Style

 I apologise in advance for talking about sweat. It’s yuck I know, but this post could help a lot of people! 

Last night I was sitting in a perfectly temperate room. But there was one problem : my feet were sweating. My feet don’t sweat to an above average level but this time I was and it was very uncomfortable. When I got home it was a relief to take the shoes off and give my feet a little bit of air to breathe. (The smell was an added bonus.)

 Why were my feet sweating, I hear you ask?

Because my shoes and socks were made entirely of synthetic materials.

The typical black suit seen on the street is either 100% polyester (such as my first suit… I curse the memory) or a poly-blend. Not only do those black suits absorb the sunlight, making you hot, there’s another reason why you’re baking…

An important factor in clothing is whether it ‘breathes’. That is where is allowed to circulate through the garment, allowing a renewal of the air close to your body and also encouraging evaporation of the small amounts of sweat coming out of your glands.

If you look at a single strand cotton or wool through a microscope, you can see that it not a single strand but a collection of fibres bound together. The gaps between these fibres are tiny but still porous and allow the movement of air.

With synthetic materials, zooming in will still show single, solid strands. These do not breathe at all, trapping the air against your body, not only heating you up but giving that newly generated sweat no chance to escape.

It makes a difference. That’s why all the shirts I sell are 100% cotton, the suits I buy are wool and my shoes generally cotton or leather. Unfortunately I forgot this fact while buying the particular pair of shoes and socks mentioned in the example above. And boy, did I pay the price!

 Win some style points with the nasal glands of those around you : buy clothes made of natural materials.

Thanks Harmony and Anthony for your comments.

Hi all

It seems to be a very common experience for people travelling to Bangkok, Vietnam or various other countries to get some clothes tailored for them.

That’s great but you must do your research or else you will be ripped off. At least 90% of the Bangkok tailors will take you for a ride. When I was there - last October - the amount of dodgy operators I saw was simply staggering. Westerners lose their pricing perspective when they go overseas - everything’s meant to be so darn cheap, right? But the old adage holds true : you get what you pay for. If you want a cheaper version of the cheap suits back home by all means go ahead. But in my opinion, you should take advantage of the price differential to buy yourself a truly good suit.

If you’re going to Hong Kong, Bangkok or Vietnam I can tell you where to go. I know which places have the good reputation. Feel free to use me as your friendly information resource. I can help on pretty much any country by asking the right people on your behalf.

A couple of lessons for the intrepid traveller:

1.) Avoid the places that sell tailoring packages such as one suit, five shirt sand five ties for $200. They’re all bad news.

2.) Don’t listen to fellow travellers. They are probably getting ripped off too.

3.) If they say they can do it in a day, don’t walk - run! I’m serious. A good tailor is a craftsman who takes pride in his work. You will need three fittings to get the suit right.

4.) They’re telling you they have Zegna or Boss fabrics? Notwithstanding the fact that Boss fabrics are crapola anyway, they’re lying. The fabric alone in a Zegna suit costs hundreds of dollars. That goes for ‘100% cashmere’ suits as well. Don’t touch them.

5.) A good tailor has good word of mouth and hence, no need to solicit your business. So if they’re trying to drag you in off the street, they’re bad news.

6.) Finally, do some research. In many places it’s quite hard to tell whether a tailor is dodgy or not on face value unless you really know what you are looking for. Use Google, StyleForum, Virtualtourist.com and Tripadvisor.com

(Declaration : my first suit was black.Black suits are almost everywhere in Melbourne and I’m sure that’s the case amongst most cities around the world.

You may not be aware but a lot of fierce debate has raged all over the internet (Style Forum has 600 posts) about whether they are acceptable or not. Technically, they are against the ‘rules’ but… most readers wouldn’t care about the rules, let’s get on to reasons.

There’s several reasons for the man in business to avoid buying one.

1) Firstly, it’s unimaginative. Every Tom, Dick and Harry has one. Show a little personality.

2) Black suits look cheap. Why? Black suits are generally worn by people who can only afford the one suit (in case they have go to funerals.)

3) Black suits are hot . If you’re going to be wearing a suit all day you’ll want to be wearing a suit that’s comfortable.

4) Black suits are the servants’ uniform. I feel horrible saying this, but it’s true. Think waiters, think limousine drivers, think bouncers, think butlers.

5) They look horrible in photos. They swallow up the light.