Alright, so 2011 men’s fashion. Talk about a throwback. I remember thinkin’ I needed to get with the times back then. My whole approach, my practice if you wanna call it that, was a bit of a mess, to be honest, from start to finish.
First off, I started with the jeans. Everyone, and I mean everyone, seemed to be squeezin’ into skinny jeans. So, off I went to the stores. I spent what felt like hours just tryin’ to find a pair that didn’t cut off my circulation. Finally found some. Walkin’ around in ’em for the first few days felt like I was wearin’ sausage casings on my legs. But hey, I told myself I was “fashionable,” right? That was the goal I set for myself, to nail that look.
Then, the shirts. Oh boy, the shirts. V-necks were absolutely king. And not just any V-necks, but those real deep ones. I went out and grabbed a few, thinkin’ this was the next step in my fashion practice. My first attempt wearin’ one out to a social thing, I remember feelin’ super self-conscious, like, is this too much chest showin’? My buddies kinda poked fun, but I stuck to my guns for a bit. Layering was also a big deal then. So I’d throw an unbuttoned plaid shirt over the V-neck. Sometimes I even added a thin scarf for good measure, even if it wasn’t particularly cold. My process was basically: see it in some magazine or on some dude who looked cooler than me, then try my best to copy it piece by piece.
Shoes were another whole adventure in this practice run. I distinctly recall huntin’ high and low for a pair of those desert boots. They looked kinda smart, I thought at the time, and completed the ensemble I was going for. Found a pair, eventually. Wore ’em to this gathering I was invited to. By the end of the night, my feet were absolutely killin’ me. Blisters for days after that. That was a fun part of the “practice” – enduring the pain for fashion.
And the hair! Gotta mention the hair part of this. That carefully messy, kinda pushed-to-the-side look was everywhere. I spent way too much time in front of the mirror with a ton of gel and hairspray tryin’ to get it just right. Most days it just ended up lookin’ like I’d slept on it weird, no matter how hard I tried to sculpt it.
Lookin’ back, my whole 2011 fashion journey was more about trial and error. Mostly error, if I’m bein’ brutally honest with myself. The end result? Well, after all that effort, I had a closet full of pretty uncomfortable clothes that I barely wore more than a few times. I remember one Saturday just lookin’ at it all and thinkin’, “What on earth was I doin’?” Gradually, I just went back to my old comfy stuff. Jeans that actually let me breathe and move, t-shirts that weren’t tryin’ so darn hard.
So yeah, that was my detailed record of tacklin’ 2011 men’s fashion, from deciding to change my look to finally givin’ up on those specific trends. A lot of effort went into it, not a whole lot of lasting reward, but definitely a memory etched in my mind. It really makes you think about how trends come and go, and how sometimes, just bein’ comfortable in your own skin, and clothes, is the best style you can rock. That’s my big takeaway from that whole experiment, my little piece of fashion history.
