Is there something you really want to wear but are chicken?

[filfoster]

Stacey Adams high top, cap toe dress shoes.

 

[MikeBravo]

There are two hats I won't wear. First is what I call a "Russian hat" with the ear flaps that fold down. I don't like them

The second is a pith helmet. Those I do like, but am too chicken to wear one in public. Unless it was a very special occasion, such as tiffin on the lawn at the bowls club, with cucumber sandwiches

 

[MissMittens]

I would like to wear a 40's suit/fedora to a meeting, but would likely be sent to HR for mandatory counseling

 

[rue]

Just tell them you're a big fan of Mad Men.... they won't know the difference in eras anyway lol

 

[scottyrocks]

There are two hats I won't wear. First is what I call a "Russian hat" with the ear flaps that fold down. I don't like them

Then you really dont want to wear one.

 

[MissMittens]

Just tell them you're a big fan of Mad Men.... they won't know the difference in eras anyway lol

I changed my hair from blonde (natural) to black for my band.......went to work, for 2 weeks, the discussion was "Is he losing it? Is he one of them there gays or something?" - and I heard this openly, even though I work in government and a tight "PC" environment.

I can see it now.....lol

 

[rue]

People are only PC when they think no one is listening

Do it anyway, wink at them and make them wonder lol

 

[rue]

LOL!! I couldn't get away with it though. Imagine how I'd come across dressed that way starting a meeting "Good Morning, Senator X, Governor Y, Mr Secretary" LOL

Ahhhh... THAT kind of government :eeek: Well, I guess you'll have to do it in your off time

 

[rue]

I just thought of something... I've seen those men wearing fedoras, so you could wear one of those

 

[kyboots]

Western Wear

A full-on western wear look is something I definitely wouldn't mind sporting some days, but for now I think the Open Road is plenty for me without overdoing it at this point. I still need to try to give off the impression that I wear hats because I like them and it's a hobby, not just because I want to imitate Clint Eastwood or John Wayne in a particular movie. Apart from the western thing, I would like to dress a bit more like James Bond (in my opinion the most stylish fictional character in pretty much any film he appears in), and at the moment, I sometimes go for what he may wear more casually, when going out in public. I don't yet have a trilby hat to go with this aesthetic, though. However, I don't think I could quite pull off wearing suits and even the occasional tuxedo, just about every day. At most, I could pull off the sport coat or blazer look, with odd slacks or chinos.

JB: I think you younger guys can really pull off the western wear and it looks hot. Not so much for older guys, you should give it a try. PS If you are a size 12 boot, I can help you out. Good Luck! ---John

 

[Pompidou]

A full-on western wear look is something I definitely wouldn't mind sporting some days, but for now I think the Open Road is plenty for me without overdoing it at this point. I still need to try to give off the impression that I wear hats because I like them and it's a hobby, not just because I want to imitate Clint Eastwood or John Wayne in a particular movie. Apart from the western thing, I would like to dress a bit more like James Bond (in my opinion the most stylish fictional character in pretty much any film he appears in), and at the moment, I sometimes go for what he may wear more casually, when going out in public. I don't yet have a trilby hat to go with this aesthetic, though. However, I don't think I could quite pull off wearing suits and even the occasional tuxedo, just about every day. At most, I could pull off the sport coat or blazer look, with odd slacks or chinos.

A friend of mine does the full blown western thing and never has any problems with it, and this is in Connecticut. It would help you if you had some other tie to the western culture besides just the outfit. He's into the music and dancing, so where he goes, he fits right in, and when he's not there, everyone knows it's just who he is.

 

[ukali1066]

I agree on the Western thing.....but in North West England I'd look a complete arse...

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Nudie suits! I have no clue where the heck I'd wear one, besides the stage of the Grand Ole Opry.

 

[DCMark]

Great Thread

I'm glad I stumbled on this today.

I am getting better about wearing vintage things in "everyday life" as opposed to special events (like swing dances) where it's not unusual. I've been wearing my vintage 30's & 40's suits to work with lots of compliments. I've recently learned to tie a bow tie and got up the nerve to wear one. It was received well so I've been wearing those more often now.

I think wearing a bowler was the hardest thing for me to wear in public but after posting a pic of myself (below) online and asking for feedback from friends I got up the nerve to do it. (The consensus was that this was the look for me and my favorite comment was "You rock that bowler!"). I've been wearing it regularly now and have been surprised that it's very rare that anyone even gives me a second look. I've gotten a few compliments on it as well as on my fedora and nobody has asked me "what are you supposed to be?" even when I wore it to work with my black lounge suit/stroller. (And, for what it's worth, I work in a military hospital.)

As far as what I fear to wear - my boater and my British army surplus kilt (London Scottish Regiment - not a tartan but a gray/green, plain kilt). I'm pretty sure I'll wear them though, thanks to the positive experiences I've had wearing the other things.

My Stetson bowler and Brooks Brothers boater (and I've already been told that it won't break my face to smile! )

 

[Geiamama]

I would love to wear the languorously draped gowns and beautiful pompadour hairstyles of Alphonse Mucha's women but I fear it would lose something in the translation.

 

[vitanola]

Stacey Adams high top, cap toe dress shoes.

I wear these shoes, the Stacy Adams "Madison" model, regularly. I cannot recal a single unkind comment over the last decade.

 

[DCMark]

I wear these shoes, the Stacy Adams "Madison" model, regularly. I cannot recal a single unkind comment over the last decade.

I also have a pair which I really like. I've been wearing them now that we've had snow on the ground. They're comfortable and I've had positive responses at work with people asking me about them. Besides, when you're standing up they look just like regular shoes.

 

[subject101]

My biggest 'I want but I don't dare' is the german leather great coat. It is one of the most amazing leather jackets ever but it is inevitably associated with the nazi party too. However, this relatioship is only as a result of movies because it was a quite uncommon jacket during wwII. It only was given to a few elite officers. The fact that Hitler and Himmler owned a similiar jacket, that btw was a civil jacket, doesn't help at all.

The second jacket I still don't dare to wear is the german grey field tunic for the same reason. I love this jacket but I really don't want to look like a nazi walking around, since I don't have nothing to do with or sympathize.

 

[MissMittens]

I have '43 dot pattern tunic that I found paint splattered and faded in a lot I once bought. I use it for working on my cars.....so it's now greasy and grimy from schmutz. I had a feldgrau officer's uniform with it, that I de-nazified (removed badges) and ebayed expressely for museum or private collection, and required proof that the bidder was a museum or private collector. Someone complained to eBay that I wouldn't sell it to them, and they killed the listing, so I doused it in gasoline and burned it. I've always been very serious about trying to keep Axis items out of the hands of the skinhead southern redneck types

 

[Harp]

I agree on the Western thing.....but in North West England I'd look a complete arse...

Thought about wearing a kilt (Morrison-my maternal clan-similar to
the Black Watch tartan) and mess jacket to a luncheon tomorrow.
....but on Chicago's Rush Street I'd look a complete arse....