Getting Slutty In Menswear At My 28th Birthday Party

I love parties. No, not because they’re intimate (sorry Jordan), but because a party is truly an excuse to get wild with personal expression, provided that your host is okay with it. With me at the helm, a party becomes the perfect environment for everything that I talk about on the blog, bringing together Cinematic Dressing, Standing Out, a positive community, and an Occasion. Granted, most of the hang outs we do around the SGV (our little region of the Greater Los Angeles County) are also perfect situations to do that same thing (more public as a matter of fact), but a party lets us be ourselves with only ourselves.

We need a bubble every once in a while and I’m happy to take the initiative to make one. That’s basically what my birthday party is.

Last year was my first attempt at throwing a themed party, which was when I asked everyone to “dress like me” (if they wanted to). As you readers will no doubt expect, there was quite a variance of expression: some people wore suits and ties, some did a merch tee shirt and fatigues, and there were quite a few berets.

Yes, I know it must sound quite odd for someone like me to present a dress code, but hey, it’s my birthday! Plus I know that other people want (and enjoy) an excuse to get wild with a bit of parameters. After all, limitations can be inspiring! And clearly people had fun with it because nearly everyone was dressed in some aspect of “Ethancore”. How was I ever going to top that for this year?

Slutty Menswear

I am not sure exactly how it came up, but for my 28th birthday I decided on the theme of “Slutty Menswear”. I know I’m still a few years away from my Dirty Thirties, but why wait until then to show off a little skin?

In all seriousness, this has been a bit of a discussion point across the menswear space as guys want dress well and look like they fuck. This is where Edgy Albert and his compatriots come in, who have definitely brought a slutty, fuck boy vibe vibe to classic menswear, or at least the side of menswear that focuses on ribbed tanks, open rayon shirts, big pants, jewelry, and suits that make you look like Robert Redford or Richard Gere.

While I haven’t written specifically on this phenomenon, I have hinted at sex appeal with my articles on wearing black, the 70s, and the Going Out Look. One of the main differences between my approach and others is that while skin can certainly help, I’m definitely a fan of wearing more clothes to give off that look. This means ties, scarves, and certainly jackets or full suits. This could be because I find slouch (or rather, attitude) sexy. And as someone who doesn’t have a stereotypically sexy body, attitude is all I got! And the more cloth I have, the more expressiveness I can leverage, and therefore the more slutty I can get.

In the end, I realize that a slut isn’t someone who shows off skin. A slut is just someone who fucks. And so this party was about evoking that vibe.

I made the evite site (Partiful is a great tool, I think everyone should use it) and with the help of the Patreon Discord, I put together an inspiration album of what I was thinking. As you could probably tell by scrolling above, it has a little bit of everything, from guys showing off some skin to men in full suits and ties. It’s all slutty to me because I know I could act in a slutty if I wore it myself– because I fuck (you have to believe me, please).

And despite a few people being a little confused, I think that most people were able to get into the spirit of the theme! After all, it was about doing menswear and finding a way to feel slutty for yourself; it’s not a specific thing, even if I do have my own preferences on what I feel the most slutty in.

I loved seeing all the variations of sluttyness at the party!! Marco killed it as per usual, opting to wear a slim moleskin-esque jumpsuit with a beret and crossbody vest, which to me evoked a little bit of shibari. MJ wore a vintage 80s Nike mesh quarter zip (thanks to me) and paired it with big pants and loafers. Quite a few guys did variations of ribbed tanks and open shirts (mostly knit polos or aloha shirts; this was actually quite an easy uniform for fashion and non-fashion friends alike. Some fun moves from this side was my pal Joseph taking the chance to rock a chain as well as my gamer friend Taylor’s move of cutting a pair of old dress pants into shorts wearing them with an aloha shirt.

However, if I was giving out awards, I think the girls and theys really killed it. In fact, they might be the only ones who actually wore tailoring. There were a lot of corsets, bralettes, and tanks worn with sportcoats, big pants, and loafers/heels. It was clear that they really understood the assignment. Eden even made a shibari rig out of ties. I think they might have been the true winner.

I obviously did my part for the theme.

This should actually be considered pretty slutty compared to any other outfit I’ve worn simply due to the sheer amount of skin that is visible. Even though the ribbed tank and big pants is a lewk, it is not something I typically wear (simply because I like wearing severely unbuttoned shirts or ties more). However, my birthday party is a time where I can be a bit more extra than usual…and still keep it Ethan.

It’s a pretty simple outfit, consisting of a plain black ribbed tank tucked into the biggest pants I own: MTO linen gauchos I ordered at the SFC trunk show. Black heeled boots make the outfit a bit sharper (loafers would be too lounge-y). Overall, it feels like a vintage 60s-90s dancer look (like ballet or even tap dance), with just a bit more exaggeration with the width of the pants. It’s also a direct shout out to Sam Rockwell’s costume when he played the villainous Eric Knox in Charlie’s Angels.

I’ve always wanted to look like that and I’m glad I had the party as an excuse. I probably wouldn’t do this look again, unless I was wearing something on top of the tank and took it off during the day (instead of having the tank be the only top from the get go).

I also want to reinforce my outfit’s sluttyness with two more points. Firstly, you get to see my arms and shoulders which are my main physical features I’m proud of. And second, I was hit on when I was wearing these pants. Even if the clothes themselves aren’t slutty, you definitely get the vibe that I fuck (I hope).

Overall, this party was one of the best times I’ve ever had. It’s a cliche thing to say, but thats only because life keeps moving and getting better, a sentiment I’m very thankful to have. This party had the biggest turnout ever simply because I’ve made so many new friends in the past year, all of which are on the same wavelength in both finding expression in something (most of the time it’s clothes) and in having fun with hanging out. There are about 45 people in that last group photo!

I know people keep making the joke that I need to move to New York, but I honestly don’t see the appeal. I’ve got everyone I need right here. And it’s growing!