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Cuffs or no Cuffs?

Whether or not to have cuffs on your pants is truly a personal choice.

The fashion rule, however,  is flat front dress pants should be worn with plain bottoms; pleated front dress pants should be worn with cuffs.

Cuffs provide a little extra weight at the bottom of one’s pant and serve to keep the pant on one’s shoe.  If you go with cuffs, the size of the cuff should be proportionate to your height.  Smaller cuffs for shorter guys; larger cuffs for taller guys.  A good rule of thumb is 1 1/2″ for guys under 5′ 8″, 1 3/4″ for guys 5′ 9″ – 6′ 4″, 2″ for taller guys.

If you like the additional weight of the cuff, but prefer a plain bottom, ask for “heel guards”.  A heel guard is an additional piece of fabric that is sewn into the back half of the bottom of one’s pant bottom to protect the pant from getting “pinched” by one’s shoe against the ground.

Please feel free to submit a question to Christopher’s Custom.

CAN I WEAR A BUTTON DOWN SHIRT WITH A SUIT?

First, let’s clarify what a “button down” dress shirt is.  Many guys refer to any shirt with buttons down the front as a “button down” dress shirt.  In business dress “fashion speak”…”button down” refers to the collar treatment of a shirt only.

The principle collar treatments would include (i) point collar, (ii) spread collar, (iii) button down collar.

The first two collars have no buttons on the collars to keep the collars down or in place.  These collars rely on “stays” which are typically removable and go into a small sleeve sewn into the bottom of the collar.

The button down collar has buttons at the tips of the points.

Button Down

Interestingly, the origins of the button down collar go back to returning US soldiers who passed through England.  This is an adaptation of the collar worn by English polo players.  It was popularized by John Brooks (Brooks Brothers) after he had discovered it being worn by English polo players in order to prevent flapping during a match. ..So the button down collar is, by definition, a casual shirt.  Its popularity in the US probably peaked prior to the 21^st century but was always much less common in Britain and the remainder of Europe.  A recent  Men’s Clothing Industry survey disclosed that 60% of the dress shirts sold today feature some form of the “spread collar”.

CHRISTOPHER’S CUSTOM answer to the question “should one wear a button down shirt with a suit?” has always been a firm “NO”.

Here is a quick collar choice summary for different situations:

1)      Suit: Your shirt if wearing a tie, should be one with a collar without buttons.  The style is a personal choice and should be influenced by your physical traits…big, tall, stout, thin, etc.  We’ll discuss this in a subsequent blog.

2)      Suit: Your shirt if going “open-collar” should be the same…perhaps a slightly higher collar stance so that it stands up and away from your lapels.  A custom shirt or a better business casual shirt will have such a collar.  Visit www.alwaysgetlucky.com to see some of today’s popular casual shirt looks.

3)      Sport Coat:  Essentially the same rules as with a suit.  If you prefer a very “preppy” look, a button down with a tie would be acceptable here.

4)      No Coat- business casual, weekends:  The fashion collar of choice today is one without buttons.  If you desire a button but want something other than “your father’s button down”, you might choose a higher stance, coupled with a wider collar with buttons that are offset from the points by an extra ¼ inch.  This will provide a distinctive button down, that will not have a “preppy appearance”.   If, on the other hand, you are seeking a “preppy” look, then you simply go with a traditional button down collar.

Or put another way, there are very few E.E. Cummings in either literature or style. When you break the rules you will, more often than not, make the message (which is “hey I’m professional,” or “hey, I’m attractive”) harder to receive.

This blog drew upon postings to ask.metafilter.com from oddman and obiwanwasabi.

Is Custom Clothing Only for Guys Who Wear Suits?

Often, people tell me they think of custom as only for those who wear suits.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Custom is, of course, an alternative for the one who is wearing a suit…but custom is also as effective and efficient an alternative for one who is not wearing a suit. Whether one is wearing a sport coat, a pair of dress pants with a complementary dress shirt, or simply a pair of jeans with a cool shirt worn outside, custom is quite often the more affordable and better choice than readywear.

Why?

Let’s talk about weekend casual first. Every guy has a shirt or two that are his favorites. This could be due to the fabric, but is more often than not due to the fit…perhaps it’s a little slimmer than normal, or the collar is higher, larger, or smaller than normal. A custom shirt can cost more than an off-the-rack shirt…but not if one is looking at designer labels such as Canali, Zegna, Pal Zileri, or Corneliani to name but a few of the better Italian labels my brick-and-mortar stores used to carry. Regardless, even if you are shopping at Banana Republic, the cost of a casual shirt will often exceed $100…and if you are shopping for a current-season Italian designer label, your cost will certainly exceed $150.

Custom shirts should cost in the $150 range…so the starting price should be within one’s comfort zone for further discussion.

The benefits to custom include:

• The fit will be exactly what you want. Bring your favorite casual shirt to your custom tailor and ask him to duplicate your fit.
• The collar will be exactly what you want. Have your favorite collar reverse-engineered or bring a photo of what you’d like to your custom tailor.
• The sleeves will be the exact length…most guys have sleeves that differ from 1/2 to 1 full inch due to athletics, injuries, etc.
• Your custom shirt will become one of your favorites and actually save you several unnecessary purchases of items that you think “might be what you want”…but really aren’t.

Stay tuned for more tips on custom clothing and how it might be a good fit for you.