Dress To Win: Suits and Sports Coats for Business. No More Office Casual

Bangladesh Government Bans Suit and Tie

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:13:00 +0000

http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/09/05/to-save-power-bangladesh-bans-suits-and-ties/

Because their growing economy has left the Bangladesh power industry unable to provide power with out daily black outs, the government of Bangladesh has banned sits and ties for government workers. I suppose this makes sense in a country with a warmer climate. Being bounded by India and Myanmar, Bangladesh suffers a hot climate and monsoons. The theory is that, without suits, the office workers will still be comfortable with less air conditioning.

The Christian Science Monitor reporter notes that the Bangladesh government hopes that business will follow the government's example. I'm sure that any number of green environmental justifications may be posed for not dressing well in the United States, or leaving your shirt tails out to reduce energy demand during the US summer. However, American culture has already devolved to a very slovenly level of dress inappropriate to both business and casual pursuits. We don't need any more reasons to dress poorly.

I hope that business doesn't follow the example of government, just on general principles. We can only wish the Bangladesh business community luck in whatever circle of economic hell that business may merit from following their government example.

A Reasonable Price for a Quality Panama Hat

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Needing a summer hat for my impending October beach vacation and a wedding in Cocoa Beach, Florida, I scanned the web forums and found some recommended sites. In the summer and fall, I spend a lot of time outdoors with daily walks, weekly hikes and getting to the beach as often as possible. With a history of skin cancer in my family, I'm cautious to avoid too much sun. Part of the solution is a durable hat with a brim all around. But, I need something that looks dressy enough for casual wear or business wear.

I didn't want to risk a lot of cash with a company located overseas (Ecuador), so I ordered a pamana hat in sub fino grade ($125 plus shipping). This model is the Fedora #2 with a 2.8 inch brim and a brown grosgrain band.

Panamahatsdirect.com did a fine job with the hat and shipped in about 3 weeks. The quality of the hat and customer service are superb. As you can see in the photo, the hat looks good and does a fine job of shielding me from the the southern sun here in Atlanta. I wear it when I'm running around town on weekends and for hiking.

The size and quality of the hat are very good. You can specify your exact size in quarter inches or centimeters, and my finished hat fits perfectly. You can also choose your brim size, varied color hat bands and hatband materials in leather, silk or grosgrain. I ordered the brown grosgrain. The weave is very good quality. I like the look and I'll end up ordering another one; perhaps a fino with only a 2 inch brim. My impression is that by ordering from Ecuador, I'm getting a hat that other US vendors charge $300 or more for equal quality. This hat should last for many years, compared to the typical $40 straw hat that falls apart after a year.

The only downside is that the whole process, building your hat as specified and trimming it plus shipping to the US takes about 4 weeks. So be patient. However, if you've ever ordered custom suits or custom shirts , you're used to waiting to get exactly what you want.

Since Panama hats actually come from Ecuador, if you find yourself in Ecuador, you can just go to Monte Cristi and find your own hat at a much lower price. Or you can find a shop in the larger cities.

Custom Suit Review Photos, Part Two

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:52:00 +0000

This is my first made to measure charcoal gray suit from Custom Suit Shop in Atlanta. In the first part of the made to measure suit review we covered the fitting process. Now we'll look at the made to measure suit in detail.

The jacket has lightly padded shoulders and seems to be half canvassed. Construction using a separate canvas lining piece allows the wool, the lining and the inner lining to move separately since they are loosely sewn together. Off the rack jackets often have a fused lining where the wool, canvas lining and inner lining are all fused together, making for a stiffer jacket that may eventually come apart as the glue separates. This shop also offers a fully floating canvas jacket. The detailed measurements and construction of the made to measure jacket allow it to fit the body closely. With the narrow lapels and double vents the lines look great and I find the fit to be quite comfortable. Many ready made suit jackets have a wide arm hole, so that any size arm may fit. This jackets armhole and sleeves are cut more closely to follow the actual measurements of my arm.

A side view showing the lines of the jacket and pants together. The line of the pants shape allows a fitting transition from the wider shape of the jacket.

Breast pocket and lapel detail showing the pick stitching. The pick stitching is found throughout the jacket. This is a nice decorative touch on a solid colored fabric jacket.

This charcoal gray wool is a classic business suit color. When ordering your custom suit, you can choose from woolen suitings made by Gladson Ltd, Dormeuil of England or
Vitale Barberis Canonico of Italy. This is a Super 100 fabric from Gladson.

The working cuffs feature horn buttons and more pick stitching. Buttons are available from Holland and Sherry of London. The working cuff buttons aren't usually found on ready made jackets.

A close up of the button shank and lapel edges.

Opening up the front of the jacket reveals the lining, inside pockets and the armhole. You can order several variations on the inside and external pockets. Inside this jacket features the usual breast pockets, plus a cell phone pocket and a pen pocket. There is also an inside handkerchief pocket.

I'm really pleased with the fit and look of the suit. The close fit of the suit to my body gives it a clean and trim look. It seems that every other time I wear this charcoal gray suit, I get positive comments from friends and especially from women.

Getting Wrinkles Out of Your Custom Suit or Sports Coat

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:33:00 +0000

Naturally your custom suit should last a long time, if you take care of it.
So how do you keep the suit or sports coat looking good?

Don’t make the mistake of taking it to a dry cleaner too often. In fact, if you handle your suits and jackets correctly, you’ll only take it to a dry cleaners once a year or if you get a stain. Be careful choosing your dry cleaner, because those that aren’t careful to change their chemicals often can actually stain your expensive woolen suit.

For daily wear, you just need a good quality clothing brush and a clothing steamer. At the end of each day of wear, the suit is wrinkled and may have dust on it. Here’s the drill:

• Hang up the suit jacket and brush with the clothes brush.
• Hang the pants from the cuffs and brush it as well.
• Pull out the clothes steamer and put some steam all over the jacket and pants. Go slowly and the steam will cause the wrinkles to drop out of the back of the jacket and the pants.
• Hold the pants crease and run the steamer along the edge, while you pull down to make sure the nice sharp crease stays that way.
• Let the suit or jacket hang in the closet for a day to allow the woolen fabric to recover. So avoid wearing the same suit or jacket two days in a row.

Here you see the Home Touch PS 200, which gives me really good results. It's a floor model with a water tank on the bottom, and a pole to hang the suit or jacket. A hose with a steam nozzle lets you put the steam where you need it. A lot of members on the web clothing forums get along well with the Jiffy Steamer eSteam or a steamer made by Conair. These smaller portable steamers are great to take on a business trip, so you go to meetings looking sharp.

The PS 200 also does a great job with my custom shirts and pants, when I don’t have time to get to a dry cleaner for pressing.

Eli Manning versus Tom Brady in the Super Bowl of Style

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:14:00 +0000

Tom Brady of the Patriots has 4806 passing yards and 50 touchdowns over Eli Mannings 3336 passing yards and only 23 touchdowns for the NY Giants in 2007 season. Brady also gets the nod for having better style and dating the hotter babes. Maybe there's a connection between Brady's superior style and the women he's pulling.

Sure, both quarterbacks get good marks for having good fitting suits and bothering to dress up when they're out in public. In front of the press, Manning's picture above reveals a solidly fitting and conservative suit. In an NFL where sportscasters dress in orange 4 button suits and most players wear the NFL approved black suit with 5 buttons, Manning looks more sophisticated, even in what appears to be an off the rack suit. When injuries or age take their toll, Manning will make the transition to coaching, business or sportscasting, looking far better than most of his colleagues in sports.

But, why is Tom Brady so popular with the tabloids, women who never cared about football before and so many good looking women that bother to date him? Brady's got the pocket square and just looks better in his suits. Could be he's wearing custom suits, which would explain the better fit in the gray suit pictured here. The pocket square adds some contrast to that gray suit and reveals that the man is taking a little more care to dress sharp.

The lesson here, you may not be dating super models but women like the pocket square with a suit that fits correctly. Oh yeh, and it doesn't hurt if you're a quarterback.

In the Super Bowl of Style the winner is Tom Brady.

Formal versus Casual: Shirts

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:07:00 +0000

Deciding what to wear depends on how formal the occasion will be and choosing your clothes to be equally formal. This way you don't show up wearing black-tie when every one else is wearing a sport coat. It's just as awkward if you are the only guy wearing jeans and a golf shirt, when every one else at the party is wearing a suit.

So let's start with dress shirts, where the level of formality is determined by color, sleeves and collars. The most formal color is white, followed by blue. Yellow, gold, pink and lilac are a bit less formal. Shirt colors like red or green, especially if they are dark or saturated colors tend more toward the casual side. In general, lighter shades of a color, like a pale mint green, are less casual. If you're going to be interviewed on television, a light or medium blue is a good color because it makes your face look more healthy by contrast. The pink and lilac colors don't appeal to some men, but they can be very complementary to a man with a darker or tanned face. These colors can also complement a man with red hair and a light complexion. Patterned shirts with checks or stripes on a white or colored background are less formal and can be just the thing for a casual event.

The most formal collars to wear with black tie are the wing collar and the starched turndown collar. Both of these are a good match for the formal bow tie that you tie yourself. The pre-tied bow tie looks too perfect and doesn't express your personality the way a self-tied bow tie does.

The next formal collar worn with a suit or sport coat is the spread collar. The spread collar has a wide opening for the necktie, with the points spread any where from 4 to 6 inches. These are popular in England and look great with a tie using a large Windsor knot.

Another good choice is the point collar, which is one of the more popular collars in the USA. The point collar spread that holds the knot of your tie is narrower than the spread collar.

One of the most popular collars, and the most sold in the US, is the button down collar. The button down collar is more casual than other types so it's great with sport coats or sweaters. The button down is not formal enough for many job interviews, but it's great for day to day business wear and casual socials events. A well made button down has certain curve that causes the collar to bulge out just a tiny bit from the buttons.

The most casual sleeve is a regular barrel cuff with one button. More formal shirts or custom made shirts often use a barrel cuff with two or even three buttons in a straight line. The most formal shirts, again more popular in England are the double or French cuffs that have no buttons at all. Instead a stud called a cufflink is placed through the holes in both sides of the sleeve. The French cuffs are a great touch to add snap to any suit. These are also a great touch for more formal social events.

By keeping a variety of these colors, cuffs and collars in your shirt collection, you can dress up or down as you need to for different social events.

Designer Logo Madness

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:02:00 +0000

I blame a french tennis player for the blight of gaudy logos on designer clothes. How do people react to designer logos? Some covet the designer clothes as some kind of so-called status symbol, because the logo itself becomes desirable. Some like the style of a particular designer and stay with that brand. Others view large logos as unnecessary design flaws.

So how did there come to be so many men's clothing brand logos that strive to become iconic and desirable? We have to credit French tennis player Rene Lacoste for creating the first brand name and logo that appeared on the outside of a piece of men's clothing.

Lacoste was part of the team that won the 1927 Davis Cup in tennis. As Lacoste tells the story, "I was nicknamed "the Alligator" by the American press, after I made a bet with the Captain of the French Davis Cup Team concerning a suitcase made from alligator skin. The public must have been fond of this nickname which conveyed the tenacity I displayed on the tennis courts, never letting go of my prey! So my friend Robert George drew a 'crocodile' which I then had embroidered on the blazer I wore on the courts." In the thirties Lacoste and a friend set up a company to manufacture their logo-embroidered shirts for tennis, golf and sailing.

The Lacoste alligator has enjoyed cycles of popularity among preppy high school and college students, followed by other brand logos denoting Polo by Ralph Lauren or lately the Moose logo of Abercrombie and Fitch. In marketing, the logo is a symbol that conveys the values of the brand as depicted in advertising. Imagine the McDonald's golden arches logo for a moment. What does it suggest? It usually connotes fast, consistent food, popular with children. Researchers and parents know that even pre-literate toddlers recognize the golden arches logo, as symbolic of food. For the shopper, a clothing logo can become a symbol of consistent quality.

During my college days, cave explorer and cave diver Paul Smith of Florida, parodied logo madness with his upside down cave bat logo. Paul's sense of humor was welcome on caving expeditions to the deep caves of Mexico and Belize. His creativity complemented his skill as a superb rock climber. Paul made up his own golf shirts with the logo he called the Batzod.

A small discreet logo is harmless, but the huge "big pony" logo seen on recent Ralph Lauren shirts is almost a parody of itself. A large gaudy logo on sports shirts is probably most appropriate for the sort of man who sits in a hotel restaurant, bragging loudly enough for all the other patrons to hear how his child was invited to an "upscale bowling alley" in Miami for a birthday party. An ostentatious logo calls attention to itself and how much it costs, much like the loud mouth restaurant diner bragging about how much everything cost the birthday party host at the bowling alley.

I prefer to have the small monogram that identifies my laundry, hidden on the tails of custom shirts, so only my dry cleaners can see them. So I find huge or gaudy designer logos to be too showy to wear. The fit and tasteful design of a good shirt should complement your look without calling attention to itself. Giant, gaudy logos attract the wrong kind of attention and suggest that you don't have the confidence to make your own look.

With a bit of work you can learn to make your own style, that doesn't depend on slavishly following the dictates of some famous designer, and their constantly changing fashions. Sure you can wear designer clothes, but choose them mainly because their fit and their look complement your face, your body shape or your style.

How To Crash Some One Else's Holiday Party

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:10:00 +0000

How do you end up drinking the martinis and dancing with the women at some one else's company Holiday party? My old fitness trainer was a wizard at this useful skill. It was amazing, how easily he would get us into these parties. Over several months, we would go along to wine tasting parties, casino night or other events at Atlanta's Finest Museums or several huge corporate Holiday parties. Inevitably, we would end up making friends with the ladies and dancing the rest of the night.

When I was single and I sometimes ended up with no date on a Saturday night, it was tremendously funny, and a great way to meet women. How did my friend get into so many parties through out Atlanta? Well there are a few basic principles to getting in where you're not invited.

Know some one organizing the party. If you know some one connected with organizing, promoting or actually staging the party or some one connected with the venue, you my actually get an invitation. If not, a vendor may have a way for you to attend as part of their group.

You may get an invitation through your network of people in business. It always pays to ask.

Worst case, you have none of these contacts or decide to attend at the last minute. First dress well enough to match the level of formality of other guests.

Don't choose events hosted by a small company. You want an event that has hundreds of guests. This makes it easier to blend in.

Wait until the party has been underway for 5 to 20 minutes or later. The liquor will flow and things will relax. Just blend in with the other guests at the entrance if there's no doorman.

If the doorman has a list, then consider your options. Survey all entrances to the venue. You're looking for an alternate entrance which has little traffic or a kitchen or other service entrance which has a bit of traffic with people working the party. Watch this entrance five minutes to get a feel for the level of traffic and how often people enter or leave. Pick a time when several people have left or entered, then make your move.

At this point either head straight to the bathroom or straight for the bar, whichever seems easier. "Rejoin" the party or next head straight for the food. At this point you are part of the party, so relax and enjoy.

The limit for this sort of foolishness is two or three people. Any larger group increases the chances of being ejected.

Occasionally, the party or event will require credentials, badges or tickets. At this point it will become a bit more difficult and the odds of being expelled increase. You may want to consider a softer target.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays.

Custom Suit from Custom Suit Shop

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:19:00 +0000

Custom Suit Review:
Needing a new suit, I visited Custom Suit Shop on Bells Ferry Road in the Atlanta suburb of Canton. The shop is better looking than most men's clothing stores with wood paneling, rich-looking custom fabric suits hanging on racks built into the walls and a relaxed sort of ambiance.

The shop specializes in custom suits for men. The custom suit process takes the true shape and dimensions of your body into account, to make a suit that fits you much better than any ready to wear suit. The measurements go beyond collar, chest, waist, inseam and sleeve. They measure the angle of each shoulder, separate measures are taken for each elbow, wrist, hips, rise and other dimensions. The result is a suit that fits so comfortably it's almost like a second skin. The shape of the suit matches your body more closely than any ready to wear suit built to fit the "average" 40 Regular man.

It's good to be able to take your time to pick your favorite shirt and suit fabrics out of the cloth swatch books. This was my first time to have a custom suit made, and I was amazed at the variety of wool suit fabrics and patterns they offered. The woolen suitings range from 100 weight wools to Super 180's. The suits start at under $800, but if you select cashmeres or the finer Super wools, the cost can go into the thousands. I finally selected a charcoal gray wool worsted for the suit and sports coats in navy blue and hounds tooth.

Next, they gave me a choice of construction. I went for the more English look with two side vents instead of the typical single vent jacket. They walked me through all the details of the pants, pleats, and jacket lapels. I chose pick stitching on the notch lapels. Being my first custom suit I made all my other choices for pockets and other details to be rather standard.

Then there were more than 20 measurements with the tailor's tape measure so that the suit actually fits correctly. The entire process was quick and painless.

Next the measurements and fabric selections were sent to the maker, and two months later, I came back for the fitting. This time, there were some minor adjustments in the sleeves to show some more shirt cuff, and taking in the waist a tiny amount. After the final adjustments, a week later I was truly impressed with the suit's fit and appearance. This suit is easily the most comfortable, and best looking suit I've ever owned. Despite the increased cost over ready to wear suits, I just can't bring myself to spend money on a ready made suit again. I would rather spend a little more to have a custom suit that fits correctly. See the detailed photos of the made to measure suit jacket in part two.

Wool Suits Aid Climb to Top of Everest

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:28:00 +0000

Famous mountaineer Conrad Anker, who discovered the body of George Mallory at 2000 feet below the top of Mount Everest in 1999, became the best dressed man on Everest in 2007. No, it wasn't some odd fashion publicity stunt, Conrad Anker was re-enacting the 1924 climb of George Mallory. Renowned British climber George Mallory, famously attempted the first ascent of Everest, only to fall and die on the mountain. Cambridge educated, Mallory was the toast of 1920's British society. His disappearance at the top of Everest, led to speculation that he might have made it to the summit, before disappearing without a trace.

This past summer Anker and a partner recreated Mallory's climb wearing authentic 1920's gear including cotton long johns, silk shirts, hand-knit wool jumpers, Burberry top suit, coat, and trousers, glass goggles, leather mask, and fur-lined leather motorcycle helmets. The reproduction clothes performed remarkably well by repelling water and keeping them warm up to the last part of the climb. The climbers found the woolen tweed clothes to perform almost as well as modern synthetic climbing gear.

While Anker and partner changed into down climbing suits to finish the final dash to the top, they proved that Mallory and Irvine could have completed the climb in the gear of their day. It was only the fatal fall that prevented them from beating Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing NorGay to the top in 1958.

A statement from the Altitude Everest Expedition noted that by removing artificial aids and free climbing: "the climbers confronted the Second Step very much as Mallory and Irvine might have done 83 years ago. Their success at the summit, without the use of the ladder, adds weight to the theory that George Mallory and Sandy Irvine may have made it to the summit."

Both climber's from the 2007 climb noted that they were rather uncomfortable at the highest elevations of the climb. Perhaps a good reason to avoid mountains while dressed in your favorite suit, and limit your sojourns to the city and the country side.

How Cary Grant Built his Hollywood Career with Suits and Style

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 16:32:00 +0000

Book Review: Cary Grant a Celebration of Style.

Cary Grant's early life and long Hollywood career reveal how his popularity and success grew from a suave personal style, both on screen and in his everyday life. Journalist Richard Torregrossa follows Grant, real name Archie Leach, from his humble beginnings in England and early career in New York City as an acrobat at age 16, to his early struggle to establish himself in plays and films. With little education, no skills and no contacts, the teenage Cary Grant was truly on his own in the United States.

As he struggled to create an acting style and persona, Cary Grant initially copied the style of well-dressed actors like Noel Coward and Douglas Fairbanks. Cary Grant came to be seen by movie goers as handsome and perfect, but his early career was a struggle to conceal his physical flaws as Archie Leach and become the stylish and constantly well dressed Cary Grant. After moving to Hollywood and failing his first screen test he worked at minimizing his flaws by making adjustments in his wardrobe. Grant gradually adopted well made suits, lost his British accent, and often wore a shirt and tie to conceal his overly muscular neck.

In the 1930's and '40's, the film studios often had the actors wear their own clothing. As he became a better actor, Grant began to wear custom made suits both on-screen and off. As he continued to create his own style, Grant began wearing custom made shirts and custom suits from Saville Row tailors in London.

Cary Grant A Celebration of Style is illustrated with photos from Cary Grant's early film career through his final days. Richard Torregrossa's well researched book shows how Cary Grant continually learned from his mistakes and continually shaped his image to become one of Hollywood's most glamorous and successful leading men. The lessons learned from this biography of style can be applied to creating your own style for business or your personal life.

Do Women Prefer You With a Tie?

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 04:02:00 +0000

Do women prefer the way you look with a tie or without the tie? A recent survey conducted in early October by HCD Research, showed people faceless pictures of a man with a tie versus a man with a white shirt and open collar.

The study reveals that a neatly dressed man without a tie is viewed more positively by women than by men. The differences between the sexes are very interesting. The women viewed the neatly dressed man without the tie as more fun with some even thinking the dressed down man might be more adventurous or sexy.

More men in the study seemed to trust a man who wears a tie. They tended to view the man with the tie as dependable, maybe older, probably a manager or even some one who makes more money. More men also indicated that they would prefer the practical dressed up man with the tie as a friend or colleague at work.

As for bow ties, an earlier survey found that most people thought the bow tie wearer was more likely to be brainy or dull, older or dull, or conservative or dull. Those were the good comments.

Some people, especially women, thought the bow tie wearer might be boring, quirky or fidgety.

So, how does this help you? The regular neck tie is perceived as more positive than the bow tie. Perhaps the bow tie will only work for you if you want to fit in with an older group of people, or you want to be seen as smart in an academic setting or among a conservative group.

The regular neck tie would be a good choice to fit in among men in an office setting. The necktie would also be the better choice for a job interview. But for making friends or dating with women, you'll make a better impression with a neat outfit with an open collar.

Ultimately you have to find your own style, but it helps to be able to fine tune your outfit for the audience you'll be dealing with.

You can read more about the studies at: http://www.mediacurves.com/press_releases/PressRelease.cfm?PressReleaseID=96

Brooks Brothers Slim Fit Shirts - Shirt review

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:03:00 +0000

Corey Bostick is a well-informed and helpful salesman at Brooks Brothers downtown Atlanta store at Peachtree Center. When I told him that most ready to wear shirts are a poor fit for my tall and slim build, he suggested the Brooks Brothers Slim-fit shirts. Corey was careful to measure and help me to find the correctly sized shirts.

I have too many button down shirts and decided to get some spread collars and french cuffs. Brooks Brothers offers a medium spread collar called the Ainsley and a wider spread collar called the Londoner. The Ainsley suited me, so I chose a white French cuff, a white with wide blue Bengal stripes, and an ecru shirt with a point collar.

The blue stripe and ecru shirts had a near perfect fit in the neck, sleeves and body of the shirt. However, unlike custom or made to measure shirts, there is less of a selection in fabrics and collars. At half the price of a custom shirt, it is possible to get a superbly fitting shirt, at the cost of some compromise. The trade off is that you are limited to the collars and styles available. There were no shoulder pleats, only the standard box pleat, there are no textures in the fabrics such as a herringbone, and the colors are limited in range. The spread collars have a very appealing shape and the button down collar has a good looking curve when buttoned. This is rare in most off the rack shirts.

Still, at only $79 for a dress shirt with a superb fit, this is a rather good deal. The 3 shirt package is a good deal, but make sure you try on the shirts for proper fit and appearance. No price is low enough for a shirt that doesn't fit.

The only disappointment was the white non-iron shirt with French cuffs; the thin material of the shirt shows my tan quite easily through the shirt fabric. There's no other way to say it, it just looks cheap. How long could such thin-looking cotton fabric last? Surely not for long. So the white shirt went back to be exchanged for a thicker fabric in blue with the spread collar. Next time, I'll check all the shirts, before I leave the store.

Overall the Slim fit non-iron shirts did very well. They actually look neat and unwrinkled if you take them out of the dryer and hang them immediately. This is good for an all cotton shirt. If you left the shirt in the dryer too long, producing wrinkles, you could always use a steamer or an iron for a quick touch-up. These shirts could be great for your business travels.

The Brooks Brother Slim fit is a ready to wear shirt, not custom. It's not fair to compare the Slim fit shirts to a custom shirt. While not offering the control over pockets and shirt fabrics, the Slim fit shirts do offer an affordable alternative for those who need a slimmer dress shirt, without paying custom shirt prices.

If you prefer softer and thicker fabrics, textured shirt fabrics or a greater variety of colors and patterns, you would be happier with a custom shirt maker. Brooks Brothers also offers custom shirts.

"Do You Have a Job Interview Today?"

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:22:00 +0000

Even in the offices of an Atlanta advertising agency, it's difficult for people to throw off the mental shackles of ancient 1990's style business casual. People indoctrinated by the uber-casual style of dot com businesses have gotten used to seeing their co workers in tee shirts and jeans every day. So the first few weeks that I started wearing ties and french cuff shirts to work, I got several questions. They were all along the lines of "Do You Have a Job Interview Today?". I think these queries are meant humorously, but I always say something as a riposte.

Some days my reply is, "I'm just so good looking I had to wear a tie", or perhaps "I'm so tired of business casual, I thought I would dress well for a change." The truth is some where between these two extremes.

I actually feel more serious and professional when I dress well. This sartorial polish, coupled with a well thought out presentation, is quite useful when meeting with a client.

Since I started, I've noticed some of the guys starting to wear better dress shirts. Is it because men are competitive by nature or because there's a current trend for men to wear jackets, wool and ties? Regardless of the reason, I think the effect is for the good. Of course some of my friends in the commercial real estate business have always chosen to dress well. They know the positive effect that looking good has on people and on business.

I've had people in offices or sales tell me that they would rather be comfortable. This is how they justify wearing sweatpants to the grocery store and into the office. But, a well-fitted jacket, sweater or pants is just as comfortable. Of course, when you're invited to some one else's business or social event, it's not about expressing yourself or letting everyone see "the real you". A business or social event means that everyone shows up at a certain time dressed correctly for the event. Yes, I've seen people at business & social events in jeans or sweatpants and sneakers. I've even seen people show up at church weddings and funerals dressed "comfortably" in jeans or sweatpants. This is disrespectful or worse.

To me the suit always symbolized adult responsibility and taking the responsibilities of business and even life seriously. When I decided in my twenties to go into sales, one of my first acts was to buy a suit. Have the clothing designers and manufacturers conspired to reduce us to comfort seeking children, rather than serious adults who can make the sacrifices and make the effort that life requires to reach our goals? It's amazing to see 40 and 50 year old men in "comfortable" sweatsuits or the latest hip fashion, in places where it's not really appropriate.

But consider:
Would you hire a lawyer in jeans, a tee shirt and Crocs slippers?
Would you hire a consultant in sweatpants and flip flops?
Would you hire a job candidate in a wrinkled shirt and jeans?

Me neither.

Apparently the freedom of Business Casual easily allows people to wear jeans but does not allow the freedom to dress well, in some people's minds. But I continue, determined to dress well, regardless of the occasional comment. Now, I get a couple of good comments each week, especially from women. If my office is typical, and you're thinking about dressing well at work, I expect you will get a good response.

Let the advocates of wrinkled jeans and tee shirt conformity wear what they please. It's good that most business offices allow us wide latitude to wear what we please. I can't fault some one else for wanting to be comfortable, as long as they respect my right to dress a little differently. I'll interpret the freedom of Business Casual as my license to dress well.

Custom Shirt Review from Custom Suit Shop

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:40:00 +0000

This year I received my first custom dress shirts from Custom Suit Shop. Here's my assessment of the resulting shirts.

I was measured for made to measure shirts, and received the 4 shirts about 2 months later. I selected 2 solid colors with french cuffs, and two button downs with stripes. The photo is a detail close up of the cuffs for the striped button down and the blue herringbone shirt.

I was impressed with the huge variety of textures and designs for the cotton fabrics. Some of the available design patterns are clearly different from anything you would see in a ready to wear shirt at a department store. This is good if you want to look different, even in a subtle way, such as a blue shirt with a herringbone pattern in the cotton weave. Plus there are all the standard colors in solids, stripes and checks.

Wearing the finished shirts is very comfortable. I feel they look much better because the fit of the shirt follows the contours of your body exactly. This is not a tight fit, instead the shirt fits your dimensions in a very comfortable way, because of the large number of measurements that are taken to accommodate your own unique body shape.

The fit and workmanship are top notch. I carefully inspected the inside seams of the shirts for defects or problems, finding none.

The cotton feels softer and slightly thicker than the fabric of my $60 ready to wear dress shirts. The buttons appear to be made from a material like mother of pearl. At twice the price of off the rack dress shirts, I feel the custom made shirts are a good value. An Atlanta Realtor friend tells me that he's still wearing the first custom shirts he bought 8 years ago from the same maker. Now that's durability.

Remembering Jack - Book review

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 01:15:00 +0000

Remembering Jack is an intimate pictorial of President John F Kennedy, by the superb photo journalist, Jacques Lowe. Forty-odd years after JFK's death, Jacques Lowe's lively portraits show the character and charm of Jack and Jacqueline Kennedy from 1960 to 1963.

Aside from the historical value of the portraits, the most striking point is how well dressed the common man of the 1960's appears. The photo above is a detail from Jack Kennedy on the campaign trail in 1960. Photographer Lowe has captured a warm moment of Americana, just as well as Norman Rockwell might. Lowe snaps the shutter just as a local voter adopts Jack Kennedy as his own candidate.

This photo also reveals that a broad range of American men still wore suits and ties in public. Despite the narrow ties and lapels there is a certain dignity to the men in the crowd, to the candidate and to the press photographers.

This book is worthy of the time spent perusing Jacques Lowes' brilliant and revealing photos. The incredibly stylish Jackie Kennedy and her children are treated with great warmth by the photographer. The photo story of JFK's presidency ends with Kennedy's funeral. The final photos depict formal clothes adopted for the farewell to a charismatic leader, in somber grays. Among the sea of world leaders and military men a single face etched with sorrow jumps out at your eye. Jacques Lowe's brilliant work reveals a recently lost world that we thought we knew, and brings the vanished characters back to life as fallible flesh and blood.

Flusser's Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion. Book review

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:17:00 +0000

Alan Flusser's Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion.

Long time men's clothing designer Alan Flusser, designed the suit wardrobe for Gordon Gecko in the memorable 1980's film Wall Street. Flusser has designed clothing for other films and maintains a custom suit shop in NY. Dressing the Man is my favorite guide to proper business dress.

All the subtle techniques of dressing well were known to men like my father and grandfather. I, on the other hand, ignored the codes of business dress until long after my college days.

Flusser's guide starts with how to determine what colors will complement you best. He then reveals what basics are needed to have a suitable wardrobe of suits, shirts and shoes. The ancient mysteries of formal wear are uncovered, which saves you from looking like a damn fool when you have to go to an awards dinner, a charity event, or your company's holiday dinner.

This thorough how-to guide for choosing and wearing ties, cuff links and business casual, will pay for itself many times over as you learn how to find and purchase quality clothing. I learned a great deal from the numerous illustrations of men who exemplify good business clothing choices with out falling for trendy fad clothing.

The most valuable part of Flusser's sartorial education is learning how to choose clothing that will always complement your look, regardless of the wild fluctuations of so-called "fashion". The illustrations of men who followed the principles outlined here, prove that wise clothing choices still look good, even after many years.

Flusser's writing style is entertaining and revealing. I enjoyed the book immensely. Try it.

A Tale of Two Shirts - Designer shirt review

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:45:00 +0000

With a price of $65 and up, you would expect designer shirts such as the Ralph Lauren Polo Yarmouth to fit well. You will be disappointed. Here's a review of men's shirts by America's Ivy / Prep influenced designer.

The Yarmouth shirt, shown in the top photo, is made of reasonably good fabric, available in a good variety of patterns and colors, yet lacks essential elements of a really good shirt. As one of the less expensive RL shirts, it sports the Polo horse logo, which can't make up for the shirt's failings of fit.

The Yarmouth will last a long time, which will give you time to wonder why you purchased a shirt that seems to vary widely in the accuracy of the neck and sleeve length measurements. I have observed some variation in the actual size of similarly marked shirts. But the worst failing is the huge amount of cloth around the mid section of this shirt. If you find your middle expanding as you age, this will be a blessing. If you are tall and lean, like myself, you will find the shirt to have excess cloth hanging over your belt. This causes the fit to be regrettable.

The Ralph Lauren Regent shirt, the dark blue plaid in the second picture, lacks the silly horse logo, and compared to the Yarmouth is a better shirt. The Regent seems to fit the lean body type and lacks the excess cloth around the torso. The spread collar of the Regent is well done and fits the neck well. The Regent shirt copies custom shirts by having two small shoulder pleats, instead of a big central box pleat in the middle of the shirt back. While not as nice as a custom shirt, the Regent seems to be durable and is a better value for the dollar compared to the Yarmouth model.

Ralph Lauren Polo also sells other shirts models labeled as Lowell, Estate and Curham. These models are cut to fit as well as the Regent model shirt. They all have a spread collar, which looks dressier, and have a better fit in the body of the shirt. Some of these models are available with button cuffs or with french cuffs, allowing you to show off your cuff links.

The lesson here is that designer shirts are not really that much better than other ready to wear shirts. Take the time to try different shirts by the same designer for proper fit, before spending more money for a designer's name. Only buy what fits you well. A good fit makes for a better appearance.

Real Men - Real Suits

edhillphoto@gmail.com (Ed Hill) — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:08:00 +0000

When I was fitted for my first custom made suit from Custom Suit Shop (disclosure: I've done copy writing for them.), I began to realize that some of my existing shirts and sport coats were too large. Later, I wondered if I had ever walked into the offices of my advertising clients looking less than professional in baggy clothes.

The next week I gave away 3 ill-fitting sport coats and 6 baggy shirts. Amazing how so many ready made shirts fit your neck, but they're too short in the sleeves and too baggy in the body. I'm tall and slim, so the shirts I eliminated looked like they had a parachute on my back. Is every ready made shirt in America, built for a person with a weight problem?

This whole experience was the beginning of learning what men's clothing should really look like, if it fits correctly. This blog is my way of sharing what I've learned about men's clothing and dressing professionally for business.

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