Clothes houndz.

Post some pictures of the kind of stuff you mean. Obviously I can visualise those items of clothing, but you probably have something more specific in mind than I do. I'm intrigued.

Why are those boots even a thing? Who buys shit like that? Why do grown ass men care how they dress? Actually just throw on some fucking corduroys, a well-fitted t-shirt, and depending on the season a nice jacket or cardigan.

Basically the only thing that matters is that you don't wear dickhead, urban pipeline jeans and weird Monster zip-up hoodies with cum stains on them. If you can steer clear of those two things you are totally fine.

Just project your aesthetic proclivities outwards and actually dig grunge music or something. I'm so fucking tired of seeing chic women running around this city wearing edgy clothing that they spent hundreds of dollars on. That's never a tight thing.

What were you guys like in college? Did you ever care about clothing? I basically want to give every college dude who comes to class with pajamas a high five. I can't stoop to that level but if I could, holy shit would I. If you can walk around in sandals and funny pajama pants your whole life and still get laid then you are actually living the dream.

Fuck all this other shit.

I get tons of compliments from people about my sense of style and I have not gone shopping in over a year and never spent more than like $30 on any article of clothing aside from these one pair of boots that I own.

I really just think about how amazing Neil Young always looked throughout his life and try my best to emulate that general idea. That dudes entire personage reeks of freedom and rock n' roll.

This is really all there is to aspire to. Just imagine yourself seated next to him in the car and try to imagine what you'd look like. And that's basically all you have to do. People who wear shit that makes them stand out are repulsive. Earth tones til the casket.

Once you start getting into other shit you've missed the point and end up having an opinion about Red Octobers.

Deleted post, me whining about WP. No one gives a fuck about this thread anyway why bother.

Also Soma, will find a good pic of what I mean.

I care, C-poots. I'm trying to remember who was interested in discussing fashion in the first place and it seems that now we've lost Some Girl, Damo and Madrox we may be the only ones left. Oh, Yancy's about.

Nick too. Probably others I'm forgetting. Abort.

Soma wrote:I care, C-poots. I'm trying to remember who was interested in discussing fashion in the first place and it seems that now we've lost Some Girl, Damo and Madrox we may be the only ones left. Oh, Yancy's about.

I really shouldn't complain about an offshoot of an offshoot of a Sound Opinions public radio message board not being more into fashion anyway. Would be nice if Madrox came back for this thread but who knows maybe he fell off.

in regards to the style I was mentioning that I think might look good for you is something similar to this look below. Not necessarily these pieces; in this guy's case I would probably just do a cropped slim black trouser with black socks instead of the shorts layer, I hate the way that particular blue works in the whole outfit but the silhouette is mostly in line with what I mean. I think it looks good when styled properly to have multiple layers that keep the eye moving along a tall body. You could do similar looks with less structured pieces too, think overly long dark cardigans under blazers with long scarfs (when its colder, obviously) or bombers over sweaters over long T-shirts.

Sorry, I have no suggestions for summer besides find some cool shirts?

I don't actually know if it would be in your wheelhouse style wise and if the Members-Only Ninja Turtles Fan Forum consortium disagrees with me that this looks good I won't be much surprised, but take it as you will.

Soma wrote:Oh, Yancy's about.

This year I gave up and bought some shorts at the mall. Simakos was right all along.

I still spend a fair amount on clothes and take what I wear to the office seriously.

Whatever your opinion of The Sartorialist is, I draw a lot of inspiration from his Milan shots. But men's fashion - or what dudes now interpret as men's fashion - has become very costume-ish.

I like the Sartorialist's womens shots, and I like that he is fair in that he shoots street style and more refined looks that you would see in Milan. His menswear stuff doesn't usually interest me as much but I've no issue with it, I just don't see much difference with what he shoots and what I can see in the window at Bergdorfs, at least wrt his Pitti Uomo and similar shoots.

And I agree that men's fashion is getting more costume but I don't find a whole lot wrong with that to be honest. Sure, there are dudes I look at on the street and think "that doesn't work" or "that is too much" but, and maybe it really has something to do with being in NYC now, I'm not bothered or repulsed or upset about anyone's choice of attire and find myself typically more interested in what these people are trying to express through what they put on that day. There are clearly times when it goes a bit too far to be considered anything but caricature, but for the most part I welcome experimentation.

I also think the line between womens and mens fashion, at least within the "subculture/industry/whatever" is breaking down and thats where the more costume looks are coming from. Women's wear has been playing with gender for a long time now and it seems like men are just now coming around to the idea. I personally have no problem with it, and while I'm likely not going to be buying a purse for myself anytime soon, I think it just opens more doors of possibility for where men's looks can go.

Those dickheads at TSB Men have been posting a lot of double breasted coats and I just can't fuck with DB.

So, then just an honest question, you aren't even a little bit skeptical of taking appearance (especially commodity-driven appearance) to be indicative of someone's innate being? I'm not really saying that you are doing that it just seems to be like the logical conclusion of being fashion-forward or whatever.

I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what 'innate being' is in your context, and how anyone here is taking clothing to be indicative of it, but if you can explain your question a bit more I'd be happy to give my take on it.

I'll try. The easiest way would probably be through example. Last weekend I was at a friend's party and this kid was sitting on the stoop who was wearing a jean jacket, old and worn-out jeans, and was rocking a shitty, unkempt mop of hair. He was drinking whiskey out of the bottle and when he lit up a cigarette I told my friend looking at this guy was like watching a .gif of a 'Mats album cover.

Later on in the night when I asked him if he liked the band he immediately pointed to the only pin on his jacket, which was of Paul Westerberg. He seemed giddy and excited that someone else 'got it' and could identify with him and we spent the rest of the night outside talking about rock n' roll bands.

I'm not going to defend adopting anachronistic punk rock fashion sensibilities but that is just an example of that person's 'artifice' matching something inherent about his personhood. I will always sort of dig that I guess. I get lost when you start talking about all this experimentation because what your suggestion to Soma looks like a bunch of transgression for the sake of transgression. What would you wanna talk to that guy about? What even is that guy?

Basically, my question is wouldn't you prefer that people actually developed an interesting, focalized way of being in the world and matched their appearance to that well-crafted creation? Everyone looks like Urban Outfitters mannequins now so it is kind of cool when people 'stand out.' But standing out just to stand out is repulsive to me. It's like the idea of 'art for art's sake' but commodified and turned into expensive threads. Isn't that just a weirdly ahistorical and apolitical and probably just overall vapid way to approach things?

I'm not trying to be antagonistic. Usually when people start talking about fashion I just shut down and or freakout (e.g. the previous page of this thread). But since I know you are actually an intelligent dude I am actually really interested in what you might have to say about any of this…

Ҩ wrote:I'm not going to defend adopting anachronistic punk rock fashion sensibilities but that is just an example of that person's 'artifice' matching something inherent about his personhood.

I would start here and ask why someone's preference for music is being considered something inherent about their personhood but their preference in fashion/clothing isnt. I think where the difference lies is that you find clothing and fashion to be an extension/projection-of-something instead of its own entity worthy of critical evaluation where as I see the two as separate entities which influence each other but are not intrinsic to one another's existence.

WP64 wrote:
I will always sort of dig that I guess. I get lost when you start talking about all this experimentation because what your suggestion to Soma looks like a bunch of transgression for the sake of transgression. What would you wanna talk to that guy about?

Maybe I would talk to that guy about fashion, just like you would want to talk to the 'Mats fan about The 'Mats. He looks like he has a unique eye and a style that is curated specifically for him by him and has influences from varied sources both inside and outside of the fashion industry. I'd rather not be able to know what a person is all about just by looking at them though. I think that is a somewhat boring and insular quality to desire.

This again is going back to my first point that fashion is extricable from other mediums but I think it is easy to lose sight of that quality because clothes are also a necessity; you see them everywhere every single day where as music/film/literature is typically only consumed by choice. I would argue visual arts and architecture are closer facsimiles to fashion in this regard. And it isn't transgression for its own sake. When you saw Kurt Cobain wear a dress it was punk, or The New York Dolls went in make-up it was rebellion but when someone on the street does the same, perhaps making the same or similar statements as these artists, even using the exact same medium, it is getting misconstrued as trangression for its own sake.

WP wrote:
...wouldn't you prefer that people actually developed an interesting, focalized way of being in the world and matched their appearance to that well-crafted creation? ... But standing out just to stand out is repulsive to me. It's like the idea of 'art for art's sake' but commodified and turned into expensive threads...

Your question is getting a bit difficult to understand again, but I'll try and correct me if I got the wrong idea. I think most of what I said just now will answer how I feel about the first part of your question anyway.

It isn't standing out just to stand out to many of these people, myself included. I don't dress for attention, I do it because I want certain forms and shapes and colors in my life at a certain time. There are certain aesthetics that I am drawn to and like to incorporate into my life, and fashion also allows me to do so. It is expressionism in some sense, it is taking a familiar concept and personalizing it based on a huge list of experiences and influences. Yes it is a commodity but so is music, so is film, so is graphic art, so is architecture, etc. I don't necessarily love it but money is ancillary to all of these industries. There are designers who work to create new ideas, or work to make meaningful (imo) statements without caring about the financial aspects, but just like any artists who cannot feed themselves on their work, the designers go under after a few seasons. There are also many designers who sell shit like handbags and button downs at a huge markup so that they can afford to make pieces that maybe 5 people will buy but could go on to inspire and challenge and make the statements they are trying to make. Usually this is decided by the business departments and agreed/rejected by the creative directors.

I think it is totally fine to have a difference stance than I do, I don't expect most people to have this similar view because I've had influences that have drawn me here, but I do think you could have a bit more of an open mind towards it. I don't think you are being condescending and I just typed so damn much you might fall asleep but I tried to give a detailed perspective.

I've been putting this response off because you're being nice and I appreciate the advice but I don't like that guy's sense of style at all couldn't see myself wearing anything in the picture   

I'm always nice. And you can feel free to disagree completely with the images I'm recommending, I wont be hurt. I'll prob just continue to post shit like this though because this thread works as an outlet.

I went shopping Barneys sale recently, picked up a polo-type shirt and a sweater. Feels good, literally and figuratively, to have new clothes again.

I will respond to that at some point but I'm mentally exhausted and will be for the next week.

Michael K, what is that floral printed shirt you're wearing in the Facebook photo about your wedding anniversary from this weekend? (not posted to maintain your faux-privacy)

I bought this shirt from J Crew a month or two ago and love it: http://tinyurl.com/ma75ddc

I don't like possibility that we are independently trending in the same fashion direction by accident though

Anyone have any experience with having the colour of a pair of lenses changed? I've been giving these Ray Ban Clubmasters and I like everything about them other than the fact that the lenses are silver (which is still fine, I don't think they look bad, I'd just rather they were dark.

I don't know anything about that, but my hunch is it would probably cost enough that you should just sell those and pick out another pair of Clubmasters.

Still wearing my gray aluminum anodized Clubmasters pretty much every day. Love 'em.

I have a bunch of meetings in NYC in a couple weeks and realized I need / want something for a couple of the days such as a lighter blazer or suit. Didn't want to spend much so I went to Zara on lunch today.

Couldn't even get my arm in a size 56 linen jacket and the girl told me I "should like, maybe go to a store for large people".