April was set to be quite a big month. I already told myself I’m going to both the PCC and Rose Bowl flea markets. I’m going to see La Traviata. James is hosting an 80s Prom themed joint-birthday with his college friends. The Ren Faire is coming up. But before I do all of that, the month was set to start with one of my favorite bi-annual outings: The Dapper Day Expo (spring edition).
For those of you who don’t know (there can’t be that many of you at this point), Dapper Day is a a fun little organization that invites its attendees to “Step Out in Style” to events at museums, the opera, and as as per its founding, Disneyland…or at least today’s case, the Dapper Day Expo which is a collection of vendors and live music that is held in one of the hotels. While Dapper Day doesn’t explicitly necessitate a period accurate/inspired look (the founder certainly prefers chic, designer made suiting), event goers tend to dress in that theme anyway. Perhaps people inherently know that it’s just more fun to give yourself a specific period-POV to give you a good prompt for your clothing choices!
You might ask yourself why we go to Dapper Day when we certainly have the agency to dress up on our own without the need for an External Occasion. Well, that’s true, but there’s just something special about Dapper Day and its wholesome nature. It’s not really a Fashion event (though I’m sure a fair amount of influencers attend), but rather an event that serves to encourage regular people to dress up bolder than usual and have some fun with their clothes.
I definitely like that sentiment, especially since Dapper Day was one of the most formative parts of my menswear journey. As such, I make it a point to go to its events as often as I can. Plus, it does give me an excuse to get a little more fun. While I can always wear a crazy fit any time I want (and I certainly have), I like to think that I reserve that energy for my beloved Dapper Day.
If this sounds a little melancholic, it’s because I just learned that Dapper Day is planning to scale back and reduce its Expos to only being once a year. In other words, the Spring Outing will be the only Expo. Justin, the founder, explained that he hopes this will make the singular Expo even bigger next year as well as open up bandwidth for his group to try something new in Fall. While I am a bit disappointed, I am intrigued at what Dapper Day will cook up next. And don’t worry– I’m always pushing for them to try and get more events at museums though since the pandemic, most places have severely cut their event budget. We can only hope!
In any case, we will always enjoy leaning into the Dapper Day spirit whenever we get a chance, and this one was no exception.
Despite it being a rather cool spring day (a high of 65 with a bit of wind), I decided to use this opportunity as my first linen wear of 2024. That meant that my white DB suit, made by Atelier Fugue of course, had to make an appearance. It’s such an inherently dandy suit that is best leaned into (otherwise you’re just a coward). But instead of wearing a funky swing tie, I decided to go a little “earlier” (aka the late 1920s/early 1930s) and go with tonal multi-stripes in my shirt and tie.
This effect was emphasized by the use of the straw boater I got during my trip to Italy. It almost comes full circle, as I also wore a boater and went for a general 20s look when I went to my first Dapper Day! Just wait until you see me wear it as the weather gets even warmer.
I think everyone else certainly brought their A-game.
Jack took the opportunity to show off a tan flecked 3PCs suit from the 1970s, a great one that is perfect for spring. Instead of going disco, he decided to give it a trad spin with it in with a blue OCBD and a green polka dot tie. However his shoe choice keeps the vibes slick, as he went with black cowboy boots. I’m going to be diving deep on shoe choice in an upcoming blog post/pod!
Michael played up fun 1930s vibes by wearing almost all true vintage clothing from the era. He has a brown, multi-stripe jacket that has the most perfect lapels and silhouette. A funky green multi stripe spearpoint envelops a blue abstract-foulard tie without the use of a collar bar; Michael instead opted for a vintage panda tie bar. Light blue flat front trousers (most likely from the 60s) finish off the look.
Hector showed up as my twin, wearing a more weather appropriate version of my own fit: a cream 4×1 DB in a light flannel. He goes even more tonal by wearing a white shirt, yellow tie, and spectator penny loafers. The use of the news boy cap definitely calls to mind 1970s version of The Great Gatsby (which I haven’t seen yet), which is emphasized by his aviator sunglasses. I can always count on Hector for going hard for Dapper Day.
Nguyen was also practical (and not aspirational) with his dress, wearing a rather perfect fall trad ensemble. He now has his own Balloon brown checked jacket, which he paired with a plaid madras shirt and a bird motif tie. Current Drake’s only wishes they looked this good.
On the flip side, MJ was surprisingly quite restrained; I guess he prefers bold colors in his everyday wear. He dons my old brown belt back suit that was MTM by Natty Adams. Like Jack, MJ went with a button down (a pale yellow) with an excellent brown foulard tie from the 1930s. However, he makes things a bit more contemporary with his other pieces: he rocks a slouchy black beret, cat eye sunglasses (these used to be mine too lol), and his new SFC tassel loafers, which are designed to be a mix of loafer designs from the 50s and 80s. MJ looked fantastic, almost reminding me of some of my own fits (or will he inspire a future one?).
Spencer’s outfit was also surprising in that he didn’t even bother to wear a tie or trousers this time, making this the most dressed down he’s ever been to Dapper Day. He was most likely dressed for the post-Dapper Day hang out, which as you’ll see later, was perfectly fine (though I do love tie-wearing Spencer).
In typical Spencer fashion, he has a vaguely 70s, disheveled look with a yellow cord jacket (with western details), a severely unbuttoned rayon western shirt (a thrifted Wythe if you can believe it), his trademarked distressed jeans, and cowboy boots. Unlike Jack who used shoes in a slightly subversive way, Spencer is firmly in his chosen vibe. And damn if he doesn’t look cool as hell!
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So even though this may be the last Dapper Day Expo post until next year, we still had a lot of fun!
We went through the expo and got to catch up with old friends, like Benny Reese of Reese’s Vintage Pieces, who has certainly kept his title as the king of period tailoring. Michael has purchased a few things from him at each Expo (and inspiration) and this time, took home an immaculate late 1940s brown suit; the rest of us simply bought some ties. However, there was still a lot of great vintage to be found, more so than I remember in recent years! You can see more photos below but one thing I didn’t document was a black DB sweater vest from the 80s, which you will definitely see in future fits (weather providing). We also stopped by Finicky Fox Clothing who has definitely been getting up there as a reprobrand; Jack was intrigued by the western pants that Spencer bought during the Fall 2023 Expo and copped some for himself.
Once we got our clothes and took our fit pics, we walked through Downtown Disney and grabbed a $20 worth of snacks in order to make the validation amount for parking (if we didn’t, it would’ve cost us $62). I also ended up buying the midi-scale SSD at the Lego Store (which I’ve always wanted). By this time, we were all pretty hungry (we got to Dapper Day at 1:30PM which meant most of us skipped lunch), so the gang moved over to Old Towne Orange where we caught up with our pals at Joyride before eating some BBQ.
It was indeed a great Saturday (with no stains incurred)! I can’t wait for the rest of my April plans. But for now, enjoy some photos ranging from my “serious” DSLR shots to some truly silly phone pics.
God, I love taking photos of my friends.
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Always a pleasure,
Ethan M. Wong (follow me on IG)
a little bit of rest 
Amazing outfits Gentlemen😀🙏👔👔
You look dapper in that white suit and hat Ethan💯
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