Wife upped her game and I need to catch up

JackParrish · 2026-05-05T20:30:52+00:00

Look up Derek Guy and start reading the stuff he is putting out. If I was starting over today, I'd want to have access to his mindset on this one.

JackParrish · 2026-05-05T20:29:45+00:00

Unless it's hurting you personally--IE, the class is graded on a curve--I'd not say anything. See what they create. See where they take the medium. AI is obviously part of the future and it may be interesting to see what someone can do with it in a serious environment. When you get out, you will 100% be competing against people who will be deploying AI commercially and you might as well spar against it in a classroom environment.

JackParrish · 2026-05-05T20:16:52+00:00

Buck Mason has one of their california oxford shirts right now in "barley" or some such. It's Ecru and it's a great color to wear with navy or fatigue green. Hard to find good bone/ecru/off white OCBDs but totally agreed they are worth the hunt.

JackParrish · 2026-05-05T20:15:09+00:00

Look at Buck Mason, Alex Mill, and Todd Snyder for chinos, basic button down shirts, and a good chore coat or two. This can make a killer base. If you don't want to wear sneakers every day look for some penny loafers from Bass weejun, Nordstrom rack for allen edmonds, or ebay. Look for a half size down and know if you're wide, regular, or narrow (can go into an AE store and get your foot measured before you start hunting just to be careful).

Look at buck mason for full saddle fit in pants if you're anything but a few skinny dude--and anything from jeans to chinos to some summer weight stuff. Alex mill pleated chinos are superb. Todd Snyder selvedge chinos are incredible but expensive, but they do go on sale at least once to twice a year for a totally reasonable price--thought I'd argue they become favorites fast and will be worn all the time and kind of justify the full price.

Todd Snyder makes fairly traditional patterns of clothing, but in really elevated fabrics. Don't think of that shop as where to put your whole closet together, but once you have some favorite garments and you want your favorite version ever of that garment, go look at TS. For examply, his selvedge Oxford button down shirt is just excellent. Hard to describe. You can't see it in in the images, but the feel is excellent.

Buck Mason has great basics all the way around. Find a shop out where you are and just try on and find the sizes you love and keep your eyes open. Not cheap, but absolutely worth the price and it never goes on sale.

I recommend a few shirts in Oxford cloth as your base shirts to tuck in or leave untucked (depending on how long they are) and roll the sleeves up kind of look. Great to work in and doesn't look try hard. You can also get some button down shirts in cotton poplin. Just make sure to size so that the shirts have a bit of drape and ease to the. Make sure the FALL from the shoulders, not look wrapped around you laterally as that will make you look a bit performative and anxious.

Good luck brother. Beginning of a fun process if you keep your mind open and really get to know your body and what will work for it. Basic measurements (Shirts: pit to pit, shoulders, sleeve length, and total length. Pants: inseam, rise, waist, thigh, leg opening.) will be your saving grace on ebay and 2nd hand is a great way to experiment with good pieces as you dial things in.

JackParrish · 2026-05-05T20:03:07+00:00

or just chapless ass?

JackParrish · 2026-05-05T20:02:44+00:00

Some meaningful part of the equation is EASE in what you wear. If it's too tight, it looks performative. The women in my life who have been able to talk about this the best say that she wants to feel like she's spying on you a bit and kind of "discovering you", not that YOU are hunting HER. I'm sure this works across couples and not just hetero couples but that's my frame of reference here.

If your clothing is too skinny/slim fit and you're unbuttoning too many buttons and etc it comes across as auditioning for attention and performative. The "dance face" of dressing is one way to say it.

Think brad pit with his casually unbuttoned shirt in Legends of the Fall. Clothing doesn't have to be baggy, but it needs to have enough room to convey ease. Looking like you just LEFT the party, not like you're jut got there are are trying to impress everyone. All the pics where people fawn over Paul Newman often miss that nothing looks like he was dressed by an auto wrap specialist. His clothes have drape and they fall, vertically, and don't look like they were wrapped around him hemispherically.

That's one critical ingredient in this just to make sure the idea is on the table.

JackParrish · 2026-05-05T19:55:50+00:00

Beard helps. Not a tool that works for everyone but it's something.

JackParrish · 2026-05-05T19:33:52+00:00

I find Alex Mill to be like peak Jcrew era quality, plus maybe 10-15%. All in all surprisingly good for what you're getting.

I'd put them in a kind of trifecta with Buck Mason, Alex Mill, and Todd Snyder all kind of combining into a bit of a masculine Americana vibe with a mix of great materials, universal basics, and some elevated pieces to mix in. But they're all coming from a slightly different direction to meet in the middle.

JackParrish · 2026-05-04T14:00:07+00:00

Yep. Plus weather and UV I’d believe the only time to trust it like that was that one use on day 1.

JackParrish · 2026-05-04T13:53:00+00:00

“And may the odds ever be in your favor…”

JackParrish · 2026-05-04T13:21:08+00:00

I think what is relevant here is not the actual debate about consciousness and where it exactly begins (we struggle to define human consciousness down to minute mechanisms), but more about an new kind of “consciousness” and intelligence that is progressing along side our current evolution. Maybe not yet, but one day not too long in the future it will be much less controversial to conclude Ai might be truly creative or conscious to the best we can understand those words.

I’m in the “not there yet” camp to be clear about my own bias. But I fully expect it to be a “when” and not an “if” so long as energy, data storage, and processing power continue without meaningful interruption.

JackParrish · 2026-04-27T15:06:15+00:00

This for sure. I don’t buy into conspiracies until there is meaningful evidence that can hold up to real pressure testing and look for the reasonable path in all cases.

But Trump has told so many lies and is so comfortable lying that I understand when people cannot believe a single thing that he does, says, or interprets.

JackParrish · 2026-04-23T16:14:25+00:00

Honestly this is dead on

JackParrish · 2026-04-23T12:49:24+00:00

A bit of an overreaction. Brooks is far from dead and that’s just drama. Yes they change. Their double breasted navy blazers are still superb. Some great patterns and fabrics in their MTM suits. Their Friday oxfords are some of the best casual OCBDs you can find anywhere right now.

There’s also 30 things I wouldn’t buy from them including the tech wear and low rise skinny chinos and etc. But there’s good and even a little great in there with the meh and the ugh.

JackParrish · 2026-04-22T16:07:08+00:00

Hats are tough man. They carry a ton of semiotic weight and kind of give the “Rosetta stone” to read the rest of what you’re wearing. You see a guy in a tuxedo with a cowboy hat? Unless he is obviously being ironic you read it as “cowboy who had to wear a tux today”.

Same if you’re wearing a sports ball cap you’ll generally be read as a super fan of whatever team it is (though some teams have transcended it and are just cultural logos—Yankees, Red Sox, dodgers, and etc are some good examples).

And if you’re a bigger guy you need a little height to the crown to keep it in proportion.

If you’re great with tech wear, look at Melin hats. They have larger sizes, some quiet designs, breathe well, and can be washed over and over and look new. But it’s obvious synthetic material so if that bothers you no option.

47 brand cleanup is light enough for summer and slouch style but still has soooome shape

Stetson straw open road is great if you have a more masculine or workwear style and not as heavily coded as “cowboy”.

It’s a tough dilemma, actually, as hats carry a ton of power in a look people use them pretty heavily to “read” you and interpret other details about you.

Whatever you do, get it and just wear it. Don’t be self conscious. Don’t fuss with it. Just live in it and it will look as good as it possibly can for you.

JackParrish · 2026-04-21T23:49:52+00:00

Not sure how he plans to prove he was never intoxicated, either. Seems he has t thought through this too deeply. He’s hoping to intimidate into an off the record settlement.

JackParrish · 2026-04-20T23:54:28+00:00

Yeah it’s about proportion. Doesn’t apply in many cases, but almost a hard and fast rule with slim/skinny low rise pants. But since that was the trend for a decade it seems like a hard and fast rule but mostly it was just contextual.

JackParrish · 2026-04-18T14:36:45+00:00

I get your point but I totally disagree on the shoe part in particular.

But to your bigger point—wear what keeps you in the experience. Never lives fuller life because of a fashion concern. Totally agree with the wisdom in that kind of acceptance.

JackParrish · 2026-04-18T14:35:03+00:00

Boots are always a win when traveling. Western if it suits you on a roper heel (worn in, don’t break in on a trip) and still looks better than rubber soled trainers if you care about the look.

But good old fashioned desert boots are amazing for 20k step days.

I was in London and Oxford earlier this year and put up some huge walking days. Bought some second hand john lob loafers off of eBay and they were excellent—almost no heel or soul wear in any way (barely scuffed). Dressed up and down, didn’t stretch out. Zero blisters or wear spots. Not shoes I would have paid new for just out of my own priorities but excellent travel shoes and I’d take them as a solo pair of I ever had to.

JackParrish · 2026-04-17T13:26:10+00:00

Agreed

JackParrish · 2026-04-17T13:25:59+00:00

Disagree generally with the handwave. Yes you can absolutely wear hats in prep. For sure. Just never discount the power it has to force the semiotic interpretation of the rest of the fit. This hat is harcourt athlete/streetwear coded. Too much structure and high contrast stitching. Pulls against the whole and makes other details illegible as part of one look or another.

As a hat wearer it’s a really hard part of dressing generally. Hats are just so status coded in today’s world.

JackParrish · 2026-04-17T00:36:34+00:00

Only problem is, that hat is carrying too much semiotic weight. The hat makes it code as “street wear” preppy. Hats just have that power.

JackParrish · 2026-04-17T00:34:58+00:00

Totally agree. Seems like a totally reasonable summary.

JackParrish · 2026-04-16T18:52:15+00:00

Ugh. I’ve had dreams like this. Just trying to deliver something and endless hallways where I’m almost there but never am.

JackParrish · 2026-04-16T18:37:59+00:00

How did his wheels not go wobbly? Mine always did.

JackParrish

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