Your Sartorial Journey?

[Larry Lean]

What's your story & what has been your motivation?
I'm thinking here of how I grew up with Traditional English style and moved away from it to Classic American style.
Mr Grey Flannel Man did the reverse - He grew up with Classic American and moved to a more Anglo style.

What motivates these changes in style as we go along through life?
Are they aspirational?
Do we hope the new clothes will help us 'get ahead'?
Will they help us to fit in with whatever crowd we find ourselves mixing with as we change jobs or lifestyles?

No wrong answers here. I'm just interested in peoples' stories.

My own change of style was all to do with finding my own personal look and opting out of a life I found restrictive while I was growing up.
I never wanted to be 'something in the city' like everybody I had grown up with. I wanted to have a bit more fun than that.
I wanted a more relaxed life and I found one. And the outward visible symbol of this became the relaxed tailoring (by English standards) of my Ivy style suits, jackets and soft collared shirts.

What's your story?

LL

 

[epa]

In 1994 I left a position as a civil servant in Sweden for a job in a Spanish Law firm. In Sweden, my way of dressing was veeeeeery informal. Basically, I had a sportcoat and a suit for job interviews and the odd wedding. The rest was basically denim.
On my first day on this new job in Spain, my boss said that I always had to wear a suit to work. So I bought some cheap suits. After some weeks, my boss added that, well, it was not enough just to wear a suit; the outfit should also look nice. I felt that that was a quite clear hint of what he thought of my clothing.
So I started to think about it. However, I think that the real change came some years later, when, after changing to a new (better) company, I ended up having an Italian colleague who always complained about the clothing in Spain. Actually, I think he kind of triggered my interest in clothing. And once I got interested, I suddenly realised that there was a lot of interesting stuff out there.

 

[lakewolf]

Interesting epa...

I allways thought of you as Spanish... didn't know you were Swedish

Como va la vida en madrid macho !

by the way a non-clothing related joke...

a pretty blue-eyed blonde girl is on holiday in spain and is aborded by a mediterranean dark hair, brown-eyed guy. Chemistry works its magic and they end making love at the hotel... the guy believing she is done asks her "Are you finish ?" and she answers "No, I am swedish"

 

[Larry Lean]

Originally Posted by lakewolf

Interesting epa...

I allways thought of you as Spanish... didn't know you were Swedish

Como va la vida en madrid macho !

by the way a non-clothing related joke...

a pretty blue-eyed blonde girl is on holiday in spain and is aborded by a mediterranean dark hair, brown-eyed guy. Chemistry works its magic and they end making love at the hotel... the guy believing she is done asks her "Are you finish ?" and she answers "No, I am swedish"

I lOVE that one!

LOL X 10

 

[Get Smart]

Mine started with the uniform of my tribal subculture as a teen. This lead to examining where its look came from and broadening my horizons via history in my late teens-early 20s. After editting what I liked/disliked about all this info I am where I am today. simple.

but I still enjoying dressing in the tribal uniform. old habits die hard.

 

[GreyFlannelMan]

Interesting post LL. I should point out that I took a detour from the trad during my last two years of high school. It would have to be described as "indie rock" with a brief experimentation in goth to impress my girlfriend at the time. Fortuantely, photographic evidence of that is extremely limited!

 

[mack11211]

I used to want things that everyone else had.

Now I want things that no one else has.

These things may be furiously expensive (to their original owner), far-fetched, and/or ancient, in any combination.

The general effect is Downtown NYC meets Franco-Italian Country Weekend, which many other people are doing as well. But no one has my things in my combination, so I am secretly, or not so secretly, pleased.

 

[StevenRocks]

It started at Sears....

 

[Larry Lean]

Originally Posted by StevenRocks

It started at Sears....

Sounds like the start of a novel I'd like to read!

Nice stories, fellas - thanks!

I'm really interested in why we wear what we do. Both joining-in & opting-out are valid in my book.
Did anyone feel that aspirational impulse to 'dress the part' hoping to become the part?
That might be a tough one to admit to but I think it's a valid reason for a style change. Using clothing as a tool to achieve other goals.
There's something very knowing & smart about that kind of thinking I think...
Having a personal style but also knowing the power & impact of appearances and using them well.

All interesting stuff.

 

[Bergdorf Goodwill]

I dressed like a fairly normal suburban kid, was vaguely "indie" for a minute, had this thing in high school for wearing grey/black/white nearly exclusively (lots of white shirt, black V-neck, grey trousers) with black monkstraps, didn't wear jeans until I was 19 because I found them common, developed this sort of insane "psychedelic dandy" thing for a bit that involved a lot of silk scarves, velvet jackets, bright colors, and strange boots; worked in an office for a bit and wore pretty nice suits, etc. for a bit in the least American style possible, and at the moment I dress like a completely washed up scumbag.