Final Project: Life360 & Find My Friends

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Part VI: Masculine Elegance

Do you know who Steve McQueen is, by chance? I know I can't hear you, but a simple Google search returns images of close-fitting clothing, (too?) short shorts, chest hair, a sailor uniform (okay, that’s a movie costume, but roll with me)… 

Hey, man, if you ask me (not actual me; detached hypothetical me), all that sounds kind of… 

Oh, I don’t know… 

Gay? 

Granted, I purposefully omitted some of the King of Cool’s trademark accessories: hot rod (of either two- or four-wheel variety), hot jacket (of the leather or suede variety), hot broad (of the blonde or brunette variety), etc., but with that said, some of the descriptors heteronormative-leaning people would use to describe any flamboyant homosexual gentleman, I just used to describe (arguably) the coolest person that ever lived. This is where “masculine elegance” comes in. 

For variation's sake, let's switch over to another modestly-proportioned old white guy (contrary to popular belief, some of the most stylish people that ever lived didn’t have the physique to match): Ralph Lifschitz, aka Ralph Lauren. 

Now, if you grabbed my Gitman Bros. Vintage poplin buttondown by the collar (please don’t), threw me in an alley with a gun to my head (again; please don’t) and said “Describe Ralph Lauren’s entire life’s work, personal and professional, in one word or you’re going to die against this brick wall,” I would scream in hypothetical terror “ELEGANCE! PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!” Elegance is not how dainty you look, or how crisp everything is inside and out; elegance is the product of three things: quality, fit, and confidence. Quality is up to you: you choose where you buy your clothing, and assume the risk of buying something you won’t be able to wear in a year for whatever reason along with it. If you are within the realm, fit should not be an issue (although I still believe 80% of all dudes don’t know how their clothes should actually fit, but that’s for another semester-long course at another time); buy what fits. The rest is up to you! If  you buy a quality garment that fits you in all the right spots, there is no chance you will be worried about your confidence levels, and the je ne sais quoi of it all is how high your head is. I truly believe, that with all this considered, the most stylish thing any dude can be is comfortable. And no, that does not mean sweats, a t-shirt and the North Face Windwall you’ve had since your bar mitzvah, Jared. Comfort like this comes from studying what works for you, what brands do and don’t fit, and most of all, not having to worry about your outfit, because what’s most important is what you do in your clothes that defines who you are.

Thank you. 

Part V: Heteronormativity in Men's Fashion

When you tell someone you’re passionate about fashion, especially as a straight, Midwestern bro-ey-looking-dude, people look at you funny.  As someone who’s been surrounded by this subculture for a long time (by internet standards, that is), I feel as though I’m a bit biased in saying this, but here it goes: I, Zane R. Anderson, truly believe there is no such thing as heteronormativity in the world of men’s fashion. Within the community, I have witnessed zero incidences of blatant heteronormative behavior or even homophobia, but I feel as if the looking screen between fashion-conscious individuals and their opposites is not a one-way glass. I believe that, to an outsider looking in (and I think I’m making up a word here), men’s fashion is just the opposite: Homonominative. (Say that ten times fast.)

You see, as someone that is even remotely versed in the current fashion climate, it’s easy to spot someone else that’s in the same headspace. Spotting and striking up a conversation with a dude I don’t know in a garment I align with on an aesthetic level is one of the coolest conversations I could have, and just as luck has it, that happens to me about once a week. Often, it starts with me being all weird and in their face: “Hey man, that jacket looks really sick, those soft shoudlers are beautiful.” Etc. etc… but one thing that’s never once come up organically is the subject of sexual orientation.  One of the most intriguing parts of menswear subculture is this: Nobody really gives a shit if you’re gay, dude. Nobody in this community is going to call you (a gay male) a hateful, uncalled-for name... unless your outfit is struggling! The second one of my friends catches me slipping in something even I don't have confidence in, that dude will make sure I don't hear the end of it until I learn to hate the garment that unknowingly stepped into the red-headed-stepchild role of this family:outfit analogy. The most important tid-bit of menswear culture is this: your race, creed, color, ethnicity or upbringing are never things that will be maliciously brought into the conversation. Those things will be ignored; think less Fashion Week Backstage, more dive bar mixed with hockey locker room.  This brings us to the idea of Masculine Elegance, and the differentiation between it and femininity.

Part IV: Where is the Cool?

Don Draper (Mad Men) once stated: “The most important idea in advertising in ‘new.’” While I agree with the fictional genius, I also tend to think that way about menswear. On the surface, it’s safe to assume that the general population would not assume that your average red-blooded, vagina-preferring dude cares about what any given designer, fashion house or luxury manufacturer is doing at any given moment. However, contrary to the belief of those who fall in this category, menswear nerds (an term of endearment, usually said in a tone of “we,” rather than “they,”) hawk the news wires for information on the next Michael Bastian or A.P.C. or whatever-lucky-so-and-so-having-his-15-minutes-of-internet-fame’s collection like a football fanatic would obsess over his fantasy team. Cool Hunters, exactly like those in Gladwell’s article, flock to these hot-off-the-press as soon as they possibly can in order to rip-off trends and perpetuate the “trickle down effect” of fashion in general. His mention of Tommy Hilfiger and the change in consumer base that his business (along with Nautica, Ralph Lauren, among other “preppy” designers) underwent in the late-80’s/early 90’s is the yin to the yang of today’s fashion landscape: high-fashion, streetwear and sportswear are at an intersection unlike anything we have ever seen, but the original influence is fading into the proverbial black with more and more alternatives becoming available to the masses. H&M, Zara, Urban Outfitters, etc. all employ teams that are in charge of knowing/finding out what is “cool” at that exact moment in time. This is exactly why you can drive to Castleton right now and see an H&M rack full of knock-offs of a French-designed/manufactured garment that would originally cost a semester’s tuition, but now retails for less than it costs to feed me for a day.

Part III: Social Climbing

After the first few marquis menswear blogs (the aforementioned A Continuous Lean, along with Put This On, The Sartorialist, and Sartorially Inclined, the like) were established, the small-but-mighty cloud of menswear civilian-journalists was fast outgrowing the clunky, remedial back-end layout of Blogspot. They needed a more instantaneous, more user friendly, and (above all) better looking interface. Around this time (2010-2011), tumblr. began to rise to prominence in the microblogging stratosphere. With its clean, flat-navy layout, lightning-fast “reblog” feature, and the ability to customize your blog as endlessly as you could imagine, it was all but fate that tumblr. was the next of kin to step into the spotlight of menswear blogging as a tool and platform.  The most pivotal moment in the past 5 years of menswear culture, the crassly-title coffee table manifesto, “F*ck Yeah, Menswear,” was spawned from an originally-anonymous tumblr. blog of the same name that both highlighted and satirized the good, bad and ugly of the underground menswear scene. Lawrence Schlossman, co-author of both, writer at Sartorially Inclined and current editor-in-chief of Complex Magazine stepchild Four Pins, was looked to as the model for any regular-ass dude that felt a passion for quality, luxurious clothing. In the midst of his involvement within the scene. By going directly to the developers at tumblr., he was responsible for the identity of this entire subculture as we affectionately know it today: “#menswear.” This umbrella term still encompasses insider news, finger-on-the-pulse trend reports, self-shot “What I’m Wearing Today” posts, and, possibly most paramount, premature photos of clothing that wouldn’t see a storefront for another calendar year.

Part II: The Birth of a Subculture

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.

Part I: Intro

For a little over a year, I’ve turned into something I never thought I would’ve become in High School. Since I started caring about how I looked every morning, unlike the comfortable (and rightfully-so) masses of peers around me, the world has turned and, proverbially, left me here: a fashion kid. Now, notice a small but very important grammatical point. “Lowercase-f” fashion is a bit of a jargon term, but in short, the distinction connotates something along the lines of “fashion that doesn’t take itself too seriously.” I’ve held off on posting these throughout the semester for the purpose of continuity; this is a complex but very enthralling universe that I unknowingly immersed myself in, losing eyeshot of light at that was the opening of the rabbit hole somewhere between throwing away of every pair of jeans I owned & starting over and my acceptance of the three-button sportcoat in today’s society (I know, super nerdy, right?).

 While the universe of “#menswear” (reads: “hashtag menswear”), or as I like to call it, “Dudes wearing clothes on the internet,” is undoubtedly minute, the scope and influence it has had on my personal development and the way I interpret culture is something I can’t imagine my life without. In the upcoming posts I will briefly discuss the origin and birth of this subculture, how it has utilized social platforms (mainly tumblr.) to develop as a subculture, the role and placement of "cool hunters" in the menswear community, the concept of heteronormativity and the idea of “masculine elegance,” and, finally, how I tend to relate everyday intersubcultural interaction back to the community of men’s clothing. I hope you (whoever you may be) enjoy.