GQ Magazine Goes Down

July 20, 2011 12:42 PM

GQ Gaffe in naming Boston Worst Dressed City: GQ Magazine in its "The 40 Worst-Dressed Cities in America" described Boston as suffering "from a kind of Style Down Syndrome" (since redacted). In a constructive response, Dr. Brian Skotko responds, "Mock my pants, not my sister."

He goes on to offer a way to make this a teachable moment instead of a disaster. Fox News Boston picked up the story and interviewed Skotko, who wore his mockable pants.

posted by plinth (101 comments total)

My sister, Kristin, has Down syndrome, and let me explain what “Style Down Syndrome” really is. “Style Down Syndrome” is smiling when everyone else prefers to frown. It’s spending three summers, in sheer determination, learning to ride a bike because you want the freedom to be like everyone else. It’s singing tunes from Grease at the top of your lungs with your friends. It’s celebrating a third-place victory at a swim meet with as much gusto as the gold medalist.

Style Down Syndrome is strong-willed, persevering, and forgiving—because it has to be.

That was fantastic. Good for him!
posted by zarq at 12:45 PM on July 20, 2011 [23 favorites]

If the Boston Herald and Fox News Boston are all a-tizzy about something, you know it's either of no real importance to anyone or some Democrat got caught doing something bad again.
posted by Curious Artificer at 12:47 PM on July 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Better these days just to be quiet.
posted by Senator at 12:47 PM on July 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

40? Isn't that almost all the "cities"?
posted by solmyjuice at 12:50 PM on July 20, 2011 [11 favorites]

If the Boston Herald and Fox News Boston are all a-tizzy about something, you know it's either of no real importance to anyone or some Democrat got caught doing something bad again

Well, I suppose your response on this is going to depend on how seriously you take a national style magazine indulging in some mockery rooted in making fun for the cognitively impaired.

I think it was petty, mean, and classless.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:51 PM on July 20, 2011 [12 favorites]

of, rather, not for.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:51 PM on July 20, 2011

Please let us not get distracted from the fact that Boston is, in fact, the worst dressed city in the entire known world.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:54 PM on July 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

So conflicted here.

I don't care about what GQ thinks (or says, really).
Based on that picture I love Skotko and his sister.
Being on the same side of an issue as the Herald and Fox 25? It just feels wrong.
posted by benito.strauss at 12:55 PM on July 20, 2011 [9 favorites]

Wow, those really are mockable pants.
posted by tommasz at 12:55 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

That's probably why we're so mean.
posted by briank at 12:56 PM on July 20, 2011

I'm sure no one can defend the editorial lapse; it's simply bizarre that GQ's editorial staff would let such a gaffe be published.

But since we're all surely in agreement, can we talk about how ridiculous the piece was in general? How many cities have we got in the U.S. anyway? And if NYC is #5 (and Omaha is even lower), does it mean anything to be #1?

That said, Nantucket Reds are really annoying. Wear red pants all you want (I used to wear a ghastly pair of neon green jeans, for some reason)--but the Nantucket Reds are so cloying with their Brahmin (or aspiring Brahmin) messaging.

Also, people wear too much (i.e., any) of that Life is Good shit.

Can the tags be expanded to include GQ, fashion, worst dressed and Boston? Seems like an oversight.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 12:56 PM on July 20, 2011

you know it's either of no real importance to anyone

Clearly not the case. Seriously dude?
posted by Chipmazing at 12:57 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

So Worst Dressed City and Least Friendly City?

I guess there's a price to be paid for all of those sports championships won over the past 10 years.
posted by jeremias at 12:58 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ooooh, I regret the brain cells lost to that article.

I feel like a lot of internet content is "random list as an excuse to insult things". In this case, there's no notion given about what "worst dressed" means or what "best dressed" means...rich people are tacky, hipsters are tacky, bohemians are tacky, trads are tacky...what remains?

Given that, the random anti-PC thuggery slur is about what you'd expect.
posted by Frowner at 12:59 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm sure no one can defend the editorial lapse; it's simply bizarre that GQ's editorial staff would let such a gaffe be published.

Well, a couple of comments have already been snidely dismissive.

How many cities have we got in the U.S. anyway?

A ton?
posted by kmz at 1:00 PM on July 20, 2011

It seems an increasingly large amount of US cities are populated by men wearing shorts and flipflops. If this horrible trend is to continue- and all signs point to it continuing- you can pretty much list every US city on the Worst Dressed list.
posted by xmutex at 1:01 PM on July 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

Admiral Haddock: "I'm sure no one can defend the editorial lapse; it's simply bizarre that GQ's editorial staff would let such a gaffe be published."

Cluelessness abounds at fashion/beauty/style magazines.
posted by zarq at 1:01 PM on July 20, 2011

40? Isn't that almost all the "cities"?

Pretty much. Once they got through New York, Chicago, Boston, LA, Miami, and Philadelphia in the top ten, I was left wondering where GQ thinks people do dress well in the US. The list, even if it hadn't included a grotesque Down Syndrome joke, is about the laziest set of Hilarious Regional Stereotypes and Look at That Fat Person jokes you could hope to ever see collected in one place. Hipsters - in Brooklyn? lololo
posted by Copronymus at 1:03 PM on July 20, 2011 [7 favorites]

What, a city that contains Filene's Basement is not at the forefront of fashion?

The writers/editors at GQ must be cognitively impaired in some way themselves if they thought such a reference would be acceptable in this day and age.
posted by orange swan at 1:06 PM on July 20, 2011

Boston cannot possibly be in the top 40 because there are more than 40 cities in Southern California.
posted by atrazine at 1:06 PM on July 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Well, a couple of comments have already been snidely dismissive.

I think just one, and, somehow, I'm not convinced that their thought came through right. But I welcome that poster to come back and confirm that yes, they really don't think making fun of people with disabilities is important. Somehow, it doesn't add up for MeFi.

How many cities have we got in the U.S. anyway?

A ton?

I mean real cities.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 1:08 PM on July 20, 2011

Also, if Skotko got a haircut he'd look like an officer of the Household Cavalry on a day off. You may draw style conclusions from that as you wish.
posted by atrazine at 1:08 PM on July 20, 2011

I have to say that the comment about sweatpants in STL was pretty spot on. Admittedly, I haven't lived there for a while, but every time I go home I'm amazed by all the girls out and about looking like they just rolled out of bed. I swear, Ugg boots, sweatpants seem to be the default uniform during the day, anywhere you go. And every girl tops it off with a messy bun/ponytail. Crazy. But the comment about toasted ravioli stains was just downright mean (but it did make me hungry (side note: how has the rest of the country not caught on to the deliciousness of the mighty t-rav? Boggles the mind))

Back to the point at hand, I thought the Dr.'s response was brilliant and showed a ton class. Good on him.
posted by friendlyjuan at 1:11 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Boston's the worst dressed? Nah. It's Meffa.*

* Medford.
posted by andreaazure at 1:23 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

My fake HTML taks about locals-only joke got eaten! Ahh well.
posted by andreaazure at 1:24 PM on July 20, 2011

That GQ click-o-rama is so full of shit it's hard to know where to start. The only people in Nashville who wear embroidered dress shirts, bolo ties, or boots instead of dress shoes are the drunk tourists on Broadway. Which is probably all whatever intern they assigned to write the blurb has ever seen of Nashville anyhow. If anything, Nashville is populated more with the style that the GQers attribute to Kansas City and Omaha (over 30) and Austin (under 30) than with the style in whatever noisy kitschy tourist trap the GQ dude got shitfaced in. He probably had a couple of margaritas at Hard Rock Cafe, smirked at a few tourists from Peoria he thought were locals, and called it a day.
posted by blucevalo at 1:27 PM on July 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

Awesome. DC didn't make the list.

Instead, we get to wear our fashionable suits in this week's 100+ degree, 90%+ humidity weather.

Yesterday, I walked 5 blocks to get lunch, and had to change my shirt when I got back. The people who decided that business attire is not only appropriate, but mandatory 365 days a year here need to be collectively rounded up and punched. Outdoors.
posted by schmod at 1:28 PM on July 20, 2011 [7 favorites]

Boston suffers from a kind of Style Down Syndrome , where a little extra ends up ruining everything.”
I think the real insult is buried in this phrase. I'm no expert, but I believe that Down Syndrome is caused by an "extra" chromosone. I guess this extra chromosone "ruined everything" for Skotko's sister and their family. Very mean.
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 1:30 PM on July 20, 2011 [10 favorites]

Instead, we get to wear our fashionable suits in this week's 100+ degree, 90%+ humidity weather.

My lovely fiancee and I have toyed with the idea of moving down to DC (where, as more sartorially minded Bostonians, we would perhaps be more at home), but the weather, man, the weather.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 1:32 PM on July 20, 2011

uh. Maui is not a city.
posted by Ct314 at 1:34 PM on July 20, 2011

Ahh, lovely. An ex of mine was a contributing writer to this article. I don't know if he was the one who penned the Down syndrome gem, but it honestly wouldn't surprise me, especially considering that he lives in Boston now. What magnificent class he has.
posted by phunniemee at 1:38 PM on July 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

I'm amazed by all the girls out and about looking like they just rolled out of bed.

Because God FORBID we don't spent 2 hours putting on makeup, doing our hair just so and wearing the height of fashion to roll on down to the grocery store for eggs.

But then you know, women get the "God, they take so long just to get READY." comments. Can't win for losing, huh?
posted by FritoKAL at 1:40 PM on July 20, 2011 [9 favorites]

Oh, my bad. His name is right there at the end of the blurb. What a twat.
posted by phunniemee at 1:41 PM on July 20, 2011 [10 favorites]

Actually, I think that outfit in the "mockable pants" link isn't so bad. It's loud, to be sure, but it fits brightness of the summer season. Certainly better than sweats and a sports jersey.

Pink pants fit nicely into the summer dandyism technique of wearing top colors on the bottom and bottom colors on the top. Not for everybody, but hardly worth freaking out about.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 1:46 PM on July 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

How many cities have we got in the U.S. anyway?

A ton?

Tsk, tsk, kmz; here in America we don't use the metric system!

2.2046 tons.
posted by IAmBroom at 1:46 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Pretty much. Once they got through New York, Chicago, Boston, LA, Miami, and Philadelphia in the top ten, I was left wondering where GQ thinks people do dress well in the US. The list, even if it hadn't included a grotesque Down Syndrome joke, is about the laziest set of Hilarious Regional Stereotypes and Look at That Fat Person jokes you could hope to ever see collected in one place. Hipsters - in Brooklyn? lololo

Their picture for Chicago is from an SNL sketch from the 90s, for chrissake.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:48 PM on July 20, 2011

Tsk, tsk, kmz; here in America we don't use the metric system!

Ton isn't only a metric unit of weight and volume.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton
posted by FritoKAL at 1:50 PM on July 20, 2011

Because God FORBID we don't spent 2 hours putting on makeup, doing our hair just so and wearing the height of fashion to roll on down to the grocery store for eggs.

We're talking about changing out of sweatpants and maybe running a brush/comb through one's hair. There's not exactly a huge gender gap here. No one has brought up makeup except you.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:50 PM on July 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

We're talking about changing out of sweatpants and maybe running a brush/comb through one's hair. There's not exactly a huge gender gap here. No one has brought up makeup except you.

And I'm still sort of wondering who assigned you to be the "Ladies must dress nice at all times" committee here. If I want to roll on down to the grocery store in a ponytail and my post-workout sweats why is it any concern of yours?

Additionally you brought up women first, not me. If you wanted to NOT separate this by gender, you would have not just mentioned women. There are as many men who go outside in comfortable clothes with touseled hair as woman.
posted by FritoKAL at 1:58 PM on July 20, 2011

Okay, you can't talk about the fashion sense of an entire metropolis and then use photos from football games, retiree vacations, and frat parties as examples.
posted by katillathehun at 2:01 PM on July 20, 2011

Because God FORBID we don't spent 2 hours putting on makeup, doing our hair just so and wearing the height of fashion to roll on down to the grocery store for eggs.

Not to add fuel to the fire here, but a lot of the sweatpants-wearing, hair-in-a-high-bun, just-rolled-out-of-bed-looking girls I've seen are actually wearing full makeup. (It was a pretty standard uniform for college classes.) Explain that one.
posted by phunniemee at 2:02 PM on July 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Additionally you brought up women first, not me.

0xFCAF is not the same person as friendlyjuan.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:02 PM on July 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Also, people wear too much (i.e., any) of that Life is Good shit.

Life is often good, but I can't be the only one who gets the urge to suggest that perhaps people wearing it could quietly lead by example?

Also Dr. Skotko I salute you for your eloquence, conviction and class on this one. Well done sir, I am inspired.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 2:07 PM on July 20, 2011

Not to add fuel to the fire here, but a lot of the sweatpants-wearing, hair-in-a-high-bun, just-rolled-out-of-bed-looking girls I've seen are actually wearing full makeup. (It was a pretty standard uniform for college classes.) Explain that one.

Sweatpants and messy buns are fashionable right now?
People aren't consistent?
Women feel like it's almost more important to wear makeup than anything else (I've heard this one from friends of mine - they'll wear makeup to the gym) because we're socially conditioned that we're plain and boring without it?
Sexism causes some damn weird behaviors in the population?

0xFCAF is not the same person as friendlyjuan.

Yes, realized than on re-read. My bad.
posted by FritoKAL at 2:07 PM on July 20, 2011

Dr. Skotko is both a smart man and a snappy dresser!
posted by vespabelle at 2:14 PM on July 20, 2011

A lot of younger women wear full makeup because women are conditioned more than men that any imperfection in their skin is completely revolting and disgusting and nobody should ever be forced to look at them that way, and once you're doing that much you might as well do the rest of it.

I just read this whole list as a bunch of people who think they're important because they're Fashionable bemoaning the fact that the better part of the population of the United States has better things to do than spending all its time and money on clothes. Like, if you're acting like you're actually offended that people wear boot-cut jeans still, you have a problem with priorities. That someone in that position would then go on to describe it in an offensive manner is hardly surprising.
posted by gracedissolved at 2:30 PM on July 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

I've never understood the stigma against sweatpants in public. At a business meeting or at prom, sure, sweats would be out of place. But grocery shopping? Walking the dog? If I see somebody (male or female) wearing sweatpants in non-formal settings, all I think is, "man, that looks comfy."
posted by kmz at 2:33 PM on July 20, 2011 [6 favorites]

As of 2009, here are the top 50 cities by population in the US.
posted by zarq at 2:40 PM on July 20, 2011

Lest we never forget the adage regarding style and money:

"In L.A. they 'drive' their money. In New York they 'wear' their money. In Boston they 'hide' their money."

posted by ericb at 2:47 PM on July 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

I guess I should have explained myself better. There's no problem with wearing whatever the fuck you want to wear when you're going out, save showing off your naughty bits. My amusement (and that's all it is) comes when you go to the mall or someplace and the vast majority of younger women are decked out in Uggs, sweats and a ponytail. Usually with makeup, as someone mentioned up above. Like somehow every woman under the age of say 25 in STL got a memo telling them to dress like that. If you don't live there, you might not understand. Hell, I don't live there anymore and I don't understand it either. I just thought it was funny and something that I always notice when I go back to the Lou. It's become the city uniform for the under 25 female. I'm sure you could come up with some equally stupid generalization for the under 25 STL male as well. I bet it has something to do with the plethora of private Catholic high schools in there, but now I'm just talking out of my ass (even more than with my original comment).

So, in summary, sorry that I implied you must always get dolled up to the nines to leave the house and sorry if that implication offended you fritoKAL. Twasn't the intention. Just wanted to share what I thought was a funny observation about the sweatpant wearing predilections of what seems to be the entire young women population of my former home town. Honestly, I was hoping for more of a fight about how you heathens don't understand the deliciousness of toasted ravioli. Any takers?
posted by friendlyjuan at 2:56 PM on July 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

I couldn't help myself. I had to send a letter to the editors of GQ excoriating them for their insensitive remark. And yeah, I'm the dad of a kid with DS, so it hits a little close to home. The letter concluded, "Are you not familiar with the old saw that starts, "There but for the grace of God..."?"

Wouldn't you know it, someone wrote back:

"What we initially posted was insensitive and ill-informed, and we’ve removed the offensive language from the website. We deeply regret our error in judgment. There is no excuse. We are ... very sorry. "

I count it a small victory. Sure, you can let this stuff go, but after a while you realize that you're not making a better world for your kid by turning a blind eye. If one complaint letter helps one writer realize that ridiculing others for their genetic makeup is taking the low road, then I say it's worth it.
posted by vverse23 at 2:59 PM on July 20, 2011 [15 favorites]

How could anyone deny the deliciousness of toasted ravioli? Are there real people who think this? Is it an allergy? I just can't fathom.
posted by Winnemac at 3:05 PM on July 20, 2011

GC writes a mean-spirited piece about how everyone should dress like the tribe that reads their magazine? Awesome. Regional differences are part of what's makes all of our locales unique. Why should we all wear the same sh*t as defined by GQ?
posted by dibblda at 3:06 PM on July 20, 2011

what that is
posted by dibblda at 3:06 PM on July 20, 2011

I wear makeup all the time without being particularly dressed up. It's not because I'm crazy and it's not because I'm oppressed (even though I see how it might be). It's just because I love buying and wearing and playing with makeup, and since I can't afford to give nearly as much of a damn about clothes, I don't.

Also, I'll give up my boot cut jeans when I'm cold and dead and half my thighs have rotted off and I've stopped wearing boots. I doubt GQ will still want them. I'm just offering.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 3:22 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Boston: the worst-dressed, meanest, least friendly, and yet second most honest city in America.
posted by CharlieSue at 3:25 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

uh. Maui is not a city.

Not only that, but I'd say it's likely the couple pictured are tourists. This article seems to be a piece of filler not based on much of anything with a poor and insulting attempt at humour thrown in. It's like the old Vice magazine Dos and Don'ts painted except in city-wide strokes and without anything actually funny.
posted by Hoopo at 3:26 PM on July 20, 2011

There's a serious outbreak of sweatpants among college students in Minneapolis as well (men and women). I think the last time I wore sweatpants to school was in the sixth grade. I didn't take it up again in college and I'm not sure why that seems to be done thing around here. (I find it ridiculous--it sends the message of 'I couldn't be bothered to get dressed for class' and in my book, 'dressed for class' means jeans and a t-shirt or something.)
posted by hoyland at 3:46 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

GQ and, even worse, Esquire, are like if you took the concept of "smug" and expanded it into a massive fantasy roleplaying universe, where each issue is a fresh adventure module and nothing is real but certain people enjoy pretending that it is. The real world doesn't actually care about which town is dressed which way, or how you need to angle the ice to make a "perfect" martini, or if pocket squares are still cool or not (hint: they aren't), but, like Raistlin Majere, it's always a potential problem in the universe you choose to inhabit.

The main problem with the fictional world of GesQuire is that it has real-world consequences. You don't bash open a Louis Vuitton chest with the hilt of your Burberry umbrella and a pair of Armani pants (+3 respect) somersaults out of it, and you compare them with your True Religion jeans (+3 to stylin') to see if they're a better loadout for the campaign ahead (getting a table at Le Bernardin). No. For all of these things, you take out your credit card. For all of these things you take out your credit card and you buy fashioned cloth with fake money that has no real-world corollary and while the salesgirl smiles and folds the black dragon from the projects can't afford bread for her three little dragonlings and the evil hobgoblins die of AIDS in alleyways, twitching about in thickening puddles of their own piss and shit. But you got those god-damned pants and congratulations, captain, you just leveled up! Distribute your skill points accordingly!
posted by tumid dahlia at 4:13 PM on July 20, 2011 [7 favorites]

Where I recently finished grad school, some undergraduate women would wear pajamas to school which was kind of awesome.
posted by dibblda at 4:16 PM on July 20, 2011

Their picture for Chicago is from an SNL sketch from the 90s, for chrissake.

St. Paul is apparently only on the list because F. Scott Fitzgerald used to have a bad haircut.
posted by Judith Butlerian Jihad at 4:17 PM on July 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

My sister has DS. I've heard this same type of "joke" quite a few times recently. I find this particularly upsetting because people with DS tend to have warm, accepting personalities and kindness to give out by the bucketful, which is in stark contrast to those who use the disability to get a quick laugh.
I'm fairly proud of the way in which the majority of Americans treat my sister with respect and decency. This type of thing throws that into doubt and makes me wonder at their sincerity. We need to nip this particular "joke" in the bud to prevent its spread.
posted by Shebear at 4:23 PM on July 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

Where I recently finished grad school, some undergraduate women would wear pajamas to school which was kind of awesome.

I went to Carleton U in Ottawa, a town which is cold as hell in the winter. Most of the buildings, including the residences, are connected by a series of tunnels. It wasn't uncommon for the kids living in residence to show up to early classes in slippers and bathrobes with bedhead and a mug of coffee in hand.
posted by Hoopo at 4:27 PM on July 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

Oh man, I first read that as "Style-down Syndrome" and was wondering what all the fuss was about. How shitty of them.

And yeah, the 40th-largest metro in the U.S. is Jacksonville. Kinda scraping the bottom of the barrel, there, in terms of subject matter. Who escaped their judgmental eye? Poughkeepsie? Akron? Shreveport?
posted by Rhaomi at 4:30 PM on July 20, 2011

Boston: the worst-dressed, meanest, least friendly, and yet second most honest city in America.

In all the other cities, people are just pretending to be nice, like you, and care about your opinion of how they're dressed.
posted by mstokes650 at 4:33 PM on July 20, 2011

ericb: "Lest we never forget the adage regarding style and money:

"In L.A. they 'drive' their money. In New York they 'wear' their money. In Boston they 'hide' their money."

In A Moveable Feast Gertrude Stein tells Hemingway: “You can either buy clothes or buy pic­tures. It’s that simple. No one who is not very rich can do both.”
posted by -->NMN.80.418 at 4:37 PM on July 20, 2011

Clearly, these folks don't yet understand what we're trying to do here in Boston, sartorially speaking. Ah well, the lesson is there, offered by example, for those who want to learn the correct ways.

In the meantime, if my fellow Bostonians' style has frightened the GQ'ers, then let me warn them: they would do well to stay the hell off of Cape Cod this summer. Actually, GQ'ers, could you please stay the hell off of Cape Cod this summer? You'd be doing us a favor.
posted by .kobayashi. at 4:47 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

But of course. They wear Red Sox.
posted by jonmc at 4:49 PM on July 20, 2011

I never understand people who complain about college kids wearing sweatpants or pajamas to class; When I was in college I mostly wore my grocery store uniform and maybe a hoodie, as I commuted to campus and had to go to work before or after class, but if I lived in a dorm? shit, you'd barely be able to get me to put on more than a bathrobe;

I look at college classes like the gym: I'm paying tons of cash to come to this place and do an activity, and I'm going to dress for what that activity entails; further, if people want to wear designer duds for this purpose, hey, none of my business, but I have to wonder why.

Sure, sweatpants have the unfortunate tendency to give the wearer "grandma ass" regardless of his or her figure, but if you think being unfashionable is somehow "offensive" or "harmful", I feel you should do well with being kicked into the sea.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 4:55 PM on July 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

I never understand people who complain about college kids wearing sweatpants or pajamas to class

I'm not complaining, generally speaking I was envious of people who didn't need to go out in the cold.
posted by Hoopo at 4:58 PM on July 20, 2011

How was Milwaukee left off the list? Have they not been here?
posted by desjardins at 4:59 PM on July 20, 2011

Style (as aopposed to fashion) is a strange thing. Most of your Sartorialist type assholes would consider me a fashion disaster, but it's a rare couple of days where I don't get complimented on an article of clothing I'm wearing either one of my t-shirts, ballcaps or my Phillips head earrings. But hey, they can keep on being trendy or whatever.
posted by jonmc at 5:01 PM on July 20, 2011

I never understand people who complain about college kids wearing sweatpants or pajamas to class;

I believe I said it was kind of awesome....touchy touchy
posted by dibblda at 5:18 PM on July 20, 2011

How the hell did Hollywood for the Ugly, aka Washington D.C. replete with polos and ill-fitting khaki's one one side and Ann Taylor Loft clones-alikes, on the other, not make this list.
posted by stratastar at 5:31 PM on July 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

[Couple comments removed, maybe let's just skip the Geddit, My Use Of "Retarded" Is Ironic In This Context jokes and take them as read?]
posted by cortex at 5:33 PM on July 20, 2011

As someone who couldn't give a rat's twitching sphincter how fashionable I am, I am pleased to be moving to Boston next month. I will right in.

Life does not have to be a fashion show. For those who enjoy clothes and get off on being impeccably groomed all the time, good for you! Enjoy yourself.

GQ writers, please realize that the rest of the world does not have to share your hobby. It is not a moral failing. And please spend some significant amount of time working with some developmentally disabled people so that you can learn why this metaphor was in such poor taste.
posted by smirkette at 5:36 PM on July 20, 2011

36. Portland

Sure, but which one, GQ? There are more than twenty Portlands in the USA; which one am I supposed to look down my nose at?
posted by Sys Rq at 5:41 PM on July 20, 2011

If I've mischaracterized anyone here with my comment, I duly apologize. The rest of it stands though.

Touchy? Maybe; frankly, anything having to do with my being in college makes me angry.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 5:44 PM on July 20, 2011

But you got those god-damned pants and congratulations, captain, you just leveled up! Distribute your skill points accordingly!

dahlia, you ever want to come rant at GFD we'd love to have you...
posted by chronkite at 5:56 PM on July 20, 2011

Wonder if the large number of college students helps us or hurts us.
posted by maryr at 6:06 PM on July 20, 2011

In addition to the Down Syndrome crack, GQ also redacted their original photo illustration. It showed two women in Sox jerseys - walking outside Camden Yards, which despite also being known as Fenway South, is still in Baltimore.
posted by adamg at 6:17 PM on July 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

It showed two women in Sox jerseys - walking outside Camden Yards, which despite also being known as Fenway South, is still in Baltimore.

Ha. Boston only wishes it could have a stadium that nice!

_{While Baltimore only wishes it could put a decent team in its stadium one of these days...}
posted by schmod at 6:32 PM on July 20, 2011

The problem with sweatpants, pajamas, old t-shirts, Uggs, etc. is that you look bad wearing them. You can argue about, you can say you don’t care (which is obvious and doesn’t need to be said) but you still look bad, and worse, like you don’t care about yourself. No, I don’t think you look comfortable, I think you might have a meth problem and probably don’t have a job.

What I think happened was a few years ago pictures started showing up of >popular young actress/actor< wearing crap and people thought "hey I’ll wear crap too and look like them". Only they didn’t realize that >popular young actress/actor< was playing them, saying to everyone "I can wear anything and still look good, and you will look like a fool trying to copy me".

I don’t think everyone has to dress to the nines, just throw on a simple dress, a nice pair of pants, something without holes or stains, how hard is that? It takes 2 minutes longer. You don’t have to be a fashion plate, just show some respect for yourself and the people around you.
posted by bongo_x at 7:16 PM on July 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

This is ridiculous. There are only like 40 cities in America.
posted by Afroblanco at 7:23 PM on July 20, 2011

Also, the girl on the left in this slide looks like her head was photoshopped on.
posted by Afroblanco at 7:30 PM on July 20, 2011

Having lived in several cities, what interests me is not so much the general level of dressed-up-ness as the regional variations in what’s stylish.

For example, in NYC, you stick out like a sore thumb if you wear any bright colors. Everything is taupe, grey, black, and white. Everything. Like one out of 50 or more people wear red or any color at all, probably tourists. In the summer at least, what’s in is jersey fabric, simple cuts, and a sort of hard lined insistence on understatement and simplicity while showing off with accessories like sunglasses and watches, shoes.

In Portland, there’s a ton of lumberjack plaid flannel shirts. (which I love) Many more piercings and tattoos than the national average. Skinny dark jeans are pretty popular. Nouveau-grunge is still clinging to life. Punk hairstyles and beards are common. Bright colors and fabrics are the norm.

In Dallas, makeup, shoes and hair, man, makeup shoes and hair. BIG HAIR, pancake makeup, TALL heels on every business woman you see. BIG purses with brand names. For men, navy or charcoal suits with pastel ties. It’s probably the only city in the US that still clings to the delusion that shoulder-pads can work for you instead of against you. There’s sort of a faintly 80s vibe about the whole place. Designer labels are huge, bright colors and “polo club” patterns are in.

In Austin, you stick out if you dress up at all. Khaki shorts and T-shirts or polo shirts with flip flops are the suit for pretty much both women and men.
posted by Nixy at 7:37 PM on July 20, 2011

At first I thought it might have been a 'style down' thing gone horribly wrong, but that 'little something extra' bit shows they went into this one with both eyes open, night vision goggles and a fucking gunship for backup. And all it took to take them down was a dude with his sister saying 'Seriously? My sister, you fuckers? Your witty observations about shoes are more important than my sister?'
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:02 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Did GQ really think that comment was going to go over well? Typical GQ.

Incidentally, I'd rather live in a fairly friendly city that doesn't have constant shootings (like 32 in one weekend.. shout out to Philadelphia!!) than one that is more concerned about being stylish or being particularly svelte.
posted by Mael Oui at 8:45 PM on July 20, 2011

Touchy? Maybe; frankly, anything having to do with my being in college makes me angry.

Sorry to hear that, I hope it get's better because young and in college is about as good as it gets. If you aren't young then I understand.
posted by dibblda at 10:11 PM on July 20, 2011

Ha. Boston only wishes it could have a stadium that nice!

No, Boston pretty much throws a fit if you try to take its old stadiums away.

And seriously, Fenway. You can't top that.
posted by maryr at 10:40 PM on July 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm sorry if you look bad in sweatpants, but I look awesome in them.
posted by autoclavicle at 12:17 AM on July 21, 2011

I really don't understand what's so unfashionable about the way people in Boston dress. Does this mean we're not as elitist as everyone says we are?

Martha's Vineyard isn't a city either.
posted by giraffe at 8:06 AM on July 21, 2011

Surely they must dress well at Gay Head, giraffe.
posted by maryr at 9:30 AM on July 21, 2011

Nixy: " For example, in NYC, you stick out like a sore thumb if you wear any bright colors. Everything is taupe, grey, black, and white. Everything. Like one out of 50 or more people wear red or any color at all, probably tourists. "

This applies to casual clothes, but may not apply to summer business clothes depending on what area of the city you work in.

I work in midtown. Most of the women who work in my area are wearing summer suits or blouses and skirts/pants, and they definitely wear colors and understated color prints. Most men who work in the area are wearing dress shirts and ties, no jacket, with either dark or khaki pants. The shirts are usually one color, but color is common in dress shirts: mostly blues, cream or pastel green, yellow etc.
posted by zarq at 9:58 AM on July 21, 2011

This article mostly gave me a desire to incorporate more pleats into my wardrobe, solely because GQ seems to think they are bad.

But what do I know, I live in Seattle. Where contrary to their quick take I really do not see a ton of flannel. It's there, along with toques, in the winter, but it's certainly not the predominant fashion statement.
posted by egypturnash at 10:18 AM on July 21, 2011

Also I just got to #12. New Orleans. Being dissed for having a lot of Saints regalia around. Man, fuck you GQ, I don't live there any more and never gave two shits for football, but I have the occasional urge to show some hometown pride and rock the fleur-de-lis. The Superbowl win turned into a huge bonding moment for a city that is still deeply, deeply wounded from Katrina; I STILL see people living in trailers parked outside of half-rebuilt homes when I visit my mom.

(seriously, like ALL my nerdy friends back home who used to not care about sports now keep an eye on the Saints, it's kinda weird. But it's been a serious boost to the city's morale.)
posted by egypturnash at 10:26 AM on July 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Their picture for Chicago is from an SNL sketch from the 90s, for chrissake.

I read their little piece on Chicago fashion and I just don't get it.

Chicagoans like to hedge descriptions of their style with, "It's not New York, and it's not LA..." It's self-conscious Midwestern. Lucky for them, harsh 11 ½-month winters serve to excuse a look that screams third-coast-insecurity: The Parka Pierogi. Ingredients: Blown-out Nikes; torn cargoes; favorite novelty T-shirt; Bears/Bulls/Blackhawks hoodie—all wrapped up in a totally nondescript parka. Are those things municipal-issue?

I've lived in Chicago for most of my life and I can't picture who or what they're describing. I don't think I've ever heard anyone call their winter coat a parka, either.
posted by hydrophonic at 10:35 AM on July 21, 2011

A magazine makes a stupid, thoughtless remark, and the media respond to it with knee-jerk sensationalist PC.

There are serious issues that need discussion. Yet we keep getting fed this empty-headed animal food trough water - the Murdock 'scandal' or 'crisis' or whatever hyperbolic adjective has been pasted on it is another example - as if all these turds weren't simply diversions.

Teapot Tempest of the Day is a dumb game. Oh, sorry dumb people, what I really meant was ...
posted by Twang at 1:14 PM on July 21, 2011

And yet here you are.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:28 PM on July 21, 2011

Murdoch.
posted by ericb at 1:42 PM on July 21, 2011

... but, like Raistlin Majere...

What an odd similie.
posted by chmmr at 6:49 PM on July 21, 2011