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#1 2006-07-05 15:09:51
- jgupta
- Member
- From: New York/Cleveland
- Posts: 32
Hello
Hello to all. I just joined this forum and wanted to introduce myself. There is a lot to learn and this site seems to have some real experts, so I will just read for a while and try to absorb all the background information. Still, I thought I should say hello.
This site seems to be mostly about the older preppy style, which I thought I was not that interested in because I have been surrounded by preps since I was a kid and it seems like basic dress more than style. However, when I read some of the great posts by Horace and Miles, I thought I must be missing something. Can someone please help me with a link or two to some good posts that explains what it is all about as a style and why it might look good on me? Since I have closets full of prep stuff, it would save me some cash money (I know, I know, I said I would read rather than post, but I am asking for help reading).
Thanks to all the Film Noir Buff people for this great forum. I look forward to learning from your expertise.
#2 2006-07-05 20:40:02
- Film Noir Buff
- Dandy Nightmare
- From: Devil's Island
- Posts: 9341
Re: Hello
Hey JGupta,
Youll find all styles, Neapolitan, Saville Row, New York City, Milanese amongst others are all equally loved and spoken about on this board. You can introduce anything about clothes, style or the mood of a look or an era, whatever you like. Enjoy yourself.
#4 2006-07-06 00:59:30
- Miles Away
- Member
- From: Miles away
- Posts: 1180
Re: Hello
Hello Jgupta,
Aways good to hear from a fellow fan of Classic American Dressing (or 'Trad' or 'Preppy' style). FNB has been good enough to give us a home here, but the site is about a lot more than Oxford cloth button-downs and Sack Suits etc. We are just a small part of the mix.
I'd recommend checking out Horace's threads showing vintage adverts as a fantastic source of information and inspiration regarding 'the Look'.
Daniele also posts very well from an Italian Modernist perspective and Chris H. is a mine of information concerning American clothing in England.
Just look for their names on threads and posts and you'll be heading in the right direction.
Much of what I write is a bit hit & miss so I'd leave my stuff till last if I was you.
Good to have you here & I look forward to hearing your take on the Preppy style. What do you wear?
Miles
Edit: Sweetbooness2, Mr Vaclav, Get Smart, Coolidge and 'the cubicrube' are well worth reading also - My apologies to them for not including them above.
Anybody else who I may have still missed out? "Calling all Trads"...
Last edited by Miles Away (2006-07-06 01:07:59)
" ... Ubi bene, ibi patria, which being roughly translated means, 'Wherever there's a handout, that's for me, man.' "
Alistair Cooke. 1968.
#5 2006-07-06 05:51:48
- Miles Away
- Member
- From: Miles away
- Posts: 1180
Re: Hello
Can't believe I also forgot Mr. Kenperes & the recent good work of TwinSix.
Sorry.
Last edited by Miles Away (2006-07-06 05:55:49)
" ... Ubi bene, ibi patria, which being roughly translated means, 'Wherever there's a handout, that's for me, man.' "
Alistair Cooke. 1968.
#6 2006-07-06 08:01:09
- jgupta
- Member
- From: New York/Cleveland
- Posts: 32
Re: Hello
Thanks, Miles.
I appreciate your pointers, but I am not sure how looking at old advertisements is particularly helpful. I am comfortable with the prep look as that is 90% of my closet, but I am interested in what I should be wearing today. I don’t have a time machine so I can’t shop in the 50’s and I am not interested in thrift shops. Show me some new ads to be helpful. But I have most of that stuff anyway. If there is a way to make it look good, great. That’s what I want to hear. But I am not trying to dress like a character from a Jazz museum either. My goal is to look as good as I can, without people looking at my clothes and saying that I am wearing a particular look. I think normal prep is like that but the old stuff you are so into would make me into a relic.
I am starting to like Marc’s Turnbull & Asser idea more and more (without the crazy stripes) as an upgrade from my Brooks Brothers. I will be able to stop in New York for a while at the end of the summer and will have time then. I will also look into some better suits then (most of mine are from Brooks Brothers and Press), but I am not ready to think about that yet.
#7 2006-07-06 09:11:02
- Miles Away
- Member
- From: Miles away
- Posts: 1180
Re: Hello
" ... Ubi bene, ibi patria, which being roughly translated means, 'Wherever there's a handout, that's for me, man.' "
Alistair Cooke. 1968.
#8 2006-07-06 11:08:09
- Miles Away
- Member
- From: Miles away
- Posts: 1180
Re: Hello
Purely for my own interest, tell me about your Prep wardrobe?
Maybe you could sell most of it on Ebay depending on condition & rarity?
Apart from T & A, what do you want to aim for in the future?
Are you 'going Anglo'?
Why?
Just interested -
Miles.
" ... Ubi bene, ibi patria, which being roughly translated means, 'Wherever there's a handout, that's for me, man.' "
Alistair Cooke. 1968.
#9 2006-07-06 12:59:33
- jgupta
- Member
- From: New York/Cleveland
- Posts: 32
Re: Hello
I don’t have a prep wardrobe the way you seem to mean it. I have a wardrobe and the clothes in it are prep style. Khakis, button downs jackets, suits pants and stuff like that. Generally from Brooks Brothers and Press. And some Polo polos. I say I have a prep wardrobe because that is what everyone else wears. Its not like a costume or anything.
To answer your other question, I am not hung up on Turnbull and Asser or anything. I am just trying to do a general upgrade to a more full-time business wardrobe. My main goal is to get really good stuff in terms of fit an quality that is not too attention drawing or says one style or another. It should look good on me but not be the focus. I thought of Turnbull because that is known to be the best available and I am in New York often enough to try them now that they are there. If you can suggest someplace that will do a better job, that would be great.
#11 2006-07-06 16:27:28
- jgupta
- Member
- From: New York/Cleveland
- Posts: 32
Re: Hello
Cool! I didn’t realize Film Noir Buff was a person. I thought it was sort of like an editorial board. Has anyone else used Paris? How do they compare to Turnbull & Asser? The article was kind of cheesy and I am not sure I like the idea of using a place that makes shirts for someone who puts time zone monograms on their shirts. That’s a little too flashy for me. I guess they have to do what the customer wants.
#12 2006-07-07 00:46:54
- Miles Away
- Member
- From: Miles away
- Posts: 1180
Re: Hello
" ... Ubi bene, ibi patria, which being roughly translated means, 'Wherever there's a handout, that's for me, man.' "
Alistair Cooke. 1968.
#14 2006-07-08 00:58:09
- Miles Away
- Member
- From: Miles away
- Posts: 1180
Re: Hello
I could be wrong, but I don't think that everyday European clothes stand out in quite the same way in America as American clothes stand out in Europe. Any thoughts?
There is maybe more of a tradition in the States of 'the well dressed American man' reaching out to other cultures and tailoring styles - London, Paris, Milan etc.
In England there is a cult of Italian clothing at most. Other than that the average English man stays with the indigenous darted, pleated, English style on the whole.
It seems from reading the Internet MBs that only a minority of Americans wear their own indigenous tailoring style in comparison. I wonder why?
Just interested (as ever), that's all.
Miles.
Last edited by Miles Away (2006-07-08 01:00:11)
" ... Ubi bene, ibi patria, which being roughly translated means, 'Wherever there's a handout, that's for me, man.' "
Alistair Cooke. 1968.