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Perhaps it is because of grotesque inflation which thus leads to the limited financial resources that the working class has, or because of sterile celebrity, but high-end fashion is not hitting for me. Every time there is a big event --- the Oscars, the Emmys, the met Gala, Paris or NY Fashion Week itself --- I am underwhelmed by what the big whale brands are selling to us. I am the son of a fashion executive, and a mom who will judge the outfits that I put together, so it is imperative that I look good as a Black man in New York. Ralph had some chic fits during his runway show, and you always salute when the goat makes his sounds, but every other big name should step it up. The best part of the Tommy Hilfiger show was Raekwon and Ghostface performing old Wu-Tang songs. It wasn't the clothes. A lot of fashion is dressing like someone who wants to be a character in Zoolander. Even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who I profiled and do admire, feels like he is doing a bit too much right now. Everyone needs to relax, and remember, to look good is to be stylish and practical; to be whimsical but grounded in reality; to be able to be at the Odeon and the chicken spot. Part of me thinks that young people no longer want to look hot or exude charisma, they want to exact retribution against the previous generation and their sins by dressing depressingly and being dull by way of faux style. (You heard me. You kids do not look cool. You look distressed).
Fashion is also to figure things out for yourself, to see what you can buy that looks good but is affordable and can inspire others to do the same. I used to like cardigans, but now I do not like them, and I go with the sweater vest instead. I used to dislike turtlenecks, now I adore them. When I was teenager in Harlem, going to Catholic school during the week for high school, I had to wear uniforms, so I was constantly looking for pants and ties that could make me stand out in a place that wanted you to look like everybody else looked.
The best way to make a dent, and look cool, is eBay. eBay is the best, and it is where I do all of my shopping. It is better than the mass consumption of fast fashion, and it has a DIY sensation because everyone is buying and sending clothes once worn by other people. Lately, I have been buying jeans. I bought a Wrangler jean, medium wash, nice little straight leg fit, that I linked at the top. (Wrangler is not only for Brett Favre and Josh Allen, it is also for me. I love how thick and crisp the jean is, making it perfect for the winter time, and for strenuous activity. I am *the* big man, and Wrangler is a great denim jean for me). Then, I bought a carpenter pants, a very underrated article of clothing in my eyes.
Sometimes, I spend hours just looking at coats that I can possibly buy. I'm eyeing some NorthFace puffers with some coal colors on the body of the jacket, and black on the top half of the jacket. A Ralph Lauren Herrington jacket --- that I won't link to anyone because I am not feeling generous enough --- is my greatest inspiration right now.
Oh, ebay! Your simple interface, your DIY feeling, your non-stop flush of clothing will always make you important to the world. I do believe in shopping in person, if only because it is human interaction, and it helps with knowing what will fit best, and what won't fit best, but when it comes to online shopping, eBay is like listening to rapper Future throughout the day: simultaneously comfortable and an act of greatness.
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I'm not much of a fashion dude, but I do buy my favorites used from eBay. My jam is long sleeved Vineyard Vine shirts from past seasons, especially if they are from events, like America's Cup. The quality is really high for VV stuff, and it fits me perfectly, so I have a stack of 10 various I've gotten from eBay at crazy good prices ($10-20) so I feel you even though I'm way more basic :)
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allocating more than just a few pinterest ideas and aesthetics in order to curate a style that youâre confident in will make you stand out. whether you think thatâs a good or bad thing, by âstand outâ i mean people catch a glimpse of you and immediately know who you are based on how you dress. thereâs nothing wrong with going with a trend if you like it, but itâs so painful to see people consume for the sake of consumption. i mean thatâs a concept for a whole other rec in itself, but what iâm trying to get at is you donât need to constantly use outfit inspo pics for outfit inspo. seek your surroundings, ponder your past, think about yourself as a piece of art, which you ultimately are. donât avoid wearing the statement piece that a stranger would find weird, theyâre probably just pissy. dress the fuck up on days you donât need to just for the hell of it.
and remember, donât get discouraged if the first âcrazyâ fit you throw on looks like shit. it takes time to make art!
and if you feel comfortable and beautiful in simpler articles, and youâre not into anything too bold or loud, still make it your look. art doesnât have to be complex, but make each choice have purpose. why choose one blank white tee over another? is it a specific hue of white? does it compliment other features of your outfit? is it comfy as fuck? show that to people and make them know itâs you. you donât need to dress to impress, but god if you bought that shirt only because your favorite influencer promoted it, or even worse if you bought it just because it was on a sale rack, youâre disrespecting your canvas! itâs like pissing on a van gogh oil paintingâ it might look amazing but you canât help but think about the fact that thereâs piss on it.
that brings me to probably the most widespread concern of consumers: cost. yes, higher quality products are going to cost more. itâs difficult in such a dense place like SoCal(where iâm from) to find cheap ANYTHING. i split a dozen dumplings for $20 the other day with a friend and i swear i couldâve called 911 on this food-influencer-aimed âchineseâ restaurant for highway robbery. food was pretty good tho canât lie. however, that doesnât mean that itâs impossible to find incredible clothing from staple secondhand stores like Goodwill. several friends of mine have landed at their unique styles that can be associated directly to them, and their closets are mostly filled with Goodwill Bins finds. âohhhh the Bins are so dirtyyy eewwwwâ yeah if you canât dig through some used clothing for a while donât complain about not being able to afford those $600 shitstained acne jeans. i mightâve gotten a little personal with that. lmk your thoughts on fashion and what it means to you!
you know what fuck it just wear sweatpants a sweatshirt and flip flops lifeâs not that serious
Oct 1, 2024
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god i could really write a whole essay on this
for context, iâm studying pattern cutting and have been really into/very specific about my clothes forever but have known fashion since maybe 15-16
because of how i fit into the clothes-scape my tastes cannot be separated from trends whether i like it or not. how i dress is rather on trend lately tbh
over the years my pants have gotten bigger as i grow more accustomed to the comfort of having less fabric on your body + the dynamism of a wide leg in the somewhat constrained silhouettes of menswear. also inextricable from wider pants just becoming more a part of the collective consciousness and thus my consciousness
my tops have gotten smaller & tighter as i've grown more confident and comfortable with my body. still love a baggy vintage tee when itâs warm though
maybe best way is to talk my fav clothes and why theyâre my fav clothes:
- plasticana clogs. super california shoe but also like a half clog half loafer. i love heeled shoes i think theyâre more elegant and just more smooth so iâve worn loafers mostly for the last 6 years. these are like if those felt like sneakers to me. so easy so comfy
- fadepants cords. super baggy, so fucking comfortable. really dynamic shape with a lot of personality. they just feel right
- slim gildan tees. they remind me of the artist guy in Blow-Up and the way that guy looks reminds me of the energy we all used to have in the wood/metalshops at parsons, functional dress
- hanes beaters. so new york summer. also i love how they fit me they flatter my build
- oakley sunglasses. indestructible. ridiculous shape in a way i can own. michael jordan wore them in the 90âs and i love basketball & his game
- bandanas. remind me of home. remind me of my gay ass new york friends. a lot of them were from home too but i met them all in new york. funny how life works. they suit my hair well when i donât feel like wearing a hat or i havenât got time for a shower, and itâs very windy in stratford a hat might blow off
- 90âs vintage snapbacks. they fit over my hair thatâs really the only reason
- our legacy borrowed bd shirt. it reminds me of the shirts my friend katie wears and those shirts are aggressively northern california. so is this one. and itâs just cute
- supreme leather collar work jacket. has all of the pockets, and the roundness/diesel type fit that a new yorkerâs jacket would have. and that makes me happy. form + function
i think right now my style is in a pretty solid place of amalgamating the things that make me me, between upbringing, interests, places iâve lived + the things iâve taken from them, queerness, and my growing understanding of how all the things i wear are made. feeling really good about it all. want to figure out how to wear 90âs retro basketball sneakers though because theyâre something iâve loved forever and im a huge basketball fan but theyâve just never felt right when i tried them, except foamposites. personal style is a neverending pursuit if youâre doing it right
May 14, 2024
In the years of 2020-2023, I was in my early 20s and very much in between aesthetics. I hated the clothes I wore, and was looking for new ways to express myself through my fashion. With the seemingly never slowing down trend cycle that was going at the speed of light at that time, and my tiny paychecks, I basically solely relied on Shein to allow me some freedom and creativity with my style. For a few years, I was stuck in the repeated cycle of ordering 50+ cheap items, and then donating 10-20 of them within the same year, and repeating that again when I would get bored of what I had. I would go thrifting too to try and "balance out" my fast fashion endeavors, but would end up buying more things that I hated by the time I got home. I could not figure out how to make any of these items work with my wardrobe, regardless if they were new or used. This reckless consumerism taught me absolutely nothing about my sense of style. I had to figure out the hard way that style is not something you acquire overnight, and that you cannot always rely on trends to find items you will like for a lifetime. Fast fashion has done nothing but taught us to cycle through clothing at a rate where no one can keep up, and has left many of us in a place where we are only satisfied with how we dress for no longer than a few months at a time.
Discovering your personal style is one of the things that should take time.
I'm 25 now, and I find it very important to source good quality items that I know will be a staple in my wardrobe for a long long time. I've decided that if I want to buy new clothing, I will get most of my new clothes from thrift/vintage shops and boutiques (online or in person). I haven't completely shuttered out fast fashion, though. I only buy items that I am able to try on in person to make sure it is made with good material (aka: the plain $10 Walmart zip-up hoodies that feel like butter). By embracing a slower approach to finding my personal style, I've found quite a few key items that I really love to wear over the past two years, and in turn I have greatly reduced the amount of clothing that gets donated. I am still learning how to accessorize, and am trying my best to utilize as much of my existing closet as possible. It is a journey! I can't wait to see where my more sustainable approach to a style journey brings me!
QUALITY > QUANTITY
Feb 12, 2025
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I'm often accused of being an "old soul", a categorization I vehemently dislike because it pretends as if my taste is because of nostalgia, as opposed to what is actually cool and compelling. (If something cool comes out now, I enjoy it, but we're in a down period when it comes to culture). But, something old about me, is that I do not care at all about TikTok ending, if does happen. If Elon takes it over from the Chinese, you might as well leave anyway, but I'm just worried at why this is a huge deal for people. It's just an app. Another one will be made. TikTok is not culture, it directly flattens culture into these ten second clips that take music, movies --- things that you need to process --- into something that is now consumed by everyone at a rapid pace, not allowing for the nuances, the style, the aesthetics to sit with us.
I have never watched something on TikTok and thought that this is something in that pushing American culture to deeper heights. I am sorry. Now I am sure they're good stuff on the app, but it's not really a necessity. Whenever I hear the words "it's blowing up on TikTok", my mind immediately growls.
I understood why X becoming overrun with Elon bots and right wingers is a big deal; X actually created things, made careers, made American life, and American events available to be seen by everyone. However, TikTok is a corrupt fantasy, chopping at the wires that make physical connection important.
Read a book! Go to the movies! Go to the restaurant of a cuisine that is unheralded, go to a baseball game. Who cares about TikTok?
Jan 14, 2025
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There's something quite startling about Martin Scorsese's 1980's period compared to the rest of his decades as one of America's greatest filmmakers. In the 80's, he was weird, strange, and making weirdly manic films that feel more New York than even some of his movies about the mob. They're movies about characters who aren't glamarous people that they want to be, but rather, are losers who can't seem to correctly fucntion in normal society. They're non-violent sociopaths. I saw The King of Comedy at Metrograph recently, and it's exhilarating, hilarious, manic, and scary. With Jerry Lewis, Bobby De Niro and Sandra Bernhard, Scorsese was able to create a world where incels who are bad at comedy are wishing for fame. Sound familiar?
This is a great movie. In 1983, it was a box office flop. But in 2025, it is magical in how it's telling the future. A future of scam artists who don't want to work to get there, and don't want to sit in their mediocrity: they want to steal to get their fifteen seconds. Go watch this masterpiece.
Jan 28, 2025
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I am a NBA boy at heart, the players who play in the Association are the greatest athletes on the planet, and everyone should check out a piece I wrote on the Knicks: https://jaysonbuford.substack.com/p/the-knicks-are-struggling-to-be-fun
But MARCH MADNESS is here. So, look, college basketball can be overly sentimental, corny, for hick Midwesterns, and it is not the smart league that the NBA is. Imagine watching Nikola Jokic or LeBron James and that not being good enough for you. NBA haters are, like, a bad financial month away from being KKK members, hiding in plain sight.
However, the NCAA Tournament objectively rules. It shows games every day, every hour, non-stop, teams that you would normally not see play, and upsets, upsets that break your bracket. Upsets happen because mid-major teams get better throughout the year, especially when they play tougher competition before the conference schedules start. It's awesome to when they pull off a shocking upset.
The games are on all day! watch them! BA BA BA BA BASKETBAKLL, GIMME GIMME GIMME THE BALL CAUSE I'M GONNA DUNK IT
Mar 20, 2025