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Daily Decisions

Superfluous

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,995
Location
Missing in action
Been kinda slow around here lately, so I figured its time for some introspective discussion.

Presumably, weather and activity are the two predominant factors underlying one’s clothing decisions. In other words, we decide what we are going to wear based primarily on what we are going to be doing that day (e.g., going to the office, mowing the lawn, going for a ride, or an evening with friends) and the current weather conditions.

Putting aside the obvious factors addressed above (weather and activity), my questions are as follows:

1. What other considerations come into play when deciding what to wear in general, and which jacket in particular? What causes you to select one shirt over another, or one jacket over another (assuming both are equally appropriate for the activity and weather)? What do you contemplate when deciding what to wear?

2. Do you endeavor to implement any variation in your clothing from day-to-day? In other words, if you wore a black jacket yesterday, might you be more inclined to wear a brown jacket today? If you wore a moto jacket yesterday, might you be more inclined to select a military or civilian jacket today? What other variation do you attempt to implement?

3. Does one particular clothing item play a greater role in terms of dictating the rest of your ensemble? For example, do you select a shirt first, and shape the rest of your ensemble around the shirt?

4. Do you ever select your jacket first, and shape the rest of your daily ensemble around the pre-selected jacket?

5. Do color schemes play any role in your decisions regarding what to wear?
 

zebedee

One Too Many
Messages
1,904
Location
Shanghai
Whenever I select clothes with this level of scrupulousness, the outfit does not involve leather jackets (although I will decide if a certain leather jacket suits the other casual clothes I am wearing, but I don't worry too much about jacket and footwear matching). Sometimes seasons will play a part- I like battered tan in autumn or a brisk summer- it really comes down to how cold it is. In a Korean winter, I'd be in the black Stockman 24/7, but that's because you have to have the length, not due to colour, material or even necessarily style (if I had thick enough overcoats, I'd wear them instead).
 
Messages
16,842
1. I mostly wear the same thing, regardless for what my plans for the day are. Jeans, shirt, either sneakers or boots, and a jacket.

2. Hm, good question but no, not really. I'll grab the jacket I feel like wearing at the time. Occasionally, what I wore the day before might play a factor in my decision but more often than not, I'll just wear the same jacket for days until I decide it's time to switch to something else. Except when it's really cold, then I'll wear what I'm forced to wear.

3., 4. & 5. Lately I try to avoid certain combinations, rather than building my ensemble around it. For example, if I'm wearing engineer boots, I'll try not to wear a leather jacket because I don't wanna end up looking too cliché biker. Same as I'll actively avoid coordinating color. So I guess color schemes do play a role in my decisions to some extent, yeah.
 

Seb Lucas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,562
Location
Australia
I've worn the same mainly black clothing for many years so I don't have to make a descision on this. I dislike colourful clothing and never think about putting together an "outfit". I do have brown jackets and I happily wear them with black. I have 7 identical pairs of boots, no sneakers, and only one pair of dress shoes to wear with the suit I bought five years ago and have yet to wear. I'm a soft core minimalist.
 

Peter Bowden

Practically Family
Messages
606
Location
united kingdom
Showing off is a serious business but I think I base every expedition around the jacket first and foremost and the rest of the ensemble especially with regards to colour co-ordination.The TFL effect means that just going to the local store for frozen goods etc has become an expedition!
 

Carlos840

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,944
Location
London
I have done everything i could to streamline dressing up. To me it shouldn't take more than 60 seconds.

_ All my underwear ar the same, and i only own one kind of socks (black, bamboo), they all live in the same drawer.
_ I only have American Apparel T-shirts (black and shades of grey, blue and red) which i wear 99% of the time, i just pick the top one of the pile, whichever colour it is.
_ Similar deal for the jumpers, i only have variations of the same V neck model, same four colours, different shades, three different material/ heat level pick whichever material is adequat for the day depending on temperature, pick whichever colour works with the T-shirt of the day.
_ I only have Iron Heart 634, in 5 different thicknesses (14 oz, 18 21 23 and 25oz) pick whichever depending on temperature, they each have their own belt on so i don't have to faff.
_ I mostly wear engineer boots (black or brown) unless it is super hot and then i wear desert boots (black or brown), i always match shoes to leather jacket colour.

Done.

The jacket i wear is literally the only variation in style from day to day, and that is decided depending on temperature, mood and how normal i need to look that day.
I sometimes wear the same one a few days in a row, sometime i change everyday, there is no real logic behind it.

If at a wedding or a funeral i wear a suit, if i really have to.
 
Last edited:
Messages
17,508
Location
Chicago
5 pair of unbranded brand twill pants, various button downs and cardigans for work. All interchangeable.
Weekend: same 5 t shirt, 2-3 button down, 1 sweater. 3 pair of jeans. Jacket according to mood. Not much thought given to any of it really. Maybe exclusively to the jacket. Other than that it's fairly standard.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,793
Location
New Forest
Well, if you take a peek into various other threads you will see that I can give Beau Brummell a run for his money. I'm guessing that there's not that many who would team a fedora hat with an Aloha shirt, leather jacket, baggy trousers and two tone spectator shoes? But you never know.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,793
Location
New Forest
^^^^That didn't take long. https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/the-sunday-drive.47553/page-5#post-2485646
lake fort smith 2.jpg
 

ai00344

One of the Regulars
Messages
299
Location
Canada
1. I mostly wear the same thing, regardless for what my plans for the day are. Jeans, shirt, either sneakers or boots, and a jacket.

2. Hm, good question but no, not really. I'll grab the jacket I feel like wearing at the time. Occasionally, what I wore the day before might play a factor in my decision but more often than not, I'll just wear the same jacket for days until I decide it's time to switch to something else. Except when it's really cold, then I'll wear what I'm forced to wear.

3., 4. & 5. Lately I try to avoid certain combinations, rather than building my ensemble around it. For example, if I'm wearing engineer boots, I'll try not to wear a leather jacket because I don't wanna end up looking too cliché biker. Same as I'll actively avoid coordinating color. So I guess color schemes do play a role in my decisions to some extent, yeah.
I share your fear of looking cliche. I love engineer boots and black leather jackets but not together unless I’m on a motorcycle.
 

navetsea

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,868
Location
East Java
I don't put any thought on mine, all my clothes are in the boring color spectrum, green olive earthy tone and grey, they don't offend each other and those color won't look worse when aging or fading, so I pick whatever I have on the hanger grab one of the shoes/ boots, and put on a jacket, short look at the mirror, sometime I switch the jacket with another, and that's it.

in term of jeans I like black over blue. I don't even own a normal 5 pockets blue jeans. and with my level of clumsiness and how many time I walk back and forth to make another cup coffee for myself, I stay away from light easy to stain colors.
 

dannyk

One Too Many
Messages
1,812
I have work/event clothes. But on my days off I put minimal thought into it. If it’s warm out a tee of some sort and shorts or jeans. If it’s cool out a sweater and jeans. My uncle makes handmade moccasin/boots that I have in chocolate brown, Black, saddle, and gold. I wear them constantly and switch to boots in winter. All my jackets at this time are black which I’m sad about at the moment but can go with anything really. Black and brown can and do work together in the right combination. I do have a more rockabilly/punk or if you will psychobilly look in general. But my work spills over into my personal life so often at this point in my life, I feel 90% of the time Im in the work clothes. Which consists of some uniform like clothing and then you’re general khaki, sweater, button up shirts and suit and tie. While I do enjoy looking good and have lots of colors and ties, my passion is the boots and leather. So I don’t much care to spend or put much thought into anything else.
 

dudewuttheheck

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,422
Been kinda slow around here lately, so I figured its time for some introspective discussion.

Presumably, weather and activity are the two predominant factors underlying one’s clothing decisions. In other words, we decide what we are going to wear based primarily on what we are going to be doing that day (e.g., going to the office, mowing the lawn, going for a ride, or an evening with friends) and the current weather conditions.

Putting aside the obvious factors addressed above (weather and activity), my questions are as follows:

1. What other considerations come into play when deciding what to wear in general, and which jacket in particular? What causes you to select one shirt over another, or one jacket over another (assuming both are equally appropriate for the activity and weather)? What do you contemplate when deciding what to wear?

2. Do you endeavor to implement any variation in your clothing from day-to-day? In other words, if you wore a black jacket yesterday, might you be more inclined to wear a brown jacket today? If you wore a moto jacket yesterday, might you be more inclined to select a military or civilian jacket today? What other variation do you attempt to implement?

3. Does one particular clothing item play a greater role in terms of dictating the rest of your ensemble? For example, do you select a shirt first, and shape the rest of your ensemble around the shirt?

4. Do you ever select your jacket first, and shape the rest of your daily ensemble around the pre-selected jacket?

5. Do color schemes play any role in your decisions regarding what to wear?

1. Newness plays a big part in this for me. Right now, I've been trying to wear my Freewheelers Caboose as much as possible not only to shorten the arms, but also because it's my newest jacket. Weather does also play a pretty big role here in socal because of how big a difference a few degrees can make. Sometimes I have to just wear my denim jacket because it is so much lighter than my leather jackets and the FW jacket needs the coldest weather due to the flannel lining in both the body and the arms.

Because I do a lot of reviews and Instagram stuff, I essentially force myself to take pictures of whatever I'm reviewing and change up my outfits regularly when I go out. This is actually a good thing because it forces myself to always wear something different. It helps me make sure to wear all my jackets and aside from weather conditions, forces me to wear different shirts with each jacket instead of repeating the same outfit consistently. Otherwise, I simply try to change up color schemes often too and come up with new color combos or whatever that I think will look good together.

2. See above. I basically force myself to change outfits consistently due to taking pictures of everything.

3. If it's cold out, the jacket is usually the main determining factor with boots being second. Everything else stems from this. In summer it's more of a crapshoot. Boots are still the first thing I pick in most situations, but other times it can be a shirt, jeans, chinos, etc that can be chosen first. It's much more straightforward in colder weather.

4. Much of the time, yes.

5. Yes as mentioned above. I am very particular about color schemes and try to find new ones all the time. This is one of the more fun and creative aspects of clothing for me.
 

red devil

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,954
Location
London
1. I tend to stick with one jacket for "main" use i.e.. 90% of the time, and leave others for specific occasions. That main jacket tends to rotate now.

2. Not so much, unless I decide the occasion warrants special efforts. Need to figure out what I will wear at the meetup in December though: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/london-outerwear-meetup-8th-of-december.95369/
Sorry for the shameless plug, just want to be sure it's not missed :D

3. Most of the time, it's the jacket itself.

4. Most of the time

5. To a certain extent, I don't like to mix brown with black. Otherwise, most combinations work.

Basically if we are to separate the whole outfit into categories, this is the how it looks like from bottom-up.

Shoes: I have been stuck with using a single pair of sneakers for years because it's so convenient. I have only recently managed to break this trend, thanks in part to the Kadoya Chelsea riding boots I got from my last trip in Japan. Hoping to continue the trend with a pair of engineer boots coming from Brass as well as summer canvas shoes for warmer weather. Work in progress

Trousers: Since discovering selvedge, I have tended to stick with one pair for a long time. My IH 25oz are the current ones. But I have recently put more efforts into expanding this category.

T-shirts: I have a wide selection of colourful t-shirts, so I tend to choose whatever is in front unless it glaringly doesn't match the jacket (very rare).

Second top layer: IH indigo hoodie most of the time, or in some occasions IH grey western shirt. considering that the hoodie, doesn't fit well under my tan Thedi and a few other jackets... this trend will shift a bit.

Jacket: As previously stated, I tend to stick with one jacket. It was initially the most convenient (LW suburban) as I don't have to worry about it. It switched to the one I want to age (Tan Thedi). I will probably select a jacket and focus on it every period of time. We'll see how that goes.
 

VestCoast

A-List Customer
Messages
307
Location
Maine
I work as a geologist for an environmental consulting company so I spend about half of my time in the field and half the time in the office. The office has a very relaxed dress code so my main metric for what I wear is the nature of the field work I could be doing that day. In cooler weather I use the physical aspect of my job to put wear on my denim and canvas jackets, but I often have to take into account how dirty the work is before wearing something I care a lot about (like my Iron Heart jackets/shirts). I always have to wear pants in the field so my jeans get a ton of washes/wear. I try to wear my new Aero Sheene as much as I can in the office but a denim jacket usually makes more sense to wear if I need to run out to a site or do some menial field work on the fly. The worst part of my job apparel-wise is having to wear chunky steel toed safety rated boots in the field but it saves a lot of wear-and-tear on my personal boots so I can't complain overmuch. I always wear a cheap white undershirt so I can strip down in case I need to wrangle something dirty, and usually save my nicer jeans for days I'm working clean. The fading/evolution of workwear is something I really enjoy and I feel lucky that my job gives me the freedom to wear what I want in the office while also having the opportunity to put my denim etc. through its paces. I got an Ironheart Type 3 a couple of weeks ago and am excited to wear it through this Texas winter.
 

jeo

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,073
Location
Philadelphia
1) weather and activity will always be the first determining factors, but besides that, my mood will sometimes come into play when deciding what to wear. When it comes to deciding on one shirt over the other it’s almost always making it fit and work with the rest of the outfit.

2) Variation for me is key, both in terms of color scheme and style (although I do always seem to fall back on a few basic styles) I have way too many clothes and I would say my main reason for variation is to wear them all.

3 & 4) I usually pick out one item, wether it’s a pair of boots, a leather jacket or a sweater and revolve the whole outfit around that piece. I usually don’t pick out pants first for some reason. Never thought about it. Maybe because it’s mostly jeans and chinos in either blues or earth tones.

5) absolutely. First off making the color scheme work, but also the whole variation thing. And I’ll never wear anything too “loud” in terms of color.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Worf

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,207
Location
Troy, New York, USA
Nice topic.

1. Wet or dry determines a lot... as does the temp. If it's pouring Filson Tin Cloth... any other weather it depends on my mood. REALLY cold and it's shearling... anything warmer than the arctic... then my mood takes over.

2. I generally do greens and browns one day then black and grey the next. Keep em guessing! LOL!

3. Pants first, then top... after that shoes then coat/jacket.

4. Decide if I'm in a wool, fabric or leather mood and let her rip!


Being retired really simplifies my choices... I rarely wear a collared shirt unless it's rugby style. So being 90% casual gives me a lot of latitude.

Worf
 

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