So, you've decided to enter the illustrious, sexy, amazing world of menswear. After reading all the American men's fashion publications ever to hit newsstands, sitting up 'till 3am scrolling through the #menswear tag on Tumblr and flipping through so many issues of Free & Easy that you've got calluses like Eddie Van Halen after a masturbation binge, you feel like you've built the sufficient knowledge-base to start your own blog.
First of all, I'll say congrats. It takes a certain level of courage to put oneself out into the world, even when in 2013 the Internet makes it almost impossible not to. Second, I'll say you may have just made the most least fulfilling choice of your life. I mean, you think any of us actually like doing this? That is, talking about leather and denim and cotton and where shit is made and tie width and chambray and distressed and raw and handsewn whatevers? More to the point, you think I'm having fun writing about this shit right now? LOZ brah, LOLZ. It's pretty obvious at this point that we're all chasing some magical endgame that definitely-almost-always-doesn't exist, filling some void in our hearts in all the wrong ways like some living, breathing version of the intro to "Bump N' Grind". Your body's telling you yes. Your body's telling you YES.
I may sound awfully bitter, particularly for someone my age, but you too might just become bitter once you realize what a hater-filled world #menswear actually is. While the community can be a fraternity of sorts, it's really more like a fraternity whose membership is solely comprised of high school girls raised on the Player Haters Ball. If for normal people opinions are like assholes, then in #menswear opinions are like post-Chipotle assholes. Your collection of slim cargos is made in China? Slap on the wrist. You're writing that oxblood is the color of the season when everyone else says it's merlot? Excommunicated. God forbid you write some sort of ranked list? I'm just waiting to get assassinated here.
But I don't mean to totally discourage you. If you really think you've got words worth a few ears hearing then, by all means, go for it. Knock yourself out. Just don't expect anyone to support you, especially if you decide not to follow standard #menswear Illuminati operating procedure. The only thing guaranteed? Haters. My goal with this? To better equipped you in handling their often misguided, ignorant attacks. But as long as we're keeping it really real, let me just say that I saw your shit, man, and it was hella wack.
Jake Woolf is a writer living in New York City. You can read his blog here and follow him on Twitter here.
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