It's been said that every couple of generations the most formal garment in the men's clothing hierarchy disappears and is replaced by what was the second most formal garb. It happened to nineteenth century court dress like that in the photo, it happened to white tie, and it's happening to black tie.
None of this happens smoothly of course, and buried within that trend is an interesting counter-trend that I've noticed these past few months. For generations, most suit wearing was by men going to the office and that is a practice that is unquestionably dying out.
But just as the suit is losing its place as business dress, I have been meeting a remarkable number of men who are having their shoes and suits made just because they like it. One guy wears tee shirts and jeans to his cubicle at a technology company and changes into bespoke suits and shoes for concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. Another wears polos and dress trousers during the day but keeps two pair of bespoke shoes and two bespoke suits because he enjoys dressing up on his own time.
Now this trend, if it is one, is not going to return the tailoring profession to its former glories, such as they were. In fact, the sum of this sort of activity may not represent as much clothing as my father's generation kept for evening dress. And if that's the case, the factories that once hummed with ready to wear will continue to close. But the rise of the bespoke hobbyist gives me cause to hope that the current generation of apprentice tailors and shoemakers can look forward to reasonable order books in their lifetimes.
Bespoke is not just for work any more. And that's a good thing, in my opinion.
Monday, January 12, 2009
It's Not Just For Work Anymore
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10 comments:
Will,
I've noticed this trend as well. I like it, mostly because one gets to see a greater variety of more creative, individualized suits that aren't necessarily proper traditional office wear, but are still examples of classic style.
-- Erik
Will,
As you may have noted during my recent conversation with you, I very much feed into this trend. I dress to match (within reason) those I work with, which in this day can start as low as jeans (which I refuse to wear to the office) and continue up to jacket and dress shirt--no tie. Since the norm is typically in the middle of the range, I tend to dress accordingly. And because my daily suit wearing days are over, I add a bit of style and flair in my personal time with bespoke shoes, the occasional suit, and other nice accompanyments that work well for me. Of course nothing stops me from wearing a custom shirt and bespoke shoes to the office on occasion -- so I do. It makes me feel on top of the world even if no one else knows anything more than that they look good and fit well!
With the economy tanking and the federal budget soaring, the last thing people want to do is to buy expensive clothing. I will stick to my 10 year old corduroy jacket and my tattered brooks brothers OCBD. On the other hand, i see kids wearing suits that look like steel armors ( Fused and pressed), cheap, but that is all they can afford.
Although dressing up or down is to some extent personal, it tends to a larger extent to be culturally defined. I used to live in a country where people dress down to go to parties and then moved to a country where people tend to dress up to parties. Needless to say that my first party after moving presented quite a surprise.a
The trend towards a more formalwear-derived style is already firmly established in street fashion for younger men. Happily, I have noticed this influencing work clothing too recently - offices with no dress codes are filling up again with men wearing suits; simply because they want to.
While I won't pretend that I can afford anything that is bespoke, I can certainly vouch for the sense of happiness and comfort in being dressed to impress.. sometimes it's nice knowing you're the best-dressed person on the train. (Without trying to be a peacock.)
Pity not the tailors and cobblers of bespoke products - the one arena where relaxed dress codes have not crept is the courtroom. Trial lawyers will forever need a costume to seperate them from their clients, and nothing does that more than a finely tailored suit or bespoke shoes....
I guess I'm going to have to be the spoilsport, the contrarian in the bunch here and say that I feel this trend may have a downside. However important it is to support and maintain bespoke menswear, and it is certainly the best to be had, there is something sad about the possible loss of middle range, serviceable, off the peg suits for men and the cultural necessity for them. In general when societies have only extremes that can be quite unhealthy. I think it is negative for tailored clothing to become only or chiefly a matter of connoisseurship and lose its functional status in the mainstream.
I would certainly wear a suit to work, if I wouldn't stand out. Instead, I wear a suit to parties and to church, and anywhere else where it's acceptable to look your best, even if that means looking better than the guy next to you.
A tie, at the least, used to be a requirement for engineers, but over the past thirty years, professional dress went out of fashion, along with professional attitudes. I hope both come back, and I think each will encourage the other. (That's one reason I read this excellent blog.)
I suppose I'm a part of this trend as well, but not entirely by choice. Though I own my own business, I spend a lot of time on job sites where fine clothing would not merely be out of place, it would be downright impractical. So I often "dress up" after work.
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