Style

Wooster

Style has been a big part of The Leisure Study since its inception. Style is personal. It's a set of beliefs. Fashion is an idealology, created by retailers, as a means of business. Fashion is something so old it's new again. It's your parents laughing at the $160 sweater you bought because they have the same one in their closet that's 30 years-old (well broken-in and probably more bad ass) and bought it for $50 bucks, hand-sewn.

Zen Buddhism suggests, "We are all two things: what others see us as being, and what we see ourselves as being." Although all monks wear the same maroon robes, that is great style advice (technically, they're ahead of the Italians and cartoon characters in the uniform dressing ideal*). You have to be comfortable with yourself to know what you want to project. You don't have to follow every fashion blog to be stylish, but street pictures exemplify great usage of patterns, textures, colors, etc. for those with an advanced sense of haberdashery. Incorporating what you see on the Internet into you takes a great sense of self. If you simply copy and paste outfits worn by others into your closet, you're accumulating costumes. You
want people to see you and who you are, not hide it. If people see you as something else, hopefully it's something more flattering. If not, fuck 'Em. 

Style doesn't come at a higher price either. Nickelson Wooster said, 

"There's so much great stuff at every price. But the problem is that so many people spend so much money unnecessarily because they're insecure about things. They feel that if they spend thousands of dollars on something they're somehow going to be better dressed. When the reality is, you don't have to spend billions of dollars on things in order to be well-dressed. It has to come from inside."

Certain garments should be treated as an important investment based upon how often they're used. It doesn't make much sense to spend over $500 dollars on a suit when you only wear one a few times a year, however finding a neutral-colored one, with a decent fit off the rack, for under $500 might make sense if you have it tailored and can creativitely break up the pieces with other items in your closet. Fashion wants you to keep replenishing your closet by making you feel like you are behind the times. Stylish people know how they want to be seen, but more importantly, have confidence in their eye that translates into a larger sense of self. They know what they want to wear when they're not required to wear something. And when they are required to wear something, they do it with a personal touch, like the way the roll the sleeve up on a uniform. Conversely, we've all seen the person that blatantly tries so hard it's palpable, not to mention awkward for all involved. Someone who shows up trying to exercise everything seen in the newest GQ, fedora and all. 

Whatever you do, do NOT pull a Costanza and wear sweat pants outside the house. Like Jerry told George, "You know the message you're sending out to the world with these sweatpants? You're telling the world, 'I give up. I can't compete in normal society. I'm miserable, so I might as well be comfortable.'" 


For men, it seems that most sartorial blunders come from a bad sense of the situation or worse fundamentals, typically underdressing because we don't know any better. Wearing clothes that fit is paramount. If you don't have fit, you don't have shit. How an article of clothing fits on your body, the lines it creates, isn't a matter of cost. It's a matter of giving-a-damn. So is matching your belt color with your shoe color (regarding browns and blacks), assuming you own more than sneakers. If your button-down shirt hangs past the middle of your fly, tuck it in. 

I think if most guys over 25 followed those three simple rules, America would be a much more aesthetically-pleasing place. Beyond that, style is personal preference. Gianni Agnelli used to always wear exquisitely tailored suits, but it was his watch on the outside of his shirt cuff that he owned; that little twist on a classic. The aforementioned Nick Wooster constantly displays an interesting dichotomy between patterns, colors, new, and old. The Kennedy's, that rustic American waspyness. However, real style goes beyond clothes, it's part of an entity. 


The music you listen to, the books you read, and your daily activities all influence and reflect your style. Oscar Wilde said, "Be yourself, everyone else is already taken." However you look at something, or choose to have people look at it, can be up to you. That's what separates the supposed ones who have "it" versus the ones who don't. You can't put a price on that, so don't use it as an excuse. 


Lastly, don't believe everything that you read :) 

Hey Sexy Bitches...

*the uniform ideal is one based upon the same set or style of clothes a majority of the time. Think Tom Ford, Wes Anderson, Mickey Mouse, etc. Knowing the formula that works for you, and not deveating from it too much, no matter the scenario.