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derek guy Profile picture
@dieworkwear
May 15 • 3 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
In the 1930s and 40s, the US Dept of Agriculture published guides on how to spot quality clothing and take care of things you own. The guides were surprisingly sophisticated. This guide on men's suits covered fabrics like gabardine, serge, covert, and tropical worsted.


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Here is the guide for men's shirts (they recommended that you buy a full-cut shirt, not a slim fit). Note the page showing different weaves: broadcloth, oxford, chambray, etc. You don't even get this kind of info in men's fashion magazines nowadays.


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In the 1930s and 40s, the US Dept of Agriculture would also send someone to your house to say, "What the fuck are you wearing, dude??"

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More from @dieworkwear

derek guy Profile picture
May 17
Color works in a very specific way when it comes to fashion. But before I go on, I don't want my following thread to color your views. So let's start by asking: Which of these two outfits looks better to you? Choose before going on. 🧵
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IMO, color should not be treated as a kind of abstract pseudo-science (e.g., blue looks good with brown). While those principles may be true, they are secondary to a more important consideration: the social language of clothing. What's the aesthetic you're operating in? Image
Let's take traditional tailoring. As I've mentioned before, many of our traditions for men's tailoring come from Britain, where men of a certain social class had wardrobes divided between city and country. Men wore stuff like navy suits in the city and brown tweeds in the country
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Read 14 tweets
derek guy Profile picture
May 16
i dont understand how this is the alpha male look nowadays. if these clothes were any tighter, they'd be inside him
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Again, I disagree that wearing tight clothes necessarily makes for a more masculine silhouette. People should pay more attention to how clothes create shapes on your body. And even if you have a very masculine, athletic figure, tight clothes make for a more feminine silhouette Image
To clarify, these shapes do not necessarily mean anything for the people beneath the clothes. But in classic Western aesthetics, the masculine form is shoulders wider than the hips. The feminine silhouette is the opposite.
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Read 5 tweets
derek guy Profile picture
May 16
The producer of Ben Shapiro's show reached out to me to see if I'd like to discuss Ben's attire on his show. Like with Piers Morgan, since Ben invited feedback, I will do a thread comparing him to a menswear icon—this time, Ralph Lauren's Polo Bear. 🧵
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Unlike his colleagues, Ben's tailoring is not bad. Jackets have shape and fit him well. Compare his jacket to Peterson's, which looks like it was dunked in water (the small collar gap on Ben would be filled if he wore a dress shirt). Tonal seersucker in the second pic is cool
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Unfortunately, a tailor can only do so much. They only make your clothes, not put them on you. For men of a certain social class, this task would have been historically performed by a valet. Such a relationship was hilariously depicted in the British TV show Jeeves and Wooster
Read 25 tweets
derek guy Profile picture
May 14
For a brief moment in 2018, J. Crew offered these "canoeist smocks" inspired by something elite British naval officers wore during WWII. The design was so cool—the kind of thing you'd typically only see from specialty Japanese brands.

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The brand is in a much better position now than it was in 2020 (when it filed for bankruptcy). For a moment, it almost became like Old Navy. But the company's outerwear designs now are less risky, less exciting, and less complex. They use simple patterns and seams. Image
When people talk about quality, they often talk about the garment's fabric or durability. I often think of quality in terms of the garment's complexity. This smock was available in ripstop cotton ($298) or Ventile ($450). Not cheap, but well-made and tons of details for money.


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Read 4 tweets
derek guy Profile picture
May 13
Who dresses better? Alpha males or aristocratic babies? Let's explore. 🧵
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Tristan Tate's trousers are too slim to achieve proper drape. His jacket is also too short.

Andrea Casiraghi—who's fourth in line to the Monegasque throne—wears fuller-cut white trousers. His blazer ends halfway from his collar to the floor when he's in heeled shoes.
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Justin Waller's sleeve is too tight, which causes the sleeve to ride up his arm. This reveals a gauche cuff monogram.

Young Charles, the future King of England, wears a sleeve fit for his arm. He does not monogram his shirt cuffs, as this is bad taste.
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Read 8 tweets
derek guy Profile picture
May 12
I've been toying with different AI programs to see if they can suggest good outfits. They can't. They all fail because they don't understand the cultural language of clothing, so their suggestions are generic. Outfits are no better than clothing subscription boxes; maybe worse.
IMO, AI will replace fashion writers who generate generic advice like this. And just as there's a market for this now, there will be a market for this sort of AI-generated advice. I just don't think it leads to good outfits or improves people's relationships with clothes. Image
People suggesting that this can be improved miss an important point. For this to work, AI has to be able to read your heart (your personality, interests, cultural background, identity, emotions, etc). It has to figure out how you see yourself positioned in culture.
Read 8 tweets

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