Help me dress like a monochromatic cyber-weird!

August 11, 2014 2:41 PM

I love the androgynous, monochrome, highly structured, and BIZARRE look of Rad Hourani, Gareth Pugh 2011-2012, Boris Bidjan Saberi. I'd like to get my everyday look closer to the aforementioned, but I need some advice..

Body shape: Wee, jacked, and a bit fat AFAB. 28" inseam, broad muscular shoulders, v-shaped torso.

Current look: Black Carhartt dungarees on bottom. This summer my top has rotated between form-fitting tanks, sleeveless Ts and T-shirts to oversize lightweight shirts over form-fitting tanks. Fall and winter introduce some structured streetwear hoodie things from ARSNL and a shitload of sweaters.

I would like to punch up the structured/layered aspect in a less haphazard way than I've been approaching it. I also sense I need more kinds of pants, but I hate and fear shopping for pants.

I am fairly active and have to be able to wear this stuff to (tech industry) work - so nothing too movement restrictive.

I am looking for the following:

- Suggestions on individual pieces I could add to the rotation
- Suggestions on manufacturers/brands/collections to check out
- General advice on how to construct a layered weird cyberlook

I already own a shitload of army surplus things. I am emphatically not looking for army surplus things.

posted by beefetish to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (13 answers total)

You don't say where you are...but maybe there is a COS store near you? Oh, just looked through to your profile and COS ships to you. They use some heavy and textured fabrics, like neoprene and coated cotton. They also have silky, transparent pieces, that are good for layering. The shapes are often loose with a boxy fit. Their aesthetic is minimal and sophisticated. COS is part of the H&M group. Their clothes are not bizarre, but maybe you'll like them.

But the best thing to do would probably be to identify what shapes and styles you like and then look around the thrift stores if you can find something similar. Simple alterations - like an asymmetrical hemline - are easy and can create the effect you like. Also neoprene is not hard to cut & sew. This lady made a few cool pieces.
posted by travelwithcats at 3:32 PM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yes, I was going to say that alterations would be something that might really benefit you. If you knew how to sew, you could customize basic pieces so that they are more to your liking. You might consider taking a sewing class.

I think flat-fronted skinny pants are very good sort of blank pieces that help the look you're trying to achieve. I like J. Crew for skinny wool pants.
posted by sockermom at 3:48 PM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

You might check out All Saints for a few pieces. They're priced below designer fashion, but the pieces are still extremely expensive for the quality of material and manufacturing. HOWEVER, they do a few things well. It's worth it to try them on in person, if possible, because the sizing can be kind of wonky.

It seems like one thing you'll need are black skinny pants of some kind, either pencil thin (think tight on the ankles) or slightly cropped (with a straight leg cut just above the ankle). You can match these with the longer shirts and jackets better than most basic dungarees. They also look good with a variety of boots and other footwear.
posted by barnone at 3:59 PM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I am not super familiar with the references you dropped, so apologies if this is a bad suggestion, but I was doing some poking around online shopping today for a thread on gender-neutral fashion I think we both participated in and I found this and I think it would look AMAZING over the black skinny pants that barnone recommended you get.

Very like, creepy space station lab assistant in a science fiction movie made in the 70s.

I just got a $330 motorcycle-jacket-made-with-hoodie-material from an All Saints in an outlet mall for $120 and I am over the moon in love with it, so if you want more structured sweaters things I can second the recommendation for All Saints. The jacket I got is very high quality; I wouldn't say it's a $330 jacket necessarily, but I'm overjoyed with it at the price I paid.
posted by Juliet Banana at 9:37 PM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also, 000SPORTSWEAR makes some crazy shit.
posted by Juliet Banana at 9:38 PM on August 11, 2014

Best answer: Yeah, I think All Saints does things like jackets, cool tops and interesting sweaters very well. The plain generic shirts are overpriced before being marked down (you can get similar pieces for a fraction of the price at H&M or Uniqlo) but they do "slightly high-tech andro labpunk" thing quite well. It's worth it to scope out the sales and for special pieces that show off the unique angles.

Another suggestion - I don't have time to find the links right now, but depending on your size, there are tons of AMAZING Korean fashion sites online. They tend to have some great asymmetrical sweaters, tight pants, interesting accessories, etc. I'll try to come back and update with some specifics if nobody else does. But they don't work for some folks because the sizes are usually fairly tiny.

Finally, there are some great little shops on Etsy. Search for things like "black asymmetrical" or "black steampunk" (which I KNOW isn't the thing you're wanting, but some pieces will have cross-over appeal and people love that label on Etsy.) Again, I'll try to give direct links when I have time!
posted by barnone at 7:20 AM on August 12, 2014

Response by poster: Very like, creepy space station lab assistant in a science fiction movie made in the 70s.

#THE AESTHETIC

barnone I am super excited for advice on specific Korean fashion sites. I know what I'm looking for but I have no idea where to look a lot of time.
posted by beefetish at 7:55 AM on August 12, 2014

Best answer: Oak NYC
Complex Geometries
Sisters of the Black Moon
Ovate
Sophireaptress
Nuit
Noctex
Demobaza
also All Saints and COS
throw some Chromat and Zana Bayne on top of that

Korean sites: maybe Stylenanda? A lot of it is pretty feminine, but I've gotten some plain/oversize/androgynous stuff there, especially in the winter. They also have stuff like neoprene hoodies; I want to get one for fall. My wife had some luck with theurbanapparel

My wife and I both do the androgynous healthgoth low budget Rick Owens/Gareth Pugh whatever thing; we work in the tech industry. I like to call my style "black metal yoga instructor in the Skyrim universe", which is basically sort of healthgoth. which is in the same family of your aesthetic, sounds like.

I layer in a lot of James Perse tanks/shirts. A lot of my clothes are from Oak NYC; the house brand is reasonably priced. It's basic but weird stuff that's good for layering. My wife and I have a couple of Complex Geometries shirt...thingies that we wear all the time; it's expensive but I've gotten so many wears out of mine, winter and summer. We have a bunch of All Saints stuff; I live in these skeggings with stuff layered over. I have an Ovate hoodie that I really love; my wife has the same hoodie without sleeves that I steal sometimes. My wife has this shirt from Sophireaptress that she wears all the time. I have a Zana Bayne harness, and I'm lusting everything from Chromat. I haven't bought anything from Noctex or from the Demobaza line, but they look interesting. And I find random stuff at H&M, stylemint, uniqlo, etc.

I wear a lot of sneakers/boots and drapey stuff and scarves and just layer stuff. And I pretty much only wear black, gray, navy, olive, brown, and maaaaaybe some cream if I'm feeling frisky. mostly black.
posted by hotelechozulu at 12:08 PM on August 12, 2014 [10 favorites]

ugh hotelechozulu i didn't even know skeggings where a thing much less that i desperately need them
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:12 PM on August 12, 2014 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: wow ive apparently been healthgoth since like 2009
posted by beefetish at 1:16 PM on August 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: hey hez can i memail you a million dumb in-detail questions about sizing/fitting idiosyncracies w/r/t these various brands? i am super excited about this stuff and also deeply irked that portland does not appear to be a nexus of forward-looking monochrome Hawkwind Mythology Full Coverage Cozy Cyberthing boutiques
posted by beefetish at 10:38 PM on August 12, 2014

sure!

might have to steal the phrase "forward-looking monochrome Hawkwind Mythology Full Coverage Cozy Cyberthings"
posted by hotelechozulu at 7:03 AM on August 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

If you can afford it!
posted by kenko at 8:56 PM on January 3, 2015