Three piece suits

[Tomasso]

Funnily enough, in many buildings you could wear a three piece tweed in the summertime the way they've got the a/c cranked up.

 

[Shangas]

I never understand the modern trend of having the air-conditioning so strong in summer that one has to put extra layers on to go indoors, and the heating so strong in winter that one can only wear a T-shirt. Aside from being wasteful I can't imagine it's particularly healthy for the body. Personally I like the heating on in winter just enough so that I am confortable without an overcoat on but can still comfortably wear a suit or smoking jacket indoors.

Avedwards, I love you. But I hate you for getting me started on this.

I absolutely cannot stand it when people do this. When it's summertime and they put the airconditioning up so high that it's freezing, or when it's winter and they crank up the heater so much that you feel like you're in some sort of equatorial country like Singapore.

I can't tell you how many times I have looked at the news website and gone: "It's hot today. Shortsleeved shirt, trousers, waistcoat, hat".

I reach my destination and it's been turned into an igloo and I'm freezing my ass off.

Or when it's cold, so I wear a singlet, shirt, waistcoat, coat, trousers, thick socks, hat and gloves (I rarely wear a scarf). I finally reach my destination and it's so hot inside I feel like I just landed in Hawaii.

Why can't people keep temperatures at a comfortable average where any combination of clothing can be worn without feeling like they've over/underdressed and that the weather is playing tricks on them?

 

[avedwards]

Funnily enough, in many buildings you could wear a three piece tweed in the summertime the way they've got the a/c cranked up.

I think it's unhealthily unnatural when they do that. In my opinion air-conditioning should only be at the level where it makes the heat bearable, not so cold that it feels like winter.

 

[Lokar]

I find the worst case of this to be shops - moreso with heating than A/C, as if you're walking around town shopping a brief blast of cool A/C air is refreshing. However, in winter, I'll be wearing say, a wool three piece with a heavy overcoat and I'll be perfectly fine outside in the cold. Then I'll go into a shop and about three minutes later have to leave because it's so horrendously warm and I can't take it (and have nowhere to put my overcoat). Of course, they have the heat up so that the employees only have to wear t-shirts, but it's madness (and I know it's far from just me that finds it a problem - even my most t-shirt-only obsessed friends find it mad).

 

[Shangas]

I totally agree with you on that, Avedwards. If the heating/cooling is at such a level that you're uncomfortable with wearing clothes that you picked for what the weather was outside, inside, then the heating/cooling is too hot/cold.

If that was confusing, I mean, say it's hot outside and it's summer. You wear a shortsleeved shirt, slacks and a hat.

If you go inside and it's FREEZING and you can't wear that stuff without catching a cold...that's too cold.

On the other hand, if it's freezing outside (so you wear a three-piece suit, or a variation thereof), but it's so hot inside that you have to take off your coat and your waistcoat...then the heater is too warm.

I hate having to make these wardrobe changes once I've picked out my clothes for the day, but annoyingly...there never seems to be any choice.

 

[avedwards]

Avedwards, I love you. But I hate you for getting me started on this.

I absolutely cannot stand it when people do this. When it's summertime and they put the airconditioning up so high that it's freezing, or when it's winter and they crank up the heater so much that you feel like you're in some sort of equatorial country like Singapore.

I can't tell you how many times I have looked at the news website and gone: "It's hot today. Shortsleeved shirt, trousers, waistcoat, hat".

I reach my destination and it's been turned into an igloo and I'm freezing my ass off.

Or when it's cold, so I wear a singlet, shirt, waistcoat, coat, trousers, thick socks, hat and gloves (I rarely wear a scarf). I finally reach my destination and it's so hot inside I feel like I just landed in Hawaii.

Why can't people keep temperatures at a comfortable average where any combination of clothing can be worn without feeling like they've over/underdressed and that the weather is playing tricks on them?

Things like that make me wonder what happened to us Brits. We used to wear 26oz suits in summer (and taking off one's jacket was frowned upon if ladies were present) with no air-con. I'm not sure whether to blame the hippies or the Americans for that.

 

[AntonAAK]

Things like that make me wonder what happened to us Brits. We used to wear 26oz suits in summer (and taking off one's jacket was frowned upon if ladies were present) with no air-con.

Some of us still do...

 

[avedwards]

Some of us still do...

In that case you are still a true gentleman. I try my best to dress up as much as the weather permits me to, but on the very warmest days I occaisionally lower my standards slightly by wearing linen.

 

[Tomasso]

I'm not sure whether to blame the hippies or the Americans for that.

Does it matter; they're one in the same.



Fashion used to begin in London/Paris/Milan and work its way over to the States......since the 60s it has started on the streets of America and spread across the world. Sorry about that.....

 

[avedwards]

Fashion used to begin in London/Paris/Milan and work its way over to the States......since the 60s it has started on the streets of America and spread across the world. Sorry about that.....

The irony is that I generally prefer vintage American fashion (from the 40s and 50s) to its British counterpart. We were too boring with our ties for my liking. However of late I neither American, British or Italian fashion seems to be particularly good.

 

[AntonAAK]

In that case you are still a true gentleman. I try my best to dress up as much as the weather permits me to, but on the very warmest days I occaisionally lower my standards slightly by wearing linen.

To be honest I am happy to wear lighter weight clothing but still almost never take my jacket off. There were about two days in London last summer when the weather was so warm I did take my jacket off in my office which I share with one other colleague. But if I left the room for any reason or someone came in to see me it went straight back on. I would never dream of going to a meeting jacket-less. It just doesn't seem right.

 

[Shangas]

Does it matter; they're one in the same.

Fashion used to begin in London/Paris/Milan and work its way over to the States......since the 60s it has started on the streets of America and spread across the world. Sorry about that.....

Members of the Fedora Lounge. Do we accept the words of this Yank as an apology on behalf of the wrongs committed by his country or do we cast him out from our community?

 

[scottyrocks]

Why can't people keep temperatures at a comfortable average where any combination of clothing can be worn without feeling like they've over/underdressed and that the weather is playing tricks on them?

Slightlyfftopic:: Maybe the same reason the Bd of Ed says the school cant have its AC on until May 29 (last year) despite the outside temperature. And mine is not one of those old buildings with those huge openable windows. Last year we were dieing for about two weeks until the 'official' day arrived.

 

[Shangas]

Huh! Don't you start complaining. My school never had the luxury of air-conditioning! Even in the new buildings. In the classrooms of the original campus buildings (built in the 1910s/1920s), we put up with those enormous double-hung windows that came with the buildings. And those old double-hung windows are a challenge to open and shut. They're as old as the school buildings (nearly 100 years) and they jerk and rattle and bang and wobble around. Sometimes they stay open, sometimes they can slam shut without any warning at all. Sometimes you have to wrestle with them and shake them to get them open. Some of them won't open at all because the maintenance men were idiots and painted the windows incorrectly (you have to paint double-hung windows in a very specific way, otherwise the paint dries and jams the window-mechanism).

But I digress.

In an ideal world, wearing a three-piece suit as everyday wear would be wonderful. The one thing I don't understand is how you can wear them in scalding hot summer temperatures. Anything over about 25 degrees celcius means I leave my waistcoats and coats at home.

...But then that means that the public buildings are so cold that the penguins have migrated there, instead of to Antartica, so I would probably have to bring a waistcoat along anyway, to keep my core body-temperature up.

 

[avedwards]

In an ideal world, wearing a three-piece suit as everyday wear would be wonderful. The one thing I don't understand is how you can wear them in scalding hot summer temperatures. Anything over about 25 degrees celcius means I leave my waistcoats and coats at home.

Personally I don't wear a three piece suit above about 20C. That would be different if I had a linen three piece suit. Normally when it gets above 20C I wear linen or light weight wool suits or jackets, and above 25C I wear a waistcoat but no jacket.

 

[Tomasso]

Members of the Fedora Lounge. Do we accept the words of this Yank as an apology on behalf of the wrongs committed by his country or do we cast him out from our community?

Could you imagine how quiet the FLounge would be without us....

 

[AntonAAK]

Could you imagine how quiet the FLounge would be without us....

He didn't say all the yanks, Tomasso. Just you.

 

[Tomasso]

He didn't say all the yanks, Tomasso. Just you.

OK, then you, and you alone, are taking the wrap for Boy George.....:kick:

 

[AntonAAK]

OK, then you, and you alone, are taking the wrap for Boy George.....:kick:

It's a fair cop...

 

[Hal]

I hadn't expected (but I am pleased) that the mention of artificial heating and cooling started off a very sensible discussion about it.

I never understand the modern trend of having the air-conditioning so strong in summer that one has to put extra layers on to go indoors, and the heating so strong in winter that one can only wear a T-shirt. Aside from being wasteful I can't imagine it's particularly healthy for the body. Personally I like the heating on in winter just enough so that I am confortable without an overcoat on but can still comfortably wear a suit or smoking jacket indoors.

Both this comment and those of Shangas hit the nail on the head. In Britain we rarely have powerful air-conditioning, but then I am very glad that we don't have to face the summer temperatures that most parts of the USA seem to experience.