Anyone who cares about fashion will tell you that it’s a bottomless pit. It’s more like a black hole if I’m being honest. Everyone goes through changes as they grow. For me, once I started, I knew I’d never stop. I simply care about what I wear. This is my journey through style.
2014-2016
Before I was around 15, being fashionable was not a focus for me. I just wore whatever was at Tilly’s or Vans. Quicksilver, Volcom, and Active Rideshop were the standard in my area. Sport fashion did not really affect me as I didn’t participate in sports where I had to look cool, so nothing special there.
The first time I ever thought that something looked cool was when I saw someone in highschool wearing the Nike Flyknit Chukkas. After seeing that pair of shoes, I was like – wow, maybe I should get some of those. A later release with the same effect for me was the Rainbow Nike Flyknit Racers. Those were absolutely stunning to me at the time.
2017-2018
My true interest in fashion started with the good old skate brands, like Supreme, Stussy, and the best in my opinion, Palace. As a person who would wear simple vans and chinos, these brands were easy to wear for me. I kept up with them but I never really bought too much since I didn’t keep a job. Overall, I just wanted to dress like Tyler the Creator. He always had a great style which was more relatable and easier for young people to wear. For a while, that was the vibe I was going for. It was a very trendy look here in California.
2019-2021
Vintage Phase
Throughout all this time, higher level fashion brands were creeping in my head in the background, but I didn’t have the funds to participate. This is where I started to go thrifting to try to find some cool things that I couldn’t afford otherwise. I was so particular about what I bought that I found very few things for myself, but my thrifting experience was pretty fun overall. My biggest takeaway from thrifting was that I really enjoy tee shirts with stupid stuff on them. This includes shirts with video game references, vintage computer brand shirts, funny phrases, etc.
Sine Clothing
During my vintage phase, I started to branch out a little bit. I always had a desire to create clothes, so I decided to take a shot at making my own brand and designing everything within it. Like most people who do stuff like that, I started screenprinting my own clothes. My goal was to make designs in my style that represented what I liked about other clothes. I basically just wanted my stuff to look cool and align with what I wear. I learned a lot about clothes through my own experimentation with making things. I also cut down on buying a lot of clothes just because I had already made so many things for myself.
2021-2024
A little later, I started working at a sneaker boutique called ****. This is where I learned about so many styles and brands, just through the people that worked there. Shoutout the guys. The store was never really busy, so we spent most of our time scrolling through our computer reading articles and online shopping. Everyone had their own personal style and favorite brands – it was cool to see such a variety of style within such a small group of people. Since I was working more I was able to buy more things and experiment with my style a lot.
2021 – Sneakers
The way I dressed from my first day there compared to my last day there was an extreme change – around a 3 year time span. Initially I just wore blank or vintage shirts and focused more on my shoes. Obviously after working in a sneaker shop, my interest grew in sneakers. My favorite pair that I owned at the time was the Jordan 6 alternate hare. The 6 is my favorite Jordan model but there are so few good colorways in my opinion. I bought quite a few sneakers during this time. Learning more from my coworkers, I soon became interested in things other than what I was used to.
2022 – Denim, Non-Sneakers
I never thought I’d be a fan of boots and loafers/derbys but here I am now. Even more suprising to me, I started wearing jeans when I used to hate them before. I never wore jeans because I never found the right pair. At ****, I learned about selvedge denim and got myself some amazing stuff. I really enjoyed the commitment aspect of it; they would look unique and exactly how I wanted only through time and wear. I started with some second hand Evisu and ended up getting a new pair with custom paint from one of their shops in Japan. Let’s just say I have more than enough Evisu for now.
2023-2024 – Selective Choices
I like waist cut tops, straight/tapered bottoms. I usually avoid bright colors and stick to the classic colors – blacks, whites, greys, and blues. For tops I gravitate towards button up shirts, camp collars, and polos. My outer layers usually have collars too. If not, they have some sort of interesting detail like a double-zipper. I’m very picky with my bottoms. I like an ankle length for jeans and a slightly longer length for trousers. My most worn bottoms are Kei Ninomiya Women’s trousers in black and my Evisu No. 1 Special jeans mentioned earlier. These bottoms go well with pretty much all of my tops.
For 2023 I saved up a lot of money to go shopping in Japan. I went pretty crazy over there and lets just say I’m a big fan of Kapital – I wear this stuff the most. This shopping spree was like a graduation in clothes for me. Once I finished my trip, I told all my friends I was retired from clothes forever. This was a complete lie but I really try my best to chill on buying stuff. I set up rules for myself and I think I do a decent job now.
Current Thoughts
Overall, I feel like I got what I wanted out of exploring clothes. I’m pretty satisfied with the wardrobe I built and I like how things are. If something really interests me then I may partake in a new purchase, but that does not happen often anymore. I will always be interested in clothes though. The ride never ends but I think it has slowed down a bit for me… I guess we will see.