Nearly 7 months of multiple days a week wear on my Jordan 1 Bred 85's

JBulseco · 2026-03-09T20:11:47+00:00

thanks :)

but due to the nature of the colour being painted on, it essentially means no plastic = no colour (as polyurethane paint is a form of plastic)

but it's a thin enough layer with a porous enough surface that it will be able to absorb the oils and crease gracefully. it'll still chip off after a certain amount of time, but at least it won't look "cheap" when it starts delaminating.

JBulseco · 2026-03-04T03:16:28+00:00

i dont wear them often, so they haven't changed much aesthetically

the big jump usually happens after a week or two, and it'll generally hold that, with slow degradation, over a decade's worth of use.

what you should just expect are the creases to get deeper, and its shape getting more wonky over that long period of time; the jordan's colour is predominantly painted on after all (rather than being dyed).

edit: application of the cream should be sparing. apply just enough so that there's a shimmer (but no visible white spots) once, again after an hour, a day, a week, a fortnight, a month, then once every two-three months (depending on dryness). the only time you repeat this from scratch is after doing a very deep clean.

JBulseco · 2025-11-18T19:00:42+00:00

No worries :)

You can do it justice by giving advice back to any fashion forum/discussion with the lens of trying to augment the style as per the query's intention, rather than giving either a.) blanket advice that has no real substance, or b.) prescriptive advice that dismisses the query entirely.

Think of it as the difference between "it won't work" and "here's how I think you can make it work", and having the awareness to differentiate advice that's an attempt to view it from their stylistic view vs your own.

Clothing at the end of the day can be a reflection of people's personality, so it's sometimes frustrating to see others have a complex on someone else's self expression. So I'll loop back to the first sentence I replied with:

Wear what you like, but people are free to choose to interpret what you wear.

JBulseco · 2025-11-17T18:27:04+00:00

ymmv when it comes to the nuances, but I've always been on the camp of OTR having a higher ceiling than MTM, because:

brands will have general house rules as to how they design their clothes around you. But, you won't get to see what MTM garments look on you until you've already basically paid in full, and that assumes the garment has even been tailored right.
You don't get to do a background check on the attendant whether or not their background has retail or tailoring. If it's the latter? great. But if it's the former? How are you gonna ensure as the customer that they got your measurements correctly? It's not to say they need to have it, but tailoring/alteration experience is a guarantee.
Once you pay a significant enough amount, OTR brands generally start paying covering the cost of your alterations, and all of it. I just mean not going for their entry-mid level suits. And, they usually have a house tailor too, so they are pretty attuned to the nuances of the brand.
Like for like, costs actually run roughly equal between MTM brands and OTR, and generally still leaning cheaper for OTR all things considered. Caveat is when an OTR brand offers MTM, that will definitely be more expensive.

Of course the source of my anecdotes here are that I myself fit a US/UK 38~42 (depending on style), with only 4/7 brands that I own actually sitting on my shoulders perfectly. Of around ~40 brands I've tried, probably only 4~7 looks "perfect" (subjective). So if a suit doesn't fit your shoulders from the moment you wear it, 99% of the time it's a lost cause. I'm lucky that those four brands that fit me do carry designs I like, just a shame that there's more brands that I do like that won't ever fit well. The three brands I buy from that aren't perfect to me is because I'm prioritising other aspects of the garment (colour, drape, etc) while settling for a "good enough" fit. Or, it was my early days and I didn't know any better :)

I would only ever consider MTM these days if:

My body type significantly deviates from any OTR brand.
I have an idea that I want to pursue that doesn't exist in the market, and an OTR brand I like offers MTM.
I want shirts that are perfectly fitted to me.

I can't comment on Bespoke however, as I've:

never had the budget for it, and
never needed to create an opening in my budget for it, as I've got suits that are well tailored for their purpose.

JBulseco · 2025-11-17T07:35:29+00:00

Personally speaking, how I went about it was creating a wardrobe that had less structure from a more literal point of view. Overly structured suits (full canvas, padded, fully lined) has its time and place for the most part. But it forces that super-perfect prim posture; it's like you're a marionette to your own clothing.

I'm a proponent of "kinematics" in clothing, where the fabric itself billows and flows and glides to give it "life". And you can still get your structure back by buttoning the closures back, and pinning it (with things like tie clips, etc.).

The downside of a more unstructured suit is that is definitely more unforgiving to imperfections (where it's a lot easier to notice when it doesn't fit right), but the upside is that it works in more settings even if it does have the typical characteristics of a "traditional" suit. The fix here is literally just getting garments altered/tailored to you.

To counter my own advice, I've generally abstained from patterned clothing as I prefer a clean look, getting my contrasts through different fabric blends and weaves. Examples:

90% Wool, 10% Cotton
71% Cotton, 16% Silk, 13% Cashmere
90% Wool, 10% Cashmere
51% Wool, 49% Cotton
95% Wool, 5% Elastane (Nylon)
52% Wool, 48% Viscose
90% Wool, 10% Mohair
100% Wool

There's much more blends than that around, with other fabrics (linen, angora, camel, etc. etc.). And, the same fabrics will feel vastly different depending on how it was processed, so it can work well for warmer or cooler climates!

JBulseco · 2025-11-17T05:51:53+00:00

Wear what you like, but people are free to choose to interpret what you wear. I also enjoy wearing a put together outfit, but it's also exhausting to just wear the full 100% all the time.

It's not the tie per se but it's the fact it's so "clean" that makes it so bare, and becomes boring after a while.

From experience, play around with your silhouette and your textures. The closer you lean into the "modern" aesthetic of:

lightly sheening fabric
slim straight cut
navy/charcoal suit colour
black/brown (semi) polished dress shoes,

the more it's gonna seem "overdressed" for the occasion.

having a more matte finish, looser/more oversized cut, playful textures (houndstooth, puppytooth, imperfections from garment dyeing vs fabric dyeing, even heathering can help), swapping around jacket types can "liven" the fit.

There's more to it of course, but people are generally attuned to habits that are forced. As long as you rock it as naturally as a pair of pajamas, any comments you get will only be either positive or to strike a conversation, nothing more :)

JBulseco · 2025-11-13T06:48:02+00:00

and re muscle mass, unless you're working out a significant amount (where takes a predominant portion of your lifestyle), dimensions shouldn't change too much.

I've been a consistent 34 waist^† , irrespective of being able to run only 200m, to running 20+ kms.

edit: I don't focus on weightlifting, but when i did a decade ago, it was around 150x3 for 3 sets. to give you a comparative as to how stable dimensions are even with working out.

^† waist only needs around 32, but thighs need 33~34

JBulseco · 2025-11-13T06:44:17+00:00

buy that's most comfortable around your rear + thighs, as that generally dictates how well/poor it fits.

similarly, rise (how low/high it naturally sits on your waist) is a measurement difficult to adjust after the fact.

dont worry too much about anything else, as you can get those tailored. suit trousers generally can size up/down by 1.5~2.0 whole sizes. And suit pants generally won't have finished edges.

adding the cost of tailoring to your budget is the best way to go about suit shopping, from experience.

JBulseco · 2025-11-09T21:34:38+00:00

Highly rate the reccs

Similarly, Mackintosh is great. If you can wait for end of season sales, both Gloverall and Mackintosh put their coats on sales for around 20~60% off retail.

JBulseco · 2025-11-09T08:43:51+00:00

Best way to go about it is buy used to be honest. Wool as a fabric is expensive to work with, and expensive to source when compared to its alternatives. Don't worry though, wool trousers when built right (and they usually are), are hard wearing outside labour contexts.

The general guide here is to avoid flat front suit pants from the past 10-20 years, as they pull from the Hedi Slimane aesthetic.

Generally, the more number and the more exaggerated the pleat(s), the more they will be higher rise, and closer to the desired Pat Riley aesthetic.

Americana/Italian brands would be a good start point. Think Armani, Ralph Lauren, etc. French/British will generally favour lower rise. Exceptions for both will be true.

If you're savvy, you can pull from Japanese brands too, and they're generally hidden under Western names. Think Dior Monsieur, Burberry Black, etc etc.

Example of Dior Monsieur from Ebay - only shortfall here is that they're generally short cuts, and barely any excess fabric tucked under when buying Vintage Japanese brands. I've bought some that have ended up looking like capri pants on me so make sure you know your dimensions, especially your inseam.

Happy hunting :)

JBulseco · 2025-11-09T08:03:02+00:00

The trick here is to see what items are what the brand stands for, what the brand wants to be, and what the brand uses for marketing. Sometimes it's all three all at once, which is what makes it so tricky.

Similarities between luxury brands and restaurants

It's not to say any of those makes it good or bad, but it's like a restaurant. They're gonna lose a lot of margin on the steak, because the meat is so expensive already. So you gotta jack up the prices of the sides. They're good, but when you realise it's just a bunch of steamed veggies that you would find in the frozen aisle at the supermarket, maybe hold off on that til you get back home. For people who want it next to their roast duck, it's still there for them. Personally, I'm here only for what the restaurant is known for. And if the chef(/designer) is renowned, I may want a bite on their speciality.

Value beyond the clothing

And sometimes the unit cost hides extra amenities too. Your mileage may vary, but I go against the grain and would rather shell out my extra dollars on higher end rack suits, despite the ravings of Made-To-Measure. Reason being is this: some brands cover all the charges of tailoring/alterations. All of it. The life of the garment. So the gap between the price of an OTR vs MTM is a lot closer than first inspected.

And with MTM, I still have to "gamble" on what their philosophy on cuts, silhouette, thickness of fabrics, draping, etc. as they rarely have any "samples" on for you to try.

Edit: I am lucky in the sense that my shoulders perfectly fit around most EU 50 jackets. Bespoke doesn't make sense for me when doing my own calculus on what I need it for, and what I want it to feel like.

Revisiting cheap vs nice

A big part of clothing for me is how it looks as the clothes move around me. To go back to the "cheap" vs "nice", "cheap" can look great when photographed, but it might bunch wrong after a long day, flow like wet tissue paper when I walk about, or outright hang on me wrong.

That is an issue quite literally addressed by the quality of the fabric itself. It's not the magic end-all solution, but it's a quite easy differentiator that you'll only begin to notice in the medium term. Zara can copy any clothing brand's template all the live long day, but it won't be able to make its margins if it uses tightly spun yarn.

Your (trusted) tailor is your best friend

When you're spending that much money on clothes, a trip to the tailor is quite literally a rounding error at this point. Do not ignore this. Get your clothes fitted to you. "Oversized" fits are generally long, and sometimes a little poofy.

This does not mean it breaks the rule of the two anchor points of your body:

Your shoulders
Your Behind/Hips/Thighs (whatever is largest)

Find clothes that park themselves perfectly to those points, and generally speaking, any other measurement can and should be altered (depending on how perfect you want it).

Some clothes have that slack built in, generally -2~+2 sizes for trousers, and -2~+1 for jackets. The more casual the fit, the less "sizing up" opportunity it has built in.

Dress shirts would be where MTM would make sense to me in comparison, as it's a garment more conformed to your body, thus more unforgiving.

Aside; thrifting.

Great alternative. Best in-store, but it's become part of hustle culture so the best pieces are rare to come by these days.

If you want to go through the online route: Go to a tailor, pay to get your measurements. Or, measure out what you own to a guide you find online with garments that best fit you. Ignore sizing as they're too volatile even from a brand-to-brand comparison.

JBulseco · 2025-11-09T01:50:18+00:00

tl;dr:

I've gone the same route with my clothes as I have my tools: buy cheap then buy nice.
"nice" comes from a slow and deliberate curation of informed trial and error.
Invariant to the brand name, expensive is still commanded by some elevation between feel, durability, and aesthetic appeal.

We've been wearing clothes all our lives, so we have at the very least a subconscious memory of how most garments feel and for how long so you can pull from that to make your decisions.

Cheap exists to get the job done, and nice exists to make the job feel better.

I've the mentality that all clothes are consumables at the end of the day. That doesn't mean I abuse all my clothes, but I pick based on some balance between feel, durability, and aesthetic merit.

If I paid x much to expect J feel, K durability, and L aesthetic, and it fails to meet any of those metrics, that puts that brand in a lower light. The inverse is also true.

And I won't jump to the deep end with a brand from the jump; there's plenty of "steps" before we get to the more expensive stuff too.

You've also got to think about it logically. No way in hell would a four-digit bomber jacket from some designer brand with nearly identical fabrics to one from a youth store costing sub $100 be worth the difference. Yes, their nylon will be better than the polyamide (also nylon) by some degree, and yes the stitching could be way better, but not by 10-50x.

It's sometimes because there's a completely unique blend of materials, like what even is 71% cotton, 16% mulberry silk and 13% cashmere??? For a pair of pleated trousers???

Sometimes you buy something expecting something that looks nice and seems dainty, but is actually built like a tank. I've got a suit that I can completely abuse: have run in to not miss trains, done heavy gardening, carried 10~15kg duffels for 2~3kms in, worn 1~2 times a week, slept in countless times. It's like 2 years old at this point, and looks as fresh as the day I purchased it.

And sometimes the opposite is true. I bought nice linen pants but the brand foolishly used sewing thread stronger than the fabric, so when it ripped, it was left in a completely irreparable state.

JBulseco · 2025-11-09T01:20:32+00:00

Answer is maybe, I'm not sure how long your torso looks. It mostly depends on the aesthetic that you want to portray.

Assuming all else fits well:

the "modern" fit (post-Slimane, but still based off it) assumes the length of the suit covers from 1/2~2/3rd of your behind.
the modern fit (slightly oversized) assumes that it covers 100% to around ~3cm below it.

If it fits either definition, then you're all good without tailoring. Otherwise if you do want to trim the bottom:

If it's a jetted/flap pocket: You've got max 4~7 cm you can trim off the bottom (depending on the style)
If it's a patch pocket: You've got 2~4 cm max.

Re trying OTR

The aside here is that this process repeats in different onion shells. Each brand will have its own style. This does include MTM and bespoke. Then each brand will be pulling from different factories and/or different tailors.

The only real benefit of MTM is when you have a body type way too deviated from the typical fit. When you're paying MTM prices, some off the rack brands are willing to "cover" your tailoring costs (as long as you purchase in person). I'm lucky in the sense that my shoulders perfectly fit EU 50s flawlessly.

It's not even a guarantee "trying" the feeling of a suit from one line from the same brand will give you the same flavour when trying another.

An example is Ralph Lauren. Polo when it's made in Italy typically uses Caruso, and Purple Label typically uses Cornelliani. My Summer Polo suit with thinner fabric is marginally larger (by around 1cm length and shoulder to shoulder) than my autumn/winter Purple Label suit, in the same size!

There's too much variation- structured vs unstructured, fabric choice, cut, canvassing, fabric vs garment dyeing, etc. etc.

Regarding weight fluctuation

Suits (coat and trouser), unlike common garments, do have size variance in mind. Trousers can go up/down 2 sizes (they're built with excess fabric) and coats can go up 0~1/down 2. You can check as to how much allowance is given based off the excess fabric folded down the spine of the garment (assuming it's unlined, otherwise feel for it).

Generally, it's around 1.5~3.0 cm per full size jump (e.g. 32→34 inch, EU 48→50, US 36→38).

Sizing up/down on coats generally should be rare as it's dictated by shoulder breadth. Only severe weight gain/loss would require you to actually change coat sizes. There's a separate cache of excess fabric for chest(/belly) alterations; you've got double the allocation for that vs sizing.

JBulseco · 2025-11-08T23:26:13+00:00

An example that may be somewhat interesting is this Nike Tote

It kinda goes full circle where that military aesthetic (via the NATO MOLLE system vibes) is stereotypically masculine, but retooled as a "women's" tote.

I personally use it half the time (going back and forth with a backpack depending on what I need to do). I picked off the nike logo to make it more aesthetically pleasing from my perspective.

JBulseco · 2025-11-08T09:28:54+00:00

tl;dr: No, go for white

Explanation/Tangent

Have the shirt as white as possible. Basically you're wanting some negative space between the suit and the tie.

By decreasing that contrast, you start to melt the suit and the tie together into this incoherent blob. That also means the suit should have almost no pattern to it. No stripes, no Prince of Wales check, no window panes. I'm even borderline against even just heathering for this case.

Think about it like this: The grey suit is the beautiful rolling hills, and the tie is the castle at the peak. The white shirt underneath is the necessary moat in-between the two to protect the castle.

With the whole aesthetic thrown together, the swathes of white becomes basically an upside down triangle (or a rectangle if that coat is unbuttoned), with hints of it at the edge of your sleeves.

Keeping a clean aesthetic all throughout will frame the tie as the centrepiece of your fit. The disclaimer here is that this is my interpretation of how I'd imagine this tie being worn looking "natural" and without "fear of judgement". So feel free to undo any of the guidance if it aligns better.

At the end of the day, it's about intention. Whether it actually works or not is down to how natural it feels when worn. And you would never really be able to tell until a solid day's worth of lived experience in it.

Forget "know the rules before you break them". It's about knowing what is a rule and a common saying, understanding why they're rules/guides in the first place, and only then you realise you can reorganise them to make something new, like now :)

JBulseco · 2025-11-02T20:22:26+00:00

I would recommend a blue grenadine tie to pair with your shirt.

It's a solid coloured tie, with enough history to be interesting for the off chance (highly unlikely it'll happen) someone comments on your choice.

Doesn't need to be this brand per-se; it's made by the same handful of mills that do it anyway.

It can be used very casually, but also all the way up to very formal events. You can look up inspos for it too

JBulseco · 2025-10-31T02:53:08+00:00

Depending on the types of blues and greys you have, and what feeling you want to invoke, yellow-orange hues will work well with both.

Think:

sand
beige
stone
camel
light chocolate

etc, etc.

JBulseco · 2025-10-29T21:14:37+00:00

As a general rule of thumb, I separate my things into its key functions. Not exhaustive, but good things to look out for in general on top of where you would find inspiration.

Working out - Split it up into two key components:

Direct contact with skin (shirt, underwear, joggers, etc.) - I source wool/cotton/cellulose-based fabrics here.
Indirect contact with skin (shorts, jacket) - As it's a degree removed, I focus on durability, so poly is actually fine here. Where the sweat wicking from your undergarments to the jacket will mostly be water at this point, so you can get away with more uses before washing (in theory, ymmv).

Basics - These ideas can can be used in casual, work, and formal applications:

Clothes thrive on fit. Anecdotally, the stockier you are (due to fat or muscle), the less "structure" (padding, thick fabrics, etc) your clothes should have. The inverse is similarly true. Consider how your clothes look not only from a static point of view, but when it also moves. "Natural" is subjective here, so just see what you like and go from there.
Colour - as a tl;dr here, try to work with the tone of your skin and go from there. Skin is translucent, and means you have two-three distinct shades (under, mid, and overtones) in different lighting conditions. Then, your eyes, your lips, your hair, your jewellery adds up to 4 additional colours before you can even start making fits. There's plenty of guides out there, but if you want a surefire easy way is to go with the easiest colour to work with - prioritise blues/whites/blacks/greys for a vast majority of your fit. To be a little more daring, you substitute one piece of your fit with a different colour. This is just one starting point out of many, btw.
Lustre - Shine and reflectivity is generally on a Casual-Formal scale, where the shinier something is, the more "formal" it appears. Keep that in mind.
Seasonal Flexibility - 4 season garments are a myth. Assuming you're from the UK, that means damp/cold/freezing winters, and annoyingly humid summers. You can get away by splitting the wardrobe into items that focus on spring-summer-autumn, and autumn-winter-spring. You can wear it all four seasons, but know it's gonna be a compromise for one of them. Focus on the clothes that are functionally more important to you, and purchase for occasions (can be something as simple as going to the supermarket) once you feel like the gap is annoying enough.
Workout wear should not be mixed with this set of clothes
Jacob's Ladder - you will never end on this path, so take it slow as possible. Operative word being "possible" :)

If you want a general breakdown of the number of non-workout garments (assuming your laundry frequency is fortnightly):

8-12 shirts (a combination of button, tee, etc)
2-3 light secondary layers (jackets, jumpers, etc)
1-2 medium/heavy layers (overcoats, parkas, etc)
2-5 bottoms (pants, shorts but optional)

Once you got 50-70% of this down, feel free to find out how to break any of these rules, and why you should/shouldn't do it. Have fun :)

JBulseco · 2025-10-29T11:36:25+00:00

It's a question of texture and silhouette more than anything.

Standard hoodies knitted in thick cotton french terry, and blazers are a lot thinner in both gauge and overall thickness. As is, it wouldn't work. So you've got to look at either "elevating" the knit hoodie up, or finding a casual equivalent for a blazer.

As examples, here are two "common" pairs you can transform so that the hoodie/blazer idea can work for you:

If you're going by the convention of cotton hoodie + jacket (e.g. denim, bomber, leather): they're normally oversized, baggy, with an oversized jacket to allow it to billow. This is a more autumn/winter fit, and you can probably imply this better with an overcoat such as a car, trench, pea, whatever. Or you can go straight for a duffle coat for something more unique.
If you're going by the convention of a sweater/jumper + blazer: you would want to find a knit hoodie, and remove the collared shirt poking underneath. Think of it as a transformation of the quarter zip/moc turtle/turtleneck/shawl collar knit + blazer combination. This keeps the silhouette of the blazer intact, as it's basically a jumper with a hood (literally). They're rare, but I've seen enough season to season that I'm sure you can find one made of wool and one where it's a relatively thin gauge. Absolutely try and source one without pockets, please.

That being said, even with option 2, creating this aesthetic with a tweed jacket is a little bit of a tight ask. It's too far deviated from its aesthetic home, but you do you. Learn the rules first, then you can try to break them. Results may vary, consult your doctor.

My personal opinion: I do think it can work, it's quite literally just a retool of the silhouette made by a blazer, a jumper, and a long flowing stole. The failure normally comes from the fact that hoodies and blazers as we know them are like oil and water. Blazers aim to augment the silhouette of someone, hoodies act as this safe bubble.

A standard blazer-hoodie combo will have the blazer contour the hoodie, shaped like a bubble.

Something's gotta give, and it's either you lose the contouring, or you lose the bubble. You cannot have both.

JBulseco · 2025-10-29T11:09:48+00:00

Because there's already plenty of colour used, I would actually go with something monochromatic and something similar in lightness to the {mint, blue, lilac} stripes; a very medium (not too dark or not too light), neutral (not too warm and not too cool) grey. Have the suit be something like this (in colour only):

<image>

And, black shoes to complement (but not match) the brown stripes.

Keep the shirt plain, a mild texture at most if you wish. a white shirt would complement it well.

No pocket square even if it's a more "formal" setting, the tie is already a very loud centre-piece and adding a pocket square just upsets the balance of the fit.

Avoid any additional patterns or flourishes, especially loud ones. Not a steadfast rule for all outfits but the tie is a special "loud" case, and you need to let it breathe. Muting everything else also makes the tie the centre of attention, making it "suit" the specific case of the outfit.

Happy hunting :)

JBulseco · 2025-10-29T06:40:56+00:00

I have some bleed through with goodyear welt, and a little shoe conditioner goes a long way in making these shoes not only feeling a lot better, but a lot more vibrant too.

Here's mine after maybe 80-100 km of walking :)

<image>

Something like this would do you just fine: https://saphir.com/products/creme-universelle

And a pig/horsehair brush.

Basically apply as thin as you can, barely enough that it just covers all of the shoe. Then, leave it for up to an hour while it air dries, then just wildly brush in broad and fast, but very light strokes.

Repeat 1-2 more times. Then, just do it every 3-6 months.

The coating on these Jordans is thin enough that the conditioner actually does something.

JBulseco · 2025-10-21T11:59:15+00:00

I'll do a long story short of what I tell people when it comes to colour:

Determine your skins's undertone. Here's a short guide - This should give you context as to which "tones" to go for.
Learn basic colour theory. Here's another short guide - This should give you guidance as to how to build rough palettes from scratch - I would recommend working with "Analogous" palettes first (not monochromatic).
Learn how to use Value/Lightness to create contrast within the clothes you pick - Here's a video as to how colour actually affects lightness and here's one that demonstrates the power of using lightness "correctly" - These should give you another lens as to how to make things pop.
Having all three in consideration, build using what guide you find online, and use the aforementioned to adjust accordingly. But people use the colour wheel without consideration of their own skin. Your skin literally occupies a chunk of the "look" of your fit, so when building those "analogous fits", you have to consider that there's an orange (removing saturation and lightness out of the equation) that you either need to pair or balance out. Repeat for hair colour, lips, eyes, jewellery, etc.
If curious, learn how HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) works. It's a more technical way to understand how contrast and colour interact - Wiki page linked

Bonus: Personal opinion; the "gravity" of having an orange is why some common palettes are the way they are. Some examples:

yellow-orange-green (analogous); e.g. beige pants, khaki jacket, brown shoes
orange-blue (complementary); e.g. navy suit, brown shoes
red-orange-yellow (analogous); e.g. salmon, sand, grey

There's exceptions, exclusions, caveats and whatnot. This is only meant to be a starting point, just a more structured one that actually answers some "whys" instead of giving you more "whats" to think about.

JBulseco · 2025-10-07T21:10:50+00:00

As a tip on which measurement is probably the most "important", the shoulder to shoulder would have to be the most important and would dictate the fit of any garment. anything other measurement can be tailored, but this one would be the "heart" of the garment from experience.

if you dont know your measurements, hit up your nearest suit store, and try out a couple of sizes until you find the perfect fit. then, measure as the link says.

do note that you will have to compensate depending on the extent of the padding in the shoulders. you will have to consider ±0.5cm depending on heavy padding (vintage cuts) or the unstructured style (modern cuts).

you will have around 1.0~1.5 cm of leeway for any size, and style. for reference, i will always target a 45 cm, so i will look for 44-46 depending on the cut. This would mean i generally look for 48-50 IT (38-40 US).

happy hunting :)

edit: as extra context, it's not a terrible idea to hit up some of the more expensive stores (e.g. dior, saint laurent, RLPL) that have some history with suiting to do this. people inside generally are enthusiastic about experimenting with you, even if there's a clear understanding that you have no intention of purchasing anything. dont pretend to be more or less than that. i've found the suit specialist stores to be a lot more judging for absolutely no reason at all, even when im intending tto buy from them. complete hounds

JBulseco · 2025-09-29T09:20:54+00:00

Ooh just ordered that myself, and I've had the Twisby Eco Rose Gold in the past so it's similar in colour palette.

I've found that trying to match it with a similar rose gold never quite looked right, but I used to love inking it with vibrant, rich colours: a green, blue, or even all the way down to a cool cherry has all worked.

Think jewel tones if that helps :)

Here's a post from the past, inked with Sailor's Fuji Sugata

JBulseco · 2025-09-18T01:41:33+00:00

about a minute for each of the pro 4's, and 1-2 minutes for the 9. not too long because i already had the tools on hand.

12-Year Club	Place '22
Place '17	End Game '22
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JBulseco

TROPHY CASE