WAYWRN: Classic Menswear, Casual Style

the problem is that MCers seem to believe they have the higher ground when it comes to being widely accepted whereas in reality this is objectively false and has been since the late 1960s.



Fuuma said:

Let's say someone attends a lot of Rock shows and art openings, would you say your outfit is always the one that will be favoured over some SW&D one? There isn't ONE social milieu and set of standards, this died with top down men's fashion (everyone in suits, we know your social class by the make and other assorted cues). Now we got tribes, you're in one, some are in others. Some of the SW&D styles (not the majority) are more out there but we're talking about a minority who probably hang out with a different crowd and has a different lifestyle than yours. Stylistic choices don't emerge in a vacuum. Of course with the internet there is a probability the milieu pushing for a certain look is only virtual but at some point people can't help but couple it with "real life" cues.

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That's my point too. It's just that MC-style is more adapted to common social circles than some of the SW&D looks. No one says there's no place for them. Also, most of SW&D looks are just fine, so there's really nothing to argue about.



acecow said:

Yes they do. I see people wearing colored pants and blazers all the time. I even see pocket squares every now and then. I'm not sure where you live, but maybe you should move to a more civilized place.
I was talking to SVB, not you. But yes, going to events that require suits and ties actually allows you to wear *gasp* suits, ties and pocket squares. It's what grown-ups do.

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It is what SOME grown ups do and here lies the distinction...

acecow said:

I'm wearing light blue chinos, neither too tight, nor too big. My shoes have contrasting laces, but that is hardly objectively ugly. I find them just fine. My shirt is very casual, as is the short, hemp/cotton unstructured and unlined patch-pocket blazer, as are the pants and the shoes. Nothing's clashing. Normal people wear a similar version of that when they dress up, except for maybe the choice of pants color. And they usually don't have a pocket square, but mine is white and quite discreet. Overall, people perceive this as dressed up within the norms of this society. Certainly, I wasn't out of place when I went to an Organ Concert/Silent Movie afterwards.

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lol.

Teger said:

the entire premise of this site is that most people have ****** opinions about clothes and dress like garbage. why is popular perception suddenly the arbiter of good taste?

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hell, most people think I'm well dressed, and here we are arguing over whether its better to be put together in Business casual or Casual clothes. Most people I know wear brown shoes with black belts and think tucking a polo shirt into their dockers counts as formal wear.



Fuuma said:

It is what SOME grown ups do and here lies the distinction...

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It is what MOST grown ups do.



acecow said:

That's my point too. It's just that MC-style is more adapted to common social circles than some of the SW&D looks. No one says there's no place for them. Also, most of SW&D looks are just fine, so there's really nothing to argue about.

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I'd say dressing like an accountant when walking around casually is NOT adapted to most social circles in 2012 and I'm in my 30s (like you?) so what gives? People think you're too dressed up for no reason, well it really depends.

acecow said:

It's just that MC-style is more adapted to common social circles than some of the SW&D looks.

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StanleyVanBuren said:

the problem is that MCers seem to believe they have the higher ground when it comes to being widely accepted whereas in reality this is objectively false and has been since the late 1960s.

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Fuuma said:

I'd say dressing like an accountant when walking around casually is NOT adapted to most social circles in 2012 and I'm in my 30s (like you?) so what gives? People think you're too dressed up for no reason, well it really depends.

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Do I really look like an accountant wearing what I'm wearing? If you and most people think that I do, then I've failed in my sense of style. The reaction from people I interact with in real life did not hint on that. I certainly hope I do not look like an accountant while walking around casually.



acecow said:

That's my point too. It's just that MC-style is more adapted to common social circles than some of the SW&D looks. No one says there's no place for them. Also, most of SW&D looks are just fine, so there's really nothing to argue about.

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the problem is is that not only are you wrong (and you are), your entire argument is flawed. you're attempting to use popular acceptability (which isn't even what you're making it out to be) as a metric to make a value judgement about SW&D clothing. this is stupid for a bunch of reasons, but most obviously because the premise of this entire site is that the vast majority of people have bad taste and dress poorly. stop trying to extrapolate an entire hierarchy of dress from your pretentious orchestra experience, and stop making value judgements based on your personal cultural environment. people don't dress as goth ninja out of rebelliousness, and your experience in no way enables you to make this judgement.



acecow said:

It is what MOST grown ups do.

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You think most adult males in europe and the USA wear suits or even sportcoats to work?

Yes, SVB, but your style is as MC as it is SW&D. I always like what you're wearing. So we're obviously arguing about different things.



acecow said:

Do I really look like an accountant wearing what I'm wearing? If you and most people think that I do, then I've failed in my sense of style. The reaction from people I interact with in real life did not hint on that. I certainly hope I do not look like an accountant while walking around casually.

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I don't think you look like an accountant and I liked everything but the shoes, however if you wanna judge by what most people think (your metric) yeah, you're a suit.



acecow said:

Yes, SVB, but your style is as MC as it is SW&D. I always like what you're wearing. So we're obviously arguing about different things.

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no, you're trying to say that you're well dressed and everyone you interact with thinks so, therefore your aesthetic isn't costume, where SVB, even though he dresses similarly, recognizes that it is. what you wear and how you dress is just as much apart from the mainstream of american fashion culture as anything else on this site. and, as i said, i don't even care so much that you're wrong in this opinion, but what bothers me is that you're using it as some weird self-justification to both proclaim your fashion supremacy and reject those who don't dress like you. it's bizarre and stupid.



Fuuma said:

You think most adult males in europe and the USA wear suits or even sportcoats to work?

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I wear a t-shirt to work. Your point?
My point is that wearing a jacket is socially acceptable when you're trying to look respectable. I just like to look respectable more often than not. It had worked well for me so far.

Teger said:

the problem is is that not only are you wrong (and you are), your entire argument is flawed. you're attempting to use popular acceptability (which isn't even what you're making it out to be) as a metric to make a value judgement about SW&D clothing. this is stupid for a bunch of reasons, but most obviously because the premise of this entire site is that the vast majority of people have bad taste and dress poorly. stop trying to extrapolate an entire hierarchy of dress from your pretentious orchestra experience, and stop making value judgements based on your personal cultural environment. people don't dress as goth ninja out of rebelliousness, and your experience in no way enables you to make this judgement.

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It all comes down to what you're trying to achieve. I like to be perceived as a social, well-off, young guy with a sense of style. Fitting well both into a younger and an older crowd. I like good restaurants, operas and beautiful women in elegant dresses. For me, dressing the way I do makes me fit into that world I want to be in. It seems to me that most people want to live in some version of that world, otherwise all of the things I described would not be the majority of businesses and advertisements, as well as high-class societies around the world. YMMV.

Teger said:

SVB, even though he dresses similarly, recognizes that it is.

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I was about to say pretty much this.