How I feel when I get a new suit with all new hot accessories:

[Aristus]

Brand new bespoke suit with surgeon's cuffs and ticket pocket, hand-made shirt with French cuffs, silk tie, a cool pocket silk to make everything pop, silk suspenders, a nice pair of cordovan A. Testoni brogues, and slimline Skagen wristwatch.

What I feel like when I walk in the door:

[ret5hd]

1. Yeah but...

your socks still have holes in ‘em.

Am I right???

[Aristus]

3. Nope.

New socks, too.

Hell, probably brand-new, right out of the wrapping underwear, too.

That's what makes it so enjoyable; it's like a snake shedding its old skin with shiny new skin underneath.

[TexasTowelie]

2. I recall the times when I had plenty of money to spend on my wardrobe.

I had four different shirts with French cuffs with a couple pairs of cuff links (I like the onyx and mother-of-pearl pair). I used to have more social events on my calendar such as concerts and weddings that would provide a reason to dress up.

Even my normal work wardrobe was huge with a closet full of Van Heusen poplin shirts (they are easy to iron). My necktie collection grew to about 100 ties and I also had about a half-dozen pocket silks.

I can attest to only shirt in my closet being hand made although there may have been others. My mother used to sew dresses for all of my sisters so in my final year of college I asked her to make me a party shirt. I bought a couple yards of purple satin and she added some mother of pearl buttons so I looked like a pimp. I still have the shirt in my closet and it still fits since I'm at about the same weight as when I was in college, but it's been nine years since I've had an occasion to wear it.

[Aristus]

4. I own about twenty pairs of cufflinks.

However, all but about three or four pairs were gifts. My mother gave them to me when her father died. They were old, cheap-o cufflinks from the 50's that shriners and whatnot would wear. Not anything that would look good today.

[MyOwnPeace]

7. I remember the feeling!

I was working under a more 'constrained' budget (school teacher) but really respected the 'look-the-part' idea, even as it lost its spark over the years. For me, it wasn't suits, it was sports coats, slacks, fine shoes, good wash-&-wear shirts, but for me the kicker was the TIES! NEVER wore one more than twice the entire school year. It was an expensive mission as the ties went through their phases of wide/thin/wide/med/thin/wide (you get the idea.....).
Since retirement I've got 3 ties that I need to use, depending on 'style' - wide/medium/thin. As for the rest - WOW, do I have a great collection of jeans and T's!

[TexasTowelie]

10. I've had to break out my bandanna collection these days

since I had my right leg amputated below the knee. I usually wear shorts, but when I wear jeans I have to tie the loose clothing back around my thigh with a bandanna. I have the go-to black and blue bandannas, but I also have the rainbow of colors available if I want to coordinate with my shirt.

I know that I should take the jeans in to be hemmed, but it would be sacrilege to alter Levi 501s and I still have the thought that one day I can get a prosthetic limb if I win the lottery.

[MyOwnPeace]

12. Hey Tex!

If ANYBODY deserves a 'GoFundMe' - it's you! Name it the "SAVE THE LEVI 501!' (way too many wouldn't even get it - but they'd donate anyhow!) and we'll 'fill those pants' in no time! (Oh, wait - that didn't sound right after hearing about Pootie-Poot's latest 'adventure').

[TexasTowelie]

13. I need to consult with an attorney before doing that.

I don't know whether that gift would be considered as taxable income and would it render me ineligible for Medicaid since I would likely exceed the cutoff limit. After the roller coaster of dealing with both United Healthcare and the state finally saying that the prosthetic was not medically necessary I'm not sure if I'm up for any more battles and I have to wonder if "it's a trap" so that they can kick me off Medicaid.

There is also the issue whether I could get the health insurer to pay for physical therapy since I've been off my feet for more than two years. Other considerations such as adjustments and maintenance of the prosthetic also factor into equation. If I had received a prosthetic earlier I may have been able to resume most activities including riding my bike, but that seems like a far-fetched dream now due to muscle atrophy in both legs.

[3catwoman3]

5. What are surgeon's cuffs?

I love to see a pic of you in your natty new threads.

[Aristus]

6. Most suit coats have buttons on the cuffs that are purely decorative, and have no real function.

Surgeon's cuffs are suitcoat cuff buttons that actually function. They date from the Victorian Era, when, if a doctor had to perform a public "Is there a doctor in the house?" examination, he could unbutton the cuffs of his suitcoat and roll up his sleeves, rather than take his coat off. Evidently, back then, appearing in public in just one's shirtsleeves was a capital offense.

I haven't bought any new tailored clothing since COVID-19 started, and I'll probably have to lose some weight first before I can get back into my best clothing. This thread was just pure nostalgia.

New Year's Eve 2019, right before the pandemic started, I took Mrs. Aristus out for a nice holiday dinner. I wore a very nice Hart, Shaffner, & Marx single-breasted navy suit, a dark blue shirt, and a navy tie for a cool monochromatic look. It looked great close-up, but in photos, it looks kind of muddy and ill-defined, with all of the navy blue bleeding into one big blob.

[highplainsdem]

8. Stunning ensemble.

But even though I love science fiction, I think this is more the image men in a bespoke suit should aspire to:

LOL!

Your post reminded of the time I splurged on a designer jumpsuit (wrap top, slinky and sort of '40s glam, in a shade of emerald green that was perfect with my red hair) for an event with colleagues. Was kind of glad I had it along since my date, well my dinner date, had advised me to "dress gorgeous." He and his male friends were wearing tuxes, and his friends' wives were in evening gowns. I was still overly glammed up for the event, got more attention than I wanted, and the wrong type.

I'm more the jeans and sweatshirt type.

[Aristus]

9. I own a lot of the classics Bond is known for.

There's just no way I could ever look like Bond though.

I have a very nice white dinner jacket that, worn with otherwise standard black tie, got me a very nice compliment from a stranger one night at the opera.

There are guys who look spectacular in jeans and a sweatshirt.

I'm not one of them. And although I could never be mistaken for James Bond, I feel better-looking when I dress up.

On edit: Emerald green on a red-haired women is paralyzingly beautiful.