Is the collective style on Styleforum getting worse?

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

i can't even tell if you are joking or serious about that kid on fedora lounge.

but his shoes are terrible

I'm as serious as an Eric Glennie shirt.

 

[robin]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

i can't even tell if you are joking or serious about that kid on fedora lounge.
Just go back a few pages in that thread and look at his oversized DB suit. Edit Here it is: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showp...postcount=2542

 

[JetBlast]

Originally Posted by LabelKing
Personally, I think we need to take some style advice from here: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showp...postcount=2646

I don't like the overall look but he's still probably better dressed than most other people his age.

I don't think there's a general downfall on this site, I thought style was an individual preference?

JB

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by robin

Just go back a few pages in that thread and look at his oversized DB suit.

Edit
Here it is: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showp...postcount=2542
Well, he says:

It fits me great (at least, I think it does).

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by JetBlast

I don't like the overall look but he's still probably better dressed than most other people his age.
It's roughly the same. Doing a suit really poorly (like he was) is just as bad as wearing Abercrombie from head to toe. I'd rather see somebody in well-fitting jeans, tee-shirt, and sneakers like they do in streetwear than a 14-year old with a weird 1930s fixation swimming in that thing.

I don't think there's a general downfall on this site, I thought style was an individual preference?

I would think that if you've learn anything from SF, it's NOT that style is entirely subjective. How many threads a week are a newbie who's ideas about shoes are torn to shreds by SF regulars?

 

[JetBlast]

Yeah, a good point. I've certainly picked up stuff from here and combined it with my own personal sense of what I want to wear but haven't allowed it to change me completely. I'd think that's how it works for most people.

JB

 

[emptym]

Originally Posted by Brian278

... a 14-year old with a weird 1930s fixation swimming in that thing.

When I was a teenager I swam in my clothes. Part of it was being used to buying a size big (since you'd "grow into" it), part of it was wishing I was bigger, and part of it was just being in the 80's.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by emptym

When I was a teenager I swam in my clothes. Part of it was being used to buying a size big (since you'd "grow into" it), part of it was wishing I was bigger, and part of it was just being in the 80's.

Were you buying Matsuda and Yohji Yamamoto?

 

[v0rtex]

Originally Posted by iammatt

Any other thoughts on this? Is there a negative groupthink going on?

As someone who's been online for around 15 years and has always followed at least one or two niche forums/newsgroups, I've definitely noticed a lifecycle common to any niche discussion forum.

• At first, the forum is full of experts who passionately discuss a subject they know a lot about, even furthering knowledge of the subject (or creating a new field entirely).
  
• The forum gets a reputation for being full of experts so less knowledgable users begin to see it as a resource for increasing their expertise. Good discussion happens, lots of people enrich their lives.
  
• Over time, the signal/noise ratio decreases as the forum becomes more popular and attracts people with less and less expertise in the subject.
  
• The original experts get overwhelmed or bored and leave for greener pastures, usually just before the forum (or the subculture it's part of) gets mainstream coverage - either in the press, a bestselling book, or a movie.
  
• Forum is overwhelmed with the unwashed masses, who not only know little about the subject but also little about general netiquette or writing coherently.
  
• Forum coasts along on the wave of mass popularity for a while, before fading away into obscurity.

This is the same sort of pattern that's happened in every online forum I've been a part of. Right now I'd say Styleforum is hovering around the "mainstream coverage" point... we may be past "Peak Style", if you will.

It's an interesting pattern and if I were to write a book or do any academic research it's pretty high up the list of things I'd like to study.

 

[emptym]

Nope LK, Generra, Girbaud, Quicksliver, OP...

I've had a similar question as iammatt's. I've wondered if most posters now are less knowledgeable than they were. Maybe as Matt thought, it's just me. SF and other sites have led to exponential growth in my knowledge (Thanks everyone!).

Or maybe it's like oldies radio stations. People sometimes wonder why the pop from long ago was so much better, but I wonder if it's just because we now play the best of what was then. But like pocketsquareguy, I haven't been around long enough to know.

 

[emptym]

Interesting stuff, Vortex.
You answered my question before I asked it.

 

[tonylumpkin]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Personally, I think we need to take some style advice from here: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showp...postcount=2646

I really liked him in "Bugsy Malone"!

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by v0rtex

This is the same sort of pattern that's happened in every online forum I've been a part of. Right now I'd say Styleforum is hovering around the "mainstream coverage" point... we may be past "Peak Style", if you will.

It's an interesting pattern and if I were to write a book or do any academic research it's pretty high up the list of things I'd like to study.

I think that as a website SF keeps getting better and better, but that there are some experiments going awry lately. The strength of the site, at least as I see it, is that rather than dying off, the membership goes into the sub forums and that the moderators do nothing to kill the fun that is available all over the site.

 

[emptym]

It seems to me too that some of the bigger guns still read threads but answer only when no one else can. It's as though they let their more advanced students answer basic questions.

 

[Philosoph]

^ +1 to v0rtex.

I haven't been a member here very long, but I lurked around for quite a long time before I finally registered. I have noticed a change: not necessarily in gaudiness, but definitely in "signal to noise ratio."

I learned a lot from this site, and I remember coming here and browsing around to find discussions on which button stance was best for what body type, levels of shoe formality, whether peak lapels were overly trendy, etc. Now it seems as though there is less "information" out in the open. It's all in the archives somewhere, and people with questions or misconceptions are mainly referred to the search function. There's less genuine new discussion than there used to be.

I also think there might be a growing gap between older (age, not time on SF) members and younger ones. This doesn't apply to everyone, but fashions - and yes, even styles - change; those who are set in "the rules" either don't understand or react negatively to valid new ideas (no, not eric glennie). I think great examples of this are the "Does Bespoke Look Terrible" thread and some of the comments on the Sartorialist's pictures.

I hope this doesn't sound too negative. I think SF is a great online community and a fun place to browse around if you're interested in this stuff. But I find myself using it more to find and acquire clothes than to learn about them. This is in line with v0rtex's points above.