Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with mensfashion

Men's fashion advice for the stylistically impaired?

Mayor West — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:32:47 -0800

Men's fashion advice for the stylistically impaired? As warmer weather rolls around, I find myself looking for some new threads, and maybe a better look in '08. But, I'm totally incompetent when it comes to such things, and thus throw myself at the feet of the hivemind. I've looked through some of the older threads, but a lot of what's been said here either applies to rail-skinny guys (erm, not me), or points to dead URLs. So, contemporarily: what's an appropriate look to affect this year?

Some useful tidbits:

I'm 24, rather tall (6'5"), and moderately heavily built (BMI around 30, biggest around thighs and chest). This makes it tough to find clothes that fit from retail outlets, and pretty much eliminates all hope of second-hand. Off-the-rack, I'm an XLT (17.5/37 fitted) in shirts, 36/35 in pants, size 15 shoe. Buying shirts that aren't explicitly for tall guys tends to end in heartbreak. Complicating things further is that any normal-cut or slim-cut pant is hideously form fitting around aforementioned legs, which I tend to work around by buying loose-fit jeans. Worse, brick-and-mortar stores almost never have tall sizes in stock, which means I'm an internet clothes shopper. That's fine for shirts, generally, but pant sizes vary wildly between stores (apparently the inch is no longer a standard unit of measurement?), and when I go to actual stores to see whether their pants fit, I can almost never find the right size to try on. I can get away with a hemmed 36" inseam, but 34s tend to look like high-water pants on me, so there are places I can't shop at all.

I'm utterly clueless in all matters fashionable. I was the kid in sweatpants and a hoody in seventh grade, and haven't made a whole lot of progress in the decade since. In warm weather, I'm a jeans-and-short-sleeve-button-up kind of guy, but since I wear pretty much only dark, solid colors, I basically have variations on three looks: red, blue, and white. Patriotic though that may be, I feel like I might be the punchline of a lot of jokes without realizing it.

Though I've seen great advice in shoes given here in the past, it's almost always directed at places that don't sell in my size. The magical cutoff seems to be 13 in most places, which resigns me to Big & Tall stores for shoes (typically greatly expensive, plus I've never seen anything particularly sharp in the online inventories), unless someone knows of a place that caters to the large-of-foot.

Work has no dress code (I'm a programmer, and most of us dress like derelicts), so I don't need to worry too awful much about business casual or anything of the sort. At the same time, I may be overdoing it with the jeans and sneakers--if there's a separate look I should be gunning for in the office, I'd love to hear it.

Expense isn't a huge issue, though it'd be nice not to outfit myself entirely in Banana Republic shirts and Diesel jeans if I could avoid it. Am I a totally lost cause? Hope me, Metafilter!

Find me a great suit jacket, quick!

logovisual — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 09:12:54 -0800

I'm tall (6'4"), I'm skinny (195lbs), and I need a black suit jacket before the end of the day today (I have the pants, but I'll buy new ones if need be). Obviously the time constraint eliminates any kind of custom garment. Basically, I need to know what stores I should be looking at in New York City -- I like a closer, more European fit, and I don't want to break the bank. First stop is H&M, but I'm not optimistic about what I'll find there. Other suggestions?

Looking for this particular shirt...

Manhasset — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:19:23 -0800

Where to get this shirt and shirts like it. Thank you.

Can you recommend a men’s tailor in Hong Kong?

dmt — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 10:33:20 -0800

Can you recommend a men’s tailor in Hong Kong? I will be lucky enough to be in Hong Kong for the first week of May and would like to get a couple of men’s business suits made.
I’m hoping to spend around USD170 - USD270 on each suit. My taste in cut is terribly conservative and I’m looking for a very classic single breasted, three button suit, one in navy and one in dark grey.
Does anyone have experience of Hong Kong tailors? If so, I would be very grateful for a recommendation. Also any advice on the process, fitting and any general advice would be gratefully received by this comparative novice. I’ve read every page of English Cut and lust after my first bespoke so no need for links there thank you.
I had a fitting with visiting Hong Kong tailor Raja Fashions several months ago in London but found that his affordable fabrics were simply horrible and the minute that you opted for a wearable fabric the cost sky-rocked to USD350. I’ve looked at Pierre Mohan but USD1499 for 3 suits is way too steep for me! All help gratefully received.

Help me waste money.

dersins — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 14:26:58 -0800

FancyPantsFilter: What kind of stupidly expensive jeans should I buy? I've decided it would be funny to own a pair of stupidly expensive jeans, but all the ones I've seen seem to be stupidly stupid rather than simply stupidly expensive.

Are there any good jeans out there that don't have ridiculously wide bootcut leg openings and display a marked lack of inexplicable white, horizontal stripes on the upper thigh area?

(Bonus points if they fit someone who is 6', 175 lbs, and has skinny legs.)

Any recommendations for non-baseball hats that look good on men?

bjennings — Wed, 18 May 2005 12:13:59 -0800

I'm going to be doing some outdoor travelling in Europe this summer, and I'd like to wear a hat for protection from the sun (my hair is thinning, sad to say). Are there any recommendations for hats for men that A) look good B) are not baseball caps C) won't make me look like a mountaineer? Most of my wardrobe will be relatively casual: button-down short-sleeved shirts, maybe some sturdy t-shirts, lightweight khakis and shorts. I mostly dress in earth tones. I live in the SF bay area, if that helps.