The Style Thread

[Omar]

For summer, you would want lightweight worsted wool, cotton or linen. None of these work year-round; all season worsted wool will have you sweating a bit, but unless you want to buy two suits it'll have to do. For a summer wedding I would suggest mid or light gray (the brighter, the cooler, and I think it looks better on people who have blond hair (you have blond hair, right?)). I would suggest dark brown plain or cap toe oxfords for the shoes instead of wingtips.

[Edit] Woops, missed a post. Black and brown are both fine with grey and navy, with brown being more casual (and as such more appropriate to a summer wedding). It's great that you're actually putting some thought into this, it's what we're here for.

[Shiny]

I'm glad you want to get it right. I think Omar has a point when he says that if it is a for a summer wedding, then gray might be little more fun, and less hot than navy. I think navy, and gray suits work for any skin tone, or hair colour.

 

@Randox. just because black suits are commonly worn doesn't mean they look good. Outside of nighttime, a harsh black looks odd under direct light, sometimes an odd green colour. Black in a suit makes people look paler, more sickly and generally slimmer. For larger males, that last point is a bonus, but a well fitting navy or mid-grey or charcoal suit will also slim them. It just has no real place, to be perfectly honest, and offers nothing you can't get in a mid-grey, navy or charcoal. Avoid.

[Noxx]

a) Gray wool flannel, two buttons, and get it tailored; skimp on the suit if need be. Black suits are for funerals. Tuxedos are not black .

Cant say i agree with this.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zg_P0UHuya8/Tm3df5WX4YI/AAAAAAAAA30/KQzW3_kWYiY/s1600/dior-men-s-slim-fit-suits-1-button-business-suits-black-fbce0.jpg

 

Only thing i could find that comes close to what i really had in mind.

[Estonian dude]

That's shiny stuff, not so formal. But if you say black is so bad, I'm doomed? Only suit I've found in sale in my area was black. And I have it now...

 

Mind you, I am quite slim and 2m's tall aswell..

[Noxx]

Was hoping to find something that wasn't so shiny, but i wasn't really bothered to sit there for hours trying to find a black suit that's good and within everyones price range.

[Omar]

I repeat: black suits are for funerals. Your first suit should be navy or gray. You will never need a black sport coat.

[Edit] And Dior is anything but an authority on this. I give you John Galliano, Dior's head designer (until he got drunk and started spouting antisemitic bullshit in March '11, but that has little to do with the issue):

[Randox]

There is a certain skin tone (the one called winter) that black and white can compliment. Also, the darker your skin, the better black will look (at least to me) and the worse blue in particular will get (I don't think anyone looks good in both colors). I also just noticed that the reason I said I don't like grey is because for some reason I was only thinking of tweed suits, which as a point of persoal taste I don't like at all (both in look and texture. I can't bear the feeling of any fabric with wool in it).

 

Grey is great though.

[Omar]

It's not only a matter of aesthetics (even for winters, it makes their faces look pale; black doesn't compliment anything other than true white, which is not the color of skin). It's a matter of social convention; everything you wear has a meaning; wearing sandals and a hoodie to a corporate meeting says "I don't care", even though that's not necessarily what is meant. Wearing a black suit during the day is a little bit like consistently replacing a word by another one which is similar to a layman but radically different to the audience at a convention: globally, most people will not see the difference, but some of the most important people will know.

Also, good tweed kicks ass and most suits are made with wool.

[Randox]

Huh, forgot about most suits containing wool. I guess I haven't touched enough of them.

[Shiny]

Ugh that black blazer is terrible.

[Sam]

a) Gray wool flannel, two buttons, and get it tailored; skimp on the suit if need be. Black suits are for funerals. Tuxedos are not black .

Cant say i agree with this.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zg_P0UHuya8/Tm3df5WX4YI/AAAAAAAAA30/KQzW3_kWYiY/s1600/dior-men-s-slim-fit-suits-1-button-business-suits-black-fbce0.jpg

 

Only thing i could find that comes close to what i really had in mind.

 

With a suit like that you'd look like a member of the Yakuza.. just my personal opinion.

[Noxx]

a) Gray wool flannel, two buttons, and get it tailored; skimp on the suit if need be. Black suits are for funerals. Tuxedos are not black .

Cant say i agree with this.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zg_P0UHuya8/Tm3df5WX4YI/AAAAAAAAA30/KQzW3_kWYiY/s1600/dior-men-s-slim-fit-suits-1-button-business-suits-black-fbce0.jpg

 

Only thing i could find that comes close to what i really had in mind.

 

With a suit like that you'd look like a member of the Yakuza.. just my personal opinion.

Racist because the guy is asian????

Seriously though, the material is a bit shiny, not going to lie. But the overall cut/style of it is great. And with a shirt like that, maybe not that exact colour, you can make it look even better.

I'm just trying to say that saying black suits are for funerals is a stupid claim.

Might be Omar's opinion, but then lets keep it at that. Don't try and make an opinion a fact.

[Shiny]

Its more an opinion shared by the majority of figures educated about fashion. Black simply looks out of place in the day, because of its connotations with funerals, and evening wear. Black sportcoats and blazers have no place in anyone's wardrobes, as navy fulfills everything black attempts to do anymore.

 

A black, shiny blazer with a red shiny shirt makes you look like you attempted to dress yourself without properly giving it thought. It just looks amateur-ish.

[Omar]

There is nothing objective about my claim, sure. One can't say that if there were no humans to judge my wearing a black suit in the day, then there would be nothing wrong (on any level) with it. But the thing is opinions are precisely what matters, namely the opinions of others. It is a widely held belief than black suits shouldn't be worn during the day--although significantly less so now that men understand next to nothing about clothing, compared to the 1930s--and therefore they shouldn't. It's not about what I think, it's about what a significant fraction of people you're not aware of think.

 

According to classic menswear rules, a black suit--the most formal of them--should not be worn with casual eyewear, a shirt any other color than white, and a tie anything other than black; according to those same rules, that jacket is too short, so are the sleeves, the shirt collar is too small (its collar points aren't tucked underneath the lapels as should be the case), and that is a shiny shoelace, not a tie.

[Maleficus1055]

Oh yeah, I decided on a pair of sunglasses. Not to break up all the suit talk or anything.

[Shiny]

There is nothing objective about my claim, sure. One can't say that if there were no humans to judge my wearing a black suit in the day, then there would be nothing wrong (on any level) with it. But the thing is opinions are precisely what matters, namely the opinions of others. It is a widely held belief than black suits shouldn't be worn during the day--although significantly less so now that men understand next to nothing about clothing, compared to the 1930s--and therefore they shouldn't. It's not about what I think, it's about what a significant fraction of people you're not aware of think.

 

According to classic menswear rules, a black suit--the most formal of them--should not be worn with casual eyewear, a shirt any other color than white, and a tie anything other than black; according to those same rules, that jacket is too short, so are the sleeves, the shirt collar is too small (its collar points aren't tucked underneath the lapels as should be the case), and that is a shiny shoelace, not a tie.

 

I think there is an objective case regarded the topic. It is alright to say that black doesn't flatter many skin tones, nor is as versatile as you would think. It doesn't go with many colours, except for (in theory) grey, and white, and tan. That last point is illustrated in this photo: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-17lel0tNAEM/Twdk6wJIFAI/AAAAAAAABUo/1ASi1daGqMs/s1600/214.jpg.

[Rock Hard]

I need to buy a suit that is cheap but doesn't look cheap for interviews with the Army Officer Selection Board.

 

It has to be cheap because i'm a very poor student, it has to look good for obvious reasons.

 

As I'm poor and tight, I like to buy clothes that can be re-used in various settings, formal and informal to keep my wardrobe small and efficient.

 

I own a couple of good looking blazers/waistcoats, shirts and pants already (Charity shopping isn't tight, it's vintage and charitable. ;) )- But nothing that cohesively could fit together to be called a suit.

 

What should I be looking for and where should I be looking?

 

In the UK, btw.

[Omar]

There is nothing objective about my claim, sure. One can't say that if there were no humans to judge my wearing a black suit in the day, then there would be nothing wrong (on any level) with it. But the thing is opinions are precisely what matters, namely the opinions of others. It is a widely held belief than black suits shouldn't be worn during the day--although significantly less so now that men understand next to nothing about clothing, compared to the 1930s--and therefore they shouldn't. It's not about what I think, it's about what a significant fraction of people you're not aware of think.

 

According to classic menswear rules, a black suit--the most formal of them--should not be worn with casual eyewear, a shirt any other color than white, and a tie anything other than black; according to those same rules, that jacket is too short, so are the sleeves, the shirt collar is too small (its collar points aren't tucked underneath the lapels as should be the case), and that is a shiny shoelace, not a tie.

 

I think there is an objective case regarded the topic. It is alright to say that black doesn't flatter many skin tones, nor is as versatile as you would think. It doesn't go with many colours, except for (in theory) grey, and white, and tan. That last point is illustrated in this photo: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-17lel0tNAEM/Twdk6wJIFAI/AAAAAAAABUo/1ASi1daGqMs/s1600/214.jpg.

First off, adding a gradient map to this picture is kind of a cop-out; second, you can't know everyone is not colorblind (I may perceive black the way you perceive pink); finally, taste and beauty are culturally determined.

Gid, I can't tell you where to look, but thrifting is not a bad idea, though suit pants and jackets tend to get separated; your problem is pretty much Skull's. It is of the utmost importance that you save 100$ to get the suit altered; you will look better in a tailored shit suit than in an ill-fitting luxury suit.

[Bonez899]

I need to buy a suit that is cheap but doesn't look cheap for interviews with the Army Officer Selection Board.

Can't help you specifically, but the last page or maybe 2 has been discussing the merits of different suits and what not.

[Omar]

There is a link to a filtered eBay search on every "eBay Roundup" post on Put This On for good suits, great suits, and good footwear. That might help you find something cheap.

[Shiny]

While the subject of charcoal flannel suits has passed, if you are still interested, Skull, Indochino are having a sale on their model. At $300 it sits within your price range. If you can get your measurements done by a third party, accurately, Indochino (generally) won't post a problem. With their $75 alteration credit, and a remake if it goes wrong there is not much to lose. An off the rack suit won't be worse fitting, at least.

 

http://www.indochino.com/product/charcoal-flannel-suit

[Omar]

http://putthison.com/post/467904562/indochino

 

Not the best, but it's fair for the price point, especially if you're hard to fit.

[Duff]

I guess this isn't wholly on-topic. But I'm getting these shoes soon. I've been in need of some sturdy shoes for a while, and my classic vans just get beat up way too easily.

 

http://shop.vans.com/catalog/Vans/en_US/style/l3j.html?categoryId=10105&colorCode=L3JGBR#variation-1

 

(getting the Hawk Blue and Gum ones)

[Jeffwilson99]

Boarding shoes?

[Duff]

Boarding shoes?

You know it, man. :thumbup: