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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Ongoing fashion help and advice (or virtual 'does my bum look big in this-ness'?)

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All Acting Regiment

07:21 / 05.06.07

Now then, thanks to this, I wonder

Whither braces or no?

14:51 / 02.07.07

I don't think braces represent a sizeable fashion risk - in fact, I happen to think they are pretty damn cool. I see no reason why not..........

19:34 / 02.07.07

I have always wondered why braces don't give the wearer a constant wedgie.

Why is this?

And though i feel some strange need to mock the wearer (it might a be a childhood thing, like white socks), i can actually find nothing wrong with braces. Other than the lack of low-drift in the wearer. I like to see a bit of underwear or midrift.

I wonder if braces would work low-slung?

All Acting Regiment

13:59 / 03.07.07

I think they're adjustable to a certain length which the elasticity supplements without taking control.

12:17 / 07.07.07

I think braces are pretty groovy but care must be taken to ensure the correct trouser length. If not then you run the risk of looking not disimilar to Billy Bunter and you may become the butt of silly comments about your trousers running off to join your knees, or whatever it is that Grandads always used to say to you when you were small and your trousers were too short.

08:42 / 10.07.07

I think it has a lot to do with the difference between modern and vintage style waistlines. Back 'the day', when braces were the norm, mens trouser waistlines would be just that: At your waist. So, wearing modern cut trousers with braces, either means pulling the braces right down, or, pulling the trousers right up in a silly clown style. And you can forget hipsters; just wear a belt.

But anyway, high waisted trousers look cool, if you can find em. Especially on girls for that Katherine Hepburn look. Oh, and dont forget, a lot of braces are button on, which means you need to try and find trousers with braces buttons. Clip-ons are sort of cheating, but nobody will really care unless they are an arse.

14:24 / 10.07.07

My brother is getting married at the end of September and last night asked me to be in his wedding party. I had been planning on dressing smart but informal, but that won't do anymore.

The ceremony is going to be at 4:30, with a reception after. Sunset is expected at 6:40, but I don't yet know how long the ceremony and reception will be.

Dress code is semi-formal, and my brother will be in black tie. Is this binding for the wedding party (the black-tie-ness, not the semi-formalness)? My ill-informed understanding of things is that one doesn't wear evening dress before 6pm, and the tux-in-daylight photos that are sure to ensue feel prom to me (the fact that this is very much not my day notwithstanding).

What is most correct here? Do I wear black tie? Do I wear a morning suit and change before the reception? Can I wear a morning suit all the way through? It's a small wedding party, only myself and the best man, and I'd like to have my own preferences ironed out before I speak to him lest the conversation turn toward spats and/or capes.

16:34 / 10.07.07

Can I wear a morning suit all the way through?

I think so. Others will likely disagree.

21:07 / 26.07.07

I've been invited to a close friend's wedding with a "black tie optional" dress code. The ceremony is at half past four and the reception at seven. My SO and I are very strapped and trying to save for our own wedding a month later. So, here's the situation: SO has a navy suit that he would like to wear (rather than spending more on another suit)... your basic single-breasted, notched lapel, I think 2-button deal. First question, is that (navy) suit appropriate for black tie optional?

Second question is to do less with etiquette than creative ideas.... My friend has really narrowed down the neutral options by putting her bridesmaids in chocolate and "champagne" (don't you love wedding color names?), and I don't want to look like a bridesmaid... I don't want to be too matchy-matchy with my SO's navy blue... I can't wear white of course... I look terrible in red... this seems to just leave me with black. But will SO and I look clashing/sloppy if he's in navy and I'm in black??

23:33 / 26.07.07

1. I'd read "optional" as "optional".

2. Don't you have anything in gray? Silver?

00:40 / 27.07.07

Ah! Gray! Pure genius. I still will have to go shopping but that gives me a goal. And SO can wear navy.

I wouldn't be so fanatical about this kind of thing but I know my friend brings anal retentive to a new level and will definitely care if we're dressed "wrong." This girl agonized for weeks over the spacing between the letters on her invitations and believes that wedding gifts "validate" her. So.

Tryphena Absent

11:36 / 14.08.07

Does anyone know of a good cobbler in London?

All Acting Regiment

14:23 / 03.09.07

Have been given a square palestinian scarf - is it a good idea to wear it out and about, and if so how to tie it, are my questions.

Whisky Priestess

19:42 / 03.09.07

If grey turns out a bit too business, try muted or dark colours - dusky pink (I have a fab standby wedding outfit in this colour, silk from Monsoon/Whistles?), racing green, burgundy/oxblood, dark fuchsia etc. which will chime with navy blue.

14:03 / 07.09.07

On the Palestian scarf question (I assume you mean a khafiya or shemagh): it depends for what purpose you would be wearing it. I often opt for the classic style (fold in half so forms a triangle, place pointy end down towards chest, wrap ends round neck).

All Acting Regiment

11:18 / 10.09.07

Cheers.

All Acting Regiment

13:40 / 04.10.07

The beret. Is it my friend? I'm quite tall. Is there ever an excuse?

14:38 / 04.10.07

Your a chap right? (forgive me if i have got that wrong) then no, unless you want to look like Captain Sensible or a 70's student stereotype (Citizen Smith etc etc).

19:52 / 04.10.07

BERET NON!

All Acting Regiment

08:24 / 05.10.07

Not even a soft French one?

Closed for Business Time

11:57 / 05.10.07

Nononononono!!! Really, don't.

While in thread - anyone got any ideas for mens' workwear that is formal enough to go to a meeting (I work in academia) yet won't be a suit, and will veer slightly away from centre? And it can't be too expensive (I work in academia!). I seem to have a real problem finding comfortable yet stylish clothing that won't a) cost me a month's pay or b) make me feel nobby/preppy.

Any and all suggestions much appreciated.

17:35 / 05.10.07

Allecto, the other day I saw a dude who was actually wearing a beret, rather than theorectically wearing one. He did not look good. His lady friend didn't seem to mind, however, so you might just find someone who will love you no matter what (hat you're wearing).

But, really, don't.

All Acting Regiment

09:17 / 06.10.07

Okay, beret is ditched. Although if I find you're all secretly wearing one and trying to stop me from joining in, well, yeah.

Saami - H&M had some very nice jackets at about £25-£30 last time I went in, as well as nice shirts and so on. In fact on their website they're doing a big display of various male winter/smart stuff.

15:45 / 06.10.07

I keep getting odd images in my head of a shirt with those little button-up tabs on the shoulders (wiki tells me those tabs are called 'passants'. they're what epaulets would be attached to). The shirt has a red beret rolled up and held under one of those tabs.

I have neither the beret nor the shirt to test this out and i don't even know how i would start to find a picture of this. Maybe it has never been done before.

If you would care to try this out, Lecto, and take a picture of it for me, my curiousity would be very grateful.

If it works, bingo! you get a way to wear your beret.

All Acting Regiment

17:10 / 06.10.07

I do have several shirts with those details on them. I like them. I used to use them for holding ciggies until the banhammer fell.

17:32 / 06.10.07

doitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoit
doitdoitdoitdoit!

All Acting Regiment

14:55 / 12.10.07

I got a trilby.

15:48 / 12.10.07

I actually do wear both a beret and a trilby in cold weather.

The trilby has a slightly rabbinical look to it - it's made by Stetson, but has a slightly taller crown than your average porkpie. (And still bears the monogram of its original owner, Max Feldstein of Brooklyn.)

The beret is of the French variety, not the military variety.

They keep my head warm.

The advantage of the beret is that it fits nicely into a coat pocket. I suppose a watch cap or balaclava would do the same.

All Acting Regiment

14:09 / 11.01.08

How do YOU tie your cravatte?

I'm fucking insane - I'm a danger!

15:11 / 11.01.08

It's not in the knot, it's all in the tweaking afterward.

Here or here. Just imagine those steps with a lot of smoothing and poking and pulling in between.

07:49 / 23.01.08

Allecto, I appreciate enthusiasm and inquisitiveness. Indeed, I can hardly decide which I like the most. However, sometimes I wonder what the hell you're wearing.

All Acting Regiment

14:23 / 23.01.08

The things mentioned above are extremes used to set off a basic black formal look. They don't appear together. The cravatte is more of a neck-scarf, the trilby (cost 50p from a charity shop) was given to a nephew.

All Acting Regiment

14:26 / 23.01.08

Actually I look rather like Diaghilev, but less paunchy about the haunches and without the hair-streak.

09:11 / 25.01.08

Talking of hair streaks...

at the tender age of..er, the wrong side of 25, but the better side of 30, i have started growing a number of grey/white hairs, in particular a Morticia Adams style streak, just the the left of my forehead. should i cultivate this for the full-on Brian Gregory, or hit the Just For Men?

09:11 / 25.01.08

actually, have i asked that before?

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