If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Loic · If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

What is your usual fashion style? Do you adhere to a rigid set of rules and guidelines when you put on your shirt in the morning? Is it absolutely taboo that white socks can never be worn under trousers?

For me, campus fashion is actually very laid-back and I usually wear a pair of polo-shirt, jeans and track shoes to school. If I have a presentation, I'd ditch casual wear for something which looks more corporate i.e. shirt, tie, trousers, etc.

Akoni

I usually wear hoodies, jeans or army trousers with track shoes or ankle high leather shoes which have some similarities to track shoes.

O and black socks

Benjamin [inactive]

I tend to wear stripy jumpers with either collared shirts or polo-neck tops underneath, and with smart trousers and smart shoes.

When I go to university later this year, I intend to buy as many of my clothes as possible from the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, in attempt at being 'ethical'. I'll try to maintain that style though.

Uriel

I'm a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl. Except in the summer, when I'm a t-shirt and shorts kind of girl. But of course, at work, I mostly wear scrubs. Which is a lot lke getting to show up for gainful employment in pajamas.

Porthos

I like to stand out, and be very unique. I like to set trends rather than follow them. So, I'll wear a lot of unique things, although the way I dress might be labeled "prep/jock", or "metro".

I have relatively short, finger combed hair. I wear Ray-Ban glasses all the time. I wear slim fit pants, etnies shoes, long sleeved buttoned down shirts from places like Abercrombie and Fitch or American Eagle outfitters, and I prefer to roll up the sleeves for a more casual look. I wear a lot of t-shirts, preferably tighter kinds, so you can see the muscles. I wear track-jackets, and I wear my letterman's jacket a lot during the winter. I'll wear a leather jacket too. During the summer I wear a lot of board shorts and flip-flops and I grow my hair out long.

I dress up a lot, and I have several "frequently complimented upon" ties, a navy blue suit, a black suit, and a pair of olive green slacks, and grey slacks. I wear Italian shoes, like Salvatore Ferragamo. When I dress up, I wear a lot of colors that most guys shy away from, like pinks and purples.

My cologne selection includes Acqua Di Gio, L'Eau D'Issey, and Lucky Brand. I'm attracted to the citrus scents as they smell best on me, and I find them to be the most age appropriate.

I always have mints or breath freshners on hand, and I'm always applying chap-stick to my lips. And I moisturize. And there are things I always carry in my pockets. Cell phone, wallet, pocket knife, brass knuckles, chap stick, oil pads, lighter, and gum.

So, you can see why my friends call me "fancypants".......

Shouga

Porthos

Benjamin [inactive]

Lol Josh, I had to do a Google image search to find out what many of your things were! It certainly seems that you own a lot more clothes and related accessories than I do!

Akoni

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_knuckles

Benjamin [inactive]

Pauline

Loic

I must say, the smartest clothing article I own is only a sports blazer. I don't have a suit so my blazer frequently masquerades as one. It is a very versatile article, I feel. A navy blue blazer over white shirt and jeans - I prefer the clean-cut look.

Porthos, since you are something of a self-appointed authority on fashion, what do you think of Ralph Polo Lauren? It's virtually the only main brand in my wardrobe and I have been told that if my wardrobe were an investment portfolio, I should seriously considering diversification.

I am eyeing a new tie that is sold at Brooks Brothers. It is said that a solid coloured tie can be paired with striped shirts. What I hate about ties though, is my tendency to stain it whenever I am eating. Yes, I am quite a careless diner.

Julian · Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

André in Zuid-Afrika · Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Julian · Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Uriel

Ig, Porth -- you're one of those?

Loic

Nobody wears a suit on a regular basis?

When I was in Japan, it seemed that almost every men in their twenties wear a suit to work, regardless of their occupation. I remembered this particular incident in Ginza where a man who was in charge of cleaning the toilets at a shopping centre also dressed immaculately in a suit.

Boy was I impressed. This is truly the mark of a civilised society.

Akoni

lol, I hate suits, I will never wear one! ever!

André in Zuid-Afrika

Jeez, who can wear a suit when it's 35 degrees??!!

When I started out as a reporter, we were required to wear at least a tie. Today nobody at the newspaper wears it anymore, it's simply not practicle.

But I must agree, a man in a suit does look distinguished.

Benjamin [inactive]

I actually still have to wear school uniform. This consists of smart black trousers, smart black shoes, a white shirt, and dark red and navy blue striped tie, and a navy blue blazer, optionally with a navy blue jumper underneath. We're allowed to take the blazer off in the common room and in the classrooms, but we have to wear it in the corridors, unless the headmaster puts up a notice which says 'shirt-sleeve order', where we have to take our blazers and ties off, undo our top buttons and roll up our sleeves. Except that we always have to wear our blazer and tie during whole school assembly, which we have three times a week — it's quite common for someone to faint during assembly and have to be carried out.

(I go to an all-boys school, by the way).

Deborah

All my long life, I've tended to occasionally wear fashionable clothes if I thought they suited me (which I've usually thought they didn't); otherwise, I'd fall back on jeans + T-shirt/sweatshirt/some other kind of top or another (I had a lot of those inexpensive, embroidered Pakistani shirts back in the '70s). When leggings came into fashion, I started wearing those instead of jeans. I still do, even though they're no longer fashionable. And I've gained too much weight to consider that anything suits me anymore, so I pretty much don't dress up at all.

I really dislike suits & ties, and was never interested in men who wore them.

Uriel

I miss leggings, too. Easy and comfy. Came in cool patterns. And I used to have the legs for them!

I don't like suits and ties on men, either. T-shirt and jeans is the combo that I find sexiest -- anything else just looks stuffy.

And as for Japan being civilized because the man cleaning the bathroom was dressed up -- if you smelled the average public crapper in Japan, you might change your opinion! Even the women's were usually foul and disgusting, due to the fact that those toilets are just holes in the floor, and we lack the equipment to aim with anything approaching precision.

Loic

Uriel

Yeah, I'm starting to worry about the masculinity of these poor little English boys!

I've certainly squatted to pee my fair share, loic -- in the woods while camping, at outdoor partieswhere I couldn't stand to wait in line, by the roadside on long car trips.... and I've splattered some shoes doing it! In fact, funny story -- I had to do this at a party once when I was much younger, and ended up pissing all over my flip-flops. So I set them by the door to dry. When I came back for them, they had disappeared!

I wasn't too pissed about the theft, though (no pun intended) -- I figured the joke was on them!

Loic

Porthos

[quote="André in Zuid-Afrika"]Jeez, who can wear a suit when it's 35 degrees??!!

Porthos

Benjamin [inactive]

Shouga

Uriel

Tch. Since when does anyone care about legal? You do what's expedient.

And obviously somebody does not have a decent hip-hop education....("spendin' cheese" -- Jay-Z, anyone?)

Julian

Uriel

(Sigh) -- these kids today, I tell you....

Loic

I was always impressed upon by my teachers that a gentleman should always wear a tie whereas my mother has incalculated in me a habit of never leaving home without a handkerchief.

So I think I am a little old-fashioned in many ways. Somehow, I feel that wearing jeans and t-shirt all the time can be a little disrespectful. If I were to meet a business client and he were to turn up for the meeting in that kind of attire, he can forget about any kind of contract.

Joanne · Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Uriel

Hey, J. Crew sells some nice sweaters.

Uriel

Okay, it's not clothing, but it is something I wear all the time -- and now I do mean all the time.... over the weekend, I finally broke down and got permanent eyeliner -- my first tattoo.

Now this:

is forever (or at least five years, which is how long the pigment is guaranteed for. It's not a very deep tattoo -- only into the dermal layer, so it probably won't go to the grave with me. But, maybe it will....)

Loic

At the risk of sounding like a dandy -which I resolutely am not-, what do the male population of this forum think of Thomas Pink and Alain Figaret shirts?

Unfortunately, Thomas Pink has yet to set up shop in Singapore, but I am interested in buying one via the Internet. I have heard rave reviews about it; I also have heard that they wrinkle up very quickly.

On the other hand, I bought an Alain Figaret shirt a fortnight ago, blowing SGD 250 (US$150) in the process. In your opinion, what is the price ceiling for a shirt before it becomes over priced?

Uriel

About forty bucks. And I've never heard of the two designers you speak of.

Maybe it's because I'm not a clothes person, but if I ever met a guy who admitted spending that kind of cash on a single shirt, I would question his common sense -- imagine all the other stuff you could have bought with that money. All you got was a shirt like any other shirt. I certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and something cheaper, so what's the point?

Any shirt that cost me three figures would need to iron itself, make its own way into the washing machine, and probably order me a pizza while it was at it.

Loic

Funny, that's what many of my mates actually said. The girls, on the other hand, seem to take a kindlier attitude towards such indulgences.

I actually see it as a possible investment with a vain hope that they might actually generate cash flows. How? I am not sure. Maybe if I ever file for bankruptcy and have my assets liquidated, these shirts would count towards my total net worth.

Alain Figaret is a premier French shirtmaker which mainly operates in France with international outlets only in Tokyo, HK and Singapore.

Loic

Funny, that's what many of my mates actually said. The girls, on the other hand, seem to take a kindlier attitude towards such indulgences.

I actually see it as a possible investment with a vain hope that they might actually generate cash flows. How? I am not sure. Maybe if I ever file for bankruptcy and have my assets liquidated, these shirts would count towards my total net worth.

Alain Figaret is a premier French shirtmaker which mainly operates in France with international outlets only in Tokyo, HK and Singapore.

Loic

Actually, you can tell the difference between the real McCoy and a shameless imitation. Price is often a value indicator and I don't buy the argument that a shirt below 100 dollars can hold a candle to a Prada shirt that costs at least 500.

Are you familiar with Lacoste? Do you know how to tell the difference between a real Lacoste and a fake one? The trick lies in the buttons as well as the size of the crocodile.

I wouldn't be caught dead wearing an imitation Lacoste!

Deborah

Loic

Uriel

To the extent that you compare $100 and $500 shirts, worry about the size of the lizard on them, and consider them a monetary investment ... yes.

Joanne

You spend that much on your shirts, Loic? Yikes

" alt="" border="0" /> Please tell me you bargain down the salespeople, at least! Otherwise, I'll have to revoke your Asian Card

Loic

Crocodile, Uriel! Not lizard! God, how ghastly it'd be if a shirt logo is a lizard!

Well Joanne, I really cannot bargain. My haggling skills are never good. I think one needs to really have very thick skin in order to succeed in this endeavour. I simply can't.

Besides, bargaining is not applicable at department stores!

Elaine

If my boyfriend spent $100-$500 on a shirt, I would chew him out for not using his money more wisely-- like on a pair of Jimmy Choos for moi!

Joanne

Deborah

Loic

Does a Jimmy Choo cost less than $500?

For one, I can never understand the perennial female fascination with shoes. What is the point of having over a thousand pair of shoes? Apparently, Imelda Marcos thinks otherwise.

Deborah, I don't think a specific term exists for women who love clothes. We just call them...erm...women indulging in womanly pursuits.

Uriel

I can't imagine what would be fascinating about shoes. I am completely indifferent to them. I certainly never check out anyone's feet.

Loic

Uriel

Yeah, I've heard that crap, too. "Shoes and accessories can be used to size up the man." Maybe some women look at those things and make their decisions accordingly. I never have.

Julian

The most I've ever spent on a shirt was $85, and even then I had buyer's remorse. Now, if I want to go high-end, which is very rarely since I'm not a name-brand type of person, I head over to Ross and get last season's fashions. Or I simply ring up wardrobe stylist friends of mine and buy wholesale.

Walker

I've never cared for fashion and I avoid the trends that come and go. A lot of them are ridiculous anyway. I always wear jeans except when I want to dress up for some special occasion. I own a suit that I've worn only a few times in the last seven years. A cleaner doing his job while wearing a suit would seem very out of place here, you would wonder what the hell was going on. We don't have school uniforms here and most men do not wear a suit very often (business types excluded). I actually wore a shirt and tie beneath a sweater at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and I was probably the only guy my age that wore a tie. As far as I could see, anyway. We're not very formal in this country.

Brass knuckles, eh? Do you still (feel that you) need them, Porthos? And the knife?

Uriel, (hey babe, btw, how goes it for ya?) are you implying that a lot of 'ordinary' people break the law where you live?

I tend to look at people's foot-wear pretty often. Shoes sometimes give you an impression of what their owner is like.

Benjamin [inactive]

Walker

Pauline

Elaine

Benjamin [inactive]

Walker

Elaine

Walker

Elaine

Joanne

She looks very.... Stepford. Perhaps Nicole can give her a few pointers on how to escape.

Walker

Elaine, sometimes I get this feeling that you don't like LA very much (

) Is that so?

Shit, when me and my friends went out last friday night one of my friends told me that I look like an economist. I guess I do bear a resemblance to a grown-up version of those guys I used to despise in High School. I already knew it but no one had said it to me before.

Uriel

Oh, I think people from LA just know the place well enough to be realistic about it.

I suppose there are worse things than looking like an economist, Walker. Like an IRS agent .... and I still haven't done my taxes!

Deborah

Walker

Elaine

Deborah

Uriel

Maybe they were just Mormons, Deborah!

No, I can actually do my own taxes -- I'm in a low enough bracket and all I claim is my student loan interest. It's just sitting down and filling out the form and doing the math.... It isn't filled out for you, but it walks you through pretty easily:

1040EZ

Line 1: How much did you make last year?
Line 2: Send it in.

Just kidding -- it's not that bad. My taxes are about a quarter of my gross income, they're already withheld from my paychecks, and I'm usually just looking for a return on some -- I usually get about $300-400 back, between state and federal. (Oh yeah -- did I mention that we have to do our taxes twice? One form for Uncle Sam, and one for the state -- unless you're lucky enough to live in a state like Texas, which has no state income tax. On the flip side, you can be unlucky enough to live in a state like New York, where some cities charge you an additional city income tax!)

Back in the day, we had an IRS office in town where if you brought all your paperwork and forms in, they would actually do them for you -- for free. Sounds like a set-up, but that was the one year that I owed money, and the agent went through hell and high water to figure out a way to offset it so I wouldn't have to pay, because he felt sorry for me (gasp! they have feelings!) -- he even redid my back taxes from the year before. I ended up just breaking even.

Of course, shortly after I discovered this service, it was discontinued. Ain't that always the way?

Wanderin · Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Loic

Very chic, Wanderin!

Although I must say that your winter wear suggests to me the aggression of Jack Frost nipping away at exposed body parts.

Walker

Uriel

It's the United States of America -- each state is a fairly autonomous entity, you know, and they can decide for themselves how they want to structure taxes.

Deborah

Most of my life, all I've had to declare was taxed income, so I was able to use the 1040 EZ form, or do telefiling. But for the last few years, I've been in the next higher income bracket, so I have to fill out the slightly more time-consuming 1040. But since I still only have to worry about reporting taxed income, it's still pretty simple. And I still get a bit of a refund, thanks to the flexible spending benefits program. That consists of declaring a certain amount of income that you want your employer to take out of your salary to be put in a fund for covering medical or dependent care expenses that aren't covered by insurance. You submit your bills and get refunded for them, but the advantage is that it makes your taxable income less.

Walker

Elaine

Uriel

Benjamin [inactive]

Walker

Benjamin [inactive]

Walker

Benjamin [inactive]

Uriel

Benjamin [inactive]

Walker

Walker

Uriel, if you read my signature you'll see that I don't have time to comment on your post now. Sorry, gotta split!

Benjamin [inactive]

Uriel

Well, if I go to Canada, they also speak English -- and pretty much with the same accent that I have. So, on the one hand you can make the point that simply sharing the English language isn't enough to foster unity -- but at the same time, if I go to Canada and hear familiar voices, it doesn't really "feel" foreign (despite the many difference between our two countries) -- whereas England or Australia, with their very different accents and intonations, would feel foreign and different.

If you're a GenAm speaker like me, you can get a little preview of that feeling by going to the South or to New England, where accents are very different than the national "norm" -- and in the South, there are even subtle but significant cultural differences (not so much in NE).

Beware of accent fatigue when you go to Scotland, Benjamin -- no matter how much you like a given accent or how cute or interesting you find it, after a few weeks you'll reach a point where you just cover your ears for a split second and wish mightily that you could just hear someone talking "normally" for five frickin' minutes!

Happened to me in England....

Deborah

Benjamin [inactive]

Loic

Since this is also a clothes thread, would you buy any kilt to wear when you move to Scotland?

Yelina

I always dreamt to meet a young, handsome Scottish guy wearing a kilt, just to check if he's really naked under, as the myth says!

Benjamin [inactive]

Walker

Porthos

Yelina

Wow!!

You shouldn't have told me! Now, I'm going to imagine this

Just a question, what did you feel? I mean, didn't you feel as if something missed? I don't think I could wear a skirt without any underwear below. I wouldn't feel at ease.

Fredrik

Interesting discussion here (about nations and states, no offence to the thrilling kilt with no underpants discussion!

)
I don't really equate language and nation either, as there have been/are vicious language battles within Norway (Bokmål vs. Nynorsk) and I can understand more of a Swedish or Danish radio broadcast than the 80 % Benjamin mentioned that he could understand from a Scottish radio broadcast. Hearing Swedish is just like another Norwegian dialect. Because of Nordic co-operation and EES (= EU + EFTA) I can easily move to Sweden or Denmark and it would probably not be more exotic or difficult than Benjamin's move from England to Scotland or a move from New England to New Mexico.

If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?

Re: If clothes maketh a man, what do you usually wear?