The Contentedness thread - Page 3

Inspired by this thread, I made an excel document to categorize all the clothing items I already own. I have so much extra shit and nice things I hardly ever wear, really don't need to buy anything again.

My TOJs. The 2010 brown calf bomber I've been wearing since 2010 and my VTG. They're my go-to outerwear since I got them and work so well. I thought a lot about finally getting the classic black lamb dr from TOJ in those last weeks, but these 2 do everything I need.

It's weird - I've become more minimalist with almost everything else in my life, but I'm still buying clothes. It took me a while to find an aesthetic that I liked and looked decent on me, so at least I'm more selective instead of buying stuff based on brand name or forum hype.

I'm actually wearing my favorite item right now - a Rag and Bone Oval cardigan that I bought in New York (at Odin IIRC) almost two years ago. It's not the steeziest garment (hell, I'd call it boring), but it's ridiculously comfortable, fits well, and looks OK with anything.

y'all should include pictures!

I only have very few older pieces which i still like
one of them is this shirt from HUGO (Hugo Boss) when belgian designer Bruno Pieters was creative director

One more piece I want to write about: W+H zip cardigan from 2009. I have one each in grey and navy, and wear them a ton both in and out of the house. I've picked up some loopwheeler pieces and a Cabourn clip jacket in the past year, and these are a significantly lower pricepoint but I just love them.

Pic borrowed from Johnathan + Olivia.

Hah, well I keep telling myself that robin has, like, four Mallory's and I only have one. In the end, though, someone else bought it. Just as well!

Seriously, though, I've been pretty content with my wardrobe overall- so much so that I've only bought five things so far this year. I think I've moved away from the sailor man style to a bit more British explorer. But overall, I have plenty of clothes that I like. I'd say that at least half of my wardrobe are favorites, and the other half I simply like. I'll try and post some photos next week.
Edited by zissou - 6/9/12 at 11:23am

buzz rickson's loopwheeled sweatshirt

softest garment i've ever handled, wear it constantly. one of the few good things that i got out of my short-lived stint with that workwear/denimbro aesthetic.

Great sweatshirt. I've worn mine for the last few years and it gets better with age. My favorite piece right now is probably the EG cruiser shirt jacket from s/s 2011 that I found a couple of months ago. I wear it damn near every day. My Unis chinos in multiple colors are also a daily staple.

I've done this, actually for the past few years. I have columns for each years' purchases, then greyed out the items that I would eventually sell/ get rid of. It's really revealing when you have most everything you own written down in front of you, to see what you can easily weed out/ what you actually use. I've gone from over 200 items (excluding socks, tees, accessories, etc.) about 3 years ago, to right around 60. 

 

So much better to have a small wardrobe with Dries, OG Lang, Ervell, Schneider, than a closet crammed full of garbage...

I found out about superfuture from lurking hypebeast, as kids were into nike sbs and jordans. At the time, I was just a private high school kid who wore a uniform 5 days a week. I didn't have many clothes for going out (1 pair of gap jeans, some band t's/hoodies, a few threadless shirts), and whenever free-dress days came, I felt out of my element. The other kids didn't dress well either, but I wanted to dress better. If I wanted to spend money on clothes I liked, I knew I had to buy the good clothes or it would be a waste of money. I was taught that if you used something all the time, then the high price is justified. My friends may give me crap about how I spent $300 on a pair of shoes or $100 on a shirt, but I'm not the one who consistently buys crappy clothes that get thrown out a year later.

Anyways, I lurked superfuture a bit, but didn't really like the vibe people gave off in photos of themselves. I did like how selvedge denim faded compared to my gap jeans, which was the catalyst for me getting into more high-end clothing. I'm pretty laid-back and optimistic, and I wanted my wardrobe to complement my personality. More and more lurking led me to find out about styleforum and more clothing brands. By nature, I'm very thrifty, and I don't believe in budgeting a lot of my money on clothes. I'm the complete opposite of an impulse buyer. When I see something I like, I give myself some time to think about it and see how it would fit into my wardrobe. I look for reviews and read anything I can before purchasing, even sending an email to the retailer. I've tried on so many things and know the measurements of all my clothes, which gives me an intuitive understanding of how items I don't own will fit on me. I know that if I miss out on something, there is always another piece of clothing that I would like to have or it may even be found in BS another time. I've gained this knowledge from years of lurking, and seeing the things other posters wear in their fit pics. This way, I minimize errors, and in turn save money in the long run to spend on more clothing pieces I'll enjoy. I can't remember the last clothing item I bought that didn't meet my expectations.

Case in point, I keep going back to my apolis x context x styleforum shirt jacket. It's the item of clothing I wear the most, aside from my selvedge denim. The jacket fits well, looks sharp, a great conversation starter, and the best part is I got it secondhand for less than a third of the retail price. I remember seeing the thread when it first came out, thought it looked awesome, and then 3 years later, I end up purchasing it off BS.

The way I view my wardrobe, I see it as another hobby and something I hope to complete, in a sense, as I save/work for more money and as clothing brands release their collections. I enjoy managing things, seeing what holes I have in my wardrobe. I have the basics down, so I'm ready for any social situation that may come, and now I'm zeroing in on the smaller things I'm missing from my wardrobe. The apolis collab filled the void I had for a lightweight jacket (got tired of wearing hoodies), and now I'm looking for another jacket to add some variety. In another 6 months - year, I'll be in the market for another pair of jeans to wear in. The best part about my wardrobe is I'm very pleased with the purchases I've made, and no longer worried about how bad my clothes look.
Edited by *#.. - 6/10/12 at 5:28am

The flexibility of the bomber is one of the reasons I wear it so frequently. I can do, and do all the time, the SF uniform--white T and everything--but it actually gets the most compliments when I wear it in business environments on top of a button-down with gray or navy wool pants. I've thrown a tie on with that look too for that George HW Bush steez:



The other reason I wear it so frequently is its weatherproof nature.

from the toj gallery:



And the VTG:





The VTG is less flexible as a staple; you kind of shape an outfit around it. It does do well in a variety of settings, and yes, I've worn it as a business casual item with a white shirt and gray slacks, but this thing does not fuck around. It demands a strong outfit underneath it. There's a lot it won't work with that the bomber will, like longwing bluchers, most cardigans, or ties. You do what it wants or your outfit will fail.

For blue jeans, I've been wearing only my Helmut Lang skinnies for almost two years now. They're amazingly hard wearing. They fade at a glacial pace and develop holes even more slowly.

Also, like three years ago, I bought a pair of Varvatos burgundy chukkas. Originally intended them for MC ish, but once I stopped working in places that called for trad formal wear, the chukkas just sat in my closet unused. So after a year of ignoring them, I busted them out again to wear with the sort of mostly-black-everything goth-lite stuff I'm doing now. Works really well. Burgundy + black is a winning combo.

That's awesome. Though wait-- you've only been doing your formal/casual mixing thing for less than a year? Interesting

I ought to do this too. There are probably things in my closet still new that I've hardly ever worn.