Sometimes it takes a photographer to illustrate that the day's clothes simply do not, as the saying goes, cut it.
Trying to layer lighter weights to go out to lunch in moderate weather resulted in this lightweight tweed jacket combined with a sleeveless sweater, shirt with a button down collar that hasn't fused properly (I get them unlined and it sometimes takes a few launderings before they settle in) and an ascot. If I had had any other photography this morning the combination never would have seen the light of day.
To my eye it is the combination of an empty looking collar and too much shirt front that throws the look out of kilter. Replacing the ascot with a four in hand necktie might have pulled things together. But it was what it was and I will do better next time.
Ugh, as the saying goes.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Ugh
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16 comments:
Perhaps you could do a post regarding your collars, how they first appear, and what they look like once they have, as you say "settled in"-- perhaps with a contrast to an off-the-rack shirt collar to highlight the different options? It's a subject matter of interest to me, since I had wondered how the "Ivy League" shirt collars, like JFK's, would lay how they would.
Hmm. When it became clear you were going to criticize yourself, I thought you were going to beat yourself up for having the pocket square and the sweater "too similar" to each other, because I couldn't see anything wrong with your outfit. Might your problem have been alleviated by opening a second button? (You would probably only do that at night, though, right?)
I'm sure you still looked better than just about any other man at the restaurant, even if you didn't approve of it yourself.
It might be the lighting or the camera, but the thing about that combination that bothers me the most is the greenish tint of the jacket combined with the pale blue of the shirt. The sweater does help, but it's not visible enough to cover for it completely.
The button-down collar was the first mistake. They always look bad with a jacket, in my opinion. A tie would have been better in any case. Fab jacket though!
Are hidden button-down shirts still considered button-downs? And could your buttons be slightly misplaced with your left collar's button too close to the shirt's placket and the right collar's button too far back from the placket? If that is not the case, then surely you are correct, Will, and the shirt just needs a bit of laundering to settle more aesthetically.
I think you are crazy, you looked great.
I've studied it for awhile and I like the colors, simple, complementary and analagous. Call the collar degage and forget it.
The problem is primarily, I think, an unhappy clash of town and country.
The jacket is clearly "country" - not only the fabric, but in particular the lapel design.
The shirt, however, is "town" - a soft Oxford buttondown might pass as country, but this is too sophisticated.
In London, one garment or the other should have been changed.
I second the idea of the first commenter. A piece on the life of collars would be great.
....As Website observes the principal problem is the shirt and jacket contrast and the shirt collar.....it could partially have been solved by the right sort of dark knitted or maybe madder large paisley tie(Drakes have some beauts)....not a disaster but not a knockout either.....the jacket and vest both look great individual items and would probably have worked better with maybe a tattersall check and appropriate tie.
Will,
I have comented that I absolutely love this type of herringone tweed jacket with the collar shown. Please let me know where I can get one, in private if necessary (glombick@gmail.com), as I have looked all over.
Thank you in advance,
Paul
I would appreciate knowing how you folded your square: The left and centre appear to be two vertical folds (achieved I suppose by doing two out of the three of a 'three stairs' type fold) but the right is transverse and sits too neatly to be the third 'stair' pulled down.
The jacket is wonderful.
oliverray.blogspot.com
Paul, I don't know where you could find the collar ready to wear. If you are having a jacket made of course, just ask for it.
O, grab a square by the center and let it hang down. Fold it over and insert into the pocket points down.
I agree about the shirt collar. I think the collar itself is too long. I would of worn a tattersall shirt to make the outfit a but more casual. I think the pale blue shirt, even with the ascot looks like you took off a tie and put on an ascot. The jacket, sweater and ps are outstanding. What color trousers? Gray or brown?
On further reflection, I think that brett.peace found the the issue: the placement of the left button of the hidden buttondown. The off-the-rack hidden buttondown shirts I had (alas, they are no more) had the buttons in the same place as a regular buttondown shirt.
I understand that many custom shirt makers have difficulties with buttondown collars. Could off-the-rack sometimes beat made-to-measure or even bespoke?
I'm sure that Will is all the more certain that he chose the right shirt, as he has said that criticism like that he's gotten here (e.g., Website, Urbane Legend, Gerontius) means he's hit the dégagé mark.
I like high collars, but they're hard to pair with ascots. Will, would you (personally) ever pair a turtleneck with a shirt like this? Seems like a nice après-ski look for the decidely-casual mountains.
There are a couple of features that cause this to look just a little off. First, the button tab on the jacket should be folded back under and buttoned so that it is symetrical with the other side, if not being employed to close the jacket. Second, the sweater vest under the jacket would appear smoother if was not a cardigan type but just a simple V neck sleeveless. Finally, the shirt collar is just too long to work well for a buttondown. On a regular buttondown the buttons are very close to the points. In this case they are some distance away from the ends allowing the buttons to pull the shirt fabric in an odd way.
Fabrics, colors and general scheme seem great.
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