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Tag >> shirt and tie
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May 11
2010
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Here at A Suit That Fits.com we are always working to improve our products and services - at the moment, our IT manager Vitaly is hard at work on a new-and-improved version of our clever suit designing tool, the suit wizard. Last Thursday, Product Development Manager Mighel and myself were discussing potential improvements to the wizard. Mighel, high on the possibilities that a new wizard could bring, came up with idea for a 'Pimp my Suit' page at the end of the suit wizard. The page would provide options for adding all the little extra details that are often overlooked when going through the existing wizard - pocket options, contrast stitching options, lapel width options and the like. Users could add just a few from a list of extra attributes or simply click a large 'pimp' button at the bottom of the page to add the whole lot in one go.
While it is unlikely the a 'pimp' button is going to make the cut for the beta version of the suit wizard, the existing wizard still contains many little opportunities to make your suit a little more individual and rise it above the suiting norm. Keep reading to find out how...
Jacket
The first thing to do, if you have not already done it, is to add a rich coloured lining to your jacket. My favourites are those in the mystique range, especially the royal purple (AE106), and the blue paisley jaquard (B1 Navy).
Once you've got your coloured lining, you'll definitely want to add a touch of that colour to the exterior of the jacket. Chose from adding colour to cuff buttonholes, lapel button holes or (for ladies), the lapel edge.
Next thing to add is some interest to the lapels. For those who want to keep it classic, add a handstitched edge; the more daring could choose a narrow or a wide lapel. For a ladies suit, how about a contrast lapel and collar made out of one of our luxurious velvets?
Then the pockets - we have 8 different options for jacket pockets, from simple flapless to pleated patch to button down.
Finally, add an individual lapel, and (of course!) a pocket square of your chosen lining.
Waistcoat
I'm a big fan of double breasted waistcoats, especially for ladies. Another great addition to a waistcoat is a lapel - not something commonly found on off-the-peg garments, so going A Suit That Fits bespoke is the perfect opportunity to chose something a little more unusual.
Trousers
Like the jacket, the first thing to add is a bit of lining colour stitching - this appears in the bar tacks at the top and bottom of the front pockets, and at the side edges of the back pockets. On trousers, you can also choose options for turn ups, reinforced gusset, front pleats (single or double) or flapped back pockets.
Shirts
The opportunities for adding a bit of individuality to our shirts are almost endless. My favourite additions are contrasting buttonhole stitching and contrasting undercollar and cuff, which are both great ways to add detail to classic white shirts. You can also choose coloured buttons, contrast cuffs on collars (great on striped and textured shirts), monograms, and lets not forget our myriad of cuff and colour options.
Click here to go the suit wizard and here for the shirt wizard - have a look this time at all the optional extras at the bottom of the page and get designing!
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May 04
2010
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A good tie has some form of ‘spring mechanism’ so that, after you have untied it roughly, tugged it out of your collar and hung it up, the mechanism gradually returns it to it's natural shape.
This is achieved through the slip stitch, which runs the length of the tie from one tack to the other and requires some slack so that, when it is compressed, it can ‘spring’ back into position. On some ties, you will see this slack as a small loop of thread protruding from the narrow end. Off the top of my head, my Hermès, Drake’s and Bulgari ties certainly have it.
However, this is not the only way to create some slack. The excess thread can also be tucked back inside the tie, sometimes even secured to the slipping of the tie itself or to the back of one of the labels. This can be done at the narrow or wide end of the tie.
So why are several ways of achieving this ‘spring’ still being used? “You might wonder that, as I did once when I first started in the trade,” says Martin Brighty of Hunter’s.
“I was told by the head slipper (seamstress Lil Groger of Holliday & Brown) that the women tie makers would move from firm to firm, bringing with them different techniques. They were often told to use the style of the firm, but if they could they would retain their own method as it was faster – and they got paid per tie. These days the girls again all move between companies, some work for two tie makers at a time, depending upon who has the work. So construction can vary; Hunter’s has both loop and tucked-back ties.”
There is no particular advantage to any of these methods. But one obvious difference with the loop is that you can see it – the spring mechanism and so the craft is on display. The others are less obvious or can’t be seen at all. So some manufacturers prefer the loop in order to prove the craftsmanship involved in their ties.
There aren’t many reasons for not having a loop, but Martin’s colleague David Walker knows one: “I remember selling ties in Harrod’s back in the day, and these Nina Ricci ones were very expensive, £85 or so. One day a man came in and complained that his tie had fallen apart. ‘It just came away in my hands,’ he complained. Turned out he had cut off the loop, thinking it was a loose thread.”
So that’s one disadvantage of an obvious sign of craft.
[Many thanks to Martin and David for their help with this and other posts]
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Feb 25
2010
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The butcher's stripePosted by simoncrompton in stripe, shirt cuff, shirt color, shirt collar, shirt and tie, fitted shirts, colours, Collar, bespoke shirt |
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If you feel like adding a little strength to the stripe in your shirt this summer, the best option is a wider, butcher’s stripe.
Keep the colours simple and ramp up the scale. That creates a look that is classic yet bold.
I particularly recommend a strong stripe like this if you tend to wear your shirt open-necked. There is something a little sad about a shirt that would look so much better with a partnered tie – and yet is denied it. Especially if the lack of decoration around the neck is not made up by colour and pattern in a pocket handkerchief.
Not that the butcher’s stripe cannot be worn with a tie. As long as it is plain in colour, or the pattern is sufficiently different, that’s fine (as in the image – where the spots are sufficiently different and an almost equal scale).
You’d struggle to have a pattern with a bigger scale than the shirt, and even if you did (a widely spaced club stripe, for example) the effect may be for the combination to overwhelm everything – you included.
By the way, it is consistently surprising the assumptions that Americans make about the traditions of Jermyn Street and how they affect men today. In Esquire’s recent Big Black Book, for example, it says: “Bolder stripes are rarely seen in the American workplace. In London’s financial district, it’s the polar opposite. The classic City trader’s shirt might carry half-inch stripes of pink, red, yellow or sky blue.”
I’m not sure the writer has ever worked in the London’s financial district. What he describes may have been the tradition (and how Jermyn Street got started) but it is hardly the case today. Yes, Americans still wear a lot more plain white shirts than us. But there is still a depressing number of Englishmen working in the City that express their personality in their ties and little else.
By the way, because I know you want to know, the butcher’s stripe is so named because it recollects the size of stripe traditionally worn on a butcher’s apron.
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Apr 16
2009
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The Density of PatternPosted by simoncrompton in tie, stripe, shirt and tie, shirt, pattern, different, density, checked |
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Having patterns that are too similar next to each other is the biggest way men go wrong with their morning dressing.
It’s simple. If patterns are next to each other, make sure they are of different sizes. If you are going to wear a striped suit, make sure you don’t pick a striped shirt. Or if you do, make sure the stripes are at opposite ends of the size spectrum – a wide chalk striped suit, say, with a fine hairline striped shirt.
It would be safest to go for a plain tie at this stage, but if you insist on going for stripes again, make sure they are wide also, to differentiate them from the shirt – a club stripe say.
This still isn’t ideal, as the stripes of tie and suit will still be next to each other where the jacket closes. This could be ameliorated by trying to find a third, intermediate width for one item, or (better) by making sure one stripe is rather pale (probably the suit).
Right. Now, one way to differ patterns further is to swap stripes for spots. Pin stripes that are, for example, a half-inch apart, could work fine with spots that are the same distance apart. Obviously, the more different they are in size the safer.
Other patterns provide similar relief – a large paisley, for example, against a stripe (probably tie on shirt). Or checks. Ideally a checked shirt should be matched against a striped suit of different density, but the very fact they are different types of patterns provides the minimal difference.
