***Reposted from Cliff’s List as my third submission to their website.***
Click on the Picture for more of Tim Gurczak’s work
Last week, I gave you an unexpectedly thorough detailing of how clothes should fit and what to do with them if they don’t (namely – get rid of them). If you followed my instructions, your closet should have been thinned out significantly. If you “didn’t have time” (or some other dumb excuse) to engage in the holy war that is the wardrobe purge, click HERE to go back and get it done. Now that we’ve gotten away from the rags that squeeze and drape and otherwise restrict our sartorial progress, we can start to get rid of the stuff that sticks out… a little further.
This week, I’m going to briefly talk about the necessity of understanding trends in order to use them effectively in our closets. This may be a bit of a doozy.
Trends in clothing are amazing things that drive what we like to call ‘Fashion’. As disposable as that term may be to you, the fashion industry is a tremendous power in the world and it is what keeps clothing fresh and alive, in a sense. For the relative novices out there, there are two main ideas I need to impart about trends that seem to be missed by most men beginning their journey.
The first piece of wisdom I wish to expand upon is the idea that trends are not the first thing you should copy. This is very tricky because, from the outside, these trends are what seem to bring us closer to the women (or social group) that we wish to be a part of. When coming out of their shells, most men look at these “cool people” and try to copy them. Though, this can be a very useful course of action in relation to social etiquette, in fashion it can be very dangerous simply because what we see is not always what is there. I’ll explain.
I know this is going to be a stretch, and I know it’s asking a lot of you guys, but take two minutes and 50 seconds to watch this clip of Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in Devil Wears Prada, where newly hired intern (or secretary or whatever) Anne Hathaway is observing world-renowned fashion mogul Glen Close choosing some fashion stuff to go together or blah blah whatever she’s doing, you’ll get the point.
I know it’s a stretch to get a bunch of guys on a Pickup journey to watch a clip fromanything with the word Prada in the title, so thank you in advance for watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Now, the point of sharing that clip is to illustrate the most extreme case of “A is not A” (much to the chagrin of Ayn Rand). What you may see as a simple similarity (“I’ll get a motorcycle jacket, too!”), is actually filled with detail and nuance that may not be apparent to you, as that clip illustrates. Trends can be tricky and this is where we start to notice the ice is thin.
The second piece of wisdom is that trends change. This is obvious if you are familiar with the word “trend” in any capacity, but the little element that needs emphasizing is simply that if trends change… and you bought something trendy last year… it’s not trendy anymore. Right? Shit. I hate to say it, and there really isn’t much of a way to say it without sounding like a diva, but that motorcycle jacket you got last year at Armani Exchange is… well… last year’s jacket. The problem with it being last year’s jacket is that the people you’re trying to impress, the ones that have this knowledge, are the ones that are going to know that it islast year’s jacket and they’re the ones that are going to know you aren’t on their level. Bummer.
Now, BEFORE WE GO ANY FUTHER, I must make a few simple points: These are EXTREME examples of what can happen. The majority of people aren’t going to look twice at who made your proverbial jacket and they certainly won’t know what year the double stripe of contrast leather on the arm came into vogue. Additionally, most people that do possess the knowledge of those details will think favorably that you have last year’s $1200 Armani jacket, rather than negatively that it’s a year old. So, I’m just illustrating a point for you to chew on. Even if it is in last year’s jacket.
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This point is demonstrated to the extreme not so you can be self-conscious about that new unstructured khaki blazer you bought from J Crew this summer, but so you don’t get caught in the web of some very obvious traps which, fortunately and unfortunately, are very, veryclearly illustrated by “PUA Fashion”.
If you’ve been involved in this PUA stuff as long as I have, you know just as well as I do how necessary and important and… cool we thought feather boas, goggles, and wearing quirky t-shirts on the outside of patterned dress shirts were. However, if you saw someone roll into the VIP section of the club you’re at to hit on the girl you were with and you saw him wearing a pink cowboy hat and a belt buckle on which a slightly sexual phrase was illuminated, what would you think? Exactly. You’d think, “He’s trying to copy what Mystery was doing in the early 2000’s. Congratulations, you are now a fashionista. I’m sure I don’t need to illustrate how this is directly related to every day fashion, so we’ll move on.
Frankly, regarding the trendiness of trends, there’s only three ways to avoid the pitfall of being stuck in outdated clothing. The first is to be constantly up on new fashion and trends and be constantly reading and learning about it all on a daily basis. This is what I TRY to do with menswear, but is incredibly difficult and, to do it properly in my opinion, one walks a fine line nearing “obsessive”. The second is to not care at all about any of this and put on a burlap bag and be so “socially free” that everyone loves you for your aura and kinospheric radiance, not your clothing. You know how I feel about that.
The third is where I believe your focus should lie. It involves a classic and universal wardrobe to which you can add some new and trendy pieces, swapping them out on a yearly/trendly basis, if you’re even interested in doing so! I add this last bit because it’s possible to have a timeless and classic look that can surpass the flightiness of trends. You now understand why you see me in dark suits and blue blazers so often, and why I probably won’t look back at myself in 10 years and say, “Ugh. Why did I EVER think that Brooks Brothers button-down was a good idea??”
Modern fashion has existed so long that we now have universal pieces. Universal pieces are things that will never go out of style. Things like a crisp white dress shirt and a navy blazer, or a a black t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans. These outfits and items have been around so long that they have weathered their time as trends and have returned stronger than ever. Remember when the mid-90s Mustang came out and, like anything brand new, it was SUPER cool? Now, we look back at it thinking “Jeesh. That looks DATED!” However, the second we start moving back through the 60s, the Mustangs become iconic, and that’s how we want people to view our personal style.
“Okay, Gareth. Shut up. You have now exhausted my ear and I am aware of my blunders. Tell me how I can apply this RIGHT NOW!”
Okay, fine. No need to be so pushy.
The first thing we want to do is go into that closet and find the things you bought because they were cool. Notice the phrasing “because they were cool”. Very telling, don’tchathink? The College Humor t-shirts, the Ed Hardy hats, the jewelry you bought at the H&M register (oh, God, the jewelry). Take all of this stuff and make a pile. Now, go back into your closet and find ANYTHING YOU EVER BOUGHT BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD GET YOU GOOD WITH WOMEN. I do not mean this to insult your intelligence or to crush your dreams, but if you bought something to get women to talk to you (a light-up necklace or a cowboy hat), if you have bought something because you saw ANOTHER PUA wearing it (a feather boa, a leather vest), or if you bought something to impress women (I’m staring just as hard at the guys in Affliction shirts as I am at the guys in shirts that say, “Below me”) throw those on the pile.
Now light the pile on fire and dance around it like you’re in a weird fashion version of Lord of the Flies.
The truth of the matter is that you have bought these items to “express yourself” and the only thing you’re expressing is that you are interested in adorning yourself in gimmicks. You, on your own, are a valuable, interesting, and amazing person and when a woman looks at you and notices how well put-together you look, you’re going to start walking towards her. And while you’re walking towards that girl, I want your confidence, your gait, and your personal style to make her think about what she’s going to say to you to win you over, not what you’re going to say to her to win her over.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve stripped you of your “fashionably edgy” clothes and left you standing in your underwear, alone and cold. I personally apologize for that, but the good news is that next week, we’ll start putting things back on so we can make you look as sharp as your game is.
As always, feel free to email me at Gareth@ArtOfThePlayboy.com with questions you need addressed, follow me on Twitter and Facebook for updates and tips from Art Of The Playboy and my Instagram for inspiration.
Hope this helps,
-GRMJ
