This is a recap-ish of the latest podcast episode. You can listen to the episode below before or after you read. That’s because I tend to expand on topics from the pod as well as straight-up write about things that we did not discuss. The choice is yours in how you want to proceed!

• Bib Front Shirt – 13:22
• Spencer’s Athletic Stuff – 30:53
• Aperture of Acceptability – 41:41

Hello! The latest blog and podcast are quite interesting.

We briefly talk about how Fruit of the Loom (Japan) came out with a suit. It’s made of a jersey knit and done up as a wide-tapered trouser with an elastic waistband, with a matching 4×1 DB jacket. It’s obviously a fashion piece, as it takes liberties with the classic DB aesthetic, by which I mean that its decorative nipple buttons are oddly placed high and wide when compared to the fastening ones, and the fact that it forgoes the breast pocket. 

If you’re feeling a twinge of deja vu, it’s because you’ve definitely seen this before. Stoffa came out with a lounge suit (available in all fabrics, not just cotton) that also had a similar closure…and no breast pocket. Noah did the same thing. And a few years ago, Anglo-Italian came out with a DB “tennis blazer” which also had a low buttoning point, though thanks to maintaining the breast pocket, it feels a bit more “classic menswear” than the others. In any case, it’s clear that brands (and consumers) love a slouchy DB; it will always feel like more of an intentional “fashion choice” compared to the SB, which is more normal. 

I don’t hate any of it, because if I’m being honest, I’d wear these types of things if I weren’t so classic menswear pilled. Of course, I prefer just to wear the DB I already own in a casual way, doing similar styling to what these brands are doing with their iterations. Personally, I don’t see the need to own more than one DB style, but it’s likely that most guys, or at least their target demographic, don’t need a traditional DB to begin with. The designer-y versions probably accomplish every need, and if that isn’t a good example of Forced Versatility, then I don’t know what is. 

A big part of the pod was spent on my new bib shirt, and I love its bold, embellished front. Even though I’ve never owned one before (most of the ones out there are polyester), it really does feel “Very Ethan”. You can read more about the damn thing in its own blog post; I was going to include it here, but in true Ethan fashion (lol), I wrote too much.

Spencer has also been feeling something “new”, thanks to his fascination with vintage sports wear. Sports with a capital “S”. Mind you, we’ve always thought that vintage hoodies and sweatshirts have always been cool, thanks to their sartorially-adjacent proportions, wide ribbing, and fun details like contrast panels and hand warmer pockets. But Spencer’s also talking about more than that. He’s talkin’ sweat pants, shorts, and coach jackets, all mainly from the 70s-80s. And when you look at the stuff he’s come across and saved in his inspo album, it’s not hard to see the appeal. 

Everything he shared with us was indeed quite cool. There’s just a certain charm to it, something that you just don’t get from other aspects of casual classic menswear. Athletic wear (a general term) is much less serious than hearty workwear or utilitarian milspec, almost functioning in the same way that “prep” does for “ivy-trad”; you might even say that, depending on how it’s worn, these items could indeed be preppy– especially the “port/starboard” nylon sailing jacket. And with the case of the Dodgers zip, it’s also a good way to wear some merch without simply wearing a cap or tee. 

It’s always interesting to see what tickles Spencer’s fancy, simply because he isn’t one to buy new things that often, nor does he deviate from his established love of workwear and milsurp. That being said, athletic wear is no doubt a big part of the cornucopia that is Americana, and it would be very cool to see Spencer change it up slightly. Hell, I might even be tempted too. 

José and The Aperture of Acceptability

Lastly, I have the big topic that we discussed on the pod. 

You guys know that I love a good ‘ol-fashioned philosophical and reflective discussion with my friends; many of them have directly inspired a majority of the topics on this blog. And wouldn’t you know it, I had an interesting one with my friend José, who may have just coined a cool phrase that I will likely use moving forward! I guess one of the best things about having menswear friends, at least the ones I gravitate towards (and vice versa), is that I’m never alone in overanalyzing my relationship to clothes, expression, and how it all plays into how we interact with the world.

Now, I became acquainted with José after he responded to my IG story on my bison leather Paraboots. As those of you in the Patreon Discord can recall, I’ve found these Tyrolean things were just too big for my feet, being half a size to a full size too large. No amount of insoles has helped. Unfortunately, none of my IRL pals wanted to buy them (they’re either too small or too “out there”); I’ve also never had much success selling clothes online. I was exasperated and didn’t want to simply give them away, so I decided to throw them up on IG. José responded, and we ended up doing a little sale at one of my local coffee shops. And now, I hang out with him quite often…at least as often as his true bi-coastal life allows him to be. Anyway, on to the topic. 

During one of our recent coffee hangs, we were talking about work attire– specifically about what he dons to his office. José is indeed a Menswear Guy™ through and through, who regularly wears Alden loafers, Drake’s ties, Ring Jacket tailoring, and full cuts across dress trousers as well as Japanese denim; he has a penchant for vintage sport shirts and short jackets, a man truly after my own heart. Now these are all relatively safe items/outfits– especially compared to his menswear compatriots in NYC (the Alfargos crowd) or to me, a man who wears fedoras, big pants, and riding boots on a near-daily basis. But for someone who has a very corporate job (Again, one that requires him to be on both coasts. I’ve never had a job like that.) that is also new to him, I could see why one would be apprehensive about going “Full Menswear”, at least early on. 

But as we spoke further, it was clear that he wasn’t going to let corporate best practices get the best of him and his style. No, he was certain that he could go “all in” over time, by widening what he called The Aperture of Acceptability. 

“Others’ tolerance of your style is dynamic, not fixed: there’s an ‘Aperture of Acceptability’ in how you dress that often widens over time,’ José said to me, all while a local musician played country-folk inspired tunes a few feet away. He explained that his corporate culture is quite casual but also conservative, in the sense that casual really just means decidedly dressed down and simple pieces. Loafers, even with jeans, might still be too much and might invite comment. Nothing bad, but perhaps not something you want early on at a new job. 

Granted, being aware of this boundary is not a new concept. I’m sure all of us are all quite familiar with it across all manner of our social relationships: friendships, romantic, and corporate. Through conversations with friends, redditors, Tiktokers, I’ve found that most men are primarily concerned with the latter two, for obvious reasons, and often stay within the min-max parameters where they can be “stylish” without being too “out there”, all so that they aren’t dismissed after communicating/expressing something “bold”— too early, at least. After all, “building credibility precedes expression,” José continued.  “[C]onservative style choices often allow others to become acquainted with you before…your style. As you demonstrate proficiency, you generate trust, and others become more open to hearing your opinions on both work and non-work-related subjects.” Again, most guys will gravitate to staying somewhere safe, but that’s not José. 

José emphasized how the Aperture can be widened. He maintained that there are things that the wearer can do to help ease people into it, both in small and broad strokes. A wearer should be active in this, for the sake of being able to remain true to their style…and not waste the money they’ve spent on fun clothes. And as someone who is all about “pushing” people’s comfort levels with my attire in a [hopefully] wholesome, ultimately tame or even banal way (when compared to much more creative dressers), I was intrigued. 

As most would do, José started with simple moves. Jeans and a sport coat, high-rise chinos with sneakers, button-ups, under a casual, non-sportcoat jacket. If people asked, he would explain with some depreciation or something a bit more “pragmatic” than just fashion: “I’m short, so I like higher rises to even myself out”, and so on. These are all tried-and-true techniques that certainly would help widen the Aperture, if not a bit slowly. But that wasn’t the only thing he did. No, this required something a bit more social. 

José told me that because of his job, he was spending quite a bit of time with the creatives, all of whom naturally dress a bit more “experimental” compared to his other colleagues. Noticing this, Jose decided to go into his regular style (which is certainly more extreme by normal corporate standards) a bit earlier than intended. Interestingly, this move allowed him to bond with the non-as-corporate colleagues and provided the benefit of making his work presence a bit more dynamic. By building on his relationship with the creatives, both personally and professionally (his job is to manage cross-functional teams), his stylistic choices for work attire suddenly made more sense. It wasn’t too formal or being too much of a “fashionista”. It was just José.  

At a certain point, José realized that it was better to indeed go All In instead of simply going piecemeal.  “Double denim with a vintage western shirt and 11” cinch-back selvedge jeans” and “Gurkhas with cordovan loafers” made sense for the “guy” that José was on the job: someone who likes to connect with his coworkers and who provides and takes creative insight. The Aperture of Acceptability had been widened, largely due to his social efforts rather than his styling (though the latter does play a part, obviously). 

As you can expect, I was quite fascinated by the intentional, social-focused aspect of Widening the Aperture. After all, I’m a firm believer in being intentional in providing “context” behind our stylistic choices. Authenticity is always present and certainly personal, but at times it can be a good move to take the extra step and share our lives and interests, lest we be judged only by our clothes. 

And like José, I’ve certainly pushed the Aperture in my own way. I no longer predicate on simply dressing “safe” in a first meeting, only to slowly and incrementally become more “creative” and bold. I don’t have time for that, especially as someone who works from home; going piecemeal would take forever. At this point, I just put it all out there right away, by dressing that way right from the get-go. But it’s never just about clothes; it’s about sharing my life. And I’m quite an open person. You guys know that I can’t help but write (read: overshare via) this damn blog. 

Coworkers, as well as new personal acquaintances, may [fairly] assume I’m a corpo-trad due to my attire, but once they learn my hobbies of vintage hunting, going to art fairs, watching/reviewing movies (follow me on Letterboxd if you want!), and attending concerts, they start to see my attire in more of a creative (rather than overtly formal) light. The attire makes more sense. The Aperture is widened, if not already wide from the get-go. It certainly helps that through repeated exposures or casual hangouts, they can see my laptop open to my latest Logic file, my collection of books in my tote bag (graphic novels and essays), and the handful of cameras strapped to my person. And in those hangs, I also can’t help but talk about my favorite movies, the stuff I’m reading, or some personal project I’ve undertaken. You might read these moves performative, especially since I like documenting what I’m up to on my social media, but those who know me well will know it’s no act– I really am just that unsufferable (hopefully in a comical manner). It makes sense that my clothes would match! 

To be clear, this “oversharing” is not necessary in the slightest. I firmly believe that people can dress however they want, whenever they want, context be damned!  As I’ve said before, we are all pretentious (read: pretending) because there is no “right” way to dress, no specific uniform that is inherent to a lifestyle. But as I said earlier, I do enjoy invoking context to provide something tangible and discernible behind my attire.  I’ve always been okay with Standing Out thanks to confident and delightfully quirky pals I hung out with, but it wasn’t enough just to be dandy. I want to make the choices feel real and personal, and so I leaned into sharing in order to intentionally widen the Aperture of Acceptibility in my own circles. This activity is in service of my mission to show that my clothing choices are rooted in my interests and as a way of expressing personal taste in aesthetics– and that others can do it too! 

I find that this activity has always been important to me, simply due to the homogenizing sentiments I felt growing up as an Asian-American. Many of my school and churchmates (especially the Filipino ones) dressed similarly– think early hypebeast styles. While it was never a prescription, it can often be seen as a bad choice to dress in a way that goes against the cultural grain, especially when all they see is the clothing and not the wider, personal context that comes with it. 

That’s when I reflected upon my early years, where I made my love of vintage real by going to events where dressing up was inherently a component of attending: enthusiast parties, re-enactment-ish things, and of course, Dapper Day. Naturally, other menswear things followed suit (lol), like store openings, trunk show parties, and product releases, many of which are indeed open to the public. In that way, these activities were not unlike more common hobbies like rock climbing or painting, where “specific” attire is also invoked. And in the same way of wearing a paint-splattered jacket or nylon cargos out in public, my wearing of suits and ties was a way to keep my interests with me as I went and did other things.  By being known for attending such events, by telling my friends about them, and even inviting them to join in (as well as simply having photos), my context was made more dynamic. Doing this did wonders for widening the Aperture of Acceptability within my personal relationships— as well as for myself.

Being around expressively dressed people in as real a context as I could did wonders for my own approach to menswear. Not only did it bolster my own choices, making me more confident and connected with my expression, but it also gave me the opportunity to expand and experiment with my own taste. With my outfits no longer relegated to being in a vacuum (either as a stand-alone fit pic or simply me with non-menswear pals), being around similarly dressed people helped me understand the nuances of expression. I’d notice that some guys might be more Ivy, more western, or even more vintage, all to varying degrees; others may have a vaguer sense of menswear. I could see what elements they played up and which were tools for subversion; all things for me to invoke in my own attire. In other words, my interactions with others helped widen the Aperture for myself.  

José had a similar experience. Through a college classmate who was perpetually in blazers and repp ties, José was introduced to certified ivy-trad styling and classics like the Andover Shop and J. Press. A different pal brought Jose to the Armoury and early editions of Alfargo’s. Each person was certainly a bit more extreme in dress than what Jose was donning at the time, but it worked to give him “permission” to experiment with his own style and develop his own taste.  

José emphasized that it’s permission in a positive sense, more akin to an Opportunity (or dare I say, an Occasion) to do greater and broader moves than he could have done alone. Of course, the more he hung out with those dudes, made more menswear friends, and mingled his life with the menswear world overall (as an enthusiast, mind you), the more the choices “made sense”. Now he dresses however he wants (like all of us, there are small edits for External Occasions), but he does take care to be bold, even when he’s among non-menswear friends and colleagues.  

When I asked why, José simply said it was because he knows there are others who are probably in the same boat he was in a few years ago. These guys might be open to elements of classic and vintage menswear, but they may not know it until it becomes real– when they can see the possibilities in front of them. It’s also just better when they see it on someone they are familiar with, as opposed to simply being bombarded with pics of influencers and Golden Era movie stars. “[It’s] somewhat my way of returning the favor [to the ] previous extreme dressers in my life,” he said.  I couldn’t agree more. 

We may live in the best time for fashion, but with all the options out there and the muddying of dress codes and formality, I can see how it can be hard for guys to know what is “right” to wear. The fact that there is no wrong answer is daunting. Without encouragement or a safe space for them to push their boundaries in aesthetics and social-appropriateness, guys can get stuck. It doesn’t help that we’ve seen an influx in conservative dress-leaning content, all predicated on style advice or outfit inspo for “normal guys”. While those content creators may not state it outright, the wording can imply that anything more than what they do and that the outfits they select to analyze and reduce, is “not normal”. It makes sense that guys would be discouraged from anything more for fear of being too bold and not being considered “normal”, even if their interests lie within being expressive.

For all the content on how to tone down your style and be safe, there just isn’t much written about what it’s like to dress a little out there and Stand Out, without working in fashion or being a celebrity. Content creators also don’t talk about how people can get used to how you dress, and may even learn to enjoy it, even if the initial experience can be awkward. That’s why I enjoyed Jose’s affirmation of just how dynamic the “Aperture of Acceptability” is (yes, it’s an absurd term, but I like it). People need to know that it can be widened (considerably, I might add) simply by being active and intentional, both in their clothing and their social activities. Of course, it’s not just on newbies to push the limits on their own. We, as bold dressers, relative to such newbies or those who are currently dressed “safe”, should do our part to widen the Aperture for everyone else!

I’ve said it a few times before, but a handful of my friends have certainly used our hangouts to experiment and widen their own internal Aperture of Acceptibility. They know that whatever I happen to wear will be something even dressier, so their experiments will be less “bold” in comparison, allowing them to dress with ease and confidence. Whether my friends want to dabble in formality by wearing a sportcoat and tie, subversion through doing white socks, or even just new color/pattern combination that they’ve never done before (plaid shirt and striped tie?), they’ll be okay because my outfits tend to act as a lightning rod for their own apprehensions— as well as for the randos we may encounter.  

I’m sure that by wearing fun outfits regularly, I’ve played a small part in widening the Aperture for our favorite places like the local cafe or bar, which only makes it easier for my friends to join in and get dressed up for themselves. I’m certain that the bartenders and fellow compatriots at our trivia pub may have initially felt a bit odd when I (and later, my friends) showed up to play in bold outfits, but at this point, I think it’s safe to say that they’re okay with it now!

It goes without saying that I owe my own confidence to the bold people I’ve encountered throughout my life who are unabashedly bold: vintage enthusiasts who don’t mind being anachronistic, cosplayers who wear their love of fandoms on their sleeve both in and out of the convention, and everyone who dresses to express (and celebrate) their identity, even if it pushes the boundaries of outdated and unfounded convention.  Each one of them, whether they’re personalities or even friends/acquaintances, has shown me the importance of being active in Widening the Aperture, because dressing boldly is not just an exercise in confidence and self-expression, but doing so also serves as a way to encourage others to do the same in their own way. 

Of course, this is a silly note to end on because, for all this big talk, the outfits that José and I wear are quite tame and ultimately banal when compared to truly boldly dressed people. That being said, I do realize I’ve taken quite a turn towards the dandy and LARP-y in recent years. It’s not uncommon to see me out and about in riding boots or a cape. But in any case, if another pal or a rando (be it a coffee shop or a scroller on TikTok) gets encouraged not just to wear high-rise, pleated trousers with a tie and checked jacket for themselves but to also wear it outside the context of a wedding or an office job, then I’ll be happy. 

Let’s all work to widen that Aperture, both for our own contexts and for others! 

[Big ups to José for being a pal and inspiring this blog post!]

– end of blog post – 

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The Podcast is produced by MJ.

Always a pleasure,

Ethan 

Big thank you to our top-tier Patrons (the SaDCast Fanatics), Philip, Shane, Henrik, and Mason.