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Gaudy Knots
I’ve seen a few of these elaborate tie knots making the rounds over the last couple of weeks. At first it was just on Pinterest – which is largely women just posting up pictures of how they wish their men would dress – so I wasn’t too worried about these actually catching on.
But more and more I’m seeing other men and bloggers giving these their best attempt. Gaudy knots are ridiculous. There is nothing more classic or conservative than a tie and trying to modernize it with a new, crazy knot is going to make you look more like you attend cosplay events than live in the real world with the rest of us.
Gaudy knots are like bluetooth headpieces – nope, those actually can serve a purpose, they’re like cell phone belt clips, they’re a retarded attempt to look like you’re a modern business man when you really just look like a monkey.
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Made-to-Measure with Arden Reed
The resurgence of menswear and the Internet boom are an obvious gold mine for business ideas. It seems like every week I hear of a new online, made-to-measure suit company popping up and trying to make a name for themselves in this new world. For us as consumers this means we have access to more and more choices than ever. The beauty of the wild-west mentality online is that it allows truly great companies to rise to the top while the rest fade away.
One such company that has the potential to rise is Arden Reed. These guys reached out to me a few months ago and wanted to know if I heard of them and had any interest in reviewing one of their suits.While I get a number of requests for the same opportunity and turn them down, the partner at Arden Reed who contacted me struck me as legitimate enough that I wanted to learn more. I specifically remember him saying, “give us a good review, rip us to shreds, we don’t much care because both will help us improve our business in different ways.”
It’s a good business approach and a refreshing conversation to have as a blogger/reviewer.
So what makes Arden Reed and their clothing so special? The honest answer is – nothing… just yet. Their current line of offerings is fairly slim. For now they only offer six fabric options and all of them fall safely within the “conservative” category. Black, midnight navy, grey, and charcoal with either solid or pinstriped options is all you really have to choose from. They sent me a solid midnight navy and here’s how it looks.
My first impression was that the color was extremely dark. In fact, unless I was in direct sunlight, I had a hard time telling if it was navy or black. However, the more I wore it, the more the color grew on me. There’s something about a dark suit that isn’t quite black. It looks serious, professional, and even a bit dangerous if the fit is right.
The fit on this was off in a few places. From the pictures you can see it’s too small in the thighs, jacket seat, jacket waist, and sleeve width (with french-cuff shirts). It’s also too large in the shoulders. None of these are offensive size differences but they do prevent the fit from being perfect. One thing I’ll caution to any readers who are considering buying from Arden Reed or any other online MTM company is to follow the company’s specific measurement instructions. They all work based off of different templates and measurement allowances. So a measurement taken for one company won’t necessarily translate to another.
Thankfully AR’s concern for customer satisfaction is on par with the other big names in the MTM world. The original pants I received were too small. After confirming they couldn’t be let out by my tailor, I let AR know and they sent me a new pair within a couple of weeks. This kind of service costs the company money and it’s always good to see a brand willing to take an initial hit for the purpose of establishing loyalty. It’s a mutually beneficial approach.
Other than the fit in a few areas I’ve only had one other problem. There is some sort of ionization effect going on with the wool that makes it the strongest lint magnet I’ve ever seen.
Yes lint is more visible against a darker fabric, but this suit is near impossible to keep clean. I’m unsure if this is a fluke or the norm, or if it’s part of the manufacturing or shipping process. Either way, this suit is much higher maintenance than the others in my closet.
Overall the product and process are what you can expect from a relatively new MTM company who is trying to make a name for themselves. The return and alteration practices have become pretty boilerplate and their current list of fabric choices leaves a lot to be desired.
All that being said, I believe Arden Reed is a company to keep your eye on. If you spend some time on their website you’ll soon see that they’re dedicated to their specific target demographic. While other MTM companies come across as suits-and-shirts only, AR is selling you the whole package. They’re working on becoming consultants and teachers on top of providing a product. Check out their infographic about how to wear a suit. Their emphasis on how to use their products to build a specific look is encouraging and, as they grow, their fabric library will as well.
The final verdict from me is that this is a company already worth purchasing from if you’re looking for a darker, more conservative business suit and that these guys are just beginning to hit their stride.
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Wednesday Weigh In: Field Ready
Rules vs Guidelines
Because learning to dress well is often a foreign and intimidating endeavor for a lot of men, most of us will start doing so by digging in and learning as many style “rules” as possible – and there are plenty of them. There are entire corners of the Internet dedicated to and built by men who will argue for or against specific rules until their dying breath.
And there’s some truth to it. Each man has individual characteristics of his build, coloring, and contrast that can be either accentuated or suppressed by following guidelines about colors, patterns, and fits that affect those characteristics. Hell, I break down all these rules for you in my Basic Consultations. Things like your shirt collar style, suit button stance, color saturation, the way your trousers are tailored, what kind of lapel you should wear, etc. all have real, measurable effects on a man’s appearance and are the basis from which these “rules” are derived.
The key is to remember that these are guidelines, not iron-clad rules. One of the beauties of men’s style is that it’s an art more than a science. It’s also a medium for us to express our personalities, our tastes, and even our geographic areas. Here’s an example from one of my friends, Dustin.
Dustin has a round face and technically should be wearing a shirt collar that is long and pointed. Instead, he’s gone to almost the opposite extreme by wearing a spread collar. According to the rules, this is less flattering because a spread collar accentuates the roundness of his cheeks, whereas a point collar would counter their shape and even out the overall appearance of his face.
But Dustin not only gets a pass wearing this type of collar, he makes it look good. He does so because he follows so many of the other principles of good style. His shirt and jacket fit the way they’re supposed to. The colors in the shirt provide a bit of contrast for his face and accentuate the blue of his eyes. His face is also narrowed out because of the thinness and vertical direction of the stripes on his shirt. By having an idea of and adhering to most of the guidelines, Dustin is able to fly in the face of a major rule and reflect his personality doing so.
The new company I work for has an appropriate motto for dressing well:
“As always, style rules are written in pencil, not ink. Play around with it, be daring, show some personality, and discover your own style.”
My process with this site is to give you an idea and understanding of the rules. The consultation aspect is helping you apply these rules to you as an individual and help you internalize them. However, the ultimate goal I have is to simply serve as a springboard for you to develop your own style, and part of that is knowing enough to tweak the guidelines.
Just like a musician can break the rules and create a masterpiece only after knowing things like the difference between a major and a minor scale, or the circle of fifths, a man is best able to create true style after learning the rules and then getting creative breaking them.
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