Overdressing

Your wardrobe should be somewhat versatile. I dress differently when i go to a house party or dive bar than i do when i go to a swank coctail lounge or banquet dinner type thing. I wore a button up to undergrad a few times. But i paired it in a way to where it was casual and not that out of place. As get smart said, there is a balance between just going with the crowd and being the weirdo who always overdresses.

I have no shame.

^Labelking does it right.

No offense, but when I started reading this thread, I started to feel a bit digusted. First there was longskate88's answer to the OP's question, which came across as weak and conformist. Then when other SFers started to agree with him...I wondered to myself- is that how people normally think? If everyone around you dressed in A&F/Hollister and wore rainbow sandals, would you do the same just to fit in? Sure, you might up the bar a little and wear better fitting jeans but since when did the goals of dressing switch from cultivating your own personal style to fitting in with the herd?

As an example, today I wore a Cloak wool flight parka, Julius l/s tee with a Rick Owens tank layered underneath, Viridi-Anne pants, Faliero Sarti scarf and Mihara Yasuhiro boots. Sure, it may have come across as runway style, and some people here may dismiss it as an SZ-aesthetic or 'goth-ninja', but that's just what I'm comfortable in.

On the flip side, I'd definitely be uncomfortable if I were wearing a polo shirt, jeans, and slippers. I think a good mantra to live by is to wear what you love and to wear it with conviction. Emphasis on what YOU love, not what SF or what anyone else tells you to love.

The two quoted posts below are gold.

Originally Posted by Listi

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It depends... Are you dressing up because you want people to think you're dressed up, or are you just dressing the way you like and that happens to be overdressed? If it's the latter, go for it, if people ask you about it, just tell them that you like to dress that way and it's the way you're most comfortable. Yes, dressing in a certain way has an effect on the way people see you, but if you are DRESSING LIKE YOURSELF, then just wear whatever you want to wear and you'll never be embarrassed. If you look like you're uncomfortable in what you're wearing, people can tell. If you look at home in whatever you're wearing, and legitmately are, then it shouldn't bother you what people think.

Originally Posted by AndrewRyanWallace

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I am a college student and I dress how I want to. People respect me for it. Some people don't get it. Some people (who don't know me) probably talk ****. I don't care. I have a lot of friends and I have an attitude, therefore, no one questions it. It's not hard to do.

A better way to put this is like this: if you have a thing for fashion and you have respect for yourself and your identity you shouldn't let what other people think stop you. I suppose most of you who are making the comments I'm attacking aren't so into fashion though, but if you want to dress up, do it!

Pinoy, no offense but even though you may wear more high fashion, runway, avant garde, whatever you wanna call them brands, i wouldn't reall mistake you for one of those SZ runway type guys. This isn't a good or bad thing, it's just you work those brands into a look that is easy to swallow but with some design twists. Some of the SZ guys would stick out in normal situations, but others would look different, but not to the point where he would be chastised. It also depends on your city and lifestyle. College student at FIT, high school student in kentucky, business man in LA, etc.... all have different ranges to go with what's considered "weird".

Then again, some people just don't care if people think they look a bit weird. Friends will maybe crack a joke occasionally, but most get used to it and then it doesn't even seem weird to them. Hell, my friend pretty much dresses like me from 2-3 years ago now.

Originally Posted by chronoaug

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Pinoy, no offense but even though you may wear more high fashion, runway, avant garde, whatever you wanna call them brands, i wouldn't reall mistake you for one of those SZ runway type guys. This isn't a good or bad thing, it's just you work those brands into a look that is easy to swallow but with some design twists. Some of the SZ guys would stick out in normal situations, but others would look different, but not to the point where he would be chastised. It also depends on your city and lifestyle. College student at FIT, high school student in kentucky, business man in LA, etc.... all have different ranges to go with what's considered "weird". Then again, some people just don't care if people think they look a bit weird. Friends will maybe crack a joke occasionally, but most get used to it and then it doesn't even seem weird to them. Hell, my friend pretty much dresses like me from 2-3 years ago now.
I'm not really trying to start anything radical here, but just wanted to give my two cents on this issue. I can understand how members on SZ can get a lot of flak for going against the norm and dressing very differently a lot of the time. While I don't dress as unique as most of the people on SZ, I think many on SZ experience the same problems while getting dressed in the morning. At least amongst the SZers I've discussed this with. A problem I often encounter in the morning is that I feel strange if what I'm wearing is a bit too "safe". Sure, I could throw on a pair of raw jeans, a well fitting button up, and nice pair of shoes and call it a day but I don't really feel good in that. There's no edge, no spark, nothing to lift the outfit from being decent to GREAT.

Originally Posted by chronoaug

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Then again, some people just don't care if people think they look a bit weird. Friends will maybe crack a joke occasionally, but most get used to it and then it doesn't even seem weird to them.

This seems to be the case in my situation. At first there was gentle joking from friends, but they've gotten used to it and expect it to some extent. Even so, I enjoy dressing the way I do, and most of my friends get a kick out of it too. Now I usualy only get jokes/comments about the red 510's I wear from time to time.

Originally Posted by Get Smart

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reminds me of a recent thread in MC...something about an SF meetup in Houston....

based on their pics, it looked like they met at a sportsbar, and all the SFers iirc were wearing sport jackets, pocket squares, "shoes to impress" etc. Nicely dressed bunch of geezers but I would say overdressed for where they are at. Maybe a different kind of bar it would look cool, like a jazz lounge or something, but at a place where buffalo wings and nachos rule supreme, what the **** are you wearing pocketsquares for?

I think there's a balance between wearing whatever you want and not looking like you're forcing yourself to look dandy

aren't your suits made for the man who doesn't have to wear suits?

in their minds the were collectively dressed properly. their location on the other hand...

Originally Posted by lance konami

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What I'd like to know is, what's it like for the people on stylezeitgeist? I imagine they are constantly ridiculed IRL, unless they never go anywhere except fashion shows.

I dunno, I socialize pretty well wherever I got but I'll be the guy wearing a jacket and pocket square at some diesel dudes keg party or wearing a Balenciaga frock coat to play rock band. Goes over quite well to be frank and fits my personality. Keep in mind some of my staples (white tees, white shoes) are quite casual but on the other hand I'll wear a DJ to go out.

Originally Posted by Fuuma

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I dunno, I socialize pretty well wherever I got but I'll be the guy wearing a jacket and pocket square at some diesel dudes keg party or wearing a Balenciaga frock coat to play rock band. Goes over quite well to be frank and fits my personality. Keep in mind some of my staples (white tees, white shoes) are quite casual but on the other hand I'll wear a DJ to go out.

Yeah, I was thinking more along the lines of the more adventurous, fresh off the runway, "pirates of the Caribbean" looks that I've seen there.

Have you looked at the way people dress?

If the dude in my suburban Maryland history class can wear a 2xl glittery Ed Hardy shirt with a kheffiya, a wallet chain and dunks with enough colors to give you an acid flashback - then I have no problem wearing an oversized Rick Owens turtleneck with tight black pants and some curved toebox oxfords.

Untucked OBCD rolled up to the elbow and jeans is very casual, just depends on how you wear it.

Originally Posted by Magician

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Have you looked at the way people dress? If the dude in my suburban Maryland history class can wear a 2xl glittery Ed Hardy shirt with a kheffiya, a wallet chain and dunks with enough colors to give you an acid flashback - then I have no problem wearing an oversized Rick Owens turtleneck with tight black pants and some curved toebox oxfords.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the SZ aesthetic. I appreciate it. But you have to admit that the tools rocking glitterly Ed Hardy shirts significantly outnumber the people wearing Rick Owens and capes, so Ed Hardy guy will look "normal" and SZ guy will look "odd" to most people, except in certain demographics perhaps. The thread topic is about dressing for the occasion, so I starting thinking about occasions and that particular fashion forward aesthetic, and it seemed like there would be very few outside of fashion circles that would call for it. Then I realized that they don't give a ****, thus my thought process about it ended.

I dont' think there is anything wrong with looking different from all the other people. With the confidence to pull it off, you can get away with more than you think. Guess it goes back to one of those old threads about if you dress more for others around you, yourself, or for girls. I dress mainly for myself and the people/girls who think i'm some weirdo loser *** or whatever are probably not the people/girls i want to go out of my way to get to know. Some people dig what i wear, others couldn't care one way or the other but acknowledge i dress a little different, but i can't think of anyone who hates it and thinks less of me.

Originally Posted by rocks

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Bullocks! don't listen to this guy, wear whatever the hell you desire. I take a rebel stand on conformity.
My "uniform" (not actually enforced) for fall/spring is either a tucked in dress shirt with a jacket or a blazer over a tee shirt. I only really wear jeans. Please have a personality if you decide to do this. Also I always roll up my sleeves for whatever reason.