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July 8, 2015 12:52 PM Subscribe
Violinist Kevin Yu has invented a high-tech tux shirt. The Coregami Gershwin incorporates athletic wear principles and technology to bring symphonic musicians' formal wear into the 21st century.
But I thought formal dress means that your jacket is supposed to stay on at all times?
posted by polymodus at 12:59 PM on July 8, 2015
posted by polymodus at 12:59 PM on July 8, 2015
Semi-formal wear, please.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:00 PM on July 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 1:00 PM on July 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
On the few occasions we go to the Pops or the orchestra, half the audience is in shorts and t-shirts - might as well let the performers be comfortable, too, I guess. Now excuse me while I go choke on my tie clip.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:03 PM on July 8, 2015
posted by backseatpilot at 1:03 PM on July 8, 2015
But I thought formal dress means that your jacket is supposed to stay on at all times?
So? A generously-cut unconstructed jacket is never going to be the source of binding or constraint. The shirt is the problem. Now they just need to make this in a button-down collar.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:04 PM on July 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
So? A generously-cut unconstructed jacket is never going to be the source of binding or constraint. The shirt is the problem. Now they just need to make this in a button-down collar.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:04 PM on July 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
My string-bass playing, tux-wearing-for-orchestral-performances 18-year-old son would like me to buy one for him. Anyone got 120 bucks laying around?
posted by cooker girl at 1:05 PM on July 8, 2015
posted by cooker girl at 1:05 PM on July 8, 2015
There's always something a little off in a business plan for a premium shortish-lived item that includes "our target audience is [artists]" as [artists], except at the elite level, are not particularly lavish with disposable income.
As for formal wear, my tails were purchased used and are nearly 100 years old and are in magnificent condition. My tuxes were picked up used from rental places and are not up to the same manufacturing quality standards as my tails and are a little worse for the wear, but you can't tell from the audience. I don't have trouble with my shirts/jacket so much as I play trumpet and the worst that happens is that the shoulder and collar bunches up a bit. I can see needing a better tailored outfit for string players, percussionists or tromboners.
Heck, last Christmas, I was in the Nutcracker last year, the costumers gave us tails and shirts to wear that were approaching the point of being more safety pin than fabric and could only accurately be described as hobo suits, but they apparently look wonderful from the audience.
posted by plinth at 1:23 PM on July 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
As for formal wear, my tails were purchased used and are nearly 100 years old and are in magnificent condition. My tuxes were picked up used from rental places and are not up to the same manufacturing quality standards as my tails and are a little worse for the wear, but you can't tell from the audience. I don't have trouble with my shirts/jacket so much as I play trumpet and the worst that happens is that the shoulder and collar bunches up a bit. I can see needing a better tailored outfit for string players, percussionists or tromboners.
Heck, last Christmas, I was in the Nutcracker last year, the costumers gave us tails and shirts to wear that were approaching the point of being more safety pin than fabric and could only accurately be described as hobo suits, but they apparently look wonderful from the audience.
posted by plinth at 1:23 PM on July 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
What we really need in the orchestra is a sort of onesie that looks like a tux from about 50 yards or more. Maybe a dye-sublimation job. Like this, but for grownups.
Tell me where the kickstarter is on that...
posted by randomkeystrike at 1:25 PM on July 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
Tell me where the kickstarter is on that...
posted by randomkeystrike at 1:25 PM on July 8, 2015 [4 favorites]
NEVER MISS A CHANCE TO WEAR CUFFLINKS.
posted by Muddler at 1:28 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Muddler at 1:28 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Kevin Yu, if you read this, I just have one thing to say to you: Bond movie tie in. That's your money maker; you're welcome.
posted by Phredward at 1:31 PM on July 8, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Phredward at 1:31 PM on July 8, 2015 [10 favorites]
This is hot to me in almost every definition of the word "hot."
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:33 PM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:33 PM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
FINALLY?!! I CAN RUN MY MARATHON AND LOOK LIKE A GENTLEMEN TOO!!!
I might have run a few races in this.
What we really need in the orchestra is a sort of onesie that looks like a tux from about 50 yards or more. Maybe a dye-sublimation job. Like this, but for grownups.
Tell me where the kickstarter is on that...
Here's a suit onesie: Suitsy.
posted by Comrade_robot at 1:56 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
I might have run a few races in this.
What we really need in the orchestra is a sort of onesie that looks like a tux from about 50 yards or more. Maybe a dye-sublimation job. Like this, but for grownups.
Tell me where the kickstarter is on that...
Here's a suit onesie: Suitsy.
posted by Comrade_robot at 1:56 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Note to male musicians: A non-cheap, well-made tuxedo and shirt are an excellent investment in your career for the same reason that a good suit is an important investment in a white collar career. It makes you look successful, and success breeds success. Brooks Brothers has a well-made, conservative tux and shirts that will give you decades of use.
posted by Modest House at 1:59 PM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Modest House at 1:59 PM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
So? A generously-cut unconstructed jacket is never going to be the source of binding or constraint. The shirt is the problem. Now they just need to make this in a button-down collar.
So, obviously, a violinist wearing just the tux shirt is a dress code faux pas and defeats the whole point. Design ergonomic shirts in general, or design the whole suit, not a single tux shirt that a) has no jacket to go with, and b) would be a fashion no-no worn without jacket because I presume classical musicians who are sartorially clued-in don't want to be committing fashion no-no's in the first place.
posted by polymodus at 2:12 PM on July 8, 2015
So, obviously, a violinist wearing just the tux shirt is a dress code faux pas and defeats the whole point. Design ergonomic shirts in general, or design the whole suit, not a single tux shirt that a) has no jacket to go with, and b) would be a fashion no-no worn without jacket because I presume classical musicians who are sartorially clued-in don't want to be committing fashion no-no's in the first place.
posted by polymodus at 2:12 PM on July 8, 2015
If they weren't so pricey, and it was 25 years earlier they would have been great for bar tending.
posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 2:14 PM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 2:14 PM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
So, obviously, a violinist wearing just the tux shirt is a dress code faux pas and defeats the whole point.
I think he's saying that you could wear this shirt under a jacket and get all of the purported benefits, because jackets are not the part of the ensemble that is the most uncomfortable, binding or constraining for the players.
posted by en forme de poire at 2:20 PM on July 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
I think he's saying that you could wear this shirt under a jacket and get all of the purported benefits, because jackets are not the part of the ensemble that is the most uncomfortable, binding or constraining for the players.
posted by en forme de poire at 2:20 PM on July 8, 2015 [6 favorites]
Ok but well I'm saying, maybe it's my (possibly incorrect) latent gay fashion sense getting triggered, but that image of a violinist in the just tux shirt looks like a snail without its shell.
posted by polymodus at 2:27 PM on July 8, 2015
posted by polymodus at 2:27 PM on July 8, 2015
This thing is going to be huge with the subset of competitive ballroom dancers who already think Lycra tuxes are a Great Idea. Come to think, I'm pretty sure I've seen an athletic-cut tux shirt or two suspiciously similar to this one clinging to the pasty arms of a Pre-Champ Standard competitor before.
posted by fifthrider at 2:35 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by fifthrider at 2:35 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sure, I think they just wanted to show off the back of the shirt for the advert.
It's giving me a pleasantly incongruous sort of musician/jock vibe.
Re: lycra tuxes, don't google that at work (for some reason).
posted by en forme de poire at 2:48 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's giving me a pleasantly incongruous sort of musician/jock vibe.
Re: lycra tuxes, don't google that at work (for some reason).
posted by en forme de poire at 2:48 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Re: lycra tuxes, don't google that at work (for some reason).
that rule 34 thing is not a joke
posted by thelonius at 2:51 PM on July 8, 2015
that rule 34 thing is not a joke
posted by thelonius at 2:51 PM on July 8, 2015
This seems like a great idea. I'm always struck by the weirdness of the fact that the gender norms for formal wear guarantee that one or other gender will be uncomfortable, no matter what. It's like at the Oscars where either the women are freezing to death or the men are melting, depending on the weather. The same is true for classical musicians. The women typically get the better of it in terms of comfort (although they have a more difficult needle to thread in terms of picking clothes that won't get judged as "wrong" in some way). You look at some poor devil bowing away furiously wearing a shirt and a jacket and you think "he must just wring the sweat out of that at the end of the night."
posted by yoink at 2:54 PM on July 8, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by yoink at 2:54 PM on July 8, 2015 [5 favorites]
Lycra tux? How could that be NSFW?
*starts typing in to google, sees first suggested search*
Oh.
*deletes search term without ever hitting enter*
posted by ckape at 2:58 PM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
*starts typing in to google, sees first suggested search*
Oh.
*deletes search term without ever hitting enter*
posted by ckape at 2:58 PM on July 8, 2015 [2 favorites]
I thought Coregami was the art of folding short-legged herding dogs
posted by Wolfdog at 3:00 PM on July 8, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 3:00 PM on July 8, 2015 [5 favorites]
Bulgaroktonos: "Semi-formal wear, please."
You know, like a farmer.
posted by boo_radley at 3:01 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
You know, like a farmer.
posted by boo_radley at 3:01 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Rangi : agreed, I also expected Tux of the Linux mascot variety.
posted by gkr at 3:10 PM on July 8, 2015
posted by gkr at 3:10 PM on July 8, 2015
[Obligatory: What do you call someone who hangs around musicians? A composer!]
Musician friends of mine used frequently to complain about how restrictive and sweaty their formal kit was. Wagner's string parts are physically exhausting (for very little recognition, as any string player will probably tell you); the brass section are essentially perpetually hungover; etc., etc.
A full symphonic performance (and here I'm thinking of the post-Beethoven stuff, the really technically taxing material) is physically challenging. I recall seeing the SFSO in rehearsal: they were mostly wearing, if not tracksuits, then the kind of loose-fitting gear that wouldn't look out of place in a yoga session. I saw the same crew the following night in their penguin suits and I couldn't help wondering how restricted they felt. I will say that their performance of Ives's Three Places was a little less fun.
I don't know why we expect concert musicians to dress as carefully as they do. A symphony orchestra in full form is louder than a hurricane; at some point, why not just close your eyes, forget the social expectations, and just listen?
posted by Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels at 3:37 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Musician friends of mine used frequently to complain about how restrictive and sweaty their formal kit was. Wagner's string parts are physically exhausting (for very little recognition, as any string player will probably tell you); the brass section are essentially perpetually hungover; etc., etc.
A full symphonic performance (and here I'm thinking of the post-Beethoven stuff, the really technically taxing material) is physically challenging. I recall seeing the SFSO in rehearsal: they were mostly wearing, if not tracksuits, then the kind of loose-fitting gear that wouldn't look out of place in a yoga session. I saw the same crew the following night in their penguin suits and I couldn't help wondering how restricted they felt. I will say that their performance of Ives's Three Places was a little less fun.
I don't know why we expect concert musicians to dress as carefully as they do. A symphony orchestra in full form is louder than a hurricane; at some point, why not just close your eyes, forget the social expectations, and just listen?
posted by Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels at 3:37 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
What do you call someone who hangs around musicians? A composer drummer bass player violist conductor bodhranist accordion player who cares as long as they have some jokes that aren't older than the actual recorded history of music
posted by Wolfdog at 3:50 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfdog at 3:50 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sorry, Wolfdog! It was meant to be a self-deprecatory joke. I was a composer in a previous life. No offence meant: I was thinking of the people (myself definitely included) who used to complain to the harpist about how they couldn't play the part that sounded fine in Finale.
posted by Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels at 4:00 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels at 4:00 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've seen conductors sweating so profusely that the sweat runs down their arms and flings off the end of their baton. I've also noticed an interesting trend lately for conductors to wear something other than the standard white tie; Ludovic Morlot, the conductor of the Seattle Symphony, performs in a sort of Nehru jacket-type ensemble, no tie.
The women of the Seattle Symphony (I'm in the Seattle Symphony Chorale, so that's the symphony i'm most familiar with) have ensembles that range from full-length glittery black gowns to plain black slacks and a tailored black shirt. I've often envied my male colleagues because they can buy one nice black tux and they're set for life, while I have to shell out $150 for a brand new horrifying black polyester ensemble any time I join a new choir, but watching the guys in the orchestra sweat in their dry-clean-only ensembles while the women relax in machine-washable black knit separates has me rethinking that position.
posted by KathrynT at 4:07 PM on July 8, 2015
The women of the Seattle Symphony (I'm in the Seattle Symphony Chorale, so that's the symphony i'm most familiar with) have ensembles that range from full-length glittery black gowns to plain black slacks and a tailored black shirt. I've often envied my male colleagues because they can buy one nice black tux and they're set for life, while I have to shell out $150 for a brand new horrifying black polyester ensemble any time I join a new choir, but watching the guys in the orchestra sweat in their dry-clean-only ensembles while the women relax in machine-washable black knit separates has me rethinking that position.
posted by KathrynT at 4:07 PM on July 8, 2015
plinth: "There's always something a little off in a business plan for a premium shortish-lived item that includes "our target audience is [artists]""
I can think of at least one other potential customer segment.
posted by mhum at 4:13 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
I can think of at least one other potential customer segment.
posted by mhum at 4:13 PM on July 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Would Hannibal wear this? No? That's all you need to know.
posted by Justinian at 5:10 PM on July 8, 2015
posted by Justinian at 5:10 PM on July 8, 2015
My husband recently retired from over 30 years as a professional orchestral violinist, generally playing about 100 or so performances a year. He has about six pleated tux shirts, and the medium-quality ones are about the same price as this (cheapos are about $50 and practically unwearable according to him; nice ones start at about $200). He'd love the flexibility/breathe-ability of this shirt's fabric, and the fact that they don't need to be pressed is a huge feature. I think I'll get one for him, as he still gigs and needs formal wear for most of them. Wish they came in a spread collar as well as a wing collar, though.
posted by angiep at 7:32 PM on July 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by angiep at 7:32 PM on July 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
I've often envied my male colleagues because they can buy one nice black tux and they're set for life
Whereas I've heard male orchestral musicians envy female ones because they have to wear a tuxedo, full stop, while the ladies get to tailor their formal wear to the weather. If it's cold, they can layer up, if it's warm, they can go lightweight.
But I can fully see your point -- a little care with the fabric, and it is a lifetime investment in 80% of the clothing, just have to replace the shirts and such every so often, where the women, to get that tailor-to-the-weather option, are buying a range, and if they're expected to keep "in style", are replacing frequently.
As to the FPP, I'll be honest, I am really surprised this is new! It seems obvious that for people who actually have to move in formalwear, which is *not* a small class, this would have been a ready market and filled a long time ago.
As to the price? Given that their making that in small run in a performance fabric, and they're using a lot of it, that's really not that bad at all. Yeah, compared to a basic cotton shirt from Target, $120 is lot, but compared to performance wear, that's not horribly expensive at all, and if you have to wear this stuff four times a week and you're *not* having to deal with professional laundry charges, that alone will pay it back quickly.
posted by eriko at 5:34 AM on July 9, 2015 [5 favorites]
Whereas I've heard male orchestral musicians envy female ones because they have to wear a tuxedo, full stop, while the ladies get to tailor their formal wear to the weather. If it's cold, they can layer up, if it's warm, they can go lightweight.
But I can fully see your point -- a little care with the fabric, and it is a lifetime investment in 80% of the clothing, just have to replace the shirts and such every so often, where the women, to get that tailor-to-the-weather option, are buying a range, and if they're expected to keep "in style", are replacing frequently.
As to the FPP, I'll be honest, I am really surprised this is new! It seems obvious that for people who actually have to move in formalwear, which is *not* a small class, this would have been a ready market and filled a long time ago.
As to the price? Given that their making that in small run in a performance fabric, and they're using a lot of it, that's really not that bad at all. Yeah, compared to a basic cotton shirt from Target, $120 is lot, but compared to performance wear, that's not horribly expensive at all, and if you have to wear this stuff four times a week and you're *not* having to deal with professional laundry charges, that alone will pay it back quickly.
posted by eriko at 5:34 AM on July 9, 2015 [5 favorites]
I'm female not musicallyvtalented and abhor formal wear but I loved this post (and the comments) so much. How fantastic that a musician saw a need and came up with a solution. I loved that he looked to the golf industry for tailoring of the shoulders. It makes me want to buy one of the shirts even though it would be of no use to me.
posted by biggreenplant at 7:32 AM on July 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by biggreenplant at 7:32 AM on July 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
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*take my money*
posted by Fizz at 12:55 PM on July 8, 2015 [14 favorites]