I get alot of looks from wearing my suit.. I also get alot of people asking me if I'm going to a wedding or a funeral. I worn one to Disneyland and I've worn one to walk around the street of Paris while living out of a hostel. I just like suits.
It is said that the 50's were the last decade where men wore suits to baseball games... I still where one to baseball games, and hockey games.
What places do you wear your suits? places that most people would find a suit out of place?
It will be a cold day in hell, before I can wear a suit to my job, without someone questioning my sanity. Hell, a clean, ironed shirt provokes a barrage of question in the vain of: "So, how did your interview go?"
Los Angeles in general may be among the worst places on the planet, for wearing a suit. The east coast, New York city in particular, is a different story. You can walk through Manhattan dressed to the nines, and no one will bat an eye, except perhaps to mug you. I wonder what Washington D.C. is like...
In my experience the deal breaker is the fedora. The minute you put it on, you are in the eye of the public no longer just someone wearing a suit, but there is something else going on and the alarm bells go off.
Oddly enough if it is pouring down rain, or if you are in the blazing heat of the desert, people don't seem to notice as much.
I think it simply has to do with the fact that the public associate the fedora so closely with the 30's and 40's, that in their mind you go from wearing a suit, to wearing a 'costume' and at that point they think you are ready for the funny farm.
So, that leaves me in L.A., with a limited selection of places.
Restaurants on the West-side, particularly the better ones in the evening, are pretty smooth sailing. The biggest problem becomes the girl you are taking, because half of them will think you've flipped your lid, if you show up dressed like Adolphe Menjou. On the other hand, many of them cherish the opportunity to get dressed up and paint the town red. So, I toss it out there ahead of time. More often than not, they go for it.
There are plenty of screenings, at various old movie theaters, that are a perfect excuse. The Getty is another place, as is the Santa Anita track, the Disney Symphony Hall and the L.A. opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (which has some of the worst accustics on the planet).
You can get away with it in Beverly Hills. Not because everyone dresses so well (except for the Japanese), but in that part of town, eccentrics and nut jobs are a dime a dozen and you just blend it.
In my experience, Europe is a whole different story. In general, it's less of an issue.
Robert Conway
...and church.
Relatively, Boston is a pretty friendly hat town. I rarely get negetive comments. I wear vintage ties, fedoras and suits to work. I work in financial services, so a suit is required.
There are quite a few fellows who wear hats to their offices, but they are usually Aussie hats.
Yesterday, I went to visit Daisy in the hospital and I wore my Bill's khakis with 30's style J Crew boots, a white shirt with a vintage tie, a fair isle sweater over it and my horsehide Wested over that; a rather vintage look. Later, I threw on my Adventurebilt in gray and no one said a word.
The only negetive comments I have ever received were from the hordes of college age girls that live where I do, between Boston University and Boston College. Now, that is pretty harsh criticism to a man's vanity when the college aged girls are critical, but they are hardly the most discerning demographic to take your fashion prompts from.
I wear at least a blazer to the movies or to the museum. If I go shopping, I usually wear a suit, but then I am usually shopping for suits.
I have decided that I am too old now to worry what anyone else thinks. It's better to be overdressed that underdressed.
I wear my suits every day, every where. Only the patterned (glen plaid etc.) suits and the more spectacular 30s suits get any mention from people passing - though now the undergraduate students have returned, comments are increasing. They seem to need to impress each other by attempting to belittle others. They've learned quite quickly that i'll be grading their exams, so the comments are dying away ...
I agree with Robert, in that putting on the lid (any lid - not necessarily a fedora) changes things. I was passed by a certain gent yesterday in my new 30s brown herringbone suit with a beret on. He passed me and said, guffawing, to his companion: "That guy looks like a Bosnian". A Bosnian! How specific is that!
I only really remove my jacket to work in the Lab.
bk
There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. All the rest . . . comes afterwards. Camus
http://baronkurtzvintage.wordpress.com/
Being a manager in a department store, you'd think that wearing a suit wouldn't inspire so many comments, but I still hear "Why are you so dressed up?" when I DO wear one. Maybe it's because I only wear vintage suits, and I just LOOK like I'm trying harder. I'm so used to being over dressed wherever I go, that I'm used to the reactions.
flat-top
...intent on world domination.Originally Posted by Baron Kurtz
Dang!I knew you were a mad scientist...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baron Kurtz
I only really remove my jacket to work in the Lab.
bk
...intent on world domination.
__________________
Wish I could get me a job as a Mad Scientist!
Whats that pay?
A suit? Any weekend night or any weekday night I'm socializing anyway, and with my new schedule, that doesn't happen as often. However, I'm always in at least a sportcoat and tie (the suits are all vintage, only a few sportcoats are). Yeah, I get some looks or whatever, but more compliments (esp. from dolls). People caused more of a fuss last night when I went to bush my teeth inbetween my day suit and my night suit and so was wearing a t-shirt for the first time in public.
Abysmal.
The pay-off (World domination) is what we seek.
*giggles histerically*
bk
There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. All the rest . . . comes afterwards. Camus
http://baronkurtzvintage.wordpress.com/
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