Men's Fashion

[ExplodingHat]

New topic: waistcoats.

A vest, combined with suspenders, is the best way to hide the fact that your pants/tie/shirt are all too long.

[JudeMorrigan]

As far as tie knots go, at any occassion that is informal enough that it doesn't demand a bow tie, I feel perfectly comfortable wearing a four-in-hand. I wore one at the ballroom dancing competition that I went to a couple of weekends ago. (Although I really do look forward to the day when I'm good enough to warrant wearing a tailsuit.)

[SlyReaper]

Hey Obrien, long time no see.

What's with the hating of the half windsor? It's not as huge a knot as the full windsor, and it's more symmetrical than the four in hand knot.

[Shro]

Can't say I'm a fan of skinny ties myself. A normal tie looks like part of an outfit; a skinny tie looks like a piece of rope dangling from your neck.

If you're in high school/college age (or slightly older) skinny ties are great way to wear a tie without looking like you're trying to hard to be fancy pants. I think skinny ties look great on lots of people!

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New topic: waistcoats. Snazzy or horrendous? Nobody wears them these days and I think it's a shame. I've recently started wearing them, but only casually. If I wore one to work, I'd just be bombarded all day with questions like "Hey Reaper, what's with the outfit? You got a job interview or something?"

Try a casual look:

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This thread needs more pictures.

[bigglesworth]

These pictures need more thread.

Material is very important in determining how formal any clothing is. Look to something comfortable and not in a sober colour like slate or navy.

[OBrien]

Wotcher Sly. Various escapades left me internet-less for a while... I've only just been able to get back online again. Nice to be back, though!

I, personally, think skinny ties and knots can look great on most people when they want a not-too-smart look. I, however, have a huge neck that looks ridiculous with a skinny knot and like to either dress as scruffy as possible or pretty damn smart, so it's never really an option anyway.

[Amy78]

Neal Caffrey (Aka Matt Boomer). Definitely a good example of good mens' fashion!

[Shro]

These pictures need more thread.

Material is very important in determining how formal any clothing is. Look to something comfortable and not in a sober colour like slate or navy.

Color: Brown
Material: Linen
Texture: Herringbone
http://www.jcrew.com/mens_category/spor ... /12941.jsp

Adding brown as a neutral to your wardrobe can really warm it up. It's a snuggly color (See: Teddy Bears)

[bigglesworth]

As the picture shows, a light brown can play off deep blue denim. I think it'd have to be a colour like that if I were to get something like a sports jacket.

[SurgicalSteel]

Bringing this back a bit to ask what people think of the vest and t-shirt look. Particularly on someone in their mid-twenties. I think it looks alright, but I've never been a good judge of this sort of thing.

[ExplodingHat]

Bringing this back a bit to ask what people think of the vest and t-shirt look. Particularly on someone in their mid-twenties. I think it looks alright, but I've never been a good judge of this sort of thing.

Objectively, it looks alright, but in my part of town at least, you'll only find it on hipsters.

[Jacque]

Not a big fan. Just reminds me of 90s sitcoms/movies.

[SurgicalSteel]

Hmm, so that's one for and two against. I think I'll stick to t-shirt and jeans. Thanks.

[bluebambue]

Not so fast, I am for t-shirts and vests.

[SurgicalSteel]

It occurred to me that maybe I should clarify: by "vest" I mean this

not this

[bluebambue]

That is what I was thinking of, as well. However I do think that vests with t-shirts should have a deeper V than the top picture
Like:

[SurgicalSteel]

Yea, the one I have the V goes down to about my xyphoid, similar to the one in your picture. It's part of a suit I bought, but I don't ever have occasion to wear it since the event I bought it for.

[ExplodingHat]

I'm not sure the vest quite works without a tucked-in shirt.

[bigglesworth]

Same. Also, that's a really nice belt in the first picture.

[PictureSarah]

I think the button-down shirt works much better with a vest than a tshirt. Doesn't mean it has to be formal...the gent in the first picture is rocking jeans and a cool belt with his vest, and it looks pretty damn spiffy.

[bigglesworth]

It's also not a formal style of shirt; Choose light/textured/coloured striped shirts in an informal style and it'll definitely not look formal. Smart casual perhaps

[Samik]

All right. Help me out here. This might be a bit of a tough one - I know nothing about fashion. Really, this may not even qualify as fashion.



I am a barefooter. Whenever it is warm enough (and sometimes when it's not), the only reasons I'll ever wear shoes are because 1.) I'm in some facility that requires footwear, or 2.) I'm going to be meandering about, and won't have a convenient place to store shoes in case I need them for reason #1, and it's less obnoxious to have them on my feet than to carry them.

Taken together, these, in practice, mean that, like most human beings, I wind up wearing shoes more often than not.


Just today, a possible solution dawned on me.


A while back, I saw a woman in an airport wearing an extremely minimal pair of shoes. I didn't get a great look (and didn't think, for some reason, to ask her about them), but they basically appeared to be a thin sole (with no support of any kind - just a layer of leather or some other material), and stretchy fabric around to foot to hold it on. Sort of like a moccasin, but overall much smaller and lighter - each "shoe' couldn't have weighed more than an ounce or two. Really, they would barely qualify as more than socks if not for the sole.

These had immediate appeal to me due to the lack of a rigid sole - just enough substance to keep your feet clean/sanitary and provide some protection from cuts, but allowing for the natural barefoot gait.


Well, today, it occurred to me that, in addition to just being much more comfortable for me than heavier conventional shoes, a pair of "shoes" like these would actually also solve problem #2 - if small enough, they could probably be easily stuffed into a pocket whenever not strictly required.



Two things:

1.) Try as I might, I haven't really been able to find any examples of this sort of "shoe" online. The amount of time I've spent in my life thinking about anything even remotely fashion-related is so low that, apparently, I really don't have the acumen for tracking things of this nature down.

2.) If done wrongly, this seems like something with a lot of potential to be a fashion faux pas - with respect to the you-shouldn't-give-a-damn-what-anyone-else-thinks-no-matter-the-consequences crowd, I'd still rather it not look like I'm walking around wearing ballerina slippers.



So has anyone ever come across anything like* what I'm talking about here?


*The above post can pretty much be distilled down into: "substantial enough to allow me to avoid being kicked out of restaurants, but minimal enough to be easily stuffed into a pocket when not in use".

[ShootTheChicken]

Try these. My brother raves about them.

[PictureSarah]

You could also try these: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/index.htm
My boss raves about them....but they're not the most fashion forward thing you could possibly wear.

[Samik]

Hum. Neither of those are quite like what I'm thinking of.

I actually own a pair of five fingers (which I love) for hiking, but both of those are much, much larger and bulkier than what I am imagining.


Since I haven't had any success finding what I'm looking for, I don't have much to link to provide examples. Well, let's see what I can do....


Ok. Think more along the lines of this, in terms of bulk (if not even less). Only rather than flashy/flamboyant and clearly designed for athletics, something your could wear on a regular basis.

[Hofstadter'sLaw]

Sockwa?

http://www.sockwa.com/

[Samik]

Bleh. Scrapped this whole post because, as I kept learning more about these, I kept coming back to edit it, and it became a mess.

Sockwa?

Final verdict: getting closer, but not quite.

They make a number of models; the reviews of the really lightweight ones I've read suggest that they won't hold up well to everyday use...

"The Sockwa was designed as a beach shoe and the intended purpose was for sandy beaches, so for this purpose, the material is perfect. They were not meant for walking on concrete, asphalt, rocks, or man-made surfaces so cannot be expected to last long on these terrains."

...whereas the ones designed for every day use are a good bit heavier and more rigid.




I'm beginning to wonder if my memory is playing trickses on me about what I saw this woman wearing (i.e. I'm remembering them as being more minimal than they really were). Or maybe they were home made. I really ought to have asked.



Or maybe you just can't get around the short lifespan for a product like this. $20 a pop for the really lightweight ones isn't exactly oppressive, even if you go through them pretty quickly.

[bigglesworth]

I think I know what you mean, but they are in no way a 'men's fashion', so you should bear that in mind.

Were they like this?



If so they are called ballerina pumps.

[Samik]

No. They were in no way, shape or form anything like that :p


They were significantly more minimal, both is structure and aesthetics.

[bigglesworth]

You don't get much more minimal! (allowing for the bow, which is not integral).

[Samik]

Ok. Pictures of existing products are clearly failing me here. Let me try to craft a better written description...



First of all, do away with any kind of rigid sole at all. Even the sole on that "ballerina pump". Hell, Even the soles on most of those Sockwas is much too much. (The original sockwa is the closest I have seen so far, but they no longer make them - all the new, "improved" models include additional features I do not want).

I don't want any foot support at all. Basically, the only functionality the sole should serve is to keep the bottom of your feet clean, so you don't get kicked out of eating establishments (not that that standard makes any sense, but it exists nonetheless). Perhaps a little bit of toughness, to guard against cuts (but mostly to differentiate it from a sock, again, to avoid getting you kicked out of places that think barefootedness is unsanitary).

As far as the rest of the "shoe", I don't quite know what material would be best, but the idea should be just enough to hold the sole on to the bottom of your foot. None of this fleece lining, neoprene-breathable-mesh stuff. And bows are right out.


I'm thinking like a moccasin, only scaled down to the most minimal conceptualization possible.



My memory swears that I've seen such a thing. But my search-fu contradicts this.

Maybe it doesn't exist. Maybe I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it if it did. (After all, small = dainty, no? Guys are supposed to wear boots, right?)

Or maybe I should just crusade to get barefootedness to be more accepted. That might be easier.

[SurgicalSteel]

It's possible what you saw at the airport was specifically for the airport, not everyday use. Something easy to slip on and off while going through security without having to untie any shoelaces.

[Samik]

I'm slowly coming to that conclusion. Which is sort of what I had in mind to begin with. My original premise was something that I could stuff in a pocket and only pull out when I needed to go places that were not friendly to barefooters. As such, durability is less of a concern. I wouldn't want it to have a shelf life of 90 days, but if I were really using it for my stated purpose, that probably wouldn't be the case. I would just have to resist the temptation to go running in it.

I.E. I just have to be more clear in my own mind as to what my mission statement is here. I suppose that, by their nature, "shoes" of this sort won't be able to stand up to all sorts of abuses like a good pair of boots would.



The best option (aesthetics aside) I've seen so far is the original sockwa model. Right about as minimal as I'm thinking, and cheap enough that it wouldn't really matter if you wear through them quickly. Unfortunately, it's no longer being produced.

[gorcee]

They could have been Toms. http://www.toms.com/

Incidentally, I, as a guy, often wear ballet flat-style shoes, for two reasons: one, as a statement regarding absolute perception of gender identity (the ballet flats posted above were, once upon a time, extremely similar in style to men's shoes), and two, because a foot injury years ago changed the shape of my instep, and I have a difficult time wearing shoes that restrict my instep at all -- it causes joint problems from my ankle to my lower back. So I wear what works.

[Hofstadter'sLaw]

These aren't what you want, but maybe they'll give you ideas for new searches:

Fin Socks
http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/190 ... color=9325

Swim Socks
http://www.swimoutlet.com/product_p/31148.htm?color=210

It looks like they're just neoprene socks, no soles or anything.

[Samik]

All right, well, I now know more than I did yesterday - there definitely seem to be a few things out there in the general vicinity of what I'm thinking. So it's probably just a matter of continuing to poke around.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

[gorcee]

One other possible consideration: men's ballet slippers or gymnast slippers. They often have an extremely minimal sole.

[ShootTheChicken]

Might as well try on some of these suggestions though to see if you like them.

[Samik]

I think most of my problem is that I'm envisioning a shoe with a collection of features that tend to exclude one another. I want something as lightweight as the original sockwa, or some of these slipper/sock type things, but that wouldn't be restricted entirely to indoor use.


The problem with anything with a fabric sole is that it's going to suck moisture up out of the ground and/or deposit your footsweat readily onto the floor, and get caked with grime pretty quickly. I was thinking more of a very thin leather sole, or something along those lines, that would be a bit more sanitary, but still foldable. As I said, my original conception was something like a distant cousin to a moccasin.


Maybe I'm envisioning something that's not possible - I don't know much about leather; maybe it's porous when very thin, and rigid when thick enough to not be porous. Maybe any material that combines enough durability/water-resistance and flexibility/lightweight to meet my specs would be expensive.



Clearly, the only course of action here is to begin researching materials and design my own product.

[gorcee]

A men's split-sole leather ballet slipper is probably the closest thing I can envision. The upper is leather, so it breathes without being grimy. The split sole allows it to be easily folded, and have a sturdier contact patch with the floor/ground. The vamp sometimes goes a bit higher than women's slippers, so it might not look as dainty (and you can remove the laces so no bow). And they're fairly cheap.

Alternatively, you could get something like a moccasin slipper from LL Bean and remove the wool liner.