Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is to ‘describe our fashion sense’. I’m tempted to say that I don’t have any, but I suppose I do dress in a deliberate matter, with an eye for simplicity, minimalism, and adaptability. I have a fixed number of pants, underwear, and t-shirts, for instance: my three dress shirts can be worn with either my black or tan khakis, and all of my socks are black. My non-work shirts are all in the same style, and I have three in short sleeve and three in long-sleeve, all in the same colors: red, blue, and green. I replace them as needed and it’s amusing to me to see me apparently wearing the same shirt for ten years if I look back at facebook photos. Part of my approach to a simple and interchangable wardrobe was based on this article from the Art of Manliness. I don’t wear shirts with logos or printed content, except as undershirts, and even those are rare. Not much changes in the winter: I have one everyday coat that serves me equally well during the first chill of autumn and the freezes of January, and a black peacoat that I wear for church & any formal events. As far as shoes, I have a pair of dark brown Oxfords I wear for work and church; a pair of tennis shoes for exercise; a pair of Merrill hiking boots that double as my bad-weather foot gear; and a pair of sandals. I sometimes think about getting a pair of work boots, but four pairs of shoes already feels like too much. In short, if you’re ever at a book-bloggers conference and want to find me, just look for the dude who looks like a trucker — or Luke Combs.
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You’ve got the look down.
Sounds like a relatively simple, yet functional style. I like it. 🙂
I tend to buy multiples of pieces of clothing I really like, too. One of every colour that suits me. Why not? It saves time in the future.
Your links were great, by the way.
Thanks! AoM has been a favorite website for years now.
I aspire to this. My closet is full of failed experiments I never wear again but feel like I have to keep because I spent money on them and who knows maybe one day I’ll wear them? In reality I have a similar functional wardrobe of things I like in a few variations. I really should just embrace that and get rid of the rest!
I was stuck on that for a while when I first started minimizing my wardrobe, but I figured out that if I put questionable clothes into a box and then checked on them six months later, I was a lot less emotionally attached to them and it was much easier to let them go.
I’m a huge fan of the simple-but-functional approach. I have a few items I keep around for special occasions, but my work pants (for example) are all essentially identical. (I never read that Art of Manliness article, though; I got the idea after watching The Fly.)
Sounds like you’ve mastered the “capsule wardrobe.” 😀 I have always rather envied those cargo shirts and pants that they make for men – so sensible!
I have managed to get my shoes/boots down to 6 pairs, each with a specific utility. My love of fashion is sometimes at odds with my desire for minimalism… movies and art are a good way to enjoy fashion vicariously, though.
I was very proud when I traveled in Arizona for a week from the contents of just one carryon bag. It does help to be a guy.
One bag is the way to go!