Member Focus: Techwear with Rais

Posted on November 21, 2016 by Styleforum Editors

@Rais is a well-known streetwear poster for a reason. He’s the resident master of futuristic techwear; taking inspiration from speculative fiction, film, and his own environment. The subject of many admiring Blade Runner jokes, Rais excels at styling avant-garde designers with readily-available brands, and putting his own out-of-time stamp on the results. Here, he talks about what directs his buying and styling.

I enjoy challenges, and one interest that I’ve always had in terms of clothing, even before I took a more dedicated approach to “fashion” was in creating comfortable, disposable and practical looks from inexpensive and readily-available pieces. These looks are not particularly interesting to look at and are definitely not fashion forward for the style-conscious. Nor are the pieces themselves particularly remarkable to be of interest to those who collect clothing for their novelty. Yet these are the clothing I find myself wearing most days. The versatility of being able to work out in the gym with clothing that I can still wear into a bar to meet new friends or that wouldn’t look out of place in a Chinese tea house as I work on my laptop; that I could be comfortable resting in on an airplane and that I could replace at the ready, and rather inexpensively, if my outfit was damaged while being out or my luggage lost on a trip, is all very attractive to me.

It is easy to achieve those aims with a variety of approaches; techwear, one of my hobby styles that I experiment in, is typically robust, allows for extreme activity both in- and outdoors, and has a good degree more modesty than a tank top and gym shorts for casual contexts. But techwear is not particularly socially-inviting, it is actually quite anti-social due to its reliance on the colour black, and it stands out in a crowd communicating to others that you are different, in a way that you want to be left alone. I also find it affected in that on the days when I need to drive, stepping out of my air-conditioned vehicle with its plush leather seats and cruise control while dressed in preparation for the apocalypse seems a bit disingenuous.

Rais in a go-to techwear outfit

This is one of my favourite tech looks. It is high performance, water-resistant, extremely lightweight, comfortable and, outside, at night it blends in well with its surroundings. I take a more activewear approach to this style compared to the typical streetwear aesthetic that many other techwear enthusiasts gravitate towards. Everything here is from Nike, save the pants.

On the other side of the spectrum, my more fashionable, designer looks from Lanvin, Gaultier or Dior can be very attractive in various social engagements but obviously lack the comfort or the durability that I’d want for going to work in each day, particularly if I wished to walk or cycle on my commute, and obviously they aren’t suitable for any kind of physical exercise while wearing them. Thus, these fashionable looks require a sacrifice in comfort and practicality; necessitate that I drive when I go out and also that I pack a second set of gym clothing for exercise in a dedicated duffle bag. I am not sure that I am comfortable with that kind of investment in time each day for looks that I am not overly drawn to.

Rais in Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, Prada, and Gaultier

This look is comprised of a Lanvin linen jacket, Yves Saint Laurent cotton shirt, Prada silk tie and Jean Paul Gaultier polyester-blend trousers.

I took a photo today for this article to illustrate the kind of versatile, casual clothing and look that I find myself wearing regularly. It is disposable, relaxed in fit, and stylistically I’ve tried to find a middle ground between contemporary ideals of men’s fashion and the minimal, athletic futurism I enjoy in my tech looks.

Rais in readily-available fast-fashion brands

The polyamide bomber from H&M was RIT dyed and the collar and cuffs were cut off and left raw. The light olive tee is from Cotton-On in their “Other Crew” cut and the jogger pants were bought in Namdaemun market in South Korea. The slip-on sneakers are from Muji.

I remember reading a chapter from Gibson’s Virtual Light, where the protagonist, Rydell, went on a shopping trip to a large mall/port called Container City where large freighters from around the world docked to unload inexpensive merchandise stored in shipping containers to a swarming hive of consumers. Rydell purchased a new outfit of cheap basics; I believe it was a burgundy bomber jacket and a few black tees and a pair of jeans. That imagery appealed to me somehow, and even though I was attempting similar looks years prior to reading that book, I still remember and feel influenced by that particular passage with its apt representation of the modern man’s relationship with his clothing and how it has manifested into a practical uniform for the 21^st century.

Member Focus: Claghorn

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Styleforum Editors

Claghorn is another Styleforum member who plies his trade in the Classic Menswear “What Are You Wearing” thread. He’s known for pleasing combinations of solid colors that are sober without being boring. Add to that some very solid selfie skills, and you have a recipe for a much-beloved poster.

I joined Styleforum in the fall of 2012. I was 26 and had just left a very conservative office job in Seoul, South Korea. There I had to stick with a pretty strict uniform: gray, blue, or black suit, white shirt, and a necktie. I don’t think my wardrobe was particularly interesting: the suits were all Hugo Boss or brands along that line. I did have a number of ties, mostly from Thomas Pink, that I really liked, and after moving to a job that didn’t require a suit, I wanted to learn how to wear a tie with odd jackets. I really didn’t have a clue where to begin, so I registered on Styleforum.

Though my colleagues and friends were fluent in English, I was feeling out of touch with my language and my culture. As (questionably) useful as the information on SF was, I think what really drew me to the forum was the opportunity to interact with Westerners more regularly, even if it was through a virtual medium. Nevertheless, it was also through Styleforum that my sense of style developed. Where else but the internet would this occur? I didn’t want to dress like a Korean salaryman anymore, and “My dad taught me everything I knew about clothing” wasn’t going to work for me: he’s a solar physicist and dresses as I suspect most people imagine solar physicists dress.

For the first few months, I sort of blindly fumbled around, trying to figure out what spoke to me. At one point, I thought I liked loud jackets. I didn’t. I wasted a lot of money. It took probably a year for me to really figure out what I wanted to look like in terms of what I wore. The result is one that I am happy with, but I have also seen it called boring a derivative. I own a lot of blue jackets of varying colors, textures, and fabrics, because I like blue jackets. I own a lot of brown ties because I like brown ties. I am happiest in a blue jacket, a brown tie, and gray wool pants. There was once a “Dress like Claghorn” Friday challenge [Editor’s note: Claghorn did not win the Claghorn challenge], and I think that most, if not all, the participants played on some variation of that theme. My Instagram handle is @bluebrownandgrey.

Of course I don’t only wear blue jackets. Or brown ties. Just over half my wardrobe is made up of jackets and suits that aren’t blue, and though I probably wear brown ties more often than any other color, I wear green and blue ties pretty regularly. But I am pleased to be associated with that combination. It is simple and pleasing. When I go back and look at many of the images I saved as exemplars in my early days on Styleforum, they are just that: simple and pleasing.

Member Focus: An Acute Style

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Styleforum Editors

In this new series, we ask Styleforum members to tell us what sparked their interest in fashion, and how they found their way to Styleforum. An Acute Style is a regular fixture in Classic Menswear’s “What Are You Wearing” and “Casual Style” threads. He’s known for his unique, sometimes experimental take on Ivy and Prep style, and excels at injecting color, pattern, and texture into everyday outfits.

Four major events have moved me along the sartorial journey. First, I started teaching high school right out of undergraduate. I was 22 and my students were 18. I wanted to do something to differentiate myself from them so I grew a mustache and started wearing a tie to work. On the occasions I didn’t wear a tie, the security guards would summarily mistake me for a student, requesting that I present ID to gain entrance to my job. I made the shirt and tie a standard to cut down on the embarrassment.

Next, my girlfriend (later wife) at the time recommended I look into British shirting, a tip from one of her coworkers. TM Lewin changed the game for me. Well priced, slim fit shirts with great collars and patterns at affordable prices. Sign me up.

Then, my wife start a personal style blog. As I helped her with her site, my style began to develop as well. I started my own blog on Tumblr soon after. Through Tumblr, I was first introduced to the #menswear community. I slowly took my place in it, adding new brands, sport coats, and pocket squares to my mix. I was also introduced to the world of thrifting. I still wasn’t earning bespoke money, so looking fly on a dime was important to me.

Lastly, my blog was growing in popularity, but I wasn’t getting much feedback on how to improve my style. I heard a few people mention this thing called Style Forum so I figured I should check it out. I’m so glad I did. The WAYWRN thread is one of the few places I’ve found on the internet to get honest and constructive feedback about classic men’s clothing. I’ve seen so many people come through the thread and make huge progress after just a few months. People pay good money for the service that the WAYRWRN thread provides for free.

It’s been a pleasure being a part of the SF community. I try to help out and give advice in the same way that I was helped when I first joined. I hope one day, a former student of mine will stumble on to SF and I can help him prepare for his new job. That would bring things full circle.

Standard work attire circa 2010. Bright colors, pattern mixing and no sport coat.