derek guy
@dieworkwear • 1,523,013 subscribers
Menswear writer. Editor at @putthison. Bylines at The New York Times, The Financial Times, Politico, Esquire, and Mr. Porter
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IMO, a lot of people don't have a worldview. For them, politics is about gender performance. Andrew Schulz fantasizes about joining the military to fight for his country, but won't set his thermostat to 78°. It's not about civic responsibility, but about performing machismo.
derek guy842,009 views • 6 days ago
I don't know anything about womenswear, but I stumbled upon Caleigh O'Donnell's Instagram last year and find her content to be very smart. Goes beyond "here's how to look cool" or "everyone needs this" cliches. Many frameworks can be applied to menswear. IG itscalbal
derek guy600,057 views • 9 days ago
this is what some of you look like in short sleeve button-up shirts
derek guy2,048,861 views • 1 month ago
This difference, notably, is about the deskilling of labor, which allows factories to push down wages. By more closely adhering to trade definitions of "handmade," we can better protect what makes these type of processes — and the associated artisans — special. IG sarto_kang
derek guy38,959 views • 2 days ago
On April 30th, Josh Smith of Montana Knife Company said you won't have to worry about tariffs if you buy American. Last week, he realized his costs are going up bc he imports equipment and steel. And so do his suppliers. IMO many people aren't aware of how much they import.
derek guy6,042,653 views • 11 months ago
A bit niche, but for people who love tailoring, Stephen Hitchcock here shows how to make a donlon wedge adjustment on a bespoke overcoat. This creates a three dimensional shape so the coat hangs cleanly over a fuller belly. Only possible in bespoke. IG stevenhitchcockbespoke
derek guy149,820 views • 16 days ago
Nice patchwork madras on Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman. Classic American clothiers such as J. Press and Chipp used to make these jackets for well-dressed Americans during the 20th cent, but this tradition has since been eclipsed by MTM operations focused on Italian fabrics.
derek guy151,156 views • 18 days ago
I love brown summer suits. Personally prefer them with ecru or even soft yellow shirts, as I associate white button-ups with business and think they often need a tie. With ecru or pale yellow, there's no mistaking that it's a more casual take on tailoring. Light blue works too.
derek guy431,817 views • 1 month ago
Not true. Pete Hegseth's clothes are custom-made. A few years ago, my friend and I had a debate about whether you can spot custom tailoring. This friend has more than 30 years of experience working with some of London's best bespoke tailors. He believes that an educated eye can spot the difference between a custom and an off-the-rack suit. I don't think you can, assuming certain conditions (too detailed to get into here). Ultimately, we agreed on one thing: you can spot custom tailoring when the clothes are so ugly that no designer would ever make them. This explains a lot of the clothing you see nowadays. On a television segment aired long ago, Pete Hegseth said he used a company called Book a Tailor. And in the recent email hack, it was revealed that Kash Patel's email address was linked to this online clothing review, indicating he uses Rocky's HK Fashions. Long ago, Gavin McInness also talked about his tailor. They all share one thing: they wear clothes that were made in low-wage East Asian countries. I should note at the outset that there's nothing inherently wrong with East Asian tailoring. In fact, some of the world's best tailoring is done there, including at firms such as WW Chan (Hong Kong) and Atelier BRIO (Beijing). I would stake my reputation on saying that some of the best East Asian tailoring today rivals that of Savile Row. Seoul is also a tremendous hub for quality custom tailors (e.g., Assisi, The Finery Company, B&Tailor, Hamin Kim, among others). However, these people are not using such firms. Instead, they are relying on a new system developed sometime in the late 20th century that has since taken off with the development of digital information technology. In this system, someone with little experience in the clothing industry will set up a custom clothing company. For the sake of discussion, let's call this person Mark and the company "Custom Threads." Mark doesn't know much about tailoring, but he likes suits and wants to make money. So he contacts one of these factories in East Asia and sets up a partnership. Mark meets with clients in the US. Since he's wearing a suit and has a tape measurer around his neck, customers assume he knows what he's doing (some may even refer to him as a "tailor," even if he's not one). He takes detailed measurements of these clients, jots down their fabric choice, and sends the information to his partners in East Asian. The garment is then made by adjusting the block pattern, sewn straight to finish, and delivered to Mark, who presents it to the customer for a fitting. Small adjustments are made here and there — maybe taking up the sleeve or nipping the waist. But since Mark is not actually a technically trained cutter, he may miss things, such as a wrongly placed neckpoint that makes the jacket scissor in or out. If the customer is very far off from the block pattern, it may not fit him at all. But Mark is not in a good position to address these matters — he neither has the skills nor the margins to put this customer in a proper garment. If Mark is not very well educated on tailoring, then his customers are even less so. Thus, the customer is just happy with the crude hallmarks of custom-made goods, such as the monogram he asked for. Or the contrast colored buttonhole that he believes makes him stand out in a good way. The customer doesn't know how to check for more meaningful issues, such as front-back balance, so it's the blind leading the blind. This system is very different from the system of your grandfather's generation. If a man wanted a custom suit, he would have gone to a custom tailoring shop, which may have been owned by someone who wasn't a cutter, but the cutter would have seen you in person and thus been able to address technical issues. At the very least, the person running the "front of house" would have had more experience in the clothing trade (e.g., Tommy Nutter). Last year, The Wall Street Journal did an article about a pastor-turned-tailor. He, too, relies on this system: he measures customers and sends the info to an overseas factory, where the clothes are made in China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Again, there's nothing inherently wrong with Chinese or Thai tailoring. But when the starting price is $300 for a suit ($500 after Trump imposed his tariffs), you can be sure he's not using the best shops. This is why Hegseth's suits look the way they do. He got his clothes from someone with little experience in the clothing trade and has no technical tailoring skills. Thus, both he and the company owner are easily led by stale trends (e.g., short jackets, tight pants, low-rise, etc.). Hegseth has little experience with custom tailoring and a low level of personal taste, so he checks every possible custom option — funky lining, contrast buttonhole, etc. This is why I often tell people that they should try ready-to-wear first. Custom tailoring is not a guarantee of quality tailoring, especially not in this new system where people with no experience or technical skills are just sending measurements to a distant factory. Hegseth also demonstrates the one bit of common ground I found with my friend during our debate: you can tell clothes are custom-made when they are so ugly, no designer would ever make such a thing.
derek guy819,919 views • 3 months ago
I dig how this guy repairs t-shirts. He offers the service through his site, Worn Repairs. Honest wear + skilled repair can make a garment look better than when it was new. True of everything from suits to jeans, but you have to value the item enough to repair it. IG wornrepairs
derek guy335,080 views • 1 month ago
This is the cut that professional athletes, such as those in the NHL, should wear. This cut can only be achieved by drafting the pattern from scratch, rather than adjusting from a block (unless the company has a block built for pro athletes, which I've yet to see). IG bntailor
derek guy551,387 views • 2 months ago