The Future

My level of posting has dropped off significantly, and while I can attribute this to a majority of forces in my life, the biggest one is Style on the Hill. We’re coming out with a printed edition, dropping this May. I won’t release all the full details yet, but be prepared for a 64 page, full glossy edition. Ya boy’s about to be in full color on some next level Glamour-type shit. 

While this is an awesome and exciting experience, subsequently my workload has exploded tenfold. I’m writing a lot more editorial content, some of it even journalistic and semi-respectable . I’ve been in constant contact with a multitude of clothing stores, from department giants to small brick-and-mortars, working to arrange brand partnerships, advertising, and product supply for photoshoots. And photoshoots have yet to begin, which is a whole new array of headaches. I gripe, but it’s been fun and will pay off. I hope. You can bet I’ll be telling girls at bars that I’m a model.

Outside of that though, I’ve also been ruminating on the continued viability of Midwest-Dressed. From my reading of #menswear sites, there’s only so much that can be said about the basic guidelines of dressing before things get rehashed over and over. Granted the fashunz side of things is continually evolving, but my blog’s focus is/was “to offer a stepping stone for young men looking to change what they wear.” Frankly, I think there are several other good, highly knowledgeable menswear writers on the web that can and have offered exactly what I claim to offer. Chances are, they do it a lot better than me too. Writing product reviews, copping free gear, and working with other bloggers is a fun experience, but I’m not a fan of continuing to write here if just for the purpose of hearing myself think. It’s been a year, but I’ll have to see where this site goes in 2013, and whether it will go at all. For now, I will leave you with these #menswear animals from Yago Partal. Apparently animals doing weird shit is what gets the kids hyped these days.

-MD

#Menswear #Movement

Last week there was a bit of heated discussion over the current state of #menswear. Is it a circle-jerk of “top lists” and coppable gear, or has this become the evolution of the subculture, dictated by media demand and web platform?

Perhaps it is just a circle-jerk where we’re all redefining what jawnz are. It could be just that, and there’s a rational explanation for it. Any small group of similarly interested people will inevitably reinforce their own beliefs. The more you surround yourself with extremists, the more compounded your own views become. #Menswear nerds like clothes, and a lot of us like the same ones.We pay attention to fashion, we follow what we like, and we become involved in those worlds. But I like to think I started reading Four Pins because I liked their content, not because their content dictated what was “cool.” 

There’s tons of blogs out there, and I can only read so much in a day. Four Pins made the list. At some point though, my relationship to the site probably became less based on my interests (I like rap and clothes, Four Pins caters to that, I’ll read them), and more based on cyclical, self-fulfilling prophecies (I read Four Pins, they know what’s tight, I’ll like THIS rap and THOSE clothes). 

I do think there’s credence in the idea the #menswear is a circle-jerk. But circle-jerks can be fun, and eventually everyone embodies one in a way. My father eventually had to stop partying, grow up, and get a real job. Now he hangs out with other boring old farts who like fishing and C-SPAN. If that’s what he likes, he’ll hang out with others like him, and eventually that’s all they’ll talk about. 

The same has happened to us, but it likely can’t be avoided. My point is, so what? Yes so we all like the same things and we all congratulate ourselves over Twitter on snagging a pair of 1947 LVCs at huge discount on Vente Privee. There’s still a healthy amount of comment, criticism, sarcasm and snark that keeps us grounded in reality (or at least enough that our heads aren’t totally up our own asses). We’re nerds, but we know it. 

As for the point about slideshows and lists, that’s a reflection of the business, bro. I now write for a magazine (that hopefully makes it to print). They want lists. Under 500 words.  Original content still exists, and it exists on the web. It’s just hard to find, because you have to search past those major websites (that admittedly most people visit, and most people rehash their content because it seems “cool.” See above). Tons of small bloggers still write when they’re passionate or angry or any other adjective-ed enough to type out a longform missive. Major media chanced on a gold mine when they discovered #mensear nerds wanting to buy the $1000 sport coats and $600 shoes that most average joes found to be too expensive. And so major media took advantage of that. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t those nerds of us still out there, chatting on StyleForum or commenting on blogs, keeping the #movement alive.

StyleSeek Review Series - Herschel Supply Little America

Missed posting about this last week, but I wrote a product review of Herschel Supply’s Little America backpack as a part of StyleSeek's Review Series (which I've partnered with). It was pretty dope, for the time I had it. Read more at Style on the Hill.

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and while no girl is interested in giving me love, it so happens that some people out there are picking up what I’m putting down. As a part of the ongoing StyleSeek Review Series, I will be reviewing items that SOTH received for free. Ball so hard, muthafuckas wanna wine and dine me with menswear swag. For the first installment, I was sent for review the Herschel Supply Little America backpack. I used the backpack for a week on campus, putting it through a multitude of stress tests to determine its quality and durability...Read on here

Also if you've never checked out StyleSeek, you should. In a world where we're constantly bombarded by information (even in the microcosm of #menswear), StleSeek looks to nail it all down in one place. Determine your "StyleDNA" by taking a test to start out, then the site provides you with like-minded blog posts, product reviews, etc. (they even link to sites where you can buy said pieces, which is primo). 

-Nick