Touched on the cardigan's in an earlier post, but I also wanted to make sure you weren't confusing thermals with henleys. They are two different things. A quick google search of henley's will immeaditely clear up the confusion (assuming there even is any).

The problem with making a specific recommendation is that shirt is about as vanilla as they come.. I'm sure if I did an intensive search I could find one, but instead I'll just a list a number of brands for you to check out if you have the time. There are dozens of other great brands out there as well but I only wanted to list the ones I've either tryed on or own.

I know you will balk when you see the prices of the shirts from these brands, but bear in mind many will hit 70% off at season end and unless you have the funds for it, it's hard to get top notch quality without being an incredible discount shopper.

Nom de Guerre

Patrik Ervell

Rag & Bone

Band of Outsiders

Gitman Vintage Brothers

Engineered Garments

Opening Ceremony

Paul Smith

Burberry Prorsum

Woolrich Woolen Mills

Wings & Horns

Kaiser,

could you speak to the "top quality" thing a little bit more? I have no problem realizing that some top brands sell higher quality clothes; but I also know that just accepting that is a slippery slope that allows you to get ripped off.

like, I see see things like this

http://www.yoox.com/item.asp?sec=1&Y...s=sr_salemen80

and think, hmm $114 plain white T shirt, this must be some crazy sick ****ing cotton!

I guess experience will help you in realizing which brands are close to worth it, and which are just ripping you off.

I hear what you are saying. There is a reason I didn't mention brands like Versace, Louis Vuitton, Prada, etc..

In my opinon top quality is a balance between styling, fit, construction & materials.

Top quality clothes are often times hand-made and produced in countries with more skilled labor forces such as US, Japan & Italy.

The materials they use feel nicer, look nicer and hold up better over time. Have you ever washed a shirt a few times and noticed it's starting to look pretty dumpy? That happens far less with top quality brands.

Styling & fit are probably the main difference for me. Most of the mall brands people know fit incredibly blousy and are not flattering to any thin silhoutette. Even if I were to size down to get a thinner fit, it would still end up looking awkard because the proportions would be completely off. The styling also tends to be either conservative or slightly dated (if they are copying innovative brands).

Some things, like the t-shirt you used as an example below are just overpriced. I'm sure everything is nice about it, but you can probably get something 90% as nice for 35% of the cost.

I shouldn't have said 75% off. I just glanced at the email. But it is at the co-op and it's still a sale, so you might as well:

UP TO 70% OFF @ the CO-OP! Starts Tomorrow - In-Store Only!‏

This is exactly what I never understood. Always bought nice clothes for work, but just did LL Bean khakis, Levis Jean, etc. as I thought "designer clothes are stupid". Signed up for gilt.com which puts designer stuff on clearance in a first come first serve format (if anyone wants to sign up, I get $25 credit if I send invite). Bought a pair of John Varatos cords and was wowed by how well they fit me. Since I am 6'5" 210 lbs., most stock clothes in my size are cut for 5'11" fat people. I have found that designer stuff is based on the super skinny model phsyique which actually translates very well to clothes in my size.

Exactly. I've used gilt a good deal as well.

For anyone in NYC, Barney's warehouse sale starts today.

http://www.barneys.com/Barneys%20New...efault,pg.html

well, thats great for you but doesn't mean much for us 5'9", 210lb guys with a 36 inch waist!

Barney's Co-op sale was a bust. They had some decent jeans but none of them fit me well. Going to check out Tourneau's for watches then hit the Prime Outlets in San Marcos and see what I can find. Here's their list of stores:

http://www.primeoutlets.com/location...directory.aspx

What's good there?

I see Banana Republic Factory Store, Barney's Outlet, J. Crew, Nieman Marcus Clearance Center, and Sak's Off 5th as places that have been mentioned/seem to be reasonable to me. Maybe some of the brand factory stores like Armani and Hugo Boss? Really have no idea.

I also have zero books on fashion yet, so any quick links that might help me would be awesome. I'll be having to go back to purchase a watch in a few weeks so I don't mind buying **** and returning it when I realize it sucks, but I'd rather not do something stupid like that.


Also, how good is the Barney's Warehouse Sale? I've considered flying out to New York in like 2 weeks to do some shopping and if it is really good that could tip me into doing it.

Those other stores aren't going to be great given your location.

The NYC warehouse sale will probably be pretty good, but might be picked clean in two weeks (although the discounts will be the steepest then).

I'm going this evening so I'll update if it's any good.

Kneel,

Lose the weight before investing anything in clothing. Even if you do find flattering clothes you are going to be kicking yourself when you lose weight and they no longer fit. Plus clothes flatter certain body types way more than others.

Kaiser,

What if I'm built like a man instead of an emaciated girl?

But really it elaborates a larger issue with off the rack clothing. I spent a ton of time discussing jeans and trying to find stuff to fit my proportions. Getting the fit right was by far the most important aspect of moving my wardrobe from h0m0 to kinda awesome.

Adam,

I think you should be able to purchase all the basics of a wardrobe in short order. My grey suit is cropped, fitted, with a lavender windowpane, ticket pocket, hatching pocket, side vents and peaked lapels (LDO). The differene between this and a well fitted suit that is mundane is so little that it doesn't matter in the grand scope of things. You can church it up with pocket squares (a must IMO) or eccentric sock/tie/belt combos or whatnot.

Short Version: Basics are basic for a reason. Don't hesitate to get them.

Thremp,

If by "built like a man" you mean you are jacked, clothing shouldn't be a problem at all. I think generally speaking most clothing will fit the tall lean type the best, but muscle definitely helps the fit overall. I suppose if you were ridiculously jacked you wouldn't be able to wear a lot, but I suspect that you are not.

I'm curious, where do you wear your suit to aside from work?

Outlets suck a dick, Austin sucks a dick, and I'm flying to NYC/LA within the next 2 weeks to drop a ****ton on "the basics" cause goddamnit I don't have time for this. Spent all day at the stupid stores and bought one pair of $35 J. Crew jeans and one pair of $100 Cole Haan brown leather shoes. FML.

Adam- Why aren't you shopping online? I mean, you are stressing way too much over this for someone who apparently is loaded with cash. If you want to enjoy a vacation to NYC then knock yourself out. But if you just want the clothes, then buy the clothes and have them shipped to you. Couldn't be easier. If you don't know where to shop online, Kaiser gave a good list earlier in the thread I think. If money were no object, I would blow up Farinelli's, Context, Detour, Tobi, Yoox, Oki Ni, Revolve, South Willard, etc. (And return the Cole Haans IMO. I do have a $50 pair I like, but I wouldn't pay more than that b/c they don't have a good rep for durability.) Gilt is having a Ralph Lauren Purple Label sale tomorrow at 11 our time. Boom you have a suit.

Edit- Also, Roden Gray, Blackbird, Oi Poillio (or whatever the hell it is)

lol adam, you should still get a shopper at a major store dude, spending that much on clothes by yourself will result in a disaster imo. Just get a clue as to what you want, thats all.

I'm really against shopping online for clothes since they all fit differently. I could be a S or a M depending on the clothes and, at least for me, it is really hard to visualize what will look good on me without trying it on first. I'm sure that isn't a problem for most of you, but for me it is.

Anyway, I'm done posting in this thread as I'm going to contain myself to a new thread so as to not take up so much here. Going to try to get as detailed as possible and give examples of looks I like as well.

That suit doesn't sound basic to me.

Can anyone give me some info on how APC jeans fit? Typically a 34, how should I size up?

Size down, they stretch like crazy. I think I might have sized down from a 32 to a 30 and probably could have gotten away with a 29.

I am on two months, bought a 30, am usually a 32. the waist is now 34. jeans are not too baggy though, just need a belt.

It clearly isn't. I was using it as an example of something taken to the extreme and it doesn't make that much of a difference except to arouse my own excitement over it and let other fashion nerds know that I have lavender windowpanes.

Perhaps I worded it poorly. Or more likely definitely worded it poorly. I was trying to get across that the simple items in your wardrobe aren't going to benefit a ton from a well developed idea of what you want since there isn't a terrible amount of room to change them.

I'm probably sounding more ******ed now.

Yah, exactly. I'm going to wash mine soon though and hope they shrink a lot. They are tough to wear now that my true waist is between a 30-31.

What pair do you own? Torn between new standard and cure, any recommendations?

All, here are some good fashion blogs imo

h(y)r collective
jake davis
a continuous lean

fwiw I understood

Typical recommendation is to size down 2 for NS, size down 1 for NC.

My New Cures only shrunk a little bit on their first wash, but stretched right back out after maybe an additional week's worth of wear.

Kaiser,

Eh. Compared to the average styleforum poster I might as well be like Ronnie Coleman. Skunk and I have discussed my personal experience trying to read their "WTF I have big thighs thread" and it basically consists of average sized men talking about their huge thighs. I weigh ~30 lbs less than one of the guys and am 5 inches shorter and we have similar thigh measurements. At that point I was 50/50 with gouging out my eyes or just ranting to skunkworks. I digress.

Anyway, I have a pretty big drop in my shirts (10) and a decent suit drop. This doesn't really lend itself to buying clothes off the rack. Or even "fitted" options need to hit the tailor to get them reasonably fitted.

WRT your question. I wear it where ever I want. I am self-employed and just wear my suit when I want to be dressed up. Or at events where anyone else would wear a suit. Its the only one I own atm. I've been rather supremely lazy at getting a conservative pin striped navy suit.