I grew up with two older brothers who have verydifferent styles, and how they chose their clothes has always interested me. The American young-adult male doesn’t have nearly as many trends or social cues to follow when it comes to what they wear. That is why I think their choices in dress are particularly interesting because it is very straight forward and tells a lot about them (and most of it comes from their mom). I interviewed two fraternity brothers who go to MIT to talk to boys about clothes. I found that conclusions to questions were usually “because it’s comfortable” or “I don’t know why”, while they were actually putting a lot more thought into it than that.

Joshua Vaugts is 21, from a small town in Maryland, and is a Navy ROTC cadet. Kyle is 20, was raised in San Francisco, California, and is a water polo player. Both stressed being comfortable as the most important part of their outfits. Their closets were stuffed to the gills with t-shirts spilling out of drawers, boxers hanging off corners, and dress shirts falling off wire hangers with stray socks lying around.

Kyle faces a problem most people don’t because of his large size that most stores don’t carry, and because of his fluctuating weight with water polo season. He is 6’10” and varies in waist size. His way of coping with this is ordering from catalogs (King Size Catalog, Levis) and going to places such as Mens Warehouse where there is a large selection. He says he doesn’t really mind shopping, but only goes for specifics. His parents buy most of his essentials, and he picks up whatever else he needs. I commented on the large pile of t-shirt he had (mostly) folded in his drawers and he said he wasn’t lying when he said he hadn’t bought any of them, and all of them had logos of his high school teams or were from MIT. I couldn’t help but laugh, and he pointed out two shirts he has that don’t have words on them (a black v-neck, a grey long sleeve). Kyle wanted to point out that he does think about what he puts on in the morning, and tries to match his jacket with his t-shirt. Shoes are a non-thought, as he only has two pairs: one pair of sneakers, one pair of dress shoes. For the fraternity, the brothers have to dress up frequently for dinners or formals. Both Kyle and Josh agreed that they liked having the opportunity to be more formal. They said it gave them more of a choice for colors and ties, and it was nice to be all together and added more meaning to the event. They also wanted to point out their ‘game day jerseys’: Kyle’s the 49ers, and Josh’s the Redskins. They wear the jerseys all day on the day of a game, and like the mood it puts them in.

Josh’s closet was very similar to Kyle’s, except for a few pieces that stood out: his flannels, and his Navy uniforms. Josh and his girlfriend have been together since high school, and he thinks it has changed how he’s dressed. “She gets me these flannels because she likes them… Well I like them too. They’re all tattered now but she patches them up. I wear them over t-shirts most days because they’re really comfortable”. He also commented on how he dresses for their dates and when he sees her (they are long-distance). His mom usually buys him clothes he doesn’t think is his style, such as patterned Polo shorts in preppy colors, but he wears them because his girlfriend tells him she likes it. He enjoys dressing up for her, and doesn’t mind wearing things that aren’t totally ‘him’. Josh also discussed his struggles with weight fluctuation after he stopped swimming, and having to stay in shape for the Navy. While Kyle keeps his small and big clothes, Josh prefers to throw away what he can’t wear anymore. Kyle said about it, “it just doesn’t feel good to wear things that are too tight, I hate gaining weight. I don’t know how you girls wear skinny jeans! I’d rather wear a shirt that was too big for me, even if it looks stupid”.

They both acknowledged that they are conscious of how they look in the morning; they know when they look good and when they look bad, but it usually correlates with how the clothes feel on their body. While their moms and significant others get them or chaperone them in getting their clothes, they have a lot of ownership over their choices. A few brothers in the fraternity dress very well and take a lot of care in how they dress. I asked them about how they see these guys and they agreed that they look great, but they have no interest in time in investing in clothes like that. “I am who I am” Josh said as we finished our interview. I conclude that these two guys care much more about their clothing than they think they do, and controls how they feel throughout the day much like a girl feels about her appearance. Even though Josh and Kyle are nowhere near ‘stylish’, they prove that all people care about how they look and how it makes them feel.