Paul usually writes about technology, but he writes about travel too. And he’s currently on a year-long ramble around the states. How then, could he write about both men’s style and travel when he’s going to be living out of a van and skipping showers? By interviewing people in the places he visits and getting their take on the local look. Follow his other adventures on drivinginertia.com.
Phoenix is a modern boom town. It’s one of the fastest growing cities in the US, but it got rocked in the housing crisis. There are exits built along the freeways that lead to dead developments. But Phoenix, ahem, will rise again. I talked with a bunch of guys to learn about its style. Their average age was 30-something, none was originally from Arizona — both are common traits of residents.
Can you describe Phoenix fashion?
Well, nearly everybody here is from elsewhere – they’re people who want to get out of the winter cold of the rest of the country. It’s a big fashion melting pot – people from the east coast, California, everywhere. But everybody likes to be outside. We’ve got golfers, hikers, cyclists, skateboarders – everything.
Do a person’s outdoor activities influence their style?
Definitely. Take golf; of course there are the cliché retired residents in goofy pants, but you see high-performance polos at basically every office. They’re business casual. People golf after work. A lot of offices start early to line up with the east coast better. There’s nobody in my office after 5PM. There are a ton of golfers.
What about skateboarding?
That’s the California influence. Vans are business casual too in a lot of offices.
And they’re hiking shoes too. I see their imprint on every trail.
Definitely. You never know when you’re hiking – you may just stumble onto a half-pipe or something.
What about the locals?
This is still very much a western town. Not everybody here works in front of a computer all day. If you see somebody that looks like they’d carry a gun, they’re definitely carrying a gun. People are bull-riders. Bars have live bull-riding days, as in real-live bulls. The top PBR guys you see are local boys. They rock the cowboy look.
PBR?
Professional Bull Riders. Like on ESPN.
What else is important to a person’s style here?
Cars. What you drive is probably the most important style choice a resident makes here. It’s certainly the most expensive. The Nissan Xterra is popular along with the Toyota FJ Cruiser and Jeep Wrangler for the adventure-type. Golfers seem to pick BMWs or Audis or VWs. You spend a lot of time driving here because everything is so spread out, so car choice is important. When you drive everywhere, it’s how you make a first impression.
Got another take on Phoenix style? Let us know in the comments. And if you want to keep track of Paul’s other travel adventures, check out drivinginertia.com or follow @drivinginertia on Twitter. Top Phoenix photo credit: jjwright85. Camelback Mountain photo credit: runnr_az. Maserati Photo Credit: Dru Bloomfield.
You must have caught that maserati on one of the 2 rainy days… Or coming out of a car wash.
PBRs……Pabst Blue Ribbon drinkers…..
I’m going to like this series. 🙂 I don’t know if this is the first post in the series or just the first I’ve seen (I’m new here), but I like it.
Here in Dallas, you definitely have some stylish ones. After all, we’re the home of Neiman Marcus. Heck, we have 3 Neiman Marcus stores and 2 Last Calls within a 30 minute drive of my house (and I have no idea how they ALL stay in business). The downtown (original) store is usually pretty empty, but I understand that they still sell a lot of volume because of phone orders from around the country from older people who aren’t comfortable with the internet.
For the older generation, think southern luxury with some gaudiness here and there thrown in for good measure. For the younger crowd, think $30,000 millionaire and lots of name brands. There aren’t a lot of cowboy hats (as the stereotypes would suggest), but they wouldn’t look terribly out of place if you some them, either. Boots are everywhere, though.
However, when you get into the suburbs and beyond, the casual, western and “working wear” influences really kick in – steel toe boots, Levi’s, and Carhartts. The fashion-conscious have really started taking over the suburbs too, though. The “old money” stays in their bought-and-paid for multi-million dollars homes in uptown, but the younger set are moving out to the burbs and taking their style with them. I imagine that the same is also happening everywhere else, though.
*inhale*
first thing that popped into my mind as well
I have no love for people who judge others on what kind of car they drive. Just sayin’
I moved to Yuma, AZ this year and found it to be a style and cultural desert. Phoenix has been an oasis for shopping and style. The casual style is pervasive here but few men wear shirts with buttons. Labels and cars with chrome wheels seem to be the most common statement of one’s style and taste. On the other end of the poor taste spectrum is the lifted truck driving, Tapout flat billed hat crowd. It makes my small midwest city seem cosmopolitan and makes me appreciate sites like dappered!
Totally. Took a while to figure out why a hipster beer company was so interested in bull riding.
Can’t wait to get to Texas. Just need some warmer weather.
It’s a terrible way to judge. People make themselves poor to look rich when they drive.
I’m headed towards Yuma … eventually. Have you crossed the border?
Marcello Matroianni is purported to have said that, “people judge a man by two things, 1. by the car he drives, and 2, I can’t remember the second thing.”
I’m on the East Coast, but I’ve spent a lot of time in Phoenix, and I would pretty much agree with everything said in the interview. Scottsdale even more so. It’s a strange place when coming from the East Coast. There’s an unbelievable amount of money, but the pretentiousness is not the same as when encountering that kind of money on the East Coast. There’s not very much diversity, either, which sometimes leads to a bit of a one-dimensional style. The weather can make things difficult, too, though. Four months out of the year, I could hardly wear a t-shirt and shorts, much less a blazer, though I suppose that’s not too different from the Southeast.
And yes, cars matter *way* too much out there. It’s silly. I would never fit in with my 17 year-old Volvo.
I live in Scottsdale, (originally from NY). Have both an FJ Cruiser and a BMW, so you nailed that one. One thing they you left out: this is a sunglasses town. You wear them (and lose them) year round, 10 hours a day if you’re outside. If you don’t have at least 30 pairs you haven’t been here long enough. They sell them everywhere, from Optical Shop of Aspen down to Walgreens and the dollar store.
Shoes are having a renaissance in Phoenix, 10 years ago I couldn’t even find a decent shine, but today everything from brogues to cowboy boots flourish out here, but still not SF or NYC. It’s a lot easier to wear fine shoes in Phoenix, you’re not walking as much and the dry, warm climate means they’re easier to take care of.
The thing that really suffers in Phoenix is layering and outerwear, for obvious reasons, so you really need to find good quality t’s, shirts, shorts and light pants that fit well, and quality shoes or sandals, which can take you just about anywhere. A nice set of flat front trousers and a polo or pressed cotton v-neck with a blazer looks crisp and is dressy enough for just about anywhere in town.
Finally, we have Phoenix shopping. It’s no New York, or LA, or Boston. No Indochino, or Barney’s. We have the standbys (Nordstrom, Saks, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, plus a few H&M’s, and 2 good malls), but we also have absolute gems like Well Suited (Designer mens consignment, http://www.shopwellsuited.com/) and Nordstrom Last Chance. The latter is the final depot for everything that comes back or doesn’t sell in a continent’s worth of Nordstrom stores. It’s like a giant sample sale every day, except with more sizes and occasional damaged merchandise. The sharp of eye, however, can score. I’m talking (and bragging now,) $300 Duckie Brown laceless wingtips for $20, and $500 italian ostrich lace ups for 90% off.
I think that we are going to find a lot of similarities between states/cities. I think the biggest factor is going to be climate. Someone in New York is going to dress a lot warmer than someone like me, in Georgia. But style is style- it doens’t matter if you are in Kansas or Cali. I like the idea for the series, but I don’t see big surprises coming our way
And I think Christopher Rafter’s comment made the article!
Good point on the hot temps. That certainly must influence things.
Great point on the sunglasses!
There has been a Barney’s in Scottsdale for the past 2 years.
Phoenix is a transient town with most of the residents from elsewhere. California has the largest influence with a disproportionately large amount of former CA residents. The spread out city and CA influence has lead to the car culture & what you drive being important. Ever pull up to the Beverly Hilton in a crappy car? You would get the same looks if you valeted a hooptie at Dominic’s. Different city, same mentality.
The positive of Phoenix is the many style lemmings have left the state after the housing bust. There is no more easy money to be made as a mortgage broker so they take their untucked button down shirt and blue jeans back to NJ. It used to be that is all one would see in Phoenix. Now people are spreading their style wins and wearing any different things. Or maybe its just the stylish are more noticeable now without the aforementioned style challenged transient residents.
One poster nailed it with the weather playing a big role in fashion. There are great looks that will never be worn in Phoenix due to the climate. No one would invest in some nice overcoats or layers when the only opportunity to wear them is a handful of nights each year. For that reason Phoenix will never rival NYC in fashion. Maybe in resort fashion but not high fashion.
I don’t know what you think that is down there at the end of Fashion Square, by H&M, but it ain’t no Barney’s.
Perhaps this is unkind to say, but I can’t imagine leaving anywhere to move to Arizona. Arizona seems like one of those places, like many of the flyover states, where the only reason to live there is that you were born there and haven’t left yet.
You are right, it ain’t no Barneys (double negative).
Barneys NewYork opened a flagship store (not a co-op or an outlet) in Scottsdale October 2009. Yes, Barney’s own website lists it as a Flagship store right up there with the one in NYC.
It may not be what you are used to from NYC but no Barneys is as good as the original in NYC. At least you can shop the styles and have things sent to try out.
You also left off your list my favorite store, Neiman Marcus.
I like when people from the coasts think they are better than everyone else all the while they never branch out into a flyover state to find out what other places are really like. I think the most open minded and least xenophobic people are in the flyover states. At least they are willing to try a coast city and be open minded that there may be some advantages to living in one. They could just say I don’t care for the earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, brownouts, unbearable traffic, smog and shallow people. But the flyover people don’t say that. Instead hey give it a chance before coming to that conclusion. Having lived in many major cities in the world I could build a list of positives and negatives of anywhere.