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Mmfad
•Created by brandon on 7/1/2024 in #questions-and-advice
Figuring out what you like
This is tricky tho, because fashion is made up of individual garments, and often those garments are not exciting. They're only exciting as a combination, and learning combinations is easier and faster with a bigger buffet table.
I only thrift partly by preference, partly by necessity) and it can be fun to have the creativity challenge forced on you by restriction ('emerald green formal trousers? OK let's work with that')
But it's also frustrating in terms of developing a style, like when a basic cut of jeans simply won't appear for months on end. & within my small budget, I still have a LOT of clothes - many of them mismatched and in need of a final piece to complete the look.
Shopping gets easier when you're filling in gaps; its harder for people in OPs position, and buying widely does speed it up.
I guess that can be some advice: try thrift stores. A good way to experiment with colours and fits and genres without it being a massive commitment, and when you find what's working for you, then invest in serious pieces in the same style.
59 replies
Mmfad
•Created by brandon on 7/1/2024 in #questions-and-advice
Figuring out what you like
Once you find one thing that works for you, you can repeat it a lot. I do a kind of 1970s rock god thing, which sort of came after growing my hair out and having a lot of fun with it at karaoke, so now I actually look at photos for that and look out for accessories to exaggerate it. I've got a Robert Plant style silk jacket & a ridiculous fur coat, I'm looking out for some good heel boots etc.
You build up a lil accessories and options library around one particular look that has worked in the past and now you have a handful of looks.
59 replies
Mmfad
•Created by brandon on 7/1/2024 in #questions-and-advice
Figuring out what you like
I agree with edenede
Think about the kind of person you actually are, then look at how to elevate your look within that subculture.
So if you work in a job with a suit, look at fancy suits. If you're in a manual job, look at fancy workwear-inspired trends.
I always wanted to be a suit guy & it makes me look like an idiot and feel awful. What makes me look and feel good is 'a bit burning man' - not an aesthetic that excites me a great deal - & when I actually look at my life, that's the person who I am (politically, and in terms of lifestyle and social status). Fashion is a communicative language, of course I look dopey in a suit, I'm unemployed and psyched about permaculture 😆
The other thing is learning what silhouette works for you and then repeating it, in different genres. Ie unless you have a neutral body canvas, there's probably a waistline that's best on you and a shoulder proportion that's best on you, and you can do that in a tailored suit and a dressed down jacket etc
59 replies
Mmfad
•Created by Clark'sDesertBot on 7/1/2024 in #topic-of-the-day
Cultural Capital - Topic of the day 7/1/24
& that makes me think about how there's a lot of contexts for men where anti-fashion and being 'badly dressed' is in fact culturally competent.
It's always important not to over-dress for an occasion; but over-dressing is trivial to do given the low level of emphasis on style from most men.
68 replies
Mmfad
•Created by Clark'sDesertBot on 7/1/2024 in #topic-of-the-day
Cultural Capital - Topic of the day 7/1/24
One of the things C. J. Pascoe notes in Dude, You're a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School is that masculine ideals teenagers enforce/aspire to are different based on race.
In particular, black teenage boys see dressing well and dancing well as an important part of being a 'real man' because of role models in music, whereas white teenage boys are more likely to see dressing well and dancing as gay shit (in a derogatory sense)
68 replies