‘Those new to the forum or who are fostering a newly discovered interest in style should take more away from the newly-created “veteran” threads than just the pictures or dismissive banter. What you need to realize is that everyone (for the most part) chiming in on these threads has had a VERY serious interest in getting dressed for a very long time. They have invested a great deal of time, money and thought into what their style means to them. While there are a few narrow rules that they all agree on, if you read the threads at length you’ll quickly realize they all have different ideas and opinions.

Products from Pukimo Raivio

Kiton, grey sports jacket, size 50EU
Ralph Lauren, Black Label suit, size 52EU

A prime example of this is Ed’s penchant for black longwings with khakis. Much to the chagrin of Manton and Foo, Ed openly stated that he appreciated the aesthetic, citing Thom Browne as the inspiration. There was a small hiccup and some ball busting, but Ed basically said “if you don’t like, fuck you” and the thread continued. While they didn’t like the look, Ed’s clear understanding and appreciation of what he was doing is worthy of respect.

New members should learn a great deal from this. Not only will you never get dressed to 100% approval, but you should never seek approval in the first place. You should study, learn and then make informed decisions on what you like. However, that is only the first phase and not nearly as important as having confidence in what you wear and not letting group think determine your every move.

Far too often this forum is polluted with those who immediately recoil when critiqued or criticized. “Well, if the dudes at SF don’t like it, it must be wrong” is the exact opposite of why this forum was started. It’s also a mentality that will never lead to any flavor of true style. Unfortunately, this seems to be the dominant opinion and so now we see buzz word and brand obsessed fanboys who are afraid to contribute for fear of going against “taste-making” internet strangers.

Investigate. Learn. Understand. Select. If you’ve done your due diligence and appreciate the process then you’ll never let “popular opinion” dictate your success.’

~ bourbonbasted