derek guy Profile picture
Menswear writer. Editor at @putthison. Creator of @RLGoesHard. Bylines at The New York Times, The Financial Times, Politico, Esquire, and Mr. Porter
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Aug 26 19 tweets 11 min read
I will tell you why I think the split-toe derby is the greatest dress shoe of all time. 🧵 Image Let's first start with some terms. The term oxford refers to a footwear style where the facings have been sewn into the vamp. By contrast, the term derby refers to a style where the facings sit on top of the vamp.

On the left, we see an oxford. On the right, we see a derby. Image
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Aug 18 4 tweets 1 min read
I interviewed a clothing factory once who said he's excited to implement robotics AI. He said this will make US manufacturing more competitive against China. I asked, "And what happens when Chinese factories also implement robotics AI?" He said, "Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Chinese factories also have these machines. All you've done is deskill the worker, making it harder for their wages to grow. Your land and labor costs are still higher than China, India, or any other place where they can pay someone to do this simple manual operation.
Aug 17 17 tweets 10 min read
This is a beautiful garment.

Let me show you what makes it special. 🧵 Image This is a bespoke sport coat made from vintage oatmeal-colored tweed and finished with natural Loro Piana horn buttons. It's from a relatively new South Korean tailoring company called Hameen, run by a woman named Hamin Kim. Image
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Aug 13 25 tweets 19 min read
Have you ever noticed that people dressed better in the past? Even in the summer, when it was scorching hot?

Why is this? 🧵 Image
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I want to first dispel some myths.

Contrary to popular belief, people didn't look better because they were slimmer. We see many corpulent men in the past who dressed better than the average man today. It's not true you can look good in anything if you have an athletic body. Image
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Aug 5 10 tweets 6 min read
I disagree. I will tell you what's wrong with his jeans. 🧵 Let's start with an experiment. Here are two men wearing tailored jackets with jeans.

Which do you think looks better? Image
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Aug 3 5 tweets 4 min read
On April 30th, Josh Smith of Montana Knife Company said you won't have to worry about tariffs if you buy American.

Last week, he realized his costs are going up bc he imports equipment and steel. And so do his suppliers.

IMO many people aren't aware of how much they import.
Genuinely not posting this to gloat, but hoping that people reevaluate how much of their life is connected to an international supply chain. Many small businesses, including artisans, will see their businesses shutter because of these tariffs, regardless of how they voted
Aug 2 23 tweets 14 min read
I've had enough.

In this thread, I will tell you, definitively, whether Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.

This way, you will be more informed when shopping for your wardrobe . 🧵 Image I should state two things at the outset.

First, I never comment on womenswear because I don't know anything about it. This thread isn't actually about Sweeney's jeans (sorry, I lied). But in the last few days, I've seen grown men buying American Eagle jeans and I can't abide. Image
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Jul 31 4 tweets 3 min read
Sometimes I think about the closure of G. Lorenzi, a Milanese gentleman's shop that had been around for almost 100 years until their closure in 2014. The shop was special because it carried so many one-of-a-kind items from artisans — total handmade craft production, not factory. Image
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At the time of their closure, they still carried over 20,000 items of 3,000 models, including speciality knives, picnic sets, and nutcrackers. They had over 100 styles of nail clippers and 300 different hairbrushes alone. Proprietor Aldo Lorenzi scoured the world for artisans. Image
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Jul 30 20 tweets 14 min read
I spent 15 yrs on a menswear forum. The longest argument I had was over a tiny detail that can be seen in this photo. For 6 months, I argued with the same five guys non-stop every day. The argument got so heated the forum owner banned one guy for life.

Here is the detail. 🧵 As I've mentioned before, there's a lot of coded language in menswear. Navy suits can be worn with black oxfords because this was the uniform of London businessmen. Brown tweeds go with brogues because these clothes were worn in the country. In this way, we get formal vs. casual. Image
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Jul 27 13 tweets 6 min read
How are Trump's economic policies impacting you?

Let me give you a hard example. 🧵 Image The year is 2024 and you're browsing for a new shirt online. You come across a store selling shirts from Portuguese Flannel. You do your research and find they make quality garments: clean single-needle stitching, flat felled seams, quality fabrics, MOP buttons, classic designs Image
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Jul 25 18 tweets 10 min read
You should never follow any of these color charts. They are all stupid.

I'll show you why. 🧵 First, let's do an experiment. Here are two relatively similar outfits: a blue shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans.

Which do you like better? Reply to this tweet with your answer. This way, people can see how the majority of people "voted." Image
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Jul 23 7 tweets 4 min read
I both agree and disagree that it's subjective. Like with anything, my views on tailoring stems from a "first principle." That principle is that men wore tailored clothing better in the past (specifically the period from about the 1930s through 80s). 🧵 If we agree on this, then there are certain ideas that naturally flow from this principle, partly because men's dress during this period was governed by time, place, and occasion. As stated before, one such idea was city vs country clothing. Image
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Jul 19 19 tweets 8 min read
Twitter has a character limit, so I assume (intelligent) people will read context and know I'm talking about interior design and fashion, which today are coded as "gay interests" for men. Not painting or architecture, which carry no such stigma.

I will elaborate 🧵 IMO, it's absolutely true that American Protestants were uniquely against certain forms of ornamentation, including fashion. For instance, the Quakers deliberately shunned adornment and extravagance in dress, stressing the importance of simplicity. Image
Jul 17 19 tweets 11 min read
I believe this jacket is from Dobell, a company that produces their tailoring in Turkey. I'll show you some telltale signs of quality and where you can buy a tailored jacket made in Britain. 🧵 I don't think there's anything wrong with buying clothes made abroad (I believe in free trade). However, I think it's strange when people rail against "globalism" and free trade, while benefitting from these things. Talk is cheap; one should put their money where their mouth is. Image
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Jul 15 15 tweets 9 min read
I disagree that this is an aesthetically pleasing photo. Tristan's outfit ruins it and I'll tell you why. 🧵 Image I'll assume Tristan is telling the truth when he says he used Photoshop and not AI. If so, this is a very impressive Photoshop job. By removing the scaffold tarp, you reveal more of the building. By removing the other cars, you also achieve more aesthetic coherence. Image
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Jul 14 16 tweets 9 min read
Some people are incredulous that you can wear certain shoes without socks, such as leather loafers. Much depends on your body and climate. But I'll tell you one reason why you find this difficult to believe: you buy low quality footwear. 🧵 Image It's absolutely possible to wear certain shoes without socks. As mentioned in an earlier thread, men have been doing this for over a hundred years. Going sockless makes sense if the outfit is semi-casual (not business clothes). Image
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Jul 13 24 tweets 12 min read
Tim is right and wrong here. I'll tell you where he's right and where he's wrong. 🧵 Image It's perfectly fine to wear slip-on shoes without socks. Those who suggest otherwise are simply ignorant and unaware about the history of men's dress.

You don't have to take my word for it. We can go back to Apparel Arts. Image
Jul 11 20 tweets 9 min read
I get this sort of comment all the time, often about bespoke suits or mechanical watches. "These things are boring," "This is only for rich people," or "Who cares?"

Let me tell you a story. 🧵 Image Before the age of ready-to-wear, men had clothes made for them, either in the home or, if they could afford one, by a tailor. Ready-made clothing was limited to simple workwear, such as what was worn by sailors or miners.

Tailoring shop, 1780: Image
Jul 11 7 tweets 4 min read
I will tell you why on earth. 🧵 As I've stated many times, suit jackets and sport coats are made from many layers of material, including haircloth, canvas, and padding. These layers give the garment its structure so it doesn't fall on you like a t-shirt or dress shirt. Image
Jul 8 24 tweets 11 min read
I found this reply interesting ("Can those foreign companies open shop in the US?")

I don't think Japanese or South Korean menswear can be made in the US. At least, not without losing something. Let's explore why. 🧵 Image I should state at the outset that no thread will do Japanese or South Korean fashion justice because these countries are fashion powerhouses. Japan alone covers everything from Yohji Yamamoto to And Wander to WTAPS.

It's Impossible to generalize, but we can discuss aspects. Image
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Jul 4 19 tweets 9 min read
This ended up raising $5,000 for @feederofcats, so here's a thread on whether President Zelenskyy wore a suit. 🧵 Ahead of the NATO summit last month, President Zelenskyy arrived at the Paleis Huis ten Bosch wearing this outfit: a black jacket with matching black pants and a black shirt. Many debated whether this qualifies as a suit, as there's a $50M bet on it at Polymarket. Image