Suit Yourself!
O.K., confess. You don't know why we wear suits, what is a good one, how to clean it or why there are buttons on the sleeve.
(Page 2 of 3)
Many Texans dress quite conservatively so they will not look like Texans. More power to them; people should look the way they want to. But an Easterner has no qualms about looking very Eastern and, within certain limits, there's no reason why a Westerner should have qualms about looking Western. There is an indigenous style of dress in Texas. It originated with the settlers who came here and evolved through some pretty rough history. Since Western clothes are essentially working clothes, dress clothes of the same design retain those functional virtues: They're comfortable; the lines are simple, straightforward, and clean; they can be dressed up for one occasion, down for another. You probably don't want a jacket with a blue rhinestone horse's head on the back and matching brocade guitars on the front, but those are the frills of the style and not its essence.
In fact, Western-styled garments are being sold and worn all over the country. It's predicted to be a very important look this fall and winter, especially in casual clothes. If it becomes very popular, Texans may find themselves in the peculiar position of becoming once again recognizable as Texans from not wearing Western clothes.
Of course the proper old money will continue to dress with that quiet, effortless tastefulness, very English in approach, which is at once eloquent and maddening. But in Texas the instinct for that style has never developed; perhaps there hasn't been time, perhaps it will never take. Still, there is a difference in the way our "theys" dress and the way most of us do. In the future that difference may be (and this casually leaves aside the question of style) in the selection of natural fibers over synthetic ones. Cotton shirts, for example, which used to be all anybody had, are now relatively rare and expensive. There's no doubt that in many ways they're far superior to synthetic shirts. Cotton feels better against the skin, it "breathes" so that the shirt is cooler in summer, and it will dye richer, deeper, brighter colors. That cotton shirts must be frequently laundered and ironed is no drawback to the kind of man we're talking about. Much the same thing applies to wool. How strange it will be for an ordinary man to find himself thinking, "I wish I could afford to wear cotton shirts and wool suits like Reginal Van Reginal IV."
So you Can't Stand Clothes and Don't Want to Think About Them. What Then?
Buy everything of one color. Probably dark blue is best since it is appropriate for any occasion for which a suit is appropriate. If there is a pattern in the suit, that's okay—you want a little variety after all—but make sure that it is muted enough that the suit seems still to be your basic blue. Now, buy black shoes, as many or as few as you care to. Buy shirts in colors that go with blue. (Your salesman can help you here.) Since the suits are solid blue or muted patterns, the patterns in the shirt needn't concern you particularly; again, a salesman will be helpful. Same procedure with ties only avoid aggressive patterns since they might not go well with certain of your shirts. Buy black belts. Buy black or dark-blue socks.
Now, if you have chosen carefully, you should be able to dress in the dark, putting on any shirt, any suit, any tie, any pair of shoes, any pair of socks and walk out to meet the world looking not bad at all. After doing this for a while you may overhear someone saying about you, "That man Scarftight always wears blue." But you don't care. You can't stand clothes and don't want to think about them, remember?
Taking Care of Your Suits
Many men ruin their suits by having them cleaned and pressed too often. Frequent and/or faulty pressing will destroy even the best suit. Further complicating the problem, few modern cleaners really do a good job of pressing because proper pressing takes so long that most customers could not afford it.
Let a suit hang for a few days before wearing it again. You'll be surprised how infrequently it really needs pressing. And the better the suit the longer it can be worn between trips to the cleaners. The head of a distinguished New York tailoring firm wore the same dinner jacket for over 30 years. During that time he didn't have the jacket pressed once.
A Fitting Finish to a Fitting
By this time in your life you probably have a pretty good idea how long you like your pants, your jacket, your sleeves; but you may wonder why your suits never seem to fit quite that way when they come back from those final alterations. The reason may be that you're not giving the tailor a chance to fit you properly. Stand naturally when the suit is being fitted. If you slouch by habit, don't suck up your chest and throw back your shoulders for your tailor's benefit. He'll tailor the suit to fit that strutting he-man you're looking at in the mirror, but the suit won't fit the you that walks out of the store. Another thing: Put your wallet, change, keys, notebook, handkerchief and whatever else you habitually carry into the suit while it's being fitted. The addition of a fat wallet to a carefully altered pair of pants can make the tailor's work go all for naught.
The Double Knit Fiasco
They blitzed the fashion market several years ago. So frantic was the demand that yard goods manufacturers spilled every stitch they had into the men's suit market, even patterns and colors not originally intended for suits at all. That's why, now that the craze is over, most men are ashamed that they once succumbed to those silly, awful, tasteless checks and plaids and zigzags and those repelling burgundys and cherrys and mauves. To further distinguish knits as something new the manufacturers lost their heads over design. Flaps appeared on pockets; then pointed flaps; then pointed flaps with buttons; then belted backs; then the Lord only knows what else. Terrible. Hideous. If you are shopping at a store that still has these things on the rack, you're shopping at the wrong store. If your salesman sold you two of those things in some fabulous two-for-one sale in order to clear his racks just about the time everybody stopped wearing them, then you're really shopping at the wrong store.
The reaction against double knits had more behind it than just disillusionment with styles and colors. The material, a novelty at first, seemed to solve the problem that had made suits a rugged cross to bear for so many suffering men. They would not wrinkle, they felt comfortable to move around in, and they were not expensive. Unfortunately they created new problems that old materials never had. Double knits could not be mended and were perilously vulnerable to cigarette ashes and other hazards. Men who had never quite understood why their wives were so worried about snagging their stockings found that double knits snagged and unraveled at least as easily and much more expensively. Double knits didn't breathe like natural fibers and were, therefore, hot during the summer, when they stuck to the skin like wet sheets; and cold in winter, when the chilly wind that never penetrated in summer came whistling through the fabric or up shivering legs. Double knits did not take colors like wool and could not be styled as accurately. They made stout men look stouter, and thin men seemed to disappear within their folds. All these things finally turned the balance against double knits.
We are still paying for that indiscretion. During the height of the craze, certain manufacturers decided that American men would never go back to wool. They canceled long standing contracts with wool mills, many of which went out of business. In Australia, where most of the world's sheep live, some herders were forced to kill off their flocks for meat since the demand for wool had fallen so low. These herds are not yet replenished. In the meantime Japanese speculators started buying available wool in immense amounts. Today the demand for wool far exceeds the supply and the Japanese can practically name their price. Most suits in stores, no matter what the price, are some combination of polyester and wool. If you find a 100-percent-wool suit, finely tailored, in a good color and pattern, don't bother to look at the price tag. Croesus could afford it; you probably can't.
THE MINIMUM WARDROBE AND HOW IT GROWS
One idea for this article was to ask various clothing experts how they would spend the clothing budget of a professional man who needed to dress well for business and social reasons but who had to do so on a restricted budget. The article didn't quite pan out that way because what we hoped would be a diversity of expert opinion turned out to be almost unanimity. The results of these discussions are given below.
It should be noted that "minimum" does not mean "inadequate." The following wardrobe should be just enough clothes for business and business-related social events. (In sports and casual clothes pretty much anything goes and it's every man for himself.) They should also be, at these prices, good enough clothes to wear practically anywhere—to an important appointment in Houston, to a famous restaurant in San Francisco, to the theater in New York.
3 suits, medium weight; solid color or conservative pattern or classic plaid; at least one dark blue; @ $150...$450
1 navy blazer; worn to office as fourth outfit; doubles as sport coat (see discussion of blazers)...$100
2 slacks; for blazer or without blazer; one grey, one your choice; @ $40...$80
6 shirts; should be bought at same time as suits and/or blazer; @ $15...$90
6 ties; bought at same time as shirts; try to choose ties that will go with as many shirts and shirts that will go with as many suits as possible; @ $8...$48
3 pairs shoes; two for office; one more casual; @ $50...$150
1 lined raincoat; serviceable as both raincoat and top coat...$150
personal preference: gloves, umbrella, scarves, extra shirts, shoes, whatever...$132
$1200
My Library
