Tong Lu

Psychology's crazy ex

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

I think Hasan could use a tailor, but I disagree with your reaction to that specific suit.

My impression is that Hasan's jackets don't fit as well as they could because he has a very broad chest. In the first photo, you can see how the jacket's collar isn't really seated correctly, which is causing the lapels to spread apart.

In the past, I've talked about a collar gap, where the back of the jacket's collar lifts from the person's neck. This can be easier to spot in two-dimensional images. But a correctly seated collar isn't just about that one part — it's about the totality of the collar.

In the second slide, you can see photos of four men with similarly broad chests. None of the men featured in this tweet have a collar gap. But notice how, in the second slide, the jacket collars sit better on all four men. They come up on the wearers.

Edwin DeBoise, founder of the bespoke tailoring house Steed, once explained this to me as an issue of crooking and straightening a jacket. I should warn ahead of time: this issue is controversial among tailors and notoriously difficult to explain even in person, let alone online. The issue revolves around something called the neck point, where the jacket's shoulder seam meets the collar.

When drafting a pattern, a tailor can adjust the neck point and shoulder line so the collar sits correctly for the person's build and posture. In the video featuring Edwin, you can see how a jacket can be thrown off depending on whether the person has a prominent chest and erect posture or a small chest and stands very stooped.

You can try this at home. Put on a tailored jacket (suit jacket or sport coat) and throw your chest out like you're very proud. This will cause the jacket to be thrown off your shoulders. This is similar to what's happening on Hasan's jackets. To fix this, the tailor will need to adjust the neck point, which can only be done during the pattern drafting stage. You can't adjust it in ready-to-wear. Many made-to-measure programs, possibly even most, can't accommodate this.

In the fourth and final slide, you can see Hasan in a Zhongshan suit, which is a traditional Chinese garment modeled after something Sun Yat-sen used to wear (which, in turn, is modeled after gakurans, a Japanese school uniform). You can see this suit does not have this problem. Whatever you may think of the style, it's well tailored in a technical sense.

If the jacket's neck point were incorrectly placed, you would see the top few buttons starting to pull. Instead, the body fits very cleanly and the front-back balance (how the jacket hangs from the shoulders when seen from the side), seems to be correct.

Many people nowadays use the term "tailor" to mean all sorts of things. For instance, if they see trousers they think are too baggy, they will often say something like "those pants need to be tailored." All they are really saying is "that garment needs to be slimmed down." This is partly because their experience with tailoring is limited to alterations and they are mostly buying ready-to-wear.

But tailoring isn't just about slimming things down. Something can fit quite full and still be made correctly. IMO, it's useful to separate out the styling of a garment from its technical construction/ fit.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

What a magnificent country!

[Persian Girl @Persianserene1]

Ladies and gentlemen!

Meet the landscape of southern Iran, where Trump and Hegseth are planning to deploy troops

[Angelica 🌐⚛️🇹🇼🇨🇳🇺🇸 @AngelicaOung]

I did this interview with Specter a few weeks ago. Basically...there's been a huge misunderstanding between the Taiwanese and the Americans about their relative responsibilities in a Taiwan straits contingency.

As I say below...the Americans expect us to be the Asiatic Ukrainians. But what they don't know is we expect THEM to come, big strapping American Marine Boys, to save the day. Do the thing.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@Ken4Colorado @omgsidewalks Yeah, I prefer whoring at the whorehouse. Bringing whores home is uncivilized.

[Navina Heyden 海雯娜 @NavinaHeyden]

Japan feels like itself a part of west, but large proportion of its population is conservative far right.

Western liberal and socialists are much more in numbers than western right on social media (as well as younger population)

Even for being same right wing, the European right by all means dare not to deny the trial of WW2 war criminals, justify patriarchy and sexism.

When Trump and EU had disputes, Japan is always on Trump side.

This is not a share-valued society, but to many European politicians Japan is useful tool when they want to deal against China.

Both now assume they are political allies.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@AngelicaOung When shit gets real, Socialism with Chinese Characteristics might become National Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, I fear, upon my soul I fear.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@AngelicaOung I can’t say for sure. But they brought out Mao speeches when it’s merely a trade war, didn’t they? Almost every Chinese nationalist I know quotes Mao with all increasing frequency these days, or as they call him - “教员”

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@KnowBothSides @YEAST_USSR2 @AngelicaOung @Mahboiii underwritten by the US military. You think fighter pilots get shot down because they are not as good at flying as commercial pilots?

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@KnowBothSides @YEAST_USSR2 @AngelicaOung @Mahboiii output is needed or desired. Needs are underwritten by material conditions, and desires are underwritten by legitimacy. A factory job in the 1950s America was a basically an iron race bowl, because the rest of the world had no other industrial center, and it’s legitimacy was

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@KnowBothSides @YEAST_USSR2 @AngelicaOung @Mahboiii Mao was a wartime leader - that much was obvious. And using a blade as a conductor’s baton was never a good idea. But Mao was the blade upon which Chinese dignity stands, and increasingly the dignity of all Asian people these days.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@KnowBothSides @YEAST_USSR2 @AngelicaOung @Mahboiii And without developing the nuke at great expense of civilian economy, the US wouldn’t have invested a single dollar in China even if Deng begged them to.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@Ken4Colorado @omgsidewalks The CCP is the only grownup in this kindergarten spitting contest

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@arealmermaid2 @Ken4Colorado @omgsidewalks Hayek was not exactly dumb about economics and capitalism. He was just not as smart as he thought he was.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@Ken4Colorado @omgsidewalks Beware of anyone who claims to “understand economics” with this much certainty.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

Warning: Seek engineering attention if your rocket keeps doing this for more than 4 hours.

[Lord Bebo @MyLordBebo]

🇹🇼‼️🚨 SPECTACULAR FAIL

Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) tested a solid-fuel rocket intended to launch satellites.

The steering system failed and the trajectory went crazy. Such failures always look spectacular.

This was the first test. Good luck with the next one.

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

Affordable meals bring down crime rate a lot more effectively than Flock cameras.

[Chen Weihua （陈卫华） @chenweihua]

Community canteens are great not just for elders, but youngsters as well. Try one if you visit Shanghai. https://t.co/0unlg2nlgu

[Tong Lu @tong_psy]

@joshrogin Buddy, a real country doesn’t need to scream “we are a real country” every other day. If you start to identify as a black woman tomorrow, I’m sure there are some naive people who are willing to humor you for a while, but no one actually takes you seriously.