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In this Discussion
- Chuck September 2011
- Clever_girl September 2011
- distant_shoe September 2011
- flossy_log_lady September 2011
- joey September 2011
- kdawg September 2011
- Leland September 2011
- lml__0_0__lml September 2011
- Loose_Thread September 2011
- Matthew September 2011
- MirandaJuly September 2011
- Nick September 2011
- swamp_knobbler_mahan September 2011
- the_owls September 2011
- UncleBoatShoes2011 September 2011
- YoursTruly September 2011
CLOTHES.
Do you buy used clothes?
Do you buy new clothes?
Do you buy handmade clothes?
How do you feel about sweatshops?
Do you follow fashion blogs?
I sort of follow Style Rookie and also Tomboy Style.
It's back to school and I need to figure out what kind of clothing works for a thirty year-old who doesn't want to look too much like a lady or a mom.
I bought myself a pair of pants and some socks, because it's that time of year when I replace the worn out with newer.
Have you made style discoveries lately?
I have discovered that I look way better in pants that fit at the waist than in low rise pants.
It took me like ten years to realize that.
Do you buy new clothes?
Do you buy handmade clothes?
How do you feel about sweatshops?
Do you follow fashion blogs?
I sort of follow Style Rookie and also Tomboy Style.
It's back to school and I need to figure out what kind of clothing works for a thirty year-old who doesn't want to look too much like a lady or a mom.
I bought myself a pair of pants and some socks, because it's that time of year when I replace the worn out with newer.
Have you made style discoveries lately?
I have discovered that I look way better in pants that fit at the waist than in low rise pants.
It took me like ten years to realize that.
Comments
I buy new
I buy handmade
I am against sweatshops and avoid them roughly 75% of the time as far as I know
I follow Style Rookie very sporadically and that's it
My recent style discoveries:
- not being afraid of a high heel
- not being afraid of a ladies boot
I think it's rejuvenating to style yourself up/down in a new way. We live so goddamn long, years and years and years do we live, I think it freshens stuff up to change it up, so I try to do that every once in awhile. "Hmm maybe I can wear skinny jeans after all" (true!) "Hmm maybe I can rock this miniskirt after all" (not true!)
It's weird how we wear clothes every single day. It makes sense to me that a mild layer of tiredness/boredom can be scraped off how I feel about my life by simply sticking myself in a color I don't normally wear, or splurging on some sort of fancy gown.
It is a great feeling to give something a shot (boots, for me, e.g.) and then get compliments on it from strangers at the coffee shop. "Hey, great boots!" NAILED IT!
One time a girl at the coffee shop said "I love how many different patterns you're wearing, you're my hero," and it was clear she thought I was an ironic hipster hero and not, like, a beautiful fashion hero. And I hadn't even realized I was wearing so many different patterns. But I was. I had on a striped, a polka-dotted, and a weird handmade paisley. I looked like a crazy person.
I did manage to thrift some better clothing this year. I still need more pants that look right, and some kind of shoe that is comfortable and is not a type of sneaker.
What is scary is the concept of paying close to a hundred dollars for something that was made in some weird sweatshop in Asia and isn't usually made of the kind of natural fibers I consider sturdy enough to last.
But I am like you, Zombie, I avoid sweatshop most of the time, but I am finding it harder to pull off.
I am pretty into Etsy, as a concept, a place to buy something made by the hands of a human you can actually communicate with, but I don't buy too many clothes from there, I want to touch the material and see if it fits.
And like I already said, in my small town I can't exactly walk into a store that sells the kind of clothes I like. I do find something exciting to wear at the antique stores from time to time. Usually old wool coats. Maybe I should just start going nude under my many wool coats. I am building quite the collection.
Also, has anyone else noticed the dwindling quality of clothes in thrift stores? Or is it a regional thing? To find a wool sweater is so hard these days. They are all acrylic and viscose and rayon and other crap like that. Out of shape. Stretched out. I have a good supply for the time being.
I just need more pants.
And pants are hard to come by.
Why can't they make pants that fit humans right?
It doesn't always work out like this, but when it does it's magic.
Also, I will admit that I love it when other people look good, fashion-wise, but can never seem to figure out how to do that to myself. It would be fun to have a stylist fix me up sometime with new outfits -- I think A. Verdug. would be a great stylist.
I went to Goodwill with Jae and found like 4 brand new J-Crew things that fit me exactly. Got a beautiful bright red 100% wool sweater that looks like it's never been worn. Got a rad pair of Express pants (Express's fancy pants fit me best of all pants, for whatever reason). Got a rad pair of expensive high heels that are barely worn. Total cost was like 19 bucks. LOVE IT!
Also found a pink J Crew wool cardigan at Goodwill yesterday, never worn, and a fancy Banana Republic dress I can wear to work. FIVE BUCKS EACH
"I'm lovin it"
Fashion is interesting. I had the same experience with Style Rookie where I finally "got" how people can be interested in it like an art. I will never be, but it did make me think more about it in a fun way.
Especially for work clothes, it's so hard to avoid the sweatshop companies. Although didn't Gap famously quit using sweatshops at some point?? I can't remember. Gap is not my preferred work clothes store, but still.
I think to get pants that fit a human right you have to be either exactly one of six EXACT SHAPES/SIZES combos, or you have to pay a seamstress to build you clothes by hand.
I would love to have a piece of clothing made for my personal body. It's weird that that's what all clothing used to be.
Luxirare is a one-woman company that produces fine clothing and fine food.
Basically, it's a young woman, with a great head on her shoulders, who started investing in PRODUCTION equipment when she graduated from a fashion program at Parsons.
Over the years, she has taught herself to make everything she designs, from shoes to a leather jacket with an embedded fiber optic cape.
I think Luxi represents an old luxury made new again by its rarity: a hand-made lifestyle.
I have watched her go from a person who makes her own food in Pyrex science equipment over a gas burner, then packaging it herself in different things she buys, then building a collection of more and more sophisticated sewing machines, to going to industry-only conventions in Italy and securing her own industrial shoe-making tools. It's totally incredible.
I'm not saying everyone can or should do this--she is a genius, and I think a real system-changing artist, an artist who actually proves that new ideas are possible. She says herself that there are not new ideas, but there can be new systems. All in all her work inspires me to break down my assumptions about clothing, and living, to find something that works for me, just the way I like it. To think first about what it is you actually want, and consider how it might be possible later.
Bring home a flower and a bottle with bubbles
Love it when you go pro babe
Although there was that one time I wore a nice shirt to dinner.
Generally have a 'fuck fashion' attitude that stems from being constantly around an ex- who was a "fashion designer".
As long as it's not "blatant advertising", like a shirt with a logo on it.
A dilemma I have had recently encountered:
Women fitted Dr. Martens are made from leather in China and are of a lesser quality
Some regular Dr. Martens that cost twice as much are still made from leather in the UK
Vegan Dr. Martens are made in China
I first decided against the women fitted ones. They seemed like the worst option, even though they look better on a lady. Then I decided against Dr. Martens altogether and bought a different kind of shoes that I know won't last as long but is cheaper.
But lately my solution has been to mostly buy used, then pay more for new clothing that was made in the U.S.A., Canada and sometimes Europe. It seems to last long enough for it to make sense.
* post edited because it made no sense.
and some new sneakers
philosophically, i feel like new clothing, and american's obsession with new cheap clothing, is a disgusting waste. also people doing laundry like every day is so weird to me. so much water, so many chemicals.
practically, a man needs new jeans
practically i can not justify any spending on clothing whatsoever as i make zero dollars.
i have 2 pair uniqlo jeans,
a man must buy new jeans
cheap jeans generally suck ass
nice fitting jeans cost like $200 so fuck that shit
its hard for a man to find a pant that makes him look good that cost less than a fucking ipod
i have one million t-shirts, all used, bro'ed or custom
i have two dozen very cheap undies from uniqlo
i have two dozen gold toe socks
i have a half dozen sweaters, mostly vintage
i have 2 winter jackets from the columbia outlet in sellwood. that shit is so cheap!
i like uniqlo cause it is japanese and i am sorta japanese sized cause of my japanese blood. hit that is cheap but the style is invisibly ok. better than american chain clothing.
if i had a high paying creative job i would totally get those cool collared shirts and those cool italian frames and cool boutique clothings and look like every other upper level creative arts admin mfa whathaveyou bro in line at the nice cafes
until then its dutch bro's and ma t-shirts n jeans, brah
It's a lot like Fudge. Except maybe Fudge could spend more money on clothes if he wanted to.
Living in a small town I let myself go. I go ratty. There are no clean dressing types here, except maybe the town jeweler and then people in their eighties.
Drawers full of Uniqlo socks we got in Japan for cheap.
Many colors, Japanese feet size.
I feel the same way about hair washing/non-foot body washing (feet get washed every day)
Not to mention CAR WASH
I want to go to the Columbia outlet
I need raincoat
Leggings---"Naked Women" party
Vinyl tank top--- Friend didn't want it
Vest--- Grandmere's resortware collection
scarf--- $1
"Bracelet"--- $5 from Spartacus on W Burnside
I could wear this forever
In an actual shower situation no, I don't wash my feet unless they are majorly blackened.
However I will say--and I know this stance has been controversial in the past--that I believe feet should be washed every single night right before bed, regardless of if you've showered that day or not.
Getting into bed with dirty feet (or getting into a bed with someone else with dirty feet) stresses me out so much. Those feet--often in flip flops!?--have been out in the city all day tromping around in other people's gum, and dogshit, and asphalt, and dirt, and then you put them in the nice soft bed? NOOOOOOO
I never wash my feet, except once in a blue moon before bed when I wear flip flops. Zombie is making a good point. I don't like a bed with crumbs or dirt in it. I should wash my feet more.
The thing that I have to buy new and spend money on is shoes, because my feet are so goddamn big. Also I realized last year while shopping for a wedding that my body is shaped really fucking weird. I'm not a skinny guy but I have a long torso and if I don't buy "tall" and "slim fit stuff"
Big secret: paying $10 for a thrifted shirt and having it altered for $8 results in a WAY BETTER shirt than buying a $40 new shirt.
I have also become an advocate of shrink to fit Levis, partially because the rise is higher than most contemporary jeans (sits at the waist!!!!)
Also I bought these socks for like $6 http://www.zappos.com/merrell-chameleon-arc-multi-sport-3-pack-blue
Jeans I bought in Korea (small person sizes!), $50 but have worn almost daily for 2 yrs
T-shirt, maybe Adam's?
Flannel shirt, 0 dollars/trade
Shoes, Mall brand bought at Buffalo exchange
Work clothes today:
Sweater- thrifted
Jeans- mall :(
Blouse- mall :(
Shoes- same as yesterday
I usually wear a vintage blouse for work, but vintage pants have been harder to find.
I recently went into J Crew to look SERIOUSLY for some well-fitting work pants and I just couldn't stop touching everything... real natural fiber fabrics? Whoa. Simple non-style styles. Too bad everything costs a million dollars!
I would love a combo of thrifted, locally made "fashion", and serious pieces that will last a long time (good wool coat, fancy shoes, etc.)
My least favorite task of late is finding a bag or purse that I can use for work travels... usually I carry a Robby Birdman tote bag when I need to cram a bunch of stuff in, but it's gotten ratty with wear. I HATE LADIES PURSES from new stores! So much tacky hardware. Fake leather feels so gross, real leather also feels so gross.
I like those fjallkraven thingy backpacks but you can't actually see one in person, you have to order online and I'm not sure my stuff will fit.
Messenger bag is so huge and hurts my shoulder.
I don't want to look like a fancy lady with a jangly gold zippered bag, I don't want to have a vintage sack that is falling to pieces (it's gotta last a few months), and I don't want a humongous piece of luggage hanging off me at all times.
:(
:(
:(
THIS IS A LIE THAT ALAN TOLD,
he wouldn't
genius, voice of the future, will outlive all in the apocalypse, casually living the dream.
I have the "large rita" in brown with delightful blue flowers stitched on it. There is an important distinction with the large rita in that it is the only Queen Bee bag that doesn't have basically a seatbelt for a handle. The large rita has a normal purse-like handle.
It holds everything a briefcase holds, but looks softer/cooler, but doesn't look like a big stupid elaborate sex and the city bag.
My current wish list item that I don't think exists:
- a fancy pant (like a suit pant) that is fitted and STRAIGHT LEG? Skinny leg even? Does this exist, and if not WHY NOT. Why do all suit pants have to have enormous flared leg openings?????
There was a 'slack' type pant that was very slim and slightly cropped.
There are fine quality 'khaki' pants in a straight leg. Probably even MORE?!
???
the skinny leg fancypants hides its face from me
I used to never ever ever buy new stuff (except for shoes and underwear), like all the way up until 2007. The only new items of clothing I owned were t-shirts I got from friends.
But for so long I had the look of someone who had slept in their clothes, like wearing cords so much that one day you discover that the velvety part is all gone and your pants are transparent and you just played a show and everyone can see your butt.
I have been slowly adding sturdy quality wool coats and wool sweaters. Best sweaters are St. James sweaters, made in France. They are quite expensive but I own one that I bought used fourteen years ago and I have worn it constantly. It's still in ok shape (I need to fix an elbow hole). Now I have one that I bought new and I am thinking of getting another. I barely ever wash them. They make anyone look like you were part of the May 68 protests.
My favourite lady bags are this shop on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ikabags
also expensive, but if I have been considering getting a lady bag and well, I'd rather pay a hundred bucks once than pay thirty dollars five times over a short period. But maybe this is not the bag for me.
I don't know how I feel about Fjällräven bags anymore, I own two. The quality is sturdy enough, they are waterproof. They fit a laptop and most of my stuff, I just feel like I am too old to have a backpack on my back at all times... I saw a picture of me carrying one and I thought I looked like such a nerd! The other thing about Fjällräven is that I really liked the logo, it once looked like a weird patch, but now that they are so common it feels so much more like advertising.
We haven't talked of American Apparel...
I know there is a lot of ambivalence about them as a company.
I still buy their shirts from time to time and end up wearing them every day. For me
the fact that they make their stuff in the U.S.A. sort of makes up for the pervert boss.
I mean, not really, but my purchases are not just providing this one guy with a job, they contribute to the wages of others, too.
No?
Vintage Givenchy miltary-style blouse, $5
pants, thrifts, $5
Socks $1
Boots $4
I haven't bought clothes from the mall in years. But I admit you have to put a lot of time in thrifting---you have to do it regularly because you can't get anything "on purpose."
I don't wear pants too often. Dresses rule--one piece!
Work-wear brands that make me look like I am not a thrift rat:
Liz Claiborne
Anne Taylor
Saks Fifth Avenue
The only vintage thing that regularly fits me is a T SHIRT!
I just don't have that hourglass/any actual waist or butt :(
Not that new clothes fit too terribly well, but with the market skewing younger and younger things that are basically made for teens are basically my size.
JOEY: I feel you on the backpack! I'm pretty sure it will make me look 13, and those bags are sort of twee, but my actual back bones seem interested in this option.
I hardly ever buy American Apparel because it's so damn expensive and sort of flimsy. I have recently bought an Alternative Apparel item and it was also expensive, but well made and I felt a little happier about spending my $$ on them.
I have total hourglass and a man's t-shirt or a man's sweater is the only thing that looks good on me.
I wish they made clothes for humans like us, all of us.
Yes, a backpack is good for your back. Plus, when wearing a shoulder bag a lady might get confused about where to put the strap. In the middle looks weird and a heavy bag worn on the same shoulder too long makes one boob lower than the other!
Elsa Schiaparelli
Barbara Hulanicki
I didn't know of them before. Pretty rad and groovy, I'm thinking. Powerful ladies.
Joey, if you like the bag, just put a crass patch over the Fjallraven patch. No one is ever too old for a crass patch.
I am so embarrassed in the summer. So embarrassed and so ashamed. One day this summer I wore a t-shirt and biker shorts and when I was outside I felt like a naked god damned fool. Everyone must be innocent but I am fallen. Today's clingy jersey (invented for use as under garments) leave nothing to the imagination. There I was, walking the street, and everyone could see every shape of my body's silhouette!!! It's normal
?!?!?
I prefer the old European way of dress, where volume of fabric=wealth
Did you know that in the 18th century when there was a revival of faux Classical silhouettes, ladies would wear silken robes that were constantly dampened with water, so as to cling to their skin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is as much variety in the clothing that people wear and consider proper as there are stars in the sky.
Staircases that flare out at the bottom were made at a time when ladies wore such wide dresses that they had to go down the stairs one at a time.