The origin of menswear blogging as we know it
today finds itself at the foothills of the economic turndown of the mid-late
2000s. “Buy Less, Buy Better, a phrase that is now assuredly included in “What
To Buy” posts across the internet daily, is a phrase that encompassed the
purchasing sentiment of the social and economic landscape around 2008.
Gentlemen were interested, for example, in the idea of buying one pair of
heavy, unwashed, raw denim jeans and making that one pair their own personal
canvas of memories and varying, faded shades of indigo, rather than purchasing
the cheaply-made, mall-bought alternative by the palette with considerably less
return on investment. Michael Williams, often touted as “The Godfather of
Menswear blogging,” creator (and now editor-in-chief of) of A Continuous Lean, found himself at the
forefront of this countercultural movement of guys that cared about the origin,
construction and manufacturing of their garments, and furthermore, were willing
to find it (even if it meant travelling to Japan). Andrew Sullivan’s “Why I Blog” touches on the
notion of a blog as a time capsule. As someone who was not by any stretch of
the imagination a fully-formed human being in 2008, I find this is the most
beautiful part of menswear blog culture. No matter how many “grail joints” (or,
to the layperson: incredible pieces of clothing that one seemingly cannot live
without) one blogger may write about, his (or her) voice, thought, and point of
view at that exact moment time is preserved for any and all to see until they
decide otherwise. Inspiration from people from all walks of life, with all
types of work/life experience (tailoring, buying, consumer purchasing, design,
or a simple interest in the subject) is available at anyone’s fingertips, and
all they could ever need lies in a properly-worded 2-8 word google search.
While today, it is that easy to find inspiration within this subculture, 2008
saw that the foundation was just being poured.
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