Clothes thread?

[Michael_ Gee]

I have a suit for weddings and deaths, some old sports jackets (like from long-ago Manhattan tailors) and I dunno, 10-12 dress shirts. Also black loafers and brown loafers. Enough ties to match. That's it. I was a sportswriter and I didn't have to dress up. Then I worked from home and ditto. Now I'm retired and if I'm wearing socks it's winter.
My son, on the other hand, would be all over this thread. He went to Southeast Asia last year to get suits made. Once a year a Hong Kong tailor flies into Boston, sets up shop in a fancy hotel, and does measurements while clients look at materials, discuss cuts, etc. Months later the suits get mailed to my house and my son picks them up. It's actually cheaper than going to Brooks Bros. or the other top line men's stores, but of course the sensation of wretched excess is part of the thrill,

 

[wicked]

Your son chose his career wisely, to be able to spring for that.

 

[cranberry]

Whenever I see a sharply dressed man, I think, "That looks like way too much work and I'm glad I don't give a **** about that stuff anymore."

I'm glad I've never had one of those drone jobs where you sit in a cubicle and are required to wear a suit to work every day even though your company doesn't pay you enough to do it well. I'd hate being another guy in a cheap, ill-fitting suit with rubber-soled dress shoes.

So the only clothes I spend any real money on are dress clothes. I don't have a closet full because I just don't have occasion to dress up very often, but the dress clothes I have (3-4 suits and 6-8 shirts) are nice and I give some thought to selection. I also stick with classic/conservative styles so as not fall into the trap of buying new clothes every freaking season.

Like Frank Ridgeway, I love getting my ties at thrift stores where you can usually find a nice Brooks Bros. tie for $5 - $10. I wore a thrift store tie to his funeral.

 

[CD Boogie]

i've stopped wearing a tie to work or with suits or a sport coat. Ties are dumb and largely uncomfortable and I frankly think guys look better without them. Or at least I feel like I look better without them, and that's all clothes should be about, making you feel good about how you look. I have a few ties stowed in my desk, but I can't remember the last time I wore one. most of the men i work with wear them, like 80-90 percent, every day.

 

[Buck]

I hate the suit-with-no-tie look.

 

[CD Boogie]

I hate the suit-with-no-tie look.

Hate is a strong word. Why exactly do you hate it?

 

[MisterCreosote]

I hate the suit-with-no-tie look.

What about tuxedo T-shirts?

 

[cranberry]

I hate the suit-with-no-tie look.

I'm OK with it because of my disdain for ties. Suits serve a purpose; ties don't.

 

[micropolitan guy]

I spent about $100 on clothes last year. Two pairs of Dockers, two pairs of Wranglers. Got a couple sweatshirts and tees as gifts.

I get branded work shirts/outer wear from my jobs, and have about six pairs of dress slacks. I have one dress shirt, and one sport coat. Haven't worn a tie in more than 30 years. I can wear jeans (or shorts in the summer) to about 99 percent of the social functions I attend.

Luckily I live in a very, very informal part of the country where casual dressing is a way of life. In places I've lived before, no way could I dress the way I have for the last 30-plus years, especially Virginia, the preppy capital of the world.

 

[Buck]

Hate is a strong word. Why exactly do you hate it?

You're right. Hate is a strong word.
I really dislike it.

Anyway, a suit is business formal, which means the tie is part of it. The tie is part of the level of formality.
I'm not offended by it. I just dislike it.
And it comes across as very self-consciously hip.

 

[Buck]

I'm OK with it because of my disdain for ties. Suits serve a purpose; ties don't.

Suits don't serve any purpose other than maintaining a certain level of formality.
If the tie is not indicated, neither is the suit.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Your son chose his career wisely, to be able to spring for that.

He is in the feast or famine world where PR and politics collide. He's in feast mode now. He was between jobs when he went to Asia. And when he came back, it took longer than he expected for the next feast. However, the thing about the Hong Kong suits is that it isn't that expensive. Compared to a US tailor, it's a bargain. I will never employ a tailor in my life, but I looked it up when Josh did and he's right.

 

[CD Boogie]

And it comes across as very self-consciously hip.

I guess it can come across that way. You can't please everyone, but I can at least please myself by not having a useless piece of fabric tied around my throat. I wore a tie in grammar school and high school. I'm frankly sick of them.

 

[cranberry]

Suits don't serve any purpose other than maintaining a certain level of formality.
If the tie is not indicated, neither is the suit.

Not only do they provide warmth, but suits and sport coats provide additional pockets. It's like wearing a backpack.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

One thing my son has taught me is that a sports jacket is a real boon when flying. Extra pockets for all the documents (especially international flights). This is cultural bull and I'm sure some terrorist in a a $4000 suit will take advantage of it someday, but you are also treated better by everyone from check-in through security to the flight attendants.

 

[Buck]

Not only do they provide warmth, but suits and sport coats provide additional pockets. It's like wearing a backpack.

As for providing warmth, suits have little advantage over any other clothing and are less effective than a lot of other clothing.

You know what else is like a backpack?
A backpack.

If your argument against ties is they are decorative rather than practical, suits are pretty close behind on the impractical scale.

 

[cranberry]

Suit jackets need not have an advantage over other jackets of similar weight to have utility. Ties are, as you note, are merely decorative.

As for backpacks, I like to be as unencumbered as possible. Backpacks and briefcases fall into a category of things I'd prefer to avoid carrying.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

One of the best parts of retirement is not having the damn computer bag as part of my everyday attire.

 

[cranberry]

One of the best parts of retirement is not having the damn computer bag as part of my everyday attire.

I've pared myself down to cell phone, car and house keys, drivers license, building and train passes, credit card and reading glasses for my daily commute.

 

[TigerVols]

Good call . And be sure to get good collar stays. You don't want them flapping.

But be careful with them.

Flying home from San Antonio the other day, zipping through TSA Pre-check line, when suddenly the x-ray technician grinds everything to a halt. First, she has a colleague come over and look at the screen. Then they pull the little bowl through and grab my wallet, and summons me to the side. They then open said wallet, nose around in it for a while, and dig out from the depths an inch-and-a-half long, pointy-edged brass object. They demand to know what it is, and of course I tell them it's a stray collar stay, left over from a trip to the dry cleaner's.

Fortunately, it had a Nordstrom's logo on it, so the TSA warriors were willing to let me go, safe in the knowledge no flight attendants would be harmed by my sartorial sword.