When did you start caring...

[CJJ]

about you appearance, clothes, etc...


My Dad is a classicaly styled man. He would have loved for me to follow his footsteps but obviously I had to rebel. When I got to college I realized he was right about clothes, shoes, and a few other things. Although I've gone through some "party shirts" phases since college I pretty much stayed with a "relaxed prep" look (J Crew, BR, Gap, etc...). I recently started to embrace blazers and shoes. For the longest time my focus was on shirts, nothing fancy but that was my "thing".


So, when did you start caring, what was the catalyst?

[LesserBlackDog]

Well, mine was kind of an odd thing. When I was in high school my family watched Trading Spaces and some of the other shows on TLC. When What Not to Wear first premiered, it came on right after Trading Space and my mom, dad and I watched it together - like "Ha, I bet this is going to be a terrible show, completely shallow, all about appearances vs. substance, etc." The whole notion of it seemed absurd.


But by the end of the show we had changed our tune, as the woman who was on it looked great and seemed to be happy. They had a few guys on the show, too, in the early seasons, which was the most interesting to me. That piqued my interest in style, but it wasn't until a couple years ago that I really started focusing on buying nicer pieces, and it's only been in the past year or so that I've been dressing well on a regular basis.


My dad's only been a style icon for me in the abstract. He's a retired Marine infantry officer and construction worker, and currently a volunteer fireman, so his wardrobe consists almost entirely of Carhartt jeans and flannel shirts. But I think he has still influenced me insofar as I really enjoy purpose-built workwear, stuff from US heritage brands, and so on.

[CJJ]

speaking of shows... Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was my brothers and I's guilty pleasure. There I said out loud to complete strangers.

[LesserBlackDog]

I watched the first few episodes of Queer Eye - I can safely say that show is responsible for my interest in pink blazers and creme brulee. Other than that Queer Eye didn't really capture my interest, though. Too unfocused.

[nicholascrawford]

My dad was an actor, runway model, and local spokesperson for a Milwaukee men's clothier. Then he opted to focus on his tree company.


Nevertheless, he's always the best dressed man in the room with custom suits and GTH socks. He's got a walk in cedar closet - I think I'm painting the picture. Anyways, I learned a lot from him but never really implemented it. I always felt suits were too expensive, and I never figured out the basics of fit for myself. I've always done alright in the style department, relative to peers.


What turned the corner for me was the $1500 wardrobe series, getting into Mad Men this fall, and finally having disposable income. I joking refer to it as the sun, soil, and water that awakened the sleeping sartorial seed within me. =)

[Cannon]

It has something to do with Casino Royale, and has been cemented further by other Bond film's use of classic clothing. It has been solidified by movies like The English Patient, An Education, The Tree of Life, Quantum of Solace, and one I don't think gets noticed in terms of clothing, but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, who's stylist will be costuming Daniel Craig with Tom Ford for Skyfall. Mad Men is a nice inspiration as well and I can't wait for March 26. James Bond, Steve McQueen, Don Draper, Sean Connery, Gene Kelly. Those guys have great style to my eyes. Oddly enough, in the last few weeks, I found this woman's reach back into sixties iconic styling to be inspiringly bold as far as what I like seeing from women who like classic style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bag1gUxuU0g#t=03m18s (watch through at least 45 seconds and perhaps you'll appreciate her look too)


I'll say around Sophomore year of high school, but actually dressing well in Senior year.


I always considered myself to be a bit of an old grown up soul (perhaps evidenced by the fact that Google has me misfiled up in age demographic based on my older interests) and having had skipped the teenage sequence in the brain. Never cared for the Abercrombie years that everyone else went through. This ties into my tendency to have interests and inspirations of those older than my peers, and thus an interest in more classic style like you guys here on Dappered tend to.

[JToom]

honestly wasn't until i was out of college, a girl that i liked (that had me in the awful friend zone) said "god i love a guy that can dress" so i started faking it till i eventually dropped her as a friend and started caring about clothes more

[moe]

In my mid 30's. I had a revelation that it was time to do something about my clothes. Just felt like it was the next step in the aging process for me. I got a lot of advice initially from a co-worker who had his sartorial stuff together. A mentor if you will. He says I get it now, but I know I still can learn more.

[Deke]

@Cannon

I'm with you brother. I just remembered watching Casino Royal for the first time and thinking he just looked so damn sharp. I don't think my obsession really took off though until I had a friend on Facebook post a link to dappered.

[chern]

Senior year of college. My girlfriend at the time had interned for Nautica so she kind of made sure I was well dressed. I think she'd even be pleasantly surprised at my progress since.

[AedanM]

I've always kinda cared about the way I dress and got lots of compliments but I dressed like a college kid. Nice seven jeans, super dry, abercrombie, rugby, polo etc shirts. Now that I'm in the "real world," I've started moving away from the over branded college kid clothes to a more simple mature look. Still have a long way to go.

[CJJ]

I live in Southern California where there is a heavy tendency towards the overly casual look. You seldom see men in their 20's or 30's in anything more elaborate than t-shirt, jeans, flip flops, "party shirts", hoodies, etc... I went to a wedding last week and a friend of mine asked sarcastically "are you getting married?" because I wore a suit, tie and pocket square. I find it interesting that most grown men in my suburbian bubble want to shop at the same stores their teenage sons do.

[kenneth]

I only began caring a few months ago really. I'm still in the "newbie" phase, trying to match sportcoats to shirts and feeling a little awkward sometimes. I'm at an urban university and no one dresses very well. I've gotten numerous compliments, but far more odd looks for wearing a v-neck sweater, tie, and tie with nice dark jeans and Magnanni oxfords to class. I'm still in the metamorphosis process, but loving it. Dappered is to thank, really.

[Cannon]

@Kenneth I think it is easier out of college because you aren't as automatically classified by those who see you. In college, they look at you like you should be one of them as a teen/young student, then that leads them to judge you for not dressing like the rest of everyone there. At least on a regular street you aren't expected to look more or less casual the way people decide that for you on a college campus. I get how it feels.

[kenneth]

@Cannon - I think you're absolutely right. Outside of college, I've received many more compliments and positive feedback. I guess on the upside, the well-dressed in college look even better compared to how poorly most collegiates dress!