How the Illuminati Runs Menswear

If you didn’t know, I’m in the Illuminati. That is to say, I’m applying for their much coveted internship. It’s a prestigious position, and a stepping stone to joining an exclusive and illustrious club, akin to being the fluffer for Yale’s Skull and Bones. As (expected to be) Social Media Intern for the Illuminati, I've started a PR campaign to slowly show the world our contributions to society. It's not all government cover-ups and assassinations here people. WE RUN THIS SHIT, end to end. If you're ever feeling truly helpless and alone, and if you feel the world is beyond your control, know that it is. We run the government. We run the press. We run the rap game. We run #menswear. Suck it peasants.

EMINEM

Eminem popped onto the scene with bleached hair, which was remarkable at the time because no male felt appropriate about dying his hair piss-yellow for no legitimate reason. BUT THEN DIDN'T YOU BEG YOUR MOM TO DYE YOUR HAIR BLONDE AFTER SEEING MARSHALL MATHERS? This “youthful” act attracted the “counterculture” of the hip-hop scene, which is to say white kids who weren’t entirely comfortable listening to rap in public. 

KANYE WEST

Kanye West is an enigma, and in my personal opinion, a closeted szzurp sipper. What else can explain his sartorial decisions? One day it’s well put together, like a #menswear Tumblr picture that’s been reposted 1000 times by guys in Brooklyn who are overly into blogs. On other days, it’s this. Dude raps hella good though, and he was the FIRST to essentially tell Taylor Swift to sit down and shut the fuck up. Ugly girls be cryin’ Taylor. Ugly girls. Remember that.

DR. DRE, M.D.

Oh, you didn’t know Dre was in the Illuminati? How do you think he went from this to this to this. The dude runs the West Coast, donned in all-black and a White Sox hat. And so begins the era of flat-billed hats with teams you have no association with.  Menswear is all about aesthetics.

JAY-Z

What a tangled web we weave.

Speaking of all-black-everything, you best believe Jay-Z is in the Illuminati. That is the only logical explanation I can think of for how he is banging Beyonce (that and the money/rap career). All-black is the standard dress code for Illuminati meetings, which Jay SHOULDN’T have talked about, but he foots the bill for our paintball team-building, so I’ll let it slide. He also says he made the Yankee hat famous, but I feel like that was probably Babe Ruth. 

CYPRESS HILL

Cypress Hill is not in the Illuminati. 

LITTLE WAYNE

It’s rumored (by lunatics) that Lil Wayne sold his soul to the devil in return for fame and fortune. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I do know that Weezy F. Baby (don’t forget the F, baby) popularized the over-tattoo-ification that’s strangled menswear streetstyle. The only way to ensure Scott Schuman will snap a pic of your tattoos is if you don’t give him the option. 

THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G.

Know who came up with the idea that "black is a slimming color"? Take a guess. Chris also popularized newsboy caps, cementing his sartorial legacy.

SNOOP (insert animal)

Snoop Dogg was a member of the Illuminati, but his patented hair braids never caught on in the menswear realm. As a result, he renounced his faith, sold all his possessions, and became Snoop Lion, king of the concrete jungle. His music videos are no longer as cool as they once were. What we giveth, we taketh away.

That's all she wrote,

MD

Random Menswear Pictures - That's that shit I do like

In stereotypical fashion, I’m “reblogging” a lot of pictures from around the web that I’m particularly fond of. There’s no real point, so fuck you and lay off me. I just like them, I think they serve as good visual inspiration. Plus I've been sitting on them awhile, and they were taking up room on my hard drive. I will probably release something like this every once in awhile so I can keep a catalogue of looks/inspirations. 

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This is just over the top. Source

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At H&M for only $50

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Spot on.   Source

I don't meet enough girls with tattoos. Source

PS - None of these pictures are my own. I have included the sources to all, but if you see yours and want it taken down, shoot me an email.

Peace,

MD

The Case for Spending a Little More Sometimes

I ran across this article while reading through Put This On today, and I genuinely think it’s a worthwhile read. I’ve tried to articulate this point in previous posts, but I’d consider it a must-read for guys who can’t wrap their heads around the sometimes exorbitant prices that abound in menswear. I know I was once that way, but after experimenting with things at different prices, I am convinced that there is a noticeable difference in quality, construction, and fit for some higher priced goods.

The Case for Spending a Little More Sometimes

More news as it develops,

MD

StyleSeek & Blogger's Rights

I moved to Dublin this weekend, and so I’ve only just reestablished my Internet capabilities. Today I was planning a post on StyleSeek, but in the interim weekend where I was cut off from humanity America, I missed this.

Without delving into a huge diatribe, I’ll try to break down the issue in a quick minute. StyleSeek is run in part by Ryan Plett, the photoblogger behind [you have broken the internet]. It’s an enjoyable site where Ryan (the #menswear world is all on a first name basis), posts fashiony, photography-y pictures that serve as his (or our?) inspiration. I say “enjoyable” because there’s usually a healthy dose of side-boob. Just kidding, it’s actually a pretty cool site worth checking out (not kidding about the side-boob though, wink wink, nudge nudge). 

Anyways, StyleSeek runs off a similar format, except the ideal market is customers, not casual blog readers. It starts with a short quiz to determine your style identity, then leads to pictures, AND blog posts, reposted from across the web. The idea being, you see something you like and you have immediate access to buy whatever that is. You can also add these pictures to your “Style DNA,” so what pops up is always evolving to your personal style. 

When StyleSeek launched, it had been using an improper (no, naive) method of blog sharing. They started out posting full articles from other peoples’ blogs, without the authors knowledge or consent, assuming a link to the blog would suffice in the eyes of the blog’s author (and IP law). The issue has since been fixed, so I’m not going to kick StyleSeek while they’re down. For more on the issue itself, check out Jesse’s article over at Put This On. I truly enjoy Put This On, and although I don’t know Jesse Thorn personally, I’ve come to respect his menswear advice. I empathize with him and agree with him based on his situation. Besides all the issues Jesse raises, you can’t expect a full, reblogged post to drive users to another’s site. Without an impetus to actually visit the blog in question, chances are most readers will read the article in full and continue browsing StyleSeek without giving the original blog a second thought. 


I started blogging because my career path in law wasn't turning out like I thought it would. I don't make any money off of it, and while I continue to do it because I'm passionate about it, I do hope that someday it will lead to SOMETHING career-wise. I'm too new to the game for StyleSeek's practices to directly affect Midwest-Dressed, but I'd be pissed if someone was making a dollar profit off my work without at least throwing some visitors my way.

But I digress. Like I said I don’t want to kick them while they’re down, especially since the issue has (hopefully) been resolved. As it turns out, and in my experience, StyleSeek has been pretty legit. It offers pieces focused on your personal style (while also allowing you to find where/how to buy them), but adds enough new stuff to keep constantly evolving your “Style DNA.” I question how long StyleSeek can keep the idea going, because it’s incredibly difficult to cater to the constantly changing styles of every single individual user, but I hope they can. I like being able to spot something I love, and immediately have access to purchasing it. It’s nice for compulsive people, or anyone looking to add new flavor to their personal style. I've already found this sweet backpack, since I was in the market for a new one anyways.

Thanks for reading, and more good stuff coming,

MD

Euro-trash

Just settled in for my extended stay in Ireland. Unfortunately though, most of this weekend was dedicated to actually settling in, like getting groceries, power adapters, etc, so this post is going to suffer a little bit. My apologies. 

One thing I've begun to notice while abroad is how different cultures approach casual dress. So far I've seen a few stereotypical Irelanders (think old men in tweed coats, driving caps), but I've seen far more young men dressed in a garb I'm starting to describe as Euro-trash. The sides of the heads are shaved while the top and back are left normal; combine that with an earring or two and an entire track suit and you've got yourself most of the 20-30 year-old men I see here. I don't know if they're soccer hooligans or in a gang, or what the deal is. Frankly, I was expecting a bit more.

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Again here I'll espouse the importance of what you wear. It sets a cast for someone to mold their impression of you. It says a lot about your personality and character. Don't think of wearing a sport coat or trousers as "dressing up," like it's some act reserved for special occasions of required formality. Dress to the level of where you're going sure, but that's no reason to look like a slob. 

For example, I work from home (and by work, I mean browse the Internet between summer classes). You can generally find me naked on my couch. That’s appropriate (in the loosest sense of the word) because I’m at home, alone, where no one can see me (unless they too are on ChatRoulette). 

Would I like to run to the store naked? Or class? Sure, I bet it’s freeing. But I don’t, because I understand that certain occasions require a level of dignity reflected by your clothing. Your basic suit is appropriate for some places (work), but overkill for others (a farmer’s market). Part of growing up is about gaining an understanding of how society works and where you fit in. Hopefully, you already have a decent grasp on the level of formality that most functions call for. If not, just quit now because life is going to get a lot more complicated. A track suit is for a fucking track bro.

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate the patience as I get back up to 100%,

MD

Guest Post at Restart Your Style

What’s up with it?

As you know, your boy is running heavy in the #menswear game, and that’s why this week, I’ve been lucky enough to drop a guest post for Robert over at Restart Your Style. If you’re into my site, I highly recommend checking out RYS. The mantra is, “Cut through the bullshit, get back to basics and reinvent your wardrobe.” Dude’s writing a bible on how to jumpstart your personal style if you’re completely new to the game. Robert, like me, feels that many menswear/style websites are too advanced, focusing on nuanced looks without really defining the fundamental basics. That’s exactly what he aims to do.

So today, breeze on over to my post on his site, and show some love by clicking around and exploring. My guess is that most of my readers will benefit from, or at least enjoy, what Robert has to say. And don't forget to CLICK HERE to read my post.

Much love international playboys & playgirls,

MD

Menswear Mantras

First, I apologize for the lull in posts. Class has been hectic, and I've been working on IT stuff to upgrade the blog and hopefully energize your experience. I don't know what that means but it sounded good in my head.

Anyways, here's some stuff to keep you busy until I'm back running at full speed. First, something from Put This On that I’m excited about because it captures exactly the essence of how I feel, and it has a shout out to KC (What up 816?)

You think The Sartorialist or Tommy Ton are planning to shoot in Kansas City any time soon? How about Philly? Williamsburg, Virgina?* Bloomington, Indiana?

The revolution isn’t over. We just shifted the battlefield.We’re not waiting for you to take our picture. We’re doing it ourselves. And remarkably, you’re still paying attention. 

“Happy to see this. Personally, I’m tired of “street style” that’s about photographs of fashion industry insiders at runway shows and trade shows. That’s just inside-baseball costume shots, and it’s disingenuous to present it as anything else. 

My respect goes to the people who dress well outside the fashion industry, and the photographers who are *actually* on the street, looking for real people who really dress well, not just whoever’s taking a smoke break from the Cucinelli show.” 

And another from Esquire titled "How Street Style is Ruining Your Style." 

"Back when designers claimed to be inspired by the city, there was a different kind of look that caught the eye. Mean Street Style. This man doesn't wear anything conspicuous because he doesn't want to be bothered. Mean Street Style has a no-bullshit utility. Its adherents do not own tweed vests or porkpie hats. Instead: a tough bag, good sunglasses, and solid footwear that helps you dodge the various slow and crazy people in the way. They may not smoke, but look like they are smoking, as effortlessly cool as Debbie Harry in the morning."

As you're taking a cautious step towards entering the menswear world, don't turn it into a goose-stepping stomp behind the fashion dictators of NY. Your style should ultimately be YOUR style. But it should still be good too.

More news as it develops, and some exciting stuff coming,

MD