Shirt Meet Tie

Some men have terrible taste in shirts and ties – a quick glance around your work place will confirm it.

For those unfortunate enough to be confined to suits for the majority of their working week, fashion has to take a back seat. Corporate suits can often be mind-fumblingly dull and the sea of miserable faces trudging to work every morning is, to my mind, a mix of both work-based hatred and the realization that they really don’t know how to match up their shirts and ties.

Getting creative with your shirt and tie combinations is one of the best ways to showcase your love of fashion and style within a formal environment, but they’re extremely easy to get wrong. After all, colors and patterns can be confusing individually, but when you start mixing them together, all hell can break loose.

The Unstructured Suit

With tailoring continuing its resurgence in menswear circles, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to set your formal looks apart from the crowd. However, sometimes the smallest alteration to a classic style can help you achieve your goal. Our suggestion this season? Make the move from structured suiting to unstructured.

Due to its minimal padding and lining, the unstructured suit conveys a naturally relaxed vibe that will give your work-to-weekend ensembles a whole new outlook. Not only that, this type of style is, again, often made from lighter materials such as cotton or linen, ensuring you stay cool and comfortable as the temperatures rise.

The Checked Suit

With the majority of men still purchasing suits in standard shades of navy or grey, a subtle check is all you need to mark yourself out as a confident, stylish gent who is aware of the latest trends, but not a slave to them.

From windowpane to gingham, there is certainly a lot of choice on the current market – but to ensure versatility and longevity, we recommend you opt for a timeless neutral hue and a classic, muted pattern such as Prince of Wales check.

Those who don’t want to make so much of a statement should try breaking up the suit and wearing the jacket with solid colored trousers and brogues for an evening out – heritage chic at its finest. Alternatively, team your check trousers with a neutral blazer, white shirt and smart leather Derbies for dinner with the other half.

The Light Blue Suit

Timeless and highly versatile, the navy suit has long been touted by menswear publications as the only one you’ll ever need. Yet while navy is often the most admired, this season we suggest opting for a lighter shade of blue.

Seasonally-appropriate, a pastel or petrol blue suit will help give a contemporary twist to your smarter aesthetics without having to push your boundaries too far.

In terms of styling, keep it simple with a plain white shirt, linen tie and brown suede loafers for summer events, removing the tie and switching to white Jack Purcell for a modern take on smart-casual.

But don’t restrict yourself to wearing just the full suit – with blue continuing to dominate men’s wardrobes, you are bound to get endless use out of both the trousers and blazer when you split it into separates.

For instance, try teaming your jacket with selvage denim and brogues for a night on the town, or combining the trousers with a neutral colored polo and smart loafers when heading to the office on dress-down Friday.

It's Not About You, It's About Your Style

Suit styles haven’t altered course by any great degree over the past few years, sticking largely to classic and slim cuts where the mainstream is concerned. For the less conventional there’s the roomier option of pleated pants or the daring option of super-skinny. The latter, of course, comes down largely to having the physique to pull it off.

This suit  marries a skinny cut with rolled-up bared ankles and contrasting panels for an overall appearance of one both daring and yet not too far away from classic.

The Shoulder Of A Suit

A lot of suit terms can be mixed and matched, but I’m a fan of something I’ve always called the ‘British rolled-shoulder.’ Others might call it something else, but it is effectively where the shoulder padding finishes. A lot of Italian and US based designers prefer to have the shoulder padding finish precisely where the bone does. A British rolled shoulder has the padding extend over the shoulder and roll down into the sleeve. It’s a technical difference, but it’s also a visual trick that makes the shoulders seem broader and the arms better built.

Such a padded shoulder is perfect for the masculine figure a modern suit is meant to convey, hence it isn’t an element of the preceding sack suit

What is a Sack Suit?

The name gives it away. A sack suit is a largely unshaped cut of suit. Though not literally like a sack, it features the same natural shoulders of the drape cut, but is devoid of any front darting. The front darting results in a suit that is hard to marry with the hourglass or V shaped cut preferred by most men. And despite being a classic, a quick check of my Mad Men DVDs reveals that the sack suit has even been abandoned by Don Draper for a drape cut come season two of the series.

Which Pattern Should You Pick?

For those looking to invest in a suit that isn't made in a solid color, the following are classic suit patterns perfect for the season and beyond, but don't forget that you can also work these same cloth patterns into components of men's suiting without making it and actual suit; that is, sport coats, blazers and trousers. In no particular order, there are the dominant suit cloths / patterns available this year that sit at the more conservative end of the spectrum.
                                            GLEN PLAID               DAMIER CHECK
                    

New Showroom, NEW DEALS, New You !

Whoever has been to our Beverly Hills Showroom can tell you how amazing it's coming along. Not only is our showroom great but so are our deals. Not to mention that we will be having many more. The great thing about suits is that they make men feel the way shoes make women feel, that must say a lot. So why not take these deals into the showroom closest to you and make them worth something in your wardrobe. They won't be here for long so take advantage now that you can.


                 

Make It Custom!

Make it custom. Because in this day and age, anything and everything in your closet can be customized. Options range from computerized made-to-measure ( those nifty Web sites that ask you to measure your own shoulders) to full-blown bespoke (rendered with you in mind from the first stitch). The happiest of mediums comes from BookATailor : Its made-to-measure program for suits and shirts. It is overseen by its team of tailors and craftsmen, who customize the fits and finishes to your liking. The possibilities are practically endless.

Checked Blazers For The Winter

If you don’t want to go all out with a checked suit this winter, or simply have no need for one,  we’d suggest testing the waters with a blazer. The perfect piece to take you effortlessly from day to night, a checked blazer works just as well on off-duty days as it does in the office. Ideal for when temperatures begin to plummet, a textured wool (or wool-blend) version will add some much-needed warmth to your autumn/winter ensembles. Team a tailored grey plaid jacket with a crisp pale blue shirt and black trousers to create a stylish formal contrast. A blazer is also a go-to piece for smart-casual occasions, helping to sharpen up any look instantly. For events such as this, or creative working environments with relaxed dress codes, try combining a checked tweed blazer with slim-fit indigo denim jeans; the rugged, heavyweight fabrics complement each other perfectly.

The Look BookaTailor Can Help You Have

The most impactful way to approach the trend is undoubtedly through a full suit. From tartan to plaid patterns, upgrade your formal wear  with a well-cut version in a textured, cold-weather fabric. Whether you opt for navy, charcoal or light grey, a check suit exudes confidence and sophistication. A grey version in a modern lean fit is the perfect choice for the boardroom, paired with a crisp white shirt and navy tie. Finish the look off with a pair of black/brown .

 

What's A Vent and What's it for?

 For those unfamiliar with the term, a vent is the slit you see on the backside of blazers, sport coats, suit jackets, and any other type of jacket. Like many modern menswear details, vents originated from military heritage. As a functional necessity while traveling horseback, the vent provided comfort to the rider by allowing the jacket’s tails to part and fall gracefully along the sides of the horse. Not only did vents ease the buttoned jacket from bunching and constricting the body while seated, it also prevented unattractive fabric creasing where the bunching would have occurred.While very few men today travel by horse, the same functional principle applies in any situation where you need to be seated with your jacket on. Another benefit of the rear vent is that it permits easier access to your trouser pocket: the give from the vent negates excess fabric gathering and pulling as you dig your hand under the jacket to get into your pocket.

Bonus tip: Never put your hands, or any object, in your blazer or suit jacket pocket unless you want that area to get stretched out and misshaped. Most jackets come with basted (loosely stitched shut) pocket openings – keep the basting intact to prevent entry at all times and to preserve the jacket’s clean lines.

Learn To Suit up Properly and Everything Else Follows

Whether you're an office guy who needs to look sharp for the competition, or a creative type who dresses up because he likes to, the suit is the basic building block of looking good. It's a timeless, ever adaptable, sometimes maligned, but never improved uniform. Consider the roots of that word: uni, as in a universally good idea to save your ass from the danger of too much choice; form, as in the opposite of formless, sloppy, or unfocused. We'll get to the specifics of lapel widths and armholes and vents and how to do it right, but let's first agree that this is where dressing like a man begins. Get the basics down and then you can lose yourself in perfecting the details, what the ever dapper Tom Wolfe once approvingly called the sartorial "mania for marginal differences." And that's when things get interesting.

Tuesday, Day of Recovery

     We are sure everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend and of course everything comes to an end. But what better way to start the week than by coming in to BOOK-A-TAILOR and starting this school/work year off right. It is still all about YOU, maybe you can get started on early holiday gifts. Whatever the case is, we've got you, we're just an appointment away and ready to send out orders.

Fall is That You?

Bye Bye Summer, hello Fall. Everyone looks forward for Fall with new styles, new brands, new costumes and of course the working men are looking for new suits. 2014 is hitting everyone with a big WOW with all new types of  patterns and styles that Book A Tailor has to offer. Especially with holidays right around the corner after fall who doesn't want to start saving up and getting all types of deals and gifts.

Catch Our Deal On Groupon!

Catch this deal! 

http://www.groupon.com/deals/bookatailor

. $99 for two custom shirts (a $198 value)
. $179 for four custom shirts (a $396 value)
.$449 for a custom men's two piece suit (a $1,199 value)
. $499 for a custom men's two piece suit and two custom men's shirts (a $1,397 value)

-- Book your appointment at your local showroom with one of our styling geniuses today! 

Spotted: Book A Tailor at the Godzilla Premiere

Check out one of the stars of the recently released "Godzilla" film, Victor Rasuk wearing his custom Book A Tailor suit!

Hey Bravo Fans...

Recognize this guy? It's Josh Altman from the hit Bravo TV show, "Million Dollar Listing: LA". He stopped in to our showroom to get fit for a new suit. 

Schedule Your Appointment With Your Local Styling Genius Today!

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