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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2859 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 31, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

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Thanks for the advice! I wandered over to my local Jos. A. Bank store and ended up with a suit I think I'm happy with. It may be that I'm lucky in terms of proportions, or that they offer a wider variety of off-the-rack sizes than in the past, but it seems like the only tailoring that it needs will be hemming the pants slightly. I did opt for a synthetic fabric, partially because it was cheaper, and partially because I actually liked the feel of it a bit more than the wool (still dry clean only). I'll consider that an experiment for now, I guess.

They did have a nice linen jacket I liked the look of, but didn't really have a use case for right now.

Ugh, synthetic suit. I was going to recommend something like https://www.spierandmackay.com/product/navy-suit-ss23

Unfortunately, they don't make them in tropical wool.

synthetic suit

I have mixed feelings on synthetics (setting aside environmental/sustainability). This one (from a reputable brand), at least, seems to avoid the cheap stiffness of the "discount graduation suit" or "cheap waitstaff uniform" synthetics that I think the original complaints were applied to. I find it amusing that the fashion and sewing communities always describe cotton, linen, and sometimes wool as "naturally cooling" and polyester, lycra, and nylon as the worst choices, while the outdoor and sports communities really reject cotton specifically and all my sportswear is almost exclusively some combination of those three synthetics.

Cotton, in particular, is really uncomfortable wet and I sweat profusely and easily (and often, see American South). After some experimentation, I actually prefer poly-blend shirts to cotton (which is nearly universally-recommended as "higher-quality" and "cooler") because they dry faster and don't visibly show dampness quite as much. I've also found that the synthetic fibers are more mechanically durable generally. I don't really expect this to fully translate to outerwear like a suit jacket, but again it's a bit of an experiment.

Your mileage may vary.

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