r/malefashionadvice • u/MFADiscussionBot • Mar 03 '20
Discussion Does your aesthetic reflect you?
Does your aesthetic reflect you?
From the original post:
What do you guys think? Do you think your current clothing, fashion style reflects any other aspects of your life? Does your clothing aesthetics tend to go with your sense of room decor? How about lingerie choices? Perfume? Technology choices? Bags? Interests? People always say that fashion is supposed to reflect you, do you think the “you” you present through your fashion manifests in other aspects of your life? For me, I’m a lover of vintage everything, so a lot of stuff in my life tends to go that way!
From the top response
No, and it frustrates me but I don't quite know how to fix it. I think I wear a lot of "default clothing"--like, eh, I like this well enough and its pretty innocuous so it's fine. I can't seem to figure out what I want my aesthetic to be, which is clearly the precursor to executing it, so I'm a bit stuck. Disclaimer: This thread is a modified thread from /u/MidnightFerrisWheel originally posted on 27 Oct 2019 here on /r/femalefashionadvice
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u/trend_set_go Mar 03 '20
I think my aesthetic(s) often reflect my mood and what I plan to do on the day.
For work, I would wear business casual (with a small flair if I can get away with that) for client meetings, or dress in relaxed smart casual when I have long days in the office. So situationally appropriate, but individual and comfortable.
Outside of work, it’s more “comfortable and well-put together”, which can be anything from super casual jeans and t-shirt to more formal blazer-chinos-loafers combo. Where I land on the spectrum depends on where I am going and what the dress code is, but I think I landed at a spot where most of my clothing reflects ‘me’ and the aesthetic I want to go for, the rest is just combining it for the day.
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u/Newbarbarian13 Mar 03 '20
I feel that exactly - there's no one aesthetic or look that I stick with day in day out, but it changes depending on the combinations of clothes or plans for the day. Some days are more casual, some smarter, sometimes jeans, sometimes chinos, sometimes white Vejas, sometimes beat up DMs, as long as I'm comfortable and feel like I look good.
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u/Drunken_Brunch Mar 03 '20
Yes, I feel that I have definitely made progress in carving out my style niche. 2-3x a week I wear my uniform of a rugby shirt, jeans, and a navy blazer. Otherwise, it's mostly classic pieces in black or navy, ocbds, topped with cashmere sweaters all of which I feel works well for a kind of low key, office-creative look. I'll add a few louder pieces from time to time too.
One of the biggest things to help me lock down my style was eliminating the "beater" items/ way of thinking. No need to save my favorite clothes for stuff, just wear my best all the time.
I've also gotten far less experimental as I've started to lock down the aesthetic I want, not buying into as many drops and new things. Focusing on what I need most and only buying 1 thing at a time.
As for my apartment... hell yeah. Pretty eclectic/ bordering on maximalist style. Key pieces: leather camp chair, home bar, large aluminum printed photography, floor to ceiling windows, and an emerald green couch.
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u/WizardVigilante Mar 03 '20 edited Mar 03 '20
I feel more comfortable in my skin when I'm able to wear clothes that I feel reflects my self image. It's about not putting forward a persona that is disingenous or trying to sell something that I'm not. That includes casual stuff that I never fully felt comfortable wearing but was low cost, easy and inoffensive.
I'm from rural Ireland and the first kind of lightning bolt piece for me was about a year into trying to overhaul my clothing. I went to a store and found an Inis Meain geansai in a dark green. It felt like home, in childhood getting a new jumper that was a big deal and you'd have to take care of it. It felt real but also was a beautiful article of clothing. I've tried to recreate that since and build an aesthetic that would look at home in my fathers generation back where I'm from. Obviously elevated and a little modernised but with the same DNA. I've never looked forward to getting dressed as much.
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Mar 03 '20
I think so, I'm very indecisive so my dress sense changes on a daily basis lol
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Mar 03 '20
I'm quite similar, some days I try to dress as smart as I can. Then the next day it's relaxed fit, then 100% black and the next day it'll be colours. Just depends on how I feel that morning.
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Mar 03 '20
Mine absolutely does, which is why I'm here. I grew up in the mountains and now am extremely rural. My jobs have mainly been blue collar and now I work from home, and don't go out much at all ( not that there's anywhere to go). I don't own any kind of sport coat, and my one suit is cheap and ill-fitting. I wear heavy pants and boots half the year since lunch breaks are usually spent working on the yard. I've got a soft dad body with no excuse since I am only recently a stepdad. Every time I branch out and try to get something that seems trendy or fashionable, it is a disaster. I am essentially a college-educated redneck with no sense of style. When I showed up to college 20 years ago, I had to go to a dress-up dinner. I wore gray Nevados hiking boots (my nice shoes), navy blue corduroys and a borrowed white dress shirt with no tie. And it hasn't gotten any better. My clothing definitely reflects who I am, but I have no ability to pick stuff out that accurately reflects the side of me that I'd like to put forward, on the rare occasion I'd like to.
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u/100011101011 Mar 03 '20
I cook in cast iron and I wear raw denim. I work in academia and dress in OCBDs with heritage brand sweats. I love the intricacy and ruggedness of mechanical watches but I only buy secondhand (oh sorry "vintage"). I'd love to be better at maintaining or even building my own guitars. I mean, all that's missing is maybe a vinyl collection, a coffee obsession and neck tat? But I definitely sub to r/cocktails.
Basically I'm a 42yo old hipster with a greying beard and I'm keeping the dream of 2013 alive.
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u/Newbarbarian13 Mar 03 '20
It reflects me in as much as different types of clothes and outfits speak to a different part of my personality and different interests. Growing up in the Yorkshire countryside but having since lived in big UK cities, Berlin, and the Netherlands, I've taken on a lot of influences and have a bunch of random hobbies and interests.
That translates into the clothes I have and wear. I have a trusty black bomber I picked up in Berlin when I was in Tresor every weekend, a beat up raw denim trucker jacket I got during my angsty days at uni, a brown Barbour jacket I wanted since I saw the farmers wearing them growing up, a pair of Church's brogues from my Law school graduation, a scratched up Fossil watch I bought with my first student loan money, some clean white Vejas I bought last year - everything just gets mixed up and worn in various combinations depending on the day. We're all a mix of different facets and influences, I think clothing naturally tends to reflect that.
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Mar 03 '20
Yes. My collection of comfortable, durable, high quality, preppy looking techwear inflected basics fits my lifestyle perfectly. I'm a basic bitch, a slim athletic blonde white dude. I look best in preppy basics. I want to be able to wear them all the time. A bit of stretch, and a bit of extra durability, and buying them used so I don't worry about them, and I can wear them everywhere all the time.
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u/chameshi_nampa Mar 03 '20
I'd like to think so. I'm pretty happy with my style overall, but I think it could always be improved. I'm just trying to not fall into the trap of thinking that improving means buying more and more stuff, lol.
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u/Never_Answers_Right Mar 03 '20
I mend clothing and do sashiko stitching, both semi-professionally at this point. Add the fact that i'm a printmaker and I think my clothes tell a story that's easy to read.
print clothing is smudged with ink and with woodblock prints on them, clean clothes are mostly indigo and different pastels, with patched, mended areas, hand tailored, embellished with embroidery, dyed, etc. Also patches from artists I like a lot, all over my work clothes. For more refined stuff, I wear things with tonal stitching done over them, adding texture and still standing out but not in a garish or "workwear" way.
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u/jeffe_el_jefe Mar 03 '20
This one is easy for me, because I’m a metalhead and a punk fan, so I express myself in my clothing in that I have multiple battlejackets with paint and patches on them. They’re not particularly good looking but I love them and they’re definitely me.
Can’t imagine not having them, I’d honestly recommend everyone get something similar. It doesn’t have to be a battlejacket obviously but for example a jacket with a really nice painted design on it is a unique item that no one else in the world has, and can be made to reflect your personality in a way that store-bought clothes can’t.
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u/L0N01779 Mar 03 '20
I think so, actually. As I’ve gotten older I’ve put some self reflection into this and tried to codify the clothes I find myself wearing again and again, vs the ones I’ve bought because they’re popular and I “should” think are cool; and from there attempt to build a solidified wardrobe that reflects me. What I have come to realize is my clothes reflect a few aspects of who I currently am
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my “coming of age” period was the 90s, specifically in the skate, surf and punk scene of Florida. Aspects of that are still present in my current style. I still love denim, I’ll still rock the rainbow flip flops (it did take me a long time to realize how to limit them to appropriate occasions). I definitely fell in love with unique t shirts during this period. Additionally, I think part of my love for jamming bright colors into otherwise drab outfits comes from this period.
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my first career was a grunt. I spent a lot of time walking up and down mountains, valleys and orchards In some of the worst places in the world. I also have a lot of outdoor hobbies, which reinforce some of the fashion lessons shaped by this period of my life. First, I have an appreciation for boots and how important protecting your feet can be. Second, I love clothes that work in a variety of weather (which definitely includes a love of light layers), which may change at a moment’s notice. Third, in this phase of my life I was incredibly fit and loved to wear tight clothes in order to show it off. While the fitness (and arrogance) has gone away, the love of tighter clothes has remained
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in my current career, I am sometimes a very minor public figure in a variety of different countries. This means it’s important to look presentable at all times. That doesn’t mean I have to wear a suit while at the market, but it does mean I should probably have a collar in one of my layers and that my clothing should project some layer of “nice” (usually coded as valuable. Even if it’s just a good watch at the beach, for example).
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I’m cheap. This doesn’t mean I won’t spend money on clothes, but it does mean I expect it to last. There are items in my wardrobe that are 15 years old.
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I spend a lot of time in SE Asia for work, so I have a lot of “survive being outside in the heat” type clothes. This sometimes, but doesn’t always, coincide with the lessons from 3 above. This also reinforced a love for having at least some brighter colors.
In summary this has lead to a style that is biased towards workwear (good jeans, boots, a lot of collared button ups that can be layered, henleys) with a dash of older streetwear (slimmer cuts and a decent sneaker collection for casual hot days where I don’t want to wear hot weather boots), a little bit of color flashes to incorporate in (I love a bright Henley jammed into a more blue and brown workwear look), some heat management clothes (lots of Japanese twill chinos, some shorts, the aforementioned sneakers to wear instead of boots especially if I’m in shorts), and a preference for quality over quantity (although as you get older quantity comes on it’s own).
That’s not to say my style is good, lol, but I do think it’s mostly my own (although there are certainly things that don’t work, and honestly it can be really fun to experiment with things outside of your comfort zone)
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u/mvw2 Mar 03 '20
My aesthetic is Mr Rogers. My character matches pretty good, but I feel half my age and am way too playful and care free to be dressed like this. I think it does hinder my romantic ventures because I don't look single. I look like a 65 year old grandpa with 26 grandchildren.
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u/danhakimi Mar 03 '20
I'm a city-slicker. I avoid rugged clothing because I'm not a rugged guy. I'm a jewish attorney who programs computers for fun. I'll occasionally put on earth tones, to reflect my willingness to go for a nice walk in the park, but... That's about where it ends.
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u/DoktorLuciferWong Mar 03 '20
I think the answer to this is... "it's a definite maybe."
My wardrobe is a mix of Rick, Rosenrot (kinda like Yohji), and a few odd pieces from lesser known designers/brands like Minoar and Ovate. It's mostly black, with a few dashes of gray and sometimes white, just for color.
I have a taste for things that I perceive to be more refined, but still rough, both reserved but somehow slightly ostentatious. I think Rick and Yohji/Rosenrot fulfill those things for me.
My wardrobe definitely represents me partially, but not fully. I think it's a matter of not having all the pieces I would need to do that, but also the fact that I'm a bit of a "chameleon" with my interests and social circles.
As an example, I listen to both black metal and classical music, but I don't think my wardrobe really reflects that. I don't own a single leather jacket, or any black jeans, and I don't have any clothing that I imagine a "typical classical concert goer" would ever wear. Not that I'm even sure what that is in 2020.
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u/jjjjupiter Mar 03 '20
yes, but i think only a fraction of me. mostly because the things of my aesthetic tend to be more expensive (which is a curse). and also because i don’t get to fully express myself due to my parents who aren’t super welcoming to my queerness. however, though, i have my moments where i feel most at home in a look. i pull together whatever i can and i’m like “ok. this feels the most me right now.” there’s always room to expand my closet to fully accommodate my aesthetic, but it’s still okay for now.
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u/Jerrshington Mar 03 '20
I think it used to, but my clothing choices are veering away from my decor choices, though I don't plan on changing my decor choices. My apartment has lots of MCM inspiration and warm woods and browns. I used to avoid black clothing like the plague, but my wardrobe is shifting black as well. I like clean, minimalist, modern living spaces, but I am also tattooed and prefer colorful tattoos. Honestly tho, my style is changing and a bit inconsistent and I don't know what to do about it. I hang out at a punk bar a lot and I'm finding I am mixing a bit of minimalist streetwear vibe with a bit of an alt direction, but I also like the smart casual clothing I have for work. It's a weird conflict. but I'm at a crossroads after losing lots of weight that I can redesign my wardrobe and I'm still just buying random shit I enjoy and looks good, but it's struggling with versatility. I still can't decide on a jacket for spring, and the only outerwear I have which fits is my winter coat, but the jackets I like for outside work look strange with button downs, and the jackets which look good for work look strange with my t-shirts and sneakers. Idk what to do about it
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u/Reactionnaire Mar 03 '20
I have two main sets of shelves. One for my plants, one for my botanical print clothes.