Why Will is so great

[add911_11]



By all accounts he is a nice chap but caviar and sending shirts out to be laundered is classic iGent territory..

How can having caviar be a i-Gent thing? It is just like a bottle of fine wine once per month, perfectly normal in the society.

And it is so common to have shirts dry-clean in Hong Kong!

 

[Kingstonian]



This strikes me as crazy. I went through three stages with shirts. Doing my shirts myself; sending them out; having them done, in. the entire cycle was pre-internet and thus pre- i-gent. I recognize that the choice may be a financial one, and maybe a choice about the use of time, but there is nothing i-gentish about it.

I seem to remember an article where Will was POSTING his shirts off to be laundered. To me, it does not get any more iGent than that.

Then again I am a High Street Man. I would have been content to continue buying most of my clothes there if there was still anything half decent on offer.

 

[TheFoo]

I think you guys are confusing the meaning of 'iGent'. Sure, the things Will talks about doing require a certain financial wherewithal. But that is neither iGent behavior, nor anything he should feel bad about. We are all here to talk about what is inherently a luxury hobby that most cannot afford to entertain.

The term "iGent" refers to internet posters who present a false facade of ill-informed gentility. If you want to see prime examples, get in a time machine, go back a few years, and read AAAC. An iGent would not send his clothes out to a a good cleaner (which is not all that unusual if you can afford it). He lives in his parents' basement and has his mother do his laundry, but calls her his "butler" online. That's iGent.

 

[Gus]



I seem to remember an article where Will was POSTING his shirts off to be laundered. To me, it does not get any more iGent than that.

That has nothing whatsoever to do with being an iGent.

 

[dopey]

I think trying to define i-gent is a bit pointless.
I wish Jester would see this signal and weigh in on the term. I don't think he has posted here in years, but he would be the one to tell us what it means.

 

[Balfour]

I think you guys are confusing the meaning of 'iGent'. Sure, the things Will talks about doing require a certain financial wherewithal. But that is neither iGent behavior, nor anything he should feel bad about. We are all here to talk about what is inherently a luxury hobby that most cannot afford to entertain.

+1.

The term "iGent" refers to internet posters who present a false facade of ill-informed gentility. If you want to see prime examples, get in a time machine, go back a few years, and read AAAC. An iGent would not send his clothes out to a a good cleaner (which is not all that unusual if you can afford it). He lives in his parents' basement and has his mother do his laundry, but calls her his "butler" online. That's iGent.

 

[DocHolliday]

No time machine necessary.

The handy thing about "iGent" is that it's such a flexible insult. But the truth is, we're all guys posting on a clothing message board, which puts us, to greater or lesser degree, in the same "clothing hobbyist" camp as Will.

Will's often mentioned the difficulty of finding fresh blog content, so let's take a charitable eye to his efforts. I think it's among the best of its kind, easily.

 

[Kingstonian]



The term "iGent" refers to internet posters who present a false facade of ill-informed gentility.

I pick up some of that in his blog at times. Downton Abbey syndrome. Silicon Valley, California is a very different place and this accentuates it. He sometimes seems out of kilter. The world will not change to fit in with him.

I have nothing against iGents. I liked the BBC TV programme about Claridges and the delight of the iGent's new wife in the hotel. There is nothing wrong with being nouveau riche either. If you acquire it, enjoy it.

 

[Veremund]



...but for the most part he dresses like, as Mark Seitelman says, a grown-up.

+1 indeed. A very classy grown-up. I've no shame in saying he's a sartorial role model of mine, probably because he reminds me of my dad who is sadly no longer with us.

 

[Veremund]



It is just like a bottle of fine wine once per month, perfectly normal in the society.

Only once a month?!?! How spartan!!!

 

[Jamesgatz]

"I pick up some of that in his blog at times. Downton Abbey syndrome. Silicon Valley, California is a very different place and this accentuates it. He sometimes seems out of kilter. The world will not change to fit in with him."

Will is pretty innovative about it, though. His distinction between working downtown / suburbs is useful reconceptualizing of city/country -distinction for a time and place where people no longer hunt foxes or spend weekends at manors. But one wonders whether it really makes sense in California. Anyway, it's a very enjoyable blog.

 

[TheFoo]

Come on--whether Silicon Valley or Manhattan, dressing "classic menswear" is no longer organic to the environment. You can't hold that against Will. We all do the same.

 

[foodguy]



By all accounts he is a nice chap but caviar and sending shirts out to be laundered is classic iGent territory. He was on about light blue shirts the other day. Most men have those as a wardrobe staple. Not Will - but to compensate he was going to buy a whole bunch of them, so that he always had a spare in case the 'better half' sends the laundry away (for not using the tradesman's entrance?).

not to pick on kingstonian, but there are a couple of things that stick out to me here: First, what seems to be an assumption that because someone is doing something different than us (and more extravagant), that he is somehow rubbing our noses in it. There are certainly posters who do that, but I don't believe Will is one. He's a rich guy with a hobby that makes him very happy and he likes to share his thoughts on it. Take from it what you will and ignore it if you don't like it.

I do not know what other interests he has, but Will seems like someone with too much time on his hands. He could be doing other things.

Sorry, but, dude, THIS IS THE INTERNET. We could all be doing other things, many of them arguably more important than debating on a forum devoted to men's clothing.

 

[Kingstonian]



Come on--whether Silicon Valley or Manhattan, dressing "classic menswear" is no longer organic to the environment. You can't hold that against Will. We all do the same.

I am not quite sure what this means. Is what Will does dressing classic menswear or is there more to it?

I really enjoy the posts by the two 'top hat and tails' posters. One of them even made his own gear - 'waistcoat slips' or whatever they are called. The other had all the right details, but wore the gear in incongruous surroundings in California. Maybe that is what is meant by not 'organic to the environment'.

 

[Kingstonian]



First, what seems to be an assumption that because someone is doing something different than us (and more extravagant), that he is somehow rubbing our noses in it. There are certainly posters who do that, but I don't believe Will is one. He's a rich guy with a hobby that makes him very happy and he likes to share his thoughts on it. Take from it what you will and ignore it if you don't like it.
Sorry, but, dude, THIS IS THE INTERNET. We could all be doing other things, many of them arguably more important than debating on a forum devoted to men's clothing.

I never said Will is 'rubbing our noses in it'. He does not say things like ' I could not help noticing that I am considerably richer than yow.' or 'How many businesses have you built up from scratch in the West Midlands?'

Sorry dude, but what else does Will do apart from talk about clothes. No insights into any other interests. After a while, most people tend to reveal other things that make them tick.