Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#121

Post by phren0logy » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:36 PM UTC

dminor wrote: post #78

bryanlarsen wrote: post #53

I appreciate her effort to find a look not subject to the whims of fashion. However, she will have to adapt her look in a few years when the leggings under a skirt look goes out of style. I'm sure she'll adapt, perhaps switching back to tights. It's also a look that will be difficult to pull off when she's 20 years older. For some reason, women have to dress their age. My guess is because there is so much societal pr…

> Men have it easy. A well fitted Saville Row cut suit has been relatively fashionable for at least a century. I'd be laughed out of the office if I wore that.

Only on the first day. Do what works for you, but classic style is classic.

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#122

Post by timoni » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:36 PM UTC

danellis wrote: post #57

ctdonath wrote: post #37

The 8-bit renderings are cute, but actual pictures would be nice.

Yes, exactly. Of the combos, rather than the individual items.

I thought about doing a bit of a photo shoot, but it's not really my style. Do you want outfit pictures on me, or just pictures of the clothes?

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#123

Post by pwthornton » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:38 PM UTC

Paul_S wrote: post #104

pwthornton wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with you that going the more formal route can actually make this easier (you can dress an outfit down by just ditching the tie), I am going to have to disagree that you can just grab any old socks and pants and have them not clash. :) The big distinction comes in with the belt and shoes colors. A lot of colors of gray I wouldn't wear with non-black shoes and belts. The socks that I wear also depend on i…

All my socks are black or at least dark so I don't have to rifle through them. I'm guessing you're American and by pants you mean trousers but it's a lot funnier to think you don't. I bow my head in respect of your colour coordination. Myself I can hardly tell colours apart let alone match them. I make sure I don't have any vibrant colours so I don't have to make those choices and just make sure the tie has some comm…

I don't know why Americans decided to go with pants over trousers.

My socks are usually only a few colors, and I never seem to have enough. I think my only real life hacker tip for clothing would be to always have way more socks, underwear and undershirts than you need.

I can usually find pants, a shirt and other accessories. But socks? I'm always scrambling to find some.

I should probably go by 10 pairs of socks today.

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#124

Post by timoni » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:38 PM UTC

planetguy wrote: post #25

clavalle wrote: post #10

Joe Celko does this but his outfit is a three piece suit. He told me that it is part of his 'personal brand' so he is easy to recognize and approach when at conferences and public in general. I wonder how different people's approach to him would be if his signature outfit was a hoodie.

That must suck on really hot days. Where does this guy live? Having read this whole thread, y'know what's even better than wearing the same thing every day? Not wearing the same thing every day. I have a bunch of different clothes, and deciding which of 'em to put on really doesn't take that much time out of my day.

I wear tanks and light leggings on really hot days (or in really hot countries). It's cool you don't have a problem deciding what to wear, though. I found myself bogged down with what was the appropriate thing for the right occasion/did stuff match well/did I look really cute or not.

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#125

Post by chexton » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:38 PM UTC

"When I first started looking for things like a ‘standard tank top’ or a ‘standard jersey skirt’, I thought they’d be easy to find."

I find this to be the case too often. Jeans are easy (Levi 501, anyone?) but finding a t-shirt or collared shirt that fits well, is comfortable and that I will likely be able to buy over and over again for the next 10 years is quite difficult.

GAP and Uniqlo sort of do this but even they change things around a lot. I think sites like Everlane.com could do quite well out of this concept: most people like to stick with basics they love. Make good basics and keep them around forever. I've always wanted to be able to login on my iPhone and click 'give me two new t-shirts' and have them delivered to my door, the iPhone app should know where I live, my card number and my favourite stuff...no questions asked!

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#126

Post by egypturnash » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:39 PM UTC

oh man I could never dress like that. I like VARIETY. And when it's warm enough I like to show off my body - I've spent a lot of time and effort getting it into shape.

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#127

Post by timoni » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:40 PM UTC

brianlovin wrote: post #9

By attempting to be 'unconstrained' from fashion, OP has become more constrained than ever. Is she saving time & money? Maybe...but that blog post and graphics sure took some time to put together. And now that she's made this public, she's stuck. Want to wear something different, colorful, playful? Fuck it, gotta stick to the schedule. Clothing isn't time consuming or energy draining. It's about finding a style you'r…

Yeah, I realized I'd get some shit if I ever went out _not_ wearing that outfit in public. It's worth it to write up the process and details anyway. A lot of my friends/peers have been curious about my method.

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#128

Post by phren0logy » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:42 PM UTC

mhd wrote: post #110

bryanlarsen wrote: post #53

I appreciate her effort to find a look not subject to the whims of fashion. However, she will have to adapt her look in a few years when the leggings under a skirt look goes out of style. I'm sure she'll adapt, perhaps switching back to tights. It's also a look that will be difficult to pull off when she's 20 years older. For some reason, women have to dress their age. My guess is because there is so much societal pr…

Assuming you've got the Saville Row conduit cut back then and worked somewhere conservative (i.e. pretty close to Saville Row). Other than that, there have been a lot of fluctuations in male suit fashion over the years. Sure, it's not as obvious (no sudden harem pants), but one might argue that this makes it harder. Think of the business card scene in American Psycho and apply that to suits. Colors, patterns, shoulde…

You are doing it wrong.

Buy a suit that fits your build and it will never look too far out of place. Don't buy exaggerated cuts (like the present too-tight fit with too-short pants). The trendiest items will always be a little different, but they don't vary too far from the middle. You only look silly when you buy clothes too far on one extreme and the trend moves to the other end.

See here for examples: http://theimpossiblecool.tumblr.com/

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#129

Post by podperson » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:42 PM UTC

Surely the character to cite would be Jeff Goldblum's character in The Fly, who owns a set of identical comfortable, smart casual clothes for exactly the reasons stated by the author and the character in Jurassic Park (presumably the book).

In any event, this is a much tougher problem for women than men, but she isn't really describing "an outfit" but a wardrobe. I don't have a problem with that, but the title is misleading.

Re: Why I Wear The Same Thing Every Day, And What I Wear

#130

Post by ajross » Fri, Jun 08, 2012, 5:45 PM UTC

timoni wrote: post #116

ajross wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. I hesitate to call it "sexism," as there's no adverse discrimination going on, but the double standard here is turned up to 11. What is described in this article is, basically, the way almost every western man in a casual profession dresses. I wake up in the morning and pull on jeans, a t-shirt, and top it with a long sleeve, sweater or nothing depending on the weather. Yet no one would have any interest in re…

This is true; a lot of guys dress this way naturally. I'm hoping the difference is that I actually _thought_ about what I wanted to wear every day, rather than just wearing jeans every day. I only know one guy who's consciously done this, and he's a designer, too.

Right. What interested me was the double standard I mentioned (and I should be really clear: I'm not sitting here and being a men's rights whiner about reverse sexism or anything like that, I'm honestly interested). Clearly guys aren't doing this out of instinct, we were taught to do it too. But it happened at an age and in a context where there was no value placed on the decision. It's just "how it's done", like brushing one's teeth.

For women, coming to the same kind of decision is a lifestyle hack. I don't know what to think about that.