Clothing for a man of “a certain age”

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the first of those is just awful  The hat is hideous and untucked shirts showing below the jacket?  Just no!

The prices on the second lot – errmmmmmmmm.  You could buy a bike for the cost of an outfit!

Ah, I do miss living down in Gloucestershire, cultural home of the red trouser

A pair walked past me at House of Bruar last week, complete with mustard jumper and beige Harris Tweed jacket.

He looked just like the 5 mannequins in the window behind….

I’m proud to say I’ve just ‘invested’ in a couple of corduroy shirts, which seem to have gone down well with mrs_oab and some colleagues commenting on how good they look.

I too also take the ‘buy a decent, classic brand, and at least it’s cut well and made well’.

Suits. Skip the tie if you want to dress down.

I’m a “gentleman of a certain age” and I’ve just walked in from the pub – I’m wearing a T shirt in green, white and orange bearing a slogan made famous by a certain Irish mixed race musician, together with a Jack Wills hoodie, jeans and Adidas trainers.

I think that I’m rocking it and I will not be accepting questions at this time.

The more mature gent can’t get away with cheap clothes BUT you can wear one expensive piece combined with cheaper bits. Uniqlo currently are doing some reasonably priced nice corduroy shirts and marino three button sweaters.
For the more expensive bits I’d say Magee for tweed, Schott for leather, Edwin for jeans, Northampton makers for shoes, Carharrt WIP is good but Carharrt US is better. All expensive but classic styles that last literally for decades and don’t make you look like mutton dressed up as lamb or someone who’s just been released from a long stretch in the jug.

Surely this situation is ideal for a STW premium feature where TJ cycles to Hebden Bridge to undergo a fashion makeover courtesy of Brant and HebTroCo?

LIke it Cletus.  Now thats a challenge.  *checks map*

https://spoke-london.com/

Errrrrmmmm. Bespoke clothing, ‘spoke, clothes that speak to me…. Find your fit… Nope tooo much.

Well, for me and my legs they’re one of the few places I can easily get long enough trousers that also fit my waist. I like they do longer body short sleeve stuff too, which is very rare.

I have a pair of Spoke jeans and also some chino type trousers – but technical fabric that work for my Brompton commute.

I’m very impressed – not cheap but quality seems good to me.

good luck with this. it can be a bit of a minefield and you can get a bit carried away easily. take your time. decent shoes or boots that take a polish well (if you want!) and are comfy. a nice shirt. a decent pair of trousers (could arguably be jeans but if you buy pre-ripped you’re probably going off-piste at your time of life – no offence intended) sports jacket – why not?

i spent a lot of money on a pair of brogues i wasn’t too sure about that ended up going to charity. they were never comfortable and i never really liked the style. at least the shoe trees were worth keeping. i have a pair of clarkes now and they are comfortable and look nice. i’m sure the sophisticates will judge but they can **** off. Patagonia isn’t a bad shout but they tend to size up. good ethics, good quality, expensive but not overly so for what you get. nice casual brushed cotton shirts if that suits. wearing a pair of their cords now. finisterre i found poorly designed,  cheaply made, lasted no longer than next stuff. YMMV. howies make decent stuff but i wish they’d do brown cords again.

tk maxx does have some decent stuff, also sales from quality outlets can yield some great deals and if it’s not quite fitted a decent alterations place can be a massive boon for not much additional outlay. during covid i picked up a suit from JL in wool that fits like a glove down from 350 to 75 quid.

you’ll be golden if you enjoy wearing what you buy but if you’re not sure about it just put it back. there’s another day. we all know that fundamentally it’s what’s underneath that matters but if what you’re wearing makes you feel good you’ll rock it like a boss.

I have not owned any since my 20s when the quality available went to pot.  prior to that it was levi 501s red label only

I’ve got several pairs of Japanese selvedge denim jeans in unwashed indigo blue, that cost me about £35/pair, not so long ago. Mine are regular straight leg, with a profile almost identical to 501’s, the only difference is there is no fancy stitching on the pockets, or logo labels. Get them from Uniqlo. I’m currently wearing a pair of grey shorts, a Curve band tee shirt from the 90’s, with a dark red plaid flannel shirt, also from Uniqlo. When I went out earlier, I had a Lee Stormrider 101 blanket-lined denim jacket on over my flannel shirt, with a Uniqlo ultralight down gilet over the top, and a grey tweed six-panel duckbill cap, and a pair of old black Vans skate shoes I’ve recently had resoled.

Come July, I’ll be 69. I dress for myself, not for the opinions of anyone else.

Sue me.

I wouldn’t discount jeans at any age. They can be particularly good if you need somewhere to stow your piece.

You cannot have a blanket statement about age and jeans.
The way Simon Cowell wears his is not the same as how Iggy Pop wears his. 🙂

Just don’t tuck anything into them for god’s sake .

Whole world of interesting Selvedge Denim to look into maybe starting with below.

https://hiutdenim.co.uk/

Though this being Singletrack I’m sure someone will be saying how much! I get my jeans at Tesco and others will agree with the 2 brands mentioned and recommend other independent Selvedge Jeans manufacturers

I linked a nice pair of selvedge jeans for £40 on page 1.

Plenty of nice, good-quality options in between Tesco and the aspriationally priced hipster fodder.

 I dress for myself, not for the opinions of anyone else.

So does everyone else in the entire universe. I admire the cognitive dissonance of the very acutely fashion aware folks have about their choice of clothes in so much that are extremely particular about whet they wear and the signal that those choices project, while continuously proclaiming the fact in the face of all the evidence that they are not conscious at all about their style or choices and that they are anti fashion.

I honestly couldn’t tell you that brand of any of my clothes without checking the label (apart from my pants because I’m particular about a brand that are comfy for me) but all of it is high street.

So does everyone else in the entire universe.

You must know that’s just not the case? Many folk have to dress in a certain way in order to fit in with their employment and when you’re outside of work then there are still “expectations”, sometimes derived from convention and sometimes from the pressure of being part of a social “clan”. It’s true that we all react to these pressures in different ways but they still exist and still influence clothing choices.

You must know that’s just not the case?

the Spanish subtitles have nothing to do with it BTW…

The point that Mirranda makes is that we’re all of us, in the 21st century driven consciously or unconsciously by a massive fashion industry whether we like it or not. Anyone proclaiming that they are the height of fashion, or that that they have no fashion (an equal choice) or in fact that they are an individual is delusional.

A professor of archaeology once suggested to me that future archaeologists will presume that the tribe who live in Europe from Western Russia all the way to the British Isles were one homogenous group becasue of Ikea furniture, Heineken beer and Levis

The chap in petec’s post of 16 hours ago looks like he is in the process of shitting himself.

Folk do dress in clans for sure -the red trouser lot, the aging rockers still wearing band t shirts from the 90s to say nothing of those still trying to look like they did 30 years ago when they were cool 🙂

Clothing gives a lot of clues as to the tribe you are in.  some of these are more obvious than others

I got me one of these jumpers:

https://www.asphalte.com/en-US/h/products/the-perfect-jumper?variant=39756153520222

Honestly, it’s the best piece of clothing I’ve got.

OK, you have to wait about 3 months for it to arrive, but heck, it’s worth the wait.

I’m going to get more of their stuff.

I’m doing a speech to politicians shortly – I have no idea how to dress.  Jeans and a sports jacket was suggested.  I nearly had a conniption 🙂

Thank you @nickc. I now know how Montane arrived at the colour of my favourite running cap 😁

I used to think Montane just had a bin of colour swatches and they blindfolded an intern who fished them out. Then I watched the devil wears Prada and it all clicked into place 🤣

-the red trouser lot

The red trouser site was closed down becasue the “targets” started to make sure they’d get photo’d wearing them to end up on the site. There was a competition  in some Army regiments to see how many shots they could get of themselves on the site

+ 1 on Spoke for trousers – easy to get fit that is bang on, comfy and seem to last well. Overshirts from likes of Frahm – I have a couple. Some nice polo shirts, I have a couple from Rapha and Rohan. For business casual, usually Spoke trousers, a well fitted proper shirt (I like M&S) and a blazer type jacket – I have a couple from Next i think. More often though I wear a suit (Slaters – i have 4) and open necked shirt – looks smarter in pretty much all work related situations that I am in. Oh, and smart leather shoes, black or brown, I get mine in M&S as they fit me well.

tj, for your upcoming talk – black lederhosen, knee length socks, shiny shoes, properly ironed white shirt; that should get the politicians’ interest…

Alternatively, your tartan suit complete with tam.

LOLz

I’m doing a speech to politicians shortly – I have no idea how to dress. Jeans and a sports jacket was suggested. I nearly had a conniption

Why not ?? That’s what I’d wear with a shirt… and smart trainers.
Obviously this time of year you’d want a shirt or something as well.
If it seemed like an event to dress up I might wear some dark chino’s and a semi matching supermarket shirt.

For a bit of mischief I’ll illustrate with a photo of a “serious work event” – only Boris is wearing a suit.
Look to the back and what people are wearing for work at number 10.

You were completely comfortable wearing outdoor clothing for years … if this is an important presentation then it’s more important you feel comfortable wearing whatever you wear than stand there thinking “is this me”?

Jeans trainers and a sports jacket is the Clarkson look.  Not happening.

For sure ill make sure i am comfy in what i wear.  Likely to be black dress trousers and and a pink polo shirt

Maybe a nice jumper or if i can borrow a jacket off my dad i might wear that😎🙄🤣

Join a nudist colony, problem solved!

Brrrrrrrrr

Jeans trainers and a sports jacket is the Clarkson look. Not happening

That was what I wore at Uni sometimes. Drainpipe jeans with big turnups to blend in with all the punks. I was a skinny bastard back then, but I still have a sports jacket from that era that kind of fits.

Have a look at Community Clothing. British made, we should support that. Also lot sof womed like to see a man dress in asmart suit when they are deressed up.woth the investment, if youre not loaded, you’ll likely have to go outsdie UK manufacture to gte a decent price though.

why is it called a sports jacket when it’s clearly unsuited for any sort of sport?

(except maybe 1920’s football reffing)

I always fancied a houndstooth

For someone who claims to be immune to marketing you’re letting yourself be massively influenced by how one person dresses 🤣

Eh?

Your now in your autumnal years so watch a few episodes of still game and go for the brown shades but not light shaded Chinos in case you have a leaky tap , you may end up with a shaded isle of man design showing on your front

why is it called a sports jacket when it’s clearly unsuited for any sort of sport?

Huntin’ (and other horsey stuff) shootin’ and fishin’ innit.