Pinned
I delete most of my posts after a month or so to keep my blog manageable and to organize my reblogs. You have my permission to reblog whatever deleted post I made. It wouldn't be on the internet if I wasn't okay with it getting shared.
Here are some of the major resources I've made and some of my sideblogs in case you're looking for something that I reblogged, plus my answers to the tech questions I get most frequently:
......Goddamnit wearing a very specific, heavily customized piece of clothing every day for four years and being very uncomfortable when forced to wear something else is an example of a routine, isn't it?
"Oh, no, my sister is the one with rigid routines and food preferences, she doesn't like anything spicy and gets super mad if she's not on time whereas I love trying different foods and can barely even understand time. I don't rely on routines. I just do whatever" <<< person who could not be physically pried away from a denim jacket longer than it to to wash it every two weeks and ate the exact same breakfast every day for 8 years.
"If she can't get the food she wants she is really vocal about it and complains and makes sure everyone knows it's a problem so we just try to accommodate her."
"What do you do if your preferred food isn't avaliable?"
"Oh that's no big deal, I just don't eat, I'll eat a bigger meal later, I don't want anything else."
I feel like that last one is different for you though (unless she has the same dietary restrictions), because it’s one thing for someone with no restrictions/allergies (like me) to refuse for the sake of it not being what I *want*, vs an active health/safety issue of like…not sending yourself into anaphylactic shock.
(The loudly complaining vs not may be a separate thing, but I feel like a person’s ability to safely eat whatever is available is an important relevance here)
That was before the food allergy diagnosis, though. I didn't get the food allergies figured out until my mid-20s. I just thought it was normal for your stomach to hurt all the time
And the breakfast was one banana and a large coffee from one of two specific donut shops. If we went somewhere else and they had bananas and coffee, I didn't want it. (The coffee wasn't the same in the other places, and I didn't want the banana without the coffee.) This persisted from junior high through high school (when my parents were driving me to school and we'd stop at the donut shop aroundthe corner from our house) and into college (when I would drive my sister and her friends to high school then myself to college). I would stop to get her and her friends coffee and pastries at Starbucks (which had bananas and coffee) because that's what they wanted and then I'd drop them off and drive forty minutes and stop at the donut shop on brea canyon road just south of the canyon to get my banana and coffee, and would drive the rest of the way to school (where they had bananas and coffee in the cafeteria). If traffic was bad or I was running late and couldn't make the stop, I just didn't eat, I wouldn't go to the cafeteria or a Starbucks near campus or a 7/11 for banana and coffee. It didn't sound good.
Basically my life is kind of imploding so I'm comparing my late-identified, poorly managed neurodiverence to my sister's early-identified, highly accomodated neurodivergence to see if I can find a crumb of executive function by cribbing and in the process in realizing A) actually I had a lot of the same symptoms they just presented differently, B) our personalities are different enough that what worked for her probably isn't going to help me, C) I should go to the thrift store and get a denim jacket, another denim jacket would fix me.
Goddamnit. One of the customizations on the denim jacket was the buttonhole and extended pocket that allowed me to wear my diskman instead of putting it away when it was turned off, which let me keep my headphones on at all times.
Denim Jackets Rule Because:
The only shirts I like to wear are tank tops but I also like to have my arms and shoulders covered so I'll usually layer tank tops with oversized flannels or Hawaiian shirts but both of those options are pretty crap for pockets, i should get another denim jacket.
......Goddamnit wearing a very specific, heavily customized piece of clothing every day for four years and being very uncomfortable when forced to wear something else is an example of a routine, isn't it?
"Oh, no, my sister is the one with rigid routines and food preferences, she doesn't like anything spicy and gets super mad if she's not on time whereas I love trying different foods and can barely even understand time. I don't rely on routines. I just do whatever" <<< person who could not be physically pried away from a denim jacket longer than it to to wash it every two weeks and ate the exact same breakfast every day for 8 years.
"If she can't get the food she wants she is really vocal about it and complains and makes sure everyone knows it's a problem so we just try to accommodate her."
"What do you do if your preferred food isn't avaliable?"
"Oh that's no big deal, I just don't eat, I'll eat a bigger meal later, I don't want anything else."
I feel like that last one is different for you though (unless she has the same dietary restrictions), because it’s one thing for someone with no restrictions/allergies (like me) to refuse for the sake of it not being what I *want*, vs an active health/safety issue of like…not sending yourself into anaphylactic shock.
(The loudly complaining vs not may be a separate thing, but I feel like a person’s ability to safely eat whatever is available is an important relevance here)
That was before the food allergy diagnosis, though. I didn't get the food allergies figured out until my mid-20s. I just thought it was normal for your stomach to hurt all the time
And the breakfast was one banana and a large coffee from one of two specific donut shops. If we went somewhere else and they had bananas and coffee, I didn't want it. (The coffee wasn't the same in the other places, and I didn't want the banana without the coffee.) This persisted from junior high through high school (when my parents were driving me to school and we'd stop at the donut shop aroundthe corner from our house) and into college (when I would drive my sister and her friends to high school then myself to college). I would stop to get her and her friends coffee and pastries at Starbucks (which had bananas and coffee) because that's what they wanted and then I'd drop them off and drive forty minutes and stop at the donut shop on brea canyon road just south of the canyon to get my banana and coffee, and would drive the rest of the way to school (where they had bananas and coffee in the cafeteria). If traffic was bad or I was running late and couldn't make the stop, I just didn't eat, I wouldn't go to the cafeteria or a Starbucks near campus or a 7/11 for banana and coffee. It didn't sound good.
Basically my life is kind of imploding so I'm comparing my late-identified, poorly managed neurodiverence to my sister's early-identified, highly accomodated neurodivergence to see if I can find a crumb of executive function by cribbing and in the process in realizing A) actually I had a lot of the same symptoms they just presented differently, B) our personalities are different enough that what worked for her probably isn't going to help me, C) I should go to the thrift store and get a denim jacket, another denim jacket would fix me.
Goddamnit. One of the customizations on the denim jacket was the buttonhole and extended pocket that allowed me to wear my diskman instead of putting it away when it was turned off, which let me keep my headphones on at all times.
......Goddamnit wearing a very specific, heavily customized piece of clothing every day for four years and being very uncomfortable when forced to wear something else is an example of a routine, isn't it?
"Oh, no, my sister is the one with rigid routines and food preferences, she doesn't like anything spicy and gets super mad if she's not on time whereas I love trying different foods and can barely even understand time. I don't rely on routines. I just do whatever" <<< person who could not be physically pried away from a denim jacket longer than it to to wash it every two weeks and ate the exact same breakfast every day for 8 years.
"If she can't get the food she wants she is really vocal about it and complains and makes sure everyone knows it's a problem so we just try to accommodate her."
"What do you do if your preferred food isn't avaliable?"
"Oh that's no big deal, I just don't eat, I'll eat a bigger meal later, I don't want anything else."
I feel like that last one is different for you though (unless she has the same dietary restrictions), because it’s one thing for someone with no restrictions/allergies (like me) to refuse for the sake of it not being what I *want*, vs an active health/safety issue of like…not sending yourself into anaphylactic shock.
(The loudly complaining vs not may be a separate thing, but I feel like a person’s ability to safely eat whatever is available is an important relevance here)
That was before the food allergy diagnosis, though. I didn't get the food allergies figured out until my mid-20s. I just thought it was normal for your stomach to hurt all the time
And the breakfast was one banana and a large coffee from one of two specific donut shops. If we went somewhere else and they had bananas and coffee, I didn't want it. (The coffee wasn't the same in the other places, and I didn't want the banana without the coffee.) This persisted from junior high through high school (when my parents were driving me to school and we'd stop at the donut shop aroundthe corner from our house) and into college (when I would drive my sister and her friends to high school then myself to college). I would stop to get her and her friends coffee and pastries at Starbucks (which had bananas and coffee) because that's what they wanted and then I'd drop them off and drive forty minutes and stop at the donut shop on brea canyon road just south of the canyon to get my banana and coffee, and would drive the rest of the way to school (where they had bananas and coffee in the cafeteria). If traffic was bad or I was running late and couldn't make the stop, I just didn't eat, I wouldn't go to the cafeteria or a Starbucks near campus or a 7/11 for banana and coffee. It didn't sound good.
Basically my life is kind of imploding so I'm comparing my late-identified, poorly managed neurodiverence to my sister's early-identified, highly accomodated neurodivergence to see if I can find a crumb of executive function by cribbing and in the process in realizing A) actually I had a lot of the same symptoms they just presented differently, B) our personalities are different enough that what worked for her probably isn't going to help me, C) I should go to the thrift store and get a denim jacket, another denim jacket would fix me.
my contribution to bugblr: a violet carpenter bee! it was very polite :]
......Goddamnit wearing a very specific, heavily customized piece of clothing every day for four years and being very uncomfortable when forced to wear something else is an example of a routine, isn't it?
"Oh, no, my sister is the one with rigid routines and food preferences, she doesn't like anything spicy and gets super mad if she's not on time whereas I love trying different foods and can barely even understand time. I don't rely on routines. I just do whatever" <<< person who could not be physically pried away from a denim jacket longer than it to to wash it every two weeks and ate the exact same breakfast every day for 8 years.
"If she can't get the food she wants she is really vocal about it and complains and makes sure everyone knows it's a problem so we just try to accommodate her."
"What do you do if your preferred food isn't avaliable?"
"Oh that's no big deal, I just don't eat, I'll eat a bigger meal later, I don't want anything else."
I feel like that last one is different for you though (unless she has the same dietary restrictions), because it’s one thing for someone with no restrictions/allergies (like me) to refuse for the sake of it not being what I *want*, vs an active health/safety issue of like…not sending yourself into anaphylactic shock.
(The loudly complaining vs not may be a separate thing, but I feel like a person’s ability to safely eat whatever is available is an important relevance here)
That was before the food allergy diagnosis, though. I didn't get the food allergies figured out until my mid-20s. I just thought it was normal for your stomach to hurt all the time
And the breakfast was one banana and a large coffee from one of two specific donut shops. If we went somewhere else and they had bananas and coffee, I didn't want it. (The coffee wasn't the same in the other places, and I didn't want the banana without the coffee.) This persisted from junior high through high school (when my parents were driving me to school and we'd stop at the donut shop aroundthe corner from our house) and into college (when I would drive my sister and her friends to high school then myself to college). I would stop to get her and her friends coffee and pastries at Starbucks (which had bananas and coffee) because that's what they wanted and then I'd drop them off and drive forty minutes and stop at the donut shop on brea canyon road just south of the canyon to get my banana and coffee, and would drive the rest of the way to school (where they had bananas and coffee in the cafeteria). If traffic was bad or I was running late and couldn't make the stop, I just didn't eat, I wouldn't go to the cafeteria or a Starbucks near campus or a 7/11 for banana and coffee. It didn't sound good.
......Goddamnit wearing a very specific, heavily customized piece of clothing every day for four years and being very uncomfortable when forced to wear something else is an example of a routine, isn't it?
"Oh, no, my sister is the one with rigid routines and food preferences, she doesn't like anything spicy and gets super mad if she's not on time whereas I love trying different foods and can barely even understand time. I don't rely on routines. I just do whatever" <<< person who could not be physically pried away from a denim jacket longer than it to to wash it every two weeks and ate the exact same breakfast every day for 8 years.
"If she can't get the food she wants she is really vocal about it and complains and makes sure everyone knows it's a problem so we just try to accommodate her."
"What do you do if your preferred food isn't avaliable?"
"Oh that's no big deal, I just don't eat, I'll eat a bigger meal later, I don't want anything else."
......Goddamnit wearing a very specific, heavily customized piece of clothing every day for four years and being very uncomfortable when forced to wear something else is an example of a routine, isn't it?
"Oh, no, my sister is the one with rigid routines and food preferences, she doesn't like anything spicy and gets super mad if she's not on time whereas I love trying different foods and can barely even understand time. I don't rely on routines. I just do whatever" <<< person who could not be physically pried away from a denim jacket longer than it to to wash it every two weeks and ate the exact same breakfast every day for 8 years.
as the lifelong uncontested regional vice president of the itty bitty titty committee, it is totally worthwhile to look into different methods of measuring bras and totally worthwhile to test out those findings by trying on bras from various retailers in various sizes to see what is comfortable for YOU because there is no one correct way to measure bras and sizing, elasticity, cup shape, etc. are inconsistent between brands and lines.
I 100% know how to "correctly" measure my bra size, but it's not helpful information when band size + cup size doesn't account for where on your chest your tits are set and *even given* correct measuring it's nearly impossible to find the band/cup combo for you *and* adding spacers to the band changes where the cups are set *and* there's probably a disparity between the boobs because there usually is and it's not a big deal your boobs are fine it is the bras that are wrong.
If you're using all sorts of measuring guides and are still having trouble finding bras that fit you the way you want them to, I know it's frustrating and I want to say that A) you are most likely not doing it wrong there is literally no single method that works for everyone B) mass manufactured clothing is just not made to fit every body type and you are probably correct and it is legitimately hard to find something that works (for which I'm sorry, I hope you hit upon a good solution. mine is sports bras with no cups and tank tops with built-in shelf bras).
The second photo is maybe the biggest that my tits have ever looked and I am laying on my side and they are *still* not touching. Where's the bra where I can put spacers in the front because the girls are fighting.
These are teacup tits that nonetheless require the intervention of helpful nighttime elves to construct an adequate harness for, apparently. There are no helpful nighttime elves in my vicinity so the answer is "camisoles and it's not my problem if you can see my nipples."
Also, no, I have never found a dress shirt that fits both my arms and my chest without significant tailoring so the answer is lace-neck tanks with shelf bras and cardigans in environments where I have to present both professional and feminine.
Mass-produced clothing is made to fit averages, if you are outside of the average that is not an indication that you are not wrong for not fitting in the clothing.
If you want a bra that fits (or you want to know how damned complicated measuring the chest bits are) start at https://www.abrathatfits.org/calculator.php which will ask you for six (total) measurements you take while in different positions. It will also ask you for whether you were assigned female at birth because of the differences in how chest material develops based on the 23rd chromosome.
Then head on over to the A Bra That Fits Reddit group for advice on brands, etc.
Everybody deserves comfortable reliable over the shoulder boulder holders, even if you’ve got small boulders the size of small boulders.
I know that this was meant kindly but this is actually specifically the size calculator and the subreddit that I was vaguing about in terms of there not being any one correct way to measure bras. The subreddit's insistence that users must have been measuring wrong and admonitions to trust the sizing guide even if you're REALLY REALLY REALLY pretty sure it's wrong end up feeling kind of gaslighty when you've measured and measured and measured and the bras still don't fit like the site says they should.
I will say, looking at the subreddit today was at least a bit more encouraging now than it used to be because they now include a more comprehensive "why the measurement might not work" article linked in their beginner guide, but it did make me laugh to realize that several (if not all) of the reasons the cup sizing might be off applied to me (I have wide-set, soft, somewhat conical breasts, and a ribcage that is wider at my bust than my underbust PLUS lat development) and simply do not have the volume to fill out their recommended size.
AND, the sizing reason that they missed: even though I've got small breasts, my right is noticeably larger and fuller than the left, so any bra that fits one will not fit the other.
Behold! A 36DD! (The actual bras that come closest to fitting are a 40A)
It's okay if bras don't fit you. Bras are made to fit averages, and some people don't fit into averages.
But it is frustrating to be repeatedly told that actually if you knew how to measure correctly you would finally be able to find a comfortable bra, the issue is that you've been doing it wrong the whole time.
No. I am not wrong, the bras are wrong. I am fine. It is worthwhile to investigate whether or not this measuring technique works for you, but if it doesn't work for you but the standard bust/underbust does, or the proprietary measuring system from your favorite bra brand does, or no measuring system does so you go with options that aren't as firm on sizing, that's perfectly fine.
Like, my underbust is snug at 38-40 and the widest point of my bust is 44 which DOES indicate a D or higher cup size, but I just got out a ruler and there are *two and a half inches of space between my tits.*
I remember vague interest in buying my First Bra(tm) as a tween when it became necessary and I just kept waiting for boobs to grow in and in the end it became necessary because I was getting bullied for not wearing a bra in the PE changing rooms, not because my chest needed any support.
I guess I wasn't the only one sitting on a lot of unresolved feelings about the bra that fits calcultor huh.
Definitely not. I think what gets me so much about it is that it's nominally inclusive and body positive, but it just ends up creating another category set for people to not fit into and has many fans who just insist that no you don't know your body, you're doing it wrong.
Hey, all good if it's the case, but @swolegoth seems to point to a fetish blog? Just in case you mistyped or it got hijacked along the way?
yeah i forgot a hyphen, it's @swole-goth
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, can you link to your workout routine? ms-demeanor secretly built like a tank really hit me.
I post a lot of photos with my arms up and flexing (because I know what my assets are, since it's surely not the tits) which I think may disguise the fact that *so* much of what is going on with me is bones. A lot of the rest is genetics. I put on a weird amount of muscle very easily and my shoulders and arms are unusually huge through no special effort.
Right now I'm fatter than I was in the flexing photo on the bra post. Here's a photo of me flexing at my most deconditoned, and a photo of where I'm at in the last few weeks since I started thinking about getting back into lifting.
The workout routine that got me there was halfheartedly doing counter-height pushups a couple times a week while waiting for my coffee to reheat in the microwave. I cannot state hard enough that the change in visible definition between those two photos is *not normal* for the very low level of effort I put into it.
I don't work out my forearms. This photo is from a year or two ago, when I was making zero effort to exercise. The muscle in my forearms exists entirely because I cook with cast iron, which is heavy, and because my body decided "yeah we're going to turn that into noticeable extensors for no reason."
All that being said: @swole-goth is my workout and nutrition blog and because my back is fucked I do a lot of bench press, flexed arm hangs, heavy shrugs, and dumbbell rows when I'm lifting. I've started getting back into jock mode recently and plan on posting progress pics and workout stuff more there in the future.
When our opponents are forced into engaging in this level of weapons-grade cope, painfully contorting themselves to pretend that winning the majority of votes in a three-way race is somehow a failure, it means that we are winning.
Does it mean anything significant that Spanberger won by 57 percent and Sherrill won by 56 percent, or are those just common, ordinary victories? 🤔
I get that Mamdani’s supporters are excited he won. It’s great! But the country is larger than NYC and a whole lot happened for Democrats in the rest of the country.
The reason you are seeing more people excited for Mamdani than Spanberger is because Mamdani is a progressive known for running on universal childcare and free public transit, and Spanberger is a moderate former CIA operative known for opposing the Democrats’ original COVID-19 stimulus proposal and supporting key features of Trump’s foreign policy. People get excited when you offer them candidates that have bold progressive visions of the future rather than Diet Republicans who win on the basis of establishment support, thermostatic public opinion, and career momentum.
The fun thing about tumblr is that any time there's a photo or artistic depiction of a perfectly normal woman on my feed, I can go to the notes and tags and there's 3000 lesbians in there struggling to be normal about it. Like there could be a quick doodle drawing of the most ordinary-looking fat middle-aged woman in her bathroom clipping her toenails after a shower and there's a bus load's worth of unhinged ladies in the notes being boiled in a puddle of their own sweat, making those chattering frustrated cat chirping noises because they want so badly to suck on them toes.
Okay, I don't like that I have to go out of my way to say this, but evidently I need to do so:
People being horny is not inherently creepy or disgusting, they are allowed to do that. Also stop saying you're "no better than a man", a man is no worse than you are for being chattering cat -levels of horny. Everyone, no matter the sex, gender, orientation or background, has the equal right to get consensual toes in their mouth.
as the lifelong uncontested regional vice president of the itty bitty titty committee, it is totally worthwhile to look into different methods of measuring bras and totally worthwhile to test out those findings by trying on bras from various retailers in various sizes to see what is comfortable for YOU because there is no one correct way to measure bras and sizing, elasticity, cup shape, etc. are inconsistent between brands and lines.
I 100% know how to "correctly" measure my bra size, but it's not helpful information when band size + cup size doesn't account for where on your chest your tits are set and *even given* correct measuring it's nearly impossible to find the band/cup combo for you *and* adding spacers to the band changes where the cups are set *and* there's probably a disparity between the boobs because there usually is and it's not a big deal your boobs are fine it is the bras that are wrong.
If you're using all sorts of measuring guides and are still having trouble finding bras that fit you the way you want them to, I know it's frustrating and I want to say that A) you are most likely not doing it wrong there is literally no single method that works for everyone B) mass manufactured clothing is just not made to fit every body type and you are probably correct and it is legitimately hard to find something that works (for which I'm sorry, I hope you hit upon a good solution. mine is sports bras with no cups and tank tops with built-in shelf bras).
The second photo is maybe the biggest that my tits have ever looked and I am laying on my side and they are *still* not touching. Where's the bra where I can put spacers in the front because the girls are fighting.
These are teacup tits that nonetheless require the intervention of helpful nighttime elves to construct an adequate harness for, apparently. There are no helpful nighttime elves in my vicinity so the answer is "camisoles and it's not my problem if you can see my nipples."
Also, no, I have never found a dress shirt that fits both my arms and my chest without significant tailoring so the answer is lace-neck tanks with shelf bras and cardigans in environments where I have to present both professional and feminine.
Mass-produced clothing is made to fit averages, if you are outside of the average that is not an indication that you are not wrong for not fitting in the clothing.
If you want a bra that fits (or you want to know how damned complicated measuring the chest bits are) start at https://www.abrathatfits.org/calculator.php which will ask you for six (total) measurements you take while in different positions. It will also ask you for whether you were assigned female at birth because of the differences in how chest material develops based on the 23rd chromosome.
Then head on over to the A Bra That Fits Reddit group for advice on brands, etc.
Everybody deserves comfortable reliable over the shoulder boulder holders, even if you’ve got small boulders the size of small boulders.
I know that this was meant kindly but this is actually specifically the size calculator and the subreddit that I was vaguing about in terms of there not being any one correct way to measure bras. The subreddit's insistence that users must have been measuring wrong and admonitions to trust the sizing guide even if you're REALLY REALLY REALLY pretty sure it's wrong end up feeling kind of gaslighty when you've measured and measured and measured and the bras still don't fit like the site says they should.
I will say, looking at the subreddit today was at least a bit more encouraging now than it used to be because they now include a more comprehensive "why the measurement might not work" article linked in their beginner guide, but it did make me laugh to realize that several (if not all) of the reasons the cup sizing might be off applied to me (I have wide-set, soft, somewhat conical breasts, and a ribcage that is wider at my bust than my underbust PLUS lat development) and simply do not have the volume to fill out their recommended size.
AND, the sizing reason that they missed: even though I've got small breasts, my right is noticeably larger and fuller than the left, so any bra that fits one will not fit the other.
Behold! A 36DD! (The actual bras that come closest to fitting are a 40A)
It's okay if bras don't fit you. Bras are made to fit averages, and some people don't fit into averages.
But it is frustrating to be repeatedly told that actually if you knew how to measure correctly you would finally be able to find a comfortable bra, the issue is that you've been doing it wrong the whole time.
No. I am not wrong, the bras are wrong. I am fine. It is worthwhile to investigate whether or not this measuring technique works for you, but if it doesn't work for you but the standard bust/underbust does, or the proprietary measuring system from your favorite bra brand does, or no measuring system does so you go with options that aren't as firm on sizing, that's perfectly fine.
Like, my underbust is snug at 38-40 and the widest point of my bust is 44 which DOES indicate a D or higher cup size, but I just got out a ruler and there are *two and a half inches of space between my tits.*
I remember vague interest in buying my First Bra(tm) as a tween when it became necessary and I just kept waiting for boobs to grow in and in the end it became necessary because I was getting bullied for not wearing a bra in the PE changing rooms, not because my chest needed any support.
"No I promise you are a 36DD you just need to do the swoop and scoop. Bend over and scoop the breasts into the cups, make sure to adjust the chub under your arms and pull that forward, that's actually breast tissue too* and is part of your cup size. Let yourself settle into the cups et voila, look you were actually a busty girl all along!"
Friend, my tits are hung chameleon style, I'm not going to spend all day bending over and murmuring 'swoop & scoop' to myself to cope.
*no the fuck it is not, that is fat and it is fine where it is.
Your wardrobe just isn't accessible. All of your recommendations are so expensive.
Hmmmm, what kind of reaction are you looking for, Anon? I am not your enemy.
You need to rethink what "accessible" means wrt clothing. (Especially bearing in mind you are on the blog of a guy who likes to wear vintage style suits, which puts us firmly in "luxury items" territory.)
We are currently living in an era where those who make clothing are criminally under compensated, with ever increasing demands to cut costs, yet produce faster. Fashion is both a sustainability and labor issue.
We are also living in an era where even the raw materials for clothing are undergoing enshitification and this has fucked with people's perceptions for how long clothes should last.
But I am determined to build a wardrobe where pieces last for 10+ years, if cared for properly. And I know I have some things that absolutely will outlive me.
For these reasons, I am not going to recommend $15 or even $50 dress shirts, especially given they will fall apart after a season or two.
My wardrobe is a 25+ year long project of discovering what I like, how to assess quality, and getting my finances in a place where I can buy good pieces. My closet is not meant to be achievable overnight or even within a few years, because it sure as hell didn't happen that way for me.
Trying to build a fashionable wardrobe (again, the word is *fashionable* because presumably that is why you are here) on a budget?
1) Thrifting and garment swaps are still options (be sustainable and get the quality of the past!), with more choices if you can get garments altered. Gem.app will always be high on my recommendations list for this reason.
2) Making relationships with sewists and tailors and working out fair compensation (be it money, trade, being a pattern tester, etc) is an option
3) Saving up where you only buy 1 or 2 new, quality pieces of clothing a year is an option and should actually be the norm for everyone - we all buy too many clothes (myself included) and need to reset our expectations for how big a wardrobe should be + how often to change clothes
4) Learning how to make garments on your own is an option (one I am taking), especially given free resources such as libraries, YouTube tutorials, the Internet Archive, etc.
Good clothing does and should cost money and time. Especially if you want to wear tailored garments made from nice fabrics, which is my style and presumably why you came across my blog. (It's important I reiterate this point.) Honestly, the fact I can find a 3-piece wool suit new, in a vintage cut that fits me off-the-rack for $1k feels like stealing.
I spent most of my adult life climbing the Old Navy > Gap > Banana Republic fashion ladder, not realizing that nearly all of that clothing is cheap crap, especially things made post-2005. Now that I can afford nice stuff, there is a world of difference between my $15 flannel shirts and the $90 ones. Vimes Boot Theory, but with the caveat that the $15 shirt should not even exist.
(I love Vimes Boot Theory, but it needs a companion theory from the perspective of the bootmaker.)
It may sound shocking to you, but nearly all my wardrobe recommendations sit on the low end of price vs quality. I still have to mend my clothes, fix poor workmanship, and alter things to fit.
If you want decent quality clothing ("decent" = lasting for years), you honestly should be expecting to pay at least $100 for a new dress shirt, $300 for new boots, $300 for new woolen trousers. And yeah, $1k for a suit. These are bare minimum fair prices for off-the-rack.
You have to get comfortable with the fact that you will be paying some combination of time + money if you want nice things. (Even inexpensive things that are good quality take time to learn about, find, and maintain!) But the outcome - longer lasting stuff that makes you feel good - is hopefully worth the investment.
Garment construction deserves fair compensation and if your current salary is locking you out where you cannot get a few good, new things a year, the problem is that your own labor isn't being fairly compensated. Scold your boss, not me.
Again, I am not your enemy. But you need to recalibrate your thinking about what our standards for clothing should really be, with all the labor involved to achieve those standards.
And one more time - you're also complaining that my luxury fashion wardrobe is a luxury. Please also learn how to prioritize your wants vs your needs.
Oh, hey, Derek did an entire thread for someone with an attitude similar to Anon's.
If I want to sell t-shirts online I can:
For a graphic T-shirt.
If you really want to understand what clothes should cost, try making them to sell ethically.
Side note: a while back a youtuber I like made a video wearing one of my redbubble shirts. It was delightful to see and a complete surprise, but also heartbreaking that in the video I could see that the print was falling off the fabric. He clearly liked the shirt enough that he had worn repeatedly, which means that it gets worse every time that it's worn. I'm so glad he liked my design, and so sad that the shirt he got made the design look bad and was not going to last. That pushed me to remove almost all of my redbubble designs and restrict most of what remained to sticker printing only. That shirt design is still up, but that incident is the reason that I'm considering getting a better home screen printing setup and selling direct.