On How to Wear Destroyed Clothes, and my Personal Super Bowl, the Oscars

Dear readers, 

Welcome back to On Fashion. I’ll be honest: it's time for me to be studying, so this week will be brief, but get excited for a Spring Break mail-bag issue next week! check Armour’s and my Instagram @reidmcvey to submit any fashion related questions you have or drop them in the comment section. This week I’m discussing how to wear destroyed clothes, and my personal Super Bowl, the Oscars. 

On Destroyed Clothes: If you can’t tell, I am very pro destroyed clothes. Recently the New York Times Style section wrote an article all about “thrashed” clothes and their gangbusters resale market. As you can imagine, the response to the article is mixed. Some people love wearing destroyed clothes they’ve purchased, some people have worn their own clothes into the ground and prize them more with each new tatter and mark, and some people are like Erin from San Diego who said this in the comments: “Get a pair of scissors and some bleach and run a T shirt over with your car. There saved you 200 bucks. A sucker born every minute. Earn your own holes in your jeans.” Although I really don’t enjoy Erin’s vibe, hilarious as it is, I do commend their ability to get through this entire article, write this scintillating comment, and still miss the point. (at least partly, she does say to earn your jean holes, which I agree with.) The point is about how worn-in clothes can be chic, desirable, but how it's the wear and the human distressing that’s creating the distressing. The New York Times is not suggesting a  Toyota corolla, bleach, scissors you got from Target, and your soon-to-be-revoked (artistic/drivers) license. 

So how does one wear ultra-distressed clothes? Well fear not, I have indeed cracked the case. There are 3 things to know: 

(please excuse the image quality I am in my fabulous but small dorm at WashU. Tattered cover merch T.) 

(Wild Rumpus T-shirt Designed by Jen Marshall)

Number 1: Only wear distressed tops. Sweaters, Great! Old T-shirts, great! A ripped-at-the-seam button down, incredible! A tattered and torn taupe trucker jacket, right on. But keep it above the belt. It's ok to wear beat-up jeans but keep the wear to a minimum. Nobody wants to see your naked knees. Plus, you can get denim repaired, it's easy. 

Number 2: Pair your distressed top with incredible jewelry and other non-distressed garments. Nothing says “I can wear this destroyed t-shirt” like a bunch of diamonds or draping your neck in gold. It doesn't need to be that extreme, but it does help to wear some nice jewelry so you don’t look unintentionally bedraggled. In that same vein, wear your amazing T-shirt with a nice trouser. Very chic. 

Number 3: Don’t buy your distressed clothes “distressed”. Firstly, there are vintage shops that have distressed sections that aren’t curated and the clothes are super cheap. Secondly, and my favorite route, is stealing my dad’s 25 year-old T-shirts. Sometimes if I’m home and I need that dopamine hit only shopping can bring I’ll shop in my dad's closet. It is always great. 

On the Oscars: Congratulations to Anora! Congratulations to Mikey Maddison! So well deserved. I don't really have anything too groundbreaking to say because I don’t think the Oscars are a particularly groundbreaking event, I think the movies are, but unless someone is getting slapped or wearing something really good it's usually pretty tame. For the record, I do love the Oscars. It’s truly my happy place/time. I do love the Vanity Fair after-party. And while I thought the actual Oscars were relatively poorly dressed this year, the After party looks, as always, went hard.

Mark Eydelshteyn in Loewe. 

Selena Gomez in Armani Prive. 

Hunter Schafer in 16Arlington. 

Hari Nef in Valentino 

Maude Apatow in Bode 

Julia Fox in Dilara Findikoglu

As always, thanks for tuning into On Fashion! Feel free to DM me  @Reidmcvey on Instagram or put all your fashion questions in the comments. They will be answered and maybe make an appearance on a future newsletter. Until next week, 

Reid McVey

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Thanks to Sophia Palitti, and Violet Holah, 

Armour Magazine 

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