Attire rules of ettiquete

[Nick Charles]

I wanted to know if the age old rules of attire are still going strong. Does one wear white after labor day and when is it time to hang up the panama and the spectators for the season? Also are the regional exceptions. I live in a rather warm area, does that mean a straw would be fashionible longer?

Does one wear two tone wing tips all year?

 

[havershaw]

I'd like to know some of these 'rules' as well. I wear fur felt hats all year 'round, as well as my spectators. I just wore a heavy gabardine suit yesterday, for crying out loud!

 

[jamespowers]

All that stuff is for women and people who live in areas where it snows like blazes. It made sense for someone who lived in North Dakota but for those of us in temperate climates we can wear anything that suits us--pardon the pun. LOL I wouldn't wear spectators or a panama when it is raining just for the simple reason that the water could ruin them or make them dirty---in the case of the shoes.
It is simply a measure of common sense really.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Brad Bowers]

Colder climes are one reason I asked about Spectators on another thread. It's 33 degrees out right now. Probably no snow until next month, but you never know. If it even gets close to 70 by the time my shoes come in, I'm wearing them!

I picked up a book on how a gentleman should dress, just to see if I could get any pointers. I took umbrage to the remark that white/ivory dinner jackets are only for the movies and those living in tropical climates. It said they are only appropriate for those states south of the Carolinas, and only between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Looks like I goofed twenty years ago at my Senior Prom! I've always wanted an ivory dinner jacket, so I'll probably ignore most of that advice, though it does make sense as more of a summer dress than winter. I like cold climates, and will always strive to live in them.

Brad

 

[Matt Deckard]

People who say wearing cream colored dinner jackets are only for the movies are the same people who decided hats were not fashionable.

You keep on wearing that dinner jacket.

Hugh Hefner never stopped wearing his silk robes!
Bing Crosby never stopped wearing bow ties!
Montgomery Burns never stopped wearing Alabaster Spats!

If George Bush can wear cowboy boots with a tux, you can wear cream jacket.

I highly doubt you will hear people snickering in the background... I highly expect you will hear questions of, "Where did you get that?" In that case just tell them you had it made.

You want to be noticed, dress like a movie star... Most of thirties fashion comes from the movies and one of the best compliments I give to friends is, "you look like you walked out of a movie."

I fade into the background with a suit and tie sometimes with the right combination of clothes. I want my clothes to look like they are part of me, sometimes the part of me wants to stand out as being different and Now I want a cream colored dinner jacket.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I don't watch Reality TV, and don't usually pay attention to them, but this article caught my eye, as it's related to this thread. The writer is critiquing the dress of the contestants on "The Apprentice." Here's some of the text that got my dander up:

And then ?¢‚Ǩ¬¶ Raj. Here?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s the thing about bow ties: unless a man is in formalwear, or in the past, he has no reason to wear a bow tie except to use said bow tie to make a statement about himself, and the statement he is making is always ?¢‚Ǩ?ìI am the kind of man who wears a bow tie. Please think of me from now on as Bow Tie Guy.?¢‚Ǩ?

I have no problem with men putting some thought into their clothes, instead of just showing up everywhere in an unimaginative blue shirt and navy suit. But it is possible to go too far in the opposite direction, too, and when you do, you end up looking like Raj.

When we first see him on the show, he?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s in the damn bow tie (obviously), a dark jacket, striped shirt, bright red pants, and black and white spectator shoes. (When I Googled that phrase to make sure that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s actually what they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re called, the first site that came up was ZootSuitStore.com. Raj, if you're reading this, that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s how you should know you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve made a wrong turn in life.)

He?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s trying too hard to look like he?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s not trying ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù like style comes naturally to him, which it plainly doesn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t, because if it did, his bright red pants wouldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t be pleated. Oh, and Trump wouldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t have asked him, the next day, what was with the cane. Because seriously. What was with the cane? Hey, Raj, Bertie Wooster called: he wants his steamer trunks back. But not the red pants. You can keep those.

I don't give a damn what this woman or anyone else out there thinks about the way I dress, but unfortunately, this attitude is out there. Still, for every person that appreciates the way we dress, or at least considers us eccentric, there are those who hold us up to ridicule and we're bound to run into them from time to time. Best to have a snappy comeback ready!

Brad

 

[CoffeeDude]

I agree there can be some harsh things said about the retro look, but to be honest there have been some comments made here about how others dress, so I guess the knife cuts both ways. I did take a look at the picture of the gentleman the writer is speaking about. In my opinion, yes, he does need to dump the red pants.

 

[flat-top]

Hey out there! I just have to say, the guy on "The Apprentice" looks ridiculous--he's just trying to look "different" and it shows. I would think most guys here at the Fedora Lounge take this style more seriously, and probably get more compliments than insults! flat-top

 

[Matt Deckard]

There is eccentric, and then there is classy.
I myself tend to walk the line sometimes, though I think Raj likes to look eccentric. The bow tie was nice, the pants were HEY LOOK AT ME!

Either way the man is obviously an alpha and after some mellowing could make a great decision maker for someones company.

He has his own style and that is good. He sticks out like a sore thumb and that can be good or bad. I wouldn't dress like him, though I'm not put off by it either as long as it totally fits his personality. The Beatles were thought of as odd balls in the US when they sported the German student cut... it was just close enough to not being crazy that it caught on.

I think Raj has style and I aplaud him for it.

About 4 years ago when I started working at my company I was given the crazy eye because I wear hats... that subsided as they discovered it is a part of me and is not too out of the ordinary and just a style.

I'm sure Raj gets more compliments than put downs
It all depends on if you can carry it off as a costume or an extention of your personality.

Here is something to think about... other than Raj, do you know the name of anybody else on the show yet? I had a coworker run up to me after the first episode saying "You gotta see this guy!"

 

[The Wingnut]

I'm very much a connoisseur of ettiquite and proper dress, but I'll grant that - especially in today's impolite and sloppy society - the rules of ettiquite and dress are more guidelines than law.

I wear specs out of season, I'll wear a felt hat in hot weather, mix checks with stripes, so on, so forth. If it looks good, if it looks tasteful, go ahead and have at it. The majority of the general population won't even know what it's looking at, anyway.

The mistake that Raj is making is that he's trying too hard, as people have already pointed out...but not only that, he's lacking in subtlety. Specs are fine, so is a good fedora, but glaringly loud colors just draw undue attention, and a cane outside of a white tie and a set of tails is totally out of place unless the man has an injury or handicap. As for the bow tie, well, it's a risk, but properly done, it'll look good. Bow ties have become HUGE in recent history...a good vintage tie will be quite small and unobtrusive.

I've had all manner of reactions to my preferred style, from 'You look like a gangster', 'You're a freak' to 'Are you gay?'. Sometimes I'll view it as an opportunity to educate people that at one time, every man put a hat on his head and a jacket on his back before walking out the door, sometimes I'll tell 'em I left the tawhmmy gun inna da Byooick, and as for that last comment, I just tell them that good taste has nothing to do with sex.

People can't handle things they can't understand, aren't comfortable with, or goes outside their 'normal' little box that they've placed themselves in. Eccentric? Hell, yes I am! Unusual? More than that, I'm one of a kind. If you don't like it, tough, I don't dress to please others, only myself!

Guys that go to JC Penny to buy a suit will end up with whatever's in style at the time, and the fabric will be cheap, the craftsmanship sub-par, and the fashion fleeting. Those of us who would rather put a vintage suit on our back will appreciate well-knit, durable fabrics, high quality and pride in craftsmanship, and style that has withstood the test of time to become timeless.

Let the wags say what they may, they're only showing their ignorance and poor tase - not to mention how insufferably rude they are.

 

[LuckyLighter]

Originally posted by Matt Deckard
People who say wearing cream colored dinner jackets are only for the movies are the same people who decided hats were not fashionable.

You keep on wearing that dinner jacket.


I highly doubt you will hear people snickering in the background... I highly expect you will hear questions of, "Where did you get that?" In that case just tell them you had it made.

You want to be noticed, dress like a movie star... Most of thirties fashion comes from the movies and one of the best compliments I give to friends is, "you look like you walked out of a movie."

I wore a cream colored dinner jacket in March of this year to the Fort Lee Centennial ball. And people still come up to me about how nice I looked. And I went into that ball a little concerned at first that I was the only one not wearing a traditional tux. But then some of the film commission members came up to me saying they had been looking for the same thing--they called in the "James Bond" tux; actually I was going for the Indiana Jones at the Club Obi Wan at the beginning of Temple of Doom look.

So yeah, I agree that in most cases you can get away with it, and wear that dinner jacket with pride.

 

[schwammy]

Here is an article on Sep. 15, "felt hat day" and May 15, "straw hat day."

http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=2485

 

[Panamabob]

All year long is Montecristi Panama time.

Hint, hint!

 

[The Mad Hatter]

There are two basic rules of ettiquette:

1) When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

2) Be yourself.


Unfortunately, unless you happen to be a Roman in Rome, you can't follow both. So you add a dose of commonsense and a sense of humor.

BTW: In Tahiti, gentlemen wear long pants in the evening. (I don't even want to think about the Polynessian women )

 

[up196]

Felt hat day article

I read in the linked article how the men would poke holes in their straw hats at the end of the straw hat season. My Grandfather on my Mother's side earned the nickname "Boom Boom" Sambola that way. He apparently used a revolver to poke the holes, or so the story goes . . .

 

[Michaelson]

Heck, my father-in-law used to do that to ANYONE'S hat that didn't suit him, regardless of the season....but that's another story... Regards. Michaelson

 

[Marlowe]

The white (or cream) dinner jacket is for warm weather. The dark one is for cool weather. If the weather is still warm after September 15 (or whatever arbitrary date) like in Florida or Los Angeles (Santa Ana weather) then wear the white one.

As to what "fashionistas" from TV critic shows or "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy" say, it's a load of hooey. When they say something like ""We wanted to update your look," what they usually mean is, "we want to sucker you into wearing a bunch of fashionable stuff that will be oh-so-five-minutes-ago in no time, and then maybe we can sucker you into buying some more."

It's important to remember the difference between fashion and style. Fashion looks good now, but you'll be ashamed to have people see you in photographs wearing those silly things in years to come. Style always looks good.

Which do you think will still look timeless in 15 years? Low-waisted, bell-bottomed hip-hugger jeans with fake wrinkles sanded and/or bleached into them, or a well-worn A-2 jacket?

 

[Kentucky Blues]

Which do you think will still look timeless in 15 years? low-waisted, bell-bottomed hip-hugger jeans with fake wrinkles sanded and/or bleached into them, or a well-worn A-2 jacket?

Depends on who's wearin it LOL

 

[Gershomite]

Although I would wear red slacks only at gunpoint, the use of a cane is an entirely different matter. I have seen gentlemen to whom the use of a fine cane is second nature, it does not seem out of place in the least. So much depends upon the demeanor; when a person correctly moves with a cane, it becomes a fluid extension of that person, hardly noticed in the overall picture.

However, in far too many cases, a cane is simply used as a prop; wielded if you will. In such cases it will always appear cartoonish; the person so using it might as well spin it about as would a baton twirler, or tuck it under the arm as a swagger stick.

To those who are enescapably enmeshed in the 'monkey see, monkey do' world of modern fashion, classic style will always seem dull and pointless. I accord them the same deference that I would for an obnoxious brother-in-law, polite tolerance.



Gersh

 

[Marlowe]

Originally posted by Kentucky Blues
Depends on who's wearin it LOL

Not in my opinion. You are, of course entitled to your opinion. (But then I ask myself: "What is one man's opinion...to mine?")