Style Change Related to Stereotyping

[honestjohnny]

Hey, guys! I was intrigued by something Razor X said on the "Tough Guy Rxn" Thread.  He said that his personal style of dress changed as a result of his head shaving: polos and khakis to jeans and tees. 

This intrigues me because I find the same thing for myself, i.e. gravitating to dark colors and "tough guy clothing."  This despite the fact that I'm 27, 5'9, 150lbs and a total dork.  So I'm thinking that this is more of the conditioning that we have all fought/are fighting with respect to the hair/no hair style. 

My question then is do most guys go with the stereotype and garb themselves as tough guys or maintain their old mode of dress, or have some of you found a middle ground?

[PBurke]

what is funny about this is i actually wear nicer shirts more often now. when my hairline was making a beeline for my behind, i always had a ballcap on. i felt like a ballcap went with t-shirts only. so i wore t-shirts all the time. now, i don't even wear hats unless i am fishing. i just feel more confident and comfortable in nicer clothes. although black and darker colors have made it into my t-shirt collection more as well.

[Sooner Steve]

I think the sly look does affect your dress code.  I find myself wearing nicer shirts because I am proud of my new look.  My wife loves it.   

[Tyler]

That's a good question!

I would say that my style has changed a bit since shaving my head, but not really migrated towards the tough guy look.  I've always been big on board shorts, cargo shorts, jeans, and t-shirts when I'm not working.  One of my favorite t-shirt brands, before having my own, was Fox Racing.  I guess a lot of their stuff has a "tough guy" look now than it used to, but I guess my style has changed along with theirs.  Overall, I just try to have a more laid back type style.

[BALDANDRE]

Been a while since I went SLY...that was about 12 years ago... so I forget if I changed anything up...I know without hair I don't like my self in hawaiian shirts and that didn't used to be the case...

I think what shaving your head does is puts you in a different mindset, thus, it's a great time to change up what you dress like, ect along with having ditched all your hair.....

Shaving your head can be such a life changing powerful thing, why wouldn't it touch your WHOLE persona?

BTW, Welcome dude!

[BaldRob]

I went from jeans and t-shirts to jeans and nice shirts... still wear t-shirts, but not when I'm going out.

[honestjohnny]

Wow, you guys responded quickly!  I'm a psychologist/sociologist at heart, so when I experience cognitive dissonance I try to examine, explore, and understand it.  Hence, this thread.

Another example of how going sly has altered my style.  Before the slying, I would wear those t shirts with the silly logos and slogans splashed across the chest.  I think that was a desire either to get people to look away from my face or to look at me, in general.  Now I don't have that problem--people look at me all the time--and I want them to look at my face and head, so I've gotten away from shirts with logos or, for that matter, patterns of any kind.

Anyway, welcome to my online self-psychoanalysis   Thanks for playing

[PBurke]

Wow, you guys responded quickly!  I'm a psychologist/sociologist at heart, so when I experience cognitive dissonance I try to examine, explore, and understand it.  Hence, this thread.

Another example of how going sly has altered my style.  Before the slying, I would wear those t shirts with the silly logos and slogans splashed across the chest.  I think that was a desire either to get people to look away from my face or to look at me, in general.  Now I don't have that problem--people look at me all the time--and I want them to look at my face and head, so I've gotten away from shirts with logos or, for that matter, patterns of any kind.

Anyway, welcome to my online self-psychoanalysis   Thanks for playing

ok, he is gonna commit a few of us. if you guys will be kind enough to send me some brownies once i am settled in at the home. thanks guys.  welcome HJ glad you found us.

[Paul]

Welcome Johnny, I haven't found that I have really changed my look at all in terms of dress, though I know that I do pay alot more attention to what I feel looks good with the sly dome.  Dark clothes and solids tend to draw the focus more towards the old noggin along with the wearing of shades.      As for the psychoanalysis, neighbor been working on me since last Sept. and isn't getting anywhere.

[YOSP]

hj...welcome to the site brother

For myself, when I was wearing a "piece", I realized some clothes and colors looked better on me. Now, I feel that it doesn't matter. I have always been a big fan of nice clothes, so that hasn't changed, and I'll still rock the t-shirts and jeans if I'm going out casual, or polos for that matter.

[SLYinKC]

I do find that I am much more concious of what I wear.  Like others have said, I miagrite towards darker colors, since there are some light colors that make me look like a ghost.  I think that I am also more aware that people will automatically notice me more and so I want to make sure that the impression is a good one.  Before, there was the tendency to blend in with the crowd.  Once you are SLY, you can no longer just blend in with the crowd.  You will stand out one way or another, I want to make sure that I stand out in a good way.

[Razor X]

My appearance has undergone some pretty significant changes over the past few years between going sly and getting into better shape.  I can now wear T-shirts that aren't oversized, without feeling self-conscious (though I still can't wear anything TOO form-fitting ... yet  )  I think in the past I may have been trying to compensate by dressing up more.  Not that I dress like a slob now, but I feel more comfortable in more casual clothing than I used to.

And for some reason, I've gotten the bizarre idea  in my head that round-neck shirts look better with the bald dome than anything with a V-neck or buttons like a polo shirt.  I'm not sure why I feel that way.   I tend to have some strange hang-ups.   

[SLYinKC]

My appearance has undergone some pretty significant changes over the past few years between going sly and getting into better shape.  I can now wear T-shirts that aren't oversized, without feeling self-conscious (though I still can't wear anything TOO form-fitting ... yet  #160; I think in the past I may have been trying to compensate by dressing up more.  Not that I dress like a slob now, but I feel more comfortable in more casual clothing than I used to.

And for some reason, I've gotten the bizarre idea  in my head that round-neck shirts look better with the bald dome than anything with a V-neck or buttons like a polo shirt.  I'm not sure why I feel that way.   I tend to have some strange hang-ups.   

I had just gotten a new pair of eyeglasses back in January, before going SLY in April.  I normally wear contacts, but try to wear my glasses after about 10 to 12 hours of wearing the contacts.  The new glasses are somewhat of a rectangular shape.  Shortly after going SLY, I noticed that the rectangular shape of the glasses made my face look really odd.  So, I have gone back to wearing my old pair that were somewhat oval shaped.  The oval seems to go with the the shape of my head better.  I only wish that I had gone SLY before buying new glasses.

[Razor X]

My appearance has undergone some pretty significant changes over the past few years between going sly and getting into better shape.  I can now wear T-shirts that aren't oversized, without feeling self-conscious, though I still can't wear anything TOO form-fitting ... yet    I think in the past I may have been trying to compensate by dressing up more.  Not that I dress like a slob now, but I feel more comfortable in more casual clothing than I used to.

And for some reason, I've gotten the bizarre idea  in my head that round-neck shirts look better with the bald dome than anything with a V-neck or buttons like a polo shirt.  I'm not sure why I feel that way.   I tend to have some strange hang-ups.   

I had just gotten a new pair of eyeglasses back in January, before going SLY in April.  I normally wear contacts, but try to wear my glasses after about 10 to 12 hours of wearing the contacts.  The new glasses are somewhat of a rectangular shape.  Shortly after going SLY, I noticed that the rectangular shape of the glasses made my face look really odd.  So, I have gone back to wearing my old pair that were somewhat oval shaped.  The oval seems to go with the the shape of my head better.  I only wish that I had gone SLY before buying new glasses.

Same thing happened to me.   I ended up going back to my old frames as well.  Oval frames work but completely round (which were in style 10 years or so ago) do not work at all with a bald dome.   Which leads to another one of my hang-ups.  I usually wear contacts, but would often wear my glasses if my eyes were feeling a little tired or if I was running late or whatever.  I can't remember the last time I went out of the house with my glasses on.  I really never liked the way they looked with the sly dome, though it doesn't bother me as much now as it used to.  Strangely, I don't dislike the bald head with glasses combo on other people. 

[shyslyguy]

Hi honestjohhny,

Great question .... welcome to the site by the way.

Actually I'd been thinking of asking something similar myself - I was wondeing if there are some styles that don't suit the sly look .... can't think of any of the top of my head, so to speak, but wondered if anyone else had any thoughts.

Strangely enough I've been gravitating towards a generally smarter look myself recently, I'm pretty casual (scruffy) by nature but have found myself wearing more & smarter shirts these days - used to be strictly a t-shirt kind of guy - but I think the recent change is more to do with impending middle-age than with hair or a lack of ...