Jackanapes
New in Town
- Messages
- 21
- Location
- USA
Hello everyone, first post on fedora lounge here. Looks to be a very interesting and enlightening site. I've already learned quite a bit just browsing current threads and searching through old posts. Thanks to the admins for making it available to us all.
A little about myself: I'm a middle aged guy (late 40's) and for the vast majority of my life I have dressed very casually. I work as an engineer and fortunately had a job where I could wear jeans and a simple collared shirt every day. Sometimes even more basic attire than that if I have to do field work (which I did frequently). For most of my life I was comfortable dressing that way and had little or no desire to concern myself with the "fashionable pursuits." But now that I'm older and having recently taken a more executive position at my job (i.e. no more field work), I find myself in a world where appearance matters much more than it ever did before. Plus, I have to admit, I'm actually enjoying putting on better clothes and going to work in them. It's more trouble with all the ironing and fussing over them (mostly trying not to get anything on them at lunch etc), but you can see the psychological effect it has on the people around you and even yourself in your dealings with other people (both in and out of work). Of course I've always known how you dress strongly affects how people perceive you and deal with you, but living in better clothes for a couple months now has really brought that particular experience to my attention moreso than ever before.
So with my recently developed desire and need for better clothing came the issue of deciding what style is best for me. I have a definite sense of what I like and what I don't like when I see it. Although I'm relatively uneducated in the matter of mens' fashion, I've always thought I had an instinctive and discerning eye for what looks good and what looks bad. I definitely don't consider myself the stereotypical male who "don't know nuthin' 'bout fancy clothes" nor would ever care in the slightest what he wears and just goes along with whatever my wife (or girlfriend, in my case) says. I actually do have an opinion and feel comfortable asserting it.
That's what brings me here. I think the styles popularized in the 30's-40's resonate most with me. I also like some of the styles of the 60's depending on what they are. I'm relatively tall and slim (6'2"/188cm and 185lbs/85kg) and I like clothes that actually fit me with a fairly close, conforming fit (within reason of course). Although I'm middle aged now, genes and reasonably good health habits have blessed me with the body of younger man. Some even say I have the build of a teenager, although I'm not as lean and muscular as some teens. Not bragging, just explaining so that I can receive the best advice for styles, sizing etc. And for those at my age that may now be on the heavier side, the flipside of my current good fortune is that when I actually was a teenager, I was painfully skinny. When I was 17 years old, I was the same height I am now except I weighed ~130lbs/59kg! But as the years rolled on, I filled out and now am fairly weight to height proportional (although still somewhat slim). But during my highschool/middle school years it was very tough psychologically when I was often the skinniest kid in gym class.
I put a smiley here, but at the time it was nothing to smile about.
Which leads me to fit and sizes. I'm pretty confused about this part and was hoping for some education. Basically I know nothing of sizing and fit for mens clothing. All I know is that I wear 33W x 34L Levis (usually 550's) and generally get large shirts. Although I have figured out I like fitted shirts much better than regular cut shirts. I've learned that "Large" shirts in the USA are usually voluminous affairs that often are big enough to fit like a circus tent on me. There's almost always enough spare material in the midsection that when I grab at my belly/waist area and pull on it, it comes out a foot (30cm) or so. It's like a maternity dress almost! When I tuck it in there's all this excess material bunched up around the waist. Very annoying and something I've been fighting since I was a kid. Another problem is that the arm length often comes up short. Sometimes it seems like the shirt fits when I first buy it, but then after a wash or two I find the sleeves ride up and are too short. I think I have somewhat ape-ish arms. The necks are often a little tight too.
Anyway, I'm hoping I can learn how to properly measure and fit myself so I can get clothes that actually fit me properly. And maybe learn something about tailoring as well. Getting a good tailor and understanding how to communicate what I like and what I want in terms of modifications. That sorta thing. My whole life I've struggled to find clothes that fit me properly off the rack, I'm finally to the point where I really want to do something about it. I'm hoping some here may be able to help.
Well, this has turned into a fairly lengthy post, apologies for the run on paragraphs. Looking forward to chatting with you folks and learning more about what for me is really a whole new world. Thanks in advance for any help!
A little about myself: I'm a middle aged guy (late 40's) and for the vast majority of my life I have dressed very casually. I work as an engineer and fortunately had a job where I could wear jeans and a simple collared shirt every day. Sometimes even more basic attire than that if I have to do field work (which I did frequently). For most of my life I was comfortable dressing that way and had little or no desire to concern myself with the "fashionable pursuits." But now that I'm older and having recently taken a more executive position at my job (i.e. no more field work), I find myself in a world where appearance matters much more than it ever did before. Plus, I have to admit, I'm actually enjoying putting on better clothes and going to work in them. It's more trouble with all the ironing and fussing over them (mostly trying not to get anything on them at lunch etc), but you can see the psychological effect it has on the people around you and even yourself in your dealings with other people (both in and out of work). Of course I've always known how you dress strongly affects how people perceive you and deal with you, but living in better clothes for a couple months now has really brought that particular experience to my attention moreso than ever before.
So with my recently developed desire and need for better clothing came the issue of deciding what style is best for me. I have a definite sense of what I like and what I don't like when I see it. Although I'm relatively uneducated in the matter of mens' fashion, I've always thought I had an instinctive and discerning eye for what looks good and what looks bad. I definitely don't consider myself the stereotypical male who "don't know nuthin' 'bout fancy clothes" nor would ever care in the slightest what he wears and just goes along with whatever my wife (or girlfriend, in my case) says. I actually do have an opinion and feel comfortable asserting it.
That's what brings me here. I think the styles popularized in the 30's-40's resonate most with me. I also like some of the styles of the 60's depending on what they are. I'm relatively tall and slim (6'2"/188cm and 185lbs/85kg) and I like clothes that actually fit me with a fairly close, conforming fit (within reason of course). Although I'm middle aged now, genes and reasonably good health habits have blessed me with the body of younger man. Some even say I have the build of a teenager, although I'm not as lean and muscular as some teens. Not bragging, just explaining so that I can receive the best advice for styles, sizing etc. And for those at my age that may now be on the heavier side, the flipside of my current good fortune is that when I actually was a teenager, I was painfully skinny. When I was 17 years old, I was the same height I am now except I weighed ~130lbs/59kg! But as the years rolled on, I filled out and now am fairly weight to height proportional (although still somewhat slim). But during my highschool/middle school years it was very tough psychologically when I was often the skinniest kid in gym class.
I put a smiley here, but at the time it was nothing to smile about. Which leads me to fit and sizes. I'm pretty confused about this part and was hoping for some education. Basically I know nothing of sizing and fit for mens clothing. All I know is that I wear 33W x 34L Levis (usually 550's) and generally get large shirts. Although I have figured out I like fitted shirts much better than regular cut shirts. I've learned that "Large" shirts in the USA are usually voluminous affairs that often are big enough to fit like a circus tent on me. There's almost always enough spare material in the midsection that when I grab at my belly/waist area and pull on it, it comes out a foot (30cm) or so. It's like a maternity dress almost! When I tuck it in there's all this excess material bunched up around the waist. Very annoying and something I've been fighting since I was a kid. Another problem is that the arm length often comes up short. Sometimes it seems like the shirt fits when I first buy it, but then after a wash or two I find the sleeves ride up and are too short. I think I have somewhat ape-ish arms. The necks are often a little tight too.
Anyway, I'm hoping I can learn how to properly measure and fit myself so I can get clothes that actually fit me properly. And maybe learn something about tailoring as well. Getting a good tailor and understanding how to communicate what I like and what I want in terms of modifications. That sorta thing. My whole life I've struggled to find clothes that fit me properly off the rack, I'm finally to the point where I really want to do something about it. I'm hoping some here may be able to help.
Well, this has turned into a fairly lengthy post, apologies for the run on paragraphs. Looking forward to chatting with you folks and learning more about what for me is really a whole new world. Thanks in advance for any help!
