Styleforum's Sweet Sixteen

[Texasmade]

please. i beg you. set aside some of that styfo money and let mafoofan buy things. and let him start threads about it.

Foo was great with the green Hermes breast wallet, needing 12 commissions to get a bespoke pattern correct, and the Paone (ex-Rubinacci guy) "looks like dogshit" comment.

 

[Quesjac]

There is an expected lifetime for members, with notable tails on the ends of the distribution. We do attract new users, but this place can be daunting, and there is always a lag between reading, joining, and posting.

It might help if you could stop the new posters from seeing that guy who just tells everyone to burn whatever item of clothing they ask about. (Also can you get a bot which answers all of the 'how do I match my 'fun' tux to her wedding dress' threads?)

But seriously, I can only echo what others have said, I've huge amounts of useful information and "lively" opinions here, and good humour.

The folks in the Luxire thread helped me get a hang of MTO ordering (and how to make better decisions about MTO) especially @emptym @patliean1 and broke and bespoke. The labels threads have been immensely helpful and it's nice to be able to answer other people's questions now. Some great writers and commentators on clothes are on or were active here --- like @dieworkwear @brillopad @SeamasterLux and the experience of the regular bespoke customers is always interesting.

If I was going to make constructive criticism, I'd say that the front page could be a bit more structured. At the moment it feels like it highlights current threads fairly randomly, and focuses too much on changing information. I'd suggest featuring more 'classic' threads that new users might want to read. Regulars are probably going straight to their notifications anyway and don't need to know which thread is 'featured' so much.

 

[dieworkwear]

I'd suggest featuring more 'classic' threads that new users might want to read.

A carousel that just runs through all the Foo classics.

 

[LA Guy]

It might help if you could stop the new posters from seeing that guy who just tells everyone to burn whatever item of clothing they ask about. (Also can you get a bot which answers all of the 'how do I match my 'fun' tux to her wedding dress' threads?)

But seriously, I can only echo what others have said, I've huge amounts of useful information and "lively" opinions here, and good humour.

The folks in the Luxire thread helped me get a hang of MTO ordering (and how to make better decisions about MTO) especially @emptym @patliean1 and broke and bespoke. The labels threads have been immensely helpful and it's nice to be able to answer other people's questions now. Some great writers and commentators on clothes are on or were active here --- like @dieworkwear @brillopad @SeamasterLux and the experience of the regular bespoke customers is always interesting.

If I was going to make constructive criticism, I'd say that the front page could be a bit more structured. At the moment it feels like it highlights current threads fairly randomly, and focuses too much on changing information. I'd suggest featuring more 'classic' threads that new users might want to read. Regulars are probably going straight to their notifications anyway and don't need to know which thread is 'featured' so much.

That's a good idea, though we'd want to keep a mix of "classic" and current, active, threads on the carousel.

A carousel that just runs through all the Foo classics.

Marking it down for February 29 and April 1.

 

[Newcomer]

I stumbled upon SF on one evening in March, 2009. I was about 20 years old.

Earlier that day, I had gone out to a local men’s retailer and purchased a Hart Schaffner Marx Gold Trumpeter navy sportcoat. When I purchased that jacket, I thought I had hit the big times. It was a very large purchase for me. Being the inquisitive person that I am, I wanted to know more about it. Well, the reviews took me to SF. And for the past, gosh, nine years of my life, there have been few days where I have not at least glanced at the forum. I have learned an immeasurable amount. People like Voxsartoria, Manton, Foo, Matt, RJ, Will, Greg, and the like, have taught me so much. I developed an interest in “MC,” which led to my interest in watches, which led me back to the “MC” side of things.

Since then, I have amassed a considerable wardrobe, made several bespoke orders, and generally just really enjoyed this hobby. Nine years have passed, and there is still a lot to keep me entertained (i.e., I really have only peeked at the SW&D side).

I have also met a handful of people who I have actually become friends "IRL" with. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

 

[dieworkwear]

I stumbled upon SF on one evening through Google when I misspelled "jacking" as "jacketing"

 

[purpleporing]

I would encourage all of you to post your opinions, start discussions, start new threads. Possibly, that last one is what we would encourage the most.

I think this is very important for people to know. There are so many threads with hundreds or thousands of pages' worth of replies, and that reminds me of another forum I used to frequent (on a completely different topic) where nearly every time somebody posted a new thread, a mod would close it and tell them to post it under one of the threads that related to the topic of the new thread. Now, I know that's not how this place rolls, but this forum is pretty much dominated by the giant threads, which can be intimidating for newer members--even though my experience has been that everyone in those threads have been extremely welcoming and helpful once I started posting there (even though my question was probably already answered 100 times throughout the thread).

That being said, I have no idea how that can change for the better.

It might help if you could stop the new posters from seeing that guy who just tells everyone to burn whatever item of clothing they ask about.

Ha. I wouldn't want to call anyone out, but I actually generally agree with this sentiment. I've seen too many new threads where the first post and sometimes first few posts are pretty snarky comments like the above mentioned. Awesome mods and an awesome community won't always be able to make up for a poor first impression someone might get here.

 

[othertravel]

.

 

[in stitches]

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@merkur

 

[Caustic Man]

Posting frequency has steadily been rising, as have things like post likes, which means that people are reading and interacting with the postings. We have a lot left to do, and we are working every day at it.

That's interesting. I was just thinking the other day that, although SF seemed relatively dead a couple years ago, it seems to have picked up a lot of steam lately. I remember when @in stitches used to make 107 posts per day, and he was rivaled for the top spot by several others. Then, bam! No one was posting in WAYRN, few questions got good answers, etc. And within the last year or two it's like SF has been born anew. My memory might be exaggerating some of these impressions but I'd guess they are mostly correct.

 

[in stitches]

FTR, I believe my record is 180.

 

[Texasmade]

That's interesting. I was just thinking the other day that, although SF seemed relatively dead a couple years ago, it seems to have picked up a lot of steam lately. I remember when @in stitches used to make 107 posts per day, and he was rivaled for the top spot by several others. Then, bam! No one was posting in WAYRN, few questions got good answers, etc. And within the last year or two it's like SF has been born anew. My memory might be exaggerating some of these impressions but I'd guess they are mostly correct.

When the last upgrade happened a year or 2 ago, SF was down for several days. Once it was back up and running, the posting was down quite a bit compared to before the upgrade. Now I see a bunch of postings of classifieds when I click on new posts.

 

[HansderHund]

Like many others, I lurked for years prior to registering. I still enjoy SF daily and watching it evolve.

I really like the fact that there’s something for everyone. Some are into the bespoke side of things, perfecting fit, discussing fabrics, house styles, etc. At the other end, there are many just starting careers or new phases of their lives that necessitate (or don’t) new wardrobes.

For leisure reading, I most enjoy threads and articles that discuss historical trends and their influence on modern trends. I always like seeing the connections between a pair of ‘30s pants and a full cut on a modern silhouette. In a similar vein, I enjoy films and their costume designers since they can have such a huge impact on immediate trends.

One thing I’d love to see, and even spearhead if desired, would be more interviews with the more prolific posters. I think it would be interesting to have a weekly Q&A à la “Inside the Actors Studio” with various members. It would be especially interesting for those members that post across the forums, but rarely show their own particular style.

Anyway, here’s to another 16 years!

 

[Caustic Man]

When the last upgrade happened a year or 2 ago, SF was done for several days. Once it was back up and running, the posting was down quite a bit compared to before the upgrade. Now I see a bunch of postings of classifieds when I click on new posts.

Yeah, that upgrade certainly had an effect, but my sense is that it was slowing down considerably even before that. I don't have the statistics, of course.

 

[Texasmade]

It certainly was losing steam, but the shutdown really killed the forum for a few months in terms of activity.