Rick Owens Mens F/W 09/10

[mrbeuys]

Hah, cheers guys.

@BSR this is an L, I tried the M and it fit much better but was too tight in the shoulders and chest.

@pierce you calling me fat?
I am actually 6' and while not skinny, not fat either and have pretty broad shoulders... jacket's simply too big and I am not sure this combination was ever meant to work on me...

@andrew yes, you are right, trousers are worn too high, not hemmed yet, so awkward altogether. And I do have the cropped version as well. This wasn't meant to be a WAYWT either, I just put the pants and blazer on with some shoes to take this before returning it so you could see it worn... so yes, agree, but I wasn't going to wear it like this either.

My thought on this was that when wearing these baggy dropcrotchs, and a baggy shirt you need something that's cut close to the body to avoid it looking like a giant matt black pear, peach or potato. Edit: Or a very expensive black potato sack.

Anyway, took it back and spent some more money on a new leather... better investment.

[Faust]

Mrbeuys, I also don't think it's working :-( Seems a bit sloppy.

[mrbeuys]

Mrbeuys, I also don't think it's working :-( Seems a bit sloppy.

Exactly, that's the word. Opposite of sharp. Which begs the question, which is the best suit to wear when your job sometimes feels like you should be wearing a suit, but don't want to appear to wear a suit and no one really expects you to.
I think there's a thread for that, no?

[Chant]

Which begs the question, which is the best suit to wear when your job sometimes feels like you should be wearing a suit, but don't want to appear to wear a suit and no one really expects you to.

CCP, of course.

[Faust]

Maybe, but I don't remember where. That depends on your suited environment. On Wall St. it was easy for me, because their suits are usually ill-cut and gray - so pretty much any designer suit killed. Oh God, you should see what passes for suits in America. But I know that the English are much dapper when it comes to suiting, even the Canary Wharf drones.

What do you do for work?

[mrbeuys]

What do you do for work?

I am Creative Director, which basically means I can wear whatever I want, no matter who the client is, and in our industry this is almost expected to a point to feed the stereotypes of the crazy but brilliant creative blah blah and a lot of our clients are in fashion, the arts, film and music anyway, so it matters even less.
Just sometimes, you're in a room full of suits and feel a bit like the freak, and not in a good way. And I feel I want to meet them half way
or go all the way to Saville Row.

[Chant]

@MailMoth: I agree with you on the failure of the skinny pants/RO blazer combo, but IMO a 1-B blazer like the boiled wool one I tried is supposed to be a bit more versatile: if it is wearable only with skirt pants, it is doomed to stay often in the closet. I got the feeling that the global Rick system (driving someone to the total look) is expanding at the cost of the versatility of pieces taken one by one, that are by now less easy to integrate to a non-Rick outfit/wardrobe.

I'm very interested in RO's tailored stuff, both jackets and coats.
I tried on many times the jacket this summer, and had the impression that the work was very well done and, most important for me, very original, whith strange things as well of course, like the absolutely horizontal line of the shoulders, which can be seen on some pictures, and seem to be RO's signature, like the pagoda shaped ones are CCP's.

I like too the very fitted and long sleeves, and the high waist, which makes the jacket look like an hybrid of jacket and frock coat, and I've no problem with the back - except that the back vents didn't "fall" properly on the jackets I tried on.

Mail-Moth is right, this jacket does not work at all with fitted trousers, but very well with large - and/or drop crotched - ones, and not only those designed by RO.
But I'd like to come back on the versatility/wearability debate. Imo things are simple : if it's so versatile, then it's not that original. So a low versatility is the price you have to pay to the originality.

Connected question : the total look. All the designers who have a strong identity (and most of them here belong to this category) are designing pieces that are meant to be associated, not only to empty your wallet, but because the complement each other and work together. For example, the lenght of the cropped trousers is always connected with the height of the boots (Ann) or the sneakers (Rick).
And the bell shaped jacket is working with the skorts, since the high waist allows to integrate a middle body garment - or requires it.

Btw, I'd say that what Rick has done with this FW collection is imo very interesting - and quite new. I haven't seen before this "three stages silhouette" (torso/waist/legs), and I like a lot these "skorts", which aren't giving the male body any feminine aspect.

[BSR]

But I'd like to come back on the versatility/wearability debate. Imo things are simple : if it's so versatile, then it's not that original. So a low versatility is the price you have to pay to the originality.

Interesting point, not sure to completely agree though: best pieces imo are those that allow for unexpected pairing. If something only looks good when paired with a limited range of other garments, you are more or less forced to adopt the total look. Originality, to endorse your categories, should be the result of a quest for outfits of your own, and not a given starting point offered by designers, isn't it? Then a minimal versatilty seems required...

Connected question : the total look. All the designers who have a strong identity (and most of them here belong to this category) are designing pieces that are meant to be associated, not only to empty your wallet, but because the complement each other and work together. For example, the lenght of the cropped trousers is always connected with the height of the boots (Ann) or the sneakers (Rick).
And the bell shaped jacket is working with the skorts, since the high waist allows to integrate a middle body garment - or requires it.

Yes, I know that. It is sometimes irritating to find out that a given designer's strong piece cannot be better worn than within the context of a full combo from the same designer...But on the other hand I'm sure you're like me, you are never as happy as when you discover a new way to match heterogeneous items together.

[Faust]

/\ This season was the first one I was able to afford several pieces from the same designer, and I must say, I totally dig the fact that they match perfectly together.

I also concur that the point about versatility/originality is an interesting one - we should explore it further. Actually, pnod should chime in on that.

[Faust]

I am Creative Director, which basically means I can wear whatever I want, no matter who the client is, and in our industry this is almost expected to a point to feed the stereotypes of the crazy but brilliant creative blah blah and a lot of our clients are in fashion, the arts, film and music anyway, so it matters even less.
Just sometimes, you're in a room full of suits and feel a bit like the freak, and not in a good way. And I feel I want to meet them half way
or go all the way to Saville Row.

I hate to say this, but Sissy P seems like a natural answer. You can also always put together a nice unconventional suit from Ann's offerings.

[philip nod]

/\ This season was the first one I was able to afford several pieces from the same designer, and I must say, I totally dig the fact that they match perfectly together.

I also concur that the point about versatility/originality is an interesting one - we should explore it further. Actually, pnod should chime in on that.

what was the point exactly? it feels like it was briefly articulated...

[Faust]

You were looking for an intellectual discussion. Chant started one. There is another one in the Similarities thread. Maybe you are just not looking hard enough?

Mail-Moth is right, this jacket does not work at all with fitted trousers, but very well with large - and/or drop crotched - ones, and not only those designed by RO.
But I'd like to come back on the versatility/wearability debate. Imo things are simple : if it's so versatile, then it's not that original. So a low versatility is the price you have to pay to the originality.

[mrbeuys]

I hate to say this, but Sissy P seems like a natural answer. You can also always put together a nice unconventional suit from Ann's offerings.

Don't think I am ready for Poell yet. Well, there's always Social Suicide (http://socialsuicide.myshopify.com/p.../tailors-dummy)

[/derail thread]

[Mail-Moth]

Interesting point, not sure to completely agree though: best pieces imo are those that allow for unexpected pairing. If something only looks good when paired with a limited range of other garments, you are more or less forced to adopt the total look. Originality, to endorse your categories, should be the result of a quest for outfits of your own, and not a given starting point offered by designers, isn't it? Then a minimal versatilty seems required...

Let's stick to this RO "bell" jacket, which is a perfect example : obviously the piece is not strongly versatile. you can't wear it with slim trousers, even with regular ones. You even can't make it work properly without passing by this "three stages" silhouette Christian was evoking.

Simply speaking, that means that because of the cut of this jacket, you are more or less stuck to one silhouette.

But that does not mean that this silhouette cannot exist out of the RO sphere. There are other designers who make skirts (skorts ?), or long shirts, or structured drop-crotch, like Avanster's YY.
Then you have to be lucky, find the good textures and the most adapted shape - but, although it sounds a little risky, this is also a lot more fun (and money, yes) than just putting on a garment that, besides, would be likely to match only other "reasonable" pieces.

On the other hand, total look does not turn me on : athough it offers the guarantee of perfect proportions and even, let's say that, harmony, it exempts in the same time from seeking those slight twists that make, at least for me, most of the fun one can have with clothes. It is certainly very satisfying to wear an outfit whose coherence has been duly thought by a designer - as you would wear a work of art, in fact - but I find DIY has his own odd charms.

[Faust]

Where is pnod? I want some pnod wisdom in this thread.