derek guy Profile picture
Sep 8, 2023 10 tweets 6 min read Read on X
BUILD A WARDROBE; DONT BUY OUTFITS

sometimes i dont know if im saying things are too obvious, but you should buy clothes that easily mix and match. that way, you can buy a handful of items to create an infinite number of outfits 🧵 Image
an easy way to do this is to build a wardrobe around one or two aesthetics that easily play with each other. for instance, rugged workwear items draw from the same design language, so they work together.


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similarly, if you normally wear things like suits and sport coats, you can get certain casual jackets that pair well with tailored trousers (pic 1, 2, and 3). but something too avant-garde (pic 4) requires different types of shirts and pants to create the right silhouette/ look


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it also helps to stay within a tight color family. in menswear, blues, greys, browns, and olives play well with each other. if you like tailoring, get a wardrobe full of grey and tan pants, solid or striped blue shirts, and then a couple of sport coats. coordinating is then easy
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my friend @DavidLaneDesign, who i mention often on here, mostly wears tailoring and workwear. dark jeans go with sport coats (blue hopsack or brown tweed) or casualwear (brown suede chore coat or olive field jacket). even light blue chambray transfers.


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in this way, you can see how two adjacent aesthetics (tailoring and workwear) play well with each other. and by staying within some basic colors (e.g., blues, browns, olives), it's easy to coordinate. same pants, shirts, and sometimes shoes, but different jackets and thus outfits
about ten years ago, i interviewed a young guy in paris named brian. like most homes around the world, parisian apartments are small—tiny compared to US homes—so they have limited storage space. yet parisians are among the best dressed in the world.
when i interviewed Brian, he had two pairs of jeans, one pair of trousers, two sweaters, two pairs of boots, one pair of sneakers, some shirts, and a handful of coats. yet, everything could be mixed and matched, so he could create an infinite number of outfits


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sorry if all this is very obvious. but i get this sort of reply often ("are you seriously recommending a $200 outfit?"). you do not buy outfits. you slowly build a wardrobe over a long period of time, and from that wardrobe, you mix and match things to create outfits. Image
fighters during the communist revolution: does your outfit cost $200? up against the wall, capitalist!

me: no no, I've built my wardrobe so these items can be easily mixed and matched

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More from @dieworkwear

Feb 7
Your suggestions are shit ass.

Let me tell you about backpacks. 🧵 Image
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Let's first establish good vs bad ways to think about style. The first pic is correct — style is a kind of social language and you have to figure out what type of person you are. The second pic is stupid bc it takes style as disconnected objects ("this is in" vs "this is out"). Image
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I should also note here that I'm only talking about style. I'm not here to argue with you about ergonomics, water bottle holders, or whether something accommodates your Dell laptop. I'm am talking about aesthetics.
Read 18 tweets
Feb 5
It's true that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has a rounded back and forward pitched shoulders. But let me show you something. 🧵
Watch these two videos. Then answer these two questions:

— Which of the two men is better dressed?
— How does each come off?
I think Carney is better dressed, partly because his clothes fit better. Notice that his jacket collar always hugs his neck, while Pierre Poilievre's jacket collar never touches him.

Why do Poilievre's jackets fit like this? Image
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Read 11 tweets
Jan 18
The level of craftsmanship that goes into a lot of Japanese menswear simply doesn't exist in the United States. You can do this for many categories — suits, jeans, hats, etc.

In this thread, I will show you just one category: men's shoes 🧵
For this comparison, I will focus on Japanese bespoke shoemaking vs. US ready-to-wear. The level of bespoke craftsmanship shown here simply doesn't exist in the US, so a Japanese bespoke vs. US bespoke comparison would be unfair. US bespoke is mostly about orthopedic work.
So instead, I will focus on the best that the US has to offer: ready-to-wear Alden.

On a basic level, top-end Japanese shoes are better because they are handwelted, whereas Alden shoes are Goodyear welted. The first involves more handwork and can be resoled more often. Image
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Read 24 tweets
Dec 18, 2025
A story I found about Haiti:

In 1999, a group of Haitians were tired of political disorder and dreamed of a better life in the United States. So they built a small, 23-foot boat by hand using pine trees, scrap wood, and used nails. They called the boat "Believe in God." 🧵 Image
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In a boat powered by nothing but a sail, they somehow made it from Tortuga Island to the Bahamas (about a 90 mile distance). Then from the Bahamas, they set sail again. But a few days and some hundred miles later, their makeshift boat began to sink. Image
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The men on the boat were so dehydrated this point, one slipped in and out of consciousness, unable to stand. They were all resigned to their death.

Luckily, they were rescued at the last minute by the US Coast Guard. Image
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Read 5 tweets
Dec 1, 2025
After this post went viral, I called Caroline Groves, a world-class bespoke shoemaker, to discuss how women's shoes are made. I normally don't talk about womenswear, but I found the information interesting, so I thought I would share what I learned here. 🧵
First, who is Caroline Groves?

Footwear is broadly broken into two categories: bespoke and ready-to-wear. In London, bespoke makers, including those for women, are largely focused on traditional styles, such as wingtip derbies and loafers. Emiko Matsuda is great for this. Image
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In Paris, there's Massaro, a historic firm that has been operating since 1894, now owned by Chanel. Their designs are less about creating the women's equivalent of traditional men's footwear and more about things such as heels or creative styles. Aesthetic is still "traditional." Image
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Read 18 tweets
Nov 29, 2025
Earlier today, Roger Stone announced his partnership with a menswear company, where together they've released a collection of tailored clothing items.

Here is my review of those pieces. 🧵 Image
The line is mostly comprised of suits and sport coats, supplemented with dress shirts and one pair of odd trousers (tailor-speak for a pair of pants made without a matching jacket). Suits start at $1,540; sport coats are $1,150. One suit is $5,400 bc it's made from Scabal fabric Image
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Let's start with the good points. These are fully canvassed jackets, meaning a free floating canvas has been tacked onto the face fabric to give it some weight and structure. This is better than a half-canvas and fully fused construction, but requires more time and labor. Image
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Read 24 tweets

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