Best of Threads – Bags, Whiskers, J. Crew, and Green Stuff

What’s Dappered Threads? It’s our forum. Launched in 2011, Threads has become a not too big, not too small, just-right-sized forum that doesn’t put up with snobbery. All thanks to the users and hardworking mods. Once a month, one of the mods from Threads provides us with a highlight package of the last few weeks.

 

Verdicts on J. Crew

In the Threads, you can find discussions on a wide variety of nonsense, nincompoopery, high jinks, tomfoolery, horseplay, and shenanigans. But fundamentally, it’s a bunch of dudes with an above-average interest in the clothing they buy and/or wear talking about buying and wearing those clothes. Like it or not, for several years now, J. Crew has been the dominant purveyor of that clothing and has come to define the look of the modern western man in his 20’s to 50’s. Therefore, it is a rare man with an interest in clothing who doesn’t have some sort of opinion about J. Crew. Threads user thecharlesg, a J. Crew skeptic, solicited some opinions from his fellow Threads-ites and was not let down. Thecharlesg’s fellow skeptics included serenity, who finds J. Crew to be too trendy (and especially hates elbow patches); ianmichaelray, who is not a fan of J. Crew’s pre-sale price markups; MNJ83, who finds J. Crew’s clothing to be overpriced (like “common glassware at Baccarat crystal prices”); and LosRockets, whose opinion can be summed up in a word: “meh.” More bullish posters include Matchbook, devastitis, srlclark (who also gives a shout-out to J. Crew Factory), Aaron P., mjn082 (who appreciates J. Crew’s shipping to Japan, and should not be confused with MNJ83), and Moelman (who cites J. Crew as his favorite brand). Regardless of anyone’s overall impression of J. Crew as a brand, there was one thing everyone could agree on: DO NOT PAY FULL RETAIL.

 

Work Bag Suggestions

Threads user aaron, seeking a replacement for the “Jansport backpack and cheap blue lunchbox” he currently carries to work, posted a thread seeking input on a better way to schlep his stuff to work – and fellow Threads users came through. MrBourbon recommended a “grown-up without being overly formal” briefcase from Bespoke Post. DapperDukes seconded that recommendation. Mjn082, a self-proclaimed lover of man bags, recommended one of the three weekday bags (from Orobianco, Porter, and Sazaby) and four weekend bags (Manhattan Portage, Porter, Journal Standard, and BAPE) he carries (lover, hoarder, whatever…). Danny gave an enthusiastic recommendation for the spacious Samsonite bag he picked up from Amazon. Ryan endorsed a custom bag he picked up from a seller on Etsy, and thiswasandy plugged a Solo bag he also picked up from Amazon. In the rest of this remarkably short-but-wide-ranging thread, there were also recommendations for other bags from Samsonite, Bellino, Jack Georges, Korchmar, Filson, Frost River, Cole Haan, and Blue Claw. If you have a recommendation to add or if you need a jumping-off point for your own search, this informative thread is your spot.

 

Best Tool For Maintaining Your Hairy Face

Since time immemorial, man has sought tools to tame the beastly tangles that spring forth from his face. As part of his quest, the ironically-handled Smoothy took to the Threads to solicit advice for bringing order to his own emerging bristles. Rocco, drocpsu, and idvsego recommended different Philips-Norelco models, which Midlife Crisis seconded, but hornsup84 dissented from. Meanwhile LesserBlackDog, ForeverGuest, and Danny advised picking up Wahl trimmers (though ForeverGuest specified that one should get a model designed to cut hair for “more power … smoother cutting, less pulling, and less irritation” as well as better attachments). Eschewing this fancy business altogether, ianmichaelray endorsed a simple pair of good “stainless steel scissors and an assortment of combs.” Do you have any good tips for keeping the ol’ chin curtain in check – or, even better, some sweet photos of your own exotic whisker configurations? Come on over and let us have ’em!

 

Sunday Challenge – Green With Envy

It’s not always easy to figure out how to fit green into a man’s wardrobe. Seeking examples of how it can be done well, Celimos set green as the Sunday Challenge theme for the week of December 13th, and several users rose admirably to the occasion – without looking like the Riddler. JDI showed up with a green Merona jacket, a green Timex watch face and strap, green J. Crew belt, and green Gravis shoes. MJN082 wore his green in his GAP chinos and the laces of his Diesel shoes. Matchbook made it a Christmasy affair with a Ben Sherman Jacket, Levi’s Jeans, Brooks Brothers shirt and a Starbucks cup. LesserBlackDog made a solid showing with a slick vintage leather jacket, some Bean boots, and a pair of olive cargo pants from Lands End. And Dun came in with a last-minute-but-on-point (and also quite Christmasy) entry incorporating a green checked J. Crew Factory shirt and green H&M chinos. In the end, however, some jerk took the prize with an outfit incorporating a green Banana Republic sweater and a green etc. checked LBM 1911 sports coat.

 

What I Wore Today

As usual, Threads users have been giving a master course in How It’s Done over in the WIWT thread. For example, JDI posted a refined relaxed coffee run outfit involving a (crazy inexpensive) Banana Republic Factory coat, a J. Crew sweater, some Banana Republic cords, and some Clarks desert boots; RishiK showed off a casual office look with a J. Crew shirt, J. Crew Factory pants, an Old Navy blazer, some Moustache Store boots and super slick Omega Speedmaster; Danny showed off a refined office casual look of his own involving a J. Crew blazer (like I said above, the dominant purveyor), Macy’s shirt, vintage Scottish tie, and some Haggar pants; ninpb, Strider, and Devon each showed off looks involving, among other items, some very nice Alden Indy Boots; bread man flipped the calendar entirely on its head with a beach wedding outfit; andrewlcraft showed off a holiday party look; theskillets demonstrated how to look put together on a casual errand-running Sunday; and AsianDapper showed how to put together multiple patterns in a refined way. Oh, and JDI demonstrated that looking good hardly matters (though he does) when you put a puppy (!) in the photo. This is but a small sample of the great stuff being posted every day in the WIWT thread, so come look around for even more great looks, inspiration, and the occasional puppy.

Head on over to Threads and take a spin around. Many thanks to moderator Shomas for assembling this month’s Best of Threads.