Family Ties - Topic of the day 1/2/24
What impact did your upbringing/family/hometown have on your style? Is there anything you wear because it reminds you of a family member or something you wore as a kid?
16 Replies
Grew up in the part of the US traditionally associated with prep (in fact my home town has a very famous prep school in it, though I did not attend it, I went to public school). While prep is completely divorced from prep students today (similar to ivy), that idea and background led me to integrate it with my style. However pure prep comes across as a little too privileged and reminds me of the worst parts of my home so I try to dress it down consistently. Theres a lot of wanting to piss off the type of people who would expect me to dress pure prep, and I love the contrast with some of my other choices (tattoos, jewelery, my hairstyle).
My family always bought the cheapest everything from Amazon, Costco, Ross, the dollar store etc so now I’m the opposite where I buy things that I care about
relatable Asian family moment 
Similar experience with 5 kids to feed on 1 income. I wasn't deprived or anything, didn't know any different but I struggle with not buying as much shiny shit as I can lay my hands on to this day.
Growing up in the Pnw, gorp has had a big influence on me. I kinda have 3 different styles now: work, outdoor rec, and fashion. trying to use more gorpcore in my style this year, though I also don't want to look like every other guy in the area. A balance for sure
Since joining MFA, I've started realizing I got some weird, confusing ideas about clothing from my parents. On the one hand, I felt like it was bad to care about or spend too much money on clothes, but at the same time, my mom used to sew all her own clothes (before I was born), so clearly knows and cares about them quite a lot.
Also, growing up in Southern California, everyone dresses very casually, but I've always sort of liked dressing up, and I feel like I want to strike a balance. Been trying to perfect the "jeans and blazer" outfit.
I live in a blue collar suburb of Houston where a lot of folks work in refineries and plants and whatnot. I see a lot of country/rugged and the average Joe/Jane style of casual dress. Since discovering dressing stylishly, I don't want to look the others around me. I want to dress for where I am going in life not dress for where I live currently. Of course, I can't dress too well. I don't want that much attention from "interesting" people. Anyway, I choose to dress apart and act the part.
I grew up in the French middle class between medium-sized towns and the countryside. My parents were never too interested in fashion but I am happy recently to have recovered the watch that my father wore during my childhood and which he no longer wears recently.
I grew up in Colorado, so western wear was always around. I never wore it too much till I left the state, and now I like incorporating it as a reminder of my home.
I guess my parents wore the same classic cheapskate Asian stuff with some gorp stuff, for all of my life that I can remember... but the funny thing is, in the days before I came around it sounds like they wore pretty similar stuff to what I wear now, and want to get more into going forward. My mom used to mainly wear mens' shirts and jackets, and shopped for milsurp - she's commented that with a more typical body size for old uniforms and the internet to find stuff I can pull of looks she'd wanted to 😆. And perhaps my answer now to the final form question earlier could have been, dress like my grandparents'/uncles' generations did back in Hong Kong...
I think the only bit really is wearing a bunch of milsurp/militaria because most of my family ended up in UK military (and that shit is unmatched price to sturdiness when you're poor)
also repairing your shit being a big thing
growing up my dad worked a blue-collar job and my mom, while not being from money, took style cues from prep-adjacent people/brands, so reading on MFA "you can just combine workwear and ivy/prep to dress it down" was kind of like discovering at 30-something that you could combine peanut butter and chocolate
I wouldn't say that I wear stuff that reminds me of particular family members, although I have wanted a red lacoste sweater for a long time as my grandfather always wore one
Growing up, both my parents were pretty adamant that you always had to look “nice” when you were out in public, which meant preppy. I hated prep or anything remotely like it for my whole childhood and would often dress in skate clothes, workwear, or westernwear the few times I had my own choice. I did a lot of outdoor sports so I ended up wearing gorpy shit too but as a matter of necessity, not fashion. When I became an adult, I started dressing like a hipster. Now, I try to incorporate all of these influences, including prep to a varying degree of success.
I went to the pub with my dad yesterday who was wearing some Patagonia double knees and salomon shoes with a fair isle sweater. Which is roughly what he's worn for the last 30 years. On reflection, explains a lot.
Daddy Chopper got swag. Generational Drip, I see
Second Gen Rizzler, you love to see it