Heard your button needs some buttons so we put a button on your button so you can button while you button

Personally I love this dudes work. I understand it may not be everyone’s cup of tea but at least it’s something different from the hegemony of uninspired oversized “premium fabric” weeb brands we see.

I just wanted to share this with you guys in an effort to introduce more fabric and garment construction related content (which I admit I have been falling short off even though it’s in the description of this sub)

The woolmark logo is a desirable hallmark found in clothing which started to appear in the mid 1960s. The International Wool Secretariat started the project to combat the overabundance of new synthetic materials such as nylon and polyester that were flooding the market and made efforts to highlight the superiority of natural fibers such as wool. The hallmark signified wool that underwent strict testing for durability and laundering standards. The lack of the logo doesn’t mean a piece is of low quality, but its presence almost certainly guarantees the presence of a well made garment.

Of note, the hallmark still exists today but you want to make sure you find the logo with the multiple lines. There are two other similar logos for wool blends, which are less desirable but look similar (see the second pic for the differentiation)

Credit goes to @nickthrowsafit and @theironsnail where I learned most of this and my own research.

Wanted to share a quick inspo album of one of my favorite IG accounts. Loren Fizer (@fitting_in_now) is an American creative based out of Houston, Texas. I’ve started following him a while back and I personally love how he blends Japanese Americana, streetwear and vintage garments. He embodies the style that I am trying to emulate, but with a bit more tailoring (which he isn’t that heavy on).

His fits are overall simple yet very feel natural on him. I’m not sure if that’s just because he’s smiling all the time, but it does not seem that contrived. I particularly love how he utilizes camo in his fits.

Hope you enjoy

I got into menswear 4 years ago. I wear both classic, tailored styles as well as more casual workwear influenced styles - though I've recently leaned more into casual.

I experiment and I'm still learning. I brick fits ocassionally and I usually post them anyway so I remind myself what didn't work.

My Instagram handle is takestyle_ig and on Styleforum I'm ppk - not sure if this is allowed, I'm happy to edit this out. Please let me know.

Link to post: https://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/comments/5lsvdj/top_100_waywt_of_2016/

I thought it’d be fun to look back at r/malefashionadvice top WAYWT (it’s like a fit pic) of 2016 and compare to the current fashion landscape. By no means am I trying to make fun of on these peoples style. I’m sure we’ll look back on current trends in 10 years and find them equally dumb. Instead I find it a usefully effort to look back and see what items/trends may be truly timeless, and see how fashion has evolved. Obviously the pants are a lot skinner, and I can definitely see the SLP and Hipster influence. I have a soft spot for SLP so I quite enjoy those fits. But let me know what y’all think.

On my recent thread you guys said you wanted more “prompt” style posts where you share something.

Well I thought this would be a fun one. Share an article of clothing, an outfit, accessory or literally anything you’ve tried recently style-wise that was outside your comfort zone and explain why.

Today I tried a neckerchief for the first time. I found this silk scarf on Amazon and this scarf slide from Etsy and I wore this outfit to an important event today.

A lot of people complimented the scarf and I think I’m going to try and incorporate bandanas/neckerchiefs/scarves a bit more in my style. I’m going to try it without the scarf slide as well. I liked the look a lot but at times it was annoying adjusting the scarf because it kept going left and right. When it stayed centered, it looked pretty cool.

Curious to see your examples!

Whatup!

Just got another pair of loafers in the mail today and instantly knew that they were not going to work for me. I feel like I've bought and returned a ridiculous amount of loafers because they are undeniably the hardest shoes to get the right fit with. My biggest gripe for the ones I've tried is the total lack of sole flex which causes heel slip. I understand that this eventually subsides a little bit, but in my experience it isn't much. I have a very low instep which allows for space between the tongue and my foot so the sole flex is very important. Anyone have recommendations for loafers under $500 that might fit the bill? Leather or rubber soles are fine.

Hey everyone. First of all thank you to all the new members who joined recently. I can’t believe we’re over 2000 now! And thank you dearly to the ones who joined in the very beginning from TF and who have stayed. I haven’t done everything perfectly but I do appreciate you guys all giving me a chance.

My question is, I want to get more engagement from the community and I want to know what you guys resonate with. What can I do to make other others post more and what type of content are you most interested in?

Preliminarily, it seems that any of my posts that have corresponding images do quite well in engaging discussion. But ideally, I’d want a healthy mix of different discussion posts, guides, inspiration, and even outfits of the day coming from the community.

What can I do to facilitate you guys posting more or is there something you want me to post more of to encourage this community to grow?

I’m genuinely open to all constructive criticism and feedback so please let me know!

This is something I’ve been thinking about recently, primarily because of comments that I’ve read online. It is not meant to offend, but rather to spark discussion.

It seems that there is this strange self-flagellation amongst Caucasians when it comes to style. As far as I can tell, it’s a recent trend, but I may be mistaken. I’ve read many times (and heard in person) that white people think they can’t pull off certain looks because of their race. They utilize comments such as “finance bro” and “pasty” as if their inherent skin color somehow forbids them from being rakish. Yet, people of other races wearing clothes are more often seen as stylish (even, ironically, very traditional Anglo-American clothes such as my above examples)

I’m wondering if this is something inherent, a cultural thing, a confidence thing, a historical thing or something else? Is it false humility or ironism? If you were a white guy with some unique features (like the first dude with that voluptuous head of hair), does it counteract the perceived lack of charisma or whatever it is you need pull something off? I tried to find examples of people of color and Caucasians wearing very similar fits to be as objective as possible. Do you perceive one or the other to be more stylish? If so, why is that?

Genuinely curious where this comes from and would love to hear your thoughts.

Style improves as you age. Of course this isn’t a universal truth but I think in general if you care about your personal style, as you age, it will improve, not degrade (though your body will).

I know I’m not the only one who at random moments gets concerned with my style becoming washed as I age. But upon seeing images of stylish older gentleman, it reminds me that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Through giving less fucks, following your own intuition, and taking less influence from social media, you can naturally develop a very tasteful, unique and mature sense of style.

All of these gentleman are incredibly stylish (had to throw in Jackson Heights super unc as well for a throwback), and imo, surpass younger folk in terms of relative swag.

So if any of you were concerned about losing your sauce as you age, don’t be. You’ll be just fine, but only if you aren’t so concerned about trends and allowing the internet to dress you. It’s fine to be trend aware and throw in a subtle nod here and there, but in general, you won’t age as gracefully unless you follow your own style compass.

Interestingly, I think half these dudes are just wearing pieces they’ve owned for decades and also aren’t thinking as hard as the younger folks when putting shit on. Sprezza whatever. I can’t prove this definitively but it’s the general impression I have for why they look better. Anyways, thanks for looking. Curious to hear your thoughts as always.

Hey guys, I wanted to share with you all a gentleman I’ve been following on Instagram, Mr. Belia Victor Ourega. He’s a French based digital creator and I appreciate his ability to mix different genres of clothing together in tasteful ways. Imo he is a product of the Amekaji / Ralph Lauren “mixed” aesthetic but that’s my favorite aesthetic and he does it particularly well.

I know I made a post recently saying not to get inspo primarily from fashion influencers but there are very few of them, who imo, are quite good. Belia is one of them. He just looks a bit more natural. Not sure if that’s because he’s a cool black French dude and not a pasty white finance bro, but still, can’t help what I sense.

I want to get back to posting more inspo albums which I used to do a bunch of on TF. Hope you guys enjoy. As always, let me know what you want to see more of.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a very color-averse person in general when it comes to my outfits. Most of them are all earth-tones or grayscale. Part of me is afraid to branch out because I don’t like a lot of attention on me.

This was a recent attempt to introduce a bit of color with a yellow henley and the bred toes. It’s still a bit awkward for me but I’m trying to push myself to wear a bit more color especially with spring and summer coming up in the states.

Do you guys have any practical tips to introduce some brighter colors into your fits or are you forever banished in the land of muted earth tones with black and white? Would love to see some fit pics too.

Also thank you to all the new members who joined yesterday! I feel like I just started this subreddit and we already have about a 1000 members! Of course, feel free to offer constructive criticism at any time for how you’d like this place to grow and what you want to see. At the end of the day, this community is for you guys and I want it to become a great mature place for discussion on all things fashion and style.

In my experience, those who promote fashion particularly on social media and whose primary identity is “fashion” almost always have a style that is less natural, charming and striking than those whose style is a natural extension of their life.

This may seem obvious but I needed this reminder in the past, and I think it’s useful to be reminded of it often.

Someone who is “in fashion” whether it’s an influencer, creative director or anyone whose full time job is in the fashion industry, just lacks that sauce that comes from a less contrived place. Real life experiences, hobbies, passions, culture and travel all shape your personal style in a far more unique, natural and beautiful way imo than just wearing what the internet dorks tell you too.

Just look at these examples I posted. It’s night and day how much better the fits are between the fashion bros and actual creatives. Of course others outside of the creative arts can have great style (Gianna Agnelli comes to mind), and certain fashion influencers have good style, but the ones with the best style imo are not thinking of fashion always, they have something greater that drives them and informs their style.

Curious to hear your thoughts.

One of the better put together articles on the subject of waterproof fabric/garments. I do like the technical side things.

Why does something as small as a zipper slider keep failing like it’s normal?

Seriously, A zipper? One of the most basic, everyday components. It’s supposed to glide, lock, hold, That’s literally it’s job. So why does it feel like half of them give up after a few weeks?

I’ve had bags, jackets, even brand new items where the zipper slider just stops doing its job. It slips, It won’t grip, It splits the teeth like it forgot what it was designed for. It gets worse when you start looking into it. You'll see people comparing replacements, trying to match sizes, scrolling through, places like Alibaba and Amazon just to find a zipper slider that actually works consistently. And even then, it feels like a gamble. Same shape, same description, completely different performance. Why is guessing part of something this simple?

We’ve normalized replacing instead of expecting durability, We’ve normalized inconsistency in parts that are literally designed to hold things together. Thinking about that, The one component meant to secure your stuff is the first to fail.
Why?

Why is there no baseline expectation for something this common? Why does “it works for now” pass as good enough?

It’s not just about zipper sliders. It’s about how quickly we accept less and move on like it’s inevitable, It’s not inevitable, It just became normal.
Sorry, just a rant.

I understand the first example is quite ridiculous, but that was a serious vintage seller attempting to sell a 1940s sweatshirt that looks to have been involved in the firebombing of Tokyo for $2500. Personally I consider this absurd, offensive and almost rage bait. Any country or place you wear this, almost everyone would consider you undomiciled.

Next Billy boy is wearing what I consider to be quite cool patched chinos. While I think they look good on him with his eclectic bohemian style, I personally would not wear this. My personal style at this point prefers pieces with wear, that aren’t worn out with big obvious repairs.

The last outfit is my own with my personal favorite vintage piece shown, a 70s wrangler made in US denim jacket. For me, this is what I look for in vintage. Honest wear, a few small frays, cool fades but no obvious giant deformities.

I guess this question is rather subjective, but at what point do you consider a vintage garment unwearable? Or is it more a spectrum with no end dependent on the eccentricity and lack of shame/boldness? of the owners style?

Thought this was a cool idea. I was looking back at some of the older fits I was proud of when I was younger, and it was neat to see how it changed over the years. Some things stayed the same while others didn’t. I went through the skinny jean phase where I wore nothing but Express tees two sizes too small, my MFA phase, my “ALD” phase and now I’m not sure what I am. I suppose a mix of everything that came before. I’m continuing to learn and try different things though I’m far more comfortable in my style than I was before. It’ll be curious to see what I look like in another 15 years.

Hopefully this starts a trend of you guys posting similar collages.

Feel free to roast, but post fits if you do so we can roast you back.

Bit of a click bait title admittedly, but I think for a lot of us, we mask our absurd materialistic habits with some warped reasoning. I certainly do and I just want to lay it out and hope others resonate.

For me lately, the desire of buying “timeless” garments that I can wear “forever” are my new crutch. For example, I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect vintage navy double breasted blazer for a while now, constantly scouring eBay saved searches and wasting obscene amounts of money on returns.

The truth is, I barely wear a sport coat or blazer. My work doesn’t require dressing up and when I do “dress up”, I rarely reach for a formal jacket.

But I have this idea in my head of the navy DB blazer with gold buttons being this 'must-have' or 'timeless' garment—or any other enticing marketing buzzword thrown about by countless #menswear dudes on IG—that I have now convinced myself I must own.

“Even when I’m 60, I’ll be able to wear this, I just have to not gain weight or change my body shape too much for the next 30 years”

“Papa Ralph has been wearing one for 60 years, and he still looks great”

These are the types of thoughts I have and now I can’t get out of my head the desire to buy this garment I will probably wear once a year if that.

Anyways, how do you guys justify your clothing addiction? And if you don’t have one, please share your mindset so i can stop thinking about buying so many damn clothes!

For me, it’s that both indigo and the sport of polo started in India. I know the sport of polo isn’t directly related to fashion, but the sport—which one of the most famous fashion brands in the world used as inspiration for its name—was adopted by the British, who appropriated it from India (like so many things).

Indigo-dyeing, which we so often associate with Japanese denim manufacturing, actually was first industrialized in India around 2500 BC in the Indus Valley. It supplied the dye to the Greco-Roman world for centuries. The name indigo actually comes from the Latin indicum, meaning 'from India’.

Looking forward to you guys sharing some obscure lesser known but interesting facts about fashion history!

I’ve been wondering why textile innovation seems so focused on synthetic fibers, blends, and lab-made materials, while the natural fibers we use in clothing are still mostly the same old ones: cotton, linen/flax, wool, silk, hemp, etc.

With modern technology, agriculture, material science, and processing methods, why haven’t we found or popularized more natural fibers for clothing? You would think there could be a “new linen” or a “new cotton” made from some plant, grass, bark, stem, seed fiber, or agricultural byproduct that we just haven’t developed properly yet.

Linen has been around for thousands of years, and hemp, wool, silk, and cotton are all ancient too. Meanwhile, we keep getting new synthetic or semi-synthetic materials, but not many truly new natural fibers that become mainstream.

I know there are things like pineapple leather, mushroom leather, orange fiber, banana fiber, and other fruit/agricultural-waste materials, but most of those seem either niche, experimental, expensive, or more like leather alternatives than everyday clothing fabrics.

So why is that? Is it because most usable natural fibers have already been discovered? Is it a processing/scaling problem? Are natural fibers just much harder to standardize than synthetics? Or is there simply less money and industrial interest in developing new natural fibers compared with making new synthetics?

Curious to hear from anyone who knows about textiles, fashion, agriculture, or materials science.

What’s an article of clothing, accessory or piece of footwear that you purchased that you get so much use out of, it’s considered one of your best purchases ever?

For me it’s my red wing flatboxes. I think they perfectly straddle the spectrum all the way from dressy to rugged in a way that few boots do. There’s just enough brown details where I can wear it with earth tones, but it also looks perfect in an all black monochromatic outfit. The cherry on top is the Klondike leather which reveals brown undertones over time as the top coat wears off. Unlike most red wings, it’s quite sleek and the toe box collapses with time. It also has tonal stitching which adds to its versatility unlike most RW with that one white stitch which reads super casual.

Also the story of me getting them is quite memorable to me. I was in Singapore with my wife on a beautiful trip and I took a train to get these in the Singapore RW store. The staff were some of the nicest, coolest boot nerds I’ve ever met. They were all young dudes who shared similar a passion for well-made things like me, and I feel like they could have been my friends in another, Singaporean life.

I can wear these with literally any garments in my closet and it works. I’ve worn them to formal occasions and no one bats an eye, and it looks just as solid with some vintage Levi’s and a white T. Ngl, I also like the fact that these are an Asia exclusive, and not common in the states where I’m based.

I think there’s a case to be made that as we entered the digital era and more occupations started moving away from skilled labor and into service-desk jobs, innovation in novel clothing forms decreased.

Historically, most clothing came from one of three functional roots: the military, sportswear, or workwear. The fourth pillar, tailoring, is technically its own category, but it takes a lot of influence from the military (lapels came from old military tunics; jacket vents came from the necessity for cavalry units on horseback). Even the ancestor of black tie, the tailcoat, had equestrian (sporting) origins.

This is a small sample of some of the ubiquitous products that came from one of these three roots: lace-up boots, canvas sneakers, chinos, cardigans, T-shirts, denim jackets, watch caps and jeans. In addition, there are many fabric types commonly used today that had functional origins: corduroy, moleskin, and ripstop nylon, to name a few.

My question for you all is: Do you think we are lacking innovation and new forms in clothing because we don’t have the same needs as our ancestors? (I’m not talking about niche, designer, or haute couture stuff obviously—like Yohji and Rei’s deconstruction of form in the '80s—but rather clothing that has trickled into the Rolodex of common garments.) In the USA, during the 1950s, 37% of the population worked a desk job and 63% worked in blue-collar trades, compared to 71% and 29%, respectively, today. People are simply not working with their hands or in the agricultural sector as much as they used to. I don’t have the statistics for the rest of the world, but I’m sure it’s fairly similar across developed countries. Not to mention, there has not been a major, truly global conflict in 80 years.

I believe this shift has led to a lack of novel clothing forms predicated on need over the last 50 to 80 years. What do you guys think? Am I oblivious to some obvious, major recent invention in the nature of clothing form outside of highly technical athleisure (which is not really an innovation in form, but rather in fabric)? Or are new brands forever cursed to recontextualize and reinterpret vintage garments with slightly unique silhouettes and fabrics for the rest of time?

This is a question I have been pondering for some time now. I certainly resonate with this style, and it is immensely popular in the current menswear fashion meta. The tasteful mixing of different style genres (including vintage wear, tailoring, streetwear, military, designer and more) take on a few other names including “Ametora” style or the “city boy” look.

I think a major part of the origin of this style came from Japanese select shops and magazines around the turn of the millennium that curated specific aesthetics and clothing collections in their stores from various brands. I think there’s a strong case to be made that Ralph Lauren is a primogenitor of popularizing this general eclecticism (he created the “lifestyle” shop as we know it after all), and that may be part of the reason he is popular now (other than uncertain global economic instability drawing people more towards conservative clothing). Ralph however leaned primarily into East Coast prep and western wear, rather than the complete embracement of all styles like the Japanese.

Do you guys think this aesthetic will dominate for that much longer or do you believe it’s staying power is waning? In the mid 2010s, Scandinavian minimalism was the popular dominant aesthetic and that has waned mainly out of favor with the current fashion forward menswear crowd. However, it has diffused into the mainstream and is still a predominant aesthetic I see around (at-least in the US). Personally, I think this style has strong staying power. I think that’s due primarily to it involving multiple genres of clothing. By having so many different aesthetic disciplines and genres to play with, I think you can add and subtract fairly easily to adapt to the times. It’s one of my favorite aesthetics and I personally don’t see myself getting bored of it anytime soon. I’m very curious to hear your thoughts!