get smart, i've seen those modernaction shirts on the evilbay. how are they quality-wise?

Last edited by heikki k (2007-12-13 05:37:52)

Last edited by David (2007-12-14 05:18:02)

David, that's about what I wanted to say...

...didn't want to come over as a smartass (thogh I am one). I'm still learning and developing myself and hope to do so for the next few decades...

(...and I don't like emoticons, which somtimes makes virtual life harder...)

I haven`t posted on this thread for awhile but i enjoy keeping abreast of it.

It sounds to me like there`s alot of exploration going on right now, and i think that that`s really exciting in itself.I think there seems to be a general desire to somehow take all these styles , and looks `up`  a level. I would certainly never ever see myself or describe myself as a mod or a skinhead.However, i do  definately think there is common ground here between myself and alot of other forumites posting on this thread.I can and do wear clothing associated with mod, skin and quite alot of other things, and styles besides.. .But more than anything i love the fact i`m an individual  first and i dress for myself...I`ll try to wear what will suit me on any given day. Whatever style that might be deemed or said to fit into.

My passion is classic, stylish clothes.

For me personally the clothing of the Ivy League wardrobe of the late fifties and early sixties represented the acme of classic clothing style.Relaxed, smart, casual, cool...I love the cool, slouchy, natural shoulder style.

It`s also just a part of my character to want to experiment with looks and to experiment quite creatively, but right now i love all those clothes from the late fifties and early sixties.Clothing items with classic, timeless style.I`d describe my clothes choices as coming from the wider Ivy League style wardrobe where i know there is and can indeed be room for some of those classic mod, skin , suedehead staples.

Personally i like to wear Fred Perry polo shirts  in the summer. It`s perhaps THE most obvious mod, skin, or suedehead associated item of clothing that i wear nowadays.I like that to me it still feels the most edgy of the old polo shirt labels.Still has just a little bit of an earthy underground feel.Has a bit of `previous` (!), and a bit of history.If i was buying , RL would be a big no-no with me (far too much of a `middle of the road` choice), and Lacoste`s (The ORIGINAL tennis polo shirt perhaps) don`t do it for me.They don`t seem to have that `edginess` that i personally and currently link with those FP`s.  (Who`s to say i wont change my mind about that preference, further down the road though...?).

Fred Perry is a classic label.JFK wore a Fred Perry with specially monogrammed JFK initials. JFK also wore a crombie overcoat!

I like the vintage style Made in England ones in old Ivy League or sixties colours like maroon, French blue, mint green, or ivy green etc.I like wearing them layered with a white cotton t-shirt  underneath (for a nice not trying too hard ,relaxed American style, and for a nice contrast, and sometimes just for added warmth! -I also really think white t`s -long and short-look great under classic plaid BD shirts), and old deadstock USA made 501`s ,or stone colour chinos, and bass weejuns sans socks. (I know Levi`s 501`s were the original chinos and that they`ve changed and varied the basic cut of their classic 5 pocket jean over many years, but i genuinely do think old classic slim USA made 501`s are my favourites).Those or some of the other LVC 501`s...

I actually love that they were and still are so classically basic in design and that it seems they were originally designed as utilitarian, and functional clothing with no greater pretensions to being `trendy`.

I think what`s exciting is that there are so many style options available with the wider Ivy League style wardrobe, and indeed with some of those clothing items originally worn by mods, skins, suedeheads, and casuals.Classic style will always be classic style, whatever name you care to put on it after all...

I know that my own personal clothing style is forever evolving, adapting and moving on even if it`s only at a very , very subtle level.It`s that forever `moving-on` that is exciting to me...I like digging deep, looking at lots of `new` vintage pics and archives and trying to keep learning as much as i can about  the original looks, and styles. That way i can be a magpie, and steal and borrow those bits i think might suit me, or i might find congenial.
I take it all in, as if by osmosis.The attitudes, the clothes..Soak it all up, and sometimes temporarily just forget about it, and sometimes keep going over and over it all in my head, biding my time and waiting, till somehow i filter all that vast wealth of information, and i just let my inner intuition and voice speak to me, and point me in a particular direction.I find that if my mind keeps returning to a particualr item if clothing then it`s usually a fairly safe bet it`s gonna be a good choice for me.

I`m really not a prolific spender.I enjoy all that thinking through though.I`m a useless and hopeless spontaneous shopper.I`m not personally blessed like that, and so i have to really work and THINK  about those  personal choices and think through those personal `looks` .
I do look to the old labels wherever possible.That`s just me. That in itself is perhaps limiting, but there are just so many old classic names and labels to choose from.I like to try and find out obscure names, or little known items of clothing that were worn back in the day, if i can.I like the challenge of taking the old and making it new and `fresh`. Stuff like Viyella BD plaid shirts in classic Ivy style plaids like the Blackwatch , or Royal Stewart.Shirts in fact that might once have struck me as being stuffy or for `old farts` or elderly American tourists.(I like the fact that it`s a compelling creative challenge, to make the shirts and the overall `look` appear young, fresh, exciting, and valid or interesting again).I like em worn underneath  a typical Ivy colour crewneck shetland sweater (`natural` colour , or a muted blue or green perhaps) from the Andover shop.

I`ve come to invariably love clothing styled in very classic, and pared down and basic forms .Elegant alot of the time, and with minimum fuss, or detailing most of the time...
I really do think it`s exciting when you can boldly branch out on your own, and you can listen to and follow your own personal instincts about what might suit you , rather than limiting your options to some boring, and dead dull prescriptive uniform, or items from some  very narrow, parochial, restricting or commonly accepted definition of a style.Then you can find your own unique style or look and that can be the most satisfying and gratifying thing.

I like to try to keep open-minded about suggested clothing choices wherever possible because those choices might not interest me or seem relevant to me right now, but who`s to say they wont interest me a little further down the line...?

Anyway, that`s enough from me!

The also a post on Ask Andy forum about Skins at http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54755

Lewis