Things You Wear On Your Body: The Clothing Advice Thread!

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

Note: if you actually intend to wear boots for long periods of time, break them in first (by wearing them for long periods of time in situations where you won't get blisters)

Oh boy, that reminds me of the first time I wore boots.

Soooo much pain.

They kept jabbing against my ankles.

I suspect this has nothing to do with what you're talking about, though.

[unbeliever536]

I am actually in the process of breaking in some new hiking boots. They may have injured my toe? I don't think it was them though.

e:

Actual question: So I have this watch. I love wearing it, but it seems to be causing a rash. What can I do?

[Wacom Guy]

HINT:

If you're a girl, don't wear a really big V-neck.
If you're a boy, don't wear a really big V-neck.

[PetPeeve]

Actual question: So I have this watch. I love wearing it, but it seems to be causing a rash. What can I do?

A) get a new band that doesn't irritate your skin.
B) adjust the band so it's not so tight.
C) baby powder. Seriously, that's what baby powder is for (to stop rashes from chafing). Sprinkle some on the band before putting your watch on. Note: may also help with new boots too (if you put some in the boots I mean, not your watch again).

In terms of breaking in boots - I've always used the old-fashioned method (wear everywhere until they stop hurting and are as comfortable as an old shoe), but I am told that tumbling them in a clothes dryer on the lowest heat setting can help if they're really stiff. NOTE: Not responsible for damage to boots, damage to dryer, or noise complaints. For leather boots, try some boot oil (linseed oil, the same thing you use on a new catcher's mitt) too, but start with a small spot, because it may change the color of the leather a bit.

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

HINT:

If you're a girl, don't wear a really big V-neck.
If you're a boy, don't wear a really big V-neck.

V-necks are pretty cool most of the time. They look good with other things and stuff.

I wouldn't wear one that shows too much cleavage though.

That's what you call it on a guy right

cleavage

[Elementoid]

I think wearing a V-neck is fine if you can pull it off fashionably. And in my experience, guys don't tend to wear them as often as girls, which is something that needs remedying.

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

I think wearing a V-neck is fine if you can pull it off fashionably. And in my experience, guys don't tend to wear them as often as girls, which is something that needs remedying.

Hell yes.

I am going to wear my V-neck tomorrow JUST TO STICK IT TO THE MAN.

[tiresiasArchivist]

HINT:

If you're a girl, don't wear a really big V-neck.
If you're a boy, don't wear a really big V-neck.

But... but I love my V-necks! I look fabulous!

[Wacom Guy]

I didn't say don't war them. I said don't wear really big ones.

[Graknorke]

I see all of this fashion sense and it confuses and intimidates me.
How can you select clothes on a basis of traits, in the following order:
1: Is nearby and convenient
2: Is comfortable
3: Isn't hideous/covered in (too much) curry sauce/offensive print
With exceptions made for uniforms, in which case you wear the uniform. Kind of obvious there.

I mean, people always talk about matching and complementary clothes and whatever but I just see shaped pieces of fabric. Is fashion-blindness even a thing? Can I be rescued from my pit of ignorant contentment? How long a paragraph can I make using only questions?
All of these questions and many more are waiting to be asked by myself.

TL;DR: How do I fashion?

Also, I don't think there's enough extremely large v-necks. As in, the bottom of the v at around belly-button level. But only on girls, guy chests aren't very appealing.

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

It's not really hard. Try to not wear all dark/light clothes, don't mix and match patterns (stripes/stripes, stripes/plaid), and don't wear colors that look stupid together. That's pretty much all there is to looking decent.

Also, socks that go above the ankles make me want to murder babies.

[Tirgo]

90% of the time when i'm at school i'm wearing a uniform and i'm there 70% of the year so i dont know much about fashion at this point

[PetPeeve]

It's probably easier for a fashion-blind person to tell you what NOT to do.

• Don't wear wrinkled or dirty clothes. Wash, dry, hang up, wear, go back to wash. "throw on floor" and "wear again with a ketchup stain" are not on the list of steps.
• Don't mix patterned clothes. If you have a patterned shirt, have single colored pants, and vice versa.
• Wear contemporary stuff. Vintage clothes CAN be great, but they can also effortlessly make you look like a freak, or perhaps a time-traveling freak.
• DON'T wear clothes that fit badly. Pants should break just over your shoes, not higher, not lower. The shoulders on a shirt should sit ... on your shoulders. If they're hanging off on your upper arms somewhere, you look like a scarecrow.
• DON'T wear something highly saturated in color (bright or intense) unless it's the ONLY piece of clothing that's highly saturated.
• Don't wear all one color, unless you're wearing a Little Black Dress (LBD).
• Don't wear more than 3-4 colors, and that includes patterns and stripes! On the other hand, black doesn't usually count as a color, because it looks good with everything (if it's clean!). White DOES count.
• Avoid piping and/or brightly colored thread. It's too easy to get into Michael Jackson / Sergeant Pepper territory here.
• Don't wear vertical stripes (it is VERY hard to pull off).
• (gonna get heat for this) Don't put shit in your face. Sure, lots of places it won't matter. But in most of the world, facial piercings = no respect. If you're doing it to make people avoid you, don't read a freaking article about fashion. Seek help.
• (and again) Tattoos are the ultimate in casual. If you're trying to look nice, cover them up. If you're on the beach, flaunt them. If you're going out on a date, or to your job, work around them. If you can't cover them, you got a tattoo in a dumb place, dude.
• No holes in the clothes other than where body parts go through. NONE. If you get a hole, patch or throw it out.
• Keep intimate body parts out of direct view. If people are thinking about tossing in a coin and making a wish, your blouse is too low. Don't wear stuff so tight that someone can tell how excited you are about being there, either.
• Adjacent pieces of clothing shouldn't be the same color. So, shoes coordinate with your shirt more than your pants. Shoes and dresses on the other hand, should match dominant colors. "Dominant color' means the color that there's the most of, or the most saturated (see above).
• Accessories should be a different color than the clothes they're associated with, but they may have some of the same color in them. "some of the same color" is a good rule to learn, it helps tie your outfit together. So, with tan pants, a brown belt is a good choice, but you could have a tan accent in it.
• Women can cross-dress a bit with guy's clothes, but probably shouldn't, because shirts and pants especially are tailored to fit your hips. Guys, never wear women's clothes. NOTE: I'm taking about if your gender matches your sex. By all means ignore this if not. If you DO ignore it, go all-out. Mixing men's and women's clothes almost never works, and it often doesn't work in a way that people can't put a finger on, which makes you look disturbing.

Every single one of these rules can be broken, and are broken to great success every day. But that's the difference between having a fashion sense and being an ordinary person. Like anything, don't break rules unless you know why the rules exist and you've got a sound reason for breaking them ("I wanna" isn't a sound reason).

[Wacom Guy]

Uniforms:
Inconvenient
Uncomfortable
Hideous

[Tirgo]

Uniforms:
Inconvenient
Uncomfortable
Hideous

yeah well military school thanks bye

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

I feel inferior now.

[Tirgo]

I feel inferior now.

why would you feel such a way

its okay come over here and hug me not gay

[Elementoid]

Also, socks that go above the ankles make me want to murder babies.

With shorts, obviously, but what if you're wearing pants? I like to have an extra layer of insulation around your ankles when it starts getting cold outside, otherwise I find it's uncomfortably drafty.

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

With shorts, obviously, but what if you're wearing pants? I like to have an extra layer of insulation around your ankles when it starts getting cold outside, otherwise I find it's uncomfortably drafty.

As long as I can't see sock then we cool. But I've got my eyes on you.

Although apparently long black socks is a popular thing now? Whatever.

[Graknorke]

Uniforms:
Inconvenient
Uncomfortable
Hideous

Mind if I go over this some? I live in the far-away land of top-hats and tea (England), so basically everywhere is school uniform up until you leave education at 17.

1: It's actually quite convenient, because of cold it is most of the year. The blazers are pretty thick but not so much that you die of heatstroke at room temperature.
2: Yes. Shit-brown (Seriously I think the school council must have been on opium or absinthe or whatever the drug of the time was when they started the school with this uniform a hundred-odd years ago. The tie is in the same colours too, but with yellow stripes on it.) blazer that fits for a very short amount of time due to expensivity (£60 or so each. I think that's about $40), on top of a standard white shirt + black trousers. Black shoes also mandatory with the tie.
3:Everything has to be perfect all the time or else detention. Even if the clothes in themselves aren't tol bad, the feeling of always having to correct it most certainly in uncomfortable.

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

Seriously I think the school council must have been on opium

He he

It's funny because that's a really long time ago.

Fuck, I'm sure I had something to say here...oh well.

[amiableTemplar]

@PetPeeve: I'm afraid I'm a bit fashion-blind myself, so I don't know exactly how well this applies, but I thought it was difficult to go overboard with "neutrals" (white, off-white, beige, tan, grey, charcoal, black, etc.) because they mostly exist to fill space? That is, they aren't there to catch the eye, they're there almost to push the eye away from some areas and more into others.

Also, vertical stripes can be okay in particular contexts. Men's slacks, for instance: pinstripe is actually quite attractive, especially for tall men (like myself). According to...I don't remember their names, the hosts of What Not To Wear, pinstripe slacks give the appearance of longer legs, which is generally attractive. Get a black suit with a subtle charcoal pinstripe, maybe a nice blue shirt and dark red tie, and you're doing pretty well, right? At least for formalwear. I wouldn't have any idea how to properly use vertical stripes for casual stuff.

As a final note, something to generally avoid is anything heavily on the side of "fad" fashion. Going for simple, classic looks is almost always better than maintaining lock-step with whatever is the height of fashionability today, for several reasons. Firstly, much of "high fashion" is heavily tailored to suit one specific person, and few people have the time, money, or interest to get custom-tailored clothing for everyday use. Second, fashion changes rapidly; as Oscar Wilde wrote, "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months." It really isn't worth it to blow a bunch of cash on super-fashionable items today that you'll end up giving away to Good Will or the Salvation Army next year. (BECAUSE YOU WOULD NEVER BE SO CALLOUS AS TO THROW AWAY GOOD CLOTHES RIGHT?!) The very best thing to do is to find things you really like--a handful of pairs of pants, half a dozen shirts, perhaps a few light jackets/hoodies/overshirts that can be combined in a few different ways. That way, you just put on what you feel like wearing (avoiding the 'double pattern' or 'too much color' stuff) and still look pretty swanky.

[Zagazo]

o_o So I basically just realized all my tank tops are female versions of wife beaters. What do?

[Wacom Guy]

beat yourself Keep wearing them, don't even care. Things of the past are things of the past.

[Ace of Dark-Hearts]

o_o So I basically just realized all my tank tops are female versions of wife beaters. What do?

Then together we wear wifebeaters and dance into the sunset

come