"Trying Too Hard";can someone explain?

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by merkur

When the sprezzatura starts to border on the ritardato..
Yes.

 

[Shoe City Thinker]

There's a time and place for "fashion forward". That time and place is when you need to "punch up" an outfit that would be otherwise dull or pedestrian. Sometimes you need a bit of drama. Other times, you need to turn the volume down. It's all situational.

 

[spectre]

Originally Posted by AJL

This brings to mind an interesting question(s) that has previously occurred to me: If your place of employment no longer required you to dress a particular way, or to cater to a client's perceived needs, would you continue to dress as you do now? Would you feel freer to attempt some of the bolder looks displayed by the WAYWRN gang? Would you continue to dress up, or adopt a more casual style? I would ask this question of anyone here as it pertains to their particular situation, i.e. if you are currently employed in a casual yet conservatively attired workplace, would you add more formality, or perhaps attempt some of the more edgy looks on SW&D, etc.? How sartorially constrained do you feel by your workplace?
The dress standard in journalism, worldwide and not just in Australia, has become more and more informal yet I have always worn suits and sportcoats with ties - because I feel more comfortable in them. People simply recognise that is the way I dress and no-one cares. Sometimes I wear jeans and a sportcoat and open-necked shirt because I feel like it. Summers can be brutal here so it's cotton pants or white jeans, shirt and lightweight jackets. I noticed some time ago that the people I have to deal with in high positions who wore suits as uniforms because they were CEOs etc often had more time to talk with me than others. It surprised me at first then I realised it was probably because I was better dressed than others (not hard to do). But I would never dress up for a purpose. I dress only for myself.

 

[Threak]

Originally Posted by Shoe City Thinker

...However since I have a hip, fashion-forward flair to my streetware style, I can wear trendy items in limited amounts to give my wardrobe an "edge"...My tailored look is more conservative but I make sure it reflects my tastes, my love of texture and color. ...I...hit the off-price stores to find samples and one-off items that put my individual stamp on my wardrobe...

One can also argue that over-analyzing and defining your own style like that makes you a try-hard.

 

[polar-lemon]

Which WAYWT posters "try too hard?"

 

[kcc]

Less is more, particularly if you're interested in avoiding attention. Sometimes you simply can not control the effects of the rising Phoenix ... Your environment is the limiting factor.

 

[TRINI]

http://permanentstyle.blogspot.com/2...take-test.html

 

[Kempt]

Originally Posted by spectre

The dress standard in journalism, worldwide and not just in Australia, has become more and more informal yet I have always worn suits and sportcoats with ties - because I feel more comfortable in them. People simply recognise that is the way I dress and no-one cares. Sometimes I wear jeans and a sportcoat and open-necked shirt because I feel like it. Summers can be brutal here so it's cotton pants or white jeans, shirt and lightweight jackets.
I noticed some time ago that the people I have to deal with in high positions who wore suits as uniforms because they were CEOs etc often had more time to talk with me than others. It surprised me at first then I realised it was probably because I was better dressed than others (not hard to do). But I would never dress up for a purpose. I dress only for myself.

This is the point I was trying to address though. Over a period of time you have self-identified as someone who has chosen to dress to a higher standard than your peers. In some ways you have been rewarded for doing so.

However, what about the computer programmer that all of the sudden starts showing up to work in a suit while the rest of the office is still in chinos and polo shirts?

Maybe you can't get lumped into the "trying too hard" group because you individually like rocking suits and ties, but it just seems out of place with all your friends and colleagues. You become "That guy"

Don't be that guy.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by polar-lemon

Which WAYWT posters "try too hard?"

You really want a list?

 

[polar-lemon]

Originally Posted by iammatt

You really want a list?

I was mostly joking.

 

[LaoHu]

 

[MetroStyles]

This isn't complicated. You are trying too hard when you are thinking about your clothes a lot when you are wearing them. You know how when you wear sweatpants and a t-shirt at home, you don't think about what you are wearing, and are just comfortable? That's the feeling of not trying too hard. If you can rock an outfit with that level of comfort, there is no way you are trying too hard.

 

[TheFoo]

I judge outfits on SF based on various objective factors, such as their colors, textures, fit, etc. Sometimes, there is too much of something being done, and I suppose that can be related to 'trying too hard'.

But I think there is too little subjective information in a picture to indicate if a person is really 'trying too hard' attitude-wise. How do we know what's going on in his head? Is he comfortable? Confident? Did he put on the outfit just to take a picture of it and show off? I don't think a two-dimensional still image of a posing subject reveals any of these things.

That's not to say I wouldn't judge someone for trying too hard, but I'd probably only do so if I knew him and watched him in real life.

 

[SwedishFish]

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

This isn't complicated. You are trying too hard when you are thinking about your clothes a lot when you are wearing them. You know how when you wear sweatpants and a t-shirt at home, you don't think about what you are wearing, and are just comfortable? That's the feeling of not trying too hard. If you can rock an outfit with that level of comfort, there is no way you are trying too hard.

I think about sweatpants a lot when I wear them at home and would never even consider being seen in public wearing them. For the same exact reason I own no T-shirts. In fact, I only own four short sleeved shirts--all polo shirts, but mainly use them as sleepwear as I don't like wearing short sleeves out. While I dress less flamboyantly than many on here, I still manage to turn a few heads on the metro going to work (and it is not because I have I handsome face (which, unfortunately, I don't) but because my style stands out.

At work, I am definitely "that guy" style-wise, but I doesn't bother me because I am the youngest man there (by a large margin--10 to 15 years). However, even if I weren't, I would never limit my style because it seems out of place to my friends and colleagues, like Kempt suggested. I should be able to wear clothes I am comfortable in wherever I go, just like they do. Only difference is, I am not comfortable in baggy pants and T-shirts/polo shirts. I absolutely resent conformism out of fear of being different and social pressure to blend in, especially when conforming is so hideous!

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by polar-lemon

I was mostly joking.
OK, then. I will stop writing.