Spring and Summer wardrobe

[belimad]

Thanks Michael.
Daunting task.
I’ll need and expect guidance!

[L.deJong]

Thanks Michael.
Daunting task.
I’ll need and expect guidance!

Hear hear.

[alden]

Ok, I will be posting a new thread on the Art of Dressing for all of you who are interested.

But let me proceed as follows. Can you imagine a violin virtuoso who spends 99 percent of his time worrying about the brand or bow of his instrument; a great painter who focuses 99 percent of his creative work shopping for brushes; a legendary sculptor who spends 99 percent of his waking hours in contemplation of his chisel? And in each case only 1 percent of concentration on how to bow, brush or sculpt?

Ridiculous, right? And yet most of you, and most certainly all of you who daily consult forums, and blogs in search of style spend 99 percent of your time in wasteful and passionate attachment to clothes.

Your clothing needs to fit you. It needs to be appropriate for the use you intend for it. That should occupy 1 percent of your attention and leave 99 percent available to you to learn to dress.

That is great news. You have an abundance of energy and time with which to improve yourself the minute you can break the clothing crutch and start to be more like Heifetz, Rembrandt and Michelangelo.

Until you make the break from the clothing addiction there is very little I or anyone else can do for you. And you will remain soldered into the context and contest of general ugliness that dominates the Fashion/Clothing net space.

That is the first hurdle that few of you will pass, but for those of you that do, I will be posting my first lesson with a group of suggested (and obligatory) reading materials none of which come from anywhere near the publications you know, those you will find in most Men’s shops but rightly belong in a round bowl in the Men’s room.

Stay tuned.

[L.deJong]

Very interesting.
I think that you're right, but it's also really hard to not get dragged into fit/brand obsessive blogs etc.
Because I love clothing and cloth. I went the bespoke-route because I love how the clothing fits and how nice it 'feels' when I wear it.

In my mind I know that you're right (only think of how many people said that Don Draper from the tv-series 'Mad Men' looked great and had style...but he wore only ill-fitting suits).
So rationally I know that you're right, but in my heart I cannot break away from fit and how stuff needs to fit.

But I also think that I have a 'personal style' and I know what I like and what I don't like. So I think I'm on the right track.


...alot of I thinks. need to post pictures in the future for assessment

[alden]

, but in my heart I cannot break away from fit and how stuff needs to fit.

As I wrote above: "Your clothing needs to fit you. It needs to be appropriate for the use you intend for it." So let the tailor do the work to fit you. Choose the proper cut and cloth for the use you intend. That's it. You just used up .5 percent of the 1 percent I afforded you. You have an additional .5 percent. That does not leave room for sickly Sartorial obsessive compulsive disorders of any kind. And not only will you learn to look better but by escaping the talons of E-salesmen on the blogs and forums, who seek to profit from your illness, you will put money back into your bank account as well! Win win win!

Cheers

[Melcombe]

Ridiculous, right? And yet most of you, and most certainly all of you who daily consult forums, and blogs in search of style spend 99 percent of your time in wasteful and passionate attachment to clothes.

Your clothing needs to fit you. It needs to be appropriate for the use you intend for it. That should occupy 1 percent of your attention and leave 99 percent available to you to learn to dress.

You are correct in what you say about the need to learn to dress.

I suspect however that attachment to bespoke clothing as objects of fascination in themselves is not actually a displacement from developing style in dressing - it's really just a parallel, albeit with a clear common subject.

I see a close similarity with guns and shooting - also watches / timekeeping and pens / handwriting.

In my book, guns are for shooting (OK, Im based in the UK, gun ownership is a tiny minority activity here, but bear with me), but i quite appreciate that some folk collect - the more handmade & exclusive, the better for them. I really enjoy a day's rough shooting - and nothing would detract more from a day scrambling through woodland than concern as to whether I was scratching a £30k Holland & Holland's hand engraved action. I have an excellent Spanish gun that suits my purposes brilliantly.*

For this reason my dealings with bespoke clothing have been tempered by the fact that I rarely wear a suit outside work (although most of my waking hours are spent in some work-related activity) so my clothes get a thorough beating on trains, taxis and on cheap office chairs. I would not begrudge Messrs Kent & Haste the price of a suit to look like the D of E, but I just know fear of snagging it on a lever arch file or the like would take the fun out of wearing it, because I'd be constantly conscious of it. It's not just the money aspect : a truly astonishing piece of artistry is not a workaday item, it needs - well - curating.

My challenge has therefore been to contrive bespoke clothes that, ultimately, I would not be heartbroken to lose or damage - cross, yes - but no sentimental investment. Thinking about it, I only have 1 piece of clothing that I am sentimentally attached to : the tie I gave to my father on one memorable occasion, but that's it.

Is there a cure, then, for the 'collector's distortion' of lovely items of clothing, firearms, fountain pens, watches? I believe there is.

Grim though it may seem, the solution is to reflect on mortality and that our time in the ol' sublunary abode isn't perpetual. We have to do what we can, with what we have, while we may. Proper planning requires perspective - once we have that, we can deploy resources of time, energy (& funds I suppose) to best effect.

Clothes (cars, watches etc) are functional props to be used during in the time-limited grand performance of our lives, and ideally not works of art to be kept in a safe.



(* it was always a decent 12 bore, but accidentally dropping it on its muzzle required shortening the barrels a fraction and in the process lapping out almost all the choke. I can heartily recommend it for any driven game.)

[uppercase]

2011 interview with Alden

https://forthediscerningfew.wordpress.c ... ael-alden/

[HristoStefanov]

Ok, I will be posting a new thread on the Art of Dressing for all of you who are interested.

But let me proceed as follows. Can you imagine a violin virtuoso who spends 99 percent of his time worrying about the brand or bow of his instrument; a great painter who focuses 99 percent of his creative work shopping for brushes; a legendary sculptor who spends 99 percent of his waking hours in contemplation of his chisel? And in each case only 1 percent of concentration on how to bow, brush or sculpt?

Ridiculous, right? And yet most of you, and most certainly all of you who daily consult forums, and blogs in search of style spend 99 percent of your time in wasteful and passionate attachment to clothes.

Your clothing needs to fit you. It needs to be appropriate for the use you intend for it. That should occupy 1 percent of your attention and leave 99 percent available to you to learn to dress.

That is great news. You have an abundance of energy and time with which to improve yourself the minute you can break the clothing crutch and start to be more like Heifetz, Rembrandt and Michelangelo.

Until you make the break from the clothing addiction there is very little I or anyone else can do for you. And you will remain soldered into the context and contest of general ugliness that dominates the Fashion/Clothing net space.

That is the first hurdle that few of you will pass, but for those of you that do, I will be posting my first lesson with a group of suggested (and obligatory) reading materials none of which come from anywhere near the publications you know, those you will find in most Men’s shops but rightly belong in a round bowl in the Men’s room.

Stay tuned.

Absolutely!

Men get nerdy and obsessive with things like brands and metrics. Thus most people totally miss the point.