All About The Readers...

[Paul McGregor]

Now the Forum's live its exciting to see people already getting involved, and building a community. When I have articles published, I always check back for comments to see what the readers think, and i'm sure the other writers do the same. This forum is really going to allow us to better connect with the people we write for, and a thread has already been started to help us tailor our articles to what you want to read.

What I wanted to get started though is a thread which you all introduce yourselves. Maybe tell us when you got into fashion? Your interests? How you stumbled across the site and maybe your favourite piece of clothing right now? Where do you normally shop? Type an essay if you feel like it! You're probably sick of me telling you about myself in articles, so fire away with your story!

[Tom]

Good idea, and something I was wondering, "do all these people actually like fashion, or go along with it because they feel they have to?".

The name's Tom, and personally i've never liked fashion, and always viewed it as a waste of time and money (unless your desire is to attract like-minded but smoking hot women, which I admit may be worth it) and shows no real sense of being an individual with the brain capacity to buy something you like or develop some sense of your own style.

I actually arrived at this site via google looking for suit buying advice and just kept checking back and it's been great for simplifying my wardrobe into a versatile collection that requires less thought to get dressed, which is only a good thing as you get older and busier. I'm by no means looking like some of the folk featured on this site but more thought goes into buying my clothes (even though they still mostly consist of denim and check shirts, at least the fit is better now and some block colours are emerging!)

[Pete]

I wish I could remember how I found this site, but its been a while, Im studying product design, love design, fashion and music ect. I feel all my interest all interlink quite nicely, so it would be good if I could just submerge myself in a world surrounded by these things, however Im only at 3rd year in uni and hence am skint. As for shopping, I probably find myself in Zara the most, used to really like allsaints, although the prices were quite steep for many things, and found myself becoming more distant perhaps due to its rise in popularity?

[PaulAnderson]

I’ve always had an interest in clothing, but never had the confidence to really experiment. I guess growing up in a small town where everybody dresses the same, it was hard to develop my tastes without being ridiculed.

I’m 35 now, and have a life and family away from all where I grew up. I’ve always worked in IT as a software developer, and have spent my life in the financial sector (more specifically investment banking for a large part of it). Most of my style choices have come from having to look smart for work. One of my more recent contracts was for a media company, in which I had to dress casually. In my year there I tried to expand my fashion sense from influences of my “media” colleagues (who generally dressed far more fashionably).

At this point I found FashionBeans, and have taken great pleasure in reading as much as I can. I still don’t really have a great deal of confidence in what works for me, but I have allowed it to influence my decisions on dressing my sons (6 and 4). In a funny kind of way, this has given me more confidence in trying things myself.

Here are some pictures of my poor sons that are being used as guinea pigs.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...8/IMAG0103.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...8/IMAG0120.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...8/IMAG0262.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...8/IMAG0277.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...8/IMAG0320.jpg

[Paul McGregor]

I’ve always had an interest in clothing, but never had the confidence to really experiment. I guess growing up in a small town where everybody dresses the same, it was hard to develop my tastes without being ridiculed.

I’m 35 now, and have a life and family away from all where I grew up. I’ve always worked in IT as a software developer, and have spent my life in the financial sector (more specifically investment banking for a large part of it). Most of my style choices have come from having to look smart for work. One of my more recent contracts was for a media company, in which I had to dress casually. In my year there I tried to expand my fashion sense from influences of my “media” colleagues (who generally dressed far more fashionably).

At this point I found FashionBeans, and have taken great pleasure in reading as much as I can. I still don’t really have a great deal of confidence in what works for me, but I have allowed it to influence my decisions on dressing my sons (6 and 4). In a funny kind of way, this has given me more confidence in trying things myself.

Here are some pictures of my poor sons that are being used as guinea pigs.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/psa198/IMAG0103.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/psa198/IMAG0120.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/psa198/IMAG0262.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/psa198/IMAG0277.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/psa198/IMAG0320.jpg

Haha I love them photos! Do you replicate the outfits you like once they've left the lab?

[PaulAnderson]

Haha, yeah, I do try. I have also been known to match their looks with mine when out. Sad isn't it.

[Ben]

Since I was 18 I'd dressed the same way sort of Mod style with hints of indie thrown in. I'd noticed that the indie look was becoming more and more mainstream since 2000. You were starting to see indie kids on things like X factor so I realised I had to change my look. My girlfriend bought me a pair of brogues when I turned 30 and my interest in clothes sort of came from there. I then started to ditch the jeans and trainers and started to buy more tailored trousers and slim fitted shirts. The hair got shorter and sharper and I started to build my wardrobe from then on.

I still wear the brogues to this day.

[Brown]

I'm majorly influenced by my best friends, which has made me a sheep in a lot of ways, but I'm slowly finding my own way.

Being a basketball player and hip hop fan, its fair to say that I opted for looser cut jeans in recent years, mixed with converse and a shirt / vest combo. This lasted for a number of years, and it was around this time last year that I decided I needed a change. I had dressed the same way for too long, and it was no longer representative of the person I was, where I was heading career wise, as well as the bars/places etc I was socialising.

Being around friends with a degree of style, (albeit different types of style - neither of them look "similiar"), I started to take some ideas from them and see what I could piece together. I started by ditching the loose jeans, and opting for some regular fit and tapered trousers/jeans. I soon had a love for all things cardigan, and was starting to mix in scarves, colours etc. All the time, I was bringing in new pieces, and transitioning from my old style.

I had found FashionBeans by googling "fashion blog", and one of the turning points for me was an article I read about "staple" pieces. A blazer, indigo jeans. I went out and got them.

I'm moving more towards a smarter style these days, but I still like to mix in some Nike Mogans when I'm rocking a blazer or shirt/tie combo, just to keep the look more casual and add a bit of 'me' into the mix.

I'm building my wardrobe from the ground up, and getting a little more bolder with my purchases each pay day. Although I mainly shop at AllSaints (although anything with the Ramskull is an instant no-no), I'm trying to move towards the likes of Reiss and Mr Porter for those items that aren't too 'high-street', and add a bit of class to my wardrobe.

As for favourite pieces, I have a £5 scarf from Topman that I absolutely love. Great pick up. I also have some "Kindle" trousers from AllSaints, which were an instant (and at the time, VERY BOLD) pick up for me last year.

I've rambled, but that pretty much brings us to the present..

[This Charming Man]

My mother worked for C & A (a cheap clothing shop in the UK which has sadly gone out of business now) and she dressed us in clothes from there, but because she's a bit of a clothes horse, me and my brothers always had new clothes, and I think that's where I started liking clothes.

I've always cared about my appearance, and music heavily influenced my clothes taste (think Oasis from 1995-1998) where I only wore what Noel and Liam Gallagher were wearing!

I then realised that this didn't get me girls, and I started taking David Beckham as inspiration, so out came the faux hawk, blonde highlights, sweatnbands, vests.....I cringe thinking about it!

When I met my wife, that's where it all changed, she gave me the confidence to go out and wear what I wanted and really take my interest in fashion a bit further. I didn't need to impress girls, so I wore what I wanted.

I like to keep up with trends, but I don't go head to toe in them, and I like to think that my style is modern, but not over the top....I'm 31 now, and starting to look into smartening myself up....but I find it hard as my job is casual clothing and I tend to spend all my money on clothes to wear to work as well as stuff to wear out "best".

I really can't remember finding fashionbeans, but I visit everyday.....

[Paul McGregor]

Great responses so far! I'm impressed. It's great to see a variation in the way people like to dress, and how they developed an interest in fashion.