Monday 8 September 2008

Dress Up: Playing with age

After reading Luke Leitch's article How to get dressed: what is your outfit age? it made me want to mix things up and play with my age a little (plus it gave me a chance to play dress up and there just aren't enough opportunities to do so!). In general, men, especially when at leisure, rarely consider the effect their sartorial choices might have on their perceived age. Not too long ago I mentioned my desire for a smartening up across the land and although I could never be found guilty of dressing like a prepubescent (unlike many other men who should know better) I certainly don't like dressing a set age, I find the very idea of this quite absurd. Is there anyone who dresses in perfect correlation with their sartorial age? Does even a thing exist? If so, I put my name forward to mirror those reading helpers who used to help quantify a child's reading age at school and set forth and quantify one and all with sartorial age, it sounds like an interesting project. Regardless of whether this can be measured, we all need to be aware of our age when dressing ourselves in the morning and most importantly our limits which extend way beyond age. One thing is for sure, you can get away with a lot more when you have youth on your side, if nothing more you can blame naivety.



Outfit 1 - My most youthful look; Hurwendeki Biker Jacket, Hooded Plaid Shirt by Scotch, Red Skinny Jeans from Uniqlo, battered old converse.

Outfit 2 - Somewhat daring/getting too old for this look; American Apparel bowling jacket, TV t-shirt from Urban Outfitters, Skinny jeans from Uniqlo, Adidas tennis shoe.


Outfit 3 - Everyday casual look (Mid twenties); Purple wool sweater from Uniqlo, Lanvin shirt, apc jeans, suede shoes by bstore.

Outfit 4 - Now; Navy wool jumper from M&S, stripey polo from Hurwendeki, trousers by Peoples Market, shoes by b store.

Outfit 5 - Age defying?; Polka dot umbrella (found on train), apc jacket, polka dot pocket square (Haberdashery find), grey shirt by b, apc jeans, blue shoes by swear.

Here I've set my age spectrum quite narrow but even within the teenager-to-mid-twenties-to-late-twenties there is still a lot to think about. Perhaps tomorrow I will take this further but I need more props. In the meantime...what's your dress age?

Update: It almost slipped my mind but this post looks at themes explored within a previous post where I looked at the style of Nicky Haslam who dresses in High Street attire even though he is 67 years young. This example shows that we really shouldn't discriminate by age, we should only judge a person's style on whether it suits them as an individual, a case by case basis.

14 comments:

LYNN and HORST said...

i'll go for 5
sweet boy

Style Salvage Steve said...

Children certainly aren't afraid to dress in colour. It's a rare thing to see a 5 year old in monochrome and this should inspire us all.

Anonymous said...

whats happening with men represent?

Style Salvage Steve said...

Good question anonymous. In truth I'm not to sure. The initial spark has fizzled out somewhat in recent weeks and for that I apologise. We still have a number of ideas which we would like to explore under the guise of Men Represent. These include modification (you just don't see enough of this within men's style blogs!), a shop guide (beginning with a write up of your favourite shop we will map out the stores of choice), interpreting/applying fashion week to your wardrobe - from runway to your bedroom, to name just a few. Ultimately we would like to be able to create a joint magazine after we have experimented with one another and tested the water as it were. We still need to inspire a sense of community within the men's style blogs and we will take up the task once again. Expect a folow up post later on today. Now I have a question for you, will you be taking part in Men Represent? I should anonymity is not in the spirit of Men Represent.

TheSundayBest said...

I have no idea if I dress my age. Generally I'm probably perceived as dressing a little older, and then, on some days, a little younger.

I don't dress like many 32 year-olds around here in any case.

Style Salvage Steve said...

thesundaybest - I think that is the best way. The article that inspired the post looks at a certain group - the west london creatives - who dress younger than they are. To be honest I couldn't care less that they are wearing rare trainers, japanese denim and collegiate t shirts at 35, what bothers me is that they are all wearing the same, a uniform which only looks ridiculous when there is a cafe full of them. if it exists (and I don;t think it does) the measurement of age dressing really isn't an exact science...imagine if it was, it would just be so damn complicated and involve far too many rules and formulas. You wear all of your looks well and that's what counts!

Matthew Spade said...

well i turn 23 tomorrow and id say my look changes from year to year, this due to the nature of evolving fashion. the one thing that seems to change most year by year is the smartness of my clothes and ive become much more aware of fabrics, small details and longevity of garments. ive turned into one of them people who looks at care labels and such, no bad thing though.

im still young and i look forward to my future looks, whatever they may be.

ps. can't wait for winter dressing!

Lost said...

So whats in for winter dressing Style Savage? Apart from Boots, shearlings, and apparently tassle loafers *yuck*

I like your blog, its really cool, and may inspire me to write my own fashion blog, though purely based on my own ideas and reading magazines that tell me what to buy.. good ehy ;)

Anonymous said...

hey steve
just discovered your wonderful blog and im liking what i see ;)
just wanted to know if there's a way that i can enlarge the pics that you post coz i cant see the details of the outfits clearly in the small pics eg. the outfits in this post

Style Salvage Steve said...

Lost - You should join in with Men Represent! I am aiming to do a large scale post on autumn/winter style in the coming weeks. All will be revealed then.
Tanya - Thanks for reading! This is something that has been flagged up to me before and I need to sort out the coding. In the meantime you cna always visit my flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stylesalvage_steve/) - I try and keep it up to date.

Matthew Spade said...

hey whats wrong with tassel loafers!

Anonymous said...

thanks for replying so quickly steve!
i just had a look through it and i love the "Men Represent - Weekend trip to the seaside" outfit purely because you're actually fully clothed, with enclosed shoes AT THE BEACH! maybe it's just because im an aussie, but there's something quite surreal and rather nonsensical about seeing a fully clothed person at the beach.
i guess im too used to observing near naked people on beaches...

Anonymous said...

In my case rules hardly matter as everything from here and there clashes.

And I really like that polka dot umbrella! I should be searching one for myself!!! hahaha

StyleSalvage said...

Mat Ahoy - There's nothing wrong with tassle loafers, when worn well!

Tanya - Thanks! Well, it wasn't a very warm day so I could get away with wearing so much. The beach of Margate is someway off the ones you're used to in Oz!

Giancinephile - Since this post I've been told that it's not uncommon to find polka dot umbrellas on public transport and of course it's free and a form of recycling!

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