Desperate need of fashion advice

[Lel]

Originally Posted by AsianChump

fashion right now makes no sense to me.

Originally Posted by AsianChump

I'm slowly educating myself, but 6 months seems a little excessive for me.

You make no sense.

You proclaim you know nothing about clothes... yet you keep buying them at the moment? Why are you wasting your money on clothes that, six months down the line, you may be kicking yourself for buying? Why not, instead of rushing out to the mall to buy what you think is "cool", take some time to educate yourself first and then decide what you like before going out and buying new clothes?

At this point, I'm just repeating myself. And I hate repeating myself, because it means that the person wasn't listening (in this case, reading) the first time.

Originally Posted by Lel

Six, take it slow.

Originally Posted by Lel

You've worn the clothes you had now so far, so wearing them for a few more months isn't going to kill you.

Originally Posted by Lel

You'll start developing a sense of what you like, and what you dislike. And then those tastes will change.

Originally Posted by Lel

$500 to re-vamp your entire wardrobe seems like a good idea now, until six months from now when you're drooling over a $800 jacket but kicking yourself because you blew so much money and buying a bunch of plain tees and basic jeans.

Originally Posted by Lel

Familiarize yourself, then ask questions. You'd be surprised at how much useful information has already been covered if you just search around and lurk a bit.

------

Originally Posted by Night Owl

oh reary are you saying you don't want to do that?

Wow your racial ignorance is astounding. FYI, I've never dated an Asian girl. If you want "proof" then you can find my prom picture floating around the MC "What are you wearing right now".

Originally Posted by Night Owl

by the way whatever happened with the situation in your sig the women's shoes or whatever you bought? has that been resolved?

Yes and no. No as in, I did not get my money back. Yes as in, he finally told "his side of the story" which basically amounts to you're **** out of luck kid, I don't care that I sold you a pair of womens shoes, **** off.

 

[AsianChump]

Originally Posted by Lel

You make no sense.

You proclaim you know nothing about clothes... yet you keep buying them at the moment? Why are you wasting your money on clothes that, six months down the line, you may be kicking yourself for buying? Why not, instead of rushing out to the mall to buy what you think is "cool", take some time to educate yourself first and then decide what you like before going out and buying new clothes?

At this point, I'm just repeating myself. And I hate repeating myself, because it means that the person wasn't listening (in this case, reading) the first time.
[/url].

Okay, seems like I've upset you, but let me go through a few things that I have decided to take from you, but haven't expressed in this thread, and also a reasoning behind my mindset.

Yes, I am taking it slow. I've decided not to completely overhaul my wardrobe, at least not yet. What I have decided to do is slowly add clothing to my closet. The most important things I do wish to change immediately are the shoes and the pants. I do not have any nice fitting pants right now, and I wear dirty sneakers. I'm at least going to change that immediately, then add clothing as I go along during the year.

Yes, I am currently wearing the clothes I have now, but it can't hurt to buy a new shirt/pair of pants and learning from both
a. Experience to see what fits
b. Help from people like you

Yes, spending money now is insane, especially if I do not like the clothes later on. Like I said, I have decided to not do my closet all at once, but instead, do it slowly over the year and see what works and fits. Trial and error along with learning from this site+many others.

I am searching around, but realize that it is also quite a lot of information to take in, and sometimes I do have questions that have not been asked yet, or I can't find a thread that is relevant to my inquiry.

I hope this makes more sense now.

Also, anyone can answer my previous questions about the jeans?

 

[ranker]

What label are those jeans. The cut is atrocious. Your polo shirt is one size too big and looks like you're wearing a tent. Nothing shrinks that much. It appears to me as if you're trying to mask you lack of an athletic frame by having your figure swallowed up by your clothes. It reeks of insecurity and that'll kill any chance you have with girls.

Get it to fit right. Most clothes do not shrink horizontally, rather most of the time its lengthwise. Even then it's never something as pronounced as you figure it to be.

You need to get STRAIGHT LEG not "relaxed" jeans. What you think is too tight is probably the appropriate fit. It's supposed to be tight. They're supposed to hug and define your rear end. Wake up and take the advice. I was at your exact same position back in high school. However, rather than let my pride and insecurities delay my stylistic progression, I dove in head first and took all the advice I could get.

You're luckier than most people as you're getting advice from people who've been there/done that. Stop going half way. You're only going to waste money.

1) Get straight leg jeans. It should feel "tight" on your ass. It should be semi tight on your upper thighs. Get them appropriately hemmed to the loafers you'll purchase in step two.

2) Buy deep, dark brown loafers.

3) Get shirts that fit. Lacoste is having a ridiculously awesome sale right now. I just replaced the entire rainbow spectrum of polo shirts for only $30 a pop. That design you purchased reeks of "Cheap looking Express/Guess" prints that will soon go out of style.

Yours truly,
The Straight Guy with the Bitchy Eye.

 

[dopamine]

Alright, so I'm also an Asian male, and I'm also 20. I'm not 6'1", I'm 5'9", but that'll have to do. I'm not sure if you've been dissuaded of this idea yet, as I've not read through the whole thread, but the first thing that would be good to do is just to drop the idea of skate shoes. I used to skate for the longest time, and one of the biggest tip-offs of a poser was someone walking around in brand spanking new clean skate shoes.

That being said, there's a lot of advice that you can get from these forums, although I think you're better suited asking around on the Streetwear forum myself - being a college student, I can sympathize with you when you say that basically no one dresses with formal loafers and oxfords and whatnot around as basic wear (unless you happen to be a New England prep school grad, but that's besides the point). However, it's not a bad idea to pick up something a bit nicer than your everyday clothing that you can wear when you're going out with friends to a club or a bar or a party.

That being said, there's a big list of stuff that you should probably purchase, so be prepared to spend some money. If you can't afford it, there's still plenty of ways that you can begin to dress better without spending TOO much. The basics are key, and always remember that fit and classic is king. Crazy designs with gold foil, obscene colors, and the like will always fade out of style eventually, while good fit and good color matching will always look good. Try getting some of the following basics:

1 Blazer (for going out, or possibly for a presentation where you want to look nice. At my school, you have to wear suits for your presentations, but that's probably not the case for you. Look for grey, navy, or black on this one, and while some people will warn you against black, I personally find that it's a good color for going out at night).

Several sweaters (try and get a few classics like v-necks that fit very well, and also look around for a few interesting sweaters with good detailing that you might like. Stay away from sweaters with printed designs on them, and look for things that are solid color or striped in some way. Clearly this is only good advice if you live in a climate where sweaters are appropriate).

A few basic solid colored t-shirts (These are great for layering. I'm actually not that against graphic tees and own a few myself, and as long as they fit correctly and not marsupialed in terms of design or have an idiotic slogan on them, I think they're perfectly ok to wear on lazy days. Sometimes, you get up with a hangover and just don't feel like bothering to put anything together. Find solid color tees from any number of places: H&M, American Apparel, Alternative Apparel, Gap, whatever. They're mostly the same, and quality isn't going to be a huge deal. The important part is that they fit you properly around the torso, shoulder, and arms - there shouldn't be a whole lot of give. No bagginess.)

Several collared shirts: (Get at least one for more formal occasions: white, fitted properly, and with a good collar shape. Semispread is probably a good way to go, or maybe cutaway if you want to look modern. It really depends on neck shape. Don't wear these untucked, as they'll be too long. Get several collared shirts that are made to be worn untucked: they'll usually be shorter and more fitted, and make sure that everything FITS CORRECTLY. If it hasn't sunk in yet, fit is possibly the biggest determining factor.)

Jeans: This part may be a bit difficult to not spend money on. I'm a fan of spending money on jeans in particular, so if you can afford it, I'd say to get a good pair of raws (mine are APC) and some washed denim from Diesel, or any number of brands that you find in the streetwear and denim section. Just make sure they are slim (don't have to be skintight, but some people prefer that) and that they are straight legged or slightly tapered, and you will be looking better already. You can even cop a few pairs from H&M that look pretty decent - just remember to stay away from ones that look gaudy or with bad fake distressing.

Ties: This section is mostly optional, but I like wearing some slim ties with my shirt and blazer when I go out. It helps the look.

Color Coordination: If you suck at this part, just buy mostly dark and earthy tones (maroon, brown, grey, olive, etc.) and you should be good. Dark jeans, earthy colored sweaters, etc. will all go together well. Just try not to pair brown with black and you'll be fine.

I've actually got more advice, particularly on shoes, but if you want more, you should probably just PM me. I'd be happy to talk to you on AIM or give you advice on fit and whatnot later on, and I'm fairly available (though I will be going to Copenhagen). I'm always willing to help someone in a predicament out. Also, I'm not as strict or abrupt as I sound in this post, that's mostly just me trying to give you concise rules so you don't get confused. And remember: buy **** that fits, and buy within your budget. You're a college student, and you don't need to bankrupt yourself.

 

[dopamine]

Whoops, double post from forum lag.

 

[oroy38]

Dopamine,
The disappointing thing is that what you said was iterated several times over the last 6 pages by several of us, and still he chose to buy those clothes.

 

[AsianChump]

Although dopamine repeat of the previous advice, he did give great detailed information for the reasons, more detailed than many of the posts just telling me I was stupid.

ranker and dopamine really had some explanations behind the jeans other than just "make sure they're not baggy and fit." I felt that the jeans I bought were fitting and weren't too loose, many of you pointed it out, and ranker specified how I should have been feeling, which was the jeans actually hugging my skin, not hanging loose away from it, no matter how little they do. This is at least a step towards letting me know AND understand. Same with shirting and dopamine.

 

[spidercan]

Bring a girl with you for the jeans. She can tell you what fits right and what looks too tight and gay. You'll be amazed how tight you can go and still look normal. I went through the baggy clothes phase too, and ended up sizing down 2-3 sizes.

 

[spidercan]

It would also help if we knew what college you are at (or had some idea of your type of college) since dress can differ. (ie Berkeley vs. Princeton)

 

[dopamine]

Originally Posted by AsianChump

Although dopamine repeat of the previous advice, he did give great detailed information for the reasons, more detailed than many of the posts just telling me I was stupid.

ranker and dopamine really had some explanations behind the jeans other than just "make sure they're not baggy and fit." I felt that the jeans I bought were fitting and weren't too loose, many of you pointed it out, and ranker specified how I should have been feeling, which was the jeans actually hugging my skin, not hanging loose away from it, no matter how little they do. This is at least a step towards letting me know AND understand. Same with shirting and dopamine.

To be completely honest, I do find that college girls would vastly prefer laid back, fun, and humorous types over someone who might be perceived as "stuffy or self-absorbed." In that respect, I've gotten more compliments over some of my quirky t-shirts and band shirts than most of my nicer stuff, although the girls do seem to have a fondness for two of my sweaters - a grey wool fisherman's sweater I picked up on sale for $14 from Urban (good buy for all wool, but not nearly worth it at retail) and a blue shawl collared nautical sweater. To be honest, if you dress in RLBL and Thom Browne and so on but your personality doesn't fit the part (and the vast, vast, vast majority of people do not,) the likelihood is that girls will perceive you as "trying too hard" or "a bit weird." To that effect, if you do not feel comfortable with loafers, simply stay away from them. At the same time, don't buy skate shoes - try and buy something classic such as *gasp* Converse Chuck Taylors, white sneakers, or Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66's. Many people swear by Common Projects if you can afford the price tag for plain white sneakers - I personally am unwilling to shell out that much.

Anyways, my point is that the personality plays a huge part of it, not just the clothes. A creeper dressed in Thom Browne is still a creeper, albeit a rich one.

For some more advice as to what to look at for casual collared shirts: the seam should hit your shoulder at exactly the right point - it should sit naturally, and should not be too short and bulging or too long and hanging past your shoulder. Don't ever get sleeves that are too short, but slightly long is more acceptable, especially if you can afford to get the sleeves tailored in to fit better. Look for a slim fit, or you can even wear something more casual and slouchy in linen or unstructured cotton, if that's your look. Just make sure it's something that conveys who you are, and not something that's inauthentic, and make sure the fit is something that's consistent throughout your look.

 

[jeff13007]

wear what you feel comfortable in. No use dressing nice and having that uncomfortable look on your face. It really comes down to how you carry it. Like mafoo can carry his look really well but if i were to try that i would look really marsupialed.

 

[Hollowthorn]

Interesting thread

 

[AsianChump]

Here's an issue I just come across with jeans.

Yes, I realized the tighter fit and the wrapping around my legs part, but what about length? I would sit down and the jeans would come above my ankles a few inches, which would end up revealing my socks and ankles. Is this something I'm overthinking? Is that normal?

Also, I'm seeing that many people aren't wearing socks with loafers (at least that I can see with people wearing shorts). Is any pair of socks with loafers wrong?

 

[voxsartoria]

Originally Posted by AsianChump

Here's an issue I just come across with jeans.

Yes, I realized the tighter fit and the wrapping around my legs part, but what about length? I would sit down and the jeans would come above my ankles a few inches, which would end up revealing my socks and ankles. Is this something I'm overthinking? Is that normal?

Also, I'm seeing that many people aren't wearing socks with loafers (at least that I can see with people wearing shorts). Is any pair of socks with loafers wrong?

Your conversational written English is remarkably good, almost like a native speaker.

I think that the only socks that be wrong would be the puppet kind.


- B

 

[ranker]

Originally Posted by AsianChump

Here's an issue I just come across with jeans.

Yes, I realized the tighter fit and the wrapping around my legs part, but what about length? I would sit down and the jeans would come above my ankles a few inches, which would end up revealing my socks and ankles. Is this something I'm overthinking? Is that normal?

Also, I'm seeing that many people aren't wearing socks with loafers (at least that I can see with people wearing shorts). Is any pair of socks with loafers wrong?

It depends on the style of jean. If you get the skinny leg or straight leg, the jeans will break (aka crumple) on your shoes, so you can get away with a slightly longer length. However, if the hem/opening at the end of your foot is too wide, you must ensure that the jeans are too long as to drag or hit the ground. This will tear up your jeans and make them look like ****.

It's natural for your jeans to pull up and reveal part of your leg. The fun about wearing loafers is that one never wears socks with loafers (unless you're f'ing weird). So yes, socks with loafers is weird.

You won't look weird with some of your leg showing and part of it covered up with socks. However, you should get used to wearing socks that pull up 3/4 up your shin rather than the ones we grew up with in grade school that pull up a few inches past your ankle.

Here's some tips in regards to jeans. Go return what you got and get a pair of fitting jeans. Like I said, it must feel tight at hips, ass, and the very top part of your thighs. Having grown up in the 90's in the gangbanging loose clothing era during HS, I can understand how it's strange the first time around. However, once you go through the initial shock, you'll wonder why you didn't do it in the first place. Good jeans eventually stretch in all the right places to give you the perfect fit. I get compliments from all of my girlfriends about my perky ass now that was never noticed when I wore ill fitting jeans. If you can't see the contours of your ass in the mirror, then the jeans aren't fitting right.

Next, wear it once and wash them. It's up to you if you want to throw it in the drier. Now, take it to a tailor or take it to your local dry cleaners and ask for it to get hemmed (shortened to the correct length). BRING THE LOAFERS WITH YOU.

Wear the loafers and have them pin you to the correct length. It should NOT touch the ground, nor should it be so high as to not touch your shoes (aka high waters, which look like ****). Your jeans should break on your shoes and have multiple breaks. It doesn't have to be a clean break like one does when one gets slacks hemmed.

Now, be sure to ask for "original hem". This means they shorten the jeans to the pinned length but retain the look of the bottom part of the jeans. It's slightly more expensive than just your straight lop off hem job, but it retains the same 'look'.

Now go forth my son and get some damn good looking/fitting jeans.