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What is Styleforum Wearing: 11.15.2013

Synthese

Darth Millennial
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Tellure

Original WAYWT post here

LL


What this looks like: “Watson, you idiot! Someone has stolen our tent!”


“So, what brings you in today?” says the receptionist. He doesn’t really look like a receptionist. No scrubs or anything, just weird, distressed clothing and three-day stubble. You feel self-conscious in your sweatpants and tennis shoes, which is not how you expected to feel at the doctor’s office.

“Well, it’s kind of personal. I’d rather speak with the doctor about it.” You cough weakly, feeling sorry for yourself.

He leans over the counter and sniffs at you; twice, three times.

“Well, there’s no need for a doctor, I can tell you that.”

“How’s that?”

“You’ve got a bad case of boredom,” he says.

“I’m sick because I’m bored?”

“No, because you’re boring. Big difference.”

“Okay. Can I see the doctor now?”

“Believe me, there’s no need. Here,” he says, ducking under the desk and reemerging momentarily, “take this.”

“Is that a...magic wand?” It’s a pink, plastic stick with an equally plastic crystal fixed on one end.

“No. That’s the Mighty Staff of the Infinite.” He looks at you, hard. You can feel him evaluating you. “Can you handle it?”

His suggestion that you can’t handle a children’s toy rankles you, and you’re surprised to find yourself insistent.

“Of course I can. Give it to me.”

He nods slowly. “As you say. Use it well.”

The Goods:

Jacket: Label Under Construction
Tee: Viridi-Anne
Jeans: DRKSHDW
Boots: Hollywood Trading Company

I love this outfit. It’s almost innocuous at first glance; just very interesting takes on really standard pieces. What drew you to the designers and the pieces featured here?

I guess I would say I'm a fan of edgy / fashion-forward style but can never really go all the way. I love designers like CCP and MA+ but I find 90% of their stuff way too extreme for everyday wear (not to mention being crazy expensive). Because I work in a very casual environment (flip-flops / jeans / t-shirts) and live in a very casual city (LA), I've been trying to pursue a style which I guess I would call edgy / casual.

I stick to pretty basic forms and cuts, and try to find designers that have a slightly edgier take on classic garments without going too extreme.

Label Under Construction really fits this approach because their stuff is not too extreme but is beautifully made and has great texture. The jacket here is made of heavy canvas from old Italian military tents. The frayed hem and cuffs appear to be from the original seams. Caveat: LUC is also crazy expensive (I can only afford to buy it used).


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

nicelynice

Original WAYWT post here

p0JKcl0.jpg


What this looks like: Nonstandard Birthday Party Gear


The clouds were pregnant with rain.

“****,” you say, scribbling it out. “That makes it sound like the clouds are going to drop babies all over you. It doesn’t even make sense.”

“Maybe say that their, uh, bladders were full?” Your friend is eating the steamed milk out of his empty cappuccino with a spoon.

“What, like they’re going to pee on you?”

“Yeah,” he says, after a minute.

“Ugh,” you say. Who knew it would be so hard to write one of these things?

“Deadline’s tonight,” he says, “and you haven’t even started.”

“You want to try? Writing a story about clouds peeing all over everything?”

“I’m leaving,” he says. “I’ll tell my sister you’ll email her the story by midnight. Submit anything, and you win the bet. Come on, dude.”

You watch him go, and then turn to the counter. Some guy in a weird Victorian coat is buying a cup of coffee. He kind of looks like a wizard, but with motorcycle boots, and he’s holding a kennel. He sees you staring and nods, finds a seat, and sets the kennel on top of the table. Something inside is making a chirping noise.

You stare at your notepad, and then look out the window as the rain begins to fall.

The clouds were peeing all over everything when the Bikerwizard walked into the café, holding a kennel.


The Goods:

Jacket: Paul Harnden
Shirt: Muji
Jeans: Kazuyuki Kumagai Attachment
Boots: Jun Hashimoto


I think that part of what makes your rather somber outfits (color-wise, that is) less intimidating is the looser fit – and the famous NicelyNice smile, which sadly isn’t featured here. Why do you think all of your clothes look so infuriatingly natural on you?

As I see it, there're two avenues to good looking personal style: clothing that genuinely fits well and feels good or sick leather jackets. I walk both paths, but since this is a fit of the former I'll stick to that topic. My first forays into fashion were highlighted by slim everything - no doubt overcompensation from a lifetime of my mom buying everything two sizes too big in hopes that I'd grow into it. It took me about an hour to button my first pair of APCs and a good month to stretch them out. Tight shirts, tight jackets, and tight coats followed suit - I was living the mid-aughts Dior Homme silhouette dream, albeit unable to fully draw breath should I decide to zip something up.

This was fine for a college kid whose main activities were "walking to class" and "walking back from class," but upon graduation, I realized I actually had a life to live in my clothes. I wanted clothes that followed my lifestyle, not the other way around. My first revelatory purchase was a Rick Owens Stooges leather jacket (oh great, I am talking about leather jackets here). At first, I was a little bummed it fit maybe a half size too big. However, I found myself just throwing it on more and more - over tees, over hoodies, with loose pants, with tight pants, it just worked. It's comfy and nobody cares about a half inch of sizing when you're wearing an awesome leather jacket (take note, ToJ thread). I started buying clothes that fit my actual size, instead of an idealized version of me - clothes that fit well and felt good to wear.

I'm not one for drapey, loose garments. I still like my clothes to look sharp and fitted, I just want them to be fitted in the right places. The jeans in the fit above are a perfect example - a high-rise waist and loose thighs leave plenty of breathing room, while the sharp taper just above the knees cleans up the silhouette. Feeling good isn't fit alone, either - the Muji shirt, for example, is made from the same soft cotton as the blanket on my bed. The Paul Harden jacket has four giant internal pockets, each big enough to hold a PlayStation 2, two controllers, and a copy Soul Calibur 2, which I know from personal experience. Even the boots have Superfeet insoles thrown in, making them as suited for a full day of walking as a pair of decent sneakers.

It's fun to play dress-up on the internet, I know, I do it too, but clothes are meant to be worn in the real world too. I go for practical clothing that I feel good wearing day in and day out, not just on special occasions. Knowing my closet is full of pieces I feel relaxed in means I spend more time wearing my clothes and less time thinking about them. I see so many fits on the forums in pristine clothes obviously just unboxed from Discount eStore #223 - go spill some beer on your Rick leather, get blood on the lining of your Paul Harnden jacket, and tear a hole in your Guidis while swerving on a motorbike to avoid an elephant! On that topic, does anybody have any advice on how to get blood out of a cotton lining?


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Parker

Original WAYWT post here

prkr1030_zps6b201b64.jpg


What this looks like: Someone who won’t...get fooled again.


“White Pelican, White Pelican,” says the detective into the mic, “This is Albino Flamingo. We got a Fresh Red Tomato, and are en route.”

“What the **** is a Red Tomato?” you ask, clinging desperately to the ‘oh ****’ handle as your new partner swerves through traffic.

“Means fairies,” he says, sipping his coffee and calmly passing a school bus through the parking lane.

“Fffff,” you say, jamming both feet into the floorboards as though it’ll slow you down. “Priuses were not meant to go this fast!”

“Prii,” he says.

“What?”

“Prii,” he says again, fishtailing through an intersection at 60 miles per hour and swerving onto a by-road along the ocean. “The plural of Prius is probably Prii.”

“Probably? Wait, fairies?”

“Hordes of ‘em,” he says. “They blow in on the Westerlies.”

“Fairies aren’t real,” you say, squeezing your eyes shut as you crest a hill and all four wheels leave the ground.

“Oh, they’re real all right,” he says, “and they’re a pain **********, too. Crap all over everything. Didn’t they tell you what this department does?”

Before you can tell him he’s that he’s insane, he slams on the brakes and the tiny car screeches to a halt on the cliff-side.

“There,” he says, leaping out of the car and pointing over the water. “This is it, rookie.”

“Um,” you say, “those are seagulls. Do you mind if I drive?”

The Goods:

Jacket: Temple of Jawnz
T-Neck: Roberto Collina
Trousers: WW Chan bespoke
Boots: Vass

We’ve seen a lot more forum crossover over the last few weeks – SW&Ders participating in CM, as well as vice versa. Your own tastes, while not precisely in line with the rigid strictures of either forum, nonetheless seem to appeal to both groups. Why do you think that is? Do you think there’s complementary wisdom to be gained on either side? How do you try to blend the two (rather large and nebulous) groups of influence?

Perhaps because my wardrobe is mostly very conservative: gray suits, solid blazers, jeans, military jackets, plain shoes. Basics that are common to both groups. I tend to wear more citified, minimal looks which probably appeal more to SW+D sensibilities. And I also like a lot of designer stuff and will pepper in different outerwear, knits or accessories to a basics mix.

As for blending influences, I don't really think in terms of CM vs. SW+D how the forum classifies them, but rather just follow my own eclectic interests -- I've had my mod, grunge, trad and, ahem, hippie surf bum phases. So there are elements of those I carry with me in one way or another. Mixing stuff from different realms can be tricky, but not a big deal if it feels personal and there is some conceptual or design harmony -- e.g. a Brooks sack suit and drapey Rick tee would look totally stupid. I wish I were better at it, but I think it's really cool when something off-beat works. Either blending formal with casual or just adding in odd touches that personalize a fairly straightforward look. I admire guys like Stefano Pilati and Waris Ahluwalia and our very own Tiralleur who do this combining of elegant-eclectic-casual-designer very well. I'm sure there many other guys here with diverse tastes who don't neatly fit into the forum stereotypes.

With some patience, there is definitely wisdom to gain from reading both fora. CM is packed with amazing knowledge of tailoring, clothing history, manufacturing, and esoterica you never thought existed. Actually learning the "Rules" can be beneficial even for a streetwear guy who will never touch "conservative business dress" in his life. At the least, he could see how different designers reference or veer from traditional conventions. On the other hand, some of the CM guys could benefit from having a look beyond the classic menswear microcosm to the larger fashion world. Who knows? Some guys might really get into heritage stuff or discover a new way of styling their classic wardrobe.
 
Last edited:

RXS09

Distinguished Member
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Probably my favorite one yet. Great job Synth and everyone featured!
 

notwithit

Pullup laureate
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
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Odd, double post. I got a weird error message the first time I tried to post, so I assumed it didn't go through.
 
Last edited:

basil rathbone

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
Messages
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Really good stuff. NN - one of my favourite posters. Always dig his 'fits.
 

Synthese

Darth Millennial
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
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I didn't actually get a chance to PM all the members featured here to thank them in person, but I thought this was easily one of the best series in terms of participation. It was impossible to pick just three from the incredible backlog of great pictures people have been submitting for the past few weeks, and there were a couple of my personal favorites that didn't get featured this week because of nothing more than a lack of space. Really good show all around, everyone - thanks for making this so much fun.
 

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