Lesson Learned

"The brute covers himself, the rich man and the fop adorn themselves, the elegant man dresses!"

-Honore de Balzac

uppercase
Posts: 1769
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Wed Dec 23, 2009 6:48 pm

I'm always keen to learn lessons from sharp dressers.

I came across these photos of a gentleman who is obviously interested in clothing and style, but am not quite sure what my take home lesson here should be.

Perhaps you can point me in the right direction....

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dopey
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Wed Dec 23, 2009 7:01 pm

One lesson is that Italian sports car companies make excellent accessories.
Another is that a dark solid tie paired with a dark suit and a light colored shirt is sometimes dull but usually elegant. If you don't approach dress as a hobby for its own enjoyment, you would do very well by simply adopting that formula, buying your clothing from good makers who will make sure it fits and spending your mental efforts on other pursuits.

But that wouldn't be much fun, at least not for me.
alden
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Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:16 pm

The first lesson I learned from the photos is that one should wear a shirt with a proper collar. Seeing every part of a tie’s wiring and anatomy splayed and bulging out is not attractive.

The second lesson is, if you are on the thin side, do not wear clothes that are one full degree tighter than adhesive with high button points that give you “lapel cleavage.” The busty look has its place, but menwear is not one of them.

Finally, spend less time shaping the knot of one’s tie, or wearing a knot that leaves people with the notion that you spent hours with an instruction booklet written in Chinese to get it right.

SQ (style quotient): 3.75 out of 10

Cheers

M Alden
yachtie
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Wed Dec 23, 2009 9:22 pm

dopey wrote:One lesson is that Italian sports car companies make excellent accessories.
Another is that a dark solid tie paired with a dark suit and a light colored shirt is sometimes dull but usually elegant. If you don't approach dress as a hobby for its own enjoyment, you would do very well by simply adopting that formula, buying your clothing from good makers who will make sure it fits and spending your mental efforts on other pursuits.

But that wouldn't be much fun, at least not for me.
Agreed. A rather boring dresser IMO.
Greger

Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:01 am

Interesting so many pointed out the negatives when the person asking was asking for the positives.

This guys personality works good with contrast. And he does it very well. Some people who write here insisit all apples be red. But there are some good tasting yellow and green apples, too. Dyeing them red does what? Some people who push the 'blend in', so you look like mud, actually have some zappy colors too, according to other people. So, they to are guilty of what they accuse others.

The guy has a long neck and his clothes are not fitted right. If you didn't go to a tailor what would your clothes look like, any better? If you don't understand the personality and the physical and the reason for ill fit, then how can your critizism be correct? The coat bulging out is a miscut for his body. At the tailors how much time do you spend to make for sure that doesn't happen, like studing that chinese book on 'how to tie a tye'? A guy trying to do better shouldn't be critized, but directed. What do you tell a person with a long neck who can't pay for bespoke how to buy shirts? There are squatty necks, too. If you were a cutter how would you recut that shirt so it looks better? That is a good question. How would you cut the coat so it does not bulge out in front? I was told as a small boy that should never happen on coats or shirts. No light is ever seen between the lapel and chest, so, no gap.

Some of the clothes he is wearing the guys eyes works very well with them. The guy comes across as a dynamic person, and his clothes embodies that, too. Because his eyes works good with his clothes that connection should draw you straight to the person inside the clothes. Because his facial color and hair color don't connect with his clothes as much your eyes should stop at his eyes putting him in your mind a head of every thing else. Anyway, that is my visiual take of him and his clothes. I could add more, but I'll stop at that.
JamesBond
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 2:33 am

Why should he provide you with a lesson to be learned? Not quite sure i understand the meaning of this post, are your intentions to bash the guy? Seems like everyone here is hating on this guy "Winkelman" (sp). He dresses like most other Italian CEO's, in a navy suit and navy tie. Looks pretty well turned out to me, I'm pretty positive all his suits are bespoke. Maybe his style isn't for everyone but it looks good on him, not to mention he is the CEO of Lamborghini and dressing a bit over-the-top is probably a good thing.
Greger

Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:09 am

I think his shirt lead you to his face and his suit and tie finish directing your attention to his eyes. So many people don't have that connection. Or, you could say, a misconnection. I think his presentaion is very well done.

The tailoring world is of different groups. So, the rules of fitting, beyound the general fit, can vary. For example, One group the hem of ones trousers coming away from the shoe when sitting or crossing a leg while sitting is a fitting error, while others may pay no attention to that and may concern themselves with something the others don't think about. The best cutters want their customers to walk away flawless according to whatever theory the customer wants.
Jordan Marc
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:15 am

Get a better hair stylist!

The last time I saw sideburns that unruly was in a Sergio Leone spaghetti western.

JMB
mmkn2
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:49 am

When looking at someone I try to guess who the audience is for the dresser . . . with general subdivisions being for the wearer himself, for other men, or for women.

Edward Sexton once asked me during a fitting, "Wouldn't you want to get dressed in the morning, walk down the boulevard, and have some chap say, "That's swanky!"? It was then I realized that I dress for myself first, then women after.

For me the pictured gent's dress code is for business, while his styling is directed towards women.

- M
alden
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:30 am

Take a look at this picture of another Italian auto executive and I think some of the comments above come into focus. This Fiat salesman consistently scores SQs in the high 9s. And I am not saying that just because he is wearing the LLTW14 suiting.

Cheers

M Alden
alden
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:35 am

For me the pictured gent's dress code is for business, while his styling is directed towards women.
A tip for the younger men out there: If you dress for women the only thing you will be taking home at night is cold pizzas.

Cheers

M Alden
The_Sartorialist
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:40 am

Given the nature of uppercase's initial query, I do suspect he might be slightly intimidated by some of the punchy responses above.

Uppercase, taking all of the above into account, I would perhaps add that the pursuit of sartorial elegance is an ongoing learning process, that will require time for you to achieve the look that you are after (and should hopefully also suit you best). The dark suit / light shirt combo may be perceived by some to be dull, but it will inherently be your first step, before you begin your foray into more adventurous colours, textures and patterns.

And once you've got the basics nailed, you can then take it one step further by experimenting with the various accessories (pocket squares, lapel accents, tie pins / tacks / slides, cufflinks, braces etc.). And I suppose your day will come when the 'rules' of dress have become so instinctive to you, that you can then be comfortable breaking a few of them, in order to accommodate a few of your own personal renegade flourishes.

The danger, I feel, in trying to adopt a style quotient (Alden, I have to say I quite like this newly fangled expression of yours :D ) that lies above what you are presently comfortable with, may produce a result with the clothes wearing you, when it should instead be the other way around.

Good luck with your wardrobe choices, and most of all, enjoy the process!
Costi
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:08 pm

Elegance is sincere. To me, this man is lying.
What his dress is saying to me is: "Oh, I know, I am a CEO, so I must dress conservatively, but that's really not me, it's a costume I wear for work. And to show you I am somebody else than you may think if you see me dressed like this, here is my fanciful tie knot, here are my undone coat cuff buttons - you do get it, my suit is bespoke, right? - and here are my undone shirt cuff buttons. All these disprove the apparent propriety of my choice in suit, shirt and tie. I am a rebel in a businessman's uniform, because I despise that, I am really an artist - only I can't show it in my dress from my position. And I hope ladies will notice my slim silhouette and be drawn to my physique - that's why I'm wearing those painted on trousers and waisted coat.
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And look at my bracelets: THAT's the kind of guy I really am."

So... let's see what the man wears in his leisure time, when he is free to dress as he pleases:
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No comment.

One thing we can say for sure, if a confirmation was needed: Marinella makes beautiful ties for everyone!
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Lesson learned: don't lie with your dress, be honest and consistent.

Sartorialist, all that you wrote is fine, but you must have a missed a small detail: Uppercase has a count of 1249 posts over the past 5 years... but he likes playing with our minds :) (and we are enjoying it!).
Costi
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:27 pm

The_Sartorialist wrote:The danger, I feel, in trying to adopt a style quotient (Alden, I have to say I quite like this newly fangled expression of yours :D ) that lies above what you are presently comfortable with, may produce a result with the clothes wearing you, when it should instead be the other way around.
Excellent remark, Sartorialist! The same is said about writing - a writer should never try to create a character that is smarter than himself.
The_Sartorialist
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Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:19 pm

Costi,

I did certainly notice Uppercase's record number of posts compared to my paltry entries, though I must have let my naivety get in the way when I thought he was seeking genuine guidance!
Costi wrote: Excellent remark, Sartorialist! The same is said about writing - a writer should never try to create a character that is smarter than himself.
And I can't help but wonder, was that jibe meant for me :?:
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