Where can a man learn to dress himself in the Lower East Side of Manhattan?

August 24, 2009 4:58 PM

Where can a man learn to dress himself in the Lower East Side of Manhattan?

Like a dozen other guys on MeFi, my story is that I'm in my mid-30s and what hipness I had 10 years ago is at least halfway gone. Yet, my wardrobe still consists of Chucks, band t-shirts, etc, not because I'm clinging to youth but because I can never find "grown up" clothing that doesn't look preppy or lame. I'm not dead yet - I still go out to see music and comedy and readings but would not feel comfortable wearing anything too stiff.

Are there any places around the LES in Manhattan (or even in Brooklyn) where I could find some men's clothes with some style but also some dignity? I've looked through similar older threads and read all the H&M and American Eagle and Express suggestions, but that stuff still somehow feels too mall-y or department store-y. I'd even settle for a good used clothing store, I'm just failing to find a good one. Hope I'm not being too hard to please here :/

posted by deern the headlice to clothing, beauty, & fashion (15 comments total)

Maybe something like jeans and a sport coat might be up your alley.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 5:08 PM on August 24

A nice sport coat will take you from schlub to stud in one easy step. And we don't have it here in Aus., but I've liked the appearance and price range of just about everything I've ever seen from J. Crew.

You also need a white button-up shirt. Every man needs a white button-up shirt.
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:11 PM on August 24

Bonobos has their showroom pretty close to Union Square for good trousers.

Leffot for shoes in the W. Village.

Alexander West for tailored shirts.

Add some light cashmere v-neck sweaters and you're good to go.
posted by Spacelegoman at 5:34 PM on August 24 [2 favorites]

the difference between guys that wear chucks and t-shirts in their 30s that look like schlubs and the guys that wear chucks and t-shirts in their 30s that look stylish is that the clothes of the latter dudes fit better—it's baggy ill-fitting stuff that makes people look sloppy. you can still wear chucks every day (but please make them low-tops) or even the occasional band shirt if everything else on you (including your haircut) is snappy and you look pulled-together.

if you promise you're not a creep in real life: i love helping my friends shop for clothes and would be happy to help you out for a few hours. a lot of the time, the trick is to try stuff on you would never look at twice on your own, and have someone to tell you that you're actually a different size (usually smaller, for guys!) than you think you are. be warned though that if the weather continues to be this humid, you may have to supply me with ice cream on demand.
posted by lia at 5:34 PM on August 24

If you're not a creep... take lia up on her offer...
I'm about the same age as you with the same problem - I can't really dress casually.. and really the only reason I can dress for work s that a good friend of mine showed up one day.. told me my clothes were horrible and I needed to get a better wardrobe. She then took me shopping and, like lia said, made me buy things that I never would've looked at twice.. it worked out very well for me, and I have gotten comments on my style/clothing choices over the last few years.. all thanks to her.
This just reminded me that I need to do the same for casual clothing (although it'll be a while as whe just had a baby :-))

Oh yeah.. if you DO take lia up on it... man up and make sure you get her a couple of things while you're shopping as a thank you :-)
posted by niteHawk at 6:01 PM on August 24

APC is for the grown up chic hipster (and for young cool hipsters too!). They have a store 15 minutes walk away in SOHO.

If you are on a budget then go to Uniqlo on Broadway.
posted by avex at 6:07 PM on August 24

How much ca$h are you willing to spend here?
posted by ch1x0r at 6:14 PM on August 24

Sounds great so far, thanks guys. APC seems like a good direction, pretty interesting, not too preppy. I'd say I'm willing to spend $400-$500 to get some new pants, shirts and shoes. Thanks to Lia for the offer, if I can find a free Saturday next month, I will drop you a line if you're available!
posted by deern the headlice at 7:09 PM on August 24

Odin on Lafayette is great for grown-up hipster clothes. Also try Ben Sherman, Lacoste, and Club Monaco (all in Soho). If you want to spend some serious scratch, check out Barney's, J. Lindenberg (Soho), and John Varvatos (on Bowery in old CBGB's space). My boyfriend also wears a lot of Penguin which you can find all over the place.

Good places for discount name-brand clothes are the Filene's Basement in Union Square, the Loehmann's in Chelsea, and my favorite consignment stores: Tokio 7, Tokyo Joe, and Buffalo Exchange in the East Village. The latter three are sort of advanced shopping, but they have high-end brands for cheap (Buffalo is unbelievably cheap).
posted by alicetiara at 7:11 PM on August 24

It's over in the Meat Packing district but you really ought to step into Earnest Sewn and have a look around. It's a beautiful shop with handsome quality clothes for men (and women!) that still have an edge.
posted by thankyoujohnnyfever at 9:07 PM on August 24

I sound like a broken record on these threads, but Ina Men, now next to Ina on Prince Street between Mott and Elizabeth, is a great couture consignment store where you'll find very stylish stuff for a fraction of its rack cost. There's a unisex store as well, on the north side of Bleecker west of the Bowery.
posted by nicwolff at 10:00 PM on August 24

Seriously, look at some of the pictures on People/TMZ/<> .

The "stars" pay consultants a lot of money to help them spend even more money looking like they haven't spent all that much money on their clothes, while still looking "camera-ready".

Find some famous people who have something close to your body type and/or coloring, and imitate a little. Once you know what you're looking for, it doesn't matter where you buy your couture, just pick things off the rack that match what you can picture yourself wearing.

Bring along a trustworthy woman to help with reality checks, in case you try something on that you thought you could pull off wearing, but really can't.
posted by Citrus at 7:33 AM on August 25

Insert "etc." where you see the angle brackets above. (Stupid code filters wrecking my geek humor! *grumblegrumble*)
posted by Citrus at 7:34 AM on August 25

You're hung up on the word "preppy". It's not what you think it is. Traditional can be jeans and a blazer with a white button-down shirt. It's a style, not fashion. The trick here is knowing what blazer you should be wearing. Most men go to Brook's and buy one of those - as you say- "stiff" jackets. There are better options.

Barney's is having a sale. They do updated traditional as well as anyone. I'm convinced their mens buyers are all ex-Ralph Lauren. Paul Smith is another. Highly recommended. And of course Loro Piana if you have no concern with price tags.
posted by Zambrano at 10:01 AM on August 25

If you take away one thing from my post, let it be the following: Epaulet in Brooklyn makes some incredible shirts. They're slightly high-price but the quality and fit is amazing. You're better off with one of their shirts than two mall-brand shirts.

I've looked through similar older threads and read all the H&M and American Eagle and Express suggestions, but that stuff still somehow feels too mall-y or department store-y

That's because that stuff is mall-y and department store-y. All three make the same items with poor fit using poor materials (and H&M falls apart as a bonus). Try J.Crew, Hanes and Uniqlo as alternatives.

I'd say I'm willing to spend $400-$500 to get some new pants, shirts and shoes.

Pants: APC makes great cotton pants and jeans in cuts that are modern without being skin-tight. Shirts: again, Epaulet. You might find the price prohibitive but trying their stuff on will change your mind.

Shoes: you can still wear Chucks or any other canvas sneaker, but consider grabbing a boot or dress shoe to upgrade your footwear. Check out John Varvatos (@ Barney's) for some boots, and Paul Smith (@ Barney's) for some modern dress shoes.

Again: it's better to drop $120 on a button-up shirt you really like than $60 each on two shirts you're lukewarm about. My suggestions might stretch your budget but you don't have to remake your closet in a day. Grab a few items here and there and you'll be on your way.
posted by achompas at 2:27 PM on August 25