3 ways to blend fashion with comfort by Dimitry Toukhcher

Some cool fashion accessories to make your life easier

Fashion sometimes comes into direct conflict between its two most important variables: comfort vs. style. Certainly some tradeoff is to be expected and it’s naïve to think that isn’t so, but efficiencies CAN be increased when striking the right balance. Here are a 3 interesting suggestions to consider when wanting to keep one, yet not wanting to alleviate yourself completely of the other.

1. Adjustable Waistband on Pants: going back to more traditional roots of bespoke tailoring into the world of England and its glorious historical peaks, pants often were adjustable to bear with perhaps the ever-changing owner as clothes were passed down through family. Interestingly, the practical side of an adjustable waistband (available in bespoke tailoring) on suit pants is so obvious that’s strikingly brilliant. After a big meal, or a month of some serious committed jogging, or even simple water retention can mean a waistband that’s a little loose or tight at times. While more recently pants have come with belt loops, this wasn’t always the case; before belt loops were the norm, a loop-less adjustable band was.  Today, an adjustable waistband with loops overtop isn’t all that much a faux-pas, and the option of the belt exists, while the waistband carries the application of adjustability- win/win.
2. The quarter-inch collar increment. There have been various ways to adjust for the fact that some men simply don’t like a very tight collar, but still want it to appear neat and tidy. From the extendable elastic button ridge (we don’t recommend it- some things just seem cheap) all the way to replaceable collars, many an avenue has been taken. Here’s something neat to consider: with a bespoke tailor, you can go for a quarter size. If you’re a 16 ½, and if find it a little snug, go to 16 .75 – with custom, you can!
3. Surgeon’s cuffs – otherwise known as functional sleeves on your jacket. It’s not only a sign of refined elegance, being that mostly this feature is only available on bespoke (because it’s nearly impossible in most cases to adjust the length of sleeve once it’s been cut) this is also quite the comfort feature on a hot summer (or just around the office when the ole’ sleeves need to be rolled up a bit)- called Surgeon’s Sleeves because surgeons would in the past perform surgeries in a jacket (and in a barber-shop nonetheless) this is as much a fashion statement as it can be a comfort statement. Try it.

Dimitry Toukhcher is an LGFG Clothier and Contributig Author at Canada Fashion Magazine