Drake’s at Home
https://imgur.com/a/nLb5GyI
This write up became kind of long, so feel free to skim.
Background
This project started because someone shared the ball cap, brown chore coat, uni stripe ocbd, white denim look from Drake’s 2024 Perennials and I thought that I could easily put that together. After having some fun with that, I started looking back at other Drake’s images I had saved, and began to think about how many of these outfits I could replicate. I have liked Drake’s styling for a very long time, probably since someone shared the Shetlands in Ireland lookbook from 2017 on MFA, but I don’t own any pieces, primarily for budgetary reasons. I also didn’t buy anything new for this, although it did help that I had grabbed some new scarves and more fun coloured toques over the course of this winter.
Learnings from the project.
I had recently done a wardrobe reassessment and returned to taking regular fit-pics, and one of the main takeaways was to push my use of colour. I think Drake’s uses solid (often primary) colours really well, and taking these as an exemplar helped me incorporate more. Another styling reflection is how well they amp up simple outfits, and tone down more formal outfits. Taking a more basic outfit and adding a scarf, a colourful hat, a sweater around the waist or over the shoulder pulls many of their looks together (although I sometimes discarded the additional accessories in actually wearing the fits). In contrast, taking a more formal outfit and adding a ball cap, toque, or swapping out a couple of the pieces makes it feel more accessible. I own many ties that I basically never wore, but this project made it feel doable and fun. It also pushed me past the point of just looking at an inspiring image, into actually thinking more clearly about what makes it work, and how to apply it into my wardrobe. The next step of course is to keep that lesson, but make it less tied to re-creation and more to general inspiration.
11 Replies
Pieces
The thing that I am missing in my wardrobe (besides more colour) is tailoring. The only blazers or suits I have are old and do not have the fit and feel I would like. I also want another pair of loafers (probably black), big khakis, a better olive chore (jungle jacket style) and lighter wash straight denim. I did end up using most pieces from my wardrobe in this project, and it showed me that lots of different pieces can fit in this context, it just depends on styling. I really like how they use chore jackets as tailoring, and I had a lot of fun with that. Drake’s also uses a chukka boot very often, and this also made me rediscover the suede chukkas I have, and enjoy wearing them again. They rarely use sneakers, but I snuck (no pun intended) them into a few fits because I own a number of pairs.
Favourites and least favourites
To my surprise, I had some of the most fun in wearing and putting together the outfits with ties. The navy chore, burgundy tie, jeans outfit I really liked, as well as the olive chore, stripe tie outfit. I really like the corduroy chore jacket that I use a bunch here, so I ended up liking every outfit with that a lot as well, and the same goes for the big balmacaan. I didn’t really dislike any of these. Some of the more basic outfits feel a little less inspired, and the navy cardigan outfit looks a little funny because those cords don’t have belt loops but need a belt (I don’t tuck into them normally for this reason).
Overall, I did not think I would do 25 outfits when I put that first one together, but I thought it taught me a lot about styling, the posing was fun, and it let me rediscover some things I own but don’t wear. Sorry this writeup became so long, thanks for reading!
I'm going to remember this post when I'm talking to people who don't like to look at clothing they can't afford. Looks are totally obtainable on a budget if you're willing to put in the work and watching your posts have reminded me that the most fun I had with fashion was when I couldn't buy my way to a look. It made the win that much sweeter!
Thanks for sharing and taking the time to write about your experience and bringing us along for your journey my dude.
I've already mentioned how much I loved this series of pics and this was a good read too! Looks like you had a ton of fun with this experiment and I think it's cool that you got to learn so much about your tastes and your wardrobe from it as well.
Thank you so much! That’s definitely me, as someone who is obsessed with prestigious brands look-books but can only buy from them very rarely!
Thanks so much!!
I love the project and the write-up! It's inspiring to see you dive so deeply and successfully into this. It definitely has me thinking of how I can better pull from my inspiration using the pieces I already have
this was unserious in the best possible way 👍 as someone who isn't personally the biggest fan of drake's brand of insouciance (given that their fits cost more than my rent) i appreciated the way you were able to put their aesthetic into real life in a way that didn't feel put upon or forced
whether intended or not, it kinda feels like you found a throughline of 'rugged drakes' as an aesthetic through some of the substitutions made - mocs or boots instead of loafers, heavier weighted knits - which might inform some of your pickups
Thanks so much, great points!
That means a lot, thanks!
I enjoyed seeing these! And am super impressed with how long you stuck with it! Good job!
Thanks!
really inspiring saved the thread and will look trough it soon. btw your dog is adoreable
I really like what you've done here! I'll definitely be revisiting your album again. I think if you want more tailoring, Spier & Mackay is the way to go. No one else has quite the bang-for-buck and variety. I think it's also pretty clear that they're very influenced by Drake's.