Personal/Life thread by @dieworkwear

1

IMO, to do this well, it helps to know the language of men's clothing. 🧵

@dieworkwear Can you show examples of tastefully loud formal wear?

2

Many people go about this the wrong way: they throw some wacky item into an outfit, thinking this makes things more interesting. This is like inserting random letters into a sentence. When you do so, you spoil the meaning. The tchotchkes here ruin the business suit.

3

To make an outfit more interesting, you have to know what you want to say. This requires knowledge: knowledge of self (who are you), knowledge of cultural hitsory, knowledge aesthetic language, and knowledge of what do you want to say.

                            4
                        
In this thread, I will go through increasing levels of how to make a tailored outfit more expressive. But it's important to know that these things don't exist in a vacuum. The outfit has to work for the person: their personality, lifestyle, occasion, etc.

5

If a dark worsted suit in sober color like grey or navy communicates the seriousness of business, then the opposite is true: less formal fabrics, such as cotton, linen, corduroy, and tweed, will look more casual. So can colors like brown, olive, and even pink.

6

Moving up the ladder, we can combine the suit with a non-business top, such as silky shirts, camp collar shirts, t-shirts (plain or graphic), mesh shirts, one-piece collar shirts, denim Western shirts, retro-styled rayon shirts, long-sleeve polos, and such.

                            7
                        
Next, we can play with the cut. Generally speaking, a soft shoulder will look more casual than its stiff counterpart. But some silhouettes, such as Edward Sexton's, are so bold and structured, they basically look like party clothes.

8

This should be intuitive to many since you've probably seen Sexton's work on rock royalty. Sexton dressed Mick and Bianca Jagger, members of The Beatles, Elton John, Diana Ross, Twiggy, and others. The taped seams, square shoulders, and long, leafy silhouettes are romantic.

9

Sexton passed away recently, but his tailoring firm lives on. All of these are more romantic and less business-like than the traditional Brooks Brothers business suit.

10

There are a couple of tailoring firms like this, such as the Parisian label Husbands and the Rhode Island-based bespoke tailor K Zao. They draw their inspiration from the 1970s, which was heavily shaped by Sexton's work. Even in formal fabrics like chalkstripe, it looks bold

                            11
                        
We've thus far covered three things: fabric, top, and cut. Now let's combine these things to form a symphony. Kamau at The Armoury knows all the ins-and-outs of traditional menswear, but can make it more interesting through subtle tweaks

12

Here we see a black velvet brass-button blazer with a turtleneck, slightly flared houndstooth trousers, black suede Belgian loafers, and chunky tinted eyewear. This is not some random thing he threw together: everything works together to form a message (semi-formal 70s style)

13

Here we see him increase the volume on loudness:

— Classic dinner suit; navy blazer with collegiate tee and jeans
— Purple velvet blazer with grey trousers, low button white shirt
— Cream jacket with pearl buttons; velvet with mesh top
— Velvet pants, pearls, cream dinner jacket

                            14
                        
None of the outfits above are random. It's not someone sticking a random thing into an outfit. Instead, they are demonstrating their deep familiarity with culture and the language of clothing, and know how to marshal that language through cut, fabric, and accessories.

15

IMO, when dressing boldly, you have to make sure that you're more interesting than your clothes. Otherwise, you look like an ambulatory mannequin. Hockney is able to dress eccentric because his clothes are an actual reflection of him as a person.

                            16
                        
This is why I disagree with many of the opinions on here that treat dress as a game of who can up the loudness and novelty factor. The desire for novelty—neophilia—is what drives a lot of wasteful consumerism and fashion in particular. "What's new! Buy today! Move to the next!"

17

Instead, you should think of dress as cultural language. What do you want to express? Who are you as a person? Bad Bunny looks at home in this Margiela outfit. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew would look absurd in the same outfit. He looks better in a cream dinner jacket bc that's him.

18

Dressing "loudly" requires knowledge: knowledge of self (who are you), knowledge of cultural history, knowledge of the language of clothing, and knowledge of what you want to express at a particular time and place.

Will end with this quote:

IMO, to do this well, it helps to know the language of men's...

Actions

What You Can Do

Actions

What You Can Do

More in Personal & Life

More from @dieworkwear