What are you wearing today?

[ACM]

acm - kudos on this. ballsy. a bit hard to see boots in pic. imo this needs pretty heavy ones to ground it. maybe yours do the job.

sidenote: hair actually is a bit too pop for
me. shaved is always better..

oreo - yeah good.

Thanks Shucks. The Dior is probably my most prized possession :)
I'll experiment around with different shoes with the look, but I like the boots there. Sorry you can't see them.

Also, the hair is in a weird stage at the moment. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. It'll likely go shorter soon.

[fncyths]

love the drape vibe ACM!

As for the hair, I say let it ride, you've got nice texture and wave going on.

[Fade to Black]

ACM I feel you have really come into your own...

[cjbreed]

I don't even know where to start with comments like this; however I find it sad if you need approval from your wife. I understand the idea of being respectful, but it goes both ways. She does understand holding you back from how you really want to dress is not healthy. Right?

so....at first i was going offer a snarky reply, like...no i don't need approval from my wife because i get plenty from yours...or something rude like that. then i decided to just let it ride, as you didn't really get what i was saying and clearly have a pretty naive understanding of marriage. and humor.

but, now i decided to offer a more constructive reply, since there is no "wives reactions to your clothes" thread. and things are moving a bit slowly round here these days. so, why not.

this goes for me and likely for a lot of others around here that are perhaps a little older and in serious or committed relationships. she is not just my wife, she's my best friend, and has my best interests at heart.

i am closer to 40 than 30. i live in one of the most conservative cities in one of the most conservative states in america, and therefore worldwide. i am a business owner in a conservative male dominated industry. i sell directly to the public. the entire public. good ole boys, southern baptists, republicans. i am responsible for a lot of people. i do not live in rome or paris or nyc, and i am not a dj or creative director or stylist or musician. so, it is not necessarily wise for me to dress in full on rick owens complete with drop crotch and leggings, no matter how cool it looks or how much i like it. that is if i want to make a living and be taken seriously by my clients.

there is such a thing as dressing appropriately. not just indulging your impulses. it is a good idea to dress age appropriate, according to your body type, and according to your position in life, personally and professionally.

it is not important enough to me to wear head to toe rick if it puts other things that are also important to me at risk. just to have "fun". if wearing drop crotch shorts and rick owens trainers costs me a deal, that i need in order to feed my family, then i fucked up. i am irresponsible. i am acting like a child, not like a man.

sometimes i need my wife to remind me of these things. and thank god i have her. i'd sell my entire wardrobe just to spend an afternoon with her if she asked me to. and believe me, you would too.

and it doesn't really bother me. there are so many other things that i also love to wear that i don't really feel slighted, or like i'm missing out, if some of the more progressive, stylized, or avant garde pieces are off limits to me. i enjoy finding a balancing act between what is expected of me and what i really like. my style is a toned down version of the edgier, harder look. thats all

sorry for the rant, but i'm kind of interested in what some others might have to say about this topic...

[rider]

if that's a rant, i'll listen to you express yourself any day of the week. there is nothing sexier then a person who can speak their mind [sensibly] and admit that their love for their spouse/family has no bounds. that my friend, is done with Style+ no dunks or drop crotch needed.

and for what its worth, you remind me of johnny cash in cropped pictures.

[guidier]

is she also a member here?

[lowrey]

sorry for the rant, but i'm kind of interested in what some others might have to say about this topic...

great post, and an interesting topic which could warrant its own thread.

Its great if someone's life allows not having sacrifice anything in terms of style, but it obviously doesn't work like that for many people. My situation is very similar to yours and I can relate to everything you said. Running my own business that doesn't involve clients directly, my work environment doesn't absolutely require me to dress one way or the other, but I certainly prefer to take it into account given that I work with people who are typically in suits or some form of business attire. its not about acceptance per se, but a lot more factors, some of which you mentioned.

And I'm still certainly the oddbird at the office...

[stemcell]

Hardly a rant that post was great. And Shucks' photo was also great.

This was an article I enjoyed recently... in the vein of your post, sort of related to managing your 'outlandish' fashion with a more business/professional lifestyle... this guy is a wreck, but it sounds like you're doing it right!

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201304/buzz-bissinger-shopaholic-gucci-addiction

[Faust]

cjbreed, before and after a client meeting



I kid :-)

Totally understand the need to dress appropriately. We live in a society, for better or worse and sometimes the cost of not conforming is too much to bear.

When I worked on Wall St. I died a little inside every day I had to dress up for work. The need to dress how I wanted was so incredibly strong that it was one of the reasons - and I mean this seriously - that I would not get another office job and I feel incredibly privileged that my work allows me to dress however it pleases me. Still, I stand out like a sore thumb at venues like Pitti Uomo where most people look like Thom Browne clones.

BTW, another fascinating subject that could come out of cjb's post is how 30s are the new 20s.

[Faust]

DRKSHDW denim with leather
Zam Barrett wool long sleeve top
Number (N)ine cropped sweats
Carpe Diem boots
Veronique Branquinho x Linda Farrow leather-wrapped aviators.

[sam_tem]

saw that Bissinger article last week, that things off the charts. can't recall the last time i've read such a personal and probing shaming of oneself released to the public. hope that dude is getting the help he needs right now.

and that's the kicker about getting old, you find you learn how to enjoy life better and all the little things that come with it as time goes on but all the while it's becoming more and more of a delicate balancing act between personal aspirations/selfish whims and familial responsibilities. however, it also makes me appreciate all those folks that take it seriously and have the drive to curate a style and make it as much of a priority as brushing their teeth every day.

can understand about the desires to keep things toned down a bit in the south too. my line of work takes me all throughout the dirty south and offshore and it's certainly not a place to aspire to be "stylish" in. just not worth the negative first impressions, and derogatory comments that follow you around. what do you consider the most conservative state in the US though, Mississippi?

[interest1]

need to see some girls in geobaskets...boys always look so good in them.

I don't think you want to see mine, dear. Not at this point. "Lovingly worn" has spiraled into something that now resembles the aftermath of an altercation with a mountain lion. With the mountain lion coming out ahead.

Picked up a pair of A1923 sneaks a while back to fill the void once the geo's get laid to rest permanently. They're nice for when I want something super casual but that doesn't scream sneaker. The absence of laces accomplishes that.

But who are we kidding. However good-looking, they can never replace those damned dunks.
I need them in constant rotation or I start feeling like something's missing. Like a fashion amputee. God, I'm hopeless.


As for the 'dressing appropriately for a given situation' conversation, I essentially agree, and Rick steals the gold with this example: I can get out of a speeding ticket wearing one of his shredded tanks, but dare I step 2 feet into a pharmacy / bank / jewelry store in my decomposing geo's, I got security detail on me like white on rice..
.

[lowrey]

cjbreed, before and after a client meeting

lmao

Picked up a pair of A1923 sneaks a while back to fill the void once the geo's get laid to rest permanently. They're nice for when I want something super casual but that doesn't scream sneaker. The absence of laces accomplishes that.

I want to see you wear these!

[rider]

kicking up with ann03 on casual friday.



i wanted to comment on the previous discussion brought to light by cj: my thoughts... if age=wisdom then self awareness=style. [i apologize if those with logic aptitude find fault in this but i should mention i am right brained and suck at logic algorithms.]

Since I work in the creative department I believe they are use to me dressing a bit outside the norm, even expect it. I have no doubt that my chosen field of work closely relates to the fact that I needed to feel I could express myself in all aspects of life. I always keep in mind, that as a director nothing can be too outlandish or I risk appearing silly therefore irrelevant, but the fact that "something is different" with that top or dress is accepted and probably a plus in my field. I can remember a director's meeting when I walked in and my 87-year old ceo commented that my dress was very elegant...it was a "twisted seam" junya dress that at first glance was a simple silhouette but the construction had uneven sleeves, buttons twisted around the body and half a collar...without close inspection no one had a clue why it hung so beautifully. perhaps the key to appropriate attire is not make it so obvious you disrupt the community, but at the same time, express yourself subtly, let your thoughts be heard first. as a side note, this is what i love about yohji and comme family work, as well as forme and such, sometimes they scream, "i'm here" and others times they whisper "i'm listening".

the fact that my husband encourages my idiosyncrasies is just one of the things I adore about him and visa versa.

an incident that recently happened in my town made me acutely aware that how you dress certainly effects how others interact with you. when the international press took over my town, the last thing I wanted to do was be approached so I hid by dressing like everyone else (albeit in Rick's druid hoodie, its hides best). the only thing I did that was an expression of my usual self was wear my odd assortment of footwear which I also found mournful comfort in.

interest, you were the ideal i had in mind with that request
not being a "sneaker" person either, does the dunk fill the grunge void without screaming hoodlum? apparently so!

[Johnny]

Imagine taking your wife’s/husband’s views into account in what you wear! The shame!

As another CJ might have said (and this is really for a pretty niche market, and definitely also for those who are nearer 40 than 30, or indeed beyond), I didn’t get where I am today by wearing drop crotch sweatpants.

Age appropriate and context appropriate are the things form me. There have been similar posts before about wedding attire etc., and respect, but there are certain things that just look better on younger people (and indeed older people). It’s not about rules (such as no jeans after 40 of whatever) it’s just that you should consider these things, take them into account in some way. I work in a law firm, and yes, it’s dress down Friday today. If someone walked in with head to toe Rick or finest black drapery, it just would be weird, and I certainly wouldn’t put them anywhere near a client. I realise that there are some people who are so confident in their personal style that they don’t care if they look like a fanny. That’s great, and in general the world is probably a better place for such people being in it, but they still look like fannies – they just don’t care! And they wouldn’t get to go to client meetings.

I constantly ask my wife whether what I’m wearing looks right, and generally speaking I take her advice, because generally speaking she’s right.