10 Signs You're A Corny Menswear Blogger

Image via Complex Original

90 Percent of Your Instagram Feed Is Photos of Yourself

It's cool to take photos every now and then of a kit where you're showing off a new splurge you made, or the fact that you're trying something different with your outfit, but it's not a good look when the first thing you do when you get to the office is take a photo of yourself in the bathroom mirror. No one cares how many bespoke spread collar shirts or Italian-silk knit ties you have, bro.

If your style was really that tight, other people would be taking pictures of you instead. And if you really need to be complimented on how you dress yourself on the daily, you have got to get your priorities straight.

You Like EVERYTHING

One of the main gripes editors and journalists have against bloggers is their lack of distaste. Look, it's cool that a particular brand wants to work with you, but sometimes co-signing yourself with a brand that's either out of your usual range or a straight-up corporate machine is a bad look. Bloggers have an advantage over mainstream media outlets because they usually don't have to bow down to the whims of corporate advertisers  — meaning you can talk shit freely about whatever you want. 

If you're just starting out, write down a list of smaller companies you're really interested in and want to work with, and then make another list of stuff you wouldn't be caught dead in and label it something along the lines of "THAT'S THAT SHIT I DON'T LIKE" and go from there.

What separates the corny bloggers from people who genuinely have something to say is that the former are just in it to sell out as quickly as possible, and the latter actually want to cultivate relationships with brands they fuck with organically, develop a target audience, and be the expert in a niche they create themselves. Down the line, larger companies (and their bank accounts) will take notice, and you'll still be at a point where you can do things your way, not theirs.

All Your Friends Are Publicists

PR agencies are dope, and usually publicists are the gatekeepers between bloggers and their favorite brands. They are the people scheduling those beloved factory visits, assigning your seat at Fashion Week, and giving you press passes at tradeshows. But if the only party invites you get are from PR agencies, and contain the words "press preview," you really need to start broadening your horizons.

Yeah, it's awesome to develop a great professional relationship with the "other side" of the business, but it's just as important to keep things at that level without feeling like you're letting your BFF down if you don't feature a product or write about a brand. If everyone you know has an agenda or client to pitch, it can be hard to determine who really has your best interests in mind. It's time to find some friends who care about more than just clothes.

You Wear A Sportcoat to the Laundromat

We get it, you can tie a tie in seven different ways and fold a pocket square in ten. You can tell if a jacket is fused or fully-canvassed in its construction by pulling apart the chest piece just so, and to top it all off, you can pronounce names like "Massimo Dutti" and "Charvet Place Vendôme" mad accurately. But um... do you ever relax?

Seriously. Do you ever just get down in your white tee and walk around the house all casually while doing normal person shit like Swiffering the floor? It's cool to nerd about clothes and all, but not every week is Fashion Week, and no, there are no Illuminati cameras hidden everywhere to document your every steezy move. You might have heard the expression that it's best to dress like you have somewhere better to be, but that works best in a social setting, not when your "to-do list" consists of taking out the trash and cleaning the ring around your bathtub.

Your Business Card Says "Editor-in-Chief" But You Work Alone

So you call yourself an EIC... really? You post three things a day on your blog, upload a flick on your tumblr, tweet it a couple of times at the brands you write about, and you're an Editor-in-Chief? Sorry dude, you're a blogger. If your goal is to be taken more seriously, here's a novel idea: do good work. Blogging is a business, and if you can develop a decent audience, back it up with metrics, and are lucky enough to court your first advertisers, you're still only halfway there.

Real EICs have a vision as to where they want their publication to go, and often spend most of their time in meetings with marketing people, publishers, and other folks on the business end of the spectrum. Even Tavi Gevinson, the 16-year-old fashion blog wunderkind behind Rookie, has a staff that works with her and has to balance high school. Don't let that discourage you though, and look at O.G. blogs like A Continuous Lean for example, proof that if you stick with what you know best, and find ways to expand upon it, you can do some real dope shit.

Street Style Made You Start Smoking

For some reason, street style photographers love to capture that candid moment when a dapper gentleman lights up a butt on the sidewalk outside of a fashion show.

Smokers and non-smokers can agree: smoking is an expensive habit that has definite drawbacks. Smoker's breath, yellow teeth, and a slew of potential health problems, like, you know, cancer. But most people will probably agree that lighting up because you saw it on a street style blog is probably one of the dumbest things you can do.

Dead ass: starting to smoke because you think it's stylish, or because someone might take your picture, is like signing up for boot camp because you really love camo. NO ONE DOES THAT. Besides, a pack of cigarettes costs about $15 in New York... isn't that money better served going towards a really nice piece of clothing instead?

You Just Discovered Streetwear Two Weeks Ago

Life before #menswear was a dark place full of flip-flops, baggy button downs, and polo shirts with popped collars. You know better now. Tumblr has shown you the light. You found love in a double monk strap shoe. But sometimes you get tired of looking so goddamn handsome all the time. 

That's when you went to Lafayette Street for the first time not to get a taco at La Esquina or brunch at Cafe Select, but to "cop some jawnz," as the kids say.

To you, streetwear is a new horizon. Five-panel caps and Futura artwork provide the perfect contrast to your otherwise grown-up wardrobe. Yes, you wanted classy, but now you're attracted to a certain downtown grittiness. You are the streetwear phoenix, reborn through the ashes of Superfuture and Tumblr, proudly taking menswear to a place where it hasn't been before: the streets.

Except it totally has, and it's been there for about 20 years. Menswear and streetwear have had a parallel relationship long before Kanye West wore Jordans with a sportcoat. Glenn O'Brien wore Supreme long before he was offered a GQ shoot with Tyler, The Creator. This is not a new thing, but it is a trend that is coming back, because fashion is cyclical. As #menswear continues to keep its head so far up its ass that it can no longer see where shit comes from, there's no doubt that more guys will opt for more casual gear in the near future.

Your Only Heroes Are Street Style All-Stars

No, we're not dissing how your favorite street style idol dresses, but if your goal in life is to do what they do — well, you're focusing on the wrong thing. If you think running around New York and Europe getting your photo taken is an actual career path, you're in for one hell of a wake-up call. The kind of men who repeatedly find themselves in front of a camera have very real jobs. Be they editors, buyers, merchandisers, or stylists, the point is, they're men who happen to work in the fashion industry — which like any other industry, has its vanguards that excel in a particular field. One of those fields is not "gets his picture taken real good."

If your end goal is a fashion industry job, do your research on career paths. Do you like tracking trends and what kinds of pieces sell out in stores? Consider buying. Are you a fan of nerding about details in clothes and writing about them? Think about journalism. Do you want to be rich as fuck and be able to fly models to St. Barts? Umm... should've majored in Finance, dog.

Your "Unique Perspective" Is Really Someone Else's

Do you love nice Italian clothes? Can you pronounce Givenchy correctly (gee-von-she)? Do you know all the words to Thug Motivation 101? Great. Congratulations, now you're just another corny menswear blogger who loves hip-hop and clothing. 

If the early 2000s could be characterized by "Stop Snitching" then now we need a clarion call to "Stop Swaggerjacking." For each original voice and POV that pops up, ten more people hop on that bandwagon and hope to garner the same amount of attention. Who you are and what your vision is can't be taught, but it certainly can't be dictated by what's popular on the Internet either. Even in the information age, real still recognizes real, and in order to find out what that is for you, it might mean logging off and going unplugged for a little bit. 

You Lack Self-Awareness

If you're reading this list and find yourself getting increasingly angry, chill the fuck out. Breathe in and out deeply, and repeat the following phrase: "I am not saving lives." Because you're not, and anyone who writes about clothing — men's clothing in particular, knows it's really not that serious. When the zombie apocalypse finally comes, your expansive knowledge of English bench-made shoes won't matter.

Yes, blogging is fun, and gaining followers and fans is cool, but respect is still earned, and not given. The point is, if you can't embrace your own corniness and flaws, your haters can still use that against you. Remember the end of 8 Mile when B-Rab just goes in on Papa Doc while acknowledging his white trash upbringing and the fact that lives at home? So roll with the punches, and don't be afraid to throw a couple of witty jabs back. That's what twitter is for, right?