Winter stuff

I saw some of the fall pieces earlier this year.  I'll probably get a couple of striped Prada shirts.  They actually resemble Marc Jacobs pieces, but cut by Prada.  My main interest this year (as in other years), however, is in less well-known designers.  I'll probably pick up a Dirk Schonberger shirt with a shredded "bib-front", for lack of a better description.  And, of course, I'll be looking out for the best streetwear.  I think that Paper Denim & Cloth is still the best denim line out there, and I've already picked up a Frankie B corduroy western shirt/jacket (I've even worn it a few times - I don't recommend it for June in LA). On a peripherally related note, in an attempt to avoid being a fashion victim, I've been customizing designer pieces and wearing them in a way the designers probably never meant them to be worn.  Case in point, I bought a Prada shirt just a half size too large and wear it with the shirt-tail untucked over jeans and sneakers, wearing what was meant as a very tailored, fitted and frankly, very uptight piece in a "summer at the cabin" manner.  I've also converted innumerable shirts from button-ups into snap-ups, sewing the original button onto the back of one of the snaps, to create a sort of trompe d'oeil.  I also had a Borrelli (...) shirt re-cut into a fitted western shirt, with the original mother of pearl buttons glued onto the snaps.  I'm sure that the more conservative in this forum will think that the last example is a great sacrilege (Steve B. lol), but I'd really like to encourage a little more experimentation among the members of this forum.   You are a self-selected group, the supposedly leaders of the curve.  Show that you've got the chops, that you don't need a Miuccia Prada or a Tom Ford or a Alan Flusser telling you how to dress yourself.

Hi JoeG, Nice to get a reply. The idea behind the deconstruction/reconstruction bit is to subvert convention - a sort of bespoke vintage, if you will. That's why it's important to work from existing garments. Working from a designer or bespoke piece sends an interesting message, IMO. I realize that it's not for everyone, but I do like your idea of traditional dress cut in modern fabrics and using Savile Row techniques, although I thought that shalwar kameez was exclusively for women. I've actually toyed with the idea a bit myself, although my focus would be on frontier dress. A lot of Mexican migrant workers, and there are many in LA, mix traditional Mexican garments with westernwear like jeans and cowboy boots. I have an idea of recutting the iconic items like Mexican wedding shirts, and making them out of stretch twill or wool/cotton blends rather than linen and lightweight cotton, and in dark colors (moss green and chestnut brown and deep maroon) for winter.

A Borrelli recut as a Western Shirt??? Oh the horror, the humanity.... LOL.

Now, to answer pstoller's question from another thread on the deconstructed shirt post. First off, you got me. The Borelli shirt had a little bit of fading on the underside of the collar and I'd torn the bottom seam about a half inch, so I figured, why not do something more interesting than just fixing the thing. I do think that the shirt looks pretty good. I think that it has good textural interest, since it is that it is made of a very fine material generally reserved for, well, Borrelli quality shirts. Moreover, the pattern is a bluish green stripe which is again, typical in sports shirts, but rare in western shirts. Lastly, the original pocket, which I had kept on, is displaced into two parts at the seam that appears on the front on western shirt. It is obvious that it used to be a traditional sports shirt. Merely whimsical? I can't make that judgement - but it has gotten a lot of interest, and few people asked me if I was selling them (no).

Well, there you go. At that point, anything you do with it is cool, even if it's just for a laugh. Surely "sacrilege" is not even an issue for any manner of recycling a played-out item, no matter how lofty its origins. I mean, isn't reconstructing the shirt better than using it as a shoe rag (even if you ARE polishing John Lobbs with it)?