Are Neckties Going To Go The Way Of Bowties?

[Phileas Fogg]

^ talk about #menswear!

 

[dieworkwear]

^ talk about #menswear!

I don't think you know the meaning of the term #menswear if you think that's #menswear. The term "hashtag menswear" comes out of Tumblr culture about ten years ago. It was about a certain look. Long story short, the above look is very much not #menswear.

 

[mak1277]

yeah, sorry I don’t know every fashion blogger out there. I have a day job. Perhaps someone can mend your broken heart

Don’t feel bad. I’ve been trying to google for ten minutes to even figure out what ASW is an acronym for. No luck yet.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

#sillymenswear?
#whyamiholdinganemptyoldfashionedglassmenswear?

 

[dieworkwear]

Don’t feel bad. I’ve been trying to google for ten minutes to even figure out what ASW is an acronym for. No luck yet.

AE
Strands
Walnut

 

[smittycl]

A Suitable Wardrobe and the famous "Will" who gets mentioned a lot.

 

[smittycl]

A Suitable Wardrobe Archives

putthison.com

 

[mak1277]

AE
Strands
Walnut

See I’m not being a dick with my post. I have no clue what ASW is and I wouldn’t mind actually knowing

 

[smittycl]

Here's one from Derek on A Suitable Wardrobe (ASW). Before my time here on SF.

Behind A Suitable Wardrobe — Die, Workwear!

Anyone with an internet connection and an interest in tailored clothing is sure to be familiar with A Suitable Wardrobe. Will Boehlke was one of the first to blog about classic men’s style, and in his eight years of doing so, he’s always been one of the best. I recently had a chance to visit his...

dieworkwear.com

 

[mak1277]

A Suitable Wardrobe and the famous "Will" who gets mentioned a lot.

Thank you!

 

[dieworkwear]

See I’m not being a dick with my post. I have no clue what ASW is and I wouldn’t mind actually knowing

Sorry, I was just making a joke.

ASW stands for A Suitable Wardrobe. Around 2005 or 2007, there was a small crop of websites that made a big impact on online clothing culture (at least as it pertains to the types of clothes discussed on this side of the board).

The first is The Sartorialist, which was a sort of catchall for street style. Scott Schuman is a street style photographer, and while not the first to do what he does, he was the first to make street style blogs popular. Many people got into tailored clothing because of that site. Rubinacci, for example, almost went under in the 90s. When Luca became somewhat of a mainstay on The Sartorialist -- a popular subject for Schuman, who enjoyed Luca's looks -- business really boomed for the company Rubinacci.

There was also a small universe of forums that promoted classic men's style in particular. One is Ask Andy, which is an online forum similar to StyleForum. But AAAC is much more about very trad looks. Then there's StyleForum, of course. London Lounge is focused on bespoke. And to a degree, Film Noir Buff. Guys who were really into classic men's style often hung out online at these forums.

Then there was A Suitable Wardrobe, which was run by a guy named Will Bohlke. Will wasn't the first classic menswear blog -- there were some weird almost Geocities-esque sites before him -- but he was the most widely read and respected. ASW taught many men the basics about classic men's dress. One of the reasons why he was/ is so respected is because he has real-life experience with bespoke tailors and shoemakers stretching back to the 70s or 80s. A lot of the stuff that has become "common knowledge" is just regurgitated lessons from ASW. Will wore trad and bespoke clothes before there was even an internet, which gives him a unique perspective.

At some point, ASW also become a store. So Will would write and also sell things in his store. His store was a way to buy very hard-to-find goods from around the world. ASW was the first to carry EG Cappelli ties back when you had to travel to Naples to buy them. Now, nearly every "sartorial" clothier carries EG Cappelli. ASW also introduced labels like Inis Meain to online clothing enthusiasts.

Importantly, Will also gave guys like RJ de Mans a platform to write. RJ's articles were and are among the best on this subject. Will paid people a very fair wage, even back in 2011 or so when this was a niche topic. He paid about fifty cents per word (or, at least, that's what he paid me for the occasional article). To give some perspective, it's very common for sites, even nowadays, to pay as little as ten cents per word. Will supported people fairly.

At some point, Will sold the site to Kirby of The Hanger Project. Kirby tried to keep the blog going with occasional posts from Will, as well as some other writers, but it never really took off. When ASW closed, it was a big event because so many people admired and read the site. I would say that he also cast a long shadow. The way he wrote about clothing -- the tone, the structure of the articles, the verbiage -- can still be seen today among a certain type of menswear writer.

A lot of online CM culture is shaped by those sites -- London Lounge, AAAC, StyleForum, and ASW. The brands discussed, the lessons on how to dress, the knowledge about fabric and tailoring, etc. Will has mostly retired from online forums and websites, although he posts on Quora occasionally.

Regarding the term "hashtag menswear," that came from when Tumblr had "editors." Around 2010 or 2011, certain people were given an "editor" role at the site, where they could tag certain posts with the hashtag "menswear." This allowed audiences to easily find "the best" of menswear posts. At the time, "classic menswear" was "the thing," but it was also filtered through this Tumblr hashtag (at least for people who followed Tumblr back then).

So the things that got tagged were, let's say, "classic adjacent." Since Italian tailoring was trending at the time, a lot of "e-Talian" looks got tagged. Slim suits, bright colors, bracelets, double monks, cutaway collars, etc. Some things also became memes, like blackwatch tartan. The term #menswear is a pejorative about a certain kind of online tailoring enthusiast. Most of those looks have long passed, but there are still #menswear trends today. Labelking's "70s Texan drug dealer look" is not one of them.

 

[Stylish Guy]

It is very sad that ties have fallen so far out of favor. I love ties.
I think one reason they may have been falling out of favor since the 1960's is that many men think they are uncomfortable. If a tie is uncomfortable, you are wearing a shirt with a neck size too small. With more shirts being sold only in S-M-L there are probably many men wearing shirt with a too small neck.
I have about 30 ties, it is time to cull them and get rid of some that I no longer wear, are out of style etc. My ties haven't seen much action in the last year, but I am hoping to wear some of them during my upcoming trip to NYC. In fact, I did buy a new tie just for the occasion.
I want to throw one last thought regarding the causalization of the American wardrobe. Why do Americans have such an aversion to wearing clothes? During the pandemic sweatpants reigned and all other pants (including jeans) were derided on line as hard pants. I just don't understand it. Sweatpants are great for sleeping or working out, but really should have no other uses. Wearing sweatpants means you have given up.

 

[dieworkwear]

I want to throw one last thought regarding the causalization of the American wardrobe. Why do Americans have such an aversion to wearing clothes? During the pandemic sweatpants reigned and all other pants (including jeans) were derided on line as hard pants. I just don't understand it. Sweatpants are great for sleeping or working out, but really should have no other uses. Wearing sweatpants means you have given up.

America is a very liberal country (liberal meaning small-l liberal, as in 18th-century ideas, not liberal meaning "Democrat" or "progressive" or "leftist"). It has very little interest or respect for formality and old customs, at least relative to other countries.

For the last hundred years, Americans have championed a much more casual way of dressing. Things such as penny loafers, the two-piece suit as daywear, the unlined polo collar/ button-down collar, etc are all very casual innovations for their time. After the Second World War, this casualization accelerated with the culture wars. People who identified with the rocker-rebel didn't want to be associated with The Man in the Gray Flannel suit. This accelerated again with the Causal Friday movement. And again with the tech boom, where a certain dressed-down culture supposedly reflected a new meritocracy -- the college hacker in his bedroom versus the old established banker types.

But fundamentally, all these things root back to a very American identity about democracy and liberalism. You rarely see major swings in the other direction because Americans dislike the idea of authority, hierarchy, pretense, etc. People want to see cool, relaxed, democratic, relatable, "every man," etc. The casualization you see today was still around in the early 1900s. The things we read as "formal" today were once considered sweatpants for a different generation.

 

[mak1277]

Sorry, I was just making a joke.

ASW stands for A Suitable Wardrobe. Around 2005 or 2007, there was a small crop of websites that made a big impact on online clothing culture (at least as it pertains to the types of clothes discussed on this side of the board).

The first is The Sartorialist, which was a sort of catchall for street style. Scott Schuman is a street style photographer, and while not the first to do what he does, he was the first to make street style blogs popular. Many people got into tailored clothing because of that site. Rubinacci, for example, almost went under in the 90s. When Luca became somewhat of a mainstay on The Sartorialist -- a popular subject for Schuman, who enjoyed Luca's looks -- business really boomed for the company Rubinacci.

There was also a small universe of forums that promoted classic men's style in particular. One is Ask Andy, which is an online forum similar to StyleForum. But AAAC is much more about very trad looks. Then there's StyleForum, of course. London Lounge is focused on bespoke. And to a degree, Film Noir Buff. Guys who were really into classic men's style often hung out online at these forums.

Then there was A Suitable Wardrobe, which was run by a guy named Will Bohlke. Will wasn't the first classic menswear blog -- there were some weird almost Geocities-esque sites before him -- but he was the most widely read and respected. ASW taught many men the basics about classic men's dress. One of the reasons why he was/ is so respected is because he has real-life experience with bespoke tailors and shoemakers stretching back to the 70s or 80s. A lot of the stuff that has become "common knowledge" is just regurgitated lessons from ASW. Will wore trad and bespoke clothes before there was even an internet, which gives him a unique perspective.

At some point, ASW also become a store. So Will would write and also sell things in his store. His store was a way to buy very hard-to-find goods from around the world. ASW was the first to carry EG Cappelli ties back when you had to travel to Naples to buy them. Now, nearly every "sartorial" clothier carries EG Cappelli. ASW also introduced labels like Inis Meain to online clothing enthusiasts.

Importantly, Will also gave guys like RJ de Mans a platform to write. RJ's articles were and are among the best on this subject. Will paid people a very fair wage, even back in 2011 or so when this was a niche topic. He paid about fifty cents per word (or, at least, that's what he paid me for the occasional article). To give some perspective, it's very common for sites, even nowadays, to pay as little as ten cents per word. Will supported people fairly.

At some point, Will sold the site to Kirby of The Hanger Project. Kirby tried to keep the blog going with occasional posts from Will, as well as some other writers, but it never really took off. When ASW closed, it was a big event because so many people admired and read the site. I would say that he also cast a long shadow. The way he wrote about clothing -- the tone, the structure of the articles, the verbiage -- can still be seen today among a certain type of menswear writer.

A lot of online CM culture is shaped by those sites -- London Lounge, AAAC, StyleForum, and ASW. The brands discussed, the lessons on how to dress, the knowledge about fabric and tailoring, etc. Will has mostly retired from online forums and websites, although he posts on Quora occasionally.

Regarding the term "hashtag menswear," that came from when Tumblr had "editors." Around 2010 or 2011, certain people were given an "editor" role at the site, where they could tag certain posts with the hashtag "menswear." This allowed audiences to easily find "the best" of menswear posts. At the time, "classic menswear" was "the thing," but it was also filtered through this Tumblr hashtag (at least for people who followed Tumblr back then).

So the things that got tagged were, let's say, "classic adjacent." Since Italian tailoring was trending at the time, a lot of "e-Talian" looks got tagged. Slim suits, bright colors, bracelets, double monks, cutaway collars, etc. Some things also became memes, like blackwatch tartan. The term #menswear is a pejorative about a certain kind of online tailoring enthusiast. Most of those looks have long passed, but there are still #menswear trends today. Labelking's "70s Texan drug dealer look" is not one of them.

Awesome, thank you.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

Why do Americans have such an aversion to wearing clothes?

Why when this is so much more comfortable: