No brand recommendations, we have brand sheets for that. No look suggestions, we have Panache for that. Here are some basic tips that each of you can take on and implement. All in five minutes flat. Or almost! Enjoy watching. Christophe.
Dear friends, it's Friday.
And you know what that means?
Yes of course, that means you are on the weekend...
But also that it's time for a new episode of (Very) Well Dressed!
And today we are going to answer a very basic question , but one that continues to be a source of frustration and errors, sometimes even after three, four, five years of experience with the style…
What to do when you are between sizes?
It's all well and good to know, in theory , how an "ideal" garment should fit us, down to every detail.
We would have our little list to check, and we would look for the perfect cut on the shelves until we found THE right sleeve length, THE right fit, with the volumes just right for us...
But in practice, this is rarely what happens in ready-to-wear.
1. What you can't find "the perfect fit" for in stores
Ready-to-wear clothing is cut to fit the greatest number of people , not to be "perfect" on a single individual.
It's a simple pragmatic calculation :
If you have 100 men to dress, it is better that 50% of them have sleeves that are too long (imperfect, but "wearable"), than to end up with 30% of them having sleeves that are too short (unwearable).
This is how ready-to-wear works .
We can deplore this, but we must also keep in mind that without these "mass production" logics, clothing would never have become so affordable for the "popular" and "middle" classes.
Ready-to-wear already existed in the 19th century, but it was only after the Second World War that it became so established.
2. The art of good compromise
So we have to deal with the inevitable imperfection when choosing the size.
Which, in practice, means making compromises.
When you're deciding between sizes, you're basically choosing between one imperfect solution and another.
- “Am I okay with the shoe being slightly tight in width?”
- "Is it better for the shirt to fit perfectly but the collar to be too big, or for the collar to fit perfectly but the shirt to be a little tight?"
- “Will my sweater, which was a little tight when I bought it, loosen up?”
3. No style without touch-ups
I've always said that unless you have the body of a "dressing room model" , alterations are not "optional" to be well dressed.
This statement shocks many people, who are somewhat put off by the idea of having to pay even more for a so-called "ready" to wear garment.
But despite their considerable cost, they are an essential asset for our "unique" bodies to dress them in clothes with standardized cuts.
So we're going to talk about the alterations that are possible for each type of clothing, and those that are not .
Example: the length of a shirt can be altered, but not in any way because of the buttons. Many learn this at the cost of a shirt that is permanently ruined...
You might be surprised to see that this is the most central topic of the video.
And for good reason, when faced with an imperfection in ready-to-wear, the real question that solves everything is...
"Can I edit this properly or not?"
...
Enjoy watching!
PS: In this video I am wearing...
An ABCL Garments shirt
