Colors And Style of Men’s Belt

Men’s Belt Basics:  Belt Colors
Leather should always match leather.  That rule stays with you in dress and casual wear:  brown leather shoes go with a brown leather belt, and black with black.  Glossy belts should be paired with highly-polished shoes; matte shoes go with matte belts.  If you’re wearing casual shoes that aren’t made of leather, you have more freedom to work with.  Cloth shoes can be paired with cloth belts of a different color.

Rare animal patterns can be very expensive, but should still be considered casual wear.  A very high-quality ostrich-skin belt is too ostentatious for a business setting (but can be very sharp-looking out on the town).  Snakeskin and other reptilian patterns are eye-catching options as well — just keep in mind how much attention you want being drawn to your midsection.  That’s where people’s eyes will be going if the belt is the most distinctive part of the outfit.  The same holds true for brightly-colored belts of more conventional materials.

Men’s Belt Basics:  Styles of Buckle
There are a few common ways of approaching the basic task of holding your pants up.  Most belts fall into one of these styles:

• Buckles with a tongue:  the belt slides through a loop of metal, and a metal tongue is slipped through a hole in the belt to pin it down.
• Buckles with a hook:  a flat metal (or plastic) plate is attached by slipping a hook on the back of the buckle through the front of the belt.
• Buckles with a sliding latch:  the belt slides through a metal latch, inside which a vertical peg presses the belt into place.
• Braided belts:  use a basic tongue buckle, but the belt is made of a woven leather braid rather than a flat piece of leather with punched holes.  The tongue can slip between any two strands.

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Handmade Custom Vests

 

Waistcoats (or “vests” in good American English) haven’t been this in style for decades.

Perhaps the recession made us all a bit more serious, and many of the guys out there who hoped to be boys forever decided to grow up.

Or perhaps we all just decided to think a bit more about history and a bit less about what was new, when future prospects seemed to dim.

But while vests have come back in style, attractive, interesting, and idiosyncratic vests are still absent from the stores.

1920s Style Vest

You can find a basic vest, but can you find a vest that someone spent some time designing?

We can design and make a one-of-a-kind vest that is completely designed to fit your body and your life.

Our waistcoats are drawn from the history of fine men’s dress but propelled forward into modern life through taste, judgement, and a selection of the best modern materials.

Our goal when we design is to take details from greatest pieces crafted over the past centuries and renew them by placing them in the context of contemporary life.

The white seersucker vest with the stand-up collar, wide lapels, and silver buttons, for example, is almost identical in style to a vest from the 1700′s that is in the V&A museum.

But when made up in the right fabric, with just the right proportions it does not look out of place at a summer picnic or garden party.

The most distinct detail on this vest is the forward sloped shoulder seams, that wrap the linen backs of the vest over onto the front.

The grey pinstripe vest is cut extra long for a slim early 1920′s look and is inspired by the same period in which the show Boardwalk Empire is set.

The heavy navy blue melton vest was inspired by a book on Victorian explorers of the Nile region that I had been reading and all of the wonderful paintings of the explorers.

I wanted a vest that I would be able to wear for work without getting destroyed with pockets that could hold all of my gear, and this was the result.

Photo By welovepictures.co.za

The vest is lined in cotton twill and is self-backed  —the perfect vest for working with your hands or repairing machinery.

The two Western style vests in the listing were designed in a similar frame of mind.  It is easy enough to find a Western style vest, but hard to find one that doesn’t seem like a costume.

With Austro-Hungarian Military Buttons

The heathered brown wool vest was designed for a 1950s style wedding in Hawaii, and I wanted something that would be both retro and Western but with a completely different sensibility than you would find if you were going line dancing.  

The grey pinstripe vest is almost identical.  Here, the Western yoke almost disappears into the pattern of the stripes.

This vest was also made for a wedding, but this one here in Colorado.  The fabric is an extremely breathable, open weave, tropical wool.

The dark grey vest with silver buttons has an early 20th century cast.  The buttons are vintage Austro-Hungarian military buttons and the front fabric is a mix-stripe flannel wool.  The result is a hip and youthful vest that draws on the well of history.

The wool windowpane vest pictured was made for a wedding in South Africa and is paired with a pair of trendy low-rise pants that we crafted and a Liberty print skinny tie that we made.  A beautiful plaid is ideal for an outdoor summer wedding (where black should generally be avoided).

The last few pics show some shots from my own wedding (and you can expect to see more of these pics soon).  When we design and make all of the pieces for a wedding (vests, shirts, hats, jackets, pants, dresses, ties, etc), the results are amazing.  

(Feel free to check out our women’s store for more pictures of our dresses: www.DenverDressmakers.com)

The picture of the bride and her father shows a brown gabardine vest with a green embroidered collar.  The groom’s father is shown in an off black vest with brown pinstripes (made from superfine wool) with brown wool pants, and a green cotton sateen shirt.  His vest is cut with a breast pocket that sports a cotton print pocket square.

The groomsman (in white) sports a silk matka vest with duppioni on the collar, welts, and back.  And the groom (in greens and browns) is wearing a suit that is cut from an Italian wool sateen.

All of these vests are just samples of our work.

Contact us by email (service@matthewaperry.com) and we will get to work designing a vest just for you.  You tell us a bit about yourself, and we will send you sketches and swatches until we find the perfect fabrics and style for your events and the life that you lead.

We make vests for customers all over the world.  So wherever you are we can deliver to you http://www.matthewaperry.com/.

Men Suits--Custom Tailored

Every suit that we make is unique and made for an individual client.

We don’t have 5 or 10 or even 500 designs.  

For every suit that we make, we start with the client and his own sense of style.

We ask him where he will wear the piece.

How often he will wear it.  How much he wants to stand out or blend in.

We ask him what kinds of motions he will be making, whether he will be dancing or reaching across a desk or sitting on a barstool with his jacket buttoned.

And then we mine the rich history of menswear for details from the past that can be dragged into the present and recreated to fit within the thick context of his individual life.

We do not set out to create something new.

But the distinct individuality of each human person gives birth to newness.  

But this newness is never merely superficial or contrived.

It is instead filled with meaning; it carries its past within it; it is purposeful.

This post showcases some of our unique recent pieces.

Many of the pictures show a black pinstripe suit that we made recently. 

This suit combines details from many eras to create a suit that is perfect for business, pleasure,—and getting married in.

The fabric is a gorgeous wool twill with bright white stripes.

Many of the details of the piece are borrowed from more sporty and casual suits of earlier eras.  

The pleats in the back above and below the back belt on the suit give the suit an “action back”.

This keeps the suit feeling slim while allowing for lots of extra movement in the back when driving, operating a mouse, or shuffling papers around on a desk.

The hip pockets are hacking flaps, which make for easy entry and comfortable slouching, but they are further accessorized with buttons which help to contain items of importance when the jacket is tossed upon a bed.

The shapes of the pocket flap and the cuffs are in one of the more interesting and distinct nineteen teens/early 20s styles and give the pieces a slight aura of dandyism despite the business-like orientation of the pieces.

The jacket and the vest are cut with peak lapels and are single breasted.  Like all of our “1909 Bespoke” suits, this jacket is finished with hand pick-stitching and distinctive vintage handwork tacks.

We also made the shirt, tie, and the tropical wool wedding gown shown, and always enjoy the chance to make as many pieces as possible for a special event or performance.

The next suit is almost completely different.  This piece, cut from a more finished black and navy basketweave tweed, is an utterly fitted “Mod” piece that has more of a 1960s look to it.

This jacket is styled with a wide upper collar but narrow lapels.  It has traditional hacking flap pockets with a ticket pocket and is finished with crowsfoot tacks on the pocket flaps and a simple handworked buttonhole on the lapel in navy.

The jacket has 2-button functional cuffs sewn with 30 ligne horn buttons for a more Mod look.

These buttons, like the buttons on the jacket, are a brown, rather than navy horn, all of which adds to the deliberate retro look of the piece.

The pants are slim “boot cut” low-rise pants with L-shaped jean pockets.  This detail gives the suit a sporty look and allows for a highly fitted seat.

L-shape pockets are also excellent for holding your keys versus standard slash pockets should you decide to take a rest on the grass.

The third suit (a tan herringbone flannel) is a unique take on daytime formalwear.  With this piece we wanted to do something that had the formality of a tuxedo but would work for daytime and outdoor events.

We wanted something that felt a lot more modern than a morning coat, but still felt pretty traditional. The design combines some Gatsbyesque 1920s details with a “space-age” 1960s look.

The lapels on the vest are made from a silk duppioni in cream, and the handworked boutonnière on the jacket is in a slightly contrasting tan.  The pockets have an angle-cut hacking flap.

The result is what we think of as “Garden Party” formal.

The next suit is in a classic silver pinstripe wool.  It is “tropical weight” with a dry hand.  All of this makes for a piece that is highly breathable.

The customer was looking for a suit for traveling, and a quite matte fabric like this has excellent wrinkle resistance.

The pants are based on a favorite pair of boot cut jeans that the client mailed to us.  This allowed us to get the ideal fit that he wanted and to make sure that the piece looked good with his cowboy boots.

Although some books on “dress etiquette” prescribe a vest that always covers the pant waistband, we went with a Western cut for this that would prominently display the client’s belt buckle in the notch of the vest hem.  The jacket also has cuffs, which are easily rolled up when feeling hot.

The final suit in this listing is cut from a gorgeous 2-ply wool pinstripe.

The client wanted a suit that would work for business but also a suit that didn’t feel stuffy or basic and could be worn for special occasions.

The style that we ended up designing is a classic 2-button business suit, but with a Mod-style angled cutaway hem and pointed flap pockets.

This pocket style was found on many early 20th century sportswear jacket styles and on some Western and 1970s styles.

Incorporating a flap like this into a modern suit creates a piece that utterly resists the look of an “stuffy old man” business suit, while otherwise retaining the classic and traditional look.

If you are considering a suit, please drop me a line via email (service@matthewaperry.com) and we can talk more.  

All of these suits are “muslin fit.”  Which means that we cut and sew cotton mock-ups of the suit and mail these to you to try on.  You send us your feedback and also digital pics; and we analyze the pictures to achieve a great fit that matches your personal send of style.  We make the majority of our suits for clients that are outside of Colorado and often outside of the US—But we love local clients as well.

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5 Reasons To Have A Military Wedding

1.  You have earned the right – simply put, this one of the perks of serving your country.
You may not get paid well, you may get shipped to a hostile land for 18 months, and you may have to have the same haircut for 20 years……..but you can dress like a future king on your wedding day.

2.  It sets the tone for the wedding – Weddings are naturally fun events, but when military uniforms are introduced into the mix they act as a catalyst and heighten the feelings and emotions.  Solemn moments are more reflective –  joyous moments are more joyful.  Perhaps it’s how the uniforms (and the history they represent) remind us that all that is beautiful and earthly is fleeting.  And that’s why we should cherish every moment with our good friends and family.

3.  It puts you on equal footing with the bride – Most grooms, especially in the pictures, play second fiddle to the bride.  When you wear your uniform, don’t be surprised when you start to become the person everyone wants a picture with.  The infusion of color, great fit, and classic lines shaped over centuries will make your outfit something everyone wants to have a picture with.  All you have to do is just smile!

4.  You save money – A large cost for many grooms and groomsmen are tuxedo rentals or the buying of new suits that actually fit.  You already own your uniform so no need to spend more there – assuming your groomsmen are service members as well they have the same luxury.  An added benefit is that your dress uniform should fit reasonably well thanks to inspections, you being in great shape, and military regulations requiring a form fit.  In fact for many men their dress uniform is the best fitting garment they’ll ever own (unless they go custom).
5.  You get to pull out a sword – I don’t need to elaborate on this point.  Anytime you can wear a sword and use it, outside of combat, makes for a memorable event.

 

A few points worth considering
Medals – If you’re newly commissioned or enlisted, chances are you have very few if any.  Don’t worry about it.  I personally love the look of a clean uniform without the fruit salad.
Swords – Be courteous of others and the institutions you’re interacting with.  Some churches do not allow swords inside – respect this and work around it.
Wearing your military uniform to a wedding as a guest – unless it is a military wedding where other uniformed men will be present, I advise caution in wearing your uniform and suggest you wear a suit.  Although you have earned the right to wear your uniform, the event you’re attending isn’t about you and a gentleman  isn’t out to steal the limelight from the bride and groom by displaying his medals and colors on another person’s big day.  Instead wear a well fitted classic wedding suit that subtly displays your masculine physique.

We *Don’t* want to wear: Your Dress Shirt

Surprised? I know. It seems these days you can’t shake a stick without hitting a TV commercial or magazine ad featuring a woman wearing a man’s white dress shirt (and presumably nothing else), buttoned just high enough and stopping just low enough. But you know what? I have no interest in wearing a man’s dress shirt, and I don’t know of any of my girlfriends who do either (though maybe we’re just not Sex & the City-level comfortable with that kind of talk). The starched collars don’t exactly scream comfort, and besides, we already have a nighttime option from your closet; see “Your t-shirt” above.

A reaction to all this sartorial subterfuge could be to get mad or annoyed. Women’s closets are already stuffed with clothes; do we really need to borrow yours to round out our wardrobe? Not really, but I suggest you go easy on your wife or girlfriend the next time she nicks your favorite (fill in the blank). Women love wearing their man’s clothes, almost any of them, but it’s not like she’s going to stretch them out. And if you’re lucky, she’ll wash what she wore, and even fold it so you don’t have to.
What’s more, and you probably know this already – I hope you know this already – it’s not so much about the perfect fit of your intramural football team t-shirt, it’s about it being YOUR intramural football team t-shirt. Us ladies can get possessive too. Wearing your clothes is a way to mark our territory…sartorially.