What is Dad’s Style?

What We Aim to Be and What We are Trying to Avoid (Plus Some Great Foundational Reads – Seriously, Bookmark This One)

Oct 04, 2020

In my younger days (18-30), I always dressed pretty smartly for most occasions. On the preppy/traditional side and with a collar for nearly everything (sports aside – but even pyjamas). As this look involved a lot of polo shirts (often on the bright side) and deck shoes or loafers, I tried to take care not to age myself. My question I often asked my wife before leaving the house was – “Is this too Dad on a Public Holiday?”

Dad on a Public Holiday – that was my style to avoid – and often the image that comes to mind when people talk about badly dressed dads. You likely have an image in your mind – everything one size too big, tucked in in all the wrong places, function and comfy over (actually, in place of) everything else and each piece looking like they were picked up in a bulk deal at the local supermarket. And now I am a Dad (who is sometimes on a Public Holiday), it is still my intention to avoid this look. Why? Do clothes even matter? Aren’t the children / family then work and play the only things that matter? Are you really that trivial and shallow?

Well, I subscribe to the David Coggins / Jesse Thorn (and likely many others) school of thought – that our clothes say something about us – and it is something we chose to project. Even if only to say we do not care. But I do care. And now that I am a Dad I care just as much. I still want to be stylish (or at least try to be) and to enjoy my passion for menswear. I also care for my children / family and my job – that is, I want to look like the best version of me when I am with them and I want to be at my best (and being well dressed helps me feel at my best).

So how do you do Dad’s Style without looking like succumbing to the “Dad on a Public Holiday” look? Well, that is one of the key aims of this site – and hopefully something we can explore together and get some answers from experts over the journey. But for now, I will give you are a few brief thoughts and link you to some great article by people who know far better than me.

Put simply good Dad’s Style is like any good style – a mix of form, function and fashion. With Dad’s Style you need to consider the function part a fair bit – ie is it durable, can it stand up to crayon / food / endless play – and/or just come to terms with the fact things might get ruined. They are only clothes anyway – plus, we can call it “patina”. So, what does that mean? It might mean different wardrobe for when you are with kids versus when you are not. But I think it is more than that and it is a shift whether your kids are babies, teenagers or parents themselves.

Worn yesterday for about 30 minutes while playing with my boys.

It means clothes that can stand the test of time, that look good with a little wear, then can take a cleaning and that you are not too precious about. But at the same time, it means clothes that are cool – and often classics. We will explore this in more detail as we go in some “Dad’s Kit” articles to come – but simple (possibly somewhat obvious) answers include blue oxford cloth button down (OCBD) shirts, navy crew neck jumpers, military / hunting style jackets, blue jeans, grey socks, white and grey T-shirts, Dad’s Hats sneakers and loafers. Pete Anderson at Put This On (hopefully a future interviewee for Stylish Dads) captures it well in this article - I Buy The Same Clothes Again And Again And That’s Fine as does this Put This On article with Geoff McFetridge - Art Dad Style: Geoff McFetridge.

And now I have started to share articles, let’s hear from some of the best in the business on their thoughts on Dad’s Style. The best writers on Menswear in general are the team at Put This On, Derek Guy at Die Workwear, Michael Williams at A Continuous Lean, Jacob Gallagher with The Wall Street Journal, Simon Crompton of Permanent Style plus the crews at Grailed and Mr Porter. All of them, unsurprisingly, have words of wisdom on this topic (and my hope is many of them will feature in the Stylish Dad’s section over time).

Check out the articles linked below for some great foundations on Dad’s Style. We will build together from here.

Put This On

Fathering Your Whole Style: How Might Becoming A Dad Change What You Wear?

“N” Is For Dad: New Balance’s Classic Runners

Don’t Let Crayons Cramp Dad’s Style

EDC (Every Dad Carry)

Die Workwear

Dad’s Style (Sort Of)

A Relatable Casual Uniform

Jacob Gallagher at The Wall Street Journal

‘Dad Style’ Is Now in Fashion. Yes, Even the Jeans(Paywalled but I can help if needed)

8 Dad Style Classics To Steal From Your Father’s Closet (Or Your Own)

Plus a few old Jake pieces

Complex - #Menswear's Daddy Issues

Wax Wane (Jake’s Sadly Defunct Site) - Running Into Andy Spade at the Supermarket – An Essay on Dad’s Style

Permanent Style

Me, Outside The Blog: Reader Questions

Holiday Snaps 2019: No Shorts In The City

Dressing For The Summer, And The Kids

What I Wear Working From Home

A Continuous Lean (very hopeful I can get a Stylish Dads interview with Michael Williams of ACL)

Dad Things

Dad Stuff

Developed Inside The Dad Mind

Plus One of Michael’s Many GQ Posts

These Are the New Dad Status Symbols to Buy This Father’s Day - this quote is everything “Once you’re only spending five days on the water a year, rather than going on regular fishing sprees, those five days are mission critical for maintaining your personal identity and, crucially, being the best dad you can be the rest of the time.”