To that end, I encourage you to read through the entries below, as they give a fuller picture of the journey taken for each fit:

• Background & Vote in 1/2

• Round of 32

• Round of 16

• Round of 8

• Round of 4

• Round of 2 (finals)

For reference, here is a gallery of my fit battle submissions here (plus the ‘bonus’ fit pictured below). Seeing everything in one place really puts into perspective what all was accomplished.

Final Thoughts

Before joining and participating earnestly in MFA (the Discord specifically), I would describe my style as good but half-baked. I had some good instincts (especially with color and with some of my vintage finds) but not enough ability or confidence to really explore them or connect them into a meaningful aesthetic. Through participating in and writing about Fit Battle, I think I've become a better dresser, having gained:

• A willingness to put myself out there by putting on fits. Through the duration of fit battle I was also putting on a different fit and submitting it to WAYWT, which was a separate battle some days. This may not be helpful to all people or all situations, but for me, it made it easier to submit the fit battle submissions for judgment, rather than avoid doing so for fear of rejection.

• More appreciation for the clothes I already owned. I didn't buy much specifically for fit battle; most items were ones I repurposed. Given the different styles featured (prep, "grunge", high concept, trad, heritage, sprezz) it proved the utility of my clothes and how to experiment with clothes in more affordable ways.

• A better handle on what inspires me. The inspiration I gained from seeing WAYWT fit pics, the inspiration albums and other sources helped solidify the concepts I would execute and how (serious vs ironic). I didn't self-limit this, which allowed more freedom in this process.

• An interest in creating/altering clothes. This one came as a surprise, as originally I perceived direct modification of clothes (cutting, dyeing, sewing beyond simple repairs) to be more effort than what I wanted to put in, only to find out that I enjoy the process of fabrication. I now have a sewing machine and the basic accoutrements to attempt to master this new domain (if I can thread the bobbin).

• Better ways of judging and critiquing a fit (both for my own fits and others). In having to think about why [x] works or why [y] doesn’t, it makes it easier to see and then convey what is or is not working, and how it can be resolved.

• A call to embrace intentional dressing, using each entry to answer the question "Who is this person and what are they doing?" even if that person doesn’t exist. I filter it through the lens of 'how would I represent that?' and pushed to do so, which led to things like

1.         minor details being added (lapel pin in vote in 2, mineral necklace in R16, Baby Ruth in R8, hand in R4/R2)

2.         the use of less “obvious” item choices (denim blazer vs denim jacket in R32, PRL Andrews vs hiking pants in R4)

3.         the styling/staging of every submission after vote in to give added context for the fit

4.         the transforming of clothes for a specific use (be it how the item is worn, as with the overlayers in R16 or the pajamas in R8, or physically altering them, as in R2)

5.         asking for second opinions when needed and acting on them (or not)

That train of thinking has scaled into my normal mode of thinking when dressing: 'What do I want to convey and how can I do so?', whether that's 'I want to dress for work' or 'I want to dress like a Pitti Uomo attendee'. Many have said clothing is a form of communication, and this method of thinking is like writing an essay:

• starting with a thesis (the intention to convey),

• finding evidence to support this, such as reference material (inspiration), supporting details (components of the fit) and edits (feedback and critique), and

• writing this in your syntax (personal style) to convey it effectively (the final fit).

It took time and effort to realize this, but it was worth it, not just because of winning, but for the ways in which I’ve grown as a result.

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I did make a few campaign promises/threats to show hog and indeed I did - The first portrait in my submission of round of 2 was a copy of Charlotte's Web with Wilbur on the back cover.

Beyond the obvious joke, I identified with Wilbur both growing up and again in this particular setting, being someone relatively new engaging in a against people whom I consider exceedingly well-dressed and creative, trying to avoid ‘dying’ by showing something exceptional.

I might not have lived (metaphorically) in the fit battle process without the help of people who were kind enough to lend their time or eyes or ears or talents or, in case, a clothing item, so I am hugely grateful to discord solipsist z, kyn, LeisurelyLoafing, Bigelow, kstocks, stmn, elbarto🐒, rej, Crows and, bishopcorrigan. In addition, I appreiate The Teenage Gentleman lol, art, Charlie and anyone else whose pictures I used in this article (either to serve as inspiration or confirmation bias) as well as anyone who offered a kind word on Discord or elsewhere (especially Pesty Al Gaib in this context); it means a lot truly.

Thank you as well to:

• the MFAD moderators for assembling and running a springtime version of Fit Battle smoothly while also dealing with the day to day minutae of Discord,

• every other participant regardless of placement; it was so cool to see everyone's submissions each round and I was often spinning my wheels each week to think of something to submit,

• every viewer/lurker who voted; Shrimp My Ride likened it to a gladiator fight and it felt like it, but ultimately, I'm grateful to have been embraced by this wonderful community in such a positive way, regardless of outcome.

Lastly, thank you for reading this if you’ve made it this far. It took a lot of thought and energy putting together each fit in addition to dealing with a full time job and a partner with a broken leg during this process, much less writing about it. Despite the added effort, I think there’s value in describing these thoughts about clothes (even if instinctive or seemingly trivial) concretely and fully.

If you’re someone questioning participating in a fit battle (or posting a fit online or even just wearing a fit outside for whatever reason), I say go for it. I’m someone with a “regular” job not in the fashion industry and someone who has spent a relatively short amount of time thinking about clothes on this level, but because I had an interest in it, I was able to make the most of it. You never know how you’ll feel or how others will respond or what you’ll gain until you actually Put Stuff On.

I’m not sure when “next time” will be, but until then, you can find me on MFA Discord or Instagram to see more of my fits, to ask any other questions about any of the submissions for Fit Battle, or to connect about menswear or life in general.

The concept for this fit was derived and came together while I was figuring out the logistics of the previous submission for round of 4. I wanted to do a more "formal" look as a sort of final gesture to the competition, but to me "formalwear" tends to lean towards “traditional” menswear which leads in two directions: funereal or sprezzatura. As I consider myself a less-serious person when it comes to most things, I leaned towards the latter.

The term “sprezzatura” first appeared in Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 book The Book of the Courtier, where it is defined by the author as

In practice, this can include things like:

-       formality clashing (wearing a blazer and t-shirt or varsity jacket and tailoring),

-       wearing unusual or clashing colors, patterns and textures (often together).

-       wearing things differently (undoing shirt buttons, wearing a tie backwards).

-       choosing unusual accessories (an odd-colored sock, a contrasting tie bar)

There's a lot of inspiration for sprezzatura-inspired looks on social media and in menswear writing since it tends to intersect with the question of "how to make #menswear interesting?", be it satirical (as in the costuming on Absolutely Fabulous in the 1990s), or earnest, as in places like StyleForum or through Ethan’s essays, particularly, of the Pitti Uomo trade show. Because being “stylish” is subjective, there’s often a thin line between ‘tasteful’ and ‘tacky’ which can differ from person to person.

It’s interesting to consider the varying degrees of effort possibly spent to dress like this: while there’s some people that could truly just grab things from their closet and walk out, there are several others spending lots of time mulling over each item of clothing to wear and how. Both approaches are valid, and depending on the day, I’ve found myself on both ends of this spectrum, and I felt inspired to try a bolder attempt of studied carelessness (given the nature of this competition, I acknowledge the irony). From a practical sense, it’s a style I've delved in before, but not one I favored because I usually don't find the effort worthwhile, however this was a notable exception.

What makes sprezzatura a fun aesthetic is that there are no real "rules". I funneled this broad inspiration down to “What would I wear if invited to Pitti Uomo next winter”, and in doing so found no barriers based on age, race, gender, size or even the *weather* to a degree. What was most important was the fit and what it conveyed about its wearer.

What makes it annoying is there are no real rules but there is an overarching sense of knowing if something is “good” or “bad” on sight. As mentioned, there’s numerous visual cues to this style and a near infinite number of ways to put them together, but no real guidebook on how to do so beyond an awareness of the traditional “rules” of dressing and how to break them well.

In my travels I found a lot of decent pieces but a lot of them would've fit well into fits I already posted to MFA and, while I did want there to be some degree of my personal aesthetic represented, I wanted there to be a distinction made for this last entry. Nothing grabbed me in the way I wanted, so I took matters into my own hands.

My intention was to create multiple hand-painted garments of different weights – a thin pinstripe, a thicker stripe that would give the appearance of being pre-printed fabric and, at one point, a patterned blazer to wear as contrast. This was a relatively long process involving lots of measuring, panting and washing, made difficult when balancing full-time work and general life stuff, was worthwhile

The fit from top to bottom:

• Brown tortoiseshell sunglasses (in detail shot) from a random thrift store years ago

• Painted olive London Fog trench coat

• Brown herringbone Harris Tweed jacket off Ebay

• Green/white J. Press striped sport shirt

• Black printed vintage tie from Goodwill

• Navy vintage suspenders from Goodwill

• Pink/red painted pleated chinos from Goodwill

• off white Uniqlo 50s socks

• dark brown Cole Haan loafers

I emphasize all the pieces for two reasons, one because all the colors and textures balanced out without being overwhelming in one direction or another. Unlike with other entries there were several iterations of this final fit, and I am grateful for the feedback given. The most impactful changes were:

-       Shirt pattern: initially a purple/white stripe, then red/white, and finally dark green/white. Both the purple and red felt “too” matching in a way I wanted to avoid.

-       Socks: started sockless, then pink, then off-white. Given the layers up top it felt odd to be sockless, meanwhile the pink was not close enough to the pant color to match, but not far enough away from it to be an intentional mismatch.

-       Cap: initially red, then after cycling through several options, became navy before removing it for the final picture. As we were taking pictures, it was clear I didn’t need it.

-       Blazer: at one point tan, brown and navy were all considered, eventually settling on the herringbone.

I think the herringbone texture was an added dimension lacking in the other potential picks, especially since the blazer would serve as a visual break between the stripes.

The second reason is because literally everything pictured is secondhand aside from the socks. There's been discourse on MFA and elsewhere online about acknowledging the cost of clothes, especially for an average person, and how that’s a barrier to having good or better style. While I recognize that there will almost always be a financial cost in obtaining clothes, I think the counter to that is to be thoughtful about purchases and creative about how you approach fashion. I could’ve looked for a similar pant or coat at retail but would be constrained by what exactly I could find or afford, however in altering the clothes I had greater control over the final product. In this case, the extravagance in the fit I wanted is still there but it’s through being creative and thoughtful over spendthrift, and that's the mindset I strived for during this entire process.

The photos were taken by discord solipsist z at a local art gallery; the gallery had recently updated the exhibits from one featuring portraits, so we co-opted a meeting space to turn into an art studio.

Submitted entry:

I originally was going to fashion the picture frame into a bag of sorts; however I couldn’t figure out how to flesh this out into a tangible product. In hindsight, I think it would’ve been too much of a gimmick compared to the umbrella-as-baseball bat, for example.

The portrait shot was inspired by one of my favorite works, Escaping Criticism by Pete Borrell del Caso, and the trompe l'oeil effect visually reinforced the idea of things not being what they seem, be it painted fabric or the ‘ease’ of sprezzatura as an aesthetic.

This was the most time and thought I’ve put into a single fit, and I am still impressed at the final result. There are clear elements of my own style, but it’s rendered through a bigger lens of how I respond to sprezzatura, and what that signifies about my views on fashion and of style at large. I’ve learned a lot about my own style and how to express it to the point where some things are automatic, but I found that in instances like this, there’s value in putting more effort behind this process, and that that effort can be rewarded.

Thank you for reading! You can click below for my final thoughts (as well as the details on the picture above)-

You can also find me on MFA Discord or Instagram to see more of my fits, to ask any questions about this essay, or to connect about clothes or life in general.

The initial idea came quickly in that I enjoy hiking and camping (less so post pandemic), though my hiking attire is usually more functional - quick drying shirt or synthetic button down, Patagonia baggies, Tevas or hiking shoes, a rain jacket for rain and cool weather. Shortly after Ro32 started I had thoughts of a more stylized version of this (a better button down, wool midlayer, red anorak, Wallabees as a riff on a hiking sneaker) and while the fit was okay it didn't feel grand enough for fit battle.

There are aspects of this I like, mainly because I’ve worn them before, like the anorak and Baggies combo or the silk shirt and handkerchief, but, in addition to the fit being less impressive than needed, it was top-heavy, especially with all the red accents.

Ultimately my submission for round of 32 used the same wool shirt in a completely different way, and that in turn took me in a different direction entirely for the following two submissions. I still had the idea though, and I still wanted to do something with it, partly as a form of personal expression and partly because I think it's underrepresented in MFA despite being taking cues from many aspects of “house style” or being in the zeitgeist – the Aime Leon Dore x New Balance collaboration in 2022 ad copy featured this style heavily.

There’s a degree of pragmatism behind these fits by using seemingly ‘normal’ clothes in a different setting. While most of the preceding entries are examples of me doing this as a means to an end (getting a submission in), in this case that was the

Unlike for round of 32 and round of 16, I had an abundance of inspiration, be it true to life (1,2⁠) or a more stylized version (1, 2). I was torn between doing something "realistic" that was a step down from previous entries or something more styled that could be derivative (one of rej's unused ideas was similar in concept) and needed to work through this to make a fit.

I spoke to a few people during this time - GSH, LeisurelyLoafing, my therapist - and one thing from GSH stuck out:

It is perfectly fine to be inspired, influenced, and take elements from others' art [...] It is even fine to *copy* phrases and motifs. As long as > you are doing your interpretation, and adding originality to that, and making it your own, *it is your art; nobody else made it*

Part of why I struggled so much with picking either style (stylized or realistic) that I viewed this particular aesthetic as "not mine" in a more tangible way than before, which I realized was due to race.

As a Black person, I am aware there are certain aesthetics for which there are fewer overt cultural ties or connections I can grab on to. It hasn’t impacted my willingness to dress in the way that I do but it is something that lends itself to questions of authenticity. While many of my submissions are based in some sort of fantasy that could be considered “race blind”, the preppy look in vote in 2 was in some ways modeled off of Carlton Banks, which made it less of a reach to adapt a fit.

The inspiration albums and comments from hikers both on- and off-trail convey that this was a white-dominant domain, and advertising in that era was marketed towards those that could and would engage in this activity – white people, usually young, in good physical condition and with a reasonable amount of disposable income. While it's perhaps improved in recent times there's still a dearth of reference materials – photos, journals, artifacts - from people of color from the past which made it harder for me to build a more stylized image that I could translate into a submission. I'm not suggesting this fit was purely one for social commentary, as my intention was still to make the best fit I possible could, but that there was a separate goal to try and represent this authentically. My thinking shifted from “replicate these reference images” to "what did Black thru- hikers in the 80s bring along the Appalachian Trail?" , having the social and situational contexts of the time. Even without actual pictures, I assumed that there was a lot of overlap between this and what people of other racers would bring, and pivoted to a more heightened yet realistic kit:

• The base layer is a chambray button down shirt. The silk shirt from draft 1 was a too fragile for this fit, while the chambray texture registered as more rugged.

• The mid-layer is a vintage wool fair isle sweater (almost certain it's 1980s). It added some visual interest and actual warmth, plus the blues, greens, tans and reds of the sweater were picked up by all the other items (compared to the shirt in draft 1).
  (It also reads as less threatening, and I imagine that given the perception of Black people in certain parts of the trail, that people would be more amenable to helping someone that was dressed more genially.)

• The outer shell is the same vintage anorak from draft 1. The vivid red nylon contrasted with the other neutral and other natural fabrics.

• The hat is a wide brimmed sun hat, which added extra visual interest and a degree of authenticity as opposed to the baseball cap from draft 1.

• The neckerchief is a bandana, as in draft 1. The only change was I used an old ring as a bandana tie, versus using a simple knot – the shine of the ring drew attention to the bandana, especially in the detail shot.

• The hiking pants are oversized PRL Andrews. The actual fit was visually top heavy, and the pleats and width offset it better than the shorts in draft 1.

• The socks are from Goodwill. The stripes were another way to balance the fit visually and the red stripe calls back to the red in the jacket and bandana

• The. boots are old hiking boots that someone was giving away on FB Marketplace. Given the journey to take the picture, I was grateful for these over the Wallabees or Tevas.

Could I have submitted the pics in my apartment like this? Sure, but if I'm going through the hassle of dressing like this, I figured I should be engaging in the outdoors. Style to me is contextual, and through fit battle I've embraced that that includes styling and physical setting (with no disrespect to any other participant). While I’ve bounced between earnestness and satire through the duration of the competition, I felt in this instance I needed to be authentic as much as possible.

To that end I found an old backpack off FB Marketplace and packed it with most of our (mine & my husband’s) camping gear. Everything pictured in my submission as well as my tripod was carried on/in that pack, which made it all the more painful when the plastic connectors of the straps broke under the weight. I made it to a CVS, grabbed an roll of duct tape, and spent 20 minutes taping the straps to the metal frame hoping for the best, and it did not disappoint.

There were three departures from a traditional hiker of the 80s:

• the electric lantern was functional - it was raining and dark, but I didn't want to bring any flammables

• the rainbow flag we always bring when camping

• "Notes of a Native Son" by James Baldwin; most people would bring the Bible or On the Road but I figured if I had the means to hike back then, then I'd also have the means to source out Black writers (nowadays I just use Overdrive)

Taking the pictures was a struggle as well, as it was raining, I was alone and was relying on my Bluetooth timer which stopped working after I took a couple hundred pictures. In the discussion thread there were many positive comments about the actual photo quality, which I appreciated.

Submitted entry

I am thrilled by how this turned out. It took effort but it's a fully realized and fully executed concept, it’s a “heritage” fit but not in the typical way (Americana, workwear, etc.), it's mostly vintage, it's true to me and I think does the inspiration justice.

Ultimately, this was a successful look, and I made it to the finals. There could be any number of reasons why this happened but I think people respected the amount of effort that went into the fit and the pictures, plus, as mentioned above, it’s not an aesthetic that is really represented in MFA or even online in fashion. That still left the question of what could I do for the final submission?

Even beyond the scope of this competition, I think there are definite parallels to the experiences those individuals of color wrote about with respect to hiking and some of the experiences I’ve had in learning about and pursuing fashion as a hobby. As stated before, I didn’t set out to champion for positive representation in any space, but I realized that sometimes that can happen by having the courage to live and express one’s self authentically.

Item Breakdown

Most items were purchased secondhand (eBay, Goodwill, and flea markets most often). Things bought intentionally for fit battle are denoted with asterisks (***) while things bought shortly before/during that were worn are denoted with carats (^^^).

• Hat: Life is Good sun hat borrowed from my husband (brown)

• Jacket: vintage L.L. Bean anorak (red) (^^^)

• Sweater: vintage Eddie Bauer fair isle sweater (green multicolor)

• Shirt: Goodfellow chambray shirt (blue)

• Bandana: old bandana (red), secured with ring

• Pants: PRL Andrews (beige)

• Socks: from Goodwill, unknown tube sock

• Shoes: vintage Danner hiking boots (brown/green) (***)

• Backpack: vintage Jansport external frame (***)

• Camping gear info available upon request

Thank you for reading! You can click below for the final round’s entry:

You can also find me on MFA Discord or Instagram to see more of my fits, to ask any questions about this essay, or to connect about menswear or life in general. In particular, if you had any questions or comments about engaging with fashion while in a minority group(s), I’d be happy to hear them.

That said it was hard to find the right combination, and there's plenty of shots in my camera roll of things that didn't quite work or were half-formed, like this triple denim tuxedo:

It was a good idea, but I thought it lacked punch, the clashing leathers felt unintentional in a bad way, and (at the time) the difference in denim washes was not appealing. I liked the wool plaid and figured focusing on it would be a suitable concept, which led to a second idea:

It’s another decent idea but the variations in browns felt like I was hunting for brown things to wear (I was), so I went back to the drawing board. (I would since hack up those cords and eventually get rid of them).

I talked to my partner one more about this and he basically said "quit overthinking and lighten up" in as many words. His Spotify shuffled to “How Soon is Now?” and inspiration hit by the end of the chorus - grungy ivy. It’s different compared to what I usually do but also would be easier to put together as it was adapting previous fits and to a degree my style pre-MFA. I also felt a lot more confident instinctively about this than the previous rejected ideas.

Even with an idea set I still struggled - at first I wore Doc 1461s and Levis 550s and experimented with various styles, some leaning more towards grunge and some more towards ivy. I asked for advice, and as a few kind souls saw, the lack of distinction between the jeans and derbies wasn't helpful. I didn’t want to switch jeans to Levis 501s despite their fuller cut because that felt too similar to the first double denim fit pictured above. I instead switched the shoes out for loafers for the final fit.

There are three things that really make this special for me; the first is the cutoff tank. I wrote about it previously on MFAD as a thing I wouldn’t get rid of - it was one of the first gifts received from my now spouse and I’m glad I found a place for it in fit battle. I cut off the sleeves prior to joining MFA to use as a shirt for home, but the raw edges helped signal my intended inspiration.

The second, and this was a happy coincidence, was a pair of Doc Marten Adrian loafers inspired by pc that I originally wanted to wear for the second vote in round. The delay in shipping meant I wore them for the first time taking these pictures, which made for an interesting breaking in period, but I do think the added height makes a difference and lends a bit authenticity to this being inspired by grunge. In hindsight I also think the choice to wear regular loafers made the fit for vote in 2 better, as the more traditional shoe didn’t pull focus from the top half of that fit.

The third is having someone else around to take pictures - LeisurelyLoafing and I ended up taking each others’ pictures for this round, which was easier than having to use my phone’s timer. It was also nice to have an extra set of eyes to be able to see the fit in real time, as too often I get fixated on an idea in my head and miss the bigger picture. For this, we went outside a local bar with several murals to take the photos; the backdrop had more visual interest than my apartment parking lot or his backyard and ‘fits’ the actual aesthetic more.

Submitted entry-

I think this was a better way to do "ivy mixed with something else" than in vote in round 1 - the denim blazer serving as a denim jacket, dark wash jeans, docs, "flannel", ratty tee - they all more strongly convey a particular type of dress even though it's also a sport coat, shirt, jeans, white socks and loafers. Initially I was worried about the branding of being a little sleazy, but my fits have been heading that direction in time for summer, so I figured I'd embrace it. The only thing I'm unsure about is if that'll be a trend, though given some of the comments in response I think me baring all would’ve been well-received.

Item Breakdown

Most items were purchased secondhand (eBay, Goodwill, and flea markets most often). Things bought intentionally for fit battle are denoted with asterisks (***) while things bought shortly before/during that were worn are denoted with carats (^^^).

• Cap: Tuaca liqours cap (black) (^^^)

• Jacket: denim Duluth Trading Co sport coat (blue); this is an actual blazer and not convertible to/from a chore coat

• Shirt: vintage Pendleton wool shirt (purple/green/gold plaid)

• ‘Hanging’ tank top: Goodfellow 'pocket' tank, pocket was removed (gray)

• Muscle shirt: t-shirt from Philadelphia Magic Gardens (white)

• Jeans: Levi’s 550s (medium wash)

• Shoes: Doc Martens Adrian kiltie loafers (black) (^^^)

• Belt: old reversible leather belt (brown/black)

• Socks: white Hanes crew socks

• Sunglasses: old pair from thrift store in Maryland

• Watch: Timex Weekender (black strap, white face)

Thank you for reading! You can click below for the Round of 16 entry-

You can also find me on MFA Discord or Instagram to see more of my fits, to ask any other questions about this essay, or to connect about clothes, art or life in general.

In the process of purchasing other things on eBay for fit battle and in general, I bought a pair of pajamas because a) I wanted pajamas, b) they were cool, and c) because maybe they would be a cool backup in case I couldn't destroy my clothes to my liking (mentioned above). I grew up liking newspaper serials (Archie and Calvin & Hobbes when in school, and later Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson or Blankets by Craig Thompson. Similarly, I like the latent humor in midcentury Americana - kitsch decor, advertising with a wink and nudge, the use of vivid colors like pinks or teals as neutrals - it's good spirited and unserious yet has additional thought for those willing to put the effort in, which describes a lot of my style. After how much effort the previous fit took, I felt I needed something less serious, especially if I was going to be eliminated after this round and I found myself drawn to using the pajamas as an actual entry.

I am not a baseball fan but I *am* a fan of irony and so I was drawn to them on that level – though this plan did not materialize, at one point I was planning to take the photos at Nats Stadium on a home game. While I initially was going to just wear the pajamas under a jacket of some sort and call it a day, I noticed a few details in the pajama shirt that called to mind a typical 3 button suit jacket or sport coat and led with that for the submission.

There were some clear differences between that day and the final outcome:

• The most time intensive was re-ironing the top; the fabric was both pliable enough to have its collar ironed out and rigid enough (with some starch spray) to hold a more traditional "lapel" shape. It also allowed me to turn this into a 2-button jacket of sorts, which I generally prefer wearing.

• At one point, I intended to wear a different OCBD by J. Press, however the collar on it is significantly pronounced and threatened to distort the shape of the newly-formed lapel. I instead wore a shirt with a smaller collar which was more contained within the “jacket”.

• Originally, I wore a red printed tie as a more "traditional" element, then switched it for a red knit tie that would echo the 50s and 60s vibes of the comic print, then switched again to a vintage paisley print tie. Both the tie and the print are a yellow base with flecks of red and turquoise, a nice bit of cohesion.

• I was going to wear the brown loafers, again, to give the effect of a suit, but after some quality thoughts from LeisurelyLoafing (apparently all of Washington DC is colluding here haha) was all set to buy a pair of dingy PF Flyers like in The Sandlot. In my pursuit, I found a pair of suede LL Bean loafers instead and figured I'd take my chance. They’re a light green but read closer to off-white in-store, and yields a slightly different energy than sneakers (shifting from ivy to more traditional menswear). While I was prepared to switch out for the Vans from the previous fit again, I didn’t need to.

• I did not own any baseball teams’ hats (at the time) and was prepared to wear an unrelated red hat, but I borrowed kstocks's hat, and in my opinion the green works better to not pull focus from the suit.

• I really wanted to lean into kitsch with some of the other details: the umbrella as a bat, the Baby Ruth bar, a newspaper, and even the backwards baseball cap. These are more overtly funny details than the pen in vote in 1 or even the lapel pin in vote in 2 and worked better overall.

• One final last-minute detail: the tie loop is partially hanging *over* the collar. While the choice in OCBD was intentional as I didn’t want something with a larger collar to ruin the crease in the ‘jacket’ that I ironed in earlier, the method of tying was a happy accident. I saw the first pictures came out looking cool and figured I’d go with it. The overall scene is less serious and that’s just one extra way that’s conveyed.

Submitted entry

I really like this - it's fun, it's funny, and I enjoyed wearing it, even if I felt like throwing up while taking these pictures (shout out again to discord solipsist z). This feels the most like me in spirit, as I enjoy subverting traditional expectations of ivy, tailoring and sometimes clothing in general, and I'm glad I could show it. I’m not sure I would wear this exact fit in this way again anytime soon, but who knows?

Item Breakdown

Most items were purchased secondhand (eBay, Goodwill, and flea markets most often). Things bought intentionally for fit battle are denoted with asterisks (***) while things bought shortly before/during that were worn are denoted with carats (^^^).

• Cap: J.Press baseball cap (green) from @kstocks

• "Suit": vintage comic print pajamas, brand Charles Goodnight (yellow print) (***)

• Shirt: J. Crew flap pocket OCBD (white)

• Tie: vintage PRL paisley print (yellow)

• Shoes: vintage L.L. Bean suede loafers (mint green) (***)

• Umbrella: shedrain, from amazon (black)

• Bag in alt. shot: J. Crew tote (similar to the L.L. Bean Boat & Tote bag) (^^^)

• Socks: white Hanes/off-white Uniqlo color socks

• Sunglasses: old pair from thrift store in Maryland

• Watch: Timex Weekender (black strap, white face)

Thank you for reading! You can click below for the Round of 4 (semifinals) entry:

You can find also me on MFA Discord or Instagram to see more of my fits, to ask any questions about this essay, or to connect about clothes, comics, or life in general.

I still had two 'planned' looks: something for the final round (which I ultimately did not use) and something for which I deemed "break open in case you're seeded against mew or Crows" which meant “someone who could dress really well and fully opposite my usual aesthetic”, not specifically either of those individuals (thought that is what would happen).

For this week I had far less time to devote to planning and far more stress because of external factors, so when the round of 16 match-ups were set, I hit a wall creatively. My usual tactics for putting together a fit – continuously compile inspiration, figure out an intention (a specific reference, an aesthetic or aesthetics to highlight, an attitude to convey, etc.) and then go through this library of references to determine how to put a fit together - weren't working because I didn't have much inspiration. What ideas I did have were either lacking in vision or detail, and that led to me going back to the mew/Crows look, a preppy student caught in a rainstorm post-festival:

It’s a good idea, and one which straddles the line of 'super different for me but also but not completely out of nowhere for me to do'. It wasn't inspired or detailed enough in comparison to what had been submitted previously, even by me, and the pictures didn't align well with the concept but it was my best option at first. One of the suggestions given was to shred up or paint on stuff, like kmn in round of 32 or art in round of 8 in the last fit battle and I started preparing to do just that.

I slept on it and the next morning found and did a rather challenging yoga routine first thing. It was a pain to do at 6am but seemed to get me out of the funk from the previous days. Later that day I had a few glasses of merlot and thought 'what if I were that person leading the routine' and hurriedly ran to a thrift store to get accessories and tried stuff on. That led to this:

I don’t advocate for or condone punishing physical activity or the use/abuse of substances to stimulate the creative process, but I reached a point of creative stagnation and those was the catalysts to get out of that. (It also allowed me to move past the mental hangup of seeing this as a “less valid” creative endeavor.)

While I had an idea, I was concerned because 1) I thought it was too big a swing compared to my usual fare and 2) I didn't know how 'big' I could or should make it, for lack of a better term. I went back to my various sources of inspiration and realized that I responded to looks like this, including one of bishopcorrigan’s submissions from the prior fit battle⁠. This was around the time of 'aspirational dressing' topic of the day, and I realized that that's exactly what I was attempting here, except the aspiration wasn’t some sort of heightened status in a traditional sense (wealth, success, validation from peers, etc.). The common theme I took from those inspiration pictures was a general sense of ease, from the neutral tones to the draping to the to the natural materials and the overall cohesion in each picture, despite the individual components. In that sense, my departure in aesthetic followed from a desire to get that ease, and I saw this as a way to manifest this desire.

Similarly, the individual components are fairly traditional. At its core, the fit is a white button down, high rise pleated pants and white Vans, which are practically a uniform for me, but never paired like this.

The ‘overwrap’ I wore backwards, inside out and turned 90 degrees vertically - my leg is through one opening and my arm is through the other which made for a good drape and interaction of textures. The outer layer was the same poncho as in that 'initial' fit, except rotated horizontally 90 degrees and partly flipped, so it was more of a cloak or cape; in doing this I was reminded of the journey to turn pants into a scarf. There's four different layers of varying opacity present which gave depth, yet the various shades of white and cream worked well together.

I had the Berbers in my mind as the sort of ‘character’ that I was embodying, which informed some of the accessory choices. The pouch was a water bottle sling from a drug store, and the mineral necklace was from the same place where I found the overwrap; it read like an abstract version of a necktie even if I may have tied it a little too snugly. I was tempted to have sandals at first, but from a practical standpoint I welcomed the sneakers after several attempts of balancing on a grassy knoll. This is another instance where having extra sets of eyes helped with this, especially with capture the layers and textures in the most effective way, and I am grateful to discord solipsist z and kyn for their help.

Submitted entry

I find this person unrecognizable, yet I know that it's me (because of the Vans), and I think that speaks to the power of clothing, as this could’ve easily gone in other directions (earnest trad, ironic punk, etc.) It's a softer look than what I've done before but I like it quite a bit because of the effort and because it's representative of me: less in aesthetic, more in how I find and interpret inspiration and how I engage with clothes on a tactile level.

Writing in hindsight, I think this also represented a fundamental shift in not only how I approached fit battle, but also how I approached clothing in general. While there’s a definite aesthetic that I favor, I think this particularly entry shows that part of my style is that I’m willing to embrace completely different aesthetics should the need or mood arise, and that *that* can be the purpose of a fit, rather than just looking good.

Item Breakdown

• Necklace: unknown mineral; found it at a thrift shop (***)

• Outermost layer: hiking poncho from Target (white)

• Midlayer: Madewell women's fringed shawl (white) (***)

• Shirt: GAP linen button down (white)

• Trousers: vintage suit pants, brand Evan Picone (white) (^^^)

• Shoes: Vans Authentics (white)

• Crossbody: waterbottle holder from CVS (off-white) (***)

• Socks: Uniqlo colored socks (off white)

• Watch: Timex Weekender (black strap, white face)

Thank you for reading! You can click below for the Round of 8 entry:

You can also find me on MFA Discord or Instagram to see more of my fits, to ask any questions about this essay or to connect about clothes, sourcing inspiration or life in general.

Background and Preparation

My personal style is honestly hard to define (not that that’s a bad thing); sure I used ‘f--- around ivy' before and have heard other very flattering comments but I think 'unserious ivy' is a better descriptor. The tropes are there - OCBDs, pleated chinos, loafers, blazers and sport coats, loafers and white socks, ties - but they're almost never rendered traditionally:

I do sometimes play it straight or lean into subversion (those are raw hemmed, cropped cords) or experimentation with the function of clothes (⁠pants as scarf⁠) but I usually want some sort of balance between tradition and subversion. I knew the “basics” of putting together a fit as outlined in the basic guides on the substack and Reddit, and recently began the process of using those to form a definite style. With that, I thought the fit battle would be a fun way to push myself creatively, get some additional inspiration, hopefully find concrete ways to better my style in the process.

One potential issue (at the time) was I had a relatively small wardrobe while I was in the process of figuring out my own individual style, especially shoes and accessories. I was acquiring pieces at a steady rate at this point, but I wanted to avoid solely buying things for fit battle as much as possible. While I made several purchases leading up to fit battle to fill gaps in my wardrobe, I did end up buying things for the competition, which I’ll outline at the end of this.

A second issue came up as I read through the submissions and commentary from the previous fit battle of Fall 2023. Seeing the high quality of entries from those who did well both inspired and terrified me, because (in my opinion) I hadn’t intentionally nailed a fit to that degree.

A related issue was that the ivy-adjacent style I was dressing in bore some success in the previous fit battle, but to me this meant I’d have to figure out something different or risk being labeled a copycat. As I didn’t really see myself as a ‘creative’ (I’m a data analyst for a non-creative industry, and had a newfound appreciation for clothes entering the competition) I was nervous about being able to do this.

That said, my default response when unsure about or nervous if something works is put stuff on, Being able to put myself out there is something I struggled with in many aspects of life (this is not fully resolved), but I worked to make this an easier process when it came to developing and posting fits to WAYWT. If I bricked, at least I tried, which is worth more than not trying; that’s the mentality I had going into vote in 1.

Vote in 1

I initially had a separate fit planned and posted based on my assessment of last year; after seeing the first few submissions after mine I got gun-shy and retracted the submission. While I cannot say how it would’ve fared, in the moment I had a backup idea that I felt was stronger.

In general, with the format of the vote in I figured it would be better to have a fit that was a) really good but not insanely great (and risk having to live up to that expectation) and b) more experimental, knowing that there's a second vote available if this didn't work out. I knew I wanted to do some form of unconventional layering and that a jungle jacket was both far enough away from a blazer to not be mistaken for my usual ⁠WAYWT fare and yet close enough that I wouldn't be struggling about how to wear it. The issue is tiger stripes are played out - enter the safety orange coach's jacket. I originally thought this would be the 'shirt' and just let it ride but realized it could substitute for a waistcoat and then made the sort of leap to 'oh this is like the lining of an MA-1 bomber' which circ pointed out.

I didn't want to do too much in the first round (or in general), so the rest of the outfit was rather straightforward – white OCBD and pleated olive pants straight from the Basic Bastard, and then Wallabees instead of loafers to balance out the busy top half and to act as a sort of 'boot' without being MFA’s favorite shoe, Clark’s Desert Boots. There weren’t a lot of accessories used, to prevent pulling focus: the sunglasses were functional, the black knit tie was the connecting thread to ivy and my space pen was a simple visual flourish.

Submitted Entry

I like the overall effect - there's a heavy dose of milsurp (or if you're Mr. Zeometer, deer hunting due to the safety orange) but a foundation of ivy and even a tiny amount of humor (I go out of my way to avoid pocket squares, but pocket accoutrements were fair game), and writing everything out this feels more like 'this is something I'd wear in service of experimenting' vs 'this is a costume'. I don’t think it was the greatest fit ever done but at the time I thought it was good showing. In the spirit of full disclosure I did also attempt this without a tie, however I do think the black in the tie gives added depth to the fit and is a more obvious tie to ivy style, so I did not submit it.

Ultimately this did not work out in my favor. For however good the fit was (read: however good I thought the fit was), it wasn't effective at communicating the inspiration at first glance (it could easily read as 'funky midlayer' without any deeper meaning). It also feels ungrounded, especially in taking the picture on concrete similar in color to the Wallabees; black loafers would’ve helped give more visual weight to the bottom half of the fit and to convey the ivy influence further. By those measures, and especially given what did ultimately make it through to the round of 32, I'm not surprised it didn't get voted in.

Vote in 2

In response to the first fit not landing as expected, I figured I'd submit something which had a lot more immediate impact that I could execute well (in my opinion).

I've done a variation on the schoolboy look before and I was very pleased with it - it's interesting but fun and cheeky in a way I enjoy. In hindsight, it was sort of like play a character, except the character was to a somewhat heightened version of myself, and that thinking translated to this entry (and the others).

Because I and other people have pulled from this same inspiration in really nice ways (in particular Ethan) I wanted to do so again in a way that wasn't seen as derivative or blah - the age-old question 'how do you make ivy interesting?’.

Rather than find some quirk in execution or mix ivy with something else I figured the twist would be to play it straight - navy blazer, blue OCBD, wool striped tie, chino shorts, crew socks, black penny loafers. I rarely leaned into the ivy aesthetic this earnestly, but I trusted in how strong the concept was.

The color choices are more traditional as well; red, white and blue were motifs in American style from the 70s to now, especially in an ivy league school (Take Ivy is a sea of American colors). The rugby shirt as a midlayer is less traditional in practice - it's more 'how would PRL interpret such a look' than 'what do people at Yale actually wear' - but it reinforces the ivy motif. (It helps that, from what I/the seller could figure out, it was a practice jersey from the 1990s) The combo of the rugby shirt and Penn state cap also read as sportswear, which isn't usually the first thought people have about this style.

I at one point tried to layer the rugby over the blazer but a) it kept falling over or blocking the lapel pin and b) the mass of blue on top of the blazer wasn't really working visually how I imagined. After a handful of pictures, I figured "insouciance" had left the building and pivoted to layering it - while it was harder to wear because of how warm it got it's a better look in general.

Submitted Entry

I really enjoy this one. It's locally sourced, fully thrifted and came together easily; the hard part was the pics. It was well-received, and while part of that was finding the rugby shirt, the other part was that there were a lot of things going on in addition – three layers of clothes, successful deployment of a tie, a formality clash, a subversion of expectations with the shorts – and yet it all read as cohesive.

I ultimately ended up finishing 3rd out of everyone who submitted in vote in 2, and while I thought (hoped) I did well enough to qualify I wasn’t fully expecting to be that successful. On a meta level it helped that there were a lot of people embracing the cowboy aesthetic, but beyond that I think it helped to shift my thinking from ‘me wearing a fit I think is cool for [x]’ to ‘me being inspired by something and then making a fit’.

Item Breakdown

Most items were purchased secondhand (eBay, Goodwill, and flea markets most often). Things bought intentionally for fit battle are denoted with asterisks (***) while things bought shortly before/during that were worn are denoted with carats (^^^).

Vote in 1 -

• Outer jacket: vintage jungle jacket (tiger stripe), brand Parallax Corp

• Inner jacket: vintage coach's jacket (orange), brand unknown

• Shirt: J.Press flap pocket OCBD (white)

• Tie: J.Press Penant label knit tie (black)

• Pants: Polo Ralph Lauren (PRL) Hammond chinos (olive)

• Shoes: Clarks Wallabee hair on suede shoes (maple) (^^^)

Vote in 2

• Cap: vintage Penn State cap (navy)

• Blazer: Zara (navy); this may be an orphaned suit jacket

• Rugby shirt: vintage practice jersey, brand is maxmore

• Shirt: PRL custom fit OCBD (blue), this is analogous to the "iconic oxford shirt" sold currently by Ralph Lauren

• Tie: vintage Kuppenheimer wool repp stripe (red/white/black)

• Lapel pin: vintage, from Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign

• Shorts: an old pair of Joseph Abboud chino shorts (stone), borrowed from my husband

• Shoes: vintage L.L. Bean beefroll loafers (black)

Both fits

• Belt: old reversible leather belt (brown/black)

• Socks: white Hanes crew socks

• Sunglasses: old pair from thrift store in Maryland

• Watch: Timex Weekender (black strap, white face)

Thank you for reading! You can click below for the Round of 32 entry:

You can also find me on MFA Discord or Instagram to see more of my fits, to ask any questions about this essay, or to connect about clothing or life in general.

When I (@zeometer / zeo) decided to participate in MFA’s Fit Battle for Spring 2024, I had low expectations - up to that point, I was only an active member on the discord for a couple of months and only a passive lurker on the subreddit previously. I chose to join in anyway, mainly to have fun, but to see just how well I could do. I didn’t anticipate that “just how well I could do” would be *winning fit battle*, especially through being, as Pesty called it, creatively unhinged.

Several factors led to my ultimate success, one of which was the amount of time and energy spent on each submission. During the competition, I chronicled the process of coming up with each entry on a separate Discord thread in real time as a reference for me and for anyone else that would find it useful. This article compiles all of these posts (with some edits for added context, coherence and/or syntax), and describes for each fit the inspiration, the specific item and styling choices made, some of the rejected ideas I had (and why they were rejected), and my overall thoughts on each fit.

This isn’t explicitly explaining how to win fit battle - I make no guarantees as to how well you’ll do in future fit battles after reading this, especially if I’m competing.

(All images, product names, logos and brands listed below are properties of their respective owners.)

Jump to:

• Background & Vote In Rounds (if reading for the first time, start here)

• Round of 32

• Round of 16

• Round of 8

• Round of 4

• Round of 2 (finals)

• Final Thoughts

You can also find me on MFA Discord or Instagram to see more of my fits or to ask any questions about the Fit Battle competition, menswear, or life in general.

The choice of what clothes to wear is such an interesting one. Putting clothes on your body is one of the most external forms of self-expression and creativity; some people are artists and share their creativity with the world, but most people only share their creative outlets with close family and friends, if at all. Not clothing though. Almost everyone puts on clothes before leaving the house. It is one of the only ways that most of us show the world who we are. You may not share with your coworkers or boss or strangers in the grocery store a photo you took or a painting you made; but you do show them your outfit. Even if it’s only a tiny fraction of your self-expression, you display who you are on your body—whether you intend to or not.

People are judgmental. If you are expected to wear a suit and tie to your job and you show up in a T-shirt, you will be consciously judged as underdressed. If you post that you’re wearing something very off-trend in an online fashion community, you will be consciously judged as unfashionable. And those are just basic examples of conscious judgments; strangers and friends alike will subconsciously judge your clothing as well. I don’t say this to frighten you, or to encourage you to dress in a way that you are fearful of judgment. I do not dress to blend in, to only follow rules, or only to avoid negative judgment from others. I encourage you not to do that either. That sort of discourse is perpetuated in some toxic internet circles; not here.

The real reason I brought up judgment is that the dichotomy of expressing creativity and personality through clothing, while also being judged for it, is incredibly interesting to me. It’s what makes personal style and clothing so important to me. I now understand that I dress to express myself, and to show the world who I am; I know that I am being judged, but I trust that if I am true to myself, then the judgment will be positive from those who are important to me. If others judge me negatively, so be it; I accept their judgment and do not let it bother me. The kind of people who would do this are probably not important to me in the first place. It is truly freeing to dress for yourself, and only for others in the sense that you hope they see who you are.

Function versus fashion is another dichotomy worth writing about and exploring. There are those who treat clothing as a purely functional practice; clothing is not self-expression for them, it is simply a barrier between the skin and the outside world. It is warmth and dress code only. That is perfectly fine. These people certainly express themselves in other ways. There are also people who believe that stylish clothing is not functional. While there are some examples of this (I’m not going to go around town wearing spray-on fibers like Bella Hadid at Paris Fashion Week), plenty of fashion is inherently functional, and this argument often comes from those who do not care to put in the effort to develop personal style. Again, that is all fine and well. But to be honest with you, at the core of it, most of the time, dudes just be wearing shirt, pants, and shoes. Nothing super special or inherently non-functional about it.

With all that off my chest, let’s get to the point. The purpose of this essay is to 1) describe the journey that it took to get me to my sense of personal style, and 2) share with you how to define and dress in a way that you find cool, self-expressive, and stylish. In this essay, I will not go deep into my own personal style; it’s not necessary for the scope here. However, I will be writing another essay soon, and I’ll update this sentence with a link to that if you want to check it out.

So, let's get to the meat of this essay. Before I can tell you how to find your personal style, I must share some things about my personal journey. First, it takes time. The process cannot be rushed. I started gaining an interest in personal style about 2 years ago, and, in retrospect, I have only been dressing like me for the last year or so. I've been cultivating and refining this more and more with time; the journey is far from over, but I am now at a place where I've learned some things and I want to share them. So, let's dive into my journey. 

The Basic Bastard and its consequences to those seeking answers in clothing communities and guides on the internet [2014 – 2022]

A little over a decade ago, like many others, I stumbled upon the r/malefashionadvice subreddit through some post that had made it to r/all. I had just finished high school and was entering my undergrad studies. I was going through a phase change in life. I was young, single, and stupid. I started college, I started weightlifting, I started going to parties. I wanted to dress better to elevate my social life (and dating life); I wanted to dress to be respected. I took the MFA guides to heart, and followed them as gospel, especially The Basic Bastard. Slim fit OCBDs; slim fit chinos in every color imaginable; hauls from Uniqlo; dark indigo Levi's that were so tight on my legs I blew out the crotch. 

The 2017 version of The Basic Bastard.

The "MFA Uniforms" which prevailed on the internet in this era (and are exactly how I dressed in ~2014-2017).

I want you to understand that the ethos of internet fashion communities was much different a decade ago than today. Everything was a guide or an infographic; there was pressure to conform to the guides; if you weren’t following the Basic Bastard guide, you weren’t cool. Trends were also different back then; dressing like the Basic Bastard wasn’t exactly trendy, but it was better than your average dude who didn’t know anything about clothing. It is exactly what it is meant to be: a thoughtless uniform to wear that doesn’t look bad, but is not self-expressive.

A note: I created my own, updated version of The Basic Bastard in 2023, during a period where I was still developing my own personal style. I think this updated version is better, less restrictive, and much more up to date than the old version, and I do not regret writing it, but, in retrospect, I am writing this essay in a manner of “making up” for writing that guide. I no longer want to tell people how to dress; I now want to help people figure out how they want to dress. Hence this essay.

So, what’s wrong with just dressing following a Basic Bastard or Basic Wardrobe guide? Nothing, if you’re okay with it. Again, developing personal style is not for everyone. But if you’ve read this far, I assume you’re either curious about developing your own style, or you are somewhere along the journey already. The Basic Bastard is not wrong to follow, but it is limiting; if you only follow guides for clothing, you will stunt your own self-expression by denying yourself clothing that you feel is cool. Instead, I hope that people who read my guide treat it as a stepping stone of sorts; a place to start, that’s neutral and inexpressive, where you can branch out in an interesting direction, or have some clothing to fall back on when you don’t know what to wear. This is why I haven’t deleted my own guide in frustration.

I was a Basic Bastard from about 2014 until 2022. This is a shockingly long time; however, I was not focused on personal style for most of this period. I lost interest in MFA and stopped reading it entirely around 2016-2017; I started dating my now-wife, and I finished undergrad and started grad school; these took tons of time and energy. Productive, rewarding, and amazing endeavors, but not ones that allowed me the time to focus on myself. Clothing (and artistic creativity, and self-expression in general) was not a priority; I was too busy to focus on myself.

I do not have many pictures from this era because I did not take fit pics at all, either for MFA or for me personally. Many pictures of me are lost to old phones bricking, and most pictures of me are taken by other people, not myself. But here are a few examples I managed to dig up:

How I dressed in my Basic Bastard era. Top left: Target t-shirt, black Levi's 511, minimal white sneakers™ (Common Projects Achilles cheaper alternatives—these ones were thrifted Nikes); September 2014. Top right: Alpha Industries parka, indigo Levi's 511, and Red Wing Beckman boots (not shown); October 2016. Bottom left: Uniqlo blackwatch flannel, black Levi’s 511, the same white sneakers; October 2015. Bottom right: Levi’s commuter trucker in olive, Uniqlo gray buffalo check flannel, Uniqlo air stretch jeans, Red Wing moc toes (I was only trying these on; did not end up buying, thankfully); October 2014.

Getting back into things, finding myself lost, and getting roasted by strangers on the internet [2022]

About two years ago, I began another major phase change in life: I finished my graduate degree and got married within a span of a few months. With my dissertation defended and my wedding planned, I found myself with a bit more time and energy. With this new stability, I also began digging deep into myself - something I hadn't done in years. I asked myself many questions, like who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with my life. Answering these questions did not come quickly or easily.

At the same time, I started regaining an interest in getting back into clothing and personal style. I hopped back into MFA, looked at a recent WAYWT thread, and thought, “what the hell are these people wearing?” This was not the slim fit Basic Bastard MFA I was used to. These people were dressing… weird! Unique! I don’t understand it! I closed the browser window and thought that maybe MFA just wasn’t for me anymore.

But I was wrong. I went back and tried to read more and understand more; after all, if these outfits were highly upvoted, the community found value in them; and I trusted that there was something there. Around this time, I started posting fit pics to MFA. I thought I was hot shit; I thought my fits would be appreciated. I did not know that the community would immediately see them as outdated, Basic Bastard, “this dude read a ton of MFA in 2014-2016 and I can spot it from a mile away” outfits. I’ll also mention that I spent an embarrassing amount of money buying clothing in this era, most of which I do not wear anymore. Take it from me: go slow when developing your personal style. Stop wasting money on shit you don’t really like. I give myself grace for these “school fees,” and I have the privilege of having my basic needs fulfilled. But seriously, buy clothing slowly (in general), especially if you feel like you haven’t found your personal style yet.

But, posting fit was constructive, even though people on MFA were a little too nice, most of the time, to give me the criticism I needed to hear (“dude, stop dressing like you haven’t thought about clothing in a decade.”) There were occasions where I received some (mild) ribbing, or got shot down when I tried to draw comparisons between my bad outfits and others’ good outfits. This was harsh, but it was true, and I was aware I had a lot to learn from the weird, unique, interesting people who posted fit. I asked for feedback, and I got a little. I even reached out to some of them in DMs and got better, more personal feedback. The photos here are not good; my photography sense developed along with my fashion sense (you'll see below). These are also not good outfits, but it’s what I needed to do to get to where I am now.

How I dressed as I was starting to get back into clothing and starting to post fit on MFA. Top left: Gustin jacket, J Crew shirt, Levi’s 511, Thursday boots; December 2022. Top right: Gustin jacket, Gustin flannel, J Crew pants, Thursday boots; November 2022. Bottom left: Barbour jacket, Target henley, J Crew chinos, Oak Street Bootmakers loafers; November 2022. Bottom right: Taylor Stitch jacket, Target henley, Levi’s jeans, Rancourt ranger mocs; November 2022. Note: I now dislike the brand Gustin, and I now intensely dislike the brand Thursday Boots. More on this in the next essay.

Starting to learn [Jan 2023 – July 2023]

After enough feedback and enough browsing of inspiration, I finally started to try and figure out how I really wanted to dress. I began doing a bit of experimentation; copying other users, saving inspo pics, and, on rare occasion, putting together a half-decent outfit where my personality began to shine through. I created an MFA-specific alt account to post fit pics. I even began writing style guides, like the Basic Wardrobe post discussed above. I started thinking more and more about the clothes I wore and how I wanted to present myself. Don’t get me wrong, I was still posting a ton of bricks. But at the same time, I was finding myself. I learned a little about Ivy style and wanted to dress like that. I discovered I love wearing loafers. I started buying all of my clothing secondhand (I made a goal to buy only secondhand clothing as a New Year’s resolution for 2023; made it until July but broke it for a good reason; more on this in my next essay). I wrote a secondhand clothing guide, which I am still very proud of:

I saw others dressing in looser silhouettes and less slim pants, and I wanted to try that for myself. I even ended up in an inspiration album here or there.

While all this was happening, I started a Google Doc that really helped me start to nail things down. I had inspo, brands I liked, MFA posters whose fits really resonated with me, a cop list, and also a list of “stuff I’m not feeling” (workwear/heritage stuff, anything too preppy, etc.) This Google Doc helped me start to define what my style was, even if I couldn’t put my finger on it yet.

The Google Doc that helped me figure out my personal style.

Here are some outfits from this era. Looking back on these outfits, they are not awful; they are just not fully me yet. A work in progress. More intentional, but not yet focused. I started learning more about photography and being more thoughtful with some photos. I was making progress.

How I dressed as my personal style started to come into focus. Top left: Engineered Garments jacket, South2West8 shirt, Wings+Horns chinos, Alden loafers; January 2023. Top right: Universal Works jacket, Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, Brioni pants, Alden loafers; March 2023. Bottom left: Universal works jacket, J Crew sweater, Wings+Horns chinos, Alden loafers; January 2023. Bottom right: Levi’s shirt, Gustin tee, Patagonia baggies, Rancourt ranger mocs; April 2023.

Coalescence, growth, and a sharpening of focus [July 2023 – Present]

Posting fit on MFA kickstarted my sense of personal style; but what really helped me really light that fire, is that some weird stuff started happening with Reddit admins, and the MFA community moved off the subreddit and onto Discord. (Long story short, Reddit’s admins removed the entire MFA moderator team, who were protesting over reddit-wide changes. The mods were community stalwarts; when they were removed, the community at large followed. The MFA community now thrives on the Discord server, and the subreddit has not been the same since.) Being on Discord meant more talking to the community in a chatroom-like setting; more discussion of fashion with those who resonated with my personal style, more posting fit, and more getting feedback. It is here that I began to really feel like I was dressing like me. Dressing like Ben.

As I was doing this, I was also going through a period of self-discovery; in fact, learning how to style myself was an effect of this. As my image of who I am came into focus, so did my sense of how I wanted to dress; how I wanted the world to see me. I became less afraid to be my true self. I started loving how I dressed. I gained a new sense of confidence. I started growing out my hair. I took the lessons I’d learned regarding photography and used them to make better fit pics. I tried telling stories with my pictures; I stopped shooting with a barren wall behind me. The long story short is, I began to love myself, and unafraid to show the world who I really was. I ceased fearing being judged for being creative.

It took me so long to actually define my own personal style. I asked others on the Discord server; they didn’t know. I called it “soft gorp meets Ivy” and a number of other things, but I was never happy with the definition. Then, it finally came to me (and I'll discuss it in the next essay).

I couldn’t bring myself to choose just four photos to represent myself, so here are six.

The personal style that I’ve discovered for myself. Top left: Story mfg shirt, unknown shirt, Brooks Brothers linen shirt, Bronson mustard chinos, Rancourt ranger mocs; February 2024. Top middle: Yoshiyuki Konishi jacket, Brooks Brothers linen shirt, pearl necklace, Issey Miyake pleated trousers, Alden loafers; March 2024. Top right: Wythe hat, L.L. Bean barn jacket, Story mfg pullover, linen shirt, a bandana I stole from my wife, some Polo Jeans Co jeans that I ripped on accident then got patched, New Balance sneakers; April 2024. Bottom left: Wythe hat, vintage blazer, L.L. Bean shirt, milsurp OG507s, Alden loafers; April 2024. Bottom middle: Parks Project t-shirt, Polo Ralph Lauren shorts, Birkenstocks; April 2024. Bottom right: Kokun.in eco printed shirt, Story mfg t-shirt, Black Ficus linen pants, Kokun.in eco printed socks, Birkenstocks; April 2024.

So, now that you know way too much about me personally, how do you develop your personal style??

Not everyone needs to go on a soul-searching journey to figure out about themselves and figure out what to wear. Maybe you just want to put shit on. Maybe you’re just good at that, and that’s cool. But if you’re not sure of yourself yet and you want to figure things out about yourself, here’s what I’d recommend.

Post fit. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad. It doesn’t even have to be posted online. Just take pictures of your own outfits. I've posted and shared so many awful fits. Take fit pics, share them or don’t, but you must take them, or you’ll never see your own journey.

Write. Make a Google Doc of your own; write a version of this essay for yourself or for your journal; do whatever you need to do to process and understand yourself and your personal style. It is much more confusing when you keep it all in your head. Write down your thoughts, write down your favorite brands, and even write what you do and don’t like about your fits.

Discuss and research. Joining an online fashion community was essential in figuring out what I liked and didn’t like. Pretty much every brand I wear these days I found out through the MFA community. Collect inspiration. It is impossible to develop your personal style on your own; it is massively influenced by others (it's still yours, though). Check out brands that speak to you. Look at their lookbooks and socials. Ask communities about your style and see what you get if you bounce ideas off of others.

Put in the effort and take the time. This does not happen fast, and you can’t rush it. It does take effort. Everyone who dresses well has posted bricks and has purchases they regret. Be patient, and understand that this is a slow journey, and that nobody goes from knowing zero about clothing to having a unique and interesting personal style overnight, in a week, or even in a few months. This is a long process and I suggest taking it slowly. I especially suggest not buying a ton of clothing at the beginning of your journey, or you will end up with lots of clothing you don’t wear.

Listen to your heart, not just your brain. Fashion is not like an optimization problem where you can solve an equation and find a singular solution. Dress by feel; be vibes-based. You do not need to find the perfect, ideal pair of sneakers or the most cost-effective pair of raw denim or the highest quality to price ratio of leather boots. Well, maybe you do, if that is who you are. But try to prevent yourself from being overly cerebral about personal style. It may end up limiting your creativity and self-expression.

Find yourself. The hardest step of all. I didn’t know how I wanted to dress until I understood who I was. I accepted parts of myself that I’d been hiding from. I focused and spent time on myself. I poured my heart into creative outlets and figured out how my various hobbies overlap with fashion. I strongly believe that everyone has their own personal journey to make, and it is only along this journey, through plenty of self-expression, that a strong sense of unique personal style can be developed.

That’s all for now – you can catch me on Instagram or The MFA Discord to see more of my personal style, ask me questions related to this essay, or help figure out what personal style means to you.

Alterior/A Living Taste (Commercial Drive)
Well-curated nu-streetwear, menswear, and homewares store that I'd recommend for fans of Brain Dead, as it has that similar lineup of ideas from both "high" and "low cultures" ranging from handcrafted raw denim to extremely elevated graphic tees. The store also acts as the factory for their in-house brand, so you get a true intimate sense of who the staff are, their passions for fashion practices, and what their vision is going forward. Other recent additions have included an artfully curated library, a rock climbing program focussed on accessibility, and a very well selected vintage garms lineup.

Notable brands: Alterior, Better Gift Shop, All Caps Studio, CCP, Chillbies 

Roden Gray (Gastown, Richmond Center)
Menswear store dedicated to various facets of contemporary designer fashion. Effective jack-of-all-trades type of store where you’re bound to find an effective curated selection that represents the best in streetwear, techwear, and avant-garde.

Notable brands: A-COLD-WALL*, Aime Leon Dore, Canada Goose, Comme des Garcons (Shirt and Homme Plus), Craig Green, Dries Van Noten, ERL, Fear of God, Fumito Ganryu, Gentle Monster, Homme Plisse Issey Miyake, Jil Sander, John Elliott, Marni, Martine Rose, Readymade, Sacai, Saint Michael, Song for the Mute

Neighbour (Gastown)
Tons of Scandi and Scandi-inspired minimalism and elevated basics brands. If you’re looking for like, well-made earth tone colourways that make you look like a rich author, you go here. Three different locations across Gastown, with the largest dealing with menswear in particular and the other two tackling womenswear and homewear.

Notable brands: Bode, Acne Studios, Our Legacy, Needles, Orslow, Camiel Fortgens, Evan Kinori, Engineered Garments, Auralee

Wallace Mercantile (Main Street)
Kinda interesting because it’s like the same thing as Neighbour but with different brands. If I had to make a mention of anything that particular makes them stick out, it is their focus on diversity of semi-formal and hiking footwear.

Notable brands: Schnayderman’s, Andersson Bell, Knickerbocker, Solovair, Merrell, Hoka, Kleman

HAVEN (Railtown)
This is the store I think of when it comes to Vancouver’s primary tastes in fashion. A blend of high-end gorpier garms with a mixing in of pretty iconic Japanese brands. Olives, browns, greys, and blacks abound.

Notable brands: ACRONYM, Stone Island, Needles, Kapital, Cav Empt, Human Made, Visvim, Undercover, New Balance, Nike, HAVEN’s own in-house brand

Feuille Luxury (Downtown)
Menswear store that offers brands that show off the weirder side of contemporary streetwear. Many pieces are flashy, branded, or from extremely hyped brands. If you’re a person who doesn’t mind seeing Rick styled with Off-White, you may find a piece or two to add to the collection.

Notable brands: Ambush, Billionaire Boys Club, C2H4, Canada Goose, Casablanca, Chrome Hearts, Heron Preston, Juun.J, Kenzo, KidSuper, Moschino, Off-White, Palm Angels, Rhude, Rick Owens (Mainline and DRKSHDW)

/017 Shop (Downtown)
A few doors down from Feuille is /017 Shop, which is maybe the wildest selection in terms of clothing in the city. Many brands are uniquely sold by /017 in the city and often utilize flashy graphics or extremely unconventional silhouettes to demonstrate the forefront of exciting maximalist European and Asian fashion.

Notable brands: 99% IS, C2H4, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Doublet, Études, Feng Chen Wang, Heliot Emil, Helmut Lang, Hyein Seo, KIDILL, Maison Mihara Yasuhiro, MISBHV, Post Archive Faction, Y/Project

Leisure Center (Yaletown)
If you want fashion to feel like an exercise in either artistic presentation or being part of an exclusive club, Leisure Center is the place to go. This place does not fuck around with their presentation, making everything pristine, clean, and labyrinthine to maintain the essence of the store as an artistic space. I definitely recommend namedropping brand knowledge if you feel you’re getting judged. A blend of high-profile designer pieces as well as truly avant-garde brands you won’t find anywhere else in the city.

Notable brands: Ambush, Amiri, Ann Demeulemeester, Balenciaga, Balmain, Devoa, Elena Dawson, ERL, Gentle Monster, Guidi, Geoffrey B. Small, Lemaire, Loewe, m.a+, Maison Margiela (mainline and MM6), Marc Le Bihan, Marine Serre, mastermind (JAPAN and WORLD), Palm Angels, Song for the Mute, Uma Wang, Yohji Yamamoto, Ziggy Chen

KOKKO Luxury Boutique (Aberdeen Center)
Acts as an outlet for Leisure Center, essentially has very discounted prices on out-of-season pieces initially sold by LC.

Notable brands: See above.

Plus (Pacific Centre), Stay Fresh (Richmond Centre, Metrotown), 8PM Shop (Aberdeen Center), Heat Vault/NFS (Gastown), From Another (Gastown)
Jordans, Dunks, Supreme, Yeezys. Has it been hyped in the past 5 years? It’s there. Is it in your size? Of course not. Is it priced fair? What even is fair in the current resale market?! If you are looking to get anything that a true blue hypebeast desires, go to any of these stores and you’ll be satisfied. I will give a special shoutout mention to 8PM Shop though, for generally having a wider array of desirable items, like a pretty decent selection of Supreme goods, XVessel sneakers, and managing to be the only place I’ve seen in Vancouver with the mythical Red Octobers at one point. NFS has also surprised me with items like Evisu jackets and rare collab pieces. From Another is more in-line with the “Space Jam”/streetwear vintage shops.

Notable brands: Nike, Jordan Brand, Yeezy, Supreme, Fear of God Essentials

Blim (Chinatown)
Do you like popular culture and anime? Of course you do, you are between 13 and 30 years old and reading this post! A store dedicated to custom screenprints and buttons to really tap into that contemporary version of scene/goth stuff. Their dedication to this flashy aesthetic makes them an ascended Hot Topic in the best possible way. In addition, the owners have started sourcing vintage pieces from Japan, making them technically a vintage store like no other in the city.

Private and Co. (Chinatown)
I find this store really interesting and fun. A blend of raw denim enthusiast-core, with streetwear-oriented vintage resale, then a sneaker/video game resale section at the back. It’s like all of the interests a man can have in fashion in this city if we didn’t have hiking as our local pastime.

Notable brands: Momotaro, Japan Blue, Left Field

The Shop (Chinatown)
If you want the rawest denim and leathers you can find in Vancouver, come here. Extremely high pricepoints for extremely well-made garments that will be sure to get you some fire reacts in MFAD. Opening and closing times are weird though, I think I’ve only seen this store open once when walking past it.

Notable brands: Iron Heart, Schott, TCB, Wesco, Y-2 Leather

Gravitypope (Gastown (footwear only), Kitsilano)
One in every Canadian city, elevated basics and footwear boutique.

Notable brands: Beams Plus, Arc’teryx, Acne Studios, Church’s, Camper, Ami, A.P.C., Nike, New Balance, Adidas, Blue Blue Japan,

Livestock (Chinatown)
Author’s favourite “sneaker boutique” in the city due to carrying some neat brands.

Notable brands: Brain Dead, Parra, Carhartt WIP, Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Yeezy, ASICS, CDG Homme, Awake NY, Salomon, Dr. Martens, Hoka, And Wander

Size? (Robson Street)
Sneaker boutique.

Notable brands: Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas, Yeezy, New Balance, ASICS, Salomon, Gramicci, Fred Perry, Carhartt WIP, HUF, MARKET, The North Face, Pleasures

Corner Store Vancouver (Main Street)
Sneaker boutique. Extension of Complex Clothing in Victoria.

Notable brands: Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas, New Balance, Stussy, Pleasures

Dipt City Kicks (Downtown)
Sneaker boutique. Lotsa Grizzlies merch and Vancouver-inspired apparel, as well as a decent number of sneaker books.

Notable brands: Nike, Jordan Brand, New Balance

CNTRBND (Gastown)
High fashion/sneaker boutique that is slowly trickling in product from their more established Toronto location. Across the street from Neighbour Men and Roden Gray.

Notable brands (currently): Nike, Jordan Brand, Suicoke, Just Don, 424, Advisory Board Crystals, Raf Simons, Ami, Emotionally Unavailable, Jacquemus

The Block (Gastown)
Another elevated basics place but with some kooky womenswear thrown in for some zest.

Notable brands: A.P.C., Filippa K, Henrik Vibskov, Universal Works

Bacci’s (Granville)
Womenswear and homeware store which feels like an effective counterpart to Roden Gray.

Notable brands: Dries van Noten, J.W. Anderson, Jacquemus, Marni, Simone Rocha, Yohji Yamamoto (Y’s and Y-3)

Granville Island Hat Shop (Granville Island)
It’s a hat store! It’s got hats! Real nice ones! I don’t know much about hats!

Notable brands: Goorin Bros., Kangol (probably more on the website, but I really really don’t know about hats like that)

Dutil (Gastown)
Raw denim place that’s great for entry-level denimheads. Lots of Naked and Famous and Nudie and apparently they do some repairs there too?

Notable brands: Naked and Famous, Nudie Jeans, Iron Heart, Tiger of Sweden, Pure Blue Japan

Hills of Kerrisdale (Kerrisdale, Kitsilano)
Very strong store that has been around for a long long time. That is, if you’re interested in a lot of #menswear type of stuff from the early 2010s. This is not my bag but I appreciate what they do from afar.

Notable brands: Filson, Gitman Bros. Vintage, Patagonia, Naked and Famous, Nudie Jeans, Tiger of Sweden, Birkenstock, Clarks

Out and About (Gastown)
Japanese homewares store with some neat womenswear and accessories to boot. Very nice, very vibey.

Notable brands: Blue Blue Japan, Rototo, Danton, 7115 by Szeki

Vintage Shops:
Distinguishing between vintage stores in terms of what they generally offer is kind of a hard thing to tackle. So what I’ll do is have a legend for if I find them to be more general (1), streetwear-oriented (2) or designer resale-based (3).

KAMUY (Gastown) 1-3 (Amazingly curated Americana and workwear-oriented shop run by a true enthusiast of the form, highly recommended)
tthhaannkkss (Gastown) 1-3 (If you like Y2K and some of the more wacky futuristic sides of contemporary streetwear, give this spot a look)
Kool Thing Vintage (Chinatown) 1
Ollies (Commercial Drive) 2 (Oriented towards skater styles, has cool vintage sneakers you won’t find anywhere else in the city)
Woo Vintage Clothing (Main Street) 1
Little Miss Vintage (Commercial Drive) 1
Mintage Mall (Main Street, Commercial Drive, and Robson Street) 1
F as in Frank/Rag Machine (Main Street, Gastown) 1-2
Stoxx Vintage (Kingsgate Mall, Metrotown) 2
Rewind Resale (Main Street, White Rock) 1-3
Turnabout Resale (Main Street, Commercial Drive, Kitsilano) 1-3
Front & Company (Main Street) 1
Gore St. Vintage (Chinatown) 2
Burcu’s Angels (Fraser Street) 1
Bohemia Gallery (Main Street) 1
The Value Village by Richmond Centre (Richmond) 1
Lines Vintage (Main Street) 1
Forestera Vintage (East Hastings) 1
Erin Templeton (Chinatown) 1 (Has tons of leather goods and blankets to choose from)
Vancouver Vintage Market (Commercial Drive) (only open on weekends) 1-2
Orange Crush Velvet Vintage and Books (New Westminster) 1 (Solid curation and book selection, owner is local upcycler Shawna McLellan who makes a good jacket or two!)
The Only Vintage (Commercial Drive) 1
Leo’s Clothing Supply (Granville Strip) 1 (Took the space of an old camera store on the Granville Strip, newly opened with lots of room, potential to have more go on in the space)
Community Thrift and Vintage (Gastown) 1

Happy shopping!

Join the discussion

Smiles(@smiiles.)

The brick was when I was doing maximalism bad. I wanted my outfits to be loud (and I still do) but I leaned to hard on having lots of loud pieces, which just clashed and ruined the fit. Revisiting it, I smoothed out the color scheme to be very focused on earth tones, which helped integrate the shoes (as does the full break, reducing how loud they are) and jacket without overpowering or clashing. The pants were simplified because the camo jacket is the focal point of the fit. However the interesting shoes work with the cohesive color scheme without being distracting.

GSH(@bigelow_)

Brick pic is my first WAYWT I posted after getting back into MFA after a long break. It's not the worst fit I've ever posted - the idea is there, but there are definitely some issues - biggest ones being a dated trouser silhouette and lack of cohesion between the henley and the bottom half. I went back to my bedroom mirror for my flip, where I've updated the trouser silhouette, swapped the henley for a tucked OCBD, and finished it with some shell Aldens. I think the main thing I've learned is: big pant good.

charli sexcx (@sharloy)

I’m taking creative liberties on this one. I don’t own any of the pieces on the old one so I’m just gonna go with shirt showing under a knit sweater, jeans, and slightly dressy shoes. Left is a product of the time done badly. Right is a product of the time that may or may not be done ok.

mewball (@mewball)

6 years ago versus now. I don’t own anything like this crap anymore so I took the liberty of reinterpreting “jacket tee with jeans in boots”

artvandelayimporting(@artvandelayexporting)

here's my brick - my first post to mfa in november of last year (it made top of waywt which just goes to show how different the sub is from the disc). Early into exploring the 'aime leon dore at home' ivy/prep style I've been living in lately, I think the color scheme is there (and the varsity jacket is one of my fav pieces) but the attention to detail and piece selection/fit is lacking. Swapping the sl*m fit uniqlo chinos for my surplus fatigues really improves the silhouette imo. I also elected to swap the graphic t and cdg cons for an ocbd/fun tie + loafers to lean heavier into the ivy-ness of this.

Original Walter(@walter_crunkite)

OG fit could probably be improved with some small tweaks but I’ve always disliked it, the proportions and fit are all off and the cons look goofy with cropped pants. Hard to tell but I’m wearing cords in the original hence the wrinkly ones in the new fit. Probably wouldn’t wear these shoes with the new one but I wanted the continuity of white cons in both. Closest thing I have to a blue open collar flannel is this CPO jacket.

Weeg(@mrweeg)

So i picked this fit cause it holds a special place in my heart as the fit that got scraped off reddit and posted on 4chan to make fun of me. I honestly dont see it as too much of a brick but a big challenge of all this is picking a fit that is actually adaptable. I think the updated version fixes a lot of the issues in terms of silhouette and general interestingness of the fit. The shoes arent sticking out like a sore thumb anymore. The pants arent all carroty and cropped. I actually think the updated fit has some issues too though. Primarily just when would i actually wear this out in my daily life. Possibly a better update for daily wear would have been with a cream turtleneck or ditched the tie entirely.

dosius(@dosius)

I know this fit is dead simple, but I think it's a great example of how much small details matter. The first fit is from 2016 and really isn't me. I don't think super skinny silhouettes are very flattering on my body, and I think the chelseas have a really weird, pointy shape. Although the combination is fine on paper, it's an example of me not paying attention to fit and how much that changes the way an outfit actually looks. The new fit is a lot more my speed. The jeans fit better, and are more interesting (raw hem gang) and the t shirt is more flattering for my physique. I slapped my new cowboy boots in there (thanks to bishopcorrigan for the recommendation of Bushwick Beacon's Closet!) and I feel that the whole thing is a lot more coherent and has a bit less of Jonas Brother lite vibes.

De La Joel(@delajoel)

I picked this fit from 2019 because it was one of my first attempts at trying to incorporate sandals into “smarter” looks, something I’m still trying to perfect to this day.

Bond(@bondvivant)

Brick is from 2012. I was really into 'timeless style', which led to a whole era of unfortunate fits. For the update, I tried to keep many of the same elements, like the white shorts and the boat shoes. The colorful beaded necklace stands in for the tie. The seersucker jacket is actually the same one from the brick fit. It's part of a Ralph Lauren Rugby suit that I managed to hang on to all this time.

bchanx(@bchanx)

Instructions unclear, bricked it again

first fit was one of my earliest mfa waywt posts circa 2021. original fit was very bland, but i thought the double shirt layering was really interesting and wanted to give it another try. stuck with a monochrome palette (gray this time), but tweaked a few things:

• more contrast via tones and textures (this didn’t really photograph well, big part of the problem)

• contrasting collars (spread + band)

• higher waisted pants for a more interesting visual break w/ the half tuck

• looser pants for a more balanced silhouette

• a tiny bit of accessorizing

still don't think the fit is too great, shirts are a bit boring and the overall tones and textures aren't interesting enough to make the monochrome work. i also don't wear/own many button ups, so i handicapped myself with very limited selections. lemme know if you have more ideas on how this fit could be improved!

rej(@_rej)

OG pic 5/30/2019 - deep in denial that I was still a Medium. Slim/tapered pants, snug denim jacket with a plain black tee 'for contrast'. too much going on, generally everything too snug. Updated pic lends itself probably more to a f/w fit - I don't own grey chinos anymore, so I've substituted wool trousers that I've dug out of the cool weather bins. Black cotton flannel and a looser fitting denim jacket up top. Overall following the trend of looser clothing than MFA past. white sneaks for a 1:1, chunky black loafers for how i'd probably choose to wear this these days.

digs(@digdug04)

Original brick is about two years old, I had just started getting into vintage and fashion and while i’m proud of myself for making an attempt, I had no real direction or idea of what look I wanted to achieve. I recall just kind of throwing this together and hoping it worked. The huaraches and yellow sock were a major miss on this one and the uniqlo linen pants didn’t really work with the more fall centric top half, also they were too slim.
In the re-try i switched out the huaraches for loafers and went with more classic white socks, i don’t have ecru pants anymore so i substituted for 40’s officer chino’s which I think balanced my bottom half a lot better. Same jacket used and substituted the untucked western shirt for a vintage chambray tucked in and wanted to add just a little flair so i opted for a neckerchief. I think this came out quite a but better although I think getting some wider fitting ecru pants would maybe work a little better. Also I don’t pose as weird anymore haha

meatwater(@audofwar)

Original brick from 2020. Just a boring silhouette and an early accessory/hat attempt. The pants are a bad fit and the raincoat thing is bleh. At this time I was trying to figure out how to dress casually (and it took me a while longer to get there).

The new fit has a lot more silhouette elements and interesting details within each piece. I find if each element is a little funky then adding weird things to a fit still feels cohesive instead of the classic "I paired my bold item with basics to make it wearable". I no longer have a blue sweater, so I'm using my distressed dickey thing as a blue element. I could have worn my white converse here since I still have them, but I didn't want to add another focal point to distract from the blue.

upsett1_spaghett1(@upsett1_spaghett1)

This brick is from 2021. I still love the Kapital bucket and OrSlow cords, but the shirt wasn’t working. Unfortunately I don’t have these Paraboot Michaels anymore since they were too small and I sold them, however I got these Paraboot Reims recently in a better size and they’re pretty damn fun.

bishopcorrigan(@bishopcorrigan)

The colors on the brick are so ass, fit on the pieces is fine to too slim, and the proportions are boring to bad. Took me a minute to figure out something that was passable and still had continuity, mostly because I don’t own much red and it really is a bad choice for a base layer/overshirt/jacket setup. I probably wouldn’t go for the new fit in another circumstance but I think it’s a solid flip attempt

narwhal(@narwhalspal)

Sometimes in life we make mistakes. We learn to accept them and move on. We forgive ourselves. But some mistakes are so egregious and so tragic, that they must be remedied, not for the benefit of others, but to exorcise the demons that have come to haunt our every moment, making life a waking nightmare, full of glowering shadows and weird smells. Here’s an outfit I tried to make better. At the time, the pants seemed pretty loose, but I think they’re off balance. Logically, I took it to the other extreme. I don’t know what happened to the sequoia tee and, honestly, I don’t know where I got it or if I ever really had it. Finally, I added a cap, because I read that the demons may try to re-enter through the scalp. Keen eyes will observe that my Companion Chair has changed and the snake plant is drooping from being overwatered. Another mistake.

chase_vv(@chase_vv)

first pic from six years ago, second one from today. Same basic elements. Brooks bros OCBD, Jeans, Paraboots. Main improvement is now my face isn't blurry. And my hair has grown out. I now use bags to carry stuff and I like hats now bc hats are cool. OCBD is solid blue slim fit (cringe) and I hemmed it to MFA standard mid-fly which I now regret. I actually only just donated that shirt a couple weeks ago it's just been sitting at the back of my closet "just in case". The new one is striped, beefier feeling, and a longer more relaxed fit. Jeans were N&F double indigo and also p slim (cringe). And suuuper dark and unfaded. I'm glad I've since learned that fading my own jeans is never going to happen and now I just steal the fades of others at the thrift store. New jeans are old 505's from the bins and nice and wide which supports the paraboots much better. That first pic was around the time i found the paraboots and i feel like i just didn't know what to do with them yet which is why i consider the first one a brick despite it's relative inoffensive-ness.

TGO(@.tgo)

The first one is a botched but decent idea. What I was going for, was an oversized sweatshirt with the underlayer peaking through and sweatpants with sneakers. Where I went wrong was that the sweatshirt wasn't oversized, the underlayer was closer in color to the sweatpants and it looks sloppy and the sweatpants were.. well, very slim. The sneakers are ultraboosts which is a whole nightmare in itself. The second one, imo, achieves what I'm going for - better sweatshirt (entirestudios), better underlater, better sweatpants (braindead) and better sneakers. Proportions work better too

jimi(@e30ultra)

2019 vs today. in the original fit i was just doing WAYYY too much. the beige rafs didn't work with the white shirt. the jacket was wack. pinstriped pants with a loud shirt was wack. for the redo, i just dialed everything back and let the shirt do all the work

s0up(@s0up2715)

Nowhere near the standard of the outfits already posted but I'll get involved. This outfit is probably quite dated in terms of larger/wider fits but I've only recently started actually paying attention to what I wear and started moving towards pants/jeans that aren't simply whatever I can find that fit in TK Maxx.

The left are clothes I grabbed on the way to work but realised that I didn't like the black shoes & black band tee with the jeans and flannel. Too much dark colours I think. Swapped the band shirt for a plain white tee and the black vans for some beige. Much happier with how this looks as an outfit now.

charlie(@divineeprovidence)

Dug up this pic from 2017! And I cannot stress this enough: the outfit on the left is not a work uniform. I just looked like that. Aside from the fact that wearing a baseball cap and jacket in matching colors makes you look like you just clocked in at the pizza mines, the racing stripe, choker, Nike lows, and stretch distressed jeggings are so dated to the "Instagram baddie" era of teen fashion.  I got rid of all of the original items a long time ago, so I tried to interpret them as best I could with my current wardrobe (red baseball cap, red jacket, distressed jeans, black (p)leather shoes). This is 100% an outfit I would wear in my current day-to-day life, and although it will probably look similarly dated in six years, I don't think it'll induce the same level of embarrassment.

TheThrill(@7samimk)

This jacket was one of my first EG pieces back in 2019 and I figured since it is a relatively subtle EG piece that I could just incorporate it in with some workwear type stuff i already have in my wardrobe. While I don't think that idea is totally off base, i think the execution here was poor. In particular, the color scheme, the chino fit, the proportions, and the shoe choice all could be better.

I think the new fit improves upon the orignal in all these areas.

color: The original chinos were very dark olive and a lighter shirt would have been a nice contrast.

fit: replaced the slim chinos for a pair of looser fatigues.

proportion: the base layer was too close to the hemline of the jacket. i added an EG shirt here to get some of that reverse layering.

Shoes: i these alden boots were a little too smart for this outfit, a chunkier shoe/boot would have been better. i also don't like this specific tan and olive combo for some reason. Think these chucks fit in much better. also considered some chunky EG x sebagos or paraboots.

raisin(@raisinpie)

This fit was from 2018 or 2019. I had to do this one because the Forever 21 bomber was my first ever Grailed purchase! Back then I was really into r/streetwear and contrasting jackets over monochrome fits. Super high cuffs to show off statement socks was also a thing. It's really bad. For one thing, the fit wasn't cool enough on its own for the contrasting jacket to work. I still have the jacket, so I just swapped the other pieces for more on trend fit and styling. I don't think the red bomber + blue jeans combo works on anybody though, it's a tough pairing. I know I'll keep that jacket forever for nostalgia

fauxhemian(@fauxhemian)

I am not sure I'm yet at a point where I could take a brick and not just turn it 360 into another one, but here it goes. I have several chambray/denim bricks, so it seems like a fitting (no pun) place to start. The OG photo is mid/late 2010s and I was wearing things at the time on the slimmer side, sort of following the advice/trends of the time. My wardrobe has slowly changed into having similar pieces that I feel have a better fit with my body type, and are more comfortable/less restricting.

For the shirt I went unbuttoned and with a white tee under, to at least have a mid level of interest in the fit with the layering.

The jeans, besides the comfort aspect, I left unrolled as the OG definitely has some weird PSI (a term I learnt of here in the last few days).

Shoes are a 1:1 swap of my dailys from then to now.

…and the top 3 flipped bricks as voted by MFA

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​

WHAT

…Is proxying?

Proxying is the practice of buying something on a domestic market and get it sent to you by a third-party service or a person (like a friend) who lives there.

…do I proxy?

Although the Japanese fashion market is big, the style that I am most experienced with is casual wear inspired by vintage American clothing. It’s often dubbed “workwear” but that’s a bit of a misnomer, because the umbrella also covers other genres such as military, western wear and sports wear. If you’re not familiar with that style, many American brands also operate in that niche. Feenote Cloth, Imogene + Willie and 3Sixteen are notable examples. The denim industry, especially, is thriving in Japan.

Also socks. Japan has a few good socks brands such as AnonymousIsm and Rototo. They’re not cheap but they’re not prohibitively expensive either. I buy almost all my socks this way.

​

WHY

…is it a good idea to proxy clothes from Japan?

Japan has a really interesting domestic fashion industry and if you’re not familiar with it, it’s a story for another day. Made in Japan (MiJ) goods are often imported internationally but the markup is typically much lower in Japan, for whatever reason I don’t really know. I heard Derek Guy mention at some point that culturally, the retail markup in Japan was lower than in Europe and North America. I have no idea if this is based on facts. You can also add that imported goods often come with the added cost of duties.

The Japanese garment manufacturing industry is very well integrated in many regards, as Japan also has a very lively fabric trade.

This means that it’s cheaper to buy stuff from Japan in Japan in many if not most cases.

​

HOW

…does ones buy from the global ecommerce platform of a Japanese retailer?

There are many ways to go at it. The easiest way is not to proxy per se but to buy from Japanese stores that have a global shipping program. Sometimes their shipping program is very generous, with the international shipping being much less expensive than it is from the EU, or even the non-free shipping you have to pay for items on a second-hand or an auction site.

…does one buy from a Japanese retailer with no global ecommerce platform?

The other way is to use a proxy service, such as Buyee, FromJapan or Zenmarket. Those services are built around an interface with which you can navigate Japanese auction sites – the most famous being Yahoo! Japan and Mercari, as well as major online retailing platforms such as Rakuten and Rakuma. You can also find an item on a Japanese-language site that does not seem to ship internationally and ask the proxy service to buy the item on your behalf through an interface integrated to their site. The proxy fees in general are small. I tracked them for a while and decided not to because it wasn’t a relevant amount. I don’t recall the fees ever reaching 5% of the price of an order I made.

After this, the packages are sent to the warehouse of the proxy service and you select a method of shipping that works for you. One of the keys to a good value is to group smaller purchases in a bigger bundle, to pay a better price on international shipping.

​

WHERE

… to buy direct? These sites have an English-language interface

TCB Jeans

Rodeo Pine-Avenue

Hinoya

Klax-On

Bears Tokyo

…to proxy for auction sites and large scale platforms?

OneMap by From Japan (Formerly only known as From Japan)

Buyee

ZenMarket *disclaimer, I don't use Zen Market myself*

…to shop independently, leveraging the personal shopping services offered by proxy services?

(Stores I’ve used in the past 12 months through a proxy service or the help of a friend)

Kapital

Black Sign

Canvas

Festina Lente

Edifice

Miyoshiha

Refalt

Crouka

Rococo

Belmani

​

WHEN

…should you be proxying clothes?

It’s a year long endeavor. The Japanese fashion industry doesn’t seem to follow the seasonal sales cycles with consistency. You can find sales every now and then but I’ve never seen things like a site-wide deep discount.

The Yen is weak right now, so it's a better time than in the past few years to do it.

​

WHO

…is this for?

Someone who enjoys trial and error.

Someone who likes a good deal.

Someone who likes their measurements.

Someone who’s not afraid of reselling something that didn’t work out.

Someone who doesn’t put a lot of importance on tagged sizes, as the tagged sizes on Japanese clothes are often dramatically different than on American clothes, and even European clothes.

​

#Notes and Words of Warning#

_Language

A lot of websites you’ll end up visting are in Japanese and not in English. This is much easier to do from a personal computer than a phone, thanks to the translation features included in many web browsers. You can do it form a phone, but the user experience is not as good.

_Taxes and Duties

In the USA, packages worth less than $800 are typically exempt from taxes and duties. I don’t know the extent of this, as I do not live in the USA. If you live anywhere else, expect to have to pay sales tax. In Canada where I live, this has became much less expensive than in the past where a $50 CAD processing fee would often be added. While this doesn’t appear to be the case anymore, I have been consistently billed all due taxes on the declared amount + a small processing fee by Fedex, the transporter I have been using most.

_Proxy Fees

Do know that proxy sites do not deduce the sales tax from the amount that’s charged to you, as opposed to what most international sites do. I strongly suspect that they do ask for a deduction but they keep it and it’s the largest part of their fee. This means you are taxed twice, but it’s still cheaper, and by a lot.

_Exclusions

Some stores and brands, among which the Iron Heart flagship, do not accept to sell domestically to a proxy service. You have to get those goods through a friend or on a second-hand site.

_Time constraint

Proxying can take a while in comparison to direct buying, especially if you use cheaper international parcel delivery options. If the E in ecommerce stands for emmediately, the P in proxy stands for patience.

​

​

Happy proxying!

https://reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/comments/sar0zq/_/htvnjc7/?context=1

Now then, let’s start with figuring out your body measurements and the measurements of the garments that properly and comfortably fit you.

1. Get a soft measuring tape. Seriously, get one.

2. Measure your body: your waistline (around your navel), hips at the widest part, and thighs. These are the most crucial measurements right now.

3. Figure out garment measurements that work for you:

Method A

With your measuring tape in hand, go to a Levi’s or any store that has true high-rise pants; if don’t have a Levi’s or such a store around you, don’t worry, I have an alternative process following this one.

• Ask for Levi’s original 501s and any other high-rise models they have. You might have to play around with the sizing, depending on the cut/style of jeans.

• Make notes on the pairs that sit at your natural waistline (where your navel is). Lay those pieces down flat and measure the front rise: from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband. This will give you a really good indicator on the exact rise lengths than work for your body.

Method B

If you don’t have any stores with high-rise pants around you: grab your best fitting pants, put them on, and measure from the top of your waistband to your navel. Lay the pants down flat and measure the front rise, from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband, and then add however many inches it is from the top of the waistband to your navel. That is going to be the measurement of the front rise to look for.

• Since you’re probably going to be online shopping in this scenario, always look for sizing charts. Email companies that don’t have them and ask for charts for the specific pants you’re eyeing, if you’re really interested in what they have. The more details, the better. Sizing charts on Stan Ray’s US website are a good example of this.

• Take a look at the exchange and returns policies of any store you’re wanting to shop from. This phase might have a lot of trial and error for you, so you want to make it as easy and smooth a process as possible.

• Whenever you get a pair of pants, you really want to take notes on the measurements, how they look, and how they fit and feel.

Keep in mind that, depending on your body and what looks most flattering on you, good-looking high-rise pants may not necessarily sit on your natural waistline; they could sit a little higher or lower. And on that note: depending on your body, certain cuts will look more flattering than others. Again, make note of the best cuts for you. Once you know your body measurements, the garment measurements, and the cuts and rises that work for you, it’ll be a whole lot easier to shop for pants. At this stage, you should be able to immediately tell if a piece is even worth considering.

Alterations and Fit

Now you need to find a good tailor for alterations, because you will need one. A lot people don’t fit the ideal body proportions that ready-to-wear garments are designed for, and if you’re the type of person who struggles with finding flattering and comfortable clothing, then the importance of a good tailor cannot be stressed enough. Here’s the good thing about Levi stores: they do in-house alterations, from what I remember, at no extra cost. This way you can get the exact look and fit you want if the pants they have fit your waist, but are in need of being taken in, hemmed, etc.

Speaking of alterations, if you’re a person with a more…ample seat area, turn around and look at your backside when trying on pants. Yes, this is actually important when trying on high-rise pants, because depending on the pattern and how they’re cut, you might have a visual atomic wedgie happening and you wouldn’t even feel it. A good tailor can work their magic to fix that issue.

Lastly, length and break on pants. Everyone has their preferences, but my personal recommendation is to go for nice clean lines with no breaks (right around the middle of your ankle bone or a little longer, depending on how full of a cut your pants are).

Recommendations

1. Levi’s. They don’t have a whole lot of truly high-rise jeans, but their original 501s and their so high boot cuts tend to work for a lot of folks.

2. Stan Ray. This is such an easy recommendation, because about two thirds of their pants are high-rise, so you’re bound to find something that works. Again, check the charts.

3. Carhartt WIP. They have a number of really high-rise pieces, if you include the women’s section, and they honestly all have a similar look across the board, so it doesn’t matter anyway. I was actually surprised. A redditor told me about them, but I had to email Carhartt WIP to know which models were high-rise and have them send me the charts, otherwise it would have been a guessing game. I say everyone should email them until they include a high-rise filter and add sizing charts for all their pants.

Well, that’s all folks. I really hope this guide helps people out with getting into high-rise, and that it helps them develop their style even more.

We’ve all had moments where something you bought a long time ago (or yesterday) just isn’t working for you. Thanks to my packrat nature, I’m loathe to get rid of that stuff, so I always try to find a way to make it work for me, this post is half guide, half archive of how those experiments have gone for me.

Part one: Styling

The first way to bring life into your wardrobe without buying anything, is doing some experimentation. Maybe stuff you got tired of will excite you again if you wear it in a wildly new way.

The examples I chose for this are these two Rogue Territory pieces that I got so long ago that my camera looked like shit and my slim raw jeans had no holes in them. This picture is circa 2014. In the intervening near decade, I’ve found both pieces to be a little slim and a little stuffy for my tastes, but I like them well enough that I haven’t been able to sell them, so I challenged myself to make them work. I wanted to pull the pieces into the more fashion forward/casual era I’m in right now.

The pants are doing a lot of work here but buttoning the jacket differently also changes how the piece feels.

Not actually wearing the jacket makes the slim fit unimportant, the jacket just ends up being fabric.

In this one the jacket becomes the super dressed down element to go with the ball cap.

Again the pants and boots are carrying here dressing down the stiffness of the shirt.

This one is the farthest from how I would have worn this shirt in the past, pulling on more streetwear elements and the workwear elements that streetwear likes to pull on.

Part two: Modifying.

When wearing it whacky style isn’t enough, make stuff your own.

These are two uniqlo short sleeves shirts I was given as a gift, they started out long and boxy and awkward, I didn’t ever wear them and I never got rid of them. The first one I cropped by a whopping 7 inches bringing it all the way up to my beltline. The second one I did the same but instead of chopping off the excess, I turned it into large pockets on the front, a fun unique detail that makes it something special.

This is about as simple a sewing project can be assuming you have a machine. Measure while wearing, mark with pins or marking chalk, give yourself enough room to fold the fabric over at least once and cut. Iron really well, that’s the most important part for doing a neat job, and sew.

This one was a bit more involved but not by much, I followed the curved hem with my stitches on the back and sewed up along the side seams and the placket to make the pockets on the front. The last button was also moved and handsewn back on.

Next project was a used jumpsuit from the hardware store. I had no plan when I bought it, just thought it would be a fun project, and starting with fully constructed garments takes out a huge amount of work as far as making something unique.

I basically just chopped it in half and finished the hem of the jacket, then rebuilt the seat of the “pants” so they would fit better. They had a lot of extra fabric in the crotch that made them hang really strangely so I would just put them on inside out, pin a new line for the seat, sew it, cut off the excess, try on, repeat until satisfied. It was laborious but not particularly difficult. Then I moved the back pockets to the front, as the original pockets became part of the rolled top.

I chopped the jacket a little short on this one but it still works depending on the rest of the fit, they look best as a set though IMO.

Based on the jacket I made a super simple jacket out of dropcloth with a little bit less of a crop. This is obviously a much bigger undertaking, but dropcloth is cheap, and something with this type of very oversized, boxy cut is pretty forgiving, if anyone wants some tips on how to do something like this in more detail, let me know, but I am no means a talented maker of clothing.

I made some pants to match but lost them at some point.

Next up, another jumpsuit I saw at the thrift and couldn’t resist.

Unfortunately the fit was super awkward and I never found a good way to wear it. So I took out the seam ripper and went at it.

There was already a seam at the perfect spot so I just took it out and cut the placket and the jacket was done, the pants were a little more work.

I added 2 pleats in the front and 2 in the back so they fit in the waist.

Then did a little finagling to turn the weird button/zip situation into a slightly strange version of a normal zipper fly + button. Still need to finish the top of the waistband by just folding the edge in and sewing a top stitch all the way around, but they work great as is so I haven’t gotten around to it.

I’m super happy with this one, both pieces are super unique and they work as well separate as apart.

Last thing for this section are the two suits I thrifted. The pants of both have become some of my favorites, super wide and drapey and subtle put interesting fabrics.

These are both absolutely massive, the pants were about 8-10 inches too big and the jackets are David Byrne level. All of the work on these two so far was just hand sewing with a needle and thread. It helps to have tweezers or pliers as well because you’re going through quite a lot of fabric to form the extra pleats without taking off the waistband. The first thing I did was add extra pleats in the pants to make them fit in the waist.

The back pleats on the first pair were a little awkward but I figured out a neater method for the second.

I also sewed in the cuffs on the grey pair to keep them neatish.

(The brown jacket hasn’t made it into one of my fits yet so thanks charlie for this one)

So yeah maybe you don’t need to buy a whole bunch of shit yet, go check that closet out again and see if you can make some magic happen with what you’ve got.

thanks for reading….

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I bought some pants the other day and I really like them a lot, so here I am writing about them in an ~effortpost~. I've very deliberately decided not to call this a review -- while Reddit's review culture has a lot of benefits, at this stage in my clothing journey, I find some items of clothing at a certain price point to be nuanced enough that simply listing specs of a garment is a bit of a disservice to it and the subtleties of its design. Of course, this doesn't apply to every piece of clothing, but I think it does to this one, and I hope to show you why in a bit, if you have the patience to deal with my excessive wordiness.

So why these pants, anyway?

I'm so glad you asked.

I was hunting around for a pair of wider pants in a flowier fabric to go with the most recent development of my personal style. I've gone through a whole style journey across the past 9 years of being into clothing, starting with poring over nearly every link in the MFA sidebar way back when. I settled into tailoring and classic menswear as my thing for a good 4 or 5 years after brief stints with heritage workwear, raw denim and an extremely brief gothninja phase.

Since rejoining MFA again after a hiatus over at StyleForum, I've found my tastes becoming wider and wider (based), and drifting towards the easy elegance characterized by some of my favourite labels such as Stòffa, Lemaire, and Saman Amel. Stòffa and Saman Amel approach this confidently relaxed air from a more tailored clothing standpoint, and Lemaire's items have more roots in workwear and military, but they all tend to have a relatively neutral colour palette and are characterized by their emphasis on drape and silhouette providing subtle twists on more classic pieces.

I recently purchased a pair of olive Engineered Garments Deck Pants which are great for a more milsurp take on wide pants, but they don't quite give the flow and relaxed nature that I'd want from a Stòffa-like piece. And so, I decided to stop into Lost & Found in downtown Toronto to see what they might have to offer.

Confessions of a Fabric and Sizing Nut -- A Quick Aside on Shopping in Person

I've learned over the years that fabric plays a massive role in how a garment behaves. I may be especially particular about this given that I have relatively sensitive skin and that my sense of touch is pretty finely tuned as a result of my career. Despite this, however, how a fabric behaves will determine a lot about the characteristics of a piece: how warm or cool it wears, whether it flows or stays stiff, whether it's matte and understated or shiny and slick and attention-grabbing.

Because of this huge variation in how clothing can be with fabric, I make it a personal point to almost exclusively shop in person. I hate the process of returns -- it's hopelessly inefficient and a big hassle for both customers and companies alike. If I'm buying online, it's only because I've felt that specific item in person.

Another great thing about shopping in person is that you get to try things on. The particularities of fabric also mean that sizing is of particular importance. With wider fits in particular, a fabric that drapes like a lightweight wool will be very different from a more rigid material like raw denim or waxed cotton.

A recent epiphany about sizing -- it's completely a social construct. Or rather, it's more like a set of suggestions than anything else. There's absolutely a "correct" size if you're looking for a "correct" fit, but some of my favourite items have been in sizes that are not my "correct" size in order to achieve more interesting silhouettes. I'm a lean 5'7(.5)" on a good day, with an armspan longer than my height, which allows me to get away with sizing up on sweaters and certain outerwear pieces to achieve a drop-shouldered effect while still having sleeves hitting my wrists where I want them to, avoiding looking too "incorrect". For reference, I'm usually a 38 in suits and a small in most items, but I have sweaters and outerwear in a size 44 that work well in an oversized way on me.

Now, it should be said that this is absolutely not a beginner's move -- there's a TON of nuance here that's pretty difficult to be able to navigate without a very trained eye. You can eventually get here, but it takes a lot of time and trial and error.

"Can we get back to the pants, already?"

Right, thanks.

Trying the pants on in person was absolutely key to me picking them up. I actually compared these to another pair of pants that were also available, from a brand named Auralee which are also well-known in some circles to be quite similar to Lemaire's aesthetic. Surprisingly, I liked the Arpenteur pants more -- the Auralee pants were nothing more than a standard pair of worsted wool trousers, whereas the Arpenteur Tera pants had a few more surprises and interesting twists that maintained my interest.

Let's Finally Talk About the Pants

We'll break this down into a few sections to really deconstruct and analyze them.

Form

Let's categorize! What do you see? Well first of all, they're pants. I'd say they'd fall under workwear, and I say that because of a little thing called the double knee. It's a detail that's been pretty popular lately -- you may have been seeing it from recent cult brands like Dickies, Carhartt, or everyone's favourite, Aimé Leon Dore. I'd say this cargo pocket here also puts it solidly in workwear territory, though I'll reveal the secrets behind this pocket later. See if you can spot what makes it so interesting before I explain.

Variations on a Theme

There's some unusual decisions that have been made here that make it a bit different from your standard Dickies' pants though. For one, you'll see a drawstring at the waistband, which definitely adds some comfy vibes. It also helps to wear the pants in multiple ways -- wear it high and cinch it tight, or wear it lower on the hips and tie it a little more loosely -- just depends on your mood and the circumstances. There are also drawstrings at the hems too -- go wide to let the hems pool over slim or chunky shoes, or cinch them a little tighter for a cleaner look.

I also see a few details that bring to mind tailored trousers -- notice the forward pleats, which add more comfort compared to a flat front sans pleats, and more visual interest than reverse pleats. There's the fabric of course, which is a wool gabardine, known for its wonderful draping qualities -- not the standard thick cotton you'd expect to find from workwear. Finally, the pants are lined on the inside down to the knees with viscose, a move you'll recognize from suit trousers. All these add up to a subtle dressiness and elegant spin on a very functional type of garment.

Colour

Not too much to say here, I think -- it's marketed as "warm grey", which I think I'd agree with. I've always been drawn to grey; some people find it boring, but I find it endlessly fascinating with how many different subtle hues and casts that grey can have. There are greenish greys, brownish greys, reddish greys, purpleish greys. Grey also plays beautifully with texture. It's great with other shades of grey, and equally good at playing the supporting role for other colours. If you're wearing a particularly vibrant colour, consider grey in another part of the outfit to anchor it a little bit. You may have to find the right shade, of course.

That Mysterious Cargo Pocket

Now we get to my favourite part of these pants -- that funny pocket on the side.

At first glance, the pocket doesn't look too strange. But look a bit more carefully -- if there's only one button, what's it doing in the corner over there? Shouldn't it be in the middle?

And what's with the weird bunching going on at the bottom? Aren't pockets supposed to lie flat?

You'll notice something interesting when you try to open the pocket -- the side of the flap opposite to the button is stitched shut. The rectangular flap only opens from the same corner that the button is on. So how do you make more room to access the inside of the pocket?

Ready for the magic trick? It's all about the position of the button with relation to the buttonhole.

When the pocket is lying somewhat flat, you'll notice that the button is offset compared to the buttonhole. The pocket is created in such a way that the fabric is cut and stitched with enough excess on the outside that it creates a natural rolling fold when the button is done up. The fold plays superbly well with the natural drape of the gabardine fabric, which is further emphasized with the folds created by the drawstring waistband and the forward pleats. And I think the foresight to have designed that in order to create a more interesting pocket shape is super fucking cool.

Conclusions

If you couldn't already tell, I like these pants. I paid a good amount for these pants. Chances are, you might not think of spending the same amount on a pair of pants. That's fine. I have enough disposable income that I can afford to spend money on these pants, and I certainly liked them enough to do so. I'm not trying to justify why I spent so much money on these pants. I'm also not trying to convince you to spend a lot of money on pants.

What I am trying to do though, is take you through a bit of my thought process when it comes to clothing . To offer a different perspective that hopefully you can follow along to understand why some people might spent that much money on clothing like this -- well-designed, intentional, and in line with what you're looking for.

If you've read this far, thanks for your time and attention! I'd love to hear what you think of the write-up. It did take a while to write, but I think it was a fun process.

To research the different elements of my wardrobe, I read a lot of PTO, such as the following articles: 1 2 3 4 5. Then, I bookmarked specific eBay searches, including this one (a PTO suit filter, though, I used it for sport coats) and this one, which I made myself for OCBDs.

The Purchases

Everything below was bought from eBay, grailed, Poshmark, or etsy.

Sport Coats

Southwick Navy Doeskin Blazer: $75

A navy blazer is a highly loved sport coat in menswear circles, and for good reason. It pairs effortlessly with gray or brown trousers. The doeskin material is similar to a twill flannel (and was indeed marked as flannel on the listing) but it has less nep, making it look a little less... "flannely." It's half lined, making it suitable for fall, winter, or cooler spring weather. The brass buttons definitely add a preppy flair to the blazer, but if I ever become unenamored with them, a button swap at the tailor is always an option.

Southwick Brown Houndstooth Sport Coat: $60

Brown is another great sport coat color, and I love the houndstooth pattern here. The leather buttons are an interesting detail.

PRL Made In Italy Linen Sport Coat: $60

Glen check is a fun sport coat pattern, this fit me perfectly (no tailoring needed) and the linen-silk blend is great for warm weather. PRL's Italian sport coats and trousers are made by Corneliani, and their fabrics feel amazing.

Vintage Gray Herringbone Sport Coat: $40

I can't find out information about the brand Jeffrey Caine, it is likely a pre-internet defunct brand. Gray tweeds are an excellent choice, and I love the herringbone pattern on this one. Plus, it's super soft. I had my tailor remove the bulky shoulder pads, which was quick and cheap, and IMO significantly improved the look of the shoulders.

Shirts

(left to right)

PRL White OCBD: $16

BB White OCBD: $30

PRL Blue OCBD: $25

If you only have one shirt in an academic wardrobe, it's gotta be a white OCBD. If you have two, it's a white and light blue OCBD. These were a bit hard for me to find because my size (16/36) is not very common and isn't available everywhere as an OTR size, but some patience and the custom filters I mentioned earlier helped a lot. Looks like my blue OCBD needs an iron!

Pants

(left to right)

Brioni tan wool trousers: $55

PRL light gray wool trousers: $70

Corneliani dust blue wool trousers: $78

PRL wide wale brown cords: $19

Levi's 501: $35

Browns and grays are, in theory, the most versatile colors for pants, because they both go with navy jackets and brown goes with gray and vice versa. Even though the color palette between the jackets and pants is not the most exciting mix of neutrals, I think the textures like the flannel in the gray and blue wool pair can look really nice, as can a wide wale corduroy.

The color of the blue wool trousers is hard to capture in photos. "Dust blue" is an interesting color - it's got a blue-gray tone with nice texture. These trousers go great with any of the sport coats in my wardrobe, aside from the navy blazer, where there's not enough contrast.

Jeans are a good way to dress down sport coats in casual outfits, and 501 is a classic straight fit silhouette. I have to say I’m not in love with this cut, being a bit of a slimmer version of vintage 501 cuts. Maybe I’ll keep an eye out for a slightly wider pair, but more denim isn’t exactly top of my current priorities.

Accessories

Socks (American Trench): $16

White socks are having a bit of a moment with the vintage Ivy resurgence. Used socks are a step too far for me, but I found these NWT on eBay and decided to go for them for a few bucks off of retail price.

Navy wool tie (Kent Wang): $35

Blue silk knit tie (The Knottery): $35

Brown cashmere herringbone tie (Kent Wang): $31

While usually I opt to go tieless with my OCBDs, it's nice to have a couple of options.

Shoes

Alden Color 8 Shell Cordovan LHS: $150
Alden Snuff Suede LHS: $300

I love loafers, and the LHS silhouette is hard to beat. These go with everything. Ok, the snuff loafers were not exactly the most frugal purchase, and weren’t a necessary addition to this wardrobe, but they’ve been really hard to find recently and I decided to bite when I saw a pair in my size.

Example outfits

Vintage gray herringbone sport coat, BB OCBD, Kent Wang wool tie, Corneliani dust blue trousers, Alden shell LHS

A very similar outfit to above but with the tan trousers instead of the blue ones. This picture was taken before removing the shoulder pads were removed from the jacket - there is a very slight difference in shoulder silhouette, but what’s even more interesting to me is how removing the shoulder pads loosened up some material through the body of the jacket, and in the post-removal picture, there’s less pulling at the button.

Southwick houndstooth blazer, BB OCBD, PRL flannel trousers, Alden shell LHS

(Unfortunately, the pants in this outfit had to be returned due to a crotch tear that wasn’t noted in the listing! A shame, because I did really like them. Always inspect your secondhand clothing very carefully.)

PRL linen sport coat, PRL OCBD, Levi’s 501, Alden shell LHS

Southwick navy blazer, PRL OCBD, PRL light gray flannel trousers, Alden shell LHS

As you can see, the wardrobe is made of versatile pieces that can be mixed and matched in a variety of ways. Note that I often violate the “northern lights” rule of trad dressing where the sport coat is darker than the trousers. Personally, I think it looks just fine as long as there’s sufficient contrast.

What’s next?

There are a few more things I’d like to round out this wardrobe. A pair of plain toe bluchers and some black tassel loafers are currently biding their time in my eBay search alerts. I also think a darker brown sport coat would be a good addition, as would some lighter weight trousers for spring and summer (linen-cotton blends, etc.)

Conclusion

Purchasing tailored clothing isn’t cheap, but shopping secondhand or vintage can help a lot. Of course, the prices that I listed do not include shipping, dry cleaning, and tailoring, so take it with a grain of salt. While it's not exactly a fair comparison to put these up against their prices bought new, most of these sport coats and trousers cost several hundred dollars to $1000 per article of clothing - it's safe to say that buying all of these pieces new would run me ~5-10x as much.

If you’re curious about fits with the rest of the clothes, or want to talk secondhand clothing, shoot me a message on Discord!

MFA Discord

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Most photos posted to MFA fall into two categories: "fit check" and "show off."

General Tips:

• Good lighting is the most important thing for any photo. Without good lighting, shots will be blurry, details will be lost and in general you'll look like crap. You may notice that a lot of top WAYWT posts are taken outdoors: nothing beats the sun for great light (full daylight is ~1000 times brighter than a typical lamp).

• Make sure you're not back lit. Light should be coming from an angle in front of you (e.g., above and in front or from your side and in front).

• If you're having trouble getting good light inside open every shade and turn on every light.

• Use the on-camera flash as a last resort. It gives a lot of light at the cost of flattening everything out. Also, flash + mirror = glare.

• Clean your camera lens. If you're using your bathroom mirror, clean that too.

• A good camera/lens helps a lot, but not as much as good light. A shot taken outdoors with good natural lighting in the golden hour with a point and shoot will look much better than one taken inside with a DSLR using the on-camera flash.

Here are two pictures taken with the same camera, of the same outfit demonstrating the importance of light:

• Handheld through a mirror with typical household lighting, mostly coming from behind.

• Using a tripod with lots of natural light coming from the side.

Fit Check:

This is for when you're looking for input on how an outfit fits/looks. The most important thing is to give people a clear, accurate view of how the clothes look on you.

• Keep your hands out of your pockets! Leave them both relaxed at your sides (or one if the other hand is holding the camera).

• Stand in a straight, natural pose facing the camera. Don't suck in your stomach or pull your shoulders back.

• If possible, include additional pictures from the side and back.

• Show the whole outfit including shoes, unless you're only interested in a shirt/jacket.

• Ideally, use a camera with a timer/remote instead of a mirror (there are apps for most phones that can set a delay and number of pics to take, such as Photo Timer for the iphone).

• For god's sake don't post a picture that needs to be rotated 90 degrees.

• If you're holding the camera, keep your elbows close to your body. Raising your elbow to the side will lift the body of a jacket or coat, distorting the fit.

• People aren't used to seeing outfits from waist level. Position the camera at least chest high, preferably neck high. Your proportions will look odd if the camera is too low.

• If your clothes are dark, lighting is doubly important.

• If it's a suit or jacket, wear it with a dress shirt and shoes. Also button it. Leave the bottom button undone on a two or three button suit.

Show-off:

This is for cases where you're not really looking for a fit check, you just want to show an outfit off on WAYWT.

• Lighting is still the most important thing. If you're outside, the best time is morning or evening (the so-called "golden hour") when the sun is low and will give everything great dimension.

• Try different poses. It's okay to put your hand in your pocket or stand in 3/4 profile if you're not getting a fit check.

• Use a tripod and timer/remote. It makes it much easier to get a whole outfit shot and eliminates blurriness caused by unsteady hands.

• Avoid distracting backgrounds.

• If your camera has manual controls, go for a wide aperature (low f number). This creates a shallow depth of field, which will help you stand out from the background. It also increases the shutter speed, for less motion blur.

• Have fun. Feel free to be creative. Don't take this too seriously.

For more tips, see FFA's guide "On Improving Your Fashion Photography"

If anyone has any additional tips, please share. I'm not a professional photographer or even a great amateur.

It's not a definitive guide, and not meant to be, just a outline of helpful tip and information which you mind find helpful. What it's going to do is equip you with knowledge which you can use to help yourself.

I will stress at the very start this is a guide for clothing. It's meant to help you dress to your body type, not to fool people you're 6 foot whatever. If you're worried about being short, don't be. Numbers can often be misleading, and how your present yourself goes a long way. Focus on the things you can change versus worrying about things you can't.

General Tips

Proportions - It is a good idea to have a look in the mirror and try to work out your proportions. Work out if you have longer legs and a short torso, or vice versa shorter legs and a longer torso. Know this will effect what looks best on you. So if you're long torsoed, wear hi rise pants (Levi 501's), and if you're short torsoed, low rise (Levi 511' or 514's) for example.

Sizes in store - Some brands do offer different sizes for smaller or taller men. Usually they denote that by putting a 'S' at the end of a measurement. This can be found with legwear or traditionally blazers/suiting. If the blazer/suit is for shorter men then proportions are smaller, which equals to 1" shorter jacket length or sleeves for most brands.

Below is an example table of a pair of 30" waist jeans and the measurements of inseams:

And here's an example of a 36" chest size blazer:

I would stress the above is just an illustrative example. Nowadays suiting trends have meant that most jackets are a bit shorter then they were in the past. This is particularly true when buying from fast fashion brands or stores.

Know your measurements - Knowing your measurements really helps when buying stuff online. Like seriously helps. You can measure either your body or garments you already own. Here are some resources to get you started:

1. How to measure your body

2. How to measure a shirt from Ratio Clothing with helpful picture illustrations. Many of the ways you can measure a shirt can be used for tops and outerwear, i.e. the same way you measure shirt shoulders, sleeves and body length are the same way you can measure for a blazer.

3. How to measure yourself for clothing by Art of Manliness (AoM)

4. How to measure pants/trousers from WikiHow

Know what can be altered - A lot can be altered for a good fit. To make life easier for yourself make sure the that what you're buying fits in the shoulders and there's room in the chest. A tailor can only take away and not add material. That is unless the garment has generous seam allowances, but that doesn't come unless you're spending money for a good brand.

Common alterations included:

Upperwear:

• Shortening sleeves

• Taking in/slimming the waist

• Slimming sleeves

Legwear:

• Shortening/hemming pants length

• Shortening/hemming jeans length

• Slimming pants

• Bringing in/reducing the waist

Get a tailor - A tailor can alter your clothes to fit you better. Simple alteration are cheap to do and can have a big impact on how your clothes fits you. Have a pair of pants which are just too long? A tailor can fix that. Have a jacket which fits everywhere but it's too baggy in the waist? A tailor can fix that too. Found a pair of pants which fit everywhere put the waist? A tailor can fix that by taking in the waist.

• PutThisOn (PTO) have a good and to the point guide on how to find a tailor and even have a guide on a three step process to find a really good tailor.

Learn to do simple alterations - You can save yourself some money if you can do some simple alterations yourself. There's a plethora of guides online, on Youtube and on /r/sewing to get yourself started.

A few simple alterations you can start with are:

• Replacing buttons

• Shortening trouser legs (hemming)

• Shortening jacket sleeve length (if non-working buttons & unlined)

Clothing specific guidelines

• Avoid clothing subscription services like Trunk Club and Frank and Oak. You're going to end up sending almost everything back because they're accommodating to the average height, not the below average.

• Start off with super basic stuff. Once you've got the basics down and know which brand or particular garment of brand fits you, stock up. After that you can experiment a bit.

• On trouser length. This illustration shows the different type of breaks you can have on trousers. A shorter inseam achieves a smaller break. With summer approaching and a general trend in cropped pants you can just buy a pair. A pair of cropped pants with a 27" or 30" inseam will just look like normal pants to someone with those respective inseams.

• Raw denim. If you're willing to drop some serious money and like the allure of wearing the same pair of jeans to achieve your own personal fades then raw denim might be up your street. A lot of genuine Japanese raw denim brands jeans come in 34" inseams which they can then shorten for you. Similarly a lot of stores or places which sell raw denim will offer to shorten for either a small price or for free. Such as Blue Owl Workshop with the Rogue Territory they stock.

• Go for cropped outerwear like bombers, harringtons, denim trucker jackets, chore coats, peacoats, field jackets, and leather jackets (if you have the budget).

• Socks - If you want to visually elongate your leg the rationale is to wear socks which match your pants so you have no visual breaks of colour. That means that you shouldn't wear patterns or loud colours if following the above rationale.

• Watches - if you're short then you might also have skinnier arms. If you do then opt for watches with smaller faces ranging from 35mm or 38mm. If you're wrists aren't then just buy whatever is proportional. /r/watches is a good sub to look for recommendations with some great guides.

On why a shirt from the same brand works for one 5'5" person, but not another 5'5" person.

You often find these comments in every thread. On paper you'd think people of the same height would fit in the same brand or same garment, but that's not always the case. Even if they're the same height they'll have different proportions. Different weights. Different body shapes. Different preferences in fit.

Brands

Off the rack (OTR) shirting brands to consider:

• H&M

• ASOS

• Jack & Jones (UK/EU)

• G-Star (EU/UK) - varying quality and typically gaudy designs

• Muji - online website typically only sells a small part of their clothing selection, go in-store for a better experience

• American Eagle

• River Island (UK)

• Topman

• Express - extra-slim or slim

• Burton (UK)

• GAP

• Uniqlo

• Purple Hats (UK)

• Ben Sherman

• 'UnTuckIt' - slightly controversial brand. See discussions from MFA here

• Taylor Stitch

• Billy Reid - slimmer fits

• Beams Plus

• Gitman Vintage - generally boxier fits

• Banana Republic

• Charles Tyrwhitt - online brand which offers a variety of neck sizes and sleeve lengths

• Baracuta

• Stutterheim - XXS

• Patagonia - XXS

• Fred Perry - XXS

• J.Crew - short 'untucked' shirts

• Bonobos - short length shirts

• GANT

You can also find a lot of measurements online from these brands and comparisons on The Shirt Detective's website

Made to measure (MTM) shirting which are mainly online:

If you still can't find a shirt which fits you then you can always opt for MTM shirting from the below brands:

• Luxire

• Proper Cloth

• Tailor Store

• Marks & Spencer (UK) MTM programme

• Ratio Clothing

• Black Lapel

Legwear

The list below is for brands which offer shorter inseams. If you have a tailor you don't really need to shop at any of these really. But for people who don't then these are good options to shop at:

• ASOS - inseams down to 28", once saw a 25-26" before on a pair of cropped pants

• GAP - inseams down 28"

• H&M - inseams of 30"

• Old Navy - inseams down to 28"

• American Eagle Outfitters - inseam down to 28" and 26" waist

• American Eagle - inseam down to 28"

• Uniqlo - in-store they hem pants. Pretty good if you live near one. Apart from that they have 34" inseams so if you buy online you're SOL unless you go to the tailor.

• Nudie - down to 26"-27" waist

• Abercrombie - offer 26" waist shorts.

• Hollister - same as above

• Bonobos - 28" inseam

Brands which cater specifically to shorter men

A lot of brands have popped up in the last decade which cater specifically to shorter men.

Usually clothing is made up of 2D cuts of fabric called a pattern. These patterns are then sewed together to make a 3D garment. Patterns which are used by the majority of the clothing industry are derived from the 1930s onwards, and you guess it, are for the average sized gent. Not the below average.

What these brands for shorter men do is basically created patterns for shorter men by altering patterns so that garments are cut shorter, but also that proportionally details are smaller. I.e. smaller or thinner lapels on suit jackets and blazers.

A few of these brands are:

• For the Fit - $

• ASKET - $$

• Ash & Erie (formerly called Ash & Anvil) - $$

• Sharp Casualwear - $$

• Peter Manning of NY - $$$

• Jax Everett - $$$

• Robbie Brown - ?

• Jimmy Aus - $$$$

Consider the boy's clothing section

The cut will be much shorter, usually slimmer and cheaper. There are some notable outliers like Brooks Brothers though. Specific brands to look out for:

• J.Crew

• Ralph Lauren

• Hilfiger

• Gant

• Target - XL boys section jeans

Accessories

Socks

• Sock Broker - Average prices in the $30-$40 range for 6 pairs. Website is a bit outdated looking.

• Happy Socks - Decent selection of patterns in small sizes.

• Absolute Ties - Not much outside of solid colors, but a nice selection of bright colors from size 7 US on down.

• Viccel - Large t selection of colors, prints, materials and styles. $12 a pair.

• Socks Fox - European retailer with a host of smaller sized socks, though that isn't their main focus.

• Socksperts - Mostly high quality thick and athletic socks searchable by size with plenty of small options.

• Absolute Socks - High quality affordable dress socks in assorted colors.

• Ben Silver - High quality with many colors and patterns available, but pretty expensive at $40 a pair

Gloves

• See The Modest Man for some recommendations

Further Reading

• The Modest Man blog which is has reviews, brand recs and guides for shorter men. Also has a e-book and a very active YouTube channel.

Media

Esquire (2012) Reddit: Where Nerds Learn to Love Fashion

Racked (2017) The Best-Dressed Man on Reddit Is an Expert at Thrifting

The Independent (2017) How The Best-dressed Man On The Internet Spends Only £30 A Week On Clothes

GQ (2017) The Sneaker That Turns J.Crew Fans into Hypebeasts

Men's Health (2018) The Reddit Community for Male Fashion Advice Is Full of Helpful Style Hacks

Daily Dot (2018) Bros before JNCOs: Where dudes help dudes master their look: Go inside Reddit’s Male Fashion Advice [Podcast interview]

Vox (2018) The Surprising Sweetness of Menswear Reddit

GQ (2018) This Might Be the Most Influential Menswear Outfit in Movie History

Wall Street Journal (2019) Does a Shazam for Clothing Exist?

Esquire (2019) How Reddit's Male Fashion Advice Became One of the Nicest Places on the Internet

Input (2021) How fit pics took over the fashion world

Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast (2022) Two Things Which Would Fix Twitter. Timestamp 9:40 - 11:20.

The Verge (2023) Fashion advice subreddits are turning back the clock to protest Reddit

The Verge (2023) One of Reddit’s biggest communities is suggesting users move to Discord

Industry

Fast Company (2014) A Chance Encounter, Reddit Marketing, And Pants You Can Wear Forever: One Startup’s Story

Glossy (2019) How fashion brands are tapping into the exclusive Reddit community

Academic

Marisa Fatás García (2016) A digital fashion gaze to menswear

J. Slade Lellock (2018) Clothing-related information-seeking practices in an online menswear community

Lucy Li, Julia Mendelsohn (2018) Using Sentiment Induction to Understand Variation in Gendered Online Communities

Nathaniel Weiner (2019) Fashion vs style The Reputation of Online Male Fashion Communities

Now black tie is a clothing style that has been around for 200 years, and as a result, is steeped in tradition. Black tie is not something you mess with. It is something that has guidelines, rules, and restrictions. It is the ultimate expression of classical, minimalist elegance and to attempt to ruin this with ruffled shirts and powder blue coloring is akin to defacing the Sistine Chapel. I'm not saying you can't change a little thing here and there, but do it right. Like a panther lightly prowling on the ground, not like an elephant stampeding.

Black tie consists of a few basic pieces: the jacket, the waist covering, the shirt, the pants, the neckwear, and the shoes. We will begin with the jacket.

The dinner jacket is the most important part of your tuxedo. It is the largest and most integral piece of your formal evening wear. If you mess this up, the whole outfit, no matter how perfect everything else is, will fail. The formal, most traditional dinner jacket is all of the following: black, single-breasted, one button, grosgain lapels, ventless, with slit pockets. Here is Alec Baldwin with a wonderful example of a traditional dinner jacket. There are many acceptable variations on this traditional idea.

• Shawl collar as opposed to peak lapel

• Double-breasted (either 4 on 1, 4 on 2, or 6 on 2) as opposed to single-breasted

• Satin lapels as opposed to grosgrain

• Midnight blue as opposed to black. Midnight blue is actually termed as "black than black" because it keeps it color under artificial light, whereas black can look grey

• White dinner jacket can be worn only in tropical or subtropical climates, such as when one is on vacation. Usually has a shawl collar lapel to further show it's decreased formality

No notched lapels on tuxedos, EVER. No. Just, no. Notch lapels are for lounge and business suits. Not for formal wear.

There are two options for waist coverings: the waistcoat and the cummerbund. The waistcoat is the more traditional and formal option, but a proper one is much harder to find. The waistcoat should only just peak out from the end of your jacket's V (when it is buttoned) and should fully cover the waist of your pants. It is made of either the same material of the jacket or silk. In the case of silk, the lapels of the waistcoat should also be silk and in the case of wool, should match your jacket's lapels. The cummerbund should be made of silk in a pattern (grosgrain or satin) to match your lapels. When wearing the cummerbund, the pleats open UPWARDS. Traditionally, the waistcoat is worn with a peak lapel jacket and the cummerbund with a shawl collar. There are a few acceptable variations on these:

• The waistcoat can be made a different color. Stick to darker, richer colors like burgundy and plum. A white waistcoat will actually make your tuxedo more formal

• The cummerbund can also be made a different color, and you should also stick with deeper colors here as well

The shirt is another important part of your black tie ensemble. Traditionally, the wing tip collar was the collar of choice for formal wear, but nowadays, the turndown collar is more wide-spread and popular. Either is a good choice, but the turndown is usually a better choice as it fits more faces better than the wingtip. A wingtip collar shirt is starched to the point of cardboard like texture, making the soft turndown collar shirt a much better choice for comfort as well. A turndown collar shirt should be made of a soft, breathable fabric such as poplin or broadcloth. They should always have french cuffs and can be either spread or semi-spread. The bib of the shirt is that piece of doubled fabric in the middle of the shirt. The bib can be decorated with either pleats (as in the previous picture) or pique. As a side note, the spread collar is considered more formal than the semi-spread and is a better partner to a shawl collar jacket.

The pants of your black tie attire are just as important as the other parts of your formal wear and once more, the details can make or break you. They should be made of the same color and material as your jacket (except in the case of the white jacket, of course) and as well, the side seam of the pants should be covered in grosgrain or satin facing to match your lapels. If you don't get pants that are custom-made for you, your pants will need to be cut for suspenders. There are no cuffs or back pockets on formal pants and your side pockets should be cut to be almost unnoticeable. The pants can be pleated or not pleated, that's your own choice.

Since I'm going to assume most you do not want to own or wear opera pumps, I'll stick with lace-ups. Your black tie lace-ups should be made of patent leather or highly polished calfskin. They should be closed-laced and should be as simple as possible. No wingtips here. Like these. Really simple and beautifully elegant.

The finishing touch on your formal wear is the bow tie. It should be black silk and match your lapels (satin lapels means satin bow tie, grosgrain mean textured bow tie). There are a couple of different shapes, such as butterfly and batwing, but those are another personal choice and depend on availability and personal taste. The bow tie should be self-tied. You are not in junior high school anymore. Wearing a clip-on bow tie is one of the greatest faux-pas that can be made. If you can tie your regular ties, you can tie a goddamn bow tie. Don't let me see you touch that children's shit. Capisce?

There are some additional things that can worn with your black tie clothes, such as a pocket square (usually white but if color, should follow the same deep color guideline), boutonnieres (carnations are best), formal scarves, cufflinks, shirt studs, and a dress watch, which should be as simple as possible with a black leather strap and a steel, white gold, or platinum bezel. However, these accessories are optional.

As well, I suggest you buy a tuxedo. Even if you only plan to use a couple of times, owning a tuxedo is always better than renting. You have more control over its look, material, and fit. Owning a black tie ensemble is very important for the well-dressed and well-prepared man. You may think you will be unable to afford one but even average quality tuxedos can be had for less than $500. Retailers such as Jos A. Bank can sell good, classically styled tuxedos for cheap. There are also higher-end retailers like Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren, Hickey Freeman, and Paul Stuart, who can offer a much wider-range of selections as well as higher quality. Made-to-measure is another good option, as sites like Indochino (ask your tailor to get rid of those flap pockets) and My Tailor can make you an MTM black tie set for under $600. If you really want quality, then I suggest you simply go all out and go bespoke. Whether one of London's Savile Row tailors or one of the many bespoke tailors now popping up in New York City, a bespoke tuxedo will allow you control over every single detail of your black tie ensemble, right down to the very last detail. Such an item will be an heirloom that you could very well pass down to your children just as you might a watch.

Black Tie holds a very important place in male style, as the very epitome of class and elegance. The proper black tie attire will place you light years ahead of any other man and at the forefront of any party. Whether you are dressing for your own wedding or for a state dinner, follow these guidelines and you will always be the best dressed.

References:

Black Tie Guide

Put This On

The Style Guy Glenn O'Brien

Emily Post

Peter Post