We’ve all seem ‘em before, the neighbor that only wears polyester suits from the “Saturday Night Fever” collection, your Uncle Earl that wore the sleeve tag on his suit last Thanksgiving, so everyone would know that he spent at least $200 on that Pierre Cardin, or the co-worker with breath hummin’ like grandma Pearl during the second verse of “Amazing Grace.” Some style offences are unintentional, these very bad examples of fashion faux pas are not. The most basic style choices or lack there of, can keep a gent like you from living your best look. So before you walk out that door, check yourself against this list of tips, to ensure that you make your dapper daily impression to the world, a great one.
Pop Them Tags
An “expensive” suit, shouldn’t only be noticed by the name or the price tag. If that were the case, then what’s the purpose? You’re literally just paying for a name, no quality. When I was a kid, I used to think that you were supposed to wear the cloth sleeve tag that bears the name of the suit. I had no idea that you had to cut it off. Good thing for me, that I had a dapper dad to show me the way. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for some gents and consequently, they “haven’t given up childish ways.” They think that wearing the sleeve tag is a status symbol, but the only thing it symbolizes is an entanglement with a fashion faux pas. If you’ve truly invested in a quality suit, trust me, people will notice, and not because it says “Versace” on the sleeve.” So in the words of Ludacris, “drink some prune juice and let the Sh** go.” Cut it off.
All Buttoned Up
Photo Cred: Hockerty.com
I’m sure that during your travels, most of you have heard the term, “less is more.” The same applies to your suit and the amount of buttons that should be buttoned.
The rule of thumb, for a 2-button suit is:
Top Button—Always
Bottom Button—Never
At the slight chance that you do have a 3-button suit, the rule of thumb is:
Top Button—Always
Middle Button—Sometimes
Bottom Button—Never
Buttoning that extra button makes doesn’t make you any more dapper, just like putting on more cologne doesn’t make you smell any better. In reality, you’re hustlin’ backwards. I personally only button my jacket when I’m standing up, to emphasize the silhouette of the jacket on my torso, while seated I keep it completely unbuttoned, so I can breath, because breathing is good. I suggest the same for you!
Remove Those Stitches
Along the same lines of the sleeve tag, when you receive a new suit, removing the stitches are a rights of passage that all suits must go through in order to go from racked and stacked, to “ready to wear.” The stitching refers to light threading used to minimally secure the rear vents of the jacket, to the main part of the jacket, in an effort to keep the integrity during transport. Stitching is also used on the chest and side pockets of the jacket. I usually remove the stitching from the vent and the chest pocket and leave the side pockets stitched, to avoid drooping. After all, use of those pockets will start to make the suit itself droop at the sides.
Tie/Square Box Sets
For my bible-toting followers, 1Corinthians 13:11 says “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” When I was a child (both literally and also in the style game), I constantly wore matching ties and pocket squares. It was easy. As I became more mature in style, I saw the excitement in mixing up some of those matched sets, aligning colors and patters that would fit my overall look. Arranging your own tie and pocket square combos helps to flex your style muscles and gives you a better chance of avoiding an “out of the box” look that can be easily copied.
The Bone Collector
I first learned about “bones” when I used to sort my dad’s dress shirts before putting them to wash. You’ll notice a recurring theme is that I talk about my dad quite a bit. He is an amazing guy, but he also taught me everything I know about style, so you’ll be hearing a lot about him. His word “bones” refers to the flat plastic stems that you insert into your shirt collar to keep the ends from flopping and curling. Funny enough, I had no idea what they hell they were, so the first time I saw them, I actually started to throw them out. But through his tutelage, I learned that they are just as important as the shirt itself. Since then, I haven’t worn a shirt without them. They come in both plastic and metal, and you should definitely keep and reuse them.
To Tuck or Not to Tuck
Dress shirts have a place outside the boardroom. They can be fun to pair (untucked) with jeans for a date night, or night on the town with the fellas. Before you do, know the difference between a shirt to tuck and a shirt to wear over the top! Much like dogs, you can tell a shirt by it’s tail. Shirt tails (the lower part of the shirt) are traditionally long to allow you to tuck them inside the pants far enough, so they do not untuck during normal daily movements. Shirts meant to be worn untucked have shorter tails (the tails fall just at the bottom of your seat/butt), so you don’t get that night gown effect. So unless you’re trying to go “night night”, and not on a night out, lose the “night gown” shirt, when considering untucking. You can either tailor an existing shirt, or purchase a short tail shirt from companies such as “Untuckit,” that specialize in this area.
Short Coats
The Fall season is here in NY, and based on how 2020 is going so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some 20 degree weather before the year is out. As you throw on your suit jacket and reach for a coat, make sure that the coat COMPLETELY covers the suit jacket. Don’t leave any jacket cleavage hanging out the bottom of the coat, or it’ll look like you’re wearing your little brother’s coat. It needn’t be a three quarter length coat, but at least ensure that it drops below your normal suit jacket length.
Right Accessory/Wrong Season
Imagine it’s December and you pull up to a wedding and you see this dude in the dopest black suit, with a straw hat or sombrero on (and no the wedding is not Cinco De Mayo themed). Or you head out to a springtime soiree to kick off the warm weather season, but you see someone in a seersucker suit with a winter wool scarf. Big No-No! One of the biggest mistakes made by gents is that they overdo it by wearing the right accessory for the wrong season. In the examples above, straw or lightly constructed hats are reserved for the warmer seasons, whereas a wool or felt hat, would have been the right choice. In the latter example, the gent with the seersucker suit should have had a lighter fabric scarf (such as silk), which is more appropriate for warmer seasons.
T-Shirt Cleavage
Around the office setting, I see this a lot. And no I’m not talking about the inappropriately dressed analyst. When you wear a dress shirt, with the buttons at the top undone, you will need to have the appropriate undergarment, such as an undershirt vest, or a V-neck t-shirt. A crew neck t-shirt is not an option. Showing your t-shirt underneath you dress shirt isn’t a good look and will put your carefully planned look at risk. Our friends across the pond in the UK, usually pass on the undershirt altogether, but I recommend it to help with sweat absorption. So remember, no cleavage!
Attention to detail is key and a few seemingly innocent faux pas will throw off your look. Hopefully, these minor adjustments will help you enhance your look in a major way. And if you’re still having some worries, give me a call at 516-447-0487 and I’ll get you right.
Stay Suitabull guys!