Surgeon’s cuffs

Look familiar? Surgeon cuffs originated in the military. Here, a Foot Private’s tunic, 1865. Fort York, Heritage Toronto.

A sign of a good dresser is the wearer’s attention to detail. When a man cares enough to be mindful of the finer details of dressing, he will insist on  surgeon’s cuffs on his suit jackets.

On suits and jackets, there are usually two to four buttons at the lower edge of each sleeve. Off-the-rack jackets have non-functioning buttons decorating the outside of each sleeve, a practice that originated in the military when buttons, or pips, worn at the front of the uniform sleeve indicated rank.

Military pips were worn with regimental lace (braid) stitched and pressed into a faux buttonhole (this page shows how to make your own) has dubious beginnings, but we do know that the cuff decoration began as a deterrent to dirtying one’s tunic. One source claims the sleeve buttons “began as an effort by Lord Nelson to keep young midshipmen and cabin boys from wiping their noses on their sleeves.”

Functioning buttons on the other hand, buttons used as closures with real buttonholes are known as “surgeon’s cuffs”. Nowadays, surgeon’s cuffs are worn for style, but when they were first developed, practicality was at top of mind. The Economist explains the history of the surgeon’s cuff:

Savile Row was inhabited largely by surgeons before the tailors moved in during the 19th century, and their influence can be seen in the “surgeon’s cuff”. On the most expensive suits the cuff buttons, which mirror the pips of military rank, can be undone, allowing the sleeve to be rolled back. This let surgeons attend patients spouting blood without removing their coats—an important distinction that set them apart from shirt-sleeved tradesmen of the lower orders.

In this way, surgeon’s cuffs become an indication of social rank (200 years ago, doctors were “upper class”) and to this day are typically found on higher end, tailored garments.

Holland Esquire jacket with contrast piping and covered buttons.

Philip Zappacosta at Nanni Couture in Toronto says, “surgeon’s cuffs are an indication to others of your refined taste in clothing.”

Philip suggests to leave the bottom 1-2 buttons unbuttoned to showcase the detail on a jacket, and other Italian clothiers I deal with also insist on having at least one button open.

For a more casual look, Philip says, “the jacket cuff can be rolled up slightly to show off more shirt cuff, cuff links, watches, or jewellery.” Revealing the lining, especially if it’s bright and interesting, will also be shown when the cuff is turned back.

Nanni carries beautiful and refined tailored goods like Corneliani, an Italian lifestyle brand, and  Holland Esquire, a smaller and unique label designed by Nick Holland, a major UK tailor, who weaves elements of old world tailoring in his modern line. Both lines feature surgeon cuffs on their jackets.

Sporting a surgeon cuff is always fantastic, but remember, once the surgeon cuffs are created on a jacket, the sleeve length should not be altered.  Unless you have the arm length for a perfect off-the-rack fit, beware of buying finished surgeon’s cuffs – changing the sleeve length will throw off the proportion of the buttoned cuffs and it will just look silly. Good tailors will not sew in the buttons and buttonholes until the sleeve length is properly fitted to the client – this is optimal and strongly suggested if you want to do it right.

Guess the era!

This week, we’re going to test your spacial-temporal abilities and see if you can visualize the gentleman’s coat from the pattern pieces below and match it to one of the coats below:

Your choices:

A. A two-piece fitted doublet with lower tabs worn with “bag breeches” from 1630, Flanders.

B. Men’s frock coat with deep back pleats from the 1830s.

C.  The Justaucorps, a French coat from the early 18th century.

If you chose C, you’re correct! The Justaucorps, an excessively pleated, stiffened, and decorated coat of French origin,  worn during the late 17th and early 18th century period when aristocratic men were at their fanciest and most extravagant. This period for well-to-do men was completely over-the-top, putting women’s costume to shame in Europe.

This coat was collarless and heavily trimmed in  ribbon, braid, and embroidery, and covered with dozens buttons connecting the back skirts, a line in front to fasten the coat, and useless buttons adorned the pocket flaps. The enormous cuffs, running the length the wrist to the elbow, into place on the “pagoda” sleeve.

This heavily-adorned, deeply-pleated coat topped a long, stiffened, skirted sleeveless waistcoat – the first three-piece suit! Shirts made of linen or silk had showy lace cuffs, worn with a loosely knotted 7 -8′ long neck cloth (forerunner of the tie).  Sometimes a sash tied around the waist. Breeches and hose  covered the trunk and on the gent’s feet were heeled shoes or boots with red soles and heels. Men wore long, curly wigs and carried tricorne hats (with three points) under their arms because the tall, curly wigs prevented the hat from sitting firmly on the head.

Men carried ribboned walking sticks and took to wearing fur muffs to keep their hands warm in cold weather, often with little pockets inside to carry their snuff boxes. Colours of the period were bright – yellow, green, and red, getting away from the dark, dull colours of the Commonwealth era.

Both men and women painted their faces with powdered lead and/or arsenic to make their skin white, and applied rouge and lipstick – sometimes a false beauty spot was applied to the face for ornamentation and in some cases, to cover facial scars from ailments like small pox. Whitening the skin signified the class of the wearer – the aristocracy didn’t work / didn’t outside where his skin would have become darkened by the sun’s rays. However, a pristine, lily-white face didn’t come without a price.

Although this era was known as the Age of Enlightenment, most fashionable men and women poisoned themselves with red and white lead make-up and powder.  The make-up they used caused the eyes to swell and become inflamed, attacked the enamel on the teeth and changed the texture of the skin causing it to blacken, it was also not uncommon to suffer baldness… It was known that heavy use of lead could cause death. (Source.)

The simple two-button suit that modern men wear is an extremely boiled-down version of the grossly elaborate 300-year old suit that required assistance to put on. Attendants dressed the gentry in coats and waistcoats made of heavy satin, silk, and velvets which I imagine must have weighed a ton and no doubt affected the joints of the wearer.

In the modern era, we might have our wardrobe problems, though they’re miniscule compared to the lengths that men of the early 18th century went to in showing themselves and their wealth off. The excessiveness of this period is a shining example of the human ego knowing no bounds.

Note – Immediately following this post, In the Key of He is scaling back posts to release every two weeks.

Collars and cuffs

19th century detachable collar.

People notice the state of your clothes and if you’re running around in dirty collars and cuffs, this takes away your polished, professional look.

Victorian men were the most efficient shirt-wearers of the modern era with starched, detachable collars and cuffs easily replaced or rigorously cleaned, starched, and put back in place with studs. (For further reading on historical cuffs and collars, read this great blog.) By the early 20th century, cuffs and collars grew into the body of our shirts and have remained attached ever since – good for clothing efficiency but not good for instantly removing hard-to-clean grimy cuffs and oily collars.

It’s a shame to have to retire a shirt because of a dark ring around the inner collar or on the inside of your cuffs when the body and sleeves of the shirt are intact, so here’s help.

Collar care

When hanging your shirts up on hangers, whether to air dry or to put into your closet, you can extend the life of your shirt by buttoning the top button to keep the collar band in shape.

Sandwiched in between the back and front fabric of the collar and the collar band is the fusing (also known as interfacing) that gives shape and body to the collar pieces. Doing up the top button will keep your collars rounded and in good shape.

Collar stays

Does your collar curl? Sport shirts have a “soft” collar without as much fusing as a dress shirt because it is meant to be worn open at the neck, and dress shirts have “hard” collars with more stiffening because they support ties that need a firm, shaped foundations. Both types of collars can fall prey to curling collar points.

Avoid premature curling (and dye loss for that matter) by spending a little more on your shirts. Inexpensive shirts are not made of high-quality fabrics with good dyes and fusing, and you may find that after a few washes, not only has the collar curled, but the colour has dulled and the fusing has come away from the fabric and looks bubbly. Money-wise and image-wise, this is not a good investment.

Mother-of-pearl collar stays.

Collar stays stiffen the collar points by sliding between two lines of stitching on the underside of a shirt collar (almost always featured on a dress shirt and some sport shirts). This helps the collar hold its shape and gives it a longer and healthier life.

Most off-the-rack shirts have plastic stays which are fine, but a gent who takes pride in his clothing will invest in metal (brass, silver), enamel, bone, or mother-of-pearl stays. Remember to remove them before laundering so you don’t lose them.

Ring around the collar

Though the body of your shirt is clean, you may still notice a dark ring around the inside of your collar. This is a stain of our skin’s natural oil, grooming products, sweat, and dirt, and it’s hard to remove with regular machine washing. If you’ve got some stubborn collar stains, try this:

• Wet the collar and apply your choice of: liquid laundry soap or laundry bar soap (i.e. Sunlight) along the soiled band. I have also heard of using cream of tartar, shampoo, and a paste of vinegar and baking soda to remove collar stains;
• Scrub with your fingers, a cloth, or a toothbrush but take care not to scrub too hard or you could damage the fabric;
• Depending on the severity of the stain, either wash in hot water or pour boiling water over the collar and let soak for several hours before washing in hot water. Remember to keep your whites separate from your colours or risk tinting your white shirt with dye from the coloured shirt.

If the ring remains on a white shirt, try wetting the collar again and sponge a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide and water, let sit for 30 minutes, then wash again in hot water.

If you just couldn’t be bothered, take the soiled shirt to the dry cleaners and make sure to point out the collar so they know how to clean it.

Cuffs

If you are lucky enough to get your shirts from shirt maker, Marlon Durrant Bespoke Shirts in Toronto, he does a practical collar and cuff replacement program for his high quality shirts. Md’s shirts are excellent investments as it is, and this value-add program says a lot about the integrity and quality of his garments and his business. I also see it as an environmentally conscious program in that it saves creating a whole new shirt.

For those wearing off-the-rack shirts, you may find everyday sweat, oil, and dirt mixed with the day’s food, drink, and anything else you get your hands into ends up on your cuffs. If you wear French-cuffed shirts, you may notice a discoloured strip on the outside fold; barrel cuffs soil inside and out. Follow the ring around the collar steps to clean your cuffs.

There you have it, gents – no more excuses for dirty collars and cuffs!

The black dandy

During February, we looked at black America during the rock and roll period, focusing on music and style. We watched black expression and black identity blossom, echoing the civil rights movement as black people demanded more rights, freedom, and respect. This post is a follow-up to the Black History month series that will discuss black dandyism.

A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon his physical appearance, showy clothing, refined language, and leisurely hobbies. It is a term that originated in Britain during the late 18th century (think Beau Brummell) and carried on into the 19th (Oscar Wilde and Lord Byron are famous dandies of the period).

French poet, Charles Baudelaire (1821 – 1867) defined the dandy as one who elevates aesthetics to a living religion, and “contrary to what many thoughtless people seem to believe, dandyism is not even an excessive delight in clothes and material elegance. For the perfect dandy, these things are no more than the symbol of the aristocratic superiority of his mind.” (source)

In another age, philosopher, Albert Camus (1913-1960), had his own opinion about dandies, saying, “The dandy creates his own unity by aesthetic means. But it is an aesthetic of negation. “To live and die before a mirror”: that according to Baudelaire, was the dandy’s slogan. It is indeed a coherent slogan. The dandy is, by occupation, always in opposition. He can only exist by defiance.”

Between these two, dandyism comes across as snobbery and aesthetic spite. But does dandyism still exist, and if it does, what does it look like?

Dandy lions

There is a movement among some urban African-American men who embrace 18th century dandyism and mix it with their African roots. These “dandy lions” express a modern version of black dandyism.

Shantrelle P. Lewis, curator for the photography and film exhibit, “Dandy Lion: Articulating a Re(de)fined Black Masculine Identity,” explains to The Root DC, the African-American blog on the Washington Post site, that a “dandy lion” is “a new statement on black masculinity within a contemporary context. He is a man of elegance, an individual who remixes a Victorian era fashion and aesthetic with traditional African sensibilities and swagger.” Have a look at some examples of dandy lions here to get a sense of their wonderful styles here.

Ms Lewis says that the universal image of a black male is negative and not reaffirming, and there needs to be more expressions of black masculinity available.

You don’t have to be thug or an athlete or dress like everyone else with the sagging pants, exposed boxers and oversized white tees to be a man. Express creativity and individuality. That’s what dandy lions seek to express, especially to a young generation that’s also paying tribute to the older generation.

It’s interesting that this dandy movement, now over 200 years old, has changed with the times and been embraced by new generations of people. Its current resurgence comes at a time when world economies are sluggish and the brightly-coloured suits, flashy socks, and silk hankies seem ironic, but as Ms Lewis points out, a popular trend is to dress well in inexpensive vintage clothes. Modern dandyism borrows from the past to create a new expression of the present.

“Younger men who are opting out of the traditional form of hip-hop fashion are creating a new expression of hip-hop aesthetic,” she says.

Ghetto Rags

I have been a fan of Big Rude Jake, a fantastic Toronto swing band, for many years and I was lucky enough to be a member of the audience for their recently recorded live album. For that show, Jake wore a long, flashy 3-piece suit,  gooey with fabric, and oozing with style. When I asked him about it, Jake told me that when he tours the U.S., he likes to shop in men’s apparel stores that cater to the black community, and that’s where it came from.

Jake in "ghetto rags".

He tells me that these shops are frequented mostly by poor and working class black families, and the clothes that these shops carry are known as “ghetto rags”.

“The fabric on these suits are not the best material,” he says, “but the styles are always wild and the colours are bright and fun. Same with the shirts, socks, and shoes.  There is a strong retro feel to the designs, and a kind of cool, jaunty elegance. The feedback I get when I wear one of these numbers is alway positive. People rave about them!”

One thing I learned from doing the Black History month series is that the civil rights movement had one goal: freedom, and this came in many forms. Part of the freedom people worked for was freedom of expression through music and through style, and this molded African-American identity. During the 60s and 70s, African-Americans embraced their African heritage through style, bright colour, and clothing, and the modern black dandy, in his fancy suits in vivid colours, also reflects an African influence.

Jake makes an interesting point in that “Wealthier black people often adopt the dreary fashion statements of the dominant white culture, which, these days, tends to favour drab colours over sharpness and pizzazz.”

He says that the truly impoverished make an effort to look glamourous with bright colours and fancy suits when the occasion calls for it. In many ways, this is about self and cultural respect, and it’s no surprise that the people most amazed by Jake’s brilliant stage clothes are white people. “They just never get to see a man in a purple double-breasted suit!”

Homophobia

When people think of dandyism, Oscar Wilde may come to mind. Wilde was a brilliant author and playwright of the 19th century who loved to dress in fancy clothing and happened to carry on an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, but his dandyism and his affair with Bosie, as Wilde called him, is purely coincidental.

Through her exhibition, Ms Lewis confronts the homophobia that exists in the African-American community because “many people attribute dandyism with sexuality and homosexuality. Just because someone dresses well doesn’t mean they are gay, and just because someone is gay doesn’t mean they dress well.”

The dandy lion exhibition seeks to confront homophobia, breaking any links between taking pride in oneself and sexual orientation (much like the modern urban metrosexuals who despite their good taste in clothing, culture, wines, and grooming products, are straight and proud of it).

“All it takes sometimes is exposure to an idea to be picked up and embraced by young people,” Ms Lewis says.

A range of role models is absolutely to the benefit of black youth throughout the US, challenging the sweeping negative stereotypes of black men so often supported and sustained by the US media. With any luck, the modern dandies, the dandy lions, are breaking that mold and offering a more positive cultural identity to black men in the US and abroad.

Are you interested in looking dandy yourself? Check out Pimpernel Clothing and the Gentleman’s Emporium for Victorian-inspired clothing.

Black history month: Black Power

It’s February, the month where we celebrate the lives and times of African-Americans that have changed the historical landscape. During February, In the Key of He will recognize some of the greatest and most stylish black musicians of the modern era.

Last week, we discussed the champions of Berry Gordy’s Motown Records in their matching skinny suits, glorious harmonies, and tight choreography. This week, we’ll have a look at conditions that shaped the style of this period of social turbulence that turned everything upside down and inside out.

The Black Power movement of the late 60s raised social and cultural awareness and motivated people to change. With a new consciousness of who they could be as a people and what kind of role they could play in society, African-Americans got organized and started talking, supporting leaders who helped spread the message of freedom. The movement was political, and as it goes with any political movement, ideas about what “Black Power” was and how to achieve it splintered and collected in opposite corners – the non-violent movement associated with Dr. King on one side, and the armed and angry Black Panther Party on the other.

Stokely Carmichael, an organizer of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), in line with the NAACP  (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and Dr. King’s stance on peaceful protest, civil disobedience, and integration, coined the “Black Power” phrase, describing it as “black people coming together to form a political force and either electing representatives or forcing their representatives to speak their needs.”

This side of Black Power sang We Shall Overcome in solidarity with all people, supporting full integration of non-whites into the then-segregated society.

The other side of Black Power supported conscious segregation from whites, the “oppressors” of blacks. Some argue that the Black Panthers responded with violence to the violence that they experienced in their neighbourhoods at the hands of white police officers. Black Panther spokesman, Eldridge Cleaver said, ”…these racist Gestapo pigs [the police] have to stop brutalizing our community or we’re going to take up guns, we’re going to drive them out.”

Panther members were out to protect their community. They fashioned themselves as their own Black Panther army in black berets and hip-length black leather coats, and toted guns.  Their first platform point reads, ”We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our black and oppressed communities. We believe that Black and oppressed people will not be free until we are able to determine our destinies in our own communities ourselves, by fully controlling all the institutions which exist in our communities.” (source)

In between these two extremes was every other political opinion, but everyone had freedom and the right to their own identity in common. In 1966, Carmichael said, “We must wage a psychological battle… for black people to define themselves as they see fit, and organize themselves as they see fit.”

And so began a new self-appointed black identity in the United States.

The echo of society

African Kente cloth

The prescribed formality of the early 60s was abandoned for freedom of movement, expression, and identity, especially in Black America, where the shape of beauty, sculpted by white hands, was being smashed apart. In black America, African-Americans began to look like African-Americans – men began to abandon hair straighteners to make them blend into a white society (read about the “conk” in the first post of this series), opting instead for the natural afro – big, beautiful, and quintessentially black. Traditional African garments like flowing caftans were popular and African textiles like woven cotton Kenta cloth from Ghana were worn with pride.

In New Day in Babylon: The Black Power Movement and American Culture, 1965-1975, William Van DeBurg explains clothing style in the 1960s and 70s as an expression of Black Power. “Though many of the popular trends of the movement remained confined to the decade, the movement redefined standards of beauty that were historically influenced by Whites and instead celebrated a natural “blackness.””

As Stokely Carmichael said in 1966, “We have to stop being ashamed of being black. A broad nose, thick lip and nappy hair is us and we are going to call that beautiful whether they like it or not.”

As the civil rights movement settled in and a black aesthetic took root, black art, sport, and music became more political. The poetry and theatre of Amiri Baraka, Black Power salutes at the 1968 Olympics, and the black anthems like James Brown’s “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud) continued to inspire Black America and lead the people towards freedom. This gave recording artists loud and lucrative voices, giving them better control of their public image and their artistic craft.

Dr. Gregg Akkerman, professor of Jazz at the University of South Carolina Upstate explains in his Youtube lecture series that Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were among the first musicians who broke away from Motown’s artistic and commercial control:

Stevie Wonder in corn rows, bracelets, and caftan, 1972.

“Stevie Wonder renegotiated his contract with Motown to get complete artistic control over his music, and this was a big thing for Berry Gordy to hand over. He created music that addressed real-life black issues but crossed over pretty well to white audiences… He broke away from Gordy’s control of using songs written by Gordy’s songwriters and playing with his house band, only to develop a sound that had never been heard before  - Stevie wrote the songs, sang the songs, and played all of the instruments on his early albums.”

In the 70s, Marvin ditched the formality of the suit and took on the ease and playfulness of the 70s, getting funky here.

Like Stevie, Marvin Gaye incorporated his own African-American opinion into his music, giving us 1971′s wildly popular “What’s Going On?” album. Interestingly, this album was released on Motown’s subsidiary label, Tamla – Gordy was sure the record would nose-dive. It was Marvin’s first self-produced record, an early concept album with songs running together, told from the point of view of a Vietnam war vet, coming home to injustice and suffering (Marvin’s brother served in the US army in Vietnam for three years). It is the record that gave us wonderful and emotional songs like “Mercy, Mercy Me” and “What’s Going On”.

Both of these artists experienced the restrictions of segregation and artistic control in their early careers, only to work toward the common goal of freedom and an African-American self-appointed cultural identity. Through music, they broke through racism and oppression and challenged artistic boundaries. Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye went from the restrictive “white” standards of neat suits and cuff links to a full transformation that embraced their African past and symbolized the magnificent strides that the Black Power movement took.

My life with the fellas

It’s Christmas week and we’re all preparing for holiday time – which I want to be a part of too – so for the second last post of 2011, I’m going to refrain from getting heavy into research and instead bring you a little personal history. Why? Because people often ask me why I work with men only and this seems like a good time to share.

That's me in the middle.

Childhood

I was brought up with boys, namely, my two boy cousins, one of which was born 5 days before I was (we just had our birthdays over the last week). My cousins influenced me greatly, and when my younger brother came along, I was surrounded by boys, playing “boy” games, playing with “boy” toys, talking about “boy” things. I always had more boy friends than girl friends (still true). Consequently, this influenced my way of thinking and understanding,  and I went out of my way to be accepted by boys and try to fit in with them, and I suppose this is where my interest in males in general began.

Clothing

I can’t explain why, but I have always been fascinated with men’s clothing. During my late teens, I started understanding my build and found that men’s pants fit me better than women’s pants did (being 5’2 in the 80s, when women’s pants were high-waisted, was a recipe for disaster – pant waists went half-way up my back which made me look ridiculous).  With a simple alteration to take in the waist, I found that men’s trousers were a much better fit, giving a roomier thigh and a better fit in the rise because I am short-waisted (“rise” is the measurement from crotch to the top of the waistband). I also liked the deep pockets. I really came to appreciate the simplicity and fit of men’s clothing by wearing men’s garments.

Back in those days, I guess I was an artsy kid who stuck her nose in philosophy books and listened to the original “alternative” music that was mostly British and definitely underground. I shopped at second hand stores that had a lot of clothing from the 1960s and loved to wear men’s sport coats from that era (with the sleeves rolled up of course).

In 1986, I graduated from high school and rented a tuxedo to wear to my graduation. I made a gold sleeveless top to go under the jacket and found a black matte satin shoe with pointed toes and a low heel. Most of the girls in my class wore puffy, ruffled satin dresses to the grad – many in white for some reason. I loved my outfit, the substantial feeling of the tail coat, the smooth look of the cummerbund, and the ease of the trousers.

The same year, I got a job in the men’s department at a prominent Canadian department store. This is where I learned a tremendous amount about men’s clothing, textiles, and care of fabrics (I wonder if anyone invests in training for their staff like this anymore). I was fascinated by the items in the “men’s furnishings” department – tie clips, hankies, socks, ties, Arrow dress shirts, underwear, and robes, much more so than the women’s stuff on the upper floors.

It took a long time, but eventually I got to wearing more women’s clothing than men’s and by the late 1990s/early 2000s, I got quite girly about it. Now that I work exclusively with men, I’m veering back to my love of menswear  and having suits made at men’s tailors. I love the comfort and the ease of men’s clothing, and often wear shirts and ties with suits and heels to work.

Curious

One of the things that drives me is that I’m curious. Curious about most things, but not all things – math and hockey are the immediate examples that come to my mind. I did a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre design (costume) and started doing a double major in psychology until I hit the point when I would have to take a statistics class, and I was terrified of this idea. (Now I wish I had taken that class so I could understand the statistical information in the research I look at.)

The psychology classes really opened my eyes and helped me understand the social aspect of humans. Social psychology plays a large role in the masculine research I do, explaining the influence of nurture and how it affects us. This has helped me understand the ways in which men have existed in the past, how they exist in the present, the issues that face them, how society expects them to deal with these issues, and the consequences of social imposition.

The last time I took a science class was in grade 10, which I failed and had to re-take in summer school. Other than that, I just passed my natural science class in university (I took geology for some reason), and once I got through that, I abandoned the subject for several years. Now I find myself driven to understand WHY, and I look to science, social and natural, for answers (it’s much easier to digest now that I want to understand it and can choose the way it is presented to me). Since my favourite topic is the masculine condition, I like to read about neurology and endocrinology to understand how my favourite subjects operate in the world. Looking at men from scientific and social angles helps me understand them, communicate with them, and ultimately, helps me help them.

ACT

Another thing about me is that I’m not afraid. I like to do things that have never been done before. Becoming the first woman in Canada to specialize in men’s image is certainly among my trailblazing efforts and I’m quite proud of this.

I am also proud of the work that I have done with the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) , where I volunteered for several years. I had a very dear friend in the 1990s who was HIV+ and a client at ACT who introduced me to volunteer work.  I loved the experience and dove deeply into volunteering, learning about HIV and AIDS, the stigma around the illness, and the issues that gay men face. I was the first “volunteer extraordinaire” recognized by ACT in 2002, and was the first woman in the history of the agency to volunteer for gay men’s outreach program, where I helped to mold the program, trained outreach volunteers, facilitated workshops, and spent 5 years out on the front lines handing out condom and lube packages at gay bars in they gay ghetto of Toronto.

It was here that I learned something about myself. During my time in outreach, I constantly engaged men about safer sex and social issues, and I was a good listener. On so many shifts, I was humbled by men opening up to me and pouring out their feelings and experiences because, I decided, they had no one else to talk to. Evidently, this didn’t happen to any of the other volunteers in the outreach program and I understood that I had something that could help people.

One of the best things I learned at ACT was about judgement, or what it is to judge and why we shouldn’t. I learned that as humans, we judge; it’s natural to us. If we didn’t judge, we probably wouldn’t have made it this far (as in, is the ice on the river solid enough to hold my weight, or is this week old milk safe to drink?). We have to be able to estimate how things will effect us, to form an opinion based on what we perceive, and move from there. So this type of judgement is fine, but acting upon our judgements of other people without fully understanding them is not.

ACT taught me that it is impossible to know everything about other people – the mental, emotional, and physical condition they might be in, where they come from, what experiences they have shaped them, etc., and without this information, our brain fills in the missing bits with assumptions that we so seldomly check out to get a better understanding of that person. For example, if someone rushes by and bumps into you on the subway platform, we might automatically swear at that person because of the way they have affected us without knowing why they rushed by without saying “sorry”. For all we know, that person could be on the way to the hospital to see their best friend who was just in a car accident, or perhaps they are ill and need their medicine, and this is affecting them in some way. The point is, we don’t know why that person bumped into us and we can’t possibly know why until we ask them, but we don’t often take the time to find out, relying instead on our preconceived notions that are often incorrect. Understanding this, I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt. It certainly makes things better for everyone.

Empathy, non-judgement, a history with menswear, and a strong masculine influence has helped shape my career and has fed my fascination with men, their clothing, and their condition; I am absorbed and rivited by you fellas. But now it’s time to rest – onto the holidays!

A winter’s coat tale

Gents, do you own a winter coat? I know it’s a funny question, but I’m on my fourth client almost in a row who doesn’t have a proper winter coat and I’m astounded. We live in Canada and our winters are cold, so why wouldn’t these men have the proper gear for winter weather?

One of the clients never “got around” to getting one as an adult, so he shivered his way through each winter in a short cloth and leather baseball-type jacket  that was miles too big for him. Thinking about it, I dated a guy several years ago who wore an unlined trench coat all winter because he refused to admit that he lived in a cold country (bizarre logic – I didn’t date him for long).

Gentlemen, I know you are realistic and practical, so let’s talk about winter outerwear. It’s cold and it’s going to get colder, but it’s also easy to keep warm and dress stylishly, so really, why wouldn’t you?

Winter outerwear

As opposed to a winter jacket which is short, ending at the waist (i.e. bomber style), a winter coat (known as a parka or an anorak if it’s hooded) is longer and keeps your thighs and your buns warm. There are different lengths of winter coats from “car length” which ends mid-thigh and makes moving around easier, and there are full length winter coats, a little more luxurious, often dressier. Some longer coats can fit over your suit jacket and are known as top coats. Here are some examples of coat styles you may or may not be familiar with:

Top coat

Mid-thigh length duffel coat

Pea coat (navy issue)

Materials

Because we’re looking to keep warm, coats can be made of different materials designed to keep our body heat in. Our examples above are made of varying qualities of wool. Wool can be woven or felted and sometimes you will find coats in fine wools like cashmere – these will be found in dressy top coats or other high-end coat designs. TIP – if you have a wool winter coat, keep a lint brush handy and brush your coat every once in a while – wool tends to attract fuzzies and you want to keep neat.

Winter coats can also be made of synthetics like nylon or polyester (wind breaker materials). Canada Goose coats, like the Banff Parka, is made of Arctic-Tech: 85% polyester,15% cotton blend with a DWR finish (durable water repellent). Sportier outerwear made by companies like The North Face is made from light, breathable high-tech materials, specifically for outdoor sport like snowboarding, for example, where heavy, bulky outerwear would not be practical.

Many coats, like the Canada Goose coats, are filled with duck or goose down. Down is extremely light and warm and these excellent properties make it quite popular. I don’t own one, but I expect it would be like wearing a down-filled duvet. There are different styles of down-filled coats, some puffier than others (think Michelin Man), but none of them are cheap. Buying a  good quality down-filled coat is a great investment that will last you for years, but it will set you back $500+.

Some coats can be filled with polyester which is not as warm as down but is much less expensive. One of my coatless clients bought a thigh-length puffy polyester-filled coat with a hood and lots of pockets. I was amazed at how excited he was to have his very first adult winter coat! I expect that he’ll spend more time outside because of it and enjoy it thoroughly.

Lining

Coat lining is just as important as the outside material and the cozier, the better – it’s next to your body after all. Instead of a satiny lining that you would find on the inside of your suit jackets, you may want something a little more plush inside of your winter coat.

A lot of designers are giving their customers more choices when it comes to winter outerwear and it is common to find coats with zip-out linings. These coats are very practical and can double as lighter fall coats without the lining  (= more bang for your buck), and you can find whole or partial zip-out linings. Another coatless client recently bought a beautiful Italian wool coat with a zip-out front lining that for the winter, adds an extra layer of wool to his chest.

A good choice in coat lining is quilting, faux fur (if you can find it – very warm), flannel or brushed cotton, or fleece (also very warm and very cozy). I have a cool vintage coat that I took apart a couple of years ago and relined with a brushed cotton-backed heavy satin – this made an enormous difference in warmth to the plush exterior that looks warmer than it actually is.

Coat features

Stretchy ribbed storm cuff hidden under the coat sleeve.

There are some great features to be aware of when you’re looking for winter coats. Things like hoods are nice, also extra pockets, extra fasteners to get you all done up and protected from the wind, and the best of all, storm cuffs.

What is a storm cuff? Remember your winter coats as a kid? Often, your coat had a ribbed cuff on the inside or perhaps on the outside of the sleeve – this is a storm cuff. A storm cuff keeps the sleeve secured to your wrist and keeps the wind out. To me, there is no feeling as secure as a storm cuff in the winter!

Coat colour

I suppose it’s the psychological aspect of the dark days of winter that keeps us in dark colours. I’ve said before that as soon as the temperature dips, Toronto reaches for black. Being a Caucasian, I know that black doesn’t actually suit most white people, as it drains us of colour and makes our skin look shadowy and splotchy.

Since we only have so many colour choices in coats during this dark season, try wearing a coloured scarf around your neck that reflects good light onto your face to counteract the draining black.

Theory of warm

The theory about keeping warm is that the little spaces in the weave of your fabric hold air that is warmed by your body, so the more little spaces there are, the warmer you will be.

With this in mind, I’ve started building my own winter coat: the outside is copper-coloured quilted nylon (with a polyester back) that will be water-resistant and with any luck, wind-resistant. Under this is a full layer of fine wool, and the inside is a satin lining so I can easily slide it on and off.  This coat will have a substantial but not too heavy weight to it. I find a feeling of security in a weighty coat and that is what works for me.

If you’re purchasing a new coat this year, gents, be practical and think about the style and material that will suit you and your lifestyle best.  For more information about winter dressing, please read this post.

The secret life of your clothes

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I would write a post about what your clothing goes through before you own it, and today is the day. I’ll be covering the little-known chemical finishes used in textile manufacture, and why your pockets and vents are sewn shut when you buy them, in the hopes that you will take heed and prepare your clothing before you wear it out in public – it’s all about a polished image and more than that, it can be a matter of your health!

Why are my pockets sewn shut?

Clip the stitching from your breast pocket if you like a pocket square in your breast pocket.

When you buy a new suit, sports jacket, or outdoor coat, you may notice that your pockets are not working because they’re sewn shut. This goes for coat pockets and breast pockets on the outside of the garment. Pockets are sewn shut for a few reasons. First, sewn and secured pockets are easily pressed and won’t be pulled out of shape when they are shipped from their country of origin. Second, flat pockets will look nice and smooth when on display at retail stores and retain their shape when people try them on.

Pockets are meant to be functional. When you purchase the items, your tailor or retailer might remove the stitching for you, but if not, snip out the threads that hold your pockets together on your own if you’re going to use them. Some men won’t remove the stitching from their outside suit pockets because they know they won’t be using them (perhaps the inside pockets of their jackets will suffice), and this leaves the front of the coat smooth and intact.

For men who like to have extra space for light pieces (hankies, business cards, or lip balm), the pocket stitching should be removed so they can be used. (Tip – try not to carry heavy or bulky articles in the outside pockets of your suits and sports jackets or the bulk will pull them out of shape and you may look somewhat disheveled – not a good look.)

The breast pocket is used for pocket squares, so if you wear these to polish and punctuate your jackets, open this pocket. If not, leave it.

Why are my vents sewn shut?

X stitching on jacket vents are meant to be clipped.

A vent is a slit up the back seams of your coat, breaking the hem for ease of movement. There can be a single vent at the bottom of the centre back seam, or two vents off of the back side seams. Opening your vents will give you more space to put your hands into your pockets and will allow you to sit comfortably because there won’t be anything pulling across your hips.

You may notice an X stitched over your coat vents before you buy it. This is done prior to shipping to keep the coats flat and smooth, and may be found on your sport coats, suit jackets, and topcoats. This stitching should be clipped and removed. If it is not removed, it looks odd, unprofessional, and some may say, naive, so open ‘er up, give yourself some space, and be confident that you look good and proper in your clothes!

Formaldehyde

Textiles, even those of natural origin, go through a tremendous amount of chemical treatment. You may be surprised to learn that the most common chemical resin used in textile production is formaldehyde and you’re probably surrounded by it right now.

“Textile formaldehyde resins have been used on fabrics since the mid 1920’s by the textiles industry to make wrinkle and stain resistant garments (e.g. permanent press),” says Allergy, Sensitivity & Environmental Health Association Qld Inc. (ASEHA). (Read their excellent article on this topic here.)

Looking at urea-formaldehyde, the type used in textiles, it has excellent tensile strength and low water absorption due to it being a thermoplastic resin. Materials most likely to have been treated with formaldehyde resins are:

• Rayon
• Blended cotton (i.e. polyester-cotton)
• Corduroy
• Wrinkle-resistant 100% cotton
• Shrink-proof wool (“superwash” wool)
• Any synthetic blended polymer (i.e. rayon, polyester-cotton)
• Heavy stiff fabrics
• Upholstery and craft materials

Though good, strong, and easy care, wearing formaldehyde-treated fabrics next to our skin is not necessarily a good thing, especially for those with chemical sensitivities. Luckily, some materials are not treated with formaldehyde and should not affect the sensitive. One way to recognize the absence of formaldehyde is to look for soft fabrics that will hold the wrinkles when scrunched in your hand. As listed on the ASEHA site, some fabrics not treated with formaldehyde resins are: 100% silk, 100% linen (if it wrinkles easily), 100% polyester, 100% acrylic, 100% nylon, Spandex, flannel (if soft), denim, and wool.

Remember, formaldehyde is an “anti” treatment – anti-wrinkle, anti-stain, anti-static, etc. These easy care finishes are not natural and are achieved through chemical treatment. Often, they are permanent and can cause allergic reactions in some people.

“Washing new formaldehyde resin treated clothing may reduce the levels of free formaldehyde but is not sufficient to prevent a textile resin reaction in a previously sensitized patient. Multiple washes combined with airing in the sun may reduce levels further but remember the manufacturers put in a lot of work into making these finishes ‘permanent’,” says ASEHA.

Though we know that some of the chemical finishes are not going to wash out, I always like to wash my new stuff just the same before I wear it. With any luck, the “new clothes” smell will wash out and the garment may loosen up by removing some of the undoubtedly chemical “filler”, especially if it is an inexpensive garment. (Though if it is really inexpensive, washing out the fillers will reduce the garment to a rag because that was almost all it was made up of, hence the low price you paid for it.)

When I think of formaldehyde, I think of embalming. (Believe it or not, I used to date an embalmer who explained his use of a huge syringe to suck out body fluids of the corpse, then another needle the same size to inject the formaldehyde into the body.) I found out an interesting tidbit about the embalming process during research: if the lungs of an embalmed body float after being immersed in the formaldehyde solution, “then a mortician concludes that the deceased was breathing while he passed away. If they do not float then the person was not breathing.” (Source)

Formaldehyde is all around us and apart from its use in the textiles industry, it is used as a disinfectant, in darkroom photography, as a foam insulator, fertilizer, and in wood products. I also found out that formaldehyde and sulfuric acid is used to create Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), also known as club drug, extacy, and formaldehyde is also used in drugs to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Formaldehyde is a finish that doesn’t make us work as hard (e.g. anti-wrinkle = less time ironing) but as with most blessings, there often lurks a curse.

Health problems

The thing about formaldehyde is that it is a chemical that is used liberally in manufacturing and there do not seem to be strong enforceable guidelines or rules on its use (though Japan seems to be the most compliant to standards). To some people, formaldehyde can be toxic. People prone to Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) are often affected by chemical treatments of fabrics, and are believed to be of a physiology weakened by overexposure to chemical toxins.

These people may experience conditions including dermatitis, headache, trouble concentrating, memory problems, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, dizziness, difficulty breathing, irregular heart beat, and seizures that range from mild to life-threatening.

ASEHA cited a study that found an incidence rate of 10% in men and 5% in women for formaldehyde allergy, and that more men cross-reacted to formaldehyde textile resins.

So if we can’t wash it out of our clothes and this nasty chemical is everywhere, what are we to do? The Organic Lifestyle site urges us to wear more natural fiber clothing that has been organically grown and manufactured like organic help, cotton, bamboo, and wools. The site believes that manufacturing phases are critical to producing healthy clothing, and without chemical finishes on our textiles, there may be a greater health in society in general.

The textile industry is well known to use heavy chemical treatments in production, and I for one am not too jazzed about this. However, with education comes understanding and change, and hopefully we’re moving toward clothing closer to the natural materials (the US is now developing low or non-formaldehyde finishes). Rome wasn’t built in a day, gents, so take baby steps and maybe over time we can get to a chemical-free closet. We have to start by asking for it.

How to dress for the winter (re-release)

I’m re-releasing this post about dressing for cold weather because now that there is no turning back, we could all use a reminder at the beginning of the season…

I consider myself an expert in cold weather dressing because  I spent more than half of my life in one of the coldest inhabited places on earth: Saskatchewan. In Saskatchewan (sas-kat-CHEW-un), the winters are so bitterly cold that people have to plug their cars in overnight so that the battery works in the morning. Under the right conditions, skin can freeze in seconds and ice forms in your nostrils.

Beautiful frost on a SK window. Photo by Yvonne Durnin-Nargang.

It’s the kind of dry cold that stings. But no matter what the weather, nothing stops in Saskatchewan; on the prairies, people suck it up, pack on the layers, and continue with their routine.

It’s really no wonder that Socialism was born in Saskatchewan, the place where people rely on a strong community for survival in a horrendously harsh climate. A good example is highway driving: if your car breaks down on the roads in the winter and you don’t have the necessary provisions to get you through, you could very easily freeze to death. People always stop to help because they know that if they don’t, stranded people could die of exposure or hypothermia. (See winter driving information from the Government of Canada here.)

The coldest temperature I can remember was a December evening when I had to go to the university to write a final exam.  Before dressing to go to school, I called Environment Canada to find out what the weather was like.

This is what they told me:

I was stunned. I had never had to fathom -75 before and I was in awe… I had to go outside. I had to go outside, wait for a bus, ride to the university, write the test, get back on the bus, and walk home again… how could I possibly dress for weather like this?

In as many layers of clothing that I could fit under my coat and still close it, I pulled on several layers of socks and managed to force my fat feet into my boots, then put on a hat and wrapped a scarf or two around my neck and face, leaving only a thin opening to see through.

I waddled to the bus stop like the Michelin Man and saw a crowd of similarly-dressed Pilsbury dough people milling around the stop. We all went to school and wrote our tests, went outside again got back on the bus, then returned home – and we lived to tell about it.

I learned a lot from my time in Saskatchewan and I want to share my winter dressing survival tactics with you to make your winter a little warmer:

HEAD. We lose body heat through our heads, and our hair can only retain so much heat, even less in the wind.  People, especially bald or short-haired people, should wear a hat to keep their heads insulated. A warm hat spells instant relief in icy winds.

Protect the tips of your ears – ears are mainly thin bits of skin-covered cartilage and quite prone to frostbite.  Keep them covered with your hat, earmuffs, or ear flaps.

TIP: NEVER GO OUTSIDE WITH WET HAIR – wet hair in cold weather can lower your core body temperature while your system works harder to keep you warm, thus compromising your immune system and making you more susceptible to viruses AND it feels terrible – a lose-lose situation.

NECK. If there is a collar on your coat, flip it up for added protection from cold air and secure in place by doing up the top button of your coat.

I see a lot of men drape scarves around the back of their necks and cross them over in the front. This is fine if you only want to keep the back of your neck warm, but to warm your throat and make the most of the length of your scarf, try this:

1. Start wrapping from the front of the neck and cross the scarf ends around the back.
2. Bring the ends to the front again and adjust the scarf to a comfortable length around your neck – this can be pulled over your face if need be.
3. Stuff each crossed scarf end into the neck of your sweater or shirt – if you’re wearing a button up, open a couple of buttons and spread the scarf across your chest, then button up again.

KIDNEYS. Keeping your kidneys warm will help you retain body heat. Dressing in layers is good for keeping your kidneys, not to mention your vital organs, warm.

Try the following technique for proper layering and maximum warmth:

1. Start with an undershirt of some kind (t-shirt or sleeveless vest) for the first layer.
2. Tuck this shirt into your underwear or long johns if you’re wearing them – this keeps the fabric of the shirt close to the body via the elastic waistband of your undies, giving a feeling of warmth and security because the wind can’t blow up your t-shirt this way.
3. Add 1, 2, 3, or more thin layers over this – fewer if you’re a larger man who easily over-heats and more if you’re smaller and tend to feel the chill (you can take the top layers off once you’re inside).
4. Top off with a warm winter coat of your choice.

Textile options for your t-shirts and long underwear:

• Cotton works well for warmth and wicking perspiration away – available in plain knit weave or warmer waffle weave (raised and recessed squares on the surface of the fabric);
• Silk is thin and fantastically warm;
• Lightweight wool is also a favourite for long underwear, but wear with caution – wool is VERY warm and might be too much for some of you.

HANDS. As you can see from the picture, there isn’t much to the human hand. Like ears, the tips of our fingers can be frostbitten too, so take care of them.

Experiment with different types of gloves for different temperatures to see what suits you: knitted wool or acrylic, fleece, leather, or synthetic, and if it gets really cold or you work outside, try high-tech 3M Thinsulate gloves.

The skin of our hands really gets beaten up during the winter. If you can, use heavier moisturizer on your hands before you leave in the morning (I use Burt’s Bees Hand Repair Cream and another good natural one is JR Watkins lavender-scented shea butter hand cream that I picked up from Shopper’s Drug Mart)  and don’t be afraid to work some into your hands and cuticles before you go to bed.

Remember lads, taking care of your skin is just as important as eating a sensible diet – your skin is the largest organ of your body!

FEET. There is no nastier feeling than cold, especially wet, feet. I’ve experienced the uncontrollable shivering of the first stage of hypothermia because there was a surprise hole in my boot one night that let in cold water and unfortunately, I spent the next couple of hours in a place with a cold concrete floor that kept my feet in a very cold state, and I was unable to get warm.

Investing in a good winter boot is a really smart move – a good lined, waterproof  boot,  even better.

TIP: When purchasing new winter footwear, make sure there is a little room in the boot for extra socks – take an extra pair with you when you go boot shopping.

Speaking of socks, layering socks on your feet is also a good idea. I like to put on a thin wool or cotton sock first, then follow with a thicker wool sock. Bamboo socks are a nice soft option too. For me, the more snug the sock fit, the warmer my feet, so experiment and find what works for you.

Best wishes for a cozy and more comfortable winter!

Sh*t fit

While waiting for a client in Club Monaco last month, I wandered into the women’s clothing section to kill some time. There was a cute little suit jacket on the rack that, upon further inspection, I deemed too large for me.

"Manity sizing" strokes a fella's ego by "decreasing" his pant size by name only, which may in fact increase the risk of health problems.

I looked at the tag for the size.

0. Zero. Size Zero.

Were it 1960, I would be considered a size 14, but at Club Monaco in 2011, I would fit a negative size – a minus 1 or minus 2.

A minus size, a minus size; a size of no sum or consequence. How can I be a negative size?

This terrifies me in a way because  I see a negative size as a non-size and as a human, I feel erased; fitting a negative clothing size makes me feel like a non-person. What is this new sizing system and what else are they messing with?

This is a post to explain why your clothes don’t fit you.

Erratic sizing

To keep things efficient, manufacturers use “average” sizes of a cross-section of people to create patterns for different sizes (small, medium, large, etc.), classified by their height and weight. The measurements (neck measurement for men, chest, waist, hip measurement for women, etc.) are added together and divided by the number of people measured, giving “average” measurements.

But there are lots of interpretations of average and so few of us are actually average-sized, that this is just one of the factors working against us when we walk into a clothing store:

• There is no industry standard for sizing – I have size extra small, small, medium, and an extra-large piece from Chinatown in my closet but my measurements remain static, unchanged;
• Every designer cuts a little or a lot larger or smaller than the next designer, so each line will fit differently (e.g. Tiger of Sweden is a trim cut but Mark’s Work Warehouse has offerings for more robust fellows);
• Some but not all manufacturers buy into “vanity sizes”, whereby a piece of clothing that may truly fit you is called something smaller (you could have an actual 34″ waist measurement but you might wear a 32″ or 33″ vanity-sized pant);
• Each style of garment is going to fit differently on each body – e.g. the rise of the pant will give a larger waist size because it sits at a wider point on the hips.

This causes a great deal of confusion for people who have to wade through an ocean of arbitrary sizing that may or may not hold their own weight. Pun intended.

In the age of political correctness where we’re more sensitive to other’s feelings, business owners and manufacturers have to keep in mind that a compliment in the form of a “smaller (vanity) size” can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Vanity

I’ve been told by women that wearing a “smaller” size makes them feel better about themselves. I understand what it’s like to be heavy and not feel one’s best (I was pushing 150 lbs at age 22 – about 30 lbs more than I weigh now), so I can see why a size 8 would feel better than a size 12.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the vanity sizing practice began in women’s clothing, but it has seeped into menswear, adopting the name “manity sizing”. This rather dishonest sizing system has become totally out of hand, so I looked at some online research to figure out what this silly sizing system is all about. This is what I found:

“Vanity sizing is the practice of using smaller numbered sizes on bigger clothing patterns… to make customers feel better about themselves and become more inclined to buy,” says one blogger who runs a PR and marketing company.  Her opinion has a ring of supply and demand to it.

“It is important for manufacturers to have an idea of what sells because retail sales still have not fully recovered since the recession hit in 2008.”

However, on vanitysizing.com, this suggestion is (rather cuttingly) downplayed. The author of the article has an economics background and suggests that sizing is based on demographics.

“If you sell to lower-income people, your average size is going to be larger than the average size sold to rich people. Boutiques sell pricier clothes that are sized on average, smaller than product in mass merchant stores.”

A very good Esquire style blog describes the confusion with the vanity sizing for men. First, the writer calling the practice

From the Esquire style blog - vanity sizing for men's pants.

“flattery”, but as we know, flattery can only take you so far. He says he’s got a Russell Crowe build and though he’s enjoyed his manity-sized pants, he’s still perturbed.

“This isn’t the subjective business of mediums, larges and extra-larges — nor is it the murky business of women’s sizes, what with its black-hole size zero. This is science, damnit. Numbers!”

But the numbers don’t add up and because sizing is basically a free-for-all without a standard measurement guide. The illustration below from Esquire shows to what extent we’re being lied to - to the tune of up to 5″.

Erratic sizes

The waist is the most misunderstood part of a man’s body, I think. When I’m taking my client’s measurements, I explain the waist measurement concept/confusion.

I tell them that if I were a doctor and we were doing an annual physical, I would measure his waist just above his hipbone/through the navel. Most people don’t wear their trousers that high anymore (men did in the 40s) and that means that the point at which his waistband sits is not necessarily where we’ve taken the measurement of the waist – different styles of pants with different rise lengths (the distance from the crotch to the top of the waist) will give different waist measurements at different points on the torso.

An article from The Telegraph reports findings of a study they conducted on men’s waist sizes and found that “[o]verall, 28 out of 50 garments checked were found to be larger than on the label.”

“Shoppers quite reasonably expect 32 inches to mean just that,” said Richard Cope, chief trend analyst at Mintel, a London-based market research company. “They are becoming increasingly frustrated to discover their sizes vary from fashion brand to fashion brand and from item to item.”

Confused yet? You should be.

Health problems

If clothing manufacturers began vanity sizing to make larger people feel better about themselves as some people maintain, that’s one thing, but I’m seeing this sizing practice as a dangerous denial and health threat.

Vanity sizing is delusional, offering solace in a lie and erasing any guilt from consuming another baker’s dozen, putting people at greater risk of the health problems associated with obesity.  As the Esquire blog asks, “why should pants make us feel better about badness at health?”

Obesity is an enormous social and economic problem. Pun intended. Men with larger waists face different and more serious health problems than slim guys – a Stats Can study identified type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, some cancers, and gallbladder disease associated with obesity, as well as “psychological problems, functional limitations and disabilities.”

Have a look at these astounding rates from Statistics Canada‘s study of adult obesity in Canada:

In 2004, nearly one-quarter (23.1%) of adult Canadians, 5.5 million people aged 18 or older, were obese. An additional 36.1% (8.6 million) were overweight.

The 2004 obesity figure was up substantially from 1978/79, when Canada’s obesity rate had been 13.8%.

As body mass index (BMI) increases, so does an individual’s likelihood of reporting high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. (Check your own BMI here.)

Canada’s adult obesity rate is significantly lower than that in the United States: 23.1 % compared with 29.7%. The percentage of Canadians who are overweight or obese has risen dramatically in recent years, mirroring a worldwide phenomenon.

I have to wonder if vanity/ manity/ insanity sizing is really making things better by way of our self-esteem, or if it's plunging us deeper into clothing chaos and confusion and denial about our bodies. To my mind, this sizing practice is a psychological experiment that may give extra space for denial; the man with the 41" waist who's wearing a 36" pant from Old Navy may feel a little dietary freedom because he thinks he's got room n0w: Hey, I can fit into a size 36 for the time being, so I've got room for another coupla Krispy Creme KFC Double Downs - bring it on! 

Like a temporary sugar rush before the crash, I think that as a society, we're just asking for trouble lying to people about their sizes. Sometimes I ignore sizes altogether and rely on a tape measure where the numbers are hard and they don't tell me any fibs. The point is to be comfortable in clothing that fits us, regardless of what size the marketing department gives.

Seasonal dressing

It’s September 1st and the bus is taking a turn down Autumn Avenue.  Toronto has had an excruciatingly hot summer this year and I for one welcome the change in season. It’s almost time to get out the woolens, add a blanket to the bed, put on a sweater in the evening, and pull on a pair of socks.

Canadians live through complex seasonal changes and our weather goes to extremes.  Canadians have seasonal wardrobes appropriate to each season, but some of us go to extremes in our dressing during transition seasons (spring, fall) – i.e. people who wear shorts on a “warm” day in March, flip-flops in November (if there isn’t any snow), or overdress in August because they’re longing for a change in temperature or perhaps a change in wardrobe. I’m not big on stripping down before the warm weather hits, but by the end of the summer, I am more than ready to change my light wardrobe to pieces more substantial and cozy.

The people who like to go to the extremes explained above and dress out-of-season look odd. At least they do to me. Why? 1) Wearing the bright colours of spring’s new growth in winter stands out and feels weird, and wearing winter’s dark, subdued colours that reflect the limited light feels weird to wear in the spring, and 2) the weight and fabric of their out-of-season garments are not suited to the temperatures – wearer will be too cold or too hot and they stand apart, but not in a particularly good way.

My goal today is to educate you gentlemen about seasonal dressing as we turn and face the fall this week, so that YOU don’t look odd.

Colour

A high energy spring/summer colour and a low-key fall/winter colour in my palette.

Let the colours of nature guide you through seasonal dressing. In the longer days of spring, bright colours are appropriate, mimicking the flowers, green grass, brightly coloured birds, and general freshness of the season. During the fall, we like to wear the mustards, browns, oranges, and rusts of the foliage around us and later, darker hues that echo the lack of light in winter. The design and retail industries understand this and cater to our need to feel comfortable in clothes suited for seasonal elements, and our desire to change with the seasons.

I’m warm and spring-coloured and find it hard to find good pieces in good colours during the winter, so during the dim season, I force myself to succumb to the darkness of my palette (cinnamons, navies, and candy colours like caramel and chocolate). Secretly though, I’m dying to trade in my brown mohair dress in for a hyacinth-coloured knitted wool dress, but I’ve never seen one. That’s because the clothing industry follows the seasonal colour changes; spring-coloured wool garments are hard to come by for the same reason you can’t find a turquoise sports jacket in winter. Perhaps because it’s natural or perhaps because we’ve been conditioned by the clothing industry to accept this colour practice, I know that even if I could find a hyacinth-coloured mohair dress, I would feel weird wearing it during the winter due to its brightness.

True spring colours are high-frequency, highly active colours that seem to take up a lot of space. A large piece like a dress in hyacinth would really stand out and practically vibrate in winter, but not in spring. Similarly, the often-seen sidewalk greys, blacks, and other drabs of winter look so hard to me in spring; without life and ill-matched to the environment. That’s why wearing out-of-season colours look odd to me. Take this chance to observe the people who try to pull this off and see what you think.

Weight

As with the colour cycle, fabrics change through the year. During the warmer months, we wear light fabrics that will keep us cool like cottons and linens, but during the fall and winter, we reach for richer, heavier fabrics to keep us dry and warm. With the exception of cruise wear that hits the racks early in the New Year, we won’t find lightweight cottons and absolutely no linens during the winter, because they just aren’t practical, as in, you’d freeze wearing them in the wrong season. Similarly, you would not find heavy woolen clothing in spring because that isn’t practical either. And you’d look weird. You might even feel weird too.

This gives Canadians two distinct wardrobes for our whole lives, and this can take up space and cost a lot of money, but sometimes we get a break. In this case, we’ve been blessed with animals who provide their hair so we can use their fleece to clothe ourselves and keep us warm. Wool is the most varied and versatile fibers on the planet and can be worn in all seasons  - yes! even summer.

Angora goats provide mohair wool.

Wool comes from sheep (Shetland, Merino), rabbits (Angora), goats (cashmere, mohair), camels, and llama-like alpacas, giving wool of different textures and differing degrees of warmth.

“The degree of thickness determines whether the finished fabric will be a fine dress material or a coarse floor covering,” says the Canadian Sheep Federation. The thickness of the fibers and the weave of the resulting fabric can produce extremely varied wools, some spun so fine that they might be mistook for cotton!

Important concepts in wool

There are some basics to understand when shopping for wool suits, trousers, coats, or jackets:

TWIST – Yarns are twisted to bind the fibers together and strengthen the yarn. With a tighter yarn twist, the harder-wearing the fabric, and the less likely to pill (rogue fibers that are not twisted into the yarn will tangle on the surface of the garment and create a pill, or a fuzzy ball). Also, the higher the twist, the higher the price – one must pay for quality, you know.

WORSTED – Worsted wool is made of even, equal length combed wool fibers that are spun into smooth, firmly twisted yarn or threads. Worsted wool is high quality and will often cost more than a carded wool due to the extra processes that give the yarns a high twist and a longer wearing garment.

WOOLEN – Wool that is carded, that is, worked though with instruments to smooth the fibers and clean vegetable matter from the fleece, varies in length and is looser, bulkier, and less regular than worsted wools. Soft garments like sweaters and other knits are made of carded wool.

Types of wool: worsted 

Wool gabardine featuring a twill weave.

Good suits and trousers are made of fine wools, often worsted, and some can be worn all year around (called all-weather wool). Suits made of all-weather wool are great investments because they’re so versatile (though I advise to keep a pair of long johns close by on cold winter days!).

GABARDINE is a fine worsted wool fabric with a twill weave, giving it a cross-wise raised texture. Wool Gabardine is a tightly woven fabric that is lightweight and often has a natural luster. Gabardine is strong, wears and drapes well, and resists wrinkling. A good wool choice for the spring and summer.

Examples of sharkskin fabric swatches.

SHARKSKIN is a smooth-textured fine wool worsted fabric with a high twist and a bit of a sheen, resembling the skin of a shark. It has a two-toned appearance because a white thread is woven with a coloured thread to produce this effect. Sharkskin is lightweight and hard-wearing. Another good wool choice for warm weather.

Types of wool: woolen

Harris Tweed in a heather-coloured herringbone pattern.

TWEED is an example of woolen fabric for gent’s coats, jackets, suits, trousers, waistcoats, and outer/sportswear. This rough, unfinished wool fabric is flexible and soft to the touch (but not meant to be worn next to the skin). Tweed is often woven into subdued “heather” colour blends, herringbone, houndstooth, or check patterns.

The most famous tweed is Harris Tweed, hand-spun and woven on the island of Harris, in the Scottish Isles. The cloth was created about 150 years ago by Harris islanders and to this day is spun and woven by hand, as far as I can make out.  Have a look at the Harris Tweed website and watch the short, charming video about the history of the fabric.

If you’ve taken this post to heart, you’ll understand the logic of seasonal dressing in terms of weight and colour:  generally, light-coloured, light weight fabrics for warm weather and dark-coloured, heavy fabrics for cool weather, with the exception of all-weather wool garments which can be worn any time. My advice is to check the weather daily and find the most comfortable and appropriate clothing for it.

PS - While I was publishing image inc., Canada’s first image quarterly for men, I did a textile series on natural fibers – you may find the wool issue of interest.