3-Piece suits today

[Don_Tuccinini]

Whats wrong with the fashion world today? Pants are saggy, vest are to long and suit jackets are to tight. I am of course talking about the 3-Piece suit. In my opinion a 1930's cut suit with a bit of a tapered leg do the trick. Add a overcoat and a fedora and your in business. But that's hard to find any more, in this new and ever so modern world. Post your opinions of the new age suit and please DON'T be gentle. This is something that needs to be heard.

Thanks

 

[Matt Deckard]

I don't know, I'm kinda keen on the fitted jacket and baggy trouser look.

But I know what you mean about the vests.

 

[Tomasso]

There's full cut and then there's baggy. Two different critters.

 

[davestlouis]

Just teaching young men where the waistband of their trousers needs to sit would go a long way toward fixing the whole "saggy" problem. I haven't owned a 3 piece suit since I got one for my confirmation in 7th grade, so I can't comment on vests.

 

[J.J. Gittes]

I have seen some modern 3 pieces around, I'm not a fan of them. The vests are wrong, button spacing off, usually too long. They don't have the same balance or finesse as they did back then, it just looks like a crappy modern suit with a vest tacked on. I did see a Brooks Brothers 3pc suit on a mannequin a while back that wasn't terrible though.
My preferred 3 peice suit is full cut or stovepipe trousers, fitted vest, double breasted hourglass fitted jacket.

 

[Orgetorix]

There's full cut and then there's baggy. Two different critters.

And saggy is yet another category altogether.

 

[Shangas]

Hope you guys don't mind...but I thought you would like to read this:

http://scheong.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/a-cornerstone-of-style-the-three-piece-suit/

It's my own writeup on the Three Piece Suit.

 

[Charlie Huang]

I don't mind baggy as long as it fits in with the whole balance of things.

The morning dress I currently own come with baggy cashmere stripes yet they look pretty okay to me:

The key thing is that they cover the spats just right that they don't disappear nor do they make them stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[Feraud]

Post your opinions of the new age suit and please DON'T be gentle. This is something that needs to be heard.

Thanks

Actually this is not something that needs to be heard in any degree of emphasis.
We've "discussed"(I am being gentle in this description) the topic of modern fashions ad nauseum around here and there is really little that needs be said.

If anyone wants to discuss modern cut/style suits that follow the ideals of golden era outifts, please do so.

Otherwise, let's keep the "modern clothing sucks" mantra for personal blogs or e-mail a best pal.

Our focus here should be vintage or vintage inspired modern outfits.
Thanks.

 

[Fletch]

To that end...

All I ask is a vest with:
- 6 buttons. Not 5, not 4. Recess the bottom one or not, but it's gotta be there, and so does the buttonhole.
- 4 pockets. Not negotiable. Anything less isn't a vest, it's an apron. And yes, all must work.
- Sharp points at the bottom. An angle less than 90° is what I mean.
- Curves, not corners, everywhere else.

One custom feature I'd like to add, and it's not too much to add, really:
- a second back strap. Just below armhole level. Most vests bag here.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I wonder which one is "Sid". The chap on the left is more of a Vyvian. That has got to be my look for this coming fall. That, my friends is effortless insouciance … Brilliant!

Guy on the right, I suspect "Sid". I'll bet that jacket's belted. Check the pleated chest patch pocket.

bk

 

[Edward]

Using BK's labels, I'm a big fan of "Sid"'s look.... I know I've mentioned before, but Dad has one of my paternal grandfather's old driving licences from the thirties which carries in it a full length photo, in which he is dressed very similarly... I must try and get a scan of that. I wish Granda Marlowe was still around (he died, fairly young - early sixties - in June 1980, long before i knew or cared what a sharp dresser he'd been back in the day...).

I don't mind baggy as long as it fits in with the whole balance of things.

The morning dress I currently own come with baggy cashmere stripes yet they look pretty okay to me:

The key thing is that they cover the spats just right that they don't disappear nor do they make them stick out like a sore thumb.

Those the same ones you wore to young fleur's birthday party? They're a great cut.

To that end...

All I ask is a vest with:
- 4 pockets. Not negotiable. Anything less isn't a vest, it's an apron. And yes, all must work.

I've got a few with just the two pockets. It's not a deal breaker for me, however, I do agree that four are infinitely preferable. The real attraction of a waistcoat for me is the pockets. At different times of the year, one of my favoured looks is collar and tie under an A2 for more casual wear; in the depths of Winter I very often wear my B3 to the office, over collar and tie. no other overcoat comes close to being as warm. A waistcoat, especially with the B3 (the sole pocket on which I use for my gloves...), is a real boon, somewhere to put my travelcard, pens, work ID, and all the other necessary detritus which would otherwise be shoved into trouser pockets in a most ungainly manner. My favourite waistcoats have four pockets, two besomed, slash pockets on the top, and two with flaps on the bottom. Vaguely reminiscent, to my eye, of the pockets on the Eastman Erich Hartmann jacket...

I don't consider modern waistcoats being too long to be the real problem.... the big issue is that the trousers are cut too low in the waist, necessitating the waistcoat being longer in order to actually cover the belt. All too often, the wiastcoats I see are cut such that the lowwaisted trousers sit an inch below the waistcoat, making the whole look ill fitting. Of course, the proper fix would be to raise the waist rather than lengthen the waistcoat, but.....

 

[Creeping Past]

I imagine that was the last Whitsun that Sid and "Vyv" spent together for quite a while, given the date. And I guess they'd have had their work cut out finding quality clobber like that again for quite a while afterwards, too - unless they knew the 'right' (or wrong) people.

I hope they met again, both in one piece.

 

[Tomasso]

I don't consider modern waistcoats being too long to be the real problem.... the big issue is that the trousers are cut too low in the waist, necessitating the waistcoat being longer in order to actually cover the belt. All too often, the wiastcoats I see are cut such that the lowwaisted trousers sit an inch below the waistcoat, making the whole look ill fitting. Of course, the proper fix would be to raise the waist rather than lengthen the waistcoat, but.....

Exactly!

 

[Charlie Huang]

I am probably more anal about trousers than waistcoats.

The must:

1. Be high rise (preferably above the navel to be absolutely sure)
2. Have a button fly (as I can't stand zips)
3. Double forward pleats (I can live with single pleats but they must be forward!)
4. Cut for braces (i.e. have a fishtail back but this is not as essential as long as the above 3 points are observed)
5. Have brace buttons


For waistcoats:

1. Must have at least 4 pockets (any less and I feel uncomfortable as there isn't enough for what I use)
2. Cut high enough
3. 6 buttons (though I can live with 5)
4. Ideally have lapels.

 

[Fletch]

But I would hate for lapels to be anywhere near mandatory. There is just something classic about the lapelless vest. It's dressy and practical at the same time.

Maybe that's why they've gone into such a decline. We don't need our dressy clothes to be practical today, and we don't want our practical clothes to be dressy.

 

[benstephens]

The only way to dress!

The fitted jacket paired with a pair of slightly baggier trousers really is the stable of my vintage wardrobe!

Kindest

Ben

 

[Fletch]

Unfortunately, that is no longer "correct" to any but the most accomplished tailors. A full coat skirt over narrower trousers is now "traditional," just like the lack of a vest.

 

[Hexenmeister]

Give me fitted everything, with a jacket that goes no lower than my middle of my palms and pants that are just slightly lower on the waist. ^_^

 

[Benny Holiday]

I wonder which one is "Sid". The chap on the left is more of a Vyvian. That has got to be my look for this coming fall. That, my friends is effortless insouciance … Brilliant!

Guy on the right, I suspect "Sid". I'll bet that jacket's belted. Check the pleated chest patch pocket.

bk

If you hadn't mentioned it, Baron, I'd have simply taken the line down the pocket to be part of the overplaid, but a closer inspection of the photo as you suggest shows a darker line that ends when it reaches the folded seam at the top of the pocket (please forgive my ignorance of the correct tailoring term). As suits are considered "too over the top" for my office job, that's the look I sport in winter for my daily grind.