Big Night Out

Courtesy of Bunty from styleforum.net. This picture is from 1968, just as the hard mod look was starting to flesh out into what became more recognizable as skinhead style. The lad pictured with braces is the most obvious indication of this. Nice piece of history.

Proper Suit Sleeve Length, Take Notes

The lads over at Primer Magazine have done any sartorial novice a great service by having a great example of exactly where ones suit sleeve should end and shirt cuff begin. Too often the suit sleeve ends exactly where the shirt’s cuff does as well, making it look as if you don’t know how to dress yourself. This should save you any embarrassment. Between a 1/4” and a 1/2” should be showing for the record. While we’re on the topic, only a long sleeve shirt should be worn with a suit precisely so you can achieve this look.

Ode To Fred

There is obviously no shortage when it comes to makers of polo shirts. We’re quite sure there’s actually very few companies who don’t put out their own range of polos. But no one makes a better one then Fred Perry as far as we’re concerned. It would appear many others agree with us when you consider the number of clothing makers within the scene, such as Britac and Mikkel Rude, who make button down shirts but none of which offer polos. Much like another one of our favorite clothing makers, Ben Sherman, the original designer of the classic Fred Perry polo, Tibby Wegner, received much inspiration from an already established design. For Fred Perry it was the polos originally produced by Rene Lacoste, a name a few of you might know. The classic laurel wreath was chosen because of it’s use as Wimbledon official symbol. Little known fact: mods were almost solely responsible for the introduction of more than just one color (plain white) after Fred Perry polos became a hugely popular item on the scene. It’s been a staple of mods, skinheads, suedeheads and pop stars ever since.

February Fighter of The Month: Adrien Broner.

We’ve decided to start a new feature for the site here. In case the title didn’t crack the case for you, we are now doing a Fighter of The Month (FOTM) at the end of the month. The title goes to the boxer we believed to have been the most impressive in the previous months action. It will very likely transfer between established star attractions, upcoming prospects and underdog journeymen fighters earning upsets. This months winner is definitely in the upcoming prospects category, but he is certainly well on his way to establishing himself as a must see fighter and big time attraction in the sport. February’s Fighter of The Month? Adrien Broner.

February contained no shortage of interesting fights and impressive wins. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr took another little step towards coming out of his father’s shadow and legitimizing his place as a serious prospect after beating Marco Antonio Rubio in a tough fight to start off HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” season. Preceding the main event Nonito Donaire had his first fight at a higher weight class, defeating a game Wilfredo Vasquez Jr in what was a rugged win for Donaire. That surprised many, including ourselves, as we had predicted Donaire would KO Vasquez to take his first step to dominating a new division. Instead Donaire stuttered and looked to have some adjustments to make in his next fight to get more comfortable in his new divsion. It would certainly appear all those dream fights in Donaire’s new division may be a way off.

On Saturday the 18th, Paul Williams made a much anticipated comeback against Nobuhiro Ishida. It was a chance for Williams to reestablish himself and for Ishida to prove his KO victory over James Kirkland was not simply a fluke. Williams was the one who received exactly what he wanted, exhibiting combination punching and a fluidity in movement which had taken him near the top of his weight class prior to being derailed courtesy of a Sergio Martinez bomb. The much more impressive fight on this night, Tavoris Cloud versus Gabriel Campillo, generated much more controversy and was certainly a much more enthralling bout. Campillo came off the mat twice in the first round to exhibit a fighting spirit too often missing in a lot of fighters nowadays and, by most fans cards, win the bout over Cloud. Unfortunately the judges once again prevented a deserving fighter from claiming a W when they awarded the fight to Cloud. Campillo’s performance on the night made him our runner up for the Fighter of the Month award. Many before the fight were unaware of just how skilled a fighter Campillo was. Now fight fans want to see more and more of him. We can only hope he obliges us.

Earlier on the 18th Vitali Klitschko met Dereck Chisora in Munich, Germany. Unfortunately a better than anticipated performance from Chisora was overshadowed by a post-fight press conference brawl between Chisora and fellow Englishman and loudmouth, David Haye. Chisora’s showdown with Vitali was one of the more interesting fights that either Klitschko has had recently and it was refreshing to see a fighter not afraid to take it too Vitali. At the end of the day the gulf in class was evident though as Vitali easily took a decision win although many have claimed Vitali’s performance was a sign of a champion on the decline.

Finally, the last weekend of the month contained two interesting fights and one which was responsible for Adrien “The Problem” Broner being named our FOTM. Devon Alexander met Marcos Maidana in the main event of the evening and made Maidana look pedestrian in a one sided win for Alexander. Maidana is a For The Suits favorite but he looked a shell of his former self this past Saturday. We had figured the fight would be reminiscent of Maidana and Amir Khan’s showdown in November of 2011 but it was not even close. Maidana had no answer for Alexander’s onslaught and we hope Maidana is able to come back from such a one sided victory. Alexander on the other hand has certainly made many people remember the Devon Alexander that at one time possessed a lot of hype amongst boxing enthusiasts. We wouldn’t mind seeing a showdown between Alexander and the winner of Khan/Peterson II.

Now, the point of this entire column. On Saturday night Adrien Broner completely outclassed his toughest opponent to date. Before the fight many in the boxing press were predicting a tough fight for Broner and a possibly upset for Eloy Perez. We thought the same, predicting a late win for Broner. Not even close to being the case folks. Broner completely demolished Perez. He took a cat many felt was in his league and made him look like a bum. Utilizing defensive angles that resulted in Perez hardly getting a punch in all night Broner then switched to his offensive game to KO Perez in the fourth round. It was an easy choice for the FOTM after that. Gabriel Campillo proved himself to be better than most gave him credit for but Adrien Broner proved himself to be even better than anyone though. And that’s why he’s the For The Suits FOTM for February.

"People Get Ready" by The Minstrels

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An absolutely beautiful cut of rocksteady. Lucky enough to own a copy, though not on 45 (one sold for $2600 a few months ago), but instead on a great Studio One compilation LP titled Studio One Classics (it’s an appropriate title, let me assure you). Curtis Mayfield’s undeniable influence on Jamaican music and rocksteady in particular is showcased with this gem.

The Pioneers

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Two things The Pioneers were certainly never short of was 1] Talent and 2] Aliases. Pioneers, Reggae Boys, the Soul Directions, the Soul Mates and there is likely a few more. These cats actually broke up prior to hitting it big after their initial foray into the music business went bust. Luckily Sydney Crooks isn’t the sort of guy to give up that easily. After his brother, Derrick, left the music business and other founding member Winston Hewitt moved to Canada Sydney began to work for Joe Gibbs. Being around music rejuvenated Sydney and Gibbs convinced him to give recording another try and so Sydney decided to record the rocksteady classic “Give Me Little Loving”. There was one slight problem: Sydney wasn’t comfortable doing lead vocals, preferring to focus his talent on the harmonies. In a lovely little bit of sheer chance the man who is known to all as the lead singer of the Pioneers, Jackie Robinson, happened to be sitting outside the studio. Sydney recruited him to sing lead vocals after an impromptu bit of singing on the street and the rest is history. The group went on to leave Gibbs and start recording with Leslie Kong, bringing in George “Dekker” Agard (he of “Foey Man” fame). We all know the outcome. Classic tune after classic tune was the result with tracks like “Long Shot (Kick De Bucket)” being staples in the skinhead packed dancehalls of the day. This tune right here is actually produced by Byron Lee, as it happens, but it’s one of their finest.

Tighten Up! Club 2 Year Anniversary

Poster for our next Tighten Up! Club night in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It’s a big one, it’s the 2 Year Anniversary party and we’re ready to throw down some killer tracks. Long story short, if you’re in the area you’d be stupid to miss it. Plus we’ve got a few suprises for everyone.