Don't worry. I'm not going to use the fact that Fred Astaire was known for this in a misguided and arrogant effort to compare myself to such a sartorial giant. But when I think about it, I remember Harold Simon doing this all the time, as did a number of other men of traditional style who possessed a bit of flair back when I worked at a men's shop in high school. My point is, this wasn't so uncommon as we'd like to think. It may be against the rules, but it can add a nice quirk to an otherwise conservative outfit. In the eyes of any clothes nerd nit pickers you might run into. Truth is, 99% of people you meet won't care, or even know the difference anyway. (the jacket is double breasted with a center vent too, will the sacrilege never end?)
p.s. the Shop is stocked with new items. As for other things I should know better about, I've put up some serious heavyweight vintage Winter camping gear I just found, when any sensible store would be stocking Spring/Summer. Like they say, though, the time to buy an antique is when you find it. Lot's of seasonal stuff there too. Check it out.
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22 comments:
I've never been bothered by this. It's always just struck me as a matter of having the right-size collar, so you don't get a gap between it and the jacket lapel. Please throw out some information about the other stuff you were wearing, if you don't mind.
Thanks for the post.
Make like Herbie Hancock and rock it.
My dog's name was Blazer so you know what I wear the most. A BD is a great twist with a DB. A single center-vent goes in the 'who cares' file. Dressing is meant to be fun and its finally Spring!
Oh, the humanity! I'm never reading this site again!!!
I urge you to wear this again, and to mix in the company of sartorial nit-pickers. Watching them fume and the eyes rolling in their sockets can be a fun pastime.
Love those green hunting pants in your shop! My son's scout master was wearing a similar pair at scout banquet last weekend. The pants were probably 50 years old but still looked better than the "new" style polyester scout shirts.
Ok G. We get it. I'm requesting a fast for the rest of lent from making comments about the nitpickers out there (a recent crusade). Sure, they show up in blogs and comments, but we read you because we like it. On its own merits. Nitpickers are on a crusade against rule-breakers, and your on a crusade against nitpickers. Just don't give them the attention - be the blog you already are. Be what they should be. Just have your good, fun, enjoyable blog and let them be grumpy. Let's leave them be the way we wish they'd leave others be. Deal?
I believe 'Michael' may be missing the dialectical fun here; for example, two vents are not acceptable under any circumstances, and double breasted coats should, of course, have no vents at all. This all has to do with what is coyly known as the English vice. My colleague the Admiral Cod is best suited to advise you here.
Why is it wrong to wear a button down with a DB Blazer? It is a casual jacket! It is not wrong to wear button downs with a suit.
Button down collars just look better the majority of the time. We all know it.
This is reminding me that I need to find a DB blazer
Michael,
Point taken.
Crap,
Any matter in which your Admiral Cod is best suited to advise is not one I plan on discussing in depth.
Claude,
I agree, but that's a matter of opinion
Anon.,
There are those who would disagree vehemently on the matter of suits with button down collars. I'm not one of them.
Giuseppe,
Oh, the humanity! ;-)
Unashamedly Crud,
Fred Astaire preferred two vents (GQ interview here).
He also disliked the Ivy League style, FWIW.
Anonymous 5:19,
One of the rules of men's dress is that button-down shirts are not worn with double-breasted jackets, because they aren't. It is also axiomatic that a blazer is in between a sport coat and a suit in formality. Button-down collars with suits is an Ivy League/American innovation, and is not universally accepted.
That's the tradition.
Hardly surprising that a colleague of the Codpiece is calling himself Unashamedly Crap.
I like it. I think that following the rules too closely smacks of trying too hard. Trying too hard betrays insecurity, and we can all agree that insecurity leads to Communism. Admiral Crap, therefore, is a Communist.
Fight Communism. Wear OCBD's with double breasted blazers.
I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.
You do you, boo.
That's pretty much all I have to say about issues like this.
I was always taught NEVER to wear a button down collar with a bow tie - the collar is known as a Polo collar and was invented to keep the collar from flying up while playing polo- I see this all the time here in the South and it drives me crazy-The trick with a button down collar is to get it to roll just right and you nailed it- Blazer and white shirt- classic
I'd say a DB blzr is fine with a BD shirt. With a DB suit? Not so much. However, a center vent on a DB blzr is something else entirely. Your gonna look like you came from 10th grade band practice
Thomas,
Khakis were invented for the army. Blazers were invented for the navy. Tennis shirts were invented for tennis. My point is its been a long time since button down collars were only worn while playing polo.
TinTin,
I knew the vent would rile you. I only wish we were this well dressed when I was in tenth grade band practice.
My point was bow ties w/ a button down collar don't generally work - the collar doesn't lay right - it looks (to me) a little affected and kind of tight and trussed up -
I agree with Thomas.
Christina @ Cashmere Sport Jacket
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