your style, your brands

i have def overspent sometimes! but i rarely/never pay full retail - a lot of things i have bought off ebay at super low prices. there are a handful of sellers who list new sale stock from department stores (bloomingdales for instance). i always wear the same size in a couple of labels and do a saved search if there is a certain kind of thing i want. it'll show up eventually. my favorite theory blazer cost about $50 new with tags for instance. got the rag & bone chinos at barney's co-op on an end of season sale, they were the same price as gap by then. the cost is more in the time it takes me to find something i like; i finally bought a short trench for spring, it took lots and lots and lots of searching to find the perfect convergence of label + simple style + acceptable color + relatively low price. it was a pain, but i guess i won't have to bother again for like 10 years.

i admit to buying a couple of $100 tees from apc, though i have worn them constantly & they are still in perfect shape

on the other hand i don't have any expensive handbags or fine jewelry. i like jerome dreyfuss and vanessa bruno, but i'm not willing to spend the money, and my jewelry is almost all vintage that i got as gifts from friends/family.

think Lamp needs a Roadkill Cafe shirt

iiii dont get this

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2692/4017844681_4dc912b62b_z.jpg

Everyone was wearing this back in the day in Idaho

I guess it is of a different category than the Zubaz/Oakley look
idk
I am the last person who should be posting on a thread about clothes, even joke clothes

converse, ben sherman

My brands are like:
a bunch of dumb cotton shit
hey I could escape from a burning airplane in those those Merrell shoes
kept finding all these Sonoma Life 'n' Style blouses at Savers and it turns out it's a Kohl's brand
whatever pair of fucking jeans that fits my ass and that I haven't worn thigh biscuit holes into...yet (one pair, any brand)
this one skirt my mom sewed for me twelve years ago
three pairs of New Balance 574s

a t-shirt with a not trendy band on it
fucking Tevas, god

Daria - those are good tips. I think what I need to remind myself of is this part: "the cost is more in the time it takes me to find something i like . . . it was a pain, but i guess i won't have to bother again for like 10 years". I've never bought anything off ebay clothes or otherwise but I'm going to have a look soon.

i basically only buy totally non trend-specific stuff nowadays - plain dress shirts in solid whites and blues and small ginghams, overshirts in same, plain polos and tees in white (red and navy for polos), solid black or navy or grey sweaters and jackets and sweatshirts. jeans and cotton trousers in unwashed basic colors (indigo, khaki, green). same w shorts.

nothing skinny, nothing baggy, nothing that can't be matched with everything else in the closet. nothing that it's easy to buy cashmere sweaters when i

I have a Theory blazer that someone left at a party once. I wore the shit out of it, is the problem. It kinda looks sad now. I've tried to embrace the sadness in a hi/lo way--great clothing, loved to pieces--but it never seems to work on me.

er that got scrambled at the end

nothing too dressy or casual. nothing you couldn't have worn in the 90s, 80s, 70s, etc (if you didn't mind not standing out and looking like a casual preppy)

yesterday i threw out a navy rl polo sweatshirt that cost $100. it lasted me about seven years! i went ahead and bought the exact same thing. I have cashmere sweaters that have lasted about the same length of time and show no sign of quitting on me yet

to summarize

1) buy expensive shit because it's well made, not because it's stylie (or buy cheap stuff that lasts a long time, like AA or ll bean)

2) buy shit that looks good on toddlers, kids, teens, adults, old folks

3) don't buy anything on sale you wouldn't buy at full price or that you wouldn't wear daily

4) tell a tight color story

this advice is from a female friend of mine who does brand consulting for gap, j crew, etc, though i admit it's harder for girls to follow this advice

i think thats kinda bogus. shop to give yourself pleasure in the things you wear and the way you look. buy something to wear once, buy stylish things or garish things or something half as a joke, because it would make someone smile. if i get tired of something i can resell it or donate it or give it to a friend or leave it in a drawer until its cool again. never think of clothes as an investment unless you are good at clothes and even then, they probably arent.

buy something to wear once

can't even imagine this.

Only if it's edible. Wear and eat.

buy something to wear once, buy stylish things or garish things or something half as a joke, because it would make someone smile

big pimpin spendin cheese

Paris Hilton never wears an outfit twice.

The 29-year-old socialite - who has fronted advertising campaigns for the likes of Christian Dior, Marciano and Tommy Hilfiger - says that she gives most of her clothes away after wearing them once.

She explained: "I never wear an outfit more than once unless it's like a really cool pair of jeans or a leather jacket."

And the blonde beauty admitted that she has a lot of unworn clothes in her wardrobe.

She said: "I still have so many clothes in my closets that still have the labels on. I see them so often I think I've worn them but then I realise I haven't. So I either give them to my friends or donate them to a charity so they can auction them off."

However the heiress revealed that she can't always donate her clothes to her friends as they don't always fit.

She told Heat magazine: "I'm quite lucky I have small breasts and that means I can wear most clothes. Some of my friends have bigger breasts but I can wear pretty much what I like. It's a real shame though because it means I can't pass my clothes on to them, because they'll be too small around the bust."

pretty sure my brasts are bigger than lamp's

:-(

http://www.friendsofart.net/static/images/art1/tullio-lombardo-miracle-of-the-misers-heart.jpg

http://www.damstede.net/uploads/BeeldendeV/KCV/satyric1.jpg

http://parallax-view.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/satyricon031.jpg

first ones not such a bad look really

im trying to think about why i find that kind of swagblog.tumblr.com advice really wrongheaded, something about the attempt to rationalize pleasure i guess, feels dehumanizing. i mean obv im resorting to blandly affirmative truisms ('just be yourself!') to describe any kind of counterphilosophy so idk

you guys are really overthinking this

clothes are costumes
they are fun

For some people, wardrobe acquisitions are about getting to a place where you are "done," or, like, have certain bases covered, as quickly/efficiently/satisfyingly as possible? I get this but it doesn't seem like very much fun? I guess clothes don't have to be fun. But they are to me!

xp haha exactly

"color story" bleurgh

I think you just described me laurel xp

being irrational, wearing costumes, seeking pleasure w/o thought to utility all seem wrongheaded to me

2) buy shit that looks good on toddlers, kids, teens, adults, old folks

btw i really don't understand the reasoning behind this

lol at "being irrational"

there is definitely one weird trick that helps you be rational about clothes - tell a color story

a TIGHT color story

elmo there is some stuff that looks good no matter how old you are, ie a clean black polo shirt, a pair of basic jeans, and converse. that looks equally good on a five year and a fifty year old.

there is some stuff that would look silly on adults but not kids, like bright red corduroy overalls, and some stuff that would look silly on kids, like skinny jeans w/ a striped v-neck tee

i say go for the first instead of the second

I'm not gonna lie, if I had infinite money I would probably buy a lot of cool clothes to wear. since I don't and there are approx. 1 million things that require my money, I just buy functional long-lasting things in solid colors, usually

skinny jeans look silly on everyone

I want to know more about these color stories.

'color story' just puzzles because idk what it narrative about a color palette. i can understand that concept in terms of a runway show where there is a progression or whatever, i know it's just design jargon but

A color story is a palette of colors used in a line or for visual merchandising in retail stores. Designers use color stories to connect and idenify each piece with a certain season and line. Retail stores often use color stories for organization and visual appeal in their companys store. An example would be if a designers line was safari inspired the color story would be dark green, tan,brown and mustard. Those colors tell a story= safari!!

you pleasureless drone dayo, you sad little man

as far as "color story" goes = ok whatever, pick on my diction, how about a "color palette"

I never realized before that my hot dog was telling me about safaris

mustard safari

tight mustard safari

it's just a way of saying "palette" while also acknowledging that certain colors set up certain moods and say things about you

navy = i am sober and professional
pink = i am feminine (and like attention if its bright pink)

etc

I grew up shopping at forman mills, tj maxx and ross, maybe that has something to do with me being a pleasureless drone

xpost

hot dogs are red dan

if you wore a red and yellow top with vertical stripes i bet at least one person you know would think about a hot dog or possibly a hot dog on a stick

elmo there is some stuff that looks good no matter how old you are, ie a clean black polo shirt, a pair of basic jeans, and converse

you still have to adjust for fit/proportion. i mean i know you said 'neither too slim nor to loose' or w/e but what constitutes 'too slim' is going to change over time a fair bit

its hard to universalize

actual hot dogs aren't really red, though...?

the google results are cracking me up though; two wiener dogs in bun costumes and a puppy in an actual bun

clothes that suit every age demographic are generally dubbed 'classics' and are usually available at every price point, and there is (should be) a place for some of them in every wardrobe imho. it just seems odd for me to consider, as an 30 year old, whether a shirt would look good on a teen AND an old fart. why? if you're a teen with a slammin' body, go ahead and rock that neon low-cut mini-dress, because you can get away with it! if you are an old fart, dress in wizard robes, because you've earned it!!

I put on my mustard safari wizard robe and mustard safari hat

i was trying to break down the idea of classics to an extent

if it seems odd to you that's fine, don't follow my good advice, tell a loose color story and wear a bathrobe to work and MAKE IT WORK

Who does a good wizard robe? Could I get something at Macy's or would I have to go to Rag and Bone or something.

tlg i am like the aesop of color fables

xp just get a slanket and embroider stars on it