too much to forgo wearing them with my Brooks Brothers tweeds, and I love to wear my Mercer buttondowns with my Belvest suit, which has a fairly Neapolitan look to it. Is it “Ivy”? I don’t give a damn.

The other day I acquired this old Southwick suit that broke the world wide open:

It’s an American-made whipcord suit with natural shoulders, lapped seams, swelled edges, a rolled three-button, plain-front slacks. The color I can only describe as tannish-olive-grayish. Sounds “Ivy” enough to me, so I wore it with a Mercer chambray button-down and navy knit. But it also has a great deal of Anglo detailing. Hacking pockets, ticket pocket, side vents, yes, but also that delicate shape to the waist and slight swell of drape at the chest.

I almost couldn’t believe it was a Southwick, and it didn’t seem so Ivy anymore, it seemed more like an English country suit. The trousers have a full cut and a high rise, and seemed to demand a strong cuff and a good break.

So I tried the same suit with a spread collar tattersall in brown on ecru, and a chunky wool challis from Drakes. Doesn’t get much more English country than that.

But then I noticed that with the generously draped sleeves, high gorge, and beautifully rippled waterfall shoulder, I could potentially get a Italian traditional, Luciano Barbera-esque vibe from this thing, so I grabbed a Borelli shirt with a high, soft spread collar and a Rubinacci ancient madder tie.

The point, finally, is not to classify this suit, but to enjoy the lack of classification and the freedom that it brings. Get too hung up on this stuff and it’s too easy to end up looking like a J.Press catalog cutout, or an extra on the set of Mad Men, or a “Fucking Polo Window” or a Hackett ad. The details make sense and coalesce together in a way that is uncommon without being jarring or seeming forced. They’re all traditional, even if they don’t all point to the same tradition, and combined on the same suit they’re harmonious, not disparate.

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Anonymous asked: Hello, First off I am a huge fan, your knowledge of clothing, pictures, and items for sale, are first rate. However, I have a very simple question: What is the difference between "Gun Club Check" and "Houndstooth" Sorry I was told just like "Prince of Wales" and "Glen Plaid" the two are synonymous, however, I don't believe that is true, could you please enlighten me, Thank you

Hi,

To a certain extent Gun Club and Houndstooth are interchangeable. Gun checks are comprised of houndstooth patterns just as, if you look closely, there is houndstooth (houndsteeth?) in the Glen plaid. To further complicate things, gun club checks and district checks are the same thing, with the Glen plaid being a specific type of district check. District checks originated with the checks signifying a specific district or estate and were worn by the gameskeepers of that estate. Gun Club is a 19th Century American adaptation of the district check, signifying specific shooting clubs instead of estates. Kind of like what America did with the regimental tie.

Practically speaking, I use “houndstooth” to refer to a houndstooth pattern comprised of two colors (black/white and tan/cream being two common examples). Gun Club or district check usually has more than two colors and may also have an overcheck. Hope that doesn’t confuse things further.

As far as I’ve read, Prince of Wales and Glenurquhart Plaid are the same. It’s a district check from Glenurquhart (which is a place in Scotland) but was popularized by The Duke of Windsor (who was also the Prince of Wales before he became king and then abdicated the throne).

2013-02-15

The best pink shirts ever made. Brooks pink university stripe oxford and pink blazer stripe broadcloth.