Tell me about how you did in 2023
These thoughts are both fashion & metafashion: I kinda distracted myself from fashion by addressing things I should've addressed years ago -- getting back into swimming, learning to plan my own vacations (haha), understanding computer specs and building a desk I want to be at in my apartment, digging into niche music scenes I like, that kind of shit. When I bought clothes/acc I focused on what I know I like ... post-workwear, softcore outdoorswear, japanese 90s/00s stuff. I got heavier than I've ever gotten (195+) then flew back down to 170ish, so I developed a finer appreciation of making sure I wear big clothes, but I also am far more muscular than ever (despite never really getting back down to like .. high school swimming weight), so my relationship to clothing is still changing. My hair is getting really long and good and I'm doing everything I can to not cut it. I got a tattoo and even told my mom about it (not my dad), and I am wondering what it's gonna be like to wear tees in the summer with it on my arm.
did you buy more than you had hoped/planned or less
I think I might have bought the correct amount, but in substantial part because I redirected my clothing interest onto other hobbies. Bought too many 100mls of fragrances, bleh. I felt like I bought the right amount of clothing, except that I'm not good enough at creating a place for it on the shelf!
what did you buy that you really love (post fit pics)
- Smaller circle-frames in a dark tortoise shade (Yesglasses).
- Black Engineered Garments raglan hoodie. It doesn't get better than this.
- South2 West8 light fleece jacket that I roll up the sleeves on. Snappy, vintage-bball type lapels, no collar, medium-warm. Olive-brown-black, goes with everything I own. I even like it over a tee since it's fleece.
- 18 East double knee pants, twice. Absolutely love the pockets, fit, details. All-timers, to me. I don't think about pants that don't have a similar spirit to these.
- Engineered Garments fatigue pants, twice. I got myself EG patchwork fatigues in 2019 w/ my own internship cash at the end of summer, before senior year.. they're the garment I continue to have the best-ever relationship with, maybe wallabees excepted? So, based on that, I keep an eye out for when someone posts EG "fatigue" pants, and this is brilliant because every time they're made with similar detailing and the exact same measurements everywhere (front rise, thigh, hem, etc.), so they're always guaranteedly for me.
- Engineered Garments Atlantic parka (wanted this for 4+yrs, so..easy shot there). Nepenthes cashier (detail-sparse since this is the kind of person someone on here is gnna know directly) told me 'you can actually wear it into the winter,' and I am prolly gonna wear it straight thru the winter even though it isn't insulated, cos I don't really see the need to wear something more insulated unless temps drop below like 20F. Wore it in Sverige on 25F days and shit was fine, it just functions like a shell. Somewhat bad that I can't escape thinking I'd prefer the 'nyco ripstop' version with pinstripe detailing that they made in other seasons.
- Honestly quite plain 90's-vintage Issey chronograph watch that Watch People keep asking me about
Fit where I'm in 18 east doubleknees, EG atlantic parka, Danner boots I got in 2016 when I moved to NYC:
- Basically unfair to toss these on the list but I wear these prolly 50+% of all days: "Hidden NY collab" Wallabee CUPS. The Wallabee cup is a new cupsole version of a Wallabee. I bought these because I thought Hidden NY had done something so f-ing cool by putting a cup sole on a Wallabee, but actually all Hidden did was put their green logo on a new Clarks model that released around the same time. I actually wear them w/ the Wallabee dogtag unlike what I did back when I had normal Wallabee boots that I wore til the upper started tearing off. I've posted on here before about my sand-tone Wallabee dependence.
I am troubled to think I actually bought all that shit and more in 2023, oops. I even got shorts this year and got comfortable in them. I probably am spending more than the correct %age on clothing, and feel the need to get rid of some.
what did you buy that was a huge mistake
I bought some Salomon XT-Quest 2's. I tried to think until I could make the perfect sneaker purchase, by basing the sneaker-purchase decision on how much I love my wallabees and always have. But, I don't like chunky sneakers. I own 18 pairs of shoes. Something's gotta break here. Not a huge financial mistake, it was a Packer Shoes sale w/ a sale-double-dip code, yaknow, so we're talking like $60 here, less of a mistake than flying Spirit with a carry-on last week.
look back on your styling in 2022 and reflect with a focus on buying less
I actually really feel good about my progress from 2022->2023. In 2022, I spent much less money because I finished my grad degree that spring, was still new to working, etc.. until fall of 2022 when I made some cops that all fit together and were strongly in the color range I wear .. 1 was a light Kapital jacket that I actually didn't love the fit of until I lost weight down to 170 in fall of
this year.. One thing I miss about what I was doing in winter (early) 2022 was that I was wearing these 2 quasi-formal EG vests all the time, over white oxford shirts.. but I got so strong and fat in winter (early) 2023 that I gave up the white oxford shirts, and have descended more into my post-workwear style.
Really bad from 2022: 2 pairs of CASUAL LEATHER SHOES: (i.) Yuketen rocker-sole bluchers in 4 color suede that just don't wrap my feet the right way, awful ankle support and the sole isn't plush at all, (ii.) black suede Alden norwegian-split-toe boots with a kinda aggressive last and hard leather sole, it is mostly the last about these shoes that troubles me, but also the fact that I don't wear black twill trousers the way I really frequently did in winter22. 3 shirts: all 3 engineered garments button-downs on my shelf from 2022 that I sadly don't love wearing, all 3 just feel undersized, I think those shirts (and gaining like 15lbs over Nov22->Mar23) kinda forced me to learn to buy ONLY clothes I feel GREAT about given measurements of.. one last one before moving on: I bought a Junya blazer at a great deal from someone on grailed who belaboredly "measured" it for me, but he fucking measured everything wrong, not my fault, I put the right kind and amount of thought and effort into that, we move.
I think I'm doing way better than '22.
what did you like wearing?
Post-workwear, Wallabees.
what did you expect to wear more often than you did?
It is actually kinda hard to think of anything, here, which is awesome. Obviously, "vintage black mountain folk music tee shirt that didn't fit."
what does 2024 look like from your head?
As clothing goes, I am tempted to say I feel awesome about where I'm at, I am basically in a no-cop that only Engineered Garments and 18 East really trouble, but those 2 brands can really trouble it. I like to keep an eye on, like, Kapital, but nothing ever drops to my range, the only realistic move I see, there, would be getting a pair of century denim pants, which are like a 9yr old dream at this point. I think I want some japanese mid-to-light-wgt denim to wear in the summer. I can't describe the dream well enough that it deserves to be dreamt, but it's there.
Right now, I can't swim because I just got a tattoo, a minor struggle that'll take another 3 weeks. But, after that, I want to join my local masters swim team and swim in the mornings (I did the 'trial' practice, the coach is good, this is a really well-formed dream). I want to take my diet seriously and fix my sleep schedule (how often do I say this). I want to stay focused on learning Danish (I don't know how this is supposed to go and nobody else really does either). 2024 looks to me like it's, basically, not about clothing, from where I stand, but I fucking hate hate hate hate hate the summer, even with NYC being a universe better than where I grew up.. so maybe summer will end up being about shirting again, I hate the summer.
