Windsor Tweed Suit

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
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Myopic Bookworm
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

Post by Myopic Bookworm »

Dust wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 12:02 pm They're more like "guidelines" than actual rules...

Aesthetic guidelines. Ones that help make an outfit that breaks one of the biggest social taboos (male skirt wearing) look as good (masculine?) as possible, lessening the incongruous nature of the final product. Makes us look as well put together, thought out, and intentional as possible.

Women play with proportions all the time, to look younger, sexier, etc. Sexy, especially, is not what we're going for. I wish we were at a point where men could have that kind of fun, but we're not. And for those with hesitant spouses, such things could spell disaster.

Even menswear that bends the rules a bit to emphasize the wearer's youth gets a fair amount of pushback in some circles. So many of us tread lightly...
I tend to agree. If I were a gay bloke in my twenties, I'd play hell with as many conventions as I dared, but I'm not, and I cannot push at more than one conventional boundary at a time (or maybe two) without feeling uncomfortable. I am aware of my own automatic mental reactions to the unconventional, even if I can set them aside. If you ever see me out in public in a mini skirt with sheer lingerie and high heels, you can assume that I'm either astoundingly drunk or raising money for charity. (In fact, it would have to be the latter, as I doubt I could walk in heels if drunk!)

As for jacket lengths, I watched some YouTube clips of Irish dancing, in the good old days (before Riverdance) when the men wore kilts for dancing, and the jackets are really quite long, so I think I shall try to worry less about it (and work on my unanswerable logical arguments for persuading Mrs Bookworm)!
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

Post by Jim »

Midas wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:16 pm Surely when it comes to rules for male skirt wearing, the only rule should be that there are no rules.
It should be, but there are laws many places about what may not show.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

Post by Dust »

Bodycon wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:17 pm Content warning This post is supposed to be mostly serious, but includes a bit of fun poking too.
Dust wrote: Tue Mar 01, 2022 12:02 pm They're more like "guidelines" than actual rules...
What do you consider the difference to be?
Okay, that quote was partly intended as a light-hearted movie reference to ease into the subject. Clearly missed the mark, but oh well...

But the difference is that guidelines aren't hard and fast. Feel free to bend or even break them. But they are a starting point. Most of us were super nervous at first. We were doing something new. Something both that we hadn't done before, and that we never see others doing either. We need a little direction. So we look at fashion as it is. We look at historical stuff. We look at both men's and women's fashions. But we also need a starting point, until we find our own style. Guidelines can and do help with that.

And for the first timers, it can save a lot of embarrassment and heartache if they get a little guidance on what does and doesn't work, what does and doesn't make them look ridiculous to the half of society that has been wearing such things since childhood. That half of society that also wields outsized influence in such things through approval and rejection. And as I mentioned in another thread, first impressions are powerful. So getting it right the first time matters a lot.

A lot of guys are more formulaic, process-oriented, systems thinkers, or mathematically inclined. For such people, having guidelines to follow, at least until they get their feet wet, can be a huge help. They can become a crutch. Or they can drive you crazy. But as I said, they are there as a starting point for anyone looking for one.

I tend in that direction myself, so I studied to deduce formulas that seem to work. I try things out, share what I've found, compare notes with others, and refine. Then I share again. Hopefully some new guy reading will get off to an easier start than I did as the result. I know I've spent more time and money on this than I'd care to admit.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

Post by rode_kater »

My take on this is that guidelines/rules are a useful start, and you should try to understand why they exist before understand when they can be broken.

For example symmetry. In general symmetry is more pleasing to the eye. But when done well, asymmetry can also look really good. But it's harder to pinpoint why.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

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Dust wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2022 3:23 am They're more like "guidelines" than actual rules...

Okay, that quote was partly intended as a light-hearted movie reference to ease into the subject. Clearly missed the mark, but oh well...
:lol: :lol: Yes, that went right over my head...Google says "Pirates of the Caribbean" I did watch it once, but didn't think much of it (apart from Keira Knightley who draws my attention).

I like this one: "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools." From Reach for the sky with Douglas Bader quoting some other pilot.
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K1 Black Fashion Kilt Hire Outfit

Post by shadowfax »

I notice that a kilt hire company has an outfit available called a "K1 Black Fashion Kilt Hire Outfit", with a black jacket and a black kilt.
Black waistcoat as well.

Image

BTW Kilthire also trades under the name of Eight Yards. They do made to measure, so they would sell the same, all black outfits.

Edit: The kilt fabric in the picture above, is probably "Dark Island" tartan. A properly registered, black tartan.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

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Bodycon, as I see it, and you may disagree, "guidelines" are recommended best practices that aim to set standards in the future and are highly subjective, making this difficult to enforce, whilst "rules" are commands that are binding on those subject to them, Rules have negative consequence associated with noncompliance.

A lot of the guidlines regarding fashion revolve around women's fashion and have been formulated and adapted over generations. But women break these guidelines all the time which is why I use guidelines rather than rules. We men have the option of following these guidelines where they make sense or forging our own and doing what we want as there isn't any history. Of course use whatever term you want but I see an order in severity from guidelines which are the less strict to rules that are more so to laws which are the strictest of all ad require real compliance.

Whatever.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

Post by Bodycon »

Hi Sinned,

When you challenge the term rules, they become guidelines; no doubt if challenged they will then become recommendations and so forth. Yet not long ago rules were rules e.g. you cannot wear a long jacket with a skirt.

I often find myself challenging these thoughts and postulations and do find it amusing that, when challenged, they are no longer rules, but some synonym which is less sever. That of course is a good thing. Proving that rules are not indeed rules is, I suppose, what my posts were about. :D
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

Post by STEVIE »

Bodycon wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:07 pm Proving that rules are not indeed rules is, I suppose, what my posts were about
Funnily enough that is where women have the edge on men too.
They are guided into ad-libbing their looks from childhood and some develop it to the point of a seemingly arcane artform.
In the vast majority of cases, boys do not get such encouragement and so we fall back on spurious rules and misguidelines.
We have years of catch-up to do but practice does make satisfying, if not wholly perfect.
Anyway, somebody said that rules were only made to be broken anyway, so have a smashing time.
Steve.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

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STEVIE wrote: Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:53 pmWe have years of catch-up to do but practice does make satisfying, if not wholly perfect.
Indeed, but one may be reminded of the old childhood tale of "Curiosity killed the cat." Sadly, the quote is never completed by parents, for it runs, "But satisfaction brought her back."

Thus, like cats, we find our way in the world -- in many ways. It's worth noting that "style" and "fashion" are two very different things -- one is timeless and the other entirely focussed on the NOW. I tend to focus on the former, as that's where I think the leverage may be had.
Anyway, somebody said that rules were only made to be broken anyway, so have a smashing time.
"Rules are there for the guidance of wise men and the absolute obedience of fools" comes to mind here.

What was that about cats?
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

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crfriend wrote: Thu Mar 03, 2022 11:42 pm What was that about cats?
A dog has a master, a cat has servants.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

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rode_kater wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 8:49 amA dog has a master, a cat has servants.
I'd always heard it as "Dogs have masters; cats have staff.", but it amounts to the same thing, and I can proudly state that I've been Chief of Staff for a couple of truly remarkable and wonderful beasts.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

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Call a dg and it comes, tail wagging. Call a cat and it takes a message and will let you know later.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

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Sinned wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 10:30 pm Call a dg and it comes, tail wagging. Call a cat and it takes a message and will let you know later.
Usually not if you are offering its favorite food.
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Re: Windsor Tweed Suit

Post by Fred in Skirts »

I am not a cat person!! They hate me and the feeling is mutual. :evil:

I am a DOG person!! :D

Right now I have two doggies in attendance at my house. One a German Shepard that sheds like a house a fire but he loves me and the feeling is also mutual, the other is a poodle who also loves me as well and he does not shed and I love him too.

As for cats I started to hate them when I was about 5 or 6 years old, my great Aunt had two Siamese cats that loved to sneak up on me and then grab my ankles and dig their claws and teeth in. I would come away bloody and in a lot of pain. Then my other Aunt received three cats of unknown parentage. They were also of the biting kind and I hated to go see either Aunt.
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind and the ones that mind don’t matter.
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