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Clothing Connection Online sells mens dress clothing online.
Folding a Pocket Square–Part 4: The TV Fold
I’m not really sure exactly why this square is called the TV fold. Certainly, it is a popular fold among certain TV personalities. The name could also be a reflection of the shape of the folded square, which is essentially like the shape of an old-fashioned CRT television. While this fold is superficially similar to the Presidential, in that you end up with a rectangle showing, the TV fold has a smooth fold at the top, rather than the loose edges of the Presidential. It is a fold that personifies restrained strength, and it is very simple to accomplish.
1) open out the pocket square
2) Fold it in half lengthwise
3) Fold the bottom up to the top
4) turn the square so it looks like a diamond, and fold the bottom corner up to the top to make a triangle.
5) Fold the left corner just past halfway
6) Fold the right corner over
7) Fold the top corner down to make a square
8) Flip the square around so that the folds are concealed, and put it in your pocket with about 1/2 inch showing
So there you have it: four different ways to fold your pocket square. If you decide this is a lot of fun, you can look online to find even more ideas. Pocket squares are one of the few areas in which men can really have fun with what they wear, and are worth exploring. Now, a few tips:
- Never confuse a pocket square with a handkerchief. Always carry a plain white hanky in your pocket for blowing your nose or offering to damsels in distress (hopefully not in that order).
- Pocket squares can be purchased in sets to match ties, or purchased separately. If purchased separately, they should be in the same color and pattern world as the tie you are wearing.
- Can you wear a square without a tie? Certainly! It’s your fashion, so knock yourself out!
Posted in Accessories
Folding a Pocket Square–Part 3: The Four-Point
The four-point is a fold that you may want to use when you wish to give the impression of sparing no expense of time or effort in your appearance. Although it may look difficult to achieve, it is really no harder than any of the other folds.
1) Open the square and lay it out with the corners arranged in a diamond
2) Fold the bottom corner up to meet the top corner, forming a triangle
3) Fold the bottom right corner up to just left of the top corner as shown
4) Now fold the bottom left corner up to just right of the top corner
5) Now turn the square around and place it in pocket
Coming next: The TV fold
Posted in Accessories
Folding a Pocket Square–Part 2: The Triangle Fold
While the Presidential Fold has a simple elegance to it, sometimes a man wants to add a bit more pizzazz to his look. One step up in complexity is the Triangle, or One-Point fold. A little fancier in appearance without being too much more elaborate in execution, this is a good choice for a night out, a visit to a house of worship, or any occasion where you want to put on just a little more style.
Here’s how you do it:
1) open out the pocket square
2) Fold it in half lengthwise
3) Fold the bottom up to the top
4) Turning the folded square so it is on one corner like a diamond with the open edges at the top, fold the left corner in to the middle.
5) Fold the right corner in to overlap the left corner
6) Fold the bottom corner up behind the square, and slide into pocket.
Want to really get your sophistication on? Coming up next: The Four-Point
Posted in Accessories
Folding a pocket square: Part 1
Paying attention to the details of dress can make the difference between the MVP and the second-stringer. Pocket squares are a nice detail that says to the world, “I care about how I present myself”. Like the necktie, there are several different ways to wear a pocket square. You may choose one that you like and make it your signature look, or you may like to mix it up and wear different folds according to your mood. Over the next several posts, we will be exploring some of the different ways to fold your pocket square.
The Basic Square
This style is often favored by politicians and is sometimes called “The Presidential”. It is an understated, yet classic style, and very easy to do.
1) open the pocket square and lay it flat
2) Fold it in half lengthwise
3) Fold the bottom up to the top
and tuck into your pocket with the fold on the side nearest the lapel.
There you are: a simple and yet elegant pocket square. This style works great when you have a nice vivid pocket square in a solid color. It adds a bit of panache without drawing too much attention to itself.
Posted in Accessories
Suits: the Quality Checklist
Whether you are just beginning to build your first core wardrobe, or whether you have a closet full of suits, it’s a good idea to review this Quality Checklist when you shop to be sure that you are getting your money’s worth. A suit that is ill-made or does not fit properly will not help you present the image you want to present to the world. You are not likely to wear such a suit often, even if you can’t put your finger on just what is wrong with it. The badly-made suit will gradually move to the back of your closet, where it will take up room without adding to your style repertoire.
When you are shopping for a suit, be sure to look for these items:
- The Fabric Whatever fabric your suit may be made of, it should not feel overly stiff or heavy. It should have a flexible, yielding “hand” or feel to it, and should drape well without being flimsy or cheap.
- The Lapels Your lapels should not have any evidence of wrinkling, and have a slight roll or curve where they fold away from the suit.
- The Lining Don’t waste your money on a suit jacket that is not fully lined. A well-tailored lining will hang smoothly about 1/4 inch above the bottom edge of the coat.
- The Pattern If your jacket is made of a patterned fabric such as a pinstripe or a windowpane plaid, check that the patterns line up at the pockets and on the back where the collar meets the back of the coat.
- About Those Pockets… Make sure they hang nice and smooth without any bunching or wrinkles. And please…empty them out when you take off the suit!
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Keep this checklist in mind when you are shopping and you can protect yourself from wasting your bank account on an unworthy suit.
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Posted in Suit Smarts
Suits–the Core Wardrobe
Photo by Andrew Morrell Photography
It’s a great thing to have a closet full of sharp suits to wear. To be able to express yourself with fashion and add your own personal flair to your style. But many a young man comes fresh out of college with a closet full of sweatpants and t-shirts, unprepared to face the world of work and the more mature social life that belongs to a grown man. Chasing the latest fashion can be fun and rewarding, but a young man on a budget needs to build a core wardrobe first, so that life’s vicissitudes do not catch him without the proper attire.
Start with Blue Many young people make the mistake of buying a black suit for their first suit. Why is this a mistake? Well, unless you have more than a few funerals to attend, the black suit isn’t really all that versatile. A good solid navy blue suit can be dressed up or down to fit almost any occasion, and the coat can be used alone as a blazer. Go for a basic two or three button single-breasted suit in the best fabric you can afford. Want to express yourself? Do it with shirts, ties, and pocket squares.
Charcoal is next. There’s a reason the Man in the Grey Flannel Suit is so famous. Charcoal grey looks good on almost everyone and is an excellent choice for a second suit. Not quite as versatile as navy blue, charcoal will still stand you in good stead in many situations. This suit should also be a solid color. Why? Because a solid color will coordinate with more of your shirts, ties, and pocket squares. For your basic core wardrobe, you want to be able to get as much mileage as possible out of each suit.
Add a light-colored or summer suit. This can be a light brown or grey, or even khaki. This will be your summertime suit. Poplin or summerweight wool will be easier to care for, but linen has a charm that can’t be beat.
At last, a pattern. Now you can add a nice windowpane or Glen plaid to the mix. This suit will be much less versatile than the others, but also less boring!
Once you have your core suit wardrobe in hand, you can begin to branch out. Try some more daring colors or fashion lengths and styles. Black suits, brown suits, fashion colors, big patterns and sharkskin can all add to the fun and help you to express your personal sense of style.
Finally, your core wardrobe is an investment you make in making a good impression on the world. Make sure you protect that investment with proper care.
What suits do you think belong in a core wardrobe?
Posted in Suit Smarts
Protect Your Investment
When you invest in your wardrobe, getting great value in a suit is only the first step. Here are some tips for protecting that investment and making sure those suits look great for as long as you want to wear them.
Keep it clean, but be careful how you do it
- Never launder a suit–suits are constructed of many different fabrics put together in very specific ways. Many of the fibers that suits are made of, such as wool and rayon, are weakened by getting wet, and some shrink while others do not, which causes the suit to pucker.
- Dry clean only, but not every time you wear it. Dry cleaning is the only safe way to clean a suit, but it can damage a suit too, over time. Unless you manage to soil the suit while you are wearing it, save the dry cleaning until you’ve worn the suit 5 to 10 times. Summer suits of cotton or linen may need slightly more frequent cleaning due to perspiration.
- Steam out wrinkles. Never iron a suit–you may end up with a shiny surface. Dry cleaners offer steam-pressing, or you can purchase an inexpensive steam press or even use the steam setting on your iron as necessary. Hanging the suit in the bathroom while you shower is a good way to loosen up wrinkles without a lot of trouble.
Maintain your suit between wearings
- Give your suit a rest. You aren’t the only one who needs a break after a long day at work. Suits can absorb up to a pint of water in one day of wearing. Letting a suit rest and dry out for a day or two will prolong its life. No one makes a good impression wearing the same suit day after day, anyway.
- Give it the brush off. Brush your suits after each wearing with a soft-bristled clothing brush to remove smog particulates and dust that cause soil and premature wear.
- Hang it up. It can be tempting to leave your suit in a crumpled mess on the floor after a long day, but hanging it up immediately keeps wrinkles, dirt and wear to a minimum. Make sure you empty all your pockets so they don’t get baggy, fasten all buttons and zip up your trousers. Hang your trousers straight by the legs or the waist, and make sure there is plenty of room in your closet so your suit can breathe.
Store it properly
- Store out of season suits and formal wear in a garment bag after cleaning. Otherwise, you may have an unpleasant dusty surprise when you get them out to wear.
Properly caring for and maintaining your wardrobe is a smart way to extend the investment of time and money that you make in your appearance.
Posted in Suit Smarts
What are “Super” Wools?
It’s hard to go far in looking at men’s fashion without coming up against the “Super” wools. Super wool is a trade name that traditionally described fabrics made of the finest wool available, typically merino wool (wool from the merino sheep). Nowadays the term can also be used for wool blends. The Super wool fabrics are classified with an S number that designates the fineness of the wool fiber, classified in microns. In the 1950′s, wool suits were usually 70s and 80s. The finer fibers available with today’s manufacturing processes means that much higher designations are becoming popular, all the way up to S 150s and S 180s.
What S number should I buy?
Like everything, this choice depends on your circumstances and what you can afford. A suit in the 90s to the 110s will be fine for everyday office attire. If you want something a bit finer with a more luxurious feel for a more dressy occasion, or for an all-weather suit, the 120′s and 150′s will supply your need. The tradeoff you make as you go up the scale is in durability, as the finer fibers are more susceptible to breakage. Super 180s fabric is so fine it can barely be seen, and very costly to boot. It also must be treated with extreme care.
Posted in Suit Smarts
Suit Fabrics, Continued
In our last post, we talked about some of the fabric types you might run into when shopping for a suit. In this post, we continue with more fabric types.
Poplin Poplin is a lightweight plain-weave fabric, usually made from cotton. It is sometimes called tabinet. Because cotton dyes easily, suits made from poplin are available in a much broader variety of colors, including bright colors.
seersucker photo by Peteski1
Seersucker Seersucker is woven in such a way that it puckers or crinkles along the white stripes which alternate with stripes or checks of other colors, typically blue, green or yellow. Because it is a thin cloth and its pucker makes it stand away from the skin, this is the quintessential fabric for summer suits.
60's sharkskin suit photo by funkomavintage
contemporary sharkskin suit with signature "sheen"
Sharkskin Originally a type of worsted wool, which is woven with two shades to furnish a two-toned appearance, modern sharkskin is often made with synthetic fibers which allow it to present a metallic sheen.
tweed photo by Allison Marchant
Tweed The word “tweed” comes from the Scots word for twill, as most tweed is woven in a twill pattern, such as herringbone and houndstooth. It has a nubbly feel and a characteristic heathered effect with different colored woolen strands twisted into the ply. Traditionally, tweeds were used for country clothes and shooting jackets, and they retain their air of “outdoorsiness”.
twill in a herringbone pattern
Twill Twill is a weave of any fabric that features raised, diagonal ribs. Herringbone, houndstooth, denim, gabardine and serge are popular types of twill weaves.
Worsted Wool Worsted cloth is made from wool which has been carded, combed, and tightly spun into smooth, even fibers. Worsted wool is good for suit construction because it has a hard flat finish, resists wrinkles, and holds a nice crease.
Posted in Suit Smarts, Uncategorized
Suit Fabrics Explained
Traditionally most suits were made of wool because of its durability, looks and ability to hold a tailored shape. These days, many suits are made of wool blends and synthetic or natural fibers that are not wool. These new and old fabrics can go by a bewildering variety of names. Here is a primer on some of the more common fabrics you may encounter when shopping for a suit online:
corduroy
Corduroy Because of the way it is woven, corduroy looks like a sort of ridged velvet. The ridges are called “wales”, and the narrower the wale, the dressier the fabric.
suit flannel photo by Patrick Herron
Flannel The fabric of the famous “Man in the Grey Flannel Suit”, flannel is a soft, somewhat loosely woven fabric that drapes well and can be brushed for extra softness.
gabardine photo by TillyVanilly
Gabardine Gabardine is a tightly-woven twill fabric that is tough and durable with a diagonal rib on one side and a smooth surface on the reverse. Because of its durability and toughness, it was used in jackets worn by the famous polar explorers Roald Amundsen and Earnest Shackleton. When used in suits, gabardine holds a nice sharp crease and makes for a very durable suit.
Linen Sometimes used in summer suits, linen is made from flax fibers and feels cool and smooth to the touch. Linen has a refined look but wrinkles easily and can quickly wear at hems and collars.
Moleskin Moleskin is a heavy cotton fabric that has been sheared on one side to create a chamois-like nap. The comparison of this fuzzy nap to the silky short fur of a mole is what gives the fabric its name. It is a fabric that blends softness with durability and is sometimes used in footwear as well as for suits and outerwear.
Coming Next: More suit fabrics from Poplin to Twill
Posted in Suit Smarts
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