Tag Archives: member focus

Member Focus: Roycru

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Styleforum, meet the legendary Roycru. He’s well-known in the Classic Menswear WAYWT thread for his classic American style that has remained largely unchanged since the 60’s, as well as for his photos of trains. Here, he talks about receiving compliments, and about his own enduring style.

We have all received compliments on what we are wearing from totally random people on the street. People often say things like “nice vintage clothes” to me. I always thank them and then mention the clothes I am wearing were new when I got them.

I am still wearing clothes I got at Brooks Brothers in the sixties and seventies. The only alterations that have been needed were shortening the trousers two inches as my discs degenerated and patching some holes in the linings and a few other places.

A good example is the brown herringbone tweed suit I got at the Brooks Brothers store on Post and Grant in San Francisco in the fall of 1965 when I was working for the Santa Fe Railway in San Francisco.

The first picture was taken in a photo booth in 1965 shortly after I got the suit. At that time, I usually wore the suit with a yellow OCBD shirt and a green challis tie as in this picture.

The second picture was taken on the train in February 1969 during one of the the two times I tried to grow a mustache. Both times it ended up the same way, getting partly shaved off while I was shaving on the train and the train hit a low rail joint at high speed so I had to shave the rest of it off.

The third picture was taken buying a Dundee Cake in December 2012 before I had the trousers shortened two inches. (Yes, I am wearing a Gryffindor tie). The fourth picture was taken getting on a train in December 2016.

member focus roycru styleforum

The picture above is a recent picture of the hat I wore with this suit the sixties. At the time I had two hats (both of which I still have). One was the Brooks Brothers University Shop grey hat in this picture I got in 1962. Stetson has recently made a very similar hat which they call “Ivy League.”

Below is the straw hat I got at Brooks Brothers in 1965. This picture was taken in August 2013. I am wearing a blue blazer I got at Brooks Brothers in that wonderful pre-“Official Preppy Handbook” era when no one imagined polyester was evil. The OPH ruined everything after 1980 because some people didn’t know it was a humor book and thought it was a fashion book, an error nearly as serious as not knowing “To Serve Man” was a cookbook.

member focus roycru styleforum

Finally, here is a page from a Brooks Brothers catalog showing this same blazer:

member focus roycru styleforum

The modern wonder of the internet (particularly groups like Styleforum) lets us see what people all over the world are wearing. I like seeing what other people are wearing and also seeing (in some people’s pictures) what it looks like in other places. The modern wonder of the internet also lets people easily share knowledge. I have found vast amounts of useful information on Styleforum.

The large number of people who post on Styleforum although English is not their first language is particularly impressive to me.

Styleforum is my favorite online men’s style group.

Member Focus: Stanley van Buren

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One of the more (in)famous Styleforum posters, Stanley van Buren is perhaps best-known for his over-the-top photography and dedication to the true art of the Styleforum WAYWT photo. Inspirations for his pictures have ranged from film noir to B-Movie action flicks, and in all cases, he and his wife have made a strong argument for both the usefulness of WAYWT and for the plumbing of its artistic depths. We asked him to talk a little bit about himself – which he did, grudgingly.

 

“Lookin like u jus smoked a blunt n ****** a **** up da **** while watchin Gone Wit Da Wind *** ****” –tcwalter07

Do you remember thumb comments? I remember thumb comments. The above quote was one that I received from the most well-known thumb commenter, tcwalter07, who may also be one of the best success stories of Styleforum’s streetwear & denim forum (though that came later). That quote was printed out and framed along with the photo it was referencing and the whole thing was given to me as a gift at Christmas in front of my family. There was some censoring of a couple letters here and there, and yet I’m pretty sure my parents were still able to work out what the words were. Hopefully it’s reproduced in all its glory here, since Jasper [Styleforum’s editor] specifically told me “No restrictions on content or anything,” words which I was intent on making him regret and so here we are.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, a few years ago, Styleforum switched platforms and the new software had, for the first time, a ratings system for individual posts. One could give a post a “thumbs up” and then the post would show a count of the number of “thumbs” received. Similar to likes on any other social platform, but there was one wrinkle: before the “thumb” was submitted, there was a mandatory field that popped up asking for a comment to be added. There was a character limit, so the message had to be short, and it was possible to leave no comment at all but the option was always presented. For whatever reason, the members of the streetwear & denim forum were light years ahead in taking advantage of this feature. And, in particular, there was tcwalter07.

Around that time, I had a new girlfriend. She is now my wife. For a span of maybe 6 months to a year, we spent a considerable amount of effort to post photos almost entirely just to see what kind of comments we got in the thumbs section (and of course, in particular from tcwalter07). There was also Miran, but that’s another story. Yes, I was already into clothes. Yes, she was already into photography. But now we had found a way to combine the two interests and get some great entertainment out of the feedback from the forum. Shooting photos for styleforum was something we bonded over and had an absolute blast doing, and still do to this day.

It helped that I had already started to establish myself on the forums around that time. I had made the sensible decision, as any member of my generation would do when faced with a desire to gain some sense of style; I had subjected myself to trolls on the internet and let them ridicule me until by process of elimination I had arrived at a respectable wardrobe. I began the transition from a law student in baggy suits to some kind of respectable attorney, or at least, one whose clothes fit. So using that, and whatever else we could get our hands on, we told stories. Stories that involved plaid pants and vintage Fiats and explosions (I was specifically told to talk about the explosions). We took weekend trips out to Palm Springs or up the 395 and would always try to fit in a quick photo shoot if one of us had a good idea (which was and still usually is her).

At some point the “thumb comment” feature was turned off. There were several of us who were quite upset. Dozens, even. Then, everyone got used to being able to thumb a post in one click instead of two, so when, years later, the feature was brought back, most saw it as an inconvenient and unnecessary second click, and few took advantage of the option to leave a comment at that point. Few remembered how thumb comments had been used as an art form in the past. But my wife and me? We’re coming up on five years of marriage this December. We remember thumb comments.

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Member Focus: Mossrockss

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Styleforum member @mossrockss is probably best-known for always looking good in a blazer in jeans. He exists in the very nonchalant space between East Coast Ivy and Neapolitan tailoring, and is as popular on Styleforum for being A Very Nice Guy as he is for his well-considered outfits. Here, he talks about the three pillars of his personal style, and what took him to where he is now.

The Three Pillars of My Style

The first pillar is advice I read in 2007 or 8 in Glenn O’Brien’s Style Guy column in GQ. A reader had asked whether he should wear his trench coat in his car—will it cause undue wear and tear? What does Glenn O’Brien do? Glenn memorably replied that he generally let his car’s highly engineered climate control do its job, but as to whether the reader should be concerned about wear and tear, he replied, “Don’t worry about your coat, it was made for the trenches.”

Wear your clothes. This is foundational to me because I can’t afford to buy and own things I don’t actually wear. I recently posted a picture of myself holding a baby sea turtle on the beach in Mexico, about to release it into the bay, wearing a white Eidos polo. Someone told me, “that shirt is much too nice to be wearing on the beach!”

Forget that. Clothes are meant to be worn. Wear them.

The second pillar is a feeling I had shortly after starting to wear tailored clothes, around 2012 or 2013. I thought something along the lines of “I just want a blazer I can wear dressed down, with jeans and stuff.” I wanted to dress well, in tailored jackets because they make me look better, but without coming across as fussy. The reason I felt like my jackets looked out of place – too “dressed up,” too “put on,” that they were “trying too hard” – was shoulder padding. I had bought a Brooks Brothers navy blazer in the “Regent” cut and tried to dress it down, but I always felt self-conscious wearing it casually. It was those shoulder pads! I saw pic after pic of the knocked-down, natural, pad-free (but not necessarily wadding-free!) Neapolitan style from @whnay, @voxsartoria, @maomao, and others, and I knew that’s what I wanted.

This is why every sportcoat in my wardrobe is now Eidos—soft-shouldered, slightly casual, Neapolitan in heritage, at a price point I can swallow – in textured, unique, fantastic fabrics. And of course it is paramount that the fit on me is perfect like lamb and tuna fish (what, you prefer “spaghetti and meatball?”). I was lucky to get on the Eidos train before it became more about Indian pajamas or whatever, but the key here is the fit and fabric, not the brand (and thankfully, Antonio – @NickPollica – still throws us tailoring fans a bone).

The third pillar is the very simple economics 101 principle of opportunity cost, which was somehow baked into my DNA from birth: When I was a kid and my family would go out to eat somewhere nice, I’d ask my parents if I could choose something on the menu, but get McDonald’s dollar menu food instead, and then they could give me the cost difference in cash (to save up and buy Metal Gear Solid or Tomb Raider II or whatever).

When I first got into clothing, I was a college student on the cusp of graduating and getting married within 4 months. Then I was a poor married guy with no full-time job for about a year. Then I got a modest-paying job while she pursued her dream of running a photography business where all the profits were reinvested in the business. Today I’m in the same modest-paying job, but with a house and its attendant costs. In other words, I’ve never been in a position to drop loads of money on clothing.

My style journey has been the opposite of so many a Styleforum newbie, who discovers he loves clothing, then goes on a ridiculous buying spree dropping thousands before realizing two-thirds to three-quarters of what he’s bought doesn’t fit him, doesn’t suit him, doesn’t work in his life’s circumstances, looks ridiculous on him, and was ultimately a waste of his money. Yes, I have made dumb buys, but thankfully every ill-considered purchase I’ve made has been a second-hand eBay (or B&S) purchase.

Given these three pillars, and since I love tailored clothing but am not a suit guy (don’t need to wear one that often), my wardrobe looks like this:

  • three fall/winter sportcoats (one in dark emerald green, one in brown donegal tweed, one in navy small-herringbone faux-donegal)
  • two spring/summer sportcoats with a third coming soon (one in navy, one in dark chocolate brown with matching suit pants, one in tan)
  • one navy suit in a year-round standard suit fabric that I’ll upgrade at some point.

My shirts and pants collection is a hodgepodge of brands, mostly inexpensive, because opportunity cost (a nice, say, G. Inglese shirt is $300; I’ve gotten some of my Eidos jackets for just over double that. Explain that to me). And shoe-wise, I rotate between four pairs of shoes (snuff suede penny loafers, snuff suede chukkas, tan suede jodhpurs and brown calf double-monks; I’m looking to add some light brown suede tassel loafers to the mix) when I’m not wearing my beat-to-death Sperry canoe mocs.

So, when people tell me “You do the sportcoat and jeans look so well, how do you do it?!,” hopefully this will give you some clues. I’ve spent nearly a decade ruthlessly pursuing my style, figuring out what I feel comfortable in, what makes sense for my life’s circumstances and that I like the way I look in, then trimming away everything that doesn’t get me there. Here’s where I am now:

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Member Focus: Man of Kent

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For a long time, Man of Kent has been featured on the banner for Streetwear & Denim, which should give you a sense of how diverse that particular subforum can be. While these days he mostly wears a blend of workwear pieces from different parts of the globe, he had his beginnings in Classic Menswear, and hasn’t forgotten where he came from. 

man of kent styleforum

I joined Styleforum in my mid 30’s and almost a decade on I’m still here. Initially, I was exclusively on the Classic Menswear side of the forum (or Men’s Clothing, as it was called) and picked up some good advice and interesting viewpoints from other members. Over the years, I probably raised my game when it came to dressing for work and it was interesting seeing regional differences in what was considered ‘conservative dress’. I still spend some time lurking on that side of the forum even though I only post there with great infrequency.

Then somehow, I wandered across the rather artificial divide to Streetwear & Denim. I confess my preconceptions were baseball caps and heavily logo’d sportswear worn with oversize trainers. Much to my surprise, I loved the diversity of looks I found there.

My first steps were fairly safe. I’m a middle-aged Brit who lives in a semi-rural part of the UK; market-town rather than big city dweller. I was comfortable in a Barbour with jeans; I didn’t stand out from the crowd. However, there comes a time when you realise that dressing safely isn’t really fun. I moved onto designers who were producing British Heritage based pieces: Nigel Cabourn, Oliver Spencer, the short-lived Heritage Research, the supposedly re-launching Cro-Jack, and so forth. I still wear much of what I bought from that period, but my head was being increasingly turned by slightly bolder takes on workwear, and I fell in love with Engineered Garments. From Engineered Garments, it is only a small step to Needles then other Japanese brands. Kapital quickly beckoned, along with the odd Blue Blue and Post Overalls piece, getting bolder and bolder in my choices. Some of the appeal of the Japanese designers is their age inclusivity; a browse through any Kapital catalogue (somehow I’ve accumulated a few) shows older guys wearing the same pieces as younger guys. European fashion seems much more focused on specific age groups.


I’ve dabbled with some of the European designers. I’ve dabbled in lots of directions; a bit of Marni here, a little Dries Van Noten there, a few bits from Maison Martin Margiela. I’ve played with French workwear, Scandinavian simplicity, and gone back to England with Margaret Howell. I own a few bits of Yohji Yamamoto, and if finances permitted, could easily be persuaded to further explore that direction.


I’ve ended up with a veritable dress-up box of different styles and designers. Maybe I should have been more selective about directions taken, but for me that would take the fun out of clothing. I want to be able to dress to different moods. I like experimentation. I dress for myself rather than other people. Yes, at work, I’m pretty conservative, generally in suit and tie or at least a sports coat and flannels. Of a weekend I can wear what I feel like wearing. Do I worry what other people think? Not really, I get the odd comment, mainly positive and occasionally negative, but I think if you wear clothes with confidence most people don’t really notice what you’re wearing, and even fewer care what other people wear.

I don’t know where I’m going in the future. I’m might be inspired by one of the many great posters on Styleforum to try a new direction. The wardrobe is large enough that I don’t really need more clothes. I’ve started dabbling with denim more, and to my great surprise recently found I liked some sportswear – not a direction I’d ever have considered a few years back. I’m buying less clothes than I was as other interests divert funds: photography, fountain pens, gardening and whatever piques my interest next, but I’ll continue acting like a big kid with a dress-up box.

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Member Focus: Cotton Dockers

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Another across-the-board Styleforum participant, @Cotton Dockers regularly shares outfits that run the spectrum from CM to SW&D and everything in between. His style is relaxed but put together, and he’s come up with a look that’s both consistent and all his own.

Having a longtime interest in clothing never stopped me from consistently buying garbage. I remember a velvet blazer was heavily involved. A lot of “going out” shirts.  I did buy Iverson’s first iteration of “The Question,” and I stand behind that.

When I got to Styleforum, I spent most of my time in the thrifting thread. That place is chock full of knowledge and all the dudes on there are incredibly helpful. Thrifting is a great way to work toward finding your personal style. It doesn’t mean you won’t waste money on making terrible mistakes, it’s just that they won’t be quite as costly.

After noticing some fellow SFers on Tumblr, I decided I wanted to try and move beyond #menswear so I mustered up the courage to post on the HOF: WAYWRN board. I don’t remember my first post, but I cannot imagine many thumbs were farmed.

I’m a pretty simple guy when it comes to CM wear: blue blazers, knit ties, suede shoes, etc. but even that was really too much for my office. Working in-house for an entertainment company, I wanted to find something that worked more for my day-to-day needs, something without grenadine ties but without resorting to the blue gingham shirt (TM).

With the help of @KenP and others, and sites like PutThisOn, I started to get into Engineered Garments, along with sister brands like TS(S), Needles and Orslow. I began to take pieces I liked from their collections and integrate them into my business wardrobe, posting the results on the WAYWRN: CM Casual thread.

That thread gets a lot of shit, but the quality in the last few years has increased immensely. Posters like EFV, Gerry Nelson and Urban Composition are excellent examples of ways to dress for a business casual environment without looking like a typical office drone or try-hard peacock.  My standard uniform these days is an OCBD, rumpled EG fatigues, a pair of chunky shoes and some type of casual jacket (so not far from this).

A few years back, after PMing with recent SWD convert InStitches, I began to check out the other side of the forum. I loved that some of the best SWD outfits were like pieces of art, I didn’t always understand them, but I appreciated them for what they were. I looked to posters like Shoreman, Prurient and ManofKent for inspiration. I liked that they took pretty classic styles, but updated them with unique cuts, patterns and textures.

These days I try and take styles I like (and what I think I can actually pull off), and meld it with what I do each day and my environment. Living in a beach community where anything more than a t-shirt and slappers is considered dressed up, I wear a lot of flowy pants, lightweight cotton jackets (a ripstop EG bedford is my go-to) and, of course, Vans. Although I try and experiment (I’ve been wearing a lot more black than I ever did in my CM days), and I learn more each day, I’ve found a style that works for me and my lifestyle.

Member Focus: SprezzaTrash on Embracing Vintage Style

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SprezzaTrash is a relatively recent newcomer to Styleforum. Even so, he’s proven to have a style and sensibility that fits right in with Styleforum’s emphasis on (or obsessiveness with) details. In his particular case, inspiration comes from a wide variety of sources – here, he talks about what drew him to vintage clothing, and the enduring charm of styles long-past .

I didn’t get into “fashion” until about 5 years ago. Even then, I dressed as the poster child for #menswear, wearing floral shirts and skinny suits and ties.  However, whether it was from reading Tintin as a child, or from watching the inaccurately-costumed Great Gatsby movie of 2013, I felt as though vintage style was my true calling – and, through a chance Facebook meeting, I began to make contacts and friends in the vintage community.

Eventually, I began actually purchasing  garments that looked like what I had only seen in images and illustrations. It was so different than what I saw on Tumblr or Instagram.  The basic details of my new purchases were all there: the wide lapels, the high rise, the “correct” double breasted configuration.  

I was only a student (still am), so I purchased as many full suits and tie lots from all eras as I possibly could.  I still have a modest true vintage (my term for 1920-1940s) collection, but I made do with what I had to create as many outfits as possible.  As I went to more vintage events and talked with more people, I learned a lot about what made true, Golden Era style.  None of it involced the clip-on suspenders, wacky bowties, or tweed jackets that everyone touted as “vintage” (or dapper) style.  I began to see the real, specific details: the drape cut, the horizontal peaks, spearpoint collars and collar bars,  the wide lapels with  blunted edges and low notch, “exploding pocket squares;” I saw that tie prints differed from each era, and that many men used advanced pattern mixing within one outfit.  Eventually I decided that I didn’t want to buy vintage for the sake of buying vintage.  This meant no more low buttoning 1950’s suits and no crazy swing ties from the late 1940’s. No, I wanted to dress in the 30’s.

member focus sprezzatrash styleforum

By the time I started posting regularly on social media, I was torn between my two sides: my desire to remain modern and my love of vintage clothing.  The main thing holding me back was how rare and pricey vintage clothing was.  Even though I obtained most pieces “on the cheap”, I couldn’t bring myself to wear these nearly-100 year old garments everyday. It also didn’t look right; I liked the aesthetic but I was still conscious of wearing an “old” look in the modern day. It wasn’t until I discovered the guys from The Armoury, Drake’s, and Bryceland’s that I learned that it was definitely possible to dress with 1930’s vibes while wearing modern clothing!  They had the wide lapels, the foulards and print ties that I loved, and the striped shirts.

Obviously, I don’t have enough money to go with bespoke or high end RTW, so I made some concessions.  I started to thrift and find 60s-90s clothing that still had the wide lapels, half-lined jackets, and high rise that I was looking for. Soon, I began to retire my super slim, low rise fast fashion pieces, and started to thrift exclusively; my keen eye for detail has helped me come across some great pieces at extremely low prices. Thanks to developing a close relationship with two different tailors, I was able make my finds wearable and similar to modern tailors’ work.  I mix eras all the time, but I think my style still comes across as “old school” due to simple styling; particularly in the ties I choose to wear, as certain tie prints and designs are incredibly specific to various eras.

I’ve now become comfortable and confident in my style.  Even if I’m not always wearing true vintage, I’m able to have the vibes and aesthetic that I like.  If you compare me to my two original sources of inspiration, I’m much too modern (in terms of fit) to be vintage and too vintage to be modern (in terms of style).  As a friend has told me, I dress “like a man from 1938 came to the modern day and spent his life thrifting.”  That said, sometimes I do a modern interpretation of a 30’s outfit or I do a vintage version of what I see on the Armoury.  It really proves that nothing is new under the sun.  I’ve even recently “discovered” ivy style, and it’s dominated my non-suited looks for the past 6 months.

Many people have misconceptions of what vintage style is and often get it wrong; no one back then dressed in zoot suits or like what you see in Goodfellas.  I think that’s what drove me to start a blog – I definitely want to prove that people can dress with vintage vibes in the modern era – you just have to study carefully and have a good eye for detail.  There are plenty of nuances that come from each distinct decade, and pulling what you like from each one with careful accuracy is important if you want to develop a vintage style and pull it off well.

You can follow Ethan’s vintage adventures both on his blog, and on Instagram at @ethanmwong.

 

Member Focus: Gerry Nelson

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Meet Gerry Nelson, a Styleforum member who routinely posts in both the Classic Menswear and Streetwear and Denim subfora. Gerry has a great eye for color, texture and fit, and in this week’s member focus he tells us about how he honed in on a style that’s versatile, eye-catching, and always well put-together.

My journey began half a lifetime ago in England. Up until then, I didn’t have much of an interest in menswear. Hanging out with a group of people who were into designer clothing got me interested in clothing by Giorgio Armani. This, in turn, gave me a love of interesting textures and soft tailoring…I then proceeded to gain a bunch of weight and consequently lost interest in menswear over the next two decades until I decided to get things back on track.

After getting back in shape around 2011- 2012, the first thing I did was to start looking out for resources on how to dress better which led me to StyleForum and Put This On. The latter has a wonderful list of items for an essential wardrobe. It was fantastic – there it was, all laid out for me in a list and all I had to do was to acquire the pieces, one by one. Of course, things are never that straightforward, but more on that later…

From Styleforum I got a love for English men’s shoes, combined with an itch to polish them to a high shine. The members were helpful but what really got me going was when a good friend of mine, Christian Kimber, sat me down and showed me how it was done. Of my most memorable moments was when I finally got it! I figured out that:

  1. Most men pay more attention to the clothes than the shoes
  2. If the clothes fit well, you didn’t necessarily need to spend a lot of money
  3. A nice, well-polished pair of shoes stands out for all the right reasons

So that’s where I started.

I, of course, took it further and decided I needed a mixture of styles to cover any occasion from tramping in the woods to a black tie dinner! So, I ended up with black, brown and burgundy oxfords, derbies, monkstraps, boots and loafers in shell, calf and suede. Most of these were bought second-hand, and naturally, mistakes were made along the way. Fortunately, I was able to resell the pairs that did not fit properly and ended up with a collection that I am extremely happy with (but there will always be another pair out there to tempt me!).

Similarly, with suits, I got the standards – a navy and a mid-grey single-breasted suit and then branched out into a lighter blue, a charcoal, a grey flannel, brown linen, a green Donegal tweed and finally, a dinner suit.

Regrets? I had a few – I bought a Chester Barrie suit off eBay because of the name and because it was made in Savile Row. I thought it was awesome but didn’t realise how out of date it looked – always ask yourself if you would buy something if there was no label. I’ve bought trousers based on the waist measurement and found that they fit more like skinny jeans or were way too baggy – pay attention to ALL the measurements. Think about where any potential purchases would fit in your wardrobe before you buy something. In some cases, I didn’t and things either had to be sold or donated (yes, I’m looking at YOU, seven-fold teal satin tie!).

I prefer textures to patterns and that’s how my Classic Menswear style developed.

There came a point, however, where I felt that I had a handle on the more formal side of things but had no idea how to dress outside of that. I wanted a style that incorporated classical elements but was something I would wear while going out on weekends, i.e. not a jacket and tie. This search eventually took me to Japanese workwear and the love of the looser, flowing fit. I still love textures and indigo-dyed sashiko and boro fabric have got my attention these days. I’m as likely to be at work in an untucked button-down collar shirt, fatigue pants and work jacket as I am in a suit, tie and pocket square. One of the great things about where I work is that there is no specific dress code.

I’ve built up a great wardrobe over time and it’s time once more to sift through and get rid of the pieces that no longer fit in with what I wear these days. It’s a good exercise when you feel you’ve accumulated too many clothes. There is no such thing as the perfect wardrobe but the best wardrobe for now is one that is constantly edited – with additions and removals – which keeps it exciting.

A great thing about Melbourne is that we get all four seasons and the weather doesn’t necessarily stick to a schedule – I’ve worn lightweight tweed on cold spring days and linen on warm autumn days. The colder weather also affords me the opportunity to layer my clothing and that opens up a lot of options in terms of colours, textures and accessories like scarves (cotton, wool-silk, lambswool and cashmere) and gloves (cashmere, calf leather and peccary). I often wake up excited about the sartorial possibilities the day promises.

It’s been a long process of experimentation that is still going on. Along the way, I’ve been influenced by many different people and made some great friends. The one thing they all have in common is that they primarily wear clothes that I would be very comfortable wearing, so it’s very easy to draw inspiration. Some of the people and brands I get my inspiration from:

For casualwear, I draw a lot of inspiration from Engineered Garments, Blue Blue Japan and Kapital for their workwear-inspired pieces, indigo dye and sashiko – what is there not to love?

Find your inspiration and I wish you all the very best on your journey. If you want to talk more about menswear and the journey, I would love to hear from you!

 

Member Focus: Anden

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Anden, who has graciously agreed to be the first “Member Focus” of 2017,  is a classic menswear poster who manages to bring a youthful slant to a world of men accused of dressing like grandpas. Of course, in his mind, that’s no bad thing.

I have always been interested in clothes, and I remember my grandfather always being well dressed – even when taking me to the playground. How I have dressed in the past has been a matter of context, so I haven’t always worn a coat and tie (even though I always loved my wine DB jacket from Givenchy – my 90’s Christmas jacket). 

My employment for the last decade as a lawyer led me into the world of classic menswear. I work in a mid-sized firm and I have the freedom to dress as I like most days. There are days where the dark worsted suit, white shirt, and black shoes together with a soporific tie is the only available option, but the rest of the time I can dress in a variety of formal suits and less formal sport coat and odd trouser combos. 

When I started working in the firm I got me a new blue suit. Having no real clue, I ended up with one that was too large all over and I wore it with an ugly pair of black shoes from Lloyds. Those shoes and the bad fit of the suit were’nt the worst part… I spent a summer in Chicago prior to graduation, and while there I picked up a pink tie from the Trump collection. I was so proud of this splash of color that I wore it a lot. When writing this I tried to find it, but it seems to have gone missing in my latest move.

What a pity.

When I was in law school I purchased a pair of cognac chukkas from PRL (the lower grade stuff) that I wore extensively for roughly a decade. They developed a great patina, and I decided to get something similar but in black. This was my first contact with Styleforum – researching which model from RM Williams to buy. After this purchase I decided to get a better dress shoe, and influenced by the current #menswear trends at the time I went for a double monk from Crockett & Jones. This pair has seen a lot wear, and is among my most comfortable shoes. This was in 2010-2011, which is when I feel my sartorial journey started, and without SF I wouldn’t have been able to acquire all the knowledge. Posting in the WAYWRN thread is the best way to get honest feedback on your fits. 

After some purchases that I regretted, I decided to make a list of what I would like to have in my wardrobe, and my wardrobe-building started. I spent a lot of time looking for a perfect navy jacket, which I think is one of the first items to get. Well – I thought I got the perfect jacket but that has been revised since – and now I am in a place where I have almost everything on my initial list (and quite a lot more items too…). 

What defines my style? I wear sports coats with an OCBD, wool or cashmere tie and flannel trousers almost every day during autumn, winter and early spring – and very rarely without a vest in wool or cashmere. I get to hear that I dress like an old man, and to me that is a compliment. I have done my experimenting and I know what I like and feel comfortable to wear. 

I will be going to Pitti Uomo in a couple of weeks as a correspondent for SF so you will hear more from me soon. I’m looking forward to meeting those of you who will be going too. 

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You can find Anden on Instagram at @flannels_and_tweed 

Member Focus: Urban Composition

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By now, you’re probably familiar with Journal contributor Peter Zottolo, otherwise known as Urban Composition, whose expertise in the realm of classic menswear is second to none – although we’re sure he’d claim otherwise. Here, he talks a little bit about his past, his interests, and the birth of his own style.

Fortunately there don’t exist too many pictures of me in coat and tie as a teenager, otherwise I’d have to worry about blackmail.

It’s around that age that parents allow their children some autonomy in their choice of clothes, and the blame shifts squarely on the one who doesn’t know any better.  This is probably when parents begin to have fun with their kids, because the ridiculousness that children inevitably dress themselves in is not only entertaining, but responsibility can easily be waved away with a shrug: “Well, you know…I let them pick their own clothes, and there you go.”

When I was 13 I wanted a leather tie.  I already had the triple-pleated pants in that speckly/slubby fabric so popular in the 80s, the skinny suspenders, and a pair of black faux-alligator shoes with pointed, metal-accented toes. Shirt collars were impossibly small – at least one had a contrast collar – and all of my ties that weren’t solid knit had an iridescent sheen.  Sleeves were always rolled up.  In short, I probably looked like the unwanted, illegitimate son of Gordon Gekko and Duckie Dale, but so did all the other kids in the hall, except the ones that were still young enough not to care and so wore our old hand-me-downs of when our parents still dressed us in washable polyester suits.  Finally, after much pleading, my parents partially conceded me a small victory and allowed me a leather bolo tie, which I totally rocked for about six months straight, before it fell apart.

A few years later I really got into vintage clothing, specifically from the late 30’s and 40’s. Any earlier and you could get some obnoxious triple-colored stripe; any later and you’d hazard the atomic era with its shiny Dacron flecks.  For some reason, this 15-year period that happened two generations before my time resonated with me in the early 90s – different yet unimpeachably classic.  Old geezers and young chicks thought you were cool.  Grandpa dug it; the Bettys loved it.  Who wouldn’t want that?

Turns out the late 90’s revolted against the oversized trends that preceded it, so I sold my beloved Hollywood suits and exchanged them for Mod-era sharkskin to keep apace.  By this time I was married and fortunate enough to have a wife with common sense where I lacked.  “That hugs your butt too much,” I would often hear, and I was wise enough to listen.  Even now, when I see the throngs of well-meaning dudes that strive for the perfect fit and err on the side of sausage-cases and yoga pants, I wonder if they are as blessed as I (or are too obtuse to mind).

By the time I entered my 30’s I had experimented with the Ivy look (the more plaid, matte, chino’d version of Mod) and after acquiring what I estimated were the best vintage suits of the 60’s and their accompanying winklepickers, I wondered about the origins of square-toed shoes.  My online search led me to StyleForum, and before long I was suddenly entranced by stories and pictures of hand-wrought suits made with cloth woven from ancient looms in plaids only available in archived books tucked away in dusty rooms.  Users paraded their fully-canvassed good-taste bespoke suits, seven fold soporific ties, and hand-rolled ancient madder pocket squares from London, Naples, and Thailand (!), and I was hooked.  Suit and tie went from being a haphazard mishmash or decade-specific cosplay to a classically-based idea of proportion, fabric, color, season, and formality.  Clarity ensued.

I would be remiss to dismiss the knowledge of the old guard, such as Vox, Manton, RSS, Doc Holliday, and others that I am too lazy to remember, but if it wasn’t for them and the forum’s knack for attracting both the pedantic and the visceral, I would not be returning as I do.  Whereas there will always be throngs ready to ride the next trend – slim or roomy, tight or cartoony – personally I have benefitted from those who steadfastly bear the torch of classic menswear, as did many before them.

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Member Focus: Staying Classic with Andy57

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Today, we say hello to another member known for keeping the “Classic” in Styleforum’s Classic Menswear community: Andy57. Whether wearing an odd jacket and trousers or a dinner suit, Andy always takes the time to get the details right. Here, he tells us what led him to men’s style – and what has kept him on Styleforum.

I’ve always been interested in style and fashion, both men’s and women’s. About four years ago, I had to make some changes in my diet and lifestyle to reverse a trend of increasing blood sugar. These changes had a side effect for me of losing around 30 pounds, and so I needed a new wardrobe. Over the years, I had accumulated a number of jackets, some of which now fit me better than they had in years. But even the jackets that fit me were rarely worn and I decided I wanted to change that. so I started to wear them, even though I was still wearing jeans and sneaker, for the most part. But over time, I realized I needed better trousers, which led to better shoes, which led to wearing a tie occasionally, which led to bow ties, and so on.

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Although he often shares suits, Andy57 is no stranger to the odd jacket.

Then I began to do some research. I began to learn about how clothes were suppose to fit. I realized that most of my clothes were too big, for example, and as I learned more and came into contact with more resources, from which I learned more, I began to understand.

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Suburban life with Andy57: always tasteful.

In addition, I had always harbored a desire to have a suit made for me by a Savile Row tailor. But I did not know which tailor to select and I was somewhat daunted at the prospect. But I heard of a tailoring firm called Steed Bespoke Tailors that is part of the Anderson & Sheppard diaspora and that visited San Francisco regularly and I decided to go with them. And it has been a good relationship.

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Here, Andy57 shows off a beautiful white DB suit.

I’ve learned a tremendous amount by being part of Styleforum. Clearly, menswear has standard texts by Boyer, Flusser, Manton, and others. But there’s no escaping that the internet is and continues to be a tremendous tool for learning and for obtaining items that, without it, one simply would not encounter.

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Andy57, enjoying the view.

To the extent that I have a style, it’s a combination of what I hope is a classic English style and then at times a fairly unrestrained exuberance bordering on dandyism. I love color and I love wearing things that few others would wear. For example, I bought some of the last few meters of an ivory flannel with a navy pindot windowpane from Fox and had it made up into a lovely double-breasted suit. I wear it on warm evenings, or sunny summer days and I love it. People notice it because you almost never see anyone wearing such a thing. But I have a gorgeous lovat green tweed jacket that is classic and conservative and occasionally people notice it because it is so classic and well cut. But, in the end, style is individual. Style is harmony. Style is beauty. Style is being comfortable in your own skin and having confidence in your appearance. I don’t think you can have style without confidence.