"Pleats are for Squares. Period."
...um, what?
p.s. F**k Eddie, duke of windsor.
update, 10 January: thanks for the show of solidarity, NSV.
08 January 2014
Pleats
In response to my last post about my new favorite suit, which has pleated trousers, Anonymous said:
20 comments:
An Affordable Wardrobe strives for an open discussion of all the topics presented here. All opinions, whether in agreement with the author or not, will be considered for publication. Please present your points in a clear and adult fashion. Negative comments of an overtly crass nature will not be published. Besides dressing like grown ups, let's behave like them as well.
Most of these pictures are not going to change anyone's mind. But they did convince me to unsubscribe from this bog.
ReplyDeleteFashion versus style. Pleats, like flat front pants, are classic, pleats just happen to be out of "fashion" right now.
ReplyDeleteThe extremes of any style - supper skinny today or the big look in the 90s - tend to look dated when their moment passes, but the middle-of-the-road version or classics - 2 forward pleat that are not exaggerated or flat fronts that don't fit like saran wrap - always look good to those who think beyond the fashion moment.
When the pendulum shifts, the fashion industry will shamelessly (and happily owing to the revenue opportunity a new fashion moment brings) shift with it and start promoting pleats as "fresh," "dramatic," or whatever other buzzword its market research says will sell.
What will be fun to those of us who have lived through these cycles is to watch the younger men, who grew up believing their super-skinny look was forever, drop their convictions and buy the "new" look.
And congratulations on your suit - it is beautiful (and a great story). Enjoy it.
Anon 11:21,
ReplyDeleteUm, what?
Anon 11:21,
ReplyDeleteUm, what?
If I had to guess, I'd say that we will swing back to pleats among the "fashion forward" in about 3-5 years. The mainstream will catch u[ in about 7-10. By about 2020, pleated pants will again more popular than flat-front. Its a cycle.
ReplyDeleteJames Bond, William Burroughs, Gianni Agnelli, Mick Jagger. Squares, all of 'em.
ReplyDeleteYou can't beat the anon comments on here for laughter value. Perhaps pleats represent everything that is wrong with America today...
ReplyDeleteHappy new year G!
Well-dressed gents understand that pleats vs. plain is more about silhouette than fad. Ultimately, ones' build determines whether one requires fullness or slimness below the waste. Wearing an unflattering cut because of passing dogma is the antithesis of sound personal style.
ReplyDeleteWas it really necessary to add that postscript? Ignoring his faults and focusing on his cult of personality is irritating, but putting his title in lowercase letters is just trifling.
ReplyDeletePoint taken, Dan. Perhaps a bit low on my part. I am, however, we'll over discussing him and his clothes.
ReplyDeleteAs for the title In lower case, don't forget that I am an ex-punk with basically socialist leanings. Royal titles never did much for me.
You have long decried the erosion of decorum and civility in society, and I happen to agree with that. The profanity-adorned postscript at the end of your post is, unfortunately, emblematic of that erosion.
ReplyDeleteWell, yes and no. Swearing in public, and its general acceptability, is a sign of said erosion. However, there is such a thing as poetic license, and my profanity was used to decry the fetishization of a figure of questionable character because he had money and nice clothes. Essentially. A swear used in its old proper sense.
DeleteSometimes swearing, especially from those who typically refrain from doing so on a regular basis, is an art form in itself. That is to say swearing well. If you drop a bomb every other word for fear of not being able to otherwise form words in sequence, that is part of the "erosion". In French Canada we take it one step further by adulterating our swears with blasphemy, to be used for dramatic emphasis and seriousness of intent.
ReplyDeleteAs for pleats, I would say they add a flair of formality in certain combinations.
I liked the windsor postscript. You have nothing to apologize for. He did.
ReplyDeleteYes! I want to be as square as one of them above!
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous (January 9):
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying. I just wish we (meaning those who understand) can have a giant billboard announcing "Told you so!" to the skinny pants, too short-small sport jacket wearing people. There is no such thing as a "new" look. These styles are just re-crafted versions of the classics. The designers re-interpret the classics only to fall back to the classics. For those who know, there is no genius in this...just using the power of branding to push a trend until the next "big" thing comes around when the average person becomes bored. My wardrobe consists of just the classics in the classice cuts. God help us all if we go back to the baggy, shoulder pad cut of the 1990's!
@Edward Pan:
ReplyDelete"Square" would be considered "trendy" since most people want to be trendy anyway with their skinny pants, right? So...let's all be square! ( I am being serious).
Really, style is confidence that a man brings to the clothes he wears. JFK, IMHO, made a shetland wool sweater look cooler than a badass leather jacket ever could! But I think the clothes should be classic and not overinterpreted versions of what they are or should be. Done the right way, classics should not move astray too much. The person wearing the classics just needs to maintain confidence when he is awash in a sea of fleeting "fashion for the moment".
Anonymous 11:21,
ReplyDeleteDon't let the door slap your butt on the way out!
I prefer pleats, but have some flat fronts, too. Flat front pants are better for low-cut casual pants, like chinos and cords, but pleats are better for high-waisted trousers.
ReplyDeleteNon-capitalization of proper nouns can make the writer look semi-literate, regardless of his political persuasion. We know you're not, so perhaps there are better ways to show your well-known dislike of David. The visceral first part of the sentence said it all, I think; no need to add more.
I find Edward VII pathetic. He bowed out of the life he was born to; given how unsuited he was for that role, perhaps it was for the best. As a young man, he preferred other men's wives, showing him to have been of low character. I don't make much of his admiration of Fascism (not yet discredited at the time) or his meeting Hitler (two years before the invasion of Poland); as far as I can tell, he didn't have the intellect to understand what it meant for him to do those things.
He had some great clothes, but that's about all you can say for him. In contrast, everyone on G's list achieved something in their lives (except The Joker, of course).
It's crazy how fashion trends don't extend to every area at the same time. The U.S. is behind in fashion and the people dress more for comfort. Anyways pleats are more in style in European fashion right now
ReplyDelete