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So we’re in the middle of a pitch at the moment and for reasons best known to me – which my colleagues are also trying to work out given I’ve sent them off to interview tailors – I want to know how a man feels when he tries on a well made, fitted suit.
Maybe that feeling lasts just for a moment … maybe it’s there each time you put it on, but if any of you have experienced something like that, could you tell me how it affected you.
Whilst I haven’t worn a proper suit since 1989 [my first ever job interview, ha!] there have been occasions where I’ve tried on an item of clothing that genuinely changed my mood and how I felt about myself – but I’m not interested in me, I’m interested in you – so if any of you can tell me what happened and how it affected you [positively or negatively] I’d be very, very grateful, but not as much as Rodion, Debi and Charinee who are out in the heat of Shanghai, asking a bunch of questions to a bunch of bemused and confused tailors.
Thank you.
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it didnt take you long to start abusing your colleagues did it you sick fuck. still tailors make a fucking change from tarts so i guess they should be glad for small fucking mercies.
a good suit is cloth viagra but i dont need it because all the chicks want me but for oestrogen filled “men” like you campbell it might finally make jill happy at night. that is if she can get past your personality.
next question.
Comment by andy@cynic August 9, 2010 @ 7:10 amHaving you comment on the state of marriage is like having Sorrell comment on life as a single mother in a council flat on Moss Side [BTW, why do all the roughest places have the nicest names? Which came first – the name or the roughness?] … but at least you answered the question so I should be glad, especially as my suggestion was that it was basically the male version of a wonderbra – which looks dodgy in writing so I’ll quickly move on and pretend I never said it.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2010 @ 8:23 amConfidence in your own skin.
Comment by Insightcentral August 9, 2010 @ 7:46 amQ) What do you call Rob Campbell in a suit?
Comment by Billy Whizz August 9, 2010 @ 8:00 amA) The accused.
Q: What do you call Billy in a suit?
Comment by Rob August 9, 2010 @ 8:23 amA: A cock. In a suit.
nice come back campbell. theres a modicum of hope for you yet.
Comment by andy@cynic August 9, 2010 @ 8:26 amwhat andy says is actually true.. a well made tailor made suit is two egded. cause most men all of a sudden see what the man they could look like looks like (see what i did there), thus usually causing them to instead of upgrade the current wear (and admit they have crap style and need help) ditch the suit and revert back to safe self..
my personal pride is more in the details, i know are there but no one can spot yet do allow for some social currency should i choose to brag or one up some other douche..
Comment by niko August 9, 2010 @ 8:55 amI’ve not owned many tailor made suits but was always surprised at just how well it fit. Despite my knowing it was tailor made.
After that, what Andy said.
Comment by Rafik August 9, 2010 @ 9:36 amThe moment you buy the suit…
You are fussed over by the sales person.
When they fit it to you…
The tailor is crafting it JUST FOR YOU.
When you first put it on at home…
You look the best you’ve ever looked.
When you’re partner sees you in it…
They most likely comment on how good you look.
Then you walk into your meeting/event…
Everyone has one on. Everyone has gone through the same “uninque” experience that you did.
This is when it shifts from the suit carrying you, to you carrying the suit.
#uplateplayingxbox
Comment by Age August 9, 2010 @ 10:59 amI haven’t got anything tailored made yet, but will soon (Vietnam baby!). But Topshop, sad but true, is almost just as good for a skinny lad like me. Its so easy to shop there, everything is pretty much ‘tailor made,’ fitted for a man-boy like me. Standing there in the dressing room with a shirt on that fits, knowing I don’t have to spend hours wondering aimlessly around the mall looking for something to wear. There is also something about the ‘fittedness’, looking in the mirror and thinking ‘damn I look good’. Chanel said something like the way to design a dress is to make the person look good, so there would be compliments of ‘you look good’ rather than ‘that dress looks good’.
Bill Zanker talks about buying 1000$-3000$ suits for his employees in his book with Trump, as well as a few other tricks for making a person feel ‘big’ – Think Big and Kick Ass.
Comment by Jacob August 9, 2010 @ 11:21 ami would like a nice suit please.
Comment by lauren August 9, 2010 @ 12:29 pmObservationon on people who don’t usually wear a suit every day / often –
After putting on a nice fitting suit blokes started to have a nice swagger, while walking ; as if they’re walking in to the wind or something. [ I don’t mean confidence ]
Comment by bhaskar August 9, 2010 @ 1:05 pmThis is good guys – this is really good – thank you very, very much and if anyone else wants to add their 2 pennies worth, I’d be very thankful.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2010 @ 1:18 pmAs someone who had to wear a suit to work everyday for a very long time I have a loathing of the things, but it started off as love. I loved the complexity of a suit; the cloth the cut and spotting a good suit from a bad suit. I loved the ritual of putting it on – which is like “becoming” (Red Dragon). I loved the cufflinks, choosing the right shirt and tie and I loved tying the tie.
I think the procedure of buying a suit and the subsequent owning and wearing of a suit is as close as a man can get to being anywhere like a woman.
One morning I was standing in front of a mirror and, looking at my reflection of a perfectly crafted business man, realised the I wasn’t looking at my reflection at all.
Comment by Marcus August 9, 2010 @ 2:03 pmThat is fucking awesome Marcus … fucking awesome. It’s way better than a bunch of official reports I’ve read over the last few days that supposedly ‘get to the heart of the power of a suit’ … and your last paragraph is a wonderful expression of the insight we’ve been working on, it’s so good I might actually use it verbatum if you’re OK with that.
That’s not to say everyone else’s contributions weren’t/aren’t great & valuable … but when Marcus wants to express something, he does it ridiculously well, at least in terms of how I like to read stuff like this.
But hey, I like Queen so what the fuck do I know eh!
Comment by Rob August 9, 2010 @ 2:22 pmWhy thank you Robert. Use as much or as little as you wish.
Comment by Marcus August 9, 2010 @ 2:35 pmThere isn’t much point following Marcus, but anyway..
Comment by northern August 9, 2010 @ 5:10 pmYou know one of those situations when it’s 1am, you’re presenting thinking and work at 9 the next day, it’s a make or break meeting. You didn’t see any decent work until 10pm, you’re pressured, tired and not a little bit scared? That was Claire and I last year. So we agreed to changed who we were.
The next morning in skips Holly Golightly and Don Draper, Holly in her very best dress and killer heels, Don is in the suit he hadn’t worn in two years, very crisp white shirt and immaculatley knotted tie. They killed the audience dead, then go out for a Martini.
When a really good suit isn’t a uniform, it’s costume. And no costumes hide your identity, not really, they just reveal something inside that you or others didn’t necessarilly know was there.
I love this:
“When a really good suit isn’t a uniform, it’s costume. And no costumes hide your identity, not really, they just reveal something inside that you or others didn’t necessarilly know was there”.
Seriously, not only do all your comments assist my goal and argument for a client, it’s all expressed so beautifully that you can’t help but feel what is being said which is always (for me, at least) the goal because in my experience the odds of the client “getting it” multiply tenfold.
Thank you, thank you, thank you … I’ll let you know how I go because if it comes off, it could be pretty cool even if I say so myself.
Comment by Rob August 9, 2010 @ 5:30 pmI’m so happy we finally nailed one 🙂
Comment by Charinee August 9, 2010 @ 6:34 pmYou don’t know what you’ve just done Charinee … or then again, you probably do!
Comment by Rob August 9, 2010 @ 7:57 pmI once co-presented a talent show at school. I had a blue teddy boy jacket that completely changed my actions for several hours!!
Comment by Rob Mortimer August 10, 2010 @ 10:17 pm