Are you ready for this week's face of fashion? Meet my friend Matt! I dig this kid's style so much and just love everything he has to say. Read and enjoy!
How would you define your personal style?
I think that personal style is a product of interest, environment, and experience. I’d define my style as thrift-classy. For me, style is just what works! If it’s not convenient, I try not to wear it. That being said, I like to dress classy, which isn’t always comfortable, but I like to think that apparent gap is made up by how I great feel when I dress nice. But sophistication doesn’t mean much to me if I overpaid for my clothes or I can’t wear them long without getting uncomfortable.
Where is your favorite place to look for clothes?
As with most people my age, I’m on a budget! That is the number-one factor that goes into what I wear.
New - My favorite places to look for new clothes would be Sierra Trading Post or Ross. I can sometimes find good deals at Nordstrom Rack, too. It’s also a good place to find larger or taller clothes, (I’m 6’5” so that is one thing I have to keep an eye on), and large shoes as well. Marti and Liz (here in Franklin, Tennessee) is a shoe store that I love as well. Technically, their shoes may have been worn down the runway a time or two, but are still new in my book. And sometimes can be upwards of 75% off before any in-store deals. Oh, and Old Navy of course.
Used – Okay, “Used Clothes” doesn’t sound very appealing, but shopping at consignment stores or thrift outlets is a much cheaper alternative to the mall or factory outlets. Another benefit to shopping “pre-loved” clothes (that title works much better, right?) besides saving a bundle is that there is usually much more variety to shopping at a thrift store. You never know what you’re going to find! Here in Franklin, I like “Our Thrift Store” over off of Columbia Ave (scored some brand-new Teva sandals for $3.50 one time!), and the Goodwill on Highway 96 is also a pretty solid bet. You can’t dress as trendy if you take any of these routes, but the most refined people I know rarely follow current style trends anyways.
Who or what inspires your style?
I owe a lot of it to the decade of the 1980’s. I’ve always liked New-Wave look (Flock of Seagulls haircut, white nike’s, a shirts and jackets like Daniel-san’s from the original Karate Kid). I’m also inspired by the form vs. function of outdoor wear and professional cyclists. For example, I maybe have a couple hundred miles on my Ecco hiking boots, which have never let me down. I like the idea of being ready to jump off into an adventure anytime, so I do wear outdoor gear more often than most. See also: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/the-25-most-stylish-cyclists-of-all-time-160810
(UCI ProCycling sprint champion Macel Kittel’s hair in all its glory.)
How has your style changed over the years?
Hahaha oh gosh. As a kid, I had this green jacket, it was a nice Lowe Alpine waterproof shell, and I loved it so much. I’d wear it every day to school, and one day this girl asked me why I wore it every single day. I’d just moved from Tennessee from Seattle, where it was normal to do that kind of thing, but I couldn’t give her a good reason as to why I was still doing that! I got tall very quickly as well, so I had to make an adjustment in my wardrobe anyways as I aged. Serving as an LDS missionary got me used to wearing nice clothes every single day (instead of weekly like my friends and I would do at school, we called it “Classy Tuesday” and we’d wear shirts, ties, and slacks every Tuesday). Now I just try to dress as nice as would be appropriate for the occasion. I don’t believe in looking like a slob if I’m not one!
(that’s me on the right, Classy Tuesday with croquet match, circa 2012)
What is your current favorite outfit?
Birkenstocks, patterned crew socks, I have some Wrangler jeans that are a few years old that have worn in really well, button-up shirt or long-sleeve T-shirt, and a baseball hat, of course. #stocksnsocks for days!
What current fashion trends do you love?
I’m not really sure about the whole buttoned-all-the-way-to-the-top trend that’s going around right now, but I do like seeing more people wearing button-up shirts. I like to think that it takes more time to put on one of those shirts, so you have to think about wearing a button-up shirt more and your choice to wear one is more deliberate. Just one example.
Who do you think is the classiest person of all time?
Frank Sinatra, or anyone in the Rat Pack for that matter. The Chrysler 300’s and Dual-Ghia cars were fantastic to go along with their dress, and I couldn’t leave out the hair that looked like it was held in place with Crisco (my grandfather actually would do that). Watch “Ocean’s 11” if you don’t know what I mean!
What style advice would you give yourself five years ago?
Don’t be afraid to disagree with current style trends if it means keeping your own look that will outlast the trend. I wore a lot of skate clothes as a kid before I realized that I didn’t enjoy skating as much as my friends’ clothes told me I should. And take off that green jacket if it’s sunny and 80 degrees outside!
If another guy asked you for style advice, what would you tell them?
I have a book that really changed how I think about style. If you don’t have it already, buy or borrow a copy of “Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion” by Allan Flusser. The book goes deep into classic examples of men’s fashion, many pictures of how to dress nicely without coming off as being trendy, also style rules such as don’t put narrow/narrow stripes or broad/broad stripes together, color coordination, etc. It’s a must-read for guys who want to look as good ten or twenty years from now as they do today.
Intersted in being an upcoming Friday Fashion Face? Email me at emmaanne 501@gmail.com!
Love it bro!
ReplyDelete