The Official Dieworkwear Appreciation Thread

[polyfusion]

Just read dieworkwear and bought some cargo pants. Wtf

 

[anonymouz]

Nice article on Hodinkee today from a guy you might have heard of.

How To Wear It: Should You Match Your Watch To Your Clothes – Or Your Clothes To Your Watch?

In his HODINKEE debut, former Ralph Lauren designer (and current Atlanta menswear impresario) Sid Mashburn addresses the eternal conundrum.

www.hodinkee.com

That's a good read. Wish there were photos though...

 

[hpreston]

Nice article on Hodinkee today from a guy you might have heard of.

How To Wear It: Should You Match Your Watch To Your Clothes – Or Your Clothes To Your Watch?

In his HODINKEE debut, former Ralph Lauren designer (and current Atlanta menswear impresario) Sid Mashburn addresses the eternal conundrum.

www.hodinkee.com

That's a good read. Wish there were photos though...

Not a huge fan of the site, but that interview/article was good. Always like to read Sid's takes.

Agreed, this article really needs pictures of Sid's watches.

 

[dieworkwear]

Sid shows some of his watches here

 

[polyfusion]

Derek,
A question for you.
Like you, I have pretty broad tastes in clothes. I personally tend to go in phases... I had a classic tailored phase for a while, a prep phase, a workwear phase, A vintage phase, a sort of Brooklyn dad phase (baseball caps, hiking boots, flannel etc). My friends make fun of the fact I have a new aesthetic every time they see me. Now I dont mind that, but it does make building a wardrobe with multiple looks basically impossible and means I never really have a flow or rhythm to what I wear daily. How do you handle it? I know you have more clothes/resource than me, but what do you feel about committing to a look vs chopping and changing? Some of the people I most respect just seem so committed to one thing, and I find that absolutely impossible even though I know for a fact it would make my life and style, much easier... love to get your take.

 

[dieworkwear]

Derek,
A question for you.
Like you, I have pretty broad tastes in clothes. I personally tend to go in phases... I had a classic tailored phase for a while, a prep phase, a workwear phase, A vintage phase, a sort of Brooklyn dad phase (baseball caps, hiking boots, flannel etc). My friends make fun of the fact I have a new aesthetic every time they see me. Now I dont mind that, but it does make building a wardrobe with multiple looks basically impossible and means I never really have a flow or rhythm to what I wear daily. How do you handle it? I know you have more clothes/resource than me, but what do you feel about committing to a look vs chopping and changing? Some of the people I most respect just seem so committed to one thing, and I find that absolutely impossible even though I know for a fact it would make my life and style, much easier... love to get your take.

I personally don't mind jumping between aesthetics and find it kind of fun, but I know some guys want their wardrobe to connect to some idea of a "true self." Meaning, they want their wardrobe to reflect who they are as a person. I've personally accepted that I'm just a fashion guy who's into clothes, so I have a bunch of different clothes and like to play dress-up, for lack of a better term. I don't jump between looks every day -- tbh I'm mostly in workwear or tailored clothing -- but sometimes putting together a novel outfit can be a fun part of my day.

The only problem is managing the space. If you like to jump between aesthetics, you can start buying different things to support other pieces in your wardrobe. So if you buy a very contemporary styled jacket, you may find you need contemporary styled pants and shoes and knitwear, etc. I find some aesthetics are closer to each other than others -- prep and Americana are very similar, and workwear is just outside of those things -- so you can easily mix and match with a smaller number of pieces. Even some contemporary stuff, like some of Document's outerwear, can be worn with just slim-straight raw denim jeans and a textured sweater.

Eric Kvatek, the photographer behind Kapital's lookbooks, has a very, very small wardrobe. He basically wears the same three t-shirts, a jean jacket, raw denim jeans, Red Wing boots, and some lightweight mid-layer all the time. I think he looks great. Other guys have massive wardrobes. Vox's wardrobe is pretty curated online, but I know he also owns things like engineer boots and RRL. @#dadcore, @Gerry Nelson, and @UrbanComposition seem to wear many different styles, and I think they always look great. Maybe they can also chime in.

 

[Sammm]

Derek,
A question for you.
Like you, I have pretty broad tastes in clothes. I personally tend to go in phases... I had a classic tailored phase for a while, a prep phase, a workwear phase, A vintage phase, a sort of Brooklyn dad phase (baseball caps, hiking boots, flannel etc). My friends make fun of the fact I have a new aesthetic every time they see me. Now I dont mind that, but it does make building a wardrobe with multiple looks basically impossible and means I never really have a flow or rhythm to what I wear daily. How do you handle it? I know you have more clothes/resource than me, but what do you feel about committing to a look vs chopping and changing? Some of the people I most respect just seem so committed to one thing, and I find that absolutely impossible even though I know for a fact it would make my life and style, much easier... love to get your take.

I think the ultimate is finding the throughline across ostensibly different styles, and combining them in a way that suits your personal attitude. It avoids the pitfall of being pigeonhold into ‘a style’, because you make your own synthesis. Tony Sylvester is great at this, and he talked somewhere about being able to dive into any genre or time period, as long as you know how to integrate it into the bigger narrative of your own style.

 

[classicalthunde]

Now I dont mind that, but it does make building a wardrobe with multiple looks basically impossible

have you thought about working to create 2-4 distinct outfits in each style that you like? like a variety of minimalist wardrobes and then rotating through them as you feel?

I have distinct and somewhat incoherent styles that I like, but they are primary driven by a small number of factors:
- formality (work, events/outings, home/close friends),
- seasonality (F/W and S/S)
- location (city, burbs, work, beach)
- events (concert, sporting events, family get together, etc.)

I essentially look at my different styles as a form of code-switching, and while they may seem in-congruous to someone else they kind just make sense to me...

 

[FlyingHorker]

Shorter denim jackets are amazing. I usually have problems with slim jackets catching on my hips and/or feeling uncomfortable. It feels great while seated with the slightly stiff feel and faded texture. I don't have to worry about the hem curling under ****** or picking up dirt and grime from anything.

Permanent Style

What is comfort?

www.permanentstyle.com

I usually associate denim jeans with being sweaty in the summer, and cold in the winter. After wearing PJs for 3 months straight last year, this article was a nice shift on why I got tired of that. I've come around to the idea that comfort is often psychological.

Simon sums it up nicely for me too here

"For me personally, a lot of the feeling of comfort comes from appreciating materials. But I know it’s subjective, because those materials also vary: each has its own pleasure - there are different things to enjoy in wool, in fur, and in cotton."

 

[Despos]

have you thought about working to create 2-4 distinct outfits in each style that you like? like a variety of minimalist wardrobes and then rotating through them as you feel?

I have distinct and somewhat incoherent styles that I like, but they are primary driven by a small number of factors:
- formality (work, events/outings, home/close friends),
- seasonality (F/W and S/S)
- location (city, burbs, work, beach)
- events (concert, sporting events, family get together, etc.)

I essentially look at my different styles as a form of code-switching, and while they may seem in-congruous to someone else they kind just make sense to me...

This approach is how you wisely create an ideal wardrobe. Dressed appropriately for any environment, situation, climate, or locale.

 

[classicalthunde]

This approach is how you wisely create an ideal wardrobe. Dressed appropriately for any environment, situation, climate, or locale.

thanks! I definitely choose breadth over depth when it comes to wardrobe...but I figure that basically only my family sees me more than 5 days in a row so only they know the true extent of my repeats (and they already have much more damaging info on me than how often I repeat an outfit)

 

[Despos]

thanks! I definitely choose breadth over depth when it comes to wardrobe...but I figure that basically only my family sees me more than 5 days in a row so only they know the true extent of my repeats (and they already have much more damaging info on me than how often I repeat an outfit)

Clients ask what do I need in my wardrobe and my definition/explanation is same as your approach.
Have a garment appropriate to any situation and you will be well dressed. Having multiple choices for any situation and climate makes the wardrobe more expansive.

 

[zissou]

Top-loading washers with the wheel in the middle can be harsh on clothes. Side-loading washers are a bit gentler.

The main thing with raw denim isn't the shrinkage but how a laundry machine can screw up the fades. If you put a pair of raw jeans in a laundry machine, it can come out looking like 1980s/ 90s stonewashed denim because of how the jeans get beaten around.

If you put jeans in a laundry machine, best to do it in a machine without the wheel in the middle and don't use the spin cycle. But if you have a machine where there's a wheel in the middle, that might be hard, even if you avoid the spin cycle. Many guys just wash their jeans in the bathtub. Tons of tutorials online you can look up (just google "wash raw denim bathtub").

Bathtub washing (warm water) is always the best method for expensive denim. If you throw them in a machine, you're bound to wind up with large, annoying creases that may even fade in the wash due to the agitation. Wash/rinse flat, hang to dry. That reminds me... I should wash my jeans. It's been a year or so.

 

[TheShetlandSweater]

I think there is something to be said for sticking with one aesthetic, not because clothes are a reflection of your true self (I don't even know what that would mean) but because being stylish is largely about having clothes that people associate with you. Cultivating a style is part of cultivating a persona.

Practically, I also think it is the case that the best dressers stick to a particular aesthetic. If you stick to a particular aesthetic you will not only be more comfortable in your clothes, but you will also have a better understanding of what works in your aesthetic and what doesn't. You will have more opportunity to experiment within your aesthetic and more resources to invest in a range of clothes you truly find beautiful within that aesthetic. This doesn't mean you have to rigidly stick to that aesthetic--you can play around with other elements--but those other elements will seem more in-line with your personal style if you keep some other things the same.

As always, I think the example of Yukio Akamine is instructive. He has one style that he sticks to, but he still achieves great range because he knows that style really well. People who try to do multiple styles well, generally won't do any style that well, though there are exceptions.

 

[hoodog]

Clothes are fun and wearing different clothes/styles is fun. That's all that matters imho. Don't overthink it.