Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tip-of-the-Day: Lose the super skinny sh-t


A movement starts. Men start wearing their clothes more fitted, in part due to European influences.  More and more men shop for slim clothing, putting new found effort toward looking stylish. Time passes.

A trend starts. Trendsters get wind of this new "tailored" look and, in what seems like a natural progression, bring it to the next level. Slim turns to skinny, and stylish begins to look a whole lot like corny. A trend dies - some men go down with it.

Seriously, fellas, enough with the super skinny sh-t. In particular, ties.

There is nothing more "trying-too-hard-looking" than a tie that can be mistaken for your little niece's fat sneaker laces. At 1" (2.54 cm) wide, neckwear screams "look at me, I'm really cool!".







Your tie, like your clothing, should be slim, not skinny. The difference can be inches, or fractions of inches, but it is crucial.

When it comes to neckwear, try not to go any slimmer than 2.5" wide (2.75"is my ideal width...for now). Sooner or later tie widths are going to swing the other way, along with lapel widths and jacket lengths.

Oh yeah, and proportions are key! While I try to figure out a proper tie-width-to-waist-size ratio, lets just say that if you are a big guy, a skinny tie won't look any better on you than skinny jeans would.

Thanks for reading!

Yours in style,
SB

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The good thing is that garments can't physically get much skinnier than they are now.

Good point about body size, there are a lot of large fellas bursting out of stuff at the moment.

www.openzedoor.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Lose

Anonymous said...

Just a quick 'technical' note: Did you mean to say "lose" and not "loose" on the header? Excellent job on the blog, by the way. No, seriously.

Rune said...

I always match the width of the tie with the width of the lapels, rather than bodysize

SB said...

Lose! Sorry about that, forgot to proof-read!

Best,
SB

Unknown said...

I'm curious about what other "shinny shit" you think needs to go away.

For me a big one is skinny jeans on men. I'm all for straight and slim fits, but some of the denim being sold these days looks like it would cut off your circulation.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

yes sir, i share the same opinion on this. keep it classic, and keep it simple. clever insight, my man!

jcrew guy in Canada said...

I agree with all of you, when it comes to the width of a tie, or a blazer label, it's all balance. The one inch wide ties are best left to high school students and 80 retro parties.

The size of your collar goes with the width of a tie; wide collar = wide tie and so on.

Check out the ties at J.Crew, at about 2 3/4 inches wide they are spot on.

SB said...

To: Rune

Great point! Ties and lapels should certainly work together and be in proportion.

To: JCrew guy in Canada

Good point...what is your affiliation with Jcrew?


Thanks for reading!

Best,
SB

jcrew guy in Canada said...

Hey SB, no affiliation with them besides the amount I spend with them every month. Just my favorite label.

Alexander C. said...

Kudos on the post. As with any trend we're beginning to see the extreme right before it becomes fully played out. Having a classic aesthetic and sticking with it will always be in style.

For a modern yet classic gentleman perspective check out

http://21stcenturygentleman.blogspot.com

Sinatra's Shadow said...

I think things are already swinging the other way - for example, look at the lapels on some of Ralph Lauren's most recent lines.

kayvaan said...

Super-skinny ties and ultra-skinny jeans - yeah, not good.

But as a big dude with lanky arms I can't tell you how happy I am that so many labels now cut their garments "slim" or at least provide a "slim" option. On me, "slim" cuts look normal. "Classic" cuts look big. And "loose" cuts look frankenstein... :)

Tim said...

J Crew in Canada- are there any J Crew stores here in Canada?