quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Faux pas, huh. Do you work in corporate America and get to see firsthand what many of the people are wearing today and calling 'fashionable'? I went to a meeting last week (in a suit) and looked across the room at a 30 year Analyst with his custom suit sporting a pair of pencil legged slacks riding 3-4 inches above his shoes displaying his tanned ankles and no socks. Fashionable? Maybe. Ridiculous? Absolutely.

I've spent most of my working life in the financial district in San Francisco. I've seen it all. I remember the days before casual Friday was a thing when even the guys in the mail room wore ties and dress shoes. I've watched the drift from dressing like an adult in finance and law to business casual negating the tie to the current tech bro inspired wear whatever is on top of the pile on the floor even if it's your little sister's pants. There's a difference between fashionable and having style. I wouldn't wear a suit jacket as a stand alone with non matched pants in the same way I wouldn't wear a belt with braces or button every button on said jacket. But the kids will wear what they're allowed to wear and the olds are on the way out and outnumbered.

Things were changing before I retired 9 years ago.

Growing up I was taught or absorbed certain rules for dressing. Black or cordovan shoes with blue suit. Never brown shoes with blue suit.

Certain color combos don’t work. ie black and dark brown together.

Lace up shoes vs loafers.

Tie no more than 3 colors in one tie. Reg stripes. Polkadots, foulards etc. No Disney characters or multicolor.

Some of this was codified in a corporate employee handbook.

Glad it’s loosened up a little, although I do think a level of decorum is required.

I worked in a county courthouse my last working years. Saw lots of lawyers. Lawyers went from suits to blazers to even jeans with sport coats. Saw some strange combinations.

Judges sometimes wore jeans under the black robes.

It’s a new world.

In the zoom world I have been living in the last 18 months, I commonly wear a Suit coat, dress shirt and gym shorts or jeans...

But if I was going out in public or someone would see my legs, a suit is a suit and the jacket is never a blazer or sport coat.

quote:

Originally posted by maxdog:
Black or cordovan shoes with blue suit. Never brown shoes with blue suit.

Exactly.

I'll addendum my original post: The "cordovan' loafers I wear with black slacks and sport coat? They are black "shell cordovan" loafers.

Cordovan is a type of leather and "cordovan" is also used to describe a color. I've got shell cordovan loafers in both black and Alden Color 8 (the color of traditional cordovan / ox-blood / burgundy). I got them 12 years ago when prices were half what they are now, when a dealer could still wheel and deal, before the Asian market began to suck up domestic production.

Didn't want anyone to think I was wearing the wrong shoes with my slacks.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Faux pas, huh. Do you work in corporate America and get to see firsthand what many of the people are wearing today and calling 'fashionable'? I went to a meeting last week (in a suit) and looked across the room at a 30 year Analyst with his custom suit sporting a pair of pencil legged slacks riding 3-4 inches above his shoes displaying his tanned ankles and no socks. Fashionable? Maybe. Ridiculous? Absolutely.

I, likewise, do not care for skinny suits and high pants. But they are fashionable. Luckily, there is some sign that this trend is waning.

Us geezers are always going to gripe about modern fashion. It is just the way it is.

Maybe someday, wearing a coat cut like a suit coat and made out of suit material will be in fashion, but it isn't yet. So, a suit coat shouldn't be pressed into service as a sport coat. No one, from the most geezerish of us to the most fashion forward will think a suit coat is a good substitute for a sport coat.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?..._channel=TheStyleO.G.

My grandfather was a tailor. He could tell the material of a suit just by feeling it.

This is a decent summary. I don't know that I use "blazer" to mean mostly a blue hopsack jacket, but it still works as a guide. And sport coats can be made out of extremely fine fabrics if you are inclined. Ever see a vicuna sport jacket? They are usually camel colored, but they are super-fine in feel, and one will set you back more than $10,000, maybe more than $20,000. (There aren't many vicunas providing wool.)

I think James Garner in "The Rockford Files" is a good example of a sport coat being well worn.

Traditionally, a sport coat is a patterned coat. a blazer is solid with contrasting buttons. And a suit coat is the same as the pants.

A blazer and sport coat are typically a little more roomy in fit and perhaps a bit less structured than a suit coat. This allows layering underneath, if necessary, or maybe just thicker shirts like oxford cloth.

Trends right now are for skinnier lapels, shorter sleeves (and inseams), and shorter coat length, in general. Boxy is definitely out and brass buttons are not really in except for traditionalists. I sometimes wear a navy suit coat as a blazer (Brooks Bros sold as separates) because I don't want to buy a new blazer and don't want brass buttons. However, I do have a cool set of Indian head buttons I took off an older Hickey Freeman blazer that had outlasted itself. That coat works in that setting because of the current trends.

Go to Nordstrom right now, for instance, and you'll see a lot of "blazers" with non-contrasting buttons.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnCourage:
I wear a lot of sport coats, with jeans, especially as the weather cools. For me the sport coat is two button with some kind of multi color pattern so they can be worn with different color shirts. They also have a slightly more fuzzy wool finish. Suit coats are smoother, three button and solid colors. Of course also with the matching pants. My sport coats look like this:

https://www.menswearhouse.com/...port-coat-147V147W66

Three button suits have all but gone away. When I see a three button suit I think, that guy hasn’t bought a suit in ten years.

I also have a very nice 3 button sport coat that my wife paid a fortune for 15 years ago, it seems grossly out of fashion now.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Suit coats are cut differently than blazers/sport coats. If you wear a suit coat with non matching pants, people in the know will recognize it as a suit coat masquerading as a blazer.

This ^^^^^

Doesn't matter to me whether or not anybody would notice or you can get away with it. It just plain doesn't look right.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe 5632:
After I retired I gave all my suits away except for two ...

I only had two upon retirement: A gray two-piece to which I refer as my "IBM suit," and a blue pinstripe three-piece for weddings and the like. I've since acquired a black three-piece for more somber affairs

They're all fairly expensive, tailored suits of classic/timeless cuts. I never saw the point in buying cheap suits.

I haven't worn a sport jacket or blazer in decades. I'm not sure there are even any still in the overflow wardrobe downstairs.

Yeah Yeah Yeah, whatever, but can I still wear my 1976 Leisure Suit?

.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Yeah Yeah Yeah, whatever, but can I still wear my 1976 Leisure Suit?

.

I was a kid, but I had one.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Yeah Yeah Yeah, whatever, but can I still wear my 1976 Leisure Suit?

.

I was a kid, but I had one.

I had one of those, once, too

I also once owned a three-piece denim suit. I think it was Wrangler or Lee that made it?

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Yeah Yeah Yeah, whatever, but can I still wear my 1976 Leisure Suit?

.

I was a kid, but I had one.

Man, you guys are old...
I didn't have one until 1979. I was still in grade school.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Yeah Yeah Yeah, whatever, but can I still wear my 1976 Leisure Suit?

.

I was a kid, but I had one.

I had one of those, once, too

I also once owned a three-piece denim suit. I think it was Wrangler or Lee that made it?

How about a three piece Corduroy Suit?
.

I guess I am very out of fashion. I still have one solid navy 3-button suit and all of my suits are pretty boxy. Nothing would be considered skinny, including the guy in them, other than maybe some recent ties I just bought. My favorite is a Hickey Freeman Boardroom suit. Very traditional but well made.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
How about a three piece Corduroy Suit?

No, never owned a Corduroy suit. Very rarely owned Corduroy pants. Do not care for the material and never have.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Yeah Yeah Yeah, whatever, but can I still wear my 1976 Leisure Suit?

.

I was a kid, but I had one.

I had one of those, once, too

I also once owned a three-piece denim suit. I think it was Wrangler or Lee that made it?

I had a Lee one in denim. Also three pieces. It was better than the leisure suit. It actually had a little style.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
I guess I am very out of fashion. I still have one solid navy 3-button suit and all of my suits are pretty boxy. Nothing would be considered skinny, including the guy in them, other than maybe some recent ties I just bought. My favorite is a Hickey Freeman Boardroom suit. Very traditional but well made.

^^^^^^ Seriously, me too, all kidding aside.

I will continue with traditional conservative black and navy blue suits with starched white collared shirt and tie, shined black dress shoes and matching belt. I do have very nice sport coats and very nice dress slacks to wear at the appropriate occasion.

I’ve asked some of my friends and none own a suit or a sport coat and any sort of slacks and dress shoes anymore. Most wear jeans or sloppy khakis and have nothing else better for a funeral.
.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I also once owned a three-piece denim suit. I think it was Wrangler or Lee that made it?

I had a Lee one in denim. Also three pieces. It was better than the leisure suit. It actually had a little style.

Was it somewhat lighter shade of blue than typical denim jeans? Softer? Almost like brushed denim? Fairly prominent, but not in-your-face, stitching? That's how I remember mine.

I recall mine as being much classier than a leisure suit.

Wore it to a wedding, one time, complete with bolo tie, proper belt with a nice dress buckle, and, naturally, my "roach-killer" boots (IIRC I skipped the hat, though .) Got a lot of complements.