HOF: What look would you like to see stopped?

[Ambulance Chaser]

There is a man I occasionally see on the subway in the morning who is always wearing the following outfit: white short-sleeved dress shirt, tie, light colored slacks, dark colored athletic socks, running shoes, and a nylon warm-up jacket.  There are so many problems here that I wouldn't know where to start.

 

[davei]

I've been away from this topic for a few days, in an effort to catch up/contribute:

Skate shoes: 99% of them have padded tongues for protection from falling/stray boards, except for a couple of Nike models. In this case unless you're in high school, I think it's a case of appropriateness. No skate shoes unless you're actually skateboarding.

Polyester in hot weather: I'm baffled by this myself, maybe cost/availability issues? Given a certain weave, polyester can be moisture wicking and extremely breatheable - i.e. I wouldn't go running in cotton anything.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

Here are a few more for the list:

1. Combovers: Sometimes nothing is better than something

2. Chunky diver's watches (particularly Rolex and Omega) worn with suits: Just because James Bond does it doesn't mean that it looks good or that you should too

3. Shoes with rubber soles worn with suits: Even worse than the low-vamp kiltie tassel loafer

 

[Joe G]

One more: navy blue cotton trousers. Even more than khaki-coloured khakis, these annoy me. (Besides, khakis are appropriate for certain groups of people, such as undergrads.)

Actually, let's make that navy blue trousers altogether, unless part of a suit.



Peace,

JG

 

[LA Guy]

The "Marine" haricut that is so prevalent on American guys. For a perfect example, look at Josh Gracin on the current run of American Idol. That guy, for me, exemplifies everything that is wrong with American guys' style sense. Compound that with his overly beefly physique, his inability to dance, his half octave range (and good country singing is bad enough,) and the phrase "Ugly American" no longer needs to be explained.

 

[Stu]

How about botton down shirts with a double breasted suit. I really don't like button down shirt collars at all with a tie and suit, but they look particularly horrid with dbl breasteed suits.

Joe: Cutting Navy trousers takes a lot of options out of the mix. I think they can work if you are just going with a simple, clean cut look.

 

[Jay in OKC]

One look that bothers me is seeing guys who take their ties down a little and unbutton the top button. Â This MIGHT be passable if you're working late (I usually just take my tie off at that point), but to appear in public like this is similar to leaving your shirt untucked: Â It just looks sloppy. Also, anyone who wears a short sleeve shirt with a tie should be hung by that tie. Â

 

[ken]

The "Marine" haricut that is so prevalent on American guys. Â For a perfect example, look at Josh Gracin on the current run of American Idol.

Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong guy (I am not that avid of an American Idol fan), but I'm pretty sure Josh is a marine. That said, he has to have his hair trimmed so it is well above his ears and neck and tapered or else be held down by some big ugly guys w/razors and have his hair cut for him. Also (again, assuming this is the guy that is the marine), it's a given that if you graduate and become a marine, your physique will be beefy. I've had plenty of buddies who were puny and/or chubby when they left for boot camp, and when they came back they were huge. And anyways whats wrong w/having a little muscle over the next guy? It comes in real handy at parties when trouble is amidst, as well as when you're in the middle of a maul and you've mistook some guy's head for the ball (rugby humor). And now on to dancing (sorry, but you negatively exemplified a lot of what I'm about). This really has less to do w/American Idol than it does w/dancing in general, which is a look I would like to see stopped. Guys shouldn't dance. OK, maybe it's more complicated: if you've never been approached by someone claiming you are a good dancer--assuming your sarcasm detector doesn't go off the charts--don't dance. I'm not just saying this because I can't dance (unless you consider 'throwing-down' dancing); I have had a few girls come up to me and commend me on not dancing. It's best left to the ladies. (And, yes, I am aware that most girls want their guys to dance w/them... but it just looks so damn stupid.) Be aware that I can compare nothing about myself to the American Idol contestant you spoke of. I'm about as clean cut as Rick Vaughn. Oh yeah and don't be dissin' country music.

 

[Mike C.]

Damn, we got some real style nazis on here. No navy trousers?.?. Joe G, why? No dancing? Thats just funny, but i can see what you're talking about.

Anyway, A look I can't stand, that hasn't been mentioned on here is, collars that are too big. I don't care if your wearing a $500 Kiton shirt; if the collar is two sizes too big, it looks like crap. The same goes for pants that are too big around the waist. How bad does it look when the belt is holding up the pants with the extra cloth on the waist all bunched up?

 

[Joe G]

Damn, we got some real style nazis on here. No navy trousers?.?. Joe G, why?

I've just never seen a pair that didn't either look really annoying (those blue Dockers that one often sees on electronics salesmen for instance) or that didn't give me the impression that the guy is wearing half a suit. (I have the same problem with highly patterned wool trousers, such as pinstripes and windowpanes.) Plain trousers in charcoal, various shades of gray, olive, camel, etc. don't make me think the dude is missing his jacket, but navy ones do.

Peace,

JG

 

[LA Guy]

I'm not just saying this because I can't dance (unless you consider 'throwing-down' dancing);

Go Ken, Go Ken, it's your birthday. Oh yeah, oh yeah... Seriously, though, I've seen very few white guys not in music videos who can dance. I know a few good white breakdancer types, but that is it. Black guys seem to be able to dance reasonably well, by and large, and the occasional Asian and Latino can dance within a limited range (usually break/hip hop and salsa/merengue, respectively.) I don't what it is about white guys and rythm though. I think that a large part of it come from a severe lack of confidence on the dance floor, but the root of the problem may go deeper than that - Laker Mark Madsen, for example, loves to dance, and is probably the most animated of the Lakers, but boy... Maybe the Anglo-Germanic lower body is just geneticall ill-designed to groove? I don't know. Maybe some non-dancing white guys here can shed some light on the situation.

 

[Stu]

LAG: Â As a white boy with Germanic heritage and redneck southern Indiana roots, I am living proof that you can put pearls on a bowling ball and get results via osmosis if you wait long enough. My wife is Puerto Rican, and dancing is an important part of Latino/Caribbean culture. I'll never dance like a native, but I can handle myself before a salsa band at a wedding reception without looking like a fool. Of course a few Cuba Libres and I don't care even if I do. I have seen some of my unfortunate countrymen, just off cruise ships and sporting logo polos, sunburns and Dockers, trying to dance to salsa bands in hotel bars here in San Juan. It is a regrettable sight.

 

[A Harris]

I'm a pretty decent swing dancer but that doesn't count. Swing is inherently goofy. I'm working on salsa as there are some real purty senoritas around here Â

I think by the time this thread recedes into dim memory we will have all been dissed once or twice. I've been nailed three times so far (dancing, blue trousers and collar pins

) Ah well, it will be good for us. Maybe we need to be knocked off our sartorial high horses

 

[ken]

I'm a pretty decent swing dancer but that doesn't count. Swing is inherently goofy. I'm working on salsa as there are some real purty senoritas around here Â

See, that's fine w/me. In fact, I might even encourage it. It's kind of like throwin-down (a type of dancing done to hardcore in which every-day activities are mimiced--such as starting a lawnmower or tying your shoes--in rythm with the music and broken noses occasionally result) with me. They are all somewhat respected forms of dancing that can be done in certain situations, and they can be really fun to watch. The same goes with breakdancing. What gets to me is when guys simply "shake what their mommas gave 'em" or whatever. I've never seen a guy grind with a girl with such skill that a crowd circled around them to watch. I have seen two girls grind which attracted a crowd, because that's something to see. I think you are absolutely right about the lack of confidence thing, LAG. I think I might have enough rythm to dance (I've played drums in my band for two years), but whenever a girl asks me to dance, I think, "geez, I'll probably look like an idiot." So I don't do it, therefore I never get any practice, therefore I don't do it in the future. And, of course, looking cool while doing anything is directly proportional to how dark your skin is due to ethnicity.

 

[Bradford]

throwin-down (a type of dancing done to hardcore in which every-day activities are mimiced--such as starting a lawnmower or tying your shoes--in rythm with the music and broken noses occasionally result)

HUH - now I feel really old but... There's actually a type of dancing in which you imitate starting a lawnmower or tying your shoes?

Where exactly would I find this and what is hardcore... are you talking about bands like Linkin Park? Curiouser and curiouser Bradford