My sartorial mistakes
I don’t wear one of my first custom suits any more. Not because it’s torn or doesn’t fit. But because it’s simply not very good. And the fault is all mine.
I ordered the suit before I knew much of anything about fabric and so I chose based only on colour, not quality or texture or weight. Worse still, I ordered the suit without first getting to know the tailor, seeing examples of his work and if his style and approach aligned with mine. I should have known when he showed me the pattern books he was using, from the 1980s. But I believed, naively, that since my suit was being custom made for me, I would end up looking like all those fine gentleman I followed on Tumblr (this was before Instagram was so big).
And so the suit hangs in my basement closet, hidden away in a garment bag. I won’t get rid of it, though, because it stands testament to my folly. Sadly, that suit wasn’t my only mistake.
When I began ordering custom shirts I became so excited with the prospect of re-creating the Brooks Brothers button-down of the 1930s (I’d found the collar measurements online) I rushed into getting one made by a local tailor. Instead of taking my time to find the right fabric – heavy oxford cloth, which can be hard to find – I hurried to the closest fabric store I could find, the kind of place that caters mostly to seamstresses and crafters. They had a fabric that looked vaguely like oxford which they admitted themselves was a poly/cotton mix. I bought it. The shirt turned out beautifully, it is still one of my best fitting shirts. But the fabric is awful. It doesn’t breath as well as cotton, it even smells a bit funky when I iron it. Worst of all, it is ageing badly. Instead of fraying elegantly around the collar and cuffs, it is pilling and fading.
My feet haven’t escaped my foolish ways. The first pair of shoes I purchased for black tie were shapeless derbies I tried not to look at when I was wearing them. All it would have taken was a couple more weeks of research and asking around, and a bit more money. But instead I settled for the quick and cheap solution.
Other items have come and gone from my wardrobe such as tie bars, button-hole flowers and even bow ties (which I rarely, if ever, wear any more). But that was me searching for personal style. I look on those items as youthful dalliance, daring experiments. Or like when you’re trying to find a radio station and have to turn the nob just slightly past the station and back again to make sure you’ve got the strongest signal (before digital radios, that is).
My mistakes, that suit, that shirt, those shoes, are physical reminders of my impatience. And they have perhaps taught me the most. That unless I am careful and patient and deliberate and thoughtful, I end up with clothes I neither like nor wear. I know I will continue to be impulsive and foolhardy, because that is who I am. But perhaps, thanks to these missteps, I’ll be a little bit less impulsive and foolhardy.
5 Comments
Chancellor
February 3, 2019 at 4:06 pm
Pedro Mendes
February 4, 2019 at 9:36 am
Terry
February 3, 2019 at 10:49 pm
Colin
February 5, 2019 at 12:46 pm
Pedro Mendes
February 5, 2019 at 12:48 pm
Thanks for sharing. Thanks to people like you who wrote about their mistakes, I’ve been mindful that mistakes are likely, and much more cautious about my clothing purchases, and tried to explore new styles in inexpensive ways before committing to a quality item. For example, like you, I have a suit handing in my closet that I haven’t worn in probably 4 years. At the time, I thought it was the only suite I’d found slim enough for my frame. In hindsight, it fits pretty well, but is many too modern for my tastes and makes me too skinny. However, I only paid $150 for it, so a modest expense for my folly, but a liveable loss.
Thank you for your kind words, Mustafa, and for sharing your experience. I’m sure your next suit will be much, much better 😉
“…unless I am careful and patient and deliberate and thoughtful, I end up with clothes I neither like nor wear.”
Thank you for the reminder that even the best among us can make mistakes and that it is a continuous learning process.
It’s always tough to come to terms with these kinds of mistakes, let alone publicly air them. Sometimes excitement overtakes proper process. The learning curve can be a steep one!
Cheers
Well said, Colin, thank you!