Thom Browne's School Days

[timothynguyen]

Let's talk about Thommy Thom Browne. Father Thom. Supreme Leader of the TB Army.



Hate it? Love it? Don't understand it? Discuss.

[eyealt]

I'm actually very into his basic garments. While I do like his suiting as well, I find myself very interested in the sweaters and cards with the quad striping on the sleeve. Having been in DSM and handled a few of his cashmere pieces, the quality is beautiful. Light, incredibly soft- it's what you imagine cashmere would feel like. The quad stripes are such subtle additions to the pieces but they set off what would be a simple navy card or grey sweater and make it something with a bit more "pop." Not sure they warrant such a large price increase but that's fashion and it needs to be understood that, like with the CdG heart, if you have a small detail that highlights a brand it will raise the price.

Even if the quad stripes were not associated with TB, I would still like any kind of sweater with a similar kind of detailing on the arm but in this case, it just so happens a man with an interest in cropped short suits and high price tagged pieces puts them onto his garments.

His runway stuff is also crazy. The animal heads legitimately had me laughing and that's a good thing. Breaking boundaries seems to happen all the time with runway stuff, but the animal heads were something else. Something better. Not wearable, but wickedly awesome.

[zayg]

So unlike my aesthetic but I secretly hope to have one of his suits if I ever live in New York.

[ramseames]

Quadstripe sweats are like givenchy t shirts or mmj shoes, not ugly/bad things in and of themselves but you can't escape the fact that theyre for zero taste nouveau riche fobs

[mc-lunar]

Who is the Thom Browne man?

At what point in someones life should they wear TB? Where is it appropriate? Could someone who works for $15 an hour ever wear Thom (assuming it's what they spend their $15 on)?

[une_impasse]

I truly love him but my body type does not work with his clothing or preferred fit. I know it's supposed to be very cropped and slightly shrunken etc. but after trying his Black Fleece and mainline stuff, I have to size up or risk ruining the clothes with my broad shoulders and thunder thighs. I own a mainline sweatshirt I got second-hand, a blazer from the Neiman Marcus x Target extravaganza (get one if you can on ebay, they're amazing), and a few Black Fleece pieces. They're all different price tiers but the quality on all of them is pretty evenly matched which is a testament to his craftsmanship and integrity.

He's the closest thing America/New York has to a couture show/couture house and I think he's managed to keep his own line consistently interesting while having his hands in Moncler and Brooks Brothers, I'd love to see him at the head of a true couture house but the idea of someone so staunchly American seems unlikely. I like to think he's leading the charge of getting rid of notion that to be professional you must wear a suit, or that a suit has to be professional. Nevertheless, I hope to wear Thom Browne at my big gay wedding.

[timothynguyen]

[bels]

I like Thom because the Thom man is Thom.

If I was feeling flush and saw a Thom suit at discount I'd grab it. I think most modern "informal" (suit) events are so carelessly interpreted that you could wear thom there and have it be v aggro, but not disrespectful (because 10% of the men there will be wearing jeans and a blazer anyway so who gives a shit if your trousers are too short)

Thom looks like it would be a great uniform, but it doesn't look very comfy (thomheads please correct me) so I suspect it would get annoying after a while.

What OCBD does the thom man wear? I'm assuming he doesn't buy five thom OCBDs because you know.

[bels]

If I saw a barista in Thom I would assume they were either tricked by business or had rich parents.

[thomaspaine]

and I met a starbucks barista who claimed to own a bunch of Thom. He was a black (gay?) dude in his 30s or 40s, I assume he picked it up at sample sales or something.

Thom is fun to wear but yeah, it's not something that I'd want to wear every day. I like wearing suits but I think there's a reason people who have to wear suits everyday aren't walking around in ultra slim GQ or Thom fitting suits. Of course if I did have to wear a suit everyday, I'd be wearing Thom.

I love Thom but have been moving away from Thom and Black Fleece. Mainly because of the pressures to conform to a life where wearing those kind of clothes are not really socially acceptable. I could probably get away with it if I wore them everyday, but again I don't particularly want to wear Thom everyday.

[thomaspaine]

[saveed_samir]

thank god we changed the title of this thread

[MxmHrpr]

[timothynguyen]

[teck]

[timothynguyen]

[conhnore]

he is a beautiful man

hairy legs notwithstanding

[yoyobeat]

I haven't handled the stuff, I'm sure it's nice.. but I really don't get the shrunken suiting aesthetic. In my opinion it looks ridiculous and pretty uncomfortable, from the tight fit to the doubtlessly annoying feel of wind against your lower shin and ankles when you walk.

Would anyone who appreciates or likes it care to explain why they do? Is it the idea of Thom Browne that people like, or the actual look, or both? You don't have to prove anything to me of course, but it would be cool to understand. Sorry if this comes off a bit hostile.

[bels]

I can think of a couple of things.

- Because it fits so weirdly, it loses some of it's formality, which is appealing to people who don't have lifestyles that call for formality
- The idea of being an iconic insider; to most people you look ridiculous but people in the know know why you look ridiculous
- The ridiculous aesthetic removes normal suit associations of tradition, business etc and wearing it sends a sort of subversive message about these things

[ramseames]

who was it that said that wearing TB makes people around them mad?

[teck]

TB has done an outstanding job of latching onto the whole "men's uniform" thing. He caught the perfect wave(this is back in 2007 or so) where men were a) looking to rediscover suiting, b) trying to "redefine" masculinity, c) were germinating the whole #menswear thing. Before him, sure things were getting slimmer, but he really took it to its logical end, and made suiting cool and haute. Before this, there were nice suits, but they weren't high end fashion suits (outside of some weird Chris Tucker-esque alligator one). He made being a square cool.

I think that's what appeals to me. It's simultaneously an homage and a dismissal of the past, it's Paul Auster's NYC, where men drank martinis and read the newspaper in the evening, mixed with a bizarro prep school from Omicron Persei VIII. A lot of Thom's inspirations come from places which we think of as being conservative or establishment: the military, the Amish, the office.

And then of course there's the quality. It's funny but now I think the whole "everything has to be full canvas or I'd just DIE" is kind of wearing thin. TB really led (or led the fashion rediscovery of) high quality mens suitting. He engaged Martin Greenfield for a long time to make his clothing. His clothes, as I said in another post, are extremely luxurious -- if you didn't think an oxford shirt could be luscious and beautiful, try on a TB one. His suitting is actually very comfortable. He does an amazing job of shrinking stuff but making sure there's room where there needs to be. It's actually I think a sign of skill -- great designers can create crazy proportions while not simply just cutting off circulation to the wearer.

TB practically invented the damn ankle thing. All of the stuff that you see now in streetwear, the tight rolls, the cuffed jeans, all that shit came out because some tiny man in nyc made tiny suits. The fact that we even talk about break at all is because of him.

[can-]

that last statement is a bit strong. people been cuffing their jeans since selvage railroad takeover 2007, and designers like yohji and ann have long been on the tailored highwater thing.

when it comes to proper tailoring thom has absolutely changed the way people look at breaks on suits and trousers.


i really want to buy this shirt for bartending

[MxmHrpr]

Hate to break up the cropped discussion, but just seen this pop up.

()

You know if any of you NY'ers want to cop me some discount stuff in TB2..

Whilst we're here what are the best Thom forums/blogs online? Thom fans seem to be so far and few in most online forums but somehow co-ordinate into an Army.

[timothynguyen]

[timothynguyen]

[germinal]

[MxmHrpr]

Thom FW16 Pre-Fall









Two questions from this?

[*] EDIT: Chloe Wheatcroft
[*] That second suit fabric, where can I get me some of that neppy sharkskin?

[vgtbls]

having that dachshund bag and a living dachshund together is extremely morose

i like it!

[midemolet]

My Dad was in the same graduating class with Thom at Notre Dame, which is funny because wearing TB @ notre dame would get you crucified.

[vgtbls]

Does your dad call him "Good Ol' Thommy B"?

Why or why not?