sartorial (comparative more sartorial, superlative most sartorial)
(not comparable) Of or relating to the tailoring of clothing.
Synonym: vestiaryOf or relating to the quality of dress.
In his smart suit Jacob was by far the most sartorial of our party.(anatomy) Of or relating to the sartorius muscle.
(From Wiktionary)
Three years ago over the Christmas holidays I embarked on a sartorial adventure. It started with the realization that I found most of my clothes uncomfortable. For the longest time I'd been wearing cargo trousers and T-shirts, and they never fit me well, and for whatever reason I started thinking that maybe I didn't have to live with discomfort.
I also have a troubled relationship with my body. I don't like the way I look. I have self-confidence issues related to this. I don't like seeing myself. After I started thinking about changing what I wear, I realized that I could tackle those issues at the same time.
I wasn't raised to care about clothes or appearance, much. Clean clothes without many holes in them was the goal I took away into adulthood. It's what I've done most of my life.
After some online research, and a brief infatuation with the "corporate Goth" look, I decided that given my overall tendencies, classic European men's style is the one I tend to like, and would like strive for. That means business suits and similar clothing from the past century.
I've taken it slow. I don't want to make sudden big changes and then regret them. I wanted to take my time to learn what I actually like, from experience. I also need to learn about clothing and wearing it that boys learned growing up in the first half of the 20th century.
There is luckily a lot of good material about this online. Here is a condensed, highly biased summary of what I've learned so far.
Comfortable clothing means clothing that fits your body well, and is made mostly of natural materials. Fit matters so the clothes aren't too tight, so they squeeze, or too large, so they snag, or get in the way you move. Materials matter for temperature control: artificial materials tend to make you sweat or don't keep you warm, where natural ones keep you cool or warm as appropriate. I like wool, especially.
Belts are really uncomfortable, but suspenders (or braces) are much better. I have a large stomach, which makes belts especially bad, but for most people, belts are at best mediocre at keeping trousers up. A pair of suspenders keep trousers at the right height more securely.
If I keep nothing else from this adventure, it's suspenders.
I gain much confidence from wearing clothes I have carefully chosen for myself, rather than what everyone else is wearing. It doesn't even matter much if others like how I look, although it's nice when I am complimented. In fact, I've been complimented on my looks more these past three years than the preceding fifty. I felt the confidence boost before the compliments, though.
Taking care of clothes and shoes requires effort and knowledge: laundry, ironing, patching, etc. The benefit of artificial materials is that they tend to require less effort. I find the maintenance effort is worth it, but also that I need to burn some willpower to start. I am a lazy slob.
Given the shape of my body, I've ended up having most of my new clothes made to measure for me. Mass produced clothes rarely fit me well, and I now want something that does.
On terminology: clothing that's ready to wear when it's bought is called "off-the-rack" or "ready-to-wear". It often benefits from some alterations and adjustments, because there's more body shape variation than mass producers are willing to cater for.
Custom-made clothing is either "made-to-measure" or "tailor-made". For made to measure, the clothes are made by adjusting a generic pattern to the measurements of your body. Tailors create a pattern just for you. The generic pattern can be varied, but within limits. A completely new pattern has no limits.
On cost: The upfront cost of custom clothing is higher than for mass produced clothes, but the quality is so much higher, over time the cost is lower. Of course, you have to be able to afford the upfront cost. For shirts, trousers, and jackets, I've found made to measure ones are about two to three times the cost of off the rack ones.
Tailored clothing are many more times more expensive than that and I've not tried that option.
Some garments are OK mass produced. For example, shoes, gloves, hats, overcoats. For these, either there's less variation or fit doesn't need to be as exact.
Colors turn out to be important. A monochromatic look can work, but more colors tends to be more visually interesting. I'm still learning and experimenting with this.
I don't wear a suit at all times. If I'm alone at home, I tend to go for sweat pants and T or polo shirts. This is partly because they're comfortable, and partly to save wear and tear on more expensive garments.
I've come to realize that I detest the fashion industry. I don't detest fashion as such: it's perfectly fine that there are changing trends in clothing. It would be boring if everything always stayed the same. The industry has weaponized this to pressure people to buy much more new clothes than they need, to the detriment of everyone and everything.
Organic trends and changes: yes. Cynical exploitative industry: no.
I'll mention this to be clear: this is my adventure and clothing for me. I don't care what you wear. If you're happy that's all that matters. If you prefer shorts, sandals, and no shirt, that's OK. I'm not interested in trying to influence what you wear. I'm sharing this in the hope someone else finds it interesting.
I collect links to web sites, publications, and companies related to men's style. This is primarily for my own benefit, but I'm happy if it helps anyone else.