Mistakes you made when updating your wardrobe - Page 5

I haven't reviewed all of the posts, so this may re-hash others who have stated it better but here it goes anyway:

1. Don't just buy things, build a wardrobe. Find our what you want or need for work, weekends evenings. Ask yourself, where are you going and are you dressed appropriately. Off to Piti? stock up on your double-monk straps, scarves and floppy hats. Going to argue in the Supreme Court? Load up on formal day dress. First day at Big Law? See the first 10 pages from Manton's CBD threak. Create a context for your purchases. Remember, it is a marathon not a sprint. Unelss you're Vox, you will not purchase 20 bespoke items in the next year.

2. Focus on fit, not on brand names. If you utter the words, "SF approved" you are making a mistake. If you buy those Borelli hand stitched, hip-huggers that push your man sack into your backside, no one anywhere will care that they cost $700 before a 75% mark-down. They will just think you look like an idiot. I know, I tried and I failed.

3. Don't be hard on yourself. You will make bad purchases. Hopefully, you learn from the mistakes while burning a little cash before you start dropping much bigger dollars on bespoke items.


Rob

LOL!

Buying too much stuff for four reasons:

 

1. Being afraid of wearing a "uniform".

 

2. Not taking into full account my lifestyle.

 

3. Not planning ahead to see what new purchases would match with the most existing outfits.

 

4. Not understanding what makes a garment high quality.

 

The fact is that almost every "look" is a uniform, so embrace the concept of wearing one without deviation until you understand what doesn't work for you. If you stray from the concept of wearing a uniform, you will buy too much stuff.

 

If you do not factor in your lifestyle, you will buy too much stuff.

 

If you buy on impulse and do not extensively plan out each purchase, you will buy too much stuff.

 

If you do not look at all available options for a garment, including ones that seem too expensive and understand what elements are the ones that define quality in a particular garment be it underwear or a suit, you will buy too much stuff.

 

 

Before buying anything, decide how many days a week do you really expect to wear a suit. If not more than four, then you need only two suits [one navy and one charcoal solid], two black dress shoes [you need to rotate your shoes], four dress shirts, one black belt, and two ties. If you will wear a suit more than four days a week, then add some striped shirts like university stripes that will dramatically change your look in the best possible way summer or winter. A black, burgundy, or blue cardigan under your jacket in winter would do the same.

 

How many days each week, including weekends do you really need sports outfits? If no more than two, you do not need a dedicated sportcoat since you can create two outfits by swapping your your navy and charcoal jackets to the opposite color trousers.If you are dying to buy a sportcoat than buy one that goes with navy and charcoal trousers.

 

What do you really wear on the weekends? If you are a sailor and own boat shoes, why would you need another pair of casual shoes?

 

Are you very active, changing clothes several times a day because of workouts, competitions, or paramours? Then maybe loafers and buttondown shirts would give you the best service. Maybe suspenders/braces would work better than belts. Barrel cuffs might then be preferable to double or French cuffs with links.

 

Are you a messy eater, constantly spilling food? Dark plaid suits or tweed sportcoats and trousers, and paisley ties are your friends.

 

Do you travel a lot in your clothing, going from meeting to meeting? If so, do not get tightly fitted patterns and tailoring, because you are living in your clothes Buy sack suits with standard fitted shirts and learn to fold your shirt tails into a box pleat behind you before tucking them in. You might again prefer suspenders/braces to belts for comfort, as well wear loafers you can slip off without much fuss.

 

What is the climate where you live? If you have four seasons and any regular chance of rainy weather, maybe you should purchase a beautiful, fully lined trench coat from Burberry or Aquascutum to protect your present wardrobe and keep warn and dry before thinking about having a third suit made.

 

Maybe a navy cashmere overcoat should be your next purchase before your next suit, if you attend many top level meetings in winter and you have season tickets to the Met.

 

 

Executive Summary:

 

I would plan your most expensive purchases around what you can fit into one carry-on case and wear at the same time. If beginning to build a wardrobe, you should be able to wear and carry all of your best stuff at one time, as if headed to a conference, getaway, weekend wedding, a series of out of town interviews, etc.

 

That would be two suits, one sport jacket [may I suggest natural camel hair?], no more than seven shirts, two trousers [make one grey flannel], two pair of black shoes, a trench coat with zipout liner, one really nice black sweater, one really nice solid polo and khakis, and the usual accessories and workout clothes.

 

After you get everything listed above, then do not purchase anything that cannot match what you already own, until you:

 

1. Really need it; e.g., black tie rig, camo gear for hunting, or loafers because it is such a drag tying your shoes four times a day on weekends at her place.

 

2. You have developed enough personal style or understand exactly what you are trying to achieve with your purchase; e.g., lilac university stripe shirt to attract the ladies or double cuff shirt with links, because you are now that guy.

 

I hope this helps. I need to move on to other projects, but feel free to pm me, if you seek more specific advice.
 

Yeah I'm really glad that I'm in college right now. Its prevented me from purchasing too much too soon because they have all my money. Instead I've just lurked on the forum, browsed, signed on, got into other menswear blogs, browsed collections, bought one thing here or there within a budget, and learned a lot without spending too much. That being said I still think I could have been slower.

Buy shit you absolutely love. If you can't afford it, wait until you can. Far from always the case, but a lot of the stuff you see that's ridiculously expensive by "normal" standards is worth the price if you're into clothing as a hobby.

In two years' time, you're going to hate those $25 GAP OCBDs because the collar's too small, they're not MOP buttons, or whatever you end up latching into.

Though it's MC-verboten, I had a bad thing for chambray shirts. I craved the authenticity they exuded, so I bought a few and never felt as stoked about wearing them as I did when they'd pop up on Tumblr. I finally said fuck it and bought (at retail, no less) an Engineered Garments workshirt. Now, I've got the jawn I wanted and don't need to keep eyeing J. Crew's sales looking for a single piece of mythical merchandise.

Spend money on shoes. Cheap shoes never look good. I don't care if you nail the fit of a suit you bought from H&M, wearing cheap-ass shoes looks like you're wearing cheap-ass shoes. Though you have to tell people on the Internet you only dress for yourself, it feels good when people acknowledge how nice your shoes are. I don't think this really bears out in reality, but I've always heard women say they won't date guys who wear X, Y, Z types of shoes. Not once have I ever heard a woman include hardbottoms in that list.

You don't have to wear sportcoats. And if you don't wear sportcoats or suits, you don't need ties. If you own a suit, buy a navy grenadine tie if you own brown shoes. Buy a black grenadine tie if you own black shoes. You don't need to be Spoo. And you're not going to be, either, that asshole has a fucking collection.

My mistakes were like most other poeple. Buying too much too fast and settling for lesser quality to achieve quantity. It only resulted in a lot of wasted money and fading moments of happiness. Better to take time and go for quality and also support domestic industry in your own country to support your countrys economy.

 

+1

 

 

I hope 2008 financial crisis doesn't happen too often, but deals during 08-09 timeframe were unmatched.  All those inventory dumps made Gilt, Ruelala, etc what they are today.

 

 

It's not a good deal if you can only resale for a fraction of what you paid.  I exited almost all my overbought items for a profit.

 

 

Ouch.  But you are right.  Shoe collecting is a losing investments compare to watch collecting especially at bespoke price levels.  :(

 

 

Problem is sometimes the things you love will always go up in price and its just much better to buy up front.  See AS Handgrade launch, G&G Deco launch, etc.

+1. I'm still purging "skinny" clothing that, in retrospect, just made me look more ridiculous than before I cared about what I wore, lol...

My mistake was collecting too many off the rack suits  and didn't invest in bespoke right away. I wasted a ton of money on off the rack that never lasted a year.

this is key IMO, i fell in to this a bit

lot of bullshit in here

^^^ 4 days a week is almost a full work week. I'd want at least 6 suits if I was wearing a suit 4 days a week.

It's been touched on by others, but diving in and making impulsive purchases without a game plan. I foolishly bought many "once in a while" items over staples.

I also wasted a lot of time looking for deals at outlet malls because of the initial sticker shock on actual quality items. I found a few items here and there, but the time invested was hardly worth it. I know it might be worth it for those of you in more densely populated areas, where you get actual overstock.

I have lots of shoe regrets (Gucci, Prada, etc) because I didn't lurk enough first.

 

This is one of the worst pieces of advice I've ever read on this forum. Stop posting, please.

+1. Not good advice.