I went independent in May and now spread time between client sites, home office and sector events.

Business attire is going casual incredibly quickly and it's a badge of pride for founders to look anti-business dress now.

I haven't had to wear formal creased trousers in a few years and not had a tie on since Covid.

I am generally regarded as smart in chinos/drill jeans/cords, button down shirt, good shoes and a sport jacket or blazer.  Plus a mac of various weights and in Autumn a thin silk/linen scarf when travelling (and of course heavier weight scarves in winter).

Two Marketing women on a stand a couple of weeks ago remarked how smart I was at an event and took pictures of us together. That was blue Peter Christian drill jeans, a made in Italy silk 3/2 roll herringbone slack jacket from RL, RL no logo white poplin button down and Loake oxblood derby shoes.  I didn't see many people in formal shoes at all!

I wear a lot of RL as it fits my shape perfectly (Irish build, broad but not tall).

I am at quite an old school event tomorrow and I suspect that will have a few more suits, but I'll continue in a slightly more Autumnal version of the above.  Magee are doing some wonderful jackets in their own fabric (amongst the more generic ones) that fit me like a glove, so I have been picking a couple up each season. While not precisely Ivy, mixed with a good OCBD it's a good look for me.

Interestingly at LinkedIn where I am very active as part of my work, I am receiving adverts there for Church's, Dunhill and others as they try to reach their next customer base.

Last edited by An Unseen Scene (2024-10-08 04:51:15)

You have to establish your own base line. An easy win these days is to wear a sports jacket. It elevates your look in a lot of scenarios. Shoes, as opposed to trainers, also helps.

I've never been a fan of plain open neck shirts and dark suits as favoured by the G8 leaders. It doesn't look casual. It simply looks contrived. "Hey look at me, no tie, I'm a man of the people."

Personally, I have to be mindful that as I've got older (read fatter) an open neck shirt does me no favours - hence the need to wear buttoned up shirts, merino polo's and mock-necks.

How else are we meant to carry things without shoulder damage?
I carry laptop, notebooks, water, lunch, coffee, headphones etc.
A backpack is the right practical choice, I have tried them all and consulted a physio,

It has not hurt a single jacket of mine in decades

I'm moving around a lot between client offices, industry bodies, chats over coffee etc - so need to take it all with me each time I'm not working from home.

I would never wear leather straps or anything cutting over a jacket, that would damage the fabric.
There are newer softer but strong fabrics used in backpacks these days that avoid any damage.

While asthetically I'd prefer not to have a backpack on, practically there isn't really any other viable alternative without incurring shoulder damager in the long term. When I finally saw a physio, having to carry around laptops, chargers etc had damaged my shoulder and was recommended strongly to use backpacks to distribute the weight.

I don't like cases with wheels either particularly the small ones. I will admit to having a large ski bag with wheels but I am not using it constantly.

The old look Ivy or otherwise was a briefcase or attaché case carried under the arm. Nowadays you see suits modelled by people with women's shopping bags renamed as tote bags to take the curse off them.

In American films shopping was in brown paper bags with no handles. The implication being they were not being carried far and carrying stuff was a bad look unless it was sporting equipment.

'what' wrong with a tote bag?'  It looks terrible unless you were a housewife in the 1960s'.

It's not a fashion accessory. There is no cachet carrying around a large bag advertising 'Daunt books'

'bunches of keys, multiple cards,phones and other accessories ' can all go in pockets or a wallet.

Childish I know but it still makes me chuckle when I can only see the UNT on the said tote bags that half of London appear to be carrying.

Last edited by AndyV (2024-10-11 08:32:02)

'Simple bags', as you describe them, are everywhere now. They have replaced drinks, pipes, cigarettes in fashion shots.

This place is about how things look - so bags can be criticised on that basis.

I read most papers, via a paywall remover. That includes The Grauniad, if you are dead set against The Mail( it ties in with your previous stance on Spoons)

This Summer I've been carting my daughter around various Universities. Must admit it's been fun as I've always added a good lunch and a half bot into the itinerary.

On each visit the Uni gives away a tote bag filled with goodies - pens, note books and post-it notes. Add to this my daughter already has a collection of totes from famous bookshops - The Strand, Shakespeare and Co, Hatchards,etc

The net result is the Singer household is now awash with bags. I'm running out of uses for them

My hunt for a non-vintage brown herringbone Ivy/sack jacket proved fruitless if I didn't want spend £1200 at either Ralph Lauren or Drakes (or import).

I'm done with eBay for jackets now unless they are new and not importing any more. There has been nothing at Marrkt, John Simons, Blues etc. The H&J one Chris offered was sadly too small (dash it!).

Cordings and others all look too 'English Traditional'. Maybe JS has a batch incoming but it's starting to feel too late at full price for this season unless they arrive within a month or so (but they'll sell out anyway).

I'm not a purist at this stage, so have chosen this jacket which looks decent, is soft shoulder and at a very reasonable price: https://www.campbellsofbeauly.com/shop/house-jacket-brown-herringbone-tweed/

I'll see if it fits without too substantive changes on arrival, or it will be on the way back.  If anyone spots a dark brown herringbone jacket, feel free to post up in case this one isn't right.

I'm sure I had a brown herringbone sack somewhere in the house but not in the attic rails, any bedroom so it must of either been too small eventually or had problems and been moved on. I really should of taken photos of all my jackets in the past. Has anyone else?

I cannot see me buying many more formal jackets now, I'm often the only person around in one as other have said here too.

Last edited by An Unseen Scene (Yesterday 06:16:48)

A good option but not available there in my size. Thanks.

Last edited by An Unseen Scene (Yesterday 12:52:52)