I really like that take on it. It’s why I try to frequent the same places, and buy from people I know when I can. I’ve found that cyclists can be a lot like car people, so it’s fun to explain to other racers how I chose my bike because I know the guy who designed and welded it rather than the latest ad campaign.
Oct 10, 2023·edited Oct 10, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
I'm busy working so I don't have time to finish the article yet, but...
"Unsurprisingly, this has caused me to think a little bit about how we, as men, dress nowadays. I’ll be brief, because it’s RACE WEEK for me and I have a whole barn to clean."
*insert narrator voice* As it turns, he was not brief
Anyways, as we return to office after COVIDLOL I am often amazed at how some of the younger people in the office dress. I'm sure the gray-haired folks went through something similar when my generation started showing up in *gasp* polo shirts and slacks, but I've seen some ridiculous garb here at headquarters. Track suits, athleisure, some kind of weird overalls-over-sweater thing (it reminded me of something from The Children's Place, but for a grown kcuffing man)...
I'm no paragon of style, ask my wife. But I try not to look like a complete dolt, or a child, or both. And I'm coachable! Again, ask my wife.
I really do worry about our men. Maybe their dress is a cry for help.
I've found that obvious branding rubs me the wrong way. I've never owned clothes with anything more than a stripe or flannel pattern (aside from the Hawaiian shirts lol) in the desire to not be seen as a billboard for that company. I even own a hoodie with my college program on it and my nickname (that I willingly paid for) that I've never worn. It may be that I am trying to create an identity by not making one.
Rambling aside, I would wear an ACF shirt to the next meet/trackday purely for the lulz
At some point I heard George Carlin talk about the branding on clothing (he said the same thing about being a billboard for whatever company) and internalized that. I'm always careful to buy shirts without logos. With pants, I can tolerate a tiny, hard-to-notice logo on a cheap pair of pants off the clearance rack. My capeshit t-shirts are relegated to workout wear. I look better now than I did when I was at the granite company and had no self-respect, but I'm a far cry from dapper.
Oct 10, 2023·edited Oct 10, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
Pants are like shoes in the sense that finding a pair without any discernable markings is tough (on jeans and sneakers at least). I wear Chelsea boots all the time so I've got that one covered, but I'm thinking I should drop the Levi's and grab some slacks, despite the fact jeans are great for working in and getting dirty.
Oct 10, 2023·edited Oct 10, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
Since I live in the UP I can get away with hiking pants at work. So I get zippers on the pockets and an elastic waistband (which is a problem because I lost a bunch of weight the last few years and now have to tie the stupid drawstrings) and a lightweight, hydrophobic material and I'm very comfortable all day long.
EDIT: I should mention I avoid cargo-style pockets on the sides of the legs, so the pants are all fairly clean looking.
Dearborn Denim are pretty low key. Just a small leather patch with a star that gets covered by your belt. No labels otherwise, plus they are made in the US vs Levi’s, who make their stuff in offshore sweatshops.
Beware the ones with the flex are comfortable but are not durable. They made a full denim version that will outlive the cockroaches but needed about a year to break the denim in to "comfortably wearable" I'm not sure if they still make those.
I wear Texas Jeans. They're made in the Carolinas actually, and say they use American denim. Jeans are typically $60. Customer service is outstanding. I wear a 28" inseam and those just can't be found in stores. http://www.texasjeans.com
I bought a couple pair from Detroit Denim years ago. Not sure if this is still the case, but they used to have a lifetime warranty/free repairs. I've sent mine in multiple times to replace everything from crotch blowouts to fraying. Well worth it, IMO.
Uniqlo, at least in Japan, makes these long shorts that go down past your knees, often in crazy colors and patterns. They are very comfortable in the summer, but I don't think they sell them at their US stores or the US website. I've had to ask my in-laws to send them to me.
Unfortunately, it also serves as a social club for fellows of an urban persuasion who couldn't handle the hood's realness anymore - but who brought their outdoor voices with them.
You think they'd object to me singing a few bars of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot?"
You joke, but I was at the long term parking for the ferry in Anacortes recently, someone had thrown a spark plug through my window but not stolen anything.
I was a little angry, so I sent the wife and daughter on some sort of a mission so I didn't loose my cool in front of them.
While trying to locate a window for an F150, which shouldn't be hard but proved impossible, someone broke out a bagpipe and starting playing "Amazing Grace".
They didn't deserve what I said to them shortly after I started.
No phones on the machines! You’re here to work, sweat--and in my case, make stoopid noises. Monopolizing a machine with more phone time than lifting should be a misdemeanor, at the very least.
Due to factors that our host has covered extensively my buddy got read the riot act when he showed up in a suit. Meanwhile everyone else rolled out of bed still in their pjs and ripped jeans.
He got a nuisance ticket for a property he owned. His description of the other defendants matches what I have seen for my various moving violations. I have switched to slacks and polos rather than suits.
The thing with labels is I don’t own any clothes with a designer/label that’s worth any prestige at all so I don’t look at it as putting on any airs or showing off in any way. For instance, right now I’m staring at my phone and in the foreground is a little colorful LL Bean label on my fleece vest (yeah yeah I know). To me, LL Bean has all the prestige of a Toyota Corolla so wearing that label doesn’t signal I’m trying to signal anything. It might as well say “durable inexpensive clothing item” on it.
To me that’s very different than say a Gucci or LV or Prada or whatever label. Basically, if no one is impressed by your label and you’re not wearing it to impress, is it still objectionable?
No, it's not objectionable, and I'm not even sure I'm right. Like I said, I heard a George Carlin bit about it and somehow it stuck with me... to a certain extent. My winter coat is an oversized Columbia jacket like they wear on the Weather Channel, so I haven't totally avoided labels myself.
I'd say Gucci et al. is worse because it's a designer name printed on a cheap shirt. I expect LL Bean to at least be made well. Best of Show painted LL Bean in a different light than you do.
I wear a North Face (or is it The North Face?) hooded, water-proof jacket. I got it at Costco and got one for each of my two sons so we can look total dork when together in the wet and cold.
It is but in the same way that Subaru is a status symbol in Aspen or Jackson Hole or wherever. It’s a low-cost status brand, you have no idea if the wearer is rich or poor. I’ve been wearing it my whole life (duck boots and LL Bean backpack and such) because it’s durable and lasts forever. My family was solidly “upper middle class at best”.
That’s right. I’ve worn it my entire life, at least certain items.
The platonic ideal of the LL Bean customer is a family that owns some deeply unsexy widget business operating in a mid-size or large city. The grandparents started the company and the second generation runs it day to day. It throws off obscene cash, which is spent on a “nice” but not extravagant house, a Toyota Land Cruiser, a wardrobe - and, really an entire house - furnished with wares from LL Bean and Orvis, and everything else from Costco.
I have multiple pairs of Duck Boots, Camp Mocs, etc. that I’ve owned since I was in high school. My mother still uses the (monogrammed) backpack that I had in Kindergarten. I have one of the Norwegian fishing sweaters that my father purchased before I was born.
Despite the fact that it’s eminently affordable, durable, and evergreen, it’s not popular with mainstream consumers because it’s not a flex.
As someone who grew up in New Hampshire, I have to say LL Bean feels about as mainstream as it gets back home, although their popularity seems to wax and wane.
By happy coincidence, we have a place about 10 minutes south of Freeport, Maine and the "Boot" as its HQ flagship is called. It is a happy place. Bean's seems to only employ 65+ y/o happy white people (that describes majority of Maine actually) who know where things are, are glad to find things for you, and are only mildly confused, but usually not long at the POS terminals. Bean's clothes and merchandise is gloriously frumpy, durable, and solid.
Beans, Orvis and Costco is a marvelous trinity for self- and home-expression IMO.
The LL Bean stuff I bought in 1988 -- like every other suburban kid in America, I had two Squall jackets -- is everlasting. The new stuff seems like trash.
I'm coming back from my next trip to Japan with an anime girl t-shirt. I'll wear it to all my kids' sports functions because I know how much they'll love it.
With the exception of concert and college team tee shirts, the majority of my clothing is LL Bean or Lands End. I’m not clothing conscious and hate anything with gaudy branding. They’re comfortable, wear well, and reasonably priced. I am comfortable with who I am and as long as my wife thinks I look nice, I could care less what anyone else thinks. Makes clothes shopping a lot easier.
Next time you're out and about, look at the cars around you. See how many of them have either a badge, or a decal or a license-plate surround of the dealership where the car was purchased. I'll bet you almost all of the cars you'll see have it.
When I bought my current car, I took a spool of fishing line, a Leatherman, a rag and a can of WD-40 with me. First thing I did before leaving was take the dealer decal off the back.
When the salesman asked what I was doing, I told him if they wanted me to advertise for them, they could pay me.
Is there some standard sized sticker because I personally would find it hilarious to cover up these guys Instagram logos with a sticker that sends it to a different instagram that says "Hey, I'm a twat" knowing it would take months for them to figure it out.
I dabble in graphic design and a buddy paid me to make him some tiny-penis magnets (he didn't want to actually vandalize anything) to stick to the bumpers of the shiny wannabe monster trucks that drive around here (we live in a city, and my buddy drives a Honda Element, for the record.) After a couple of days I see a few around town, and then see the same trucks a few days later with magnets still in place, including on the (wannabe monster) truck of a mutual friend of ours. I catch up with the guy and ask him about the magnet and he flips out (and I start to laugh) and then he *really* flips out. He didn't realize it was a magnet, was worried about the finish and never bothered to even take a fingernail to it.
If you're looking at surfaces a magnet won't stick to (and don't wanna properly vandalize someone's shit, because that's not cool) you'll want whatever material those 'reusable' soft plastic stickers are made from. I have no experience making my own but used to stick them to all sorts of things around the house growing up.
As far as actual stickers, I'm gonna confess here to being a longtime Apple user and having a big stack of their logo stickers that come with everything they sell. I have a few competent, manly friends that have things like straight edges and WD-40 on hand; once a year I'll stick one on the rear glass of their cars and (secretly) enjoy watching them drive around town for longer than I think they would.
I've never said anything to any of them before, but have been tempted because sometimes it's months before the sticker disappears.
There are several factions of my work that have professional displays that are stickers, (think registration) and I stuck one on the rear window of the 2 layers up bosses car, a very clean and always washed 3rd gen Corolla. Anyway he has just had the windows tinted, and was super pissed cause he thought that he would destroy his window tint in the removal of said sticker... he send one of his underlings on a detective hunt, eventually they got to me at which point I had a nice guffaw that he thought window tint was on the outside. The underling was harried and just took it off himself...
sounds like the guy who would stick "Mall Rated" badges to 4x4s capable of crossing the Rubicon but never tackling anything more arduous than speed bumps.
Do you remember that “you’ve been rejected” phone line? I came of age in socal and there was some phone number that was an answering machine that said “congratulations! You’ve been rejected!!” And hot gurls would pass it out to dudes they wanted to get rid of.
i have 2 unused sheets of round stickers with a picture of a screw on them. the idea of course is to use that to cover the heart on bumper stickers. laughed a lot when i first saw them; pitied the people i'd've used them on so i never used a one
I refuse to buy a car from carmax for precisely that reason. My Mazda had a sticker that was easy enough to remove. The Audi dealer was not trashy enough to add one.
I have a Ralph Spoilsport Motors: Take The Freeway of Your Choice in Any Direction license plate frame. I guess it's an identifier to other Firesign Theatre fans.
Oct 11, 2023·edited Oct 11, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
my father said the same thing before taking delivery of the first new car he ever bought - a 1984 Mustang SVO. told the dealer he would refuse delivery if he saw a sticker or badge on it.
my 993 has a faded metal(!) Brumos Porsche dealership license plate frame that Jack sent me many years ago. People who know, know. Everyone else asks me when I lived in Jacksonville.
Zero of my cars have any dealer decal or badges on them. I am surprisingly lax about license plate brackets. They all go eventually, but I hate paying for them and don't really like anything any of them say. As much as I love college football, as I am researching schools for my daughter I am getting embarrassed about what tOSU has become as a school.
In HS though, it was a different story. For whatever reason my nickname was "Krieger". When I took my first visit to Columbus and saw there was a Krieger ford, I paid good money for the bracket to put on my car back in NY.
Both cars I purchased from my current dealer had no dealer decals at my request. A plastic plate thing is fine (comes off when the WeatherTech plate whatever goes on). Heck, this last time, they asked if I wanted the front plate installed (a year before Ohio’s front-plate mandate was lifted); never had any issues.
I go out of my way to wear clothes with no logo. It is hard to do and sometimes I just have to buy something with the least noticeable logo. If I do wear something with a logo purposely it’s got to be totally obscure.
My previous Miata (that I haven't sold yet) has the EUDM Eunos Roadster badges on the back an no front badge. If you didn't know any better, you'd never be able to identify the car. I might do the same with my current one, to be honest. Or replace the badges with chrome stickers because litewate baybee
My favorite shirts are plain black tees, either supima or merino wool. For years, I wore one of these and selvedge jeans every day like a cartoon character. I dressed it up/down with a few shoe, boot and jacket options.
Speaking of, will we ever get a post on that? Looking sharpish is a worthwhile goal in my opinion, and you've spent some time getting stuff made for you and paying attention to fabrics to write a bit about looking decent.
Oct 10, 2023·edited Oct 10, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
Another guy on my route story.
Dude ran for Congress in Chicago five years ago and all he talked about was legalizing weed. I believe he put campaign ads on pornhub. Every single time I would see him he was wearing tight black pants and shirts. Shoes, socks, glasses....everything black and not a bit faded. If I see someone wearing the same thing everyday I'm going to assume he is as weird and sketchy as this guy.
Same here. I will make an exception for corporate shirts at company events, and those are coordinated. I once bought a hat in a color which was not my #1 choice because the picture in the webstore didn't have the logo. Well the product arrived with the logo on it. It took some time to remove the embroidery.
Oct 10, 2023·edited Oct 10, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
When I used to get cheap corporate swag like shirts or hats, I would give them to the homeless guys who panhandled around my building in downtown Chicago to wear. Just helping with the corporate branding!
seems like i've mentioned this before; the first stuff like this were countess mara neckties in the early '50s. my much older and marvelously suave brother (i called him a russian david niven) asked a friend how much it cost. he answered $35. my brother said for another 20 you could've had countess mara. funny stuff to a 16-year-old in the korean war era
Of course, may people don't know the truth about the whole thing. The man never gassed his people (criminally awful neocon blood-libel), and sails to re-election every time with 90+% of the vote. The love notes he sends his wife (revealed in some wikileaks cable dump; can't remember) belie the oddly-unanimous western characterization of him as some sort of monster. Probably a more people-focused leader than *any single politician* in the West, save Orban
My sister in law went to be a nanny for her dad's college roommate in London the summer of 91. He was an American and fairly high ranking exec at BP Amaaco. She got introduced at a party to a young Syrian ophthalmology student who went out in the garden to play soccer with the kids. Never understood why he was there until years later. Bashir al-Assad.
Oct 10, 2023·edited Oct 10, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
Me, I enjoy Honda Vintage Culture stuff when in a Porsch OR as tennis warmups. Go figure.
See, we all perceive different things as important. I think anyone who buys a Rolex is a poser/idiot. When I see one on someone's wrist, unless it's my uncle who greatly enjoys buying $20 knockoff "Rolexes" and showing them to everyone, I assume the owner has come into new money/funny money in the last 6 months. Unless they are no money and it's hocked. I had a partner who was a failure in the first 15 years of his legal life. Year 16 brought a nice bonus, gold Rolex next January.
Smarter buy is a Tudor of course. The Chevy Rolex brand.
I once took a girlfriend to my watch dude to pick out a vintage one for Christmas. The case was full of nice old bulovas and such, but once she put on the Tudor Prince Oysterdate in gold she was sold. I'm still mad about that, but it was really pretty on her.
I was still blowing through the portion of my divorce settlement I had set aside as fun money so I like to think my ex wife bought that watch.
I've told every girlfriend since that an Omega triple date would be a perfect gift for me. You won't know that I'm in love, but there will be signs....
I bought my younger daughter a nice vintage ladies' Seiko 5. Does that count? She's the only child of mine who always gives me actual presents on my birthday.
That stuff bugs me. I LIKE the design of some Rolexes, but I don't want to be seen wearing one (not that I can afford one but that's beside the point lol) because of the stigma.
I think I should take a page out of your uncle's book.
I'm with you, now that I can afford a Rolex level watch I am hesitant to buy one since I am pretty sure it would sit in the box because I'd either be too afraid of it getting stolen or self conscious about the image it portrays.
I still am perfectly content with my humble collection of G-Shocks, Orient, and Citizens that get just as much attention for the right reasons as a Rolex without the stigma or worry if someone decides they want one of them more than I do.
I have my dad's Citizen America's Cup that he bought when I was a kid. Always coveted that watch. He gave it to me when I turned 21. It's more valuable to me than almost anything else that I own.
I wore the thing so much that I finally wore out the clasp and almost lost it earlier this year. I'm struggling to find some sort of replacement stainless/gold sports watch that's not going to get me stabbed at a gas station.
Your comment reminded me that I also have an Omega that was a gift from my Uncle when I graduated from college, its not my taste since it is a quartz Constellation, but it rides in my watch box regardless because of the meaning of the gift. I'm pretty sure he told me to sell it to get what I want when he gave it to me, but I've never been able to part ways with it.
As for your Citizen, find an authorized dealer local to you and bring it in, they will be able to find you a suitable replacement clasp/strap even if a factory one is NLA.
That's not a terrible idea. I've sent it out for repair once before. I'd like to fix the thing and retire it to my watch box.
Originally, I bought a G Shock GA2100 and did one of those "Casioak" conversions to replace the Citizens. Half of the pins on the bracelet backed out on me during a recent trip and I promptly returned all of it.
Oct 10, 2023·edited Oct 10, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
I'm extremely happy with my SKX007. Same design as a Submariner for a fraction of the price while being a real watch. One day I might replace it with a Marinemaster, perhaps a GMT. I'm pretty sold on the Seiko brand.
The Submariner has always been a watch I loved, but now that I am in a position to afford one, I don't think I could ever do it, just for what wearing a Rolex generally says about you these days. Also, I refuse on general principle to pay over market value for a watch from a company that produces a million a year. I will probably stick to Tudor, and frankly, I think what they are doing is more interesting than Rolex anyway.
I bought a new Submariner in about 1993. It spent more time at the NYC service facility than on my wrist. Sold it after a couple of years for a small profit.
I said similar in another recent thread. Once I got to the point where I could reasonably afford a Sub (albeit used), I had no desire to wear one for a number of reasons. The watch was merely something to motivate me to work harder.
I wear my Submariner often. My wife gave it to me on our tenth wedding anniversary twenty-two years ago. It reminds me of the best thing I’ve done. I think she paid about $3000 for it new. I don’t care what other people think it says about me.
I mainly wear an Apple Watch Series 4 as it’s a tool for work. I can see my next scheduled meeting at a glance plus any Outlook or Teams notifications that pop up. I will not miss Microsoft when I retire.
I know I already replied but I gave this some more thought. I do like well-crafted machines with a purpose. I guess watches fit that criteria. I wouldn’t go out and buy one beyond what I have. My wife also gave me a Cartier Roadster one year for Christmas. I never wear it even though I like the way it looks. I did give her a Rolex as well. My former company had a sales award where they gave you about $50k in RSUs and a Rolex. When I went up on stage to get mine, I asked for the women’s version of the Rolex. I told them my wife deserved it more than I did. The women on stage almost wet themselves over that. Now my wife wears a Rolex that is engraved on the back with that award.
I’m not a watch guy at all. I wear a big Apple Watch Ultra (dressed up with a $20 Amazon “titanium” band!) daily, unless I’m dressing up a bit with a Shinola. I think if I had a son to pass a nice watch down to I’d feel differently, but I’m not spending the money for a watch to go to my daughters or whatever douche they decide to marry. Kidding. Mostly.
My two sons can fight over my Rolex and Cartier. My two daughters have a bigger battle though. They have to fight over my wife’s Rolex or her Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce. I told the story of her Rolex in another post. I got her the Patek during the downturn when things were much less expensive, too many goods chasing too few dollars. She saw it in the store and I made the mistake of having her try it on. I paid less than a quarter of what it goes for now.
what if the wearer inherited his Rolex from his father, who received it from his father in 1973 upon earning his MBA but because of bad blood never wore it and tucked it away in a drawer, where his son found it (in the box, with the owner's manual and proof of purchase) 40 years later following his father's death when his grandmother said "be sure to get the Rolex" and he replied, "What Rolex? Dad didn't have a Rolex." and learned the story?
I'm really looking forward to going to Road Atlanta this weekend, but I haven't decided if I'll wear my BMW DTM Castrol shirt, my Coca-Cola Porsche RSR shirt, or even my antique Benson & Hedges Jordan shirt (holler if you hear me, Heinz-Harald!). I believe it's simply a way of signaling to my tribe that I am one of them. Of course, if you attend IMSA races frequently, as I do, the middle-aged white guy tribe is self-evident. I don't own a BMW anymore, probably never will buy a Porsche, and no longer wish to be HHF with a 700hp Honda V10 shrieking behind me. So why do I like buying and wearing these shirts? Because they look cool.
I know a guy who does various errands for truly wealthy people: get my yacht from France to Texas and oversee its service/cleaning. Guide me and 3 other aimless Purdey-owners on a few days hunt on a ranch the size of Connecticut. Then there was this:
'Ive purchased a castle in Germany. I want it disassembled and the timbers brought to my [is yachtsmith a word]? Whatever timber from the castle is *not* used in my new yacht is to be burned.'
Are there quite that many? I thought MN had by far the most, and around 80k at that. Don't know how America decide where to put the imported aftermath of our travels, over time. I will say that-- from my very limited observation-- DC hasn’t had a concentrated “post-adventure refugee infusion” since the mid-70s.
Probably start seeing some Ukrainians though. I mean, in greater proportion than, say, Somalis. Just a hunch.
I love conspicuous consumption; it takes a lot of the guesswork out of judging someone's character. The only wealth I'll flaunt is my kids. I've spent a considerable amount of time, money, and effort on them, and unlike a Rainbow Party of Porsches, I get it back in spades. And you don't need to buy a polo for people to notice.
Nobody has ever fallen as far socially as I have. My grandparents were Somebodies. The rest of my family went to good schools and respectable situations in destination cities. I once got fired from a job cleaning dumpsters because I wasn't meeting minimum standards.
My parents have spent untold amounts of money on me, from a Hickey-Freeman jacket to trips to Europe to private school tuition (where I was inevitably expelled; I blame a curse, having been born--literally--to John Mayer’s “my stupid mouth”). I come across pretty low rent for all of that.
I've never seen the point in branded clothing in general(aside from a brief stint in HS where I desperately needed stuff with Aeropostale plastered on it) and these days will generally pass on anything with a noticeable logo on it, with the possible exception of fine Japanese jeans. What's the point of marking yourself as part of a club with millions of other members? I would prefer to control the impressions that I give a bit more tightly - it's hard to draw any hard and fast conclusions in day to day life about someone in jeans and a plain t-shirt. I don't think people really understand what they are projecting with their choices a lot of the time. You're doing this thing, or wearing this thing because everyone else is doing it with no consideration for what it means to you and how people interact with you. It's like putting pronouns in a resume. That says something very specific about you, and whether you intend it to or not, it will affect your responses to it. I would, for example, probably wear ACF branded clothing, because it would say nothing about me to the vast majority of people. I'd know that anyone who did recognize it, would likely be someone I could at least have a good conversation with. I still wouldn't wear it to a first principles meetup though.
Wow...you mentioned Bashar Al-Assad, and it's like the scales fell from my eyes, CNN/FOX/Al Jazeera/BBC blue-pilled the crap out of me there, out of sight out of mind. He was the world's number one supervillian...until he wasn't anymore. And not because his behavior changed, but because the people who control the flow of information stopped caring, and so we stopped caring.
Probably because Donnie became the number one supervillian.
You're missing some bits there, like how his dynasty is built on the slaughter at Hama in '82 or the undeniable atrociousness of the fighting his regime engaged in to survive, barrel bombs et al.
But yeah, this is just gonna recycle in another 30 years like it always does as the next generation forgets the horrors the previous one experienced.
I stopped buying clothing with messages just after Junior High. Family members will still occasionally gift me a new tee with the college logo, but they wind up being used as sleepwear. My watches have been Polar heart rate monitors since I stopped buying Timex Iron Man units.
I think my son isn't going to inherit any wrist jewelry...
Caught myself on this one- I did buy two Buell "race shirts." In 2009, shortly before I forever stopped buying anything from the local H-D franchise (they'd sold me a Blast and an XB12 Firebolt prior.)
Between the corporation that didn't want my business and the counter guys who were always trying to talk me into buying a V-Rod, the relationship was doomed anyway.
Exactly.
I really like that take on it. It’s why I try to frequent the same places, and buy from people I know when I can. I’ve found that cyclists can be a lot like car people, so it’s fun to explain to other racers how I chose my bike because I know the guy who designed and welded it rather than the latest ad campaign.
I'm busy working so I don't have time to finish the article yet, but...
"Unsurprisingly, this has caused me to think a little bit about how we, as men, dress nowadays. I’ll be brief, because it’s RACE WEEK for me and I have a whole barn to clean."
*insert narrator voice* As it turns, he was not brief
Anyways, as we return to office after COVIDLOL I am often amazed at how some of the younger people in the office dress. I'm sure the gray-haired folks went through something similar when my generation started showing up in *gasp* polo shirts and slacks, but I've seen some ridiculous garb here at headquarters. Track suits, athleisure, some kind of weird overalls-over-sweater thing (it reminded me of something from The Children's Place, but for a grown kcuffing man)...
I'm no paragon of style, ask my wife. But I try not to look like a complete dolt, or a child, or both. And I'm coachable! Again, ask my wife.
I really do worry about our men. Maybe their dress is a cry for help.
2400 words is brief for me!
Brief, including mention of MeUndies.
MeUndies is a strong candidate for worst company in America IMO.
_Alright_ ! .
Let's torpedo this thread into a discussion of boxers Vs. Butt Huggers .......
-Nate
I only heard of them via podcast ads. What's so bad about em?
(::Rim shot! ::)
I've found that obvious branding rubs me the wrong way. I've never owned clothes with anything more than a stripe or flannel pattern (aside from the Hawaiian shirts lol) in the desire to not be seen as a billboard for that company. I even own a hoodie with my college program on it and my nickname (that I willingly paid for) that I've never worn. It may be that I am trying to create an identity by not making one.
Rambling aside, I would wear an ACF shirt to the next meet/trackday purely for the lulz
At some point I heard George Carlin talk about the branding on clothing (he said the same thing about being a billboard for whatever company) and internalized that. I'm always careful to buy shirts without logos. With pants, I can tolerate a tiny, hard-to-notice logo on a cheap pair of pants off the clearance rack. My capeshit t-shirts are relegated to workout wear. I look better now than I did when I was at the granite company and had no self-respect, but I'm a far cry from dapper.
Pants are like shoes in the sense that finding a pair without any discernable markings is tough (on jeans and sneakers at least). I wear Chelsea boots all the time so I've got that one covered, but I'm thinking I should drop the Levi's and grab some slacks, despite the fact jeans are great for working in and getting dirty.
Since I live in the UP I can get away with hiking pants at work. So I get zippers on the pockets and an elastic waistband (which is a problem because I lost a bunch of weight the last few years and now have to tie the stupid drawstrings) and a lightweight, hydrophobic material and I'm very comfortable all day long.
EDIT: I should mention I avoid cargo-style pockets on the sides of the legs, so the pants are all fairly clean looking.
Dearborn Denim are pretty low key. Just a small leather patch with a star that gets covered by your belt. No labels otherwise, plus they are made in the US vs Levi’s, who make their stuff in offshore sweatshops.
$75 usd is almost what I pay over here for a pair of Levi's.
Would much rather support my southern brothers.
They are about the same price.
Beware the ones with the flex are comfortable but are not durable. They made a full denim version that will outlive the cockroaches but needed about a year to break the denim in to "comfortably wearable" I'm not sure if they still make those.
Sounds like I want the full denim then.
Thanks!
I wear Texas Jeans. They're made in the Carolinas actually, and say they use American denim. Jeans are typically $60. Customer service is outstanding. I wear a 28" inseam and those just can't be found in stores. http://www.texasjeans.com
same goes for American Giant.
Jack is better on denim, but even cheap-chinese Uniqlo has some nice selvedge options, if you're budget conscious.
Jack, requesting a re-write of the "American and Japanese Denim" article (or need to get off my ass and hit the search bar for it)
It's not that I dislike nice stuff, especially jeans, It's that I'm going to bang them up and wear them out.
Would be a waste of a nice pair of selvedge jeans. I'll check out uniqlo and Jack's article, thanks.
They're 39 bucks if you can make the sizing work!
https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/search?q=selvedge
Hope so, I stick with those Levi's because a 514 cut 32/30 fits me perfectly.
I bought a couple pair from Detroit Denim years ago. Not sure if this is still the case, but they used to have a lifetime warranty/free repairs. I've sent mine in multiple times to replace everything from crotch blowouts to fraying. Well worth it, IMO.
Uniqlo is Zara or Gap from Asia.
Uniqlo, at least in Japan, makes these long shorts that go down past your knees, often in crazy colors and patterns. They are very comfortable in the summer, but I don't think they sell them at their US stores or the US website. I've had to ask my in-laws to send them to me.
There are also these ones made by guests of the State of Oregon Correctional System:
https://www.prisonblues.net/
I have a jacket from them. It's well done.
When I go to the gym, I see guys do a set, then mill about on their phone for a minute, while wearing brand-new workout clothes.
Me, I show up in worn-out, paint-stained shirts and shorts that've been washed to threadbare.
I don't go to the gym, I work out at home with some hot blonde Scandinavian chick on youtube. She doesn't seem to care what kind of t-shirts I wear.
I use the local Y. It's well-equipped enough.
Unfortunately, it also serves as a social club for fellows of an urban persuasion who couldn't handle the hood's realness anymore - but who brought their outdoor voices with them.
You think they'd object to me singing a few bars of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot?"
Nah, hit them with "Amazing Grace."
You joke, but I was at the long term parking for the ferry in Anacortes recently, someone had thrown a spark plug through my window but not stolen anything.
I was a little angry, so I sent the wife and daughter on some sort of a mission so I didn't loose my cool in front of them.
While trying to locate a window for an F150, which shouldn't be hard but proved impossible, someone broke out a bagpipe and starting playing "Amazing Grace".
They didn't deserve what I said to them shortly after I started.
Fuck yeah. Show up and do work, don’t go there to preen!!
No phones on the machines! You’re here to work, sweat--and in my case, make stoopid noises. Monopolizing a machine with more phone time than lifting should be a misdemeanor, at the very least.
Those guys who show up for court dates wearing the GOOD flannel and BLACK jeans are coming to mind right now...
Black pants... I could write a book.
Hey, at least they weren't wearing the matching western shirt with the flames, like in some 90s line-dancing scenario.
brooks and dunn did nothing wrong
Let's have it!
hey now... I've got a pair of black jeans. I wouldn't wear them to court, but still...
Due to factors that our host has covered extensively my buddy got read the riot act when he showed up in a suit. Meanwhile everyone else rolled out of bed still in their pjs and ripped jeans.
To court?
He got a nuisance ticket for a property he owned. His description of the other defendants matches what I have seen for my various moving violations. I have switched to slacks and polos rather than suits.
When I got a “reckless driving” ticket during COVID, my attorney strenuously encouraged me not to wear a suit, or a jacket, or a tie.
Really?
I've been to court half-a-dozen times in my life, and I've always worn a suit. It serves as a good counterbalance to the look on my face.
I don't KNOW, but I think that policy's kept my ass out of the slammer.
The thing with labels is I don’t own any clothes with a designer/label that’s worth any prestige at all so I don’t look at it as putting on any airs or showing off in any way. For instance, right now I’m staring at my phone and in the foreground is a little colorful LL Bean label on my fleece vest (yeah yeah I know). To me, LL Bean has all the prestige of a Toyota Corolla so wearing that label doesn’t signal I’m trying to signal anything. It might as well say “durable inexpensive clothing item” on it.
To me that’s very different than say a Gucci or LV or Prada or whatever label. Basically, if no one is impressed by your label and you’re not wearing it to impress, is it still objectionable?
No, it's not objectionable, and I'm not even sure I'm right. Like I said, I heard a George Carlin bit about it and somehow it stuck with me... to a certain extent. My winter coat is an oversized Columbia jacket like they wear on the Weather Channel, so I haven't totally avoided labels myself.
I'd say Gucci et al. is worse because it's a designer name printed on a cheap shirt. I expect LL Bean to at least be made well. Best of Show painted LL Bean in a different light than you do.
I wear a North Face (or is it The North Face?) hooded, water-proof jacket. I got it at Costco and got one for each of my two sons so we can look total dork when together in the wet and cold.
LL Bean is actually the most “old money” brand of all. Seriously.
It is but in the same way that Subaru is a status symbol in Aspen or Jackson Hole or wherever. It’s a low-cost status brand, you have no idea if the wearer is rich or poor. I’ve been wearing it my whole life (duck boots and LL Bean backpack and such) because it’s durable and lasts forever. My family was solidly “upper middle class at best”.
That’s right. I’ve worn it my entire life, at least certain items.
The platonic ideal of the LL Bean customer is a family that owns some deeply unsexy widget business operating in a mid-size or large city. The grandparents started the company and the second generation runs it day to day. It throws off obscene cash, which is spent on a “nice” but not extravagant house, a Toyota Land Cruiser, a wardrobe - and, really an entire house - furnished with wares from LL Bean and Orvis, and everything else from Costco.
I have multiple pairs of Duck Boots, Camp Mocs, etc. that I’ve owned since I was in high school. My mother still uses the (monogrammed) backpack that I had in Kindergarten. I have one of the Norwegian fishing sweaters that my father purchased before I was born.
Despite the fact that it’s eminently affordable, durable, and evergreen, it’s not popular with mainstream consumers because it’s not a flex.
Their little water absorbent carpet mat things are inside every exterior door to our house and cabin because they are fantastic.
I was waiting for the Orvis mention. I've always seen them as leisure wear for your grandpa.
FWIW, my pheasant hunting gear is from Orvis and it is excellent.
Sounds like I need to get some ll bean.
As someone who grew up in New Hampshire, I have to say LL Bean feels about as mainstream as it gets back home, although their popularity seems to wax and wane.
So what is the deeply unsexy widget business operating in a mid-size or large city dear sir?
By happy coincidence, we have a place about 10 minutes south of Freeport, Maine and the "Boot" as its HQ flagship is called. It is a happy place. Bean's seems to only employ 65+ y/o happy white people (that describes majority of Maine actually) who know where things are, are glad to find things for you, and are only mildly confused, but usually not long at the POS terminals. Bean's clothes and merchandise is gloriously frumpy, durable, and solid.
Beans, Orvis and Costco is a marvelous trinity for self- and home-expression IMO.
The LL Bean stuff I bought in 1988 -- like every other suburban kid in America, I had two Squall jackets -- is everlasting. The new stuff seems like trash.
Sadly, most of the current LL Bean catalog is "imported" these days.
I figure if it's a car company logo, or a hot rod shop, or a gun company, it's okay.
Absolutely verboten for me are shirts with anime or comic characters, or stupid sayings like you find at Walmart.
I'M WITH STUPID====>
you should absolutely show up to the function with anime tiddies on your shirt
I'm coming back from my next trip to Japan with an anime girl t-shirt. I'll wear it to all my kids' sports functions because I know how much they'll love it.
https://aestheticcosplay.com/cdn/shop/products/AGEHOSHIRT_1024x1024.jpg?v=1571608966
its perfect and family friendly
the best anime shirts are the ones you feel embarrassed to wear and need to explain
With the exception of concert and college team tee shirts, the majority of my clothing is LL Bean or Lands End. I’m not clothing conscious and hate anything with gaudy branding. They’re comfortable, wear well, and reasonably priced. I am comfortable with who I am and as long as my wife thinks I look nice, I could care less what anyone else thinks. Makes clothes shopping a lot easier.
I need to know where I can find truly brandless part-bamboo exercise MUFTI shirts
Muji Rushi? (muji.us)
Probably would work for casual wear. Great tip!
I have no idea what that even is lol
Its a material that this brand makes that has nice hand to it
https://www.tascperformance.com/
But I don't think they have a patent
Oh it's a real thing lol
I thought you were just throwing words together
haha!
Same! Jack should get some printed up!
Next time you're out and about, look at the cars around you. See how many of them have either a badge, or a decal or a license-plate surround of the dealership where the car was purchased. I'll bet you almost all of the cars you'll see have it.
When I bought my current car, I took a spool of fishing line, a Leatherman, a rag and a can of WD-40 with me. First thing I did before leaving was take the dealer decal off the back.
When the salesman asked what I was doing, I told him if they wanted me to advertise for them, they could pay me.
Nice.
You and my maternal grandfather would have understood each other well.
Pay close attention to how many cars you see that feature a sticker with the owner’s Instagram handle.
Oh, I know.
Usually slammed imports that look like they forgot to install the springs when they put the suspension together.
Is there some standard sized sticker because I personally would find it hilarious to cover up these guys Instagram logos with a sticker that sends it to a different instagram that says "Hey, I'm a twat" knowing it would take months for them to figure it out.
I don't know, but I'm sure an industrious gent could come up with something appropriate...
I dabble in graphic design and a buddy paid me to make him some tiny-penis magnets (he didn't want to actually vandalize anything) to stick to the bumpers of the shiny wannabe monster trucks that drive around here (we live in a city, and my buddy drives a Honda Element, for the record.) After a couple of days I see a few around town, and then see the same trucks a few days later with magnets still in place, including on the (wannabe monster) truck of a mutual friend of ours. I catch up with the guy and ask him about the magnet and he flips out (and I start to laugh) and then he *really* flips out. He didn't realize it was a magnet, was worried about the finish and never bothered to even take a fingernail to it.
If you're looking at surfaces a magnet won't stick to (and don't wanna properly vandalize someone's shit, because that's not cool) you'll want whatever material those 'reusable' soft plastic stickers are made from. I have no experience making my own but used to stick them to all sorts of things around the house growing up.
As far as actual stickers, I'm gonna confess here to being a longtime Apple user and having a big stack of their logo stickers that come with everything they sell. I have a few competent, manly friends that have things like straight edges and WD-40 on hand; once a year I'll stick one on the rear glass of their cars and (secretly) enjoy watching them drive around town for longer than I think they would.
I've never said anything to any of them before, but have been tempted because sometimes it's months before the sticker disappears.
That's the perfect vandalism. No lasting damage and really pissed the guy off. Well done all around! The apple sticker thing is pretty funny too.
There are several factions of my work that have professional displays that are stickers, (think registration) and I stuck one on the rear window of the 2 layers up bosses car, a very clean and always washed 3rd gen Corolla. Anyway he has just had the windows tinted, and was super pissed cause he thought that he would destroy his window tint in the removal of said sticker... he send one of his underlings on a detective hunt, eventually they got to me at which point I had a nice guffaw that he thought window tint was on the outside. The underling was harried and just took it off himself...
sounds like the guy who would stick "Mall Rated" badges to 4x4s capable of crossing the Rubicon but never tackling anything more arduous than speed bumps.
Do you remember that “you’ve been rejected” phone line? I came of age in socal and there was some phone number that was an answering machine that said “congratulations! You’ve been rejected!!” And hot gurls would pass it out to dudes they wanted to get rid of.
Yes. That came about back when I was in college. The rejection hotline
"Locally hated"
my brother in Christ nobody knows who you are
Please be joking.
No. No, I'm afraid not.
i have 2 unused sheets of round stickers with a picture of a screw on them. the idea of course is to use that to cover the heart on bumper stickers. laughed a lot when i first saw them; pitied the people i'd've used them on so i never used a one
At least it's not "I Heart My Granddogs."
Granddogs...fucking modern world.
They also sell those in playing card suits for the same application.....spade, club.
I remember those being advertised. I wanted to put them over bumper stickers that said "I [heart] my Golden Retriever."
I have some of those too.
And have never used one.
I refuse to buy a car from carmax for precisely that reason. My Mazda had a sticker that was easy enough to remove. The Audi dealer was not trashy enough to add one.
I did the same.
I have a Ralph Spoilsport Motors: Take The Freeway of Your Choice in Any Direction license plate frame. I guess it's an identifier to other Firesign Theatre fans.
my father said the same thing before taking delivery of the first new car he ever bought - a 1984 Mustang SVO. told the dealer he would refuse delivery if he saw a sticker or badge on it.
my 993 has a faded metal(!) Brumos Porsche dealership license plate frame that Jack sent me many years ago. People who know, know. Everyone else asks me when I lived in Jacksonville.
Zero of my cars have any dealer decal or badges on them. I am surprisingly lax about license plate brackets. They all go eventually, but I hate paying for them and don't really like anything any of them say. As much as I love college football, as I am researching schools for my daughter I am getting embarrassed about what tOSU has become as a school.
In HS though, it was a different story. For whatever reason my nickname was "Krieger". When I took my first visit to Columbus and saw there was a Krieger ford, I paid good money for the bracket to put on my car back in NY.
I’ve not given a dime to my alma mater since they went from a two-day “pre-registration” “how-to” thing to a five day indoctrination session.
Both cars I purchased from my current dealer had no dealer decals at my request. A plastic plate thing is fine (comes off when the WeatherTech plate whatever goes on). Heck, this last time, they asked if I wanted the front plate installed (a year before Ohio’s front-plate mandate was lifted); never had any issues.
I go out of my way to wear clothes with no logo. It is hard to do and sometimes I just have to buy something with the least noticeable logo. If I do wear something with a logo purposely it’s got to be totally obscure.
My previous Miata (that I haven't sold yet) has the EUDM Eunos Roadster badges on the back an no front badge. If you didn't know any better, you'd never be able to identify the car. I might do the same with my current one, to be honest. Or replace the badges with chrome stickers because litewate baybee
MAZDA STOP PUTTING PIN HOLES IN THE BODY FOR YOUR BADGES!
I HATE THAT SO MUCH
fortunately there aren't any on the NA Miata
I wonder if they did that to my CX-5 for the stupid SkyActiv badge...
My favorite shirts are plain black tees, either supima or merino wool. For years, I wore one of these and selvedge jeans every day like a cartoon character. I dressed it up/down with a few shoe, boot and jacket options.
I don't even vary mine that much, I've got my dark jeans with either some tees and a Hawaiian shirt with a few shoes.
I really should upgrade my wardrobe.
Not if you like it you shouldn't .
-Nate
There's something to be said for a "uniform" although I love fabrics and craftsmanship too much for one.
Speaking of, will we ever get a post on that? Looking sharpish is a worthwhile goal in my opinion, and you've spent some time getting stuff made for you and paying attention to fabrics to write a bit about looking decent.
There was a suit/dress guide that Bark posted on the old site. I tried to search for the article on here, but couldn't find it.
Was that where he claimed no one could ever make $100k/yr without a suit?
-Guy sitting in dumpy khakis and fleece vest in a nondescript office making a lot more than that.
https://jackbaruth.com/?p=3172
It was a welcome change from being forced to wear shitty "dress" clothes to work for five years.
In retrospect, I would've been better off investing in a few more dress shirts than buying $80 tees and $350 jeans.
I don't know.
Having to wear a nice suit to the office every day would instill a sense of pride in the workforce.
Of course, I say this after gazing upon acres of neckbeard proudly wearing shirts with Naruto or "I'm done adulting" on them.
Bring on the Brooks Brothers.
At the time, I wasn't getting paid enough to wear Brooks Brothers shirts if they weren't thrifted.
My 22 year old son in his first job in Phoenix, has to wear a suit and tie to work everyday. I'm not sure it makes sense, but it sure sends a message.
Another guy on my route story.
Dude ran for Congress in Chicago five years ago and all he talked about was legalizing weed. I believe he put campaign ads on pornhub. Every single time I would see him he was wearing tight black pants and shirts. Shoes, socks, glasses....everything black and not a bit faded. If I see someone wearing the same thing everyday I'm going to assume he is as weird and sketchy as this guy.
Not the Fonz though. The Fonz was cool.
All I need in life is black t-shirts, jeans, and a car.
Preach.
Same here. I will make an exception for corporate shirts at company events, and those are coordinated. I once bought a hat in a color which was not my #1 choice because the picture in the webstore didn't have the logo. Well the product arrived with the logo on it. It took some time to remove the embroidery.
When I used to get cheap corporate swag like shirts or hats, I would give them to the homeless guys who panhandled around my building in downtown Chicago to wear. Just helping with the corporate branding!
something something kids in africa think the Broncos won every super bowl
I did the Fortune 500 version. Sadly, I never did see the homeless guys wearing our corporate branding.
ACF shirts when?
Like the idea of a laughing Jack Baruth face attached to a cartoon Buddha for this shirt
Open to other ideas
I'm holding out for the yellow satin jacket mentioned a little further down.
not shirts. gold lame (can't add the accent on 'stack; I mean lam-aye, the shiny gold stuff) hoodies.
I have my race team shirt, which I've given to a few people. It doesn't have my name on it, just the team name and prep shop.
seems like i've mentioned this before; the first stuff like this were countess mara neckties in the early '50s. my much older and marvelously suave brother (i called him a russian david niven) asked a friend how much it cost. he answered $35. my brother said for another 20 you could've had countess mara. funny stuff to a 16-year-old in the korean war era
Ha!
I looked up vintage Countess Mara neckties, there were some pretty slick ties to pick from.
This is in some ways a higher brow version of your TTAG Excalibur/Bren 10 piece, if I remember correctly.
Or you could pull a fast one and sell tiered ACF and TDC swag and see who bites. Then we can drag them in the comments.
Strictly speaking, valued commenters can wear the shirt on experiential grounds!
Ok then: Yellow satin quilted jacket from 'Driver' with the ACF hydra logo on the back instead of the scorpion. $1000.
I want royalties.
Edit: kraken, not hydra.
I guess I'm joining the Trackday Club because I didn't know I wanted one until you made it up just now.
"What do you do?"
"I drive."
>laps 15 seconds behind pace
I'M GIVING YOU A NIGHTCALL TO TELL YOU HOW I FEEL
“Assad must go!” Is one of my favorite memes
"Who must go?"
so good. top 10 for sure
Of course, may people don't know the truth about the whole thing. The man never gassed his people (criminally awful neocon blood-libel), and sails to re-election every time with 90+% of the vote. The love notes he sends his wife (revealed in some wikileaks cable dump; can't remember) belie the oddly-unanimous western characterization of him as some sort of monster. Probably a more people-focused leader than *any single politician* in the West, save Orban
My sister in law went to be a nanny for her dad's college roommate in London the summer of 91. He was an American and fairly high ranking exec at BP Amaaco. She got introduced at a party to a young Syrian ophthalmology student who went out in the garden to play soccer with the kids. Never understood why he was there until years later. Bashir al-Assad.
It’s as if he has a space laser giving our enemies cancer. Which would be indiscernible from God.
Me, I enjoy Honda Vintage Culture stuff when in a Porsch OR as tennis warmups. Go figure.
See, we all perceive different things as important. I think anyone who buys a Rolex is a poser/idiot. When I see one on someone's wrist, unless it's my uncle who greatly enjoys buying $20 knockoff "Rolexes" and showing them to everyone, I assume the owner has come into new money/funny money in the last 6 months. Unless they are no money and it's hocked. I had a partner who was a failure in the first 15 years of his legal life. Year 16 brought a nice bonus, gold Rolex next January.
Smarter buy is a Tudor of course. The Chevy Rolex brand.
I like my Tudor but don't wear it much right now. Should probably sell it for race tires.
A set of Hoosiers is balliner than a Tudor
I once took a girlfriend to my watch dude to pick out a vintage one for Christmas. The case was full of nice old bulovas and such, but once she put on the Tudor Prince Oysterdate in gold she was sold. I'm still mad about that, but it was really pretty on her.
Dont buy watches for women. Women should buy YOU watches!
I was still blowing through the portion of my divorce settlement I had set aside as fun money so I like to think my ex wife bought that watch.
I've told every girlfriend since that an Omega triple date would be a perfect gift for me. You won't know that I'm in love, but there will be signs....
I bought my younger daughter a nice vintage ladies' Seiko 5. Does that count? She's the only child of mine who always gives me actual presents on my birthday.
because it wouldn't cover the engine rebuild?
That stuff bugs me. I LIKE the design of some Rolexes, but I don't want to be seen wearing one (not that I can afford one but that's beside the point lol) because of the stigma.
I think I should take a page out of your uncle's book.
What's great is he could afford 100 new Rolexes and has for decades.
I'd probably make show of wrecking mine. Just to have a battered and beat to hell GMT to show off.
A beat up aluminum bezel GMT is a thing of beauty
I worked with a guy who had an absolutely beaten-to-hell Omega Seamaster
I'm with you, now that I can afford a Rolex level watch I am hesitant to buy one since I am pretty sure it would sit in the box because I'd either be too afraid of it getting stolen or self conscious about the image it portrays.
I still am perfectly content with my humble collection of G-Shocks, Orient, and Citizens that get just as much attention for the right reasons as a Rolex without the stigma or worry if someone decides they want one of them more than I do.
I have my dad's Citizen America's Cup that he bought when I was a kid. Always coveted that watch. He gave it to me when I turned 21. It's more valuable to me than almost anything else that I own.
I wore the thing so much that I finally wore out the clasp and almost lost it earlier this year. I'm struggling to find some sort of replacement stainless/gold sports watch that's not going to get me stabbed at a gas station.
Your comment reminded me that I also have an Omega that was a gift from my Uncle when I graduated from college, its not my taste since it is a quartz Constellation, but it rides in my watch box regardless because of the meaning of the gift. I'm pretty sure he told me to sell it to get what I want when he gave it to me, but I've never been able to part ways with it.
As for your Citizen, find an authorized dealer local to you and bring it in, they will be able to find you a suitable replacement clasp/strap even if a factory one is NLA.
That's not a terrible idea. I've sent it out for repair once before. I'd like to fix the thing and retire it to my watch box.
Originally, I bought a G Shock GA2100 and did one of those "Casioak" conversions to replace the Citizens. Half of the pins on the bracelet backed out on me during a recent trip and I promptly returned all of it.
Name and shame the vendor!
Get a glashutte seaq, better in every way without the douchery
I'm extremely happy with my SKX007. Same design as a Submariner for a fraction of the price while being a real watch. One day I might replace it with a Marinemaster, perhaps a GMT. I'm pretty sold on the Seiko brand.
I kinda wanted a Seiko 5 because the MACVSOG units had one in Vietnam (if I remember correctly).
The Submariner has always been a watch I loved, but now that I am in a position to afford one, I don't think I could ever do it, just for what wearing a Rolex generally says about you these days. Also, I refuse on general principle to pay over market value for a watch from a company that produces a million a year. I will probably stick to Tudor, and frankly, I think what they are doing is more interesting than Rolex anyway.
Happy wearing g shock
Brass knuckles in a pinch, too.
Hey, I hear that, my white JM G-Shock gets the most wrist time by a country mile
I bought a new Submariner in about 1993. It spent more time at the NYC service facility than on my wrist. Sold it after a couple of years for a small profit.
It was a disappointing experience.
I said similar in another recent thread. Once I got to the point where I could reasonably afford a Sub (albeit used), I had no desire to wear one for a number of reasons. The watch was merely something to motivate me to work harder.
I tried wearing a watch and I just couldn't do it. An expensive watch would turn into an expensive paper weight.
My grandpa gave me his G Shock when he retired. I've worn a watch almost every day since 4th grade. As cliché as it is, I feel naked without one.
Same here. I think I got my first one in 4th grade too. I also feel naked without one.
I wear my Submariner often. My wife gave it to me on our tenth wedding anniversary twenty-two years ago. It reminds me of the best thing I’ve done. I think she paid about $3000 for it new. I don’t care what other people think it says about me.
My guess is you don't come off as a "watch guy".
I mainly wear an Apple Watch Series 4 as it’s a tool for work. I can see my next scheduled meeting at a glance plus any Outlook or Teams notifications that pop up. I will not miss Microsoft when I retire.
This has always sounded like a nightmare to me.
I know I already replied but I gave this some more thought. I do like well-crafted machines with a purpose. I guess watches fit that criteria. I wouldn’t go out and buy one beyond what I have. My wife also gave me a Cartier Roadster one year for Christmas. I never wear it even though I like the way it looks. I did give her a Rolex as well. My former company had a sales award where they gave you about $50k in RSUs and a Rolex. When I went up on stage to get mine, I asked for the women’s version of the Rolex. I told them my wife deserved it more than I did. The women on stage almost wet themselves over that. Now my wife wears a Rolex that is engraved on the back with that award.
Ckuf teams.
I’m not a watch guy at all. I wear a big Apple Watch Ultra (dressed up with a $20 Amazon “titanium” band!) daily, unless I’m dressing up a bit with a Shinola. I think if I had a son to pass a nice watch down to I’d feel differently, but I’m not spending the money for a watch to go to my daughters or whatever douche they decide to marry. Kidding. Mostly.
With my luck, they'll marry some assholes just like their dad.
My two sons can fight over my Rolex and Cartier. My two daughters have a bigger battle though. They have to fight over my wife’s Rolex or her Patek Philippe Aquanaut Luce. I told the story of her Rolex in another post. I got her the Patek during the downturn when things were much less expensive, too many goods chasing too few dollars. She saw it in the store and I made the mistake of having her try it on. I paid less than a quarter of what it goes for now.
what if the wearer inherited his Rolex from his father, who received it from his father in 1973 upon earning his MBA but because of bad blood never wore it and tucked it away in a drawer, where his son found it (in the box, with the owner's manual and proof of purchase) 40 years later following his father's death when his grandmother said "be sure to get the Rolex" and he replied, "What Rolex? Dad didn't have a Rolex." and learned the story?
"Men would rather live in reflected glory than none at all. That's why they wear team jackets."
"Most men want immortality, which is why they have kids. Then they see how the kids turn out, and they try something else."
"Men would rather build a statue of themselves, but they know no one would come and look at it."
- Red Green
He was our greatest Canadian philosopher.
Keep your stick on the ice.
This is only temporary. Unless it works.
My other favorite meme was relevant to last months topic.
“I consent”
“I consent”
“I don’t”
Yes!
BRB, unpacking my First Principles t-shirt.
I'm really looking forward to going to Road Atlanta this weekend, but I haven't decided if I'll wear my BMW DTM Castrol shirt, my Coca-Cola Porsche RSR shirt, or even my antique Benson & Hedges Jordan shirt (holler if you hear me, Heinz-Harald!). I believe it's simply a way of signaling to my tribe that I am one of them. Of course, if you attend IMSA races frequently, as I do, the middle-aged white guy tribe is self-evident. I don't own a BMW anymore, probably never will buy a Porsche, and no longer wish to be HHF with a 700hp Honda V10 shrieking behind me. So why do I like buying and wearing these shirts? Because they look cool.
If I were FU money rich, I’d buy that watch, smash it to bits, melt down the pieces and drop it in the ocean. I’d film it all and put it online.
And this is how Whistlindiesel has 482 billion views or whatever.
Not saying that you're wrong.
Ragebaiting is lowbrow and I hate it.
I agree, but it would be hypocritical for me to call things lowbrow. I've come to appreciate lowbrow things to some degree.
Same. I'm not a terribly cultured individual.
I just really don't like the guy and his videos.
Me, I'm what's known as "Sophisticated As Hell."
One must cultivate a formidible command of the language, for one never knows when one must burn a motherfucker to the ground, bitch.
I’ll take a PBR over many other things.
I know a guy who does various errands for truly wealthy people: get my yacht from France to Texas and oversee its service/cleaning. Guide me and 3 other aimless Purdey-owners on a few days hunt on a ranch the size of Connecticut. Then there was this:
'Ive purchased a castle in Germany. I want it disassembled and the timbers brought to my [is yachtsmith a word]? Whatever timber from the castle is *not* used in my new yacht is to be burned.'
When you use your FU money to say, y'know....
That's the hardest flex since they dropped 100,000 bloodthirsty Somalis into Central Ohio as a punishment for voting Reagan.
Are there quite that many? I thought MN had by far the most, and around 80k at that. Don't know how America decide where to put the imported aftermath of our travels, over time. I will say that-- from my very limited observation-- DC hasn’t had a concentrated “post-adventure refugee infusion” since the mid-70s.
Probably start seeing some Ukrainians though. I mean, in greater proportion than, say, Somalis. Just a hunch.
There aren't. Turns out it's only 50,000:
http://www.somaliohio.org/about-scao.html
However, they are killing people at twice the rate of their African-American fellow-travelers, which is sort of astounding.
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2022/10/13/thirteen-suspected-members-of-the-bantu-life-gang-arrested-by-police/69559581007/
I just googled ‘which refugees have the highest crime rate’ and want to say
0. It took .00356911M3 seconds for the machine to find 1 quillion results refuting [sic] the question
1. It was really nice knowing you guys, while I was a person and could have WiFi and all.
I love conspicuous consumption; it takes a lot of the guesswork out of judging someone's character. The only wealth I'll flaunt is my kids. I've spent a considerable amount of time, money, and effort on them, and unlike a Rainbow Party of Porsches, I get it back in spades. And you don't need to buy a polo for people to notice.
I spent a ton of money on my son but he still comes off as pretty low rent tbh
Like Father, like Son?
I was going to make an “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” but I pick on jack enough already.
Nothing like banter between mates
Nobody has ever fallen as far socially as I have. My grandparents were Somebodies. The rest of my family went to good schools and respectable situations in destination cities. I once got fired from a job cleaning dumpsters because I wasn't meeting minimum standards.
My parents have spent untold amounts of money on me, from a Hickey-Freeman jacket to trips to Europe to private school tuition (where I was inevitably expelled; I blame a curse, having been born--literally--to John Mayer’s “my stupid mouth”). I come across pretty low rent for all of that.
I've never seen the point in branded clothing in general(aside from a brief stint in HS where I desperately needed stuff with Aeropostale plastered on it) and these days will generally pass on anything with a noticeable logo on it, with the possible exception of fine Japanese jeans. What's the point of marking yourself as part of a club with millions of other members? I would prefer to control the impressions that I give a bit more tightly - it's hard to draw any hard and fast conclusions in day to day life about someone in jeans and a plain t-shirt. I don't think people really understand what they are projecting with their choices a lot of the time. You're doing this thing, or wearing this thing because everyone else is doing it with no consideration for what it means to you and how people interact with you. It's like putting pronouns in a resume. That says something very specific about you, and whether you intend it to or not, it will affect your responses to it. I would, for example, probably wear ACF branded clothing, because it would say nothing about me to the vast majority of people. I'd know that anyone who did recognize it, would likely be someone I could at least have a good conversation with. I still wouldn't wear it to a first principles meetup though.
Relevant; predictable but rather interesting book:
https://www.amazon.com/Status-Culture-Creates-Identity-Constant/dp/0593296702
Wow...you mentioned Bashar Al-Assad, and it's like the scales fell from my eyes, CNN/FOX/Al Jazeera/BBC blue-pilled the crap out of me there, out of sight out of mind. He was the world's number one supervillian...until he wasn't anymore. And not because his behavior changed, but because the people who control the flow of information stopped caring, and so we stopped caring.
Probably because Donnie became the number one supervillian.
He also never did what they say he did.
This is material in the "is he actually evil" calculation.
Like many people who wish well for their nation, he is defamed and blood-libeled constantly
You're missing some bits there, like how his dynasty is built on the slaughter at Hama in '82 or the undeniable atrociousness of the fighting his regime engaged in to survive, barrel bombs et al.
But yeah, this is just gonna recycle in another 30 years like it always does as the next generation forgets the horrors the previous one experienced.
Begpardon. Specifically i meant to refer to the "gassing his own people" blood libel.
Ironically, it's the dad who was the true bad guy.
Bashar just wants to maintain some independence for the country, and himself.
I stopped buying clothing with messages just after Junior High. Family members will still occasionally gift me a new tee with the college logo, but they wind up being used as sleepwear. My watches have been Polar heart rate monitors since I stopped buying Timex Iron Man units.
I think my son isn't going to inherit any wrist jewelry...
Caught myself on this one- I did buy two Buell "race shirts." In 2009, shortly before I forever stopped buying anything from the local H-D franchise (they'd sold me a Blast and an XB12 Firebolt prior.)
Between the corporation that didn't want my business and the counter guys who were always trying to talk me into buying a V-Rod, the relationship was doomed anyway.