Other forums?

[Tater_Salad]

I'm not trying to say this forum is bad (which it certainly isn't IMHO), but are there other forums that deal specifically with men's clothing/fashion?

 

[aybojs]

My honest opinion is that this forum is the best of the ones out here on the basis that it has the most members, has the most balanced/diverse set of core interests and topics discussed, and has the highest mean intelligence and civility levels among its members. For the most part, I only post here, though I do have accounts at several similar forums. Here's what's out there, though: Ask Andy: Probably the best of the other forums, because its membership overlaps heavily with the StyleForum. There are also a few respected tailors and people in the industry who post regularly, so it's a great way to get informed opinions from people on the inside. I don't post there because of technical problems: the forum has always taken forever to load, and frequently goes down (it is down now) or becomes unavailable due bandwidth limits. The only other thing to note is that the forum has somewhat of a stodgier feel because the crowd there consists of older professionals: I'm also a little put off by the disdain towards the younger crowd that some of the members seem to have. ModernMan: This is the forum originally run by Andy (of Ask Andy). Back in the day, it was the main companion to the StyleForum and also had a lot of overlap. For whatever reason, the forum's pretty much deserted now: you may see a new thread every few days, but that's about it. AskMen: This board is sort of like training wheels for places like StyleForum. The fashion advice on AskMen's site itself is pretty terrible (I recall them endorsing the Regis look once), and for the most part consists of ads for mass-market clothing designers disguised as a fashion guide. They have a "Fashion and Entertainment" forum, which seems to be populated primarily by 18-25 year old Maxim/Cosmo readers, both male and female. There's some decent discussion on casual clothing and budget wardrobes, but there's also a lot of clueless people trying to act like they're fashion gurus. I post there every so often, but I much prefer the crowd here. The Fashion Spot: I'm not too familiar with this site, having only skimmed it a few times, but never working up enough interest to join. The forum has a much larger membership than this one, but as you can see from the link the topic is primarily women's fashion. The discussion seems focused on trends and designers, and it seems like most of the men who do post there probably fit the gay/effeminate fashionista stereotype, which isn't my cup of tea (don't take that as any type of disparaging remark, it wasn't meant to be). GQ Forum: I'm sure you're familiar with GQ. Anyway, StyleForum was basically founded by GQ Forum members who got sick of trolling/spam there and decided to form their own place. I looked there a few times lately, and the trolling/spam seems to have calmed down a bit. However, the format's kind of clunky, and most of the posters are trend watchers without much real knowledge, and anonymous posting means you have to take everything with a grain of salt. If you want to get off a quick and simple question or do so anonymously, it might be worth posting here. Just don't expect any high quality responses. I'm sure there are a few others, but I've covered all of the more active and popular ones that I've seen. There also are well-established forums that focus on specific men's accessories (watches, cologne) and brands (Dior Homme), but that's basically it as far as general men's fashion forums go.

 

[JLibourel]

Would also append the Fedora Lounge. Primarily hat-oriented and for men into a deliberately "retro" look. A little too "costume-y" for my tastes.

There is also the nascent forum at Dandyism.net, which I am enjoying very much and encouraged other members of this forum to participate in. More general for men interested in cultivating personal elegance than concerned with questions like stitching buttonholes and that sort of thing.

 

[spalla]

For those interested primarily in bespoke or custom clothing, the London Lounge is a forum dedicated to this subject. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thelondonlounge/ Cheers, Spalla