racketboy.com

I personally have started going for obscure brands that are difficult to source other than during drops/scouring online, as I like having stuff people ask about.

For some real good shoes, check out Gavin South on Instagram. Does preorders, 125 bucks a pair, great quality, I get asked about them all the time.

For some cool brands, I'm into Japanese street wear, so FPAR (forty percent against rights) and Black Eye Patch are my favorite. BEP is very graffiti heavy in it's style.

Ack wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 8:38 am Now this is fascinating to me. Not because I'm big on fashion; I wear funeral suits for work because I work in a funeral home, and my relaxing clothes are Dickey's jeans or shorts, a ball cap, chucks, that kind of thing. But I see how popular these companies are, so I like to partially spread my investments into fashion. Started it with UNIQLO's owner a few years ago, but always looking to expand.

So what are the companies y'all see that are big or at the cutting edge of street fashion? What should I be paying attention to?

Totally missed this post earlier. I'm a fan of Uniqlo as well, and I have a good amount of business casual clothes and basics from them. Some streetwear brands that are currently trendy that I'd recommend taking a look at ...

Aimé Leon Dore - Menswear brand based in NY that makes a variety of styles of clothing. Everything from streetwear to business casual to collaborations on watches and footwear.

Carhartt WIP - This sub-brand of Carhartt intitally started as their streetwear brand that was specifically released and marketed in Europe. Once it gained popularity overseas, they started releasing the line stateside. Has a variety of silhouettes and different offerings not present by the standard Carrhartt line.

Arc'teryx - When it comes to brand loyalty on outerwear, I lean more toward North Face or Patagonia (my Patagonia winter jacket has lasted 12+ years, and I think it's finally be time to get a new one), however, Arc'teryx has become trendier the past few years.

Mountain Research - Japanese brand that my friend has described as "high fashion mountaineering" an interesting and modern take on fashion forward apparel that was directly influenced by hiking and outdoor gear. This brand isn't as popular as the others mentioned here, but I do think they're on the cutting edge.

South2West8 - Another Japanese label that could in the same category as above; however, their clothes are a lot more bold and a fair amount of louder patterns in the mix. The bolder items aren't necessarily something I enjoy wearing regularly anymore, but I still enjoy seeing what they're up to.

Diemme - Italian made boots and sneakers. I purchased a pair of their boots around 2011, and they are still my main winter boots and going strong. Honestly, they are probably the best quality shoes I've ever purchased. More recently they have shifted from focusing on just boots to offering a lot of different fashion forward low cut shoes and sneakers.

Also, just wanted to list some web stores that I take a look at from time to time to see what's going on with different brands.

End Clothing - https://www.endclothing.com/us
SSENSE - https://www.ssense.com/en-us
Nepenthes - https://nepenthesny.com/
Meridian Vision - https://meridian.vision/
The Apartment (JP) - https://www.the-apartment.net/

One of the more interesting developments in fashion lately is the death of the trend. As long as it's a well put together fit, it's pretty much accepted. I dress like a hippy from the 70s- I've got a Vietnam era long sleeve army shirt on over a tie dye Bufo toad shirt and some vintage jeans on, with boots and a cowboy hat.

Vintage is really big in general right now, and is a large part of why styles have broadened. Tiltok kids are mixing and matching subcultures and joining new (old) ones and showing they're participating through their clothes.

I really recommend picking up some vintage orange tab Levi's, they're really cheap and much nicer than current pairs. Old Lee's also rule. We're in a 00s boom for vintage right now, but true vintage (~70s& before) is also huge and offers a lot more "adult" styles while being relatively cheap for the quality.


Unrelated, I never posted a picture on here, but recently I found a 1960s Marvels The Avengers (kid sized) shirt a few months ago. Sold it for a decent price + a grateful dead tee in my size, best find I've had in a while.

@Note

Carhartt is where it’s at. I wear main line workwear button up shirts for my retail job. I deal with furniture and heavy items so I feel it makes sense. I don’t wanna tear up other clothing. Got a bunch of them from Sierra for cheap.

The WIP like has some great coats. Outside of the Active Jacket and choir coats, they pull from the 100+ year past to make some, to me at least, memorable pieces.

Carhartt WIP Newman coat was used for most of this past winter. Fleece lining in the body, those ever useful chest pockets, and overall heavy weight, made the cold and wind a non-issue. One little flaw is that if the wind is really ripping, you can’t really batten down the hatches as the buttons don’t go all the way up and the collar lacks a throat latch (think peacoats).

The other piece I used for part of the winter was the WIP Highland Check Jacket. It’s based on some older hunting jackets from the 80s and 90s I believe. The checkered panels are a wool blend and it’s got both flap pockets and hand warmer pockets behind the paneling.