shards' musings

quick thoughts on fashion / thrifting / clothes

Opinionated thoughts on bare bones basics one should have in their closet:

Okay, that was the soundbite, here’s the rest of the blog with a little more depth. To preface: I think people’s advice are gonna vary a lot, especially depending on style. Everything I write is gonna be through the lens of a ~5’10 asian guy lol. I also don’t really have a specific aesthetic - my closet is versatile, but would lean towards more “rugged” fits like cargos, graphic tees, Carharrt or varsity jackets.

Let’s go over clothing / accessories piece by piece, and where I find each / my own personal preferences.

Short sleeve shirts: can find them anywhere. Figure out if you like plain or graphic, cotton, polyester or hybrid, thick or thin, soft or durable, v neck or standard, tight or loose / baggy / oversize, or some combination of all of them. I tend to like TL;DR: figure out what kind of short sleeve shirt you want to wear, then go thrift or buy them anywhere. My own take: I’m partial towards graphic tees, wear mostly cotton, don’t care much about fit (tight / baggy are good for different occasions). I have thrifted all my best tees, but Uniqlo has a good selection of graphic tees to start off with. Make sure you like the fit at Uniqlo though, I swear each shirt is completely different. Carharrt WIP has some cute graphic tees but expensive, otherwise go to any big department store. Shirts are easy - it’s really just personal preference and trying on to see what fits you / what you like.

Polos / Hawaiians / collared short sleeves: thrift these, or Uniqlo has a few. Thrift stores will have countless Hawaiians for cheap, Uniqlo has some ones that are cute. I don’t wear these very frequently.

Long sleeve shirts: I don’t wear these almost ever, but would suggest the same as short sleeves, namely thrift, or find them in any department store. Uniqlo probably has a basic selection to start with.

Hoodies / sweaters: Uniqlo / department stores for hoodies, thrift sweaters. I don’t wear hoodies much (especially when I’m dressing to go out) and neither sweaters, but Uniqlo has some good sweater / hoodie collections and you can get pretty good deals on cute sweaters if you poke around the thrift. Department stores are fine too, you’ll get good deals at big retailers. My own take: sweaters don’t really fit my aesthetic, as for hoodies I don’t mind throwing one on, would probably prefer a hood, minimal branding, neutral color, probably would go with baggy pants and a rugged bag or camera or something like that.

Dress shirts: H&M is cheap and gets the job done, Ralph Lauren if you care about quality. My own take: I’m sure there are plenty of other brands (these are just the two I’m familiar with), but Ralph Lauren specifically has this super soft flowy dress shirt that you can use to dress up or down with that I’m partial to. I don’t usually wear dress shirts, unless I’m trying to look older than I am (read: a fancy event), it doesn’t fit my aesthetic, but on the rare occasion I do, I wanna look good.

Everyday jackets / misc outerwear: Uniqlo has a wide basic selection. I like their more elevated / interesting pieces (I have a blouson from one of their collabs + one of their mountaineering down jackets from another collab), but the simple pieces are a little too minimalistic for me. Otherwise, thrift if you have a specific jacket in mind, or just browse either thrift shops / department stores and see what you like. My take: thrift stores have pretty fucking sick jackets if you’re willing to shell out a bit of $$, Carharrt makes some sick rugged jackets that will also keep you warm, Uniqlo has nice winter coats but I live in SF so I’ll never buy those, denim jackets look tacky unless you are very good at styling.

Elevated jackets (leather jacket, suit, overcoat, trench coat, etc): recommend department stores for most of these. Leather jackets are thriftable if you spend a lot of time, otherwise just try on a ton from different brands and see what you like, if you really care about suits get one fitted / go suit shopping specifically, overcoats / trench coats / etc just go to department stores and try them on. Very occasionally you might find something at a thrift but it may take you time. My take: I almost never wear these or shop for these, I got my one very nice leather jacket from Avirex in Japan but it is possible to thrift a sick one.

Cargo / baggy pants: Carharrt, Uniqlo, anywhere that sells good pants (Abercrombie? American Eagle?), can also thrift. Carharrt probably has a few good ones (oh yeah also their sizing is wack, they are always like 1.5 sizes bigger than normal, I order S or occasionally M in carharrt when I’m M/L for most things). A lot of my baggy pants are from Uniqlo, they have such a good collection, just try them on and see what fits for you, otherwise I’m sure any retailer that sells good pants will do.

Jeans: American Eagle, Levi’s. I almost never wear jeans, so no strong opinions here.

Dress pants / khakis / chinos: Uniqlo surprisingly has good dress pants, otherwise thrifting or any department store. My take: I don’t wear these often, Uniqlo I found like two very good pairs so I just alternate between those most of the time, I picked up a nice pair of chinos from Everlane, and you can thrift khakis / corduroy all day.

Shorts: Bearbottom, Chubbies, American Eagle, thrifting. I haven’t bought shorts in a while but I probably should.. bearbottom has great quality shorts for guys with big legs, American Eagle has a good collection, can usually find something at the thrift but never stuff that is like <7 inch inseam if that’s what you’re looking for.

Everyday shoes: not so much brands but every guy should have a good pair of sneakers, a good pair of flats, a slightly cleaner pair of white shoes (these can also be your flats, e.g. vans), a pair of boots. My take: I have some trash sneakers to wear when I don’t wanna dress up, converse for when I want a basic fit, Air Force ones as a slightly elevated white shoe, and just got a pair of Doc Martens for a solid brown boot.

Elevated shoes: every guy should have a pair of dress shoes. Brand doesn’t matter too much, I have docs which are nice but take a while to break in. If you want to really elevate your collection, loafers and platforms could be a start.

Belts: get them anywhere, thrift or department store. Just make sure you like the style.

Accessories: get a cute shoulder / sling or even tote bag, get a clean backpack. Just because you have to have a bag doesn’t mean you can’t have drip. Uniqlo / GU have cute sling / tote / shoulder bags, Everlane has a really good streetwear backpack IMO but find your own style.

At the end of the day, it comes down to a couple things that all take time: figuring out your style, meticulously hunting for good pieces, and wearing enough outfits to figure out what looks good and what doesn't together.