LEARN TO SPEAK FASHION

The Esquire Style Snob’s Dictionary, 2020 Edition. By Simon Mills

BOGO n.

Portmanteau term amalgamating “box” and “logo” to describe instantly recognisable brand identity, eg Supreme, North

Face, Nike. Commonly used in reference to Supreme’s box logo — “bogo” — T-shirts and hoodies.

DRIP, THE n.

Variation on “dripping”/“dripping with”. Derived from the comical notion of a man wearing so much “ice” (diamond-studded jewellery), he is literally melting, or “got the drip”. Can also be loosely applied to any sharply attired male, jewellery-wearing or not: “Harry Styles got the drip in that rhinestone Gucci.”

EXTRA adj.

Now a singular, camp exclamation (rather than former use, “extra special”, “extra charge” etc). Describes anything sartorially dramatic, an outfit/person that is OTT, colourful, flamboyant: “Dude, those platform sole

Rick Owens boots are extra.”

Can be both compliment and arch disapproval.

FIT n.

What you’re wearing.

FIT CHECK v.

The totality of your “fit”. May also be used to confidently invite others to admire your outfit, particularly on social media, hence #fitcheck

FLACKING v.

When a buyer withdraws from a sale after confirming purchase at an agreed price. “I won an auction for some jeans from the new Virgil x Nigo collection on eBay. We agreed shipping costs and I was all ready to pay… then the seller started flacking.”

F&F abbrev.

Friends and family; drops and releases available only to a small circle of hyper-connected style cognoscenti and inner-circle enthusiasts, not general public. “Did you hear about the new drop at Palace in Soho?” “Yeah, don’t bother going down there. It’s strictly F&F.” Do not confuse with Tesco supermarkets’ own-brand clothing label, F&F.

GAME n.

Originating in US sports, complimentary term lauding confidence, quality, fit and/or panache in a look or garment. “Sinatra’s tuxedo game is strong in this old photo.” A man might also have “got game” [sic]: “You got game in those off-whites.”

GUAYABERA n.

Pronounced “gwah-yah-be-rah”. Cuban linen/cotton, loose, boxy, short-sleeved shirt in white, pale blue, lemon or pastel colourway with four, sometimes two, patch pockets and sewn-in vertical pleats. Possibly derived from its big pockets to carry harvested guavas (guayabas); or from

“yayabero”, nickname for people living near the island’s Yayabo River. Best accessorised with a Montecristo No 5 cigar.

GRAIL n.

As in Holy Grail. Describes one ultimate item of clothing you obsess about owning but cannot ever find, or afford: “Those Jordan 1 Retro High Shinedowns are my grail”. CXN: Grailed, peerto-peer online marketplace for hard-to-find menswear.

INSTACOP adj.

Impulse buy. Item so jawdroppingly irresistible you must immediately add to cart.

JAWNS n.

Clothing. Originally slang for a person, place, thing: “Did you try the main course? That jawn was horrible”. Now specific to any/all clothing: “I just dropped a month’s salary on jawns.”

LEWK n.

Fashion Instagrammer vernacular. Knowingly folksy, sarcastic variation of style-speak noun “look”. Describing an especially meticulously put-together getup or try-hard hairstyle: “That normcore lewk is so 2017.”

L/C abbrev.

“Legit check”. Questioning initialism to confirm a garment’s or pair of trainers’ provenance, mostly during buyer-to-seller communications in e-commerce transactions on eBay, Grailed etc: “Gonna need an L/C on those Saint Laurent high-tops. Do you have the receipts, tags, original box etc?”

MITH adj.

Rare clothing item, object of desire, very limited edition. Intentional misspelling of “myth”. Alternative to grail: “Nike Dunk SB Low Paris, rope/special cardinal colourway. Those sneakers are mith… $22,000!”

PROXY n.

Streetwear middleman, fence. Probably located outside London, Manchester or Glasgow, usually working in retail, with insider knowledge of the latest streetwear “drops”: “Whoa! Where did you get those VaporMax Flyknits?” “Proxy in the Edinburgh Nike store hit me up.”

SALT THREAD fig.

Lengthy, bitterly toned communication/support group on social media platform where unsuccessful grail hunters vent disappointment at failure to cop items from a new drop. Almost unintelligible to anyone over 17.

STAN n./v.

Fanatic, devotee. As a verb, “I stan”, “he stans”. Derived from Eminem’s 2000 megahit “Stan” about a deeply obsessive, possibly mentally unwell, fan. Updated today as a fashion positive: “Jamal is a stan for the new Nike Air Jordans”; “Daryl stans big time for Adidas.”

STEEZE; STEEZY adj.

Portmanteau combining intangible notions of “style” and “ease”. Coined by MC Guru of hip-hop outfit Gang Starr on their 1997 hit “You Know My Steez”. A man dressed “steezy” or with “steeze”, from skateboarder to Savile Row gent, will be laid back and comfortable in both ensemble and deportment.

TEA n./v.

Gossip. The kind of scandalous/ light-hearted chat best exchanged over an afternoon pot: “What’s the tea on Marc Jacobs? Is he heading for the Balenciaga job?”

SPALLA CAMICIA n.

Italian, literally “shirt shoulder”. Construction in suiting or blazer crafted without padding to effect a soft shoulder-to-arm transition. A casual, elegant style most evident in classic, unstructured, Neapolitan tailoring.

TRI-FERG n.

Palace Skateboards’ logo, referencing creator/graphic design talent Fergus “Fergadelic” Purcell. An interpolation of the 1934 Penrose tribar by Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd; its shape can be depicted in a perspective drawing but cannot exist as an object.

VANITY SIZING n.

Statistically gaslighting, numerically baffling marketing ploy rife in UK and US high street menswear manufacturers/ retailers where waistband size is approximated/lessened on (mostly) trousers to flatter customer vanity. Real size is up to 1.5–3in bigger than labelled.

So, 34in will actually fit a 37in waist. Also known as “toxic waist”.

WARP n.

From old English, “that which is thrown across”. Vertical/ lengthwise threading of garment yard/loom. “Weft” — horizontal threading — is woven through the warp to create fabric. Notable on heritage Scottish tweeds and Flyknit trainers.

WDYWT accron.

Question, mostly via SMS messaging or social media, between hypebeasts: “What did you wear today?”