16 March 2009

Squeezing the Tweed

Tie and shirt picked out by Ira at H Herzfeld

Can a 3 piece be worn without a sweat band?

Extreme hacking and ticket pockets

Ira picked the socks as well

The days for wearing this are coming to a quick end - - and in more ways than one. If this were Chicago you can safely assume you're not outta the Winter woods until May. By mid June it's hitting 103. I lived in Chicago for almost 20 years and I would never wear this suit there but if anything will motivate me from putting on another 20 pounds by next Winter --it'll be this suit. Mentioned earlier, it was discovered in a Polo outlet somewhere in Florida - - marked down from $4,000 to $350. Amazingly, it was explained by someone in the biz that Polo still makes a profit with that kind of mark down. Talk about fair warning.

I can assure you this suit will cause serious weight loss. Since it's cashmere and since most offices and apartments in NYC have adequate heat...you can roast alive in this thing. Even in the dead of winter. I rarely wear all three pieces but instead wear it sans waistcoat or just the jacket with cavalry twill trousers. By the way, I really hate it when I hear people say, "sans." Is this blog turning me into an asshole? Or is it this suit?

It's too much when all three pieces are worn together and not because of the heat. What looks so beautiful in an ad or magazine often loses something in translation. Affected is the word some may use. Handsome in the slick pages of a photo spread but way overboard in real life on the street. The Gulf Foxtrot calls it, "The Sir Conan Doyle suit." I assure you...it's not her idea of a compliment. I bought this a year ago but it seems so wrong today. Not so much because it's warm - - not because I look like an asshole in it - - but because it's wrong today.

26 comments:

LPC said...

I think the suit as worn looks fine. Very nice even. It might be the tie with the leaping bunny that's the problem.

tintin said...

LPC- I love that tie. Unusual for sure. But unique. And that's hard to find in the tie world.

Michael Rowe said...

I think both the suit and the tie are very nice. But I agree, the jacket alone makes for a gorgeous sportcoat. Next year I'm planning to have a cashmere suit made, so I'm guessing that the warning about the heat is useful, given that the temperatures in NYC and Toronto rather parallel each other.

heavy tweed jacket said...

Wear that tweed with pride. A heavy 3 piece tweed suit is a thing to behold. Sometimes you gotta' just work the shot. Wear it for the next 15 years, until it bags and rumples - until it is heavy tweed perfection. Sharp shirt & tie mix, btw.

~Tessa~Scoffs said...

Maybe it'll feel more right when you're (much) older. Three-piece tweed suit is (cool) Old Man Style. Maybe that's what GF means.
Save it for later.

tintin said...

Michael Rowe- A cashmere suit will keep you toasty in Alberta in the dead of winter. Buxton D.Z. included.

HTJ- Words of wisdom as always. Still, this tweed may go to the archives. If, for only, to save something from wear and tear like your beautiful JPress catalogs.

tintin said...

Tessa- I don't have a lot a time left. The the old man style is what I've doing for the last 20 years

~Tessa~Scoffs said...

Well then wear it now. But you'll need a pipe.

tintin said...

Tessa- We are trying for a low ass-hole factor here although that may be impossible for me.

Anonymous said...

Hare Rampant: Revered fertility fetish of the ancient Picts and Druids, on par with a brace of turnips hung above the hovel portal. Replaced by Griffin Rampant on the Scots' battle standard in 1837. jg for all your Wickihistory needs.

tintin said...

jg- You always amaze me. I'm hanging up turnips above the front door tomorrow.

~Tessa~Scoffs said...

tintin - pardon me, but may I ask:
jg - is rampant same as passant?

tintin said...

Tessa- I'll leave this to jg. I always thought passant was a VW.

M.Lane said...

I think it looks very nice. All of it. But them the Irish Redhead says to one and all that when I was born I was Allistaire Cooke.

ML
mlanesepic.blogspot.com

tintin said...

M.Lane- Irish red heads are always right.

Anonymous said...

Of course WV proffered the German version of the Wabbit but wussed out when nomenklaturing another KrautKar after the Froggish chess term, Le Passant.

One envys the suit, 'specially the fieldish olive hues. It'll prove practical whilst thermostats are decreed @ 50F during the decession.

As one no longer loiters thereabouts under the guise of another nom de web, y'all might be interested in the origin of the lap seam and other torospoor scattered there > www.filmnoirbuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1972 or Google: film noir buff lapseam

I think there's something else there about the Saami peoples contribution to raiment if anyone has the time to waste in the FNB Search: Saami

One digresses and distracts from Mr. Tin's excellent city feller journal. Sawray. jg

initials CG said...

I'd toss the GF before archiving the suit! The GF can be replaced with minor discomfort. I don't think that a beautiful suit made of cashmere at such a price can be found. I can go on and on about the advantages of a good suit over a girlfriend, but I'll spare you.

Funny thing about the asshole factor is that no matter how hard you try not to be you will always be an asshole. So why fight it? I think it's part of the aging process or having some kind of backbone-someone is always going to think your an asshole. It must mean you're doing something right! Just my 2 cents, but please don't lose that suit!

ADG said...

Strong....strong "rig" there tintin. Amazing outlet find. I used to rack up at the Polo outlet in Harriman NY...back when all the NYC showroom samples ended up there...shoes included. Those days are few and far between now.

Anonymous said...

I'm 73 now and have been accurately described as an asshole since I was a little kid. My ex-wife (tin-tin's mom--a redhead of Scot/Irish descent) more accurately described me as an "arrogant swine." I like it. It's a step up in class. My preference, for myself is "Old Phud." Old phuds can get away with doing and saying things that would get younger folk slapped in the chops.

tintin said...

jg- I agree with you on the thermostat but am clueless about the rest. I'll do some digging.

cg- As you no doubt can see...it's in my DNA.

ADG- FL outlets were wild for a while with lots of PL but it's all gone. I understand it's all been moved to only three outlets that only sell Blue and Purple label. I don't know whey they don't just take it off the racks and archive for 3 or 4 years and put it back out. It ain't ever going outta style.

Dad, Oh, boy. Well, that explains a lot. I remember watching you as a kid and especially at Ft Bragg when you walked home from work in fatigues with the green beret and there was always the swagger. Did Grandpa swagger? I mean, how far does this go back?

Anonymous said...

Swagger? I never swaggered!
I walked with full self confidence. It's an art form that approaches, but never reaches, a full swagger.
Takes practice to walk in a self-assured way yet not swagger. I may have been still practicing when you were a kid.

Your grandfather NEVER swaggered! He didn't need to. His military bearing was a model without being martinet like. His ability was never questioned. He was respected by seniors and juniors alike.
During his years in Europe he carefully assembled a conservative wardrobe of the finest. Clothing that lasted him the rest of his life.
He was TRAD before anybody knew what TRAD was.

tintin said...

Well, swagger to me is a confident walk. As opposed to hang dog, sulk, head down looking for loose change, etc. I still walk with my hands cupped as was taught in the army. And everytime I put my hands in my pockets I think, "Air Force gloves" and take 'em out.

When I was in the army I tended to walk heavily on my heels. This caused people in my barracks to throw pot outta the windows on more than one occasion thinking I was the C.O. coming down the bay.

Holly said...

Fabulous textile. Enough to warrant breaking a sweat. And as a retired RL girl, i think I can share that while $350 wouldn't likely bring a profit, $600 might.

tintin said...

Holly- Amazing margins. You were an RL girl? I should'a been able to tell.

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