Have you ever been laughed at for doing the Vice look?


Detective_Crockett

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While I personally don't dress in the "vice" style other than an occasional henley with jeans, I can say here on the Southern California coast (I live in Long Beach at a marina) it wouldn't even be noticed if someone had tropical, or otherwise warm weather clothes on.  I see aloha shirts, boat shoes with no socks, pastel colors, and other coastal casual clothes all the time.  That being said, I can imagine wearing the same things in London, New York, or Berlin might be seen as unusual, even in the summer.  Just going inland from the coast in SoCal sees a rapid decline in seeing such things.  It is, after all, a style suited to a certain climate and coastal activities like sailing and beach-going.  Someone mentioned seeing it in southern Italy which would fit.  The opposite applies of course.  You don't see a lot of full suits and trench coats here either!   

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2 hours ago, pahonu said:

While I personally don't dress in the "vice" style other than an occasional henley with jeans, I can say here on the Southern California coast (I live in Long Beach at a marina) it wouldn't even be noticed if someone had tropical, or otherwise warm weather clothes on.  I see aloha shirts, boat shoes with no socks, pastel colors, and other coastal casual clothes all the time.  That being said, I can imagine wearing the same things in London, New York, or Berlin might be seen as unusual, even in the summer.  Just going inland from the coast in SoCal sees a rapid decline in seeing such things.  It is, after all, a style suited to a certain climate and coastal activities like sailing and beach-going.  Someone mentioned seeing it in southern Italy which would fit.  The opposite applies of course.  You don't see a lot of full suits and trench coats here either!   

Location location location lol! I need to make my way tropical and out of New Hampshire! Lol

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The only time I've had negative/mocking reactions is when I've worn a white linen blazer/suit.  I think it's because that look is stereotypically portrayed when the 1980s are goofed on and it influences people.  Most days I wear a modified Vice look and get nothing but compliments/dates.  For example yesterday I wore a light olive linen blazer, mustard colored henley shirt, tan loafers, tortoise shell wayfarers and... jeans (boo hiss!). 

It's also crucial to have a) a tan, b) a good haircut and c) confidence to pull off the MV look.  Just like Crockett and Tubbs ;)

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  • 2 years later...

If you have ever gotten laughed or snickered at for dressing like Sonny Crockett then, I hate to say this but, you probably deserved it!  

Now let me explain as someone who grew up in the 80's and was in the middle of the fashion frenzy back in that era.  I was there when Miami Vice fever hit in 84/85 and how you dressed defined who you were, or at least how you wanted to be perceived, more than any era before and since that time.  Not only did I watch Miami Vice obsessively but recorded it on VHS so I could re-watch what Don Johnson was wearing from week to week.  I would read GQ voraciously to see what was popular, including the ads.

If you want to collect 80's era Miami Vice suits and sport coats to feel more emotionally attached to the series you love (like how Star Trek and Star Wars fanatics collect props), or wear a white suit and a pink three button T-shirt to your fave 80's party then that's fine.  It's harmless fun.

However, to dress like Sonny Crockett as part of your daily wardrobe is just asking to be laughed at and here's why...

1. The look is too iconic.  Don Johnson cemented the sportcoat or suit with a T-shirt look to the point that it can't be worn by anyone else.  Even though 30 somewhat years has passed that look is still associated to Miami Vice.  Particularly, the unconstructed white linen sportcoat/suit.  It's associated to Sonny Crockett and Don Johnson as much as the three piece white suit is associated to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, or the red windbreaker and white-T is to James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.  To wear those items as the characters is inviting ridicule.  To paraphrase a quote I remember from American GQ magazine on style: Imitating someone else is not style; it's being a copycat.

2. It's anachronistic.  Nothing screams 80's then wearing an unconstructed sportcoat with a T-shirt but here's the irony: the Miami Vice look was neither invented by Miami Vice, nor was it a popular fashion trend in the 80's.  I roll my eyes everytime I see an article about fashion from the 80's from some young writer who was not even born back in the day.  One online article stated that Miami Vice popularized if not invented the look.  This is so incorrect.  The Sonny Crockett look was based upon what many rockers and pop artists were wearing back in the 80's hence "MTV cops".  Huey Lewis, Hall and Oates, Gino Vanelli, Duran Duran, and even Eddie Van Halen (red and black blazer over his famous "No Bozos' t-shirt) all wore suits and blazers over a T-shirt far before Miami Vice.  In fact, Tom Cruise wore a sport coat over a T-shirt in 1983's Risky Business along with Wayfarers.  Walter Matthau wore a sport coat and T-shirt in the 1968 film, The Odd Couple, so perhaps he should be credited with pairing the two?  Regardless, the Miami Vice style has become strongly associated with the 80's.

Moreover, not many guys wore the Miami Vice look even back in the mid-80's.  Even back then it was too much on the fringe, and too associated with Don Johnson who once made fun of people who dressed like him in an interview with David Letterman.  Most young males dressed more like the characters from John Hughes movies which more accurately depicts the fashion of the day.  Yes, I did wear the Miami Vice look briefly in 1985, complete with a three button T-shirt, but the look was considered quite hackneyed by 1986.  Young males were dressed more like how Kirk Cameron dressed in Growing Pains.  Loud, oversized shirts, oversized bomber jackets, acid washed jeans.  Or many dressed preppy in Lacoste or Polo shirts and pleated cotton pants and Sperry Topsider shoes.   Older males in the 80's gravitated more towards how Tubbs dressed with power suits. 

The exception was the oversized, unconstructed, sport coat.  Yes, they were popular during the mid 80's and beyond but not in pastel colors, nor with a T-shirt as that was, again, considered too hackneyed after it became associated with Miami Vice.  

The 80's was a fickle time.  It was full of fads and not a lot of trends lasted more than one or two years.  By 1986, Top Gun had guys dumping their Wayfarers for Ray-Ban aviators and flight jackets.

Also regarding anachronisms, the jackets worn during the mid-80's are far different from the the jackets worn today.  Wearing an old Gianni Versace sport coat bought off eBay looks as dated as wearing a leisure suit.  The sport coat and suits from the 80's, especially by Armani, and Boss, had huge shoulder pads, and large lapels, no vents, and often large arm holes which gave it a very boxy look.  The colors and patterns of many 80's sport coats are also quite dated as bold patterns are no longer popular.  Yes, you will look a bit silly going out to a bar or dinner wearing a loud, Gianni Versace sport coat from the 80's.  Sorry.

 

MIAMI VICE FASHION TODAY...

Even though Miami Vice did not invent the t-shirt and suit look, contrary to what revisionist historians think, its impact and influence is still present where men no longer restrict their wardrobe to grey, black, and blue outfits. 

My advice for anyone trying to look Miami Vice without actually looking too Miami Vice is to take one or two styling cues from Miami Vice without looking like you are copying it.

Do's.

1. Wear a modern cut sport coat to avoid looking dated.  You can find unlined, unconstructed ones that look more modern than wearing a vintage one from the 80's that look dated.  I see some posts from people asking where they could acquire loose fitting blazers and sport coats made out of shirt material like the green plaid one that the Sonny Crockett character wore in the episodes, Bought and Paid for, and Definitely Miami.  A few years ago, the Kenneth Cole Reaction line released summer blazers and jackets that were eerily similar to the that style of jacket.  They were made of very thin shirt like materials, unlined, had no padding and felt like a shirt.  You still might be able to find them on eBay.

 2. Wear a polo shirt, mock turtleneck, or a pullover sweater rather than a T-shirt.   Or, wear a tweed sport coat or blue blazer over a black t-shirt and jeans.  This way you will still look casual cool but without looking like you are copying Sonny Crockett.

 3. Choose anything other than white.  Yes, I know: you really want to emulate Sonny Crockett.  But, again, this is asking for ridicule.  Choose an off-white sport coat instead, or better yet take another color like blue (e.g. Smuggler's Blues).  It's less chiche yet still an homage to Miami Vice. 

 Don'ts.

1. Avoid wearing that 80's era Gianni Versace sport coat with bold patterns.  It may have been cool in the 80's but that's where it belongs.  Times have changed.

2. Don't do the white suit.  Again, that just screams "I'm trying to be Sonny Crockett".  No one is going to think it's cool.

3. No pastels for obvious reasons.

4. No oversized clothes.  Yes, I get it, anyone over 35 hates the new slim fit clothes including suits where the pants look like they are two sizes too small.  But oversized anything screams mid 80's.  Will oversized clothing make a comeback?  Possibly since the Nino Cerruti 1881 line recently did an homage to the 80's.  However, I would wait until it becomes more mainstream before hauling out that circa Miami Vice Hugo Boss jacket where the shoulder seam drops past your tricep!  

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mxlplk,

I'm confused about a few things you wrote:

>>If you have ever gotten laughed or snickered at for dressing like Sonny Crockett then, I hate to say this but, you probably deserved it!  

Why should I care if I get laughed or snickered at?

>>Don Johnson cemented the sportcoat or suit with a T-shirt look to the point that it can't be worn by anyone else.

Really? Will I be arrested?

>>To wear those items as the characters is inviting ridicule.

Again, why should I care if I'm being ridiculed?

>>To paraphrase a quote I remember from American GQ magazine on style: Imitating someone else is not style; it's being a copycat.

What's wrong with being a copycat?

>>Yes, you will look a bit silly going out to a bar or dinner wearing a loud, Gianni Versace sport coat from the 80's.

What's wrong with looking a bit silly?

>>Wear a polo shirt, mock turtleneck, or a pullover sweater rather than a T-shirt.

What if I hate polo shirts, mock turtlenecks, and pullover sweaters?

>>Choose anything other than white.

But what if I like white?

>>But, again, this is asking for ridicule.

But, again, why should I care?

>>Don't do the white suit.  Again, that just screams "I'm trying to be Sonny Crockett".  No one is going to think it's cool.

Why should I care whether anyone thinks it's cool or not?

>>No pastels for obvious reasons.

What obvious reasons? Because a TV show that most people barely remember (or were born after its time) was cancelled in 1989 and had a lot of pastel in it?

>>No oversized clothes.  Yes, I get it, anyone over 35 hates the new slim fit clothes including suits where the pants look like they are two sizes too small.  But oversized anything screams mid 80's.

What if I am over 35, hate the new slim fit clothes, like oversized clothes and don't care what other people like or how they judge me? What's wrong with screaming mid 80's?

I'm so confused.

 

Edited by Titus
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I think people should wear clothing that is comfortable and makes them feel good.  If wearing 80s style loose-fit pastel or white sport coat/blazer and a t-shirt feels good and you enjoy wearing it, I say go for it!  Having the confidence to choose your style (including emulating iconic styles that are no longer commonly seen everywhere) is a great thing :) 

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I also lived through the 80s, and if I want to wear a white blazer with a pastel green henley and jeans it's no one's damned business but mine. I was a metalhead back then...full patch jacket, faded Levi's, the works, so I got very used to not caring what people thought about what I wear. Still carry that today.

Silly to me is a hipster with jeans ending three inches about his mismatched socks with skater shoes, a beard only a nesting rodent could love, and some idiotic "ironic" t-shirt that isn't ironic at all.

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On 9/8/2019 at 7:37 PM, mxlplk said:

  Don Johnson cemented the sportcoat or suit with a T-shirt look to the point that it can't be worn by anyone else.  

Uh, maybe you should pay a little more attention to what people are wearing?  The T-shirt / suit jacket look has never gone away. In fact it's become so, for lack of a better word,  "common"  that you hardly notice it anymore.

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10 hours ago, Robbie C. said:

I also lived through the 80s, and if I want to wear a white blazer with a pastel green henley and jeans it's no one's damned business but mine. I was a metalhead back then...full patch jacket, faded Levi's, the works, so I got very used to not caring what people thought about what I wear. Still carry that today.

Silly to me is a hipster with jeans ending three inches about his mismatched socks with skater shoes, a beard only a nesting rodent could love, and some idiotic "ironic" t-shirt that isn't ironic at all.

Well said!!! People dress so badly nowadays my question is, "How can we NOT dress like Crockett?" :dance2:

As for the 80s, at the time I was a Duran Duran wannabe... skinny ties, skinny belts, upturned (or no) collar shirts, hair short on the sides long in the back. Then when all the girls I liked thought I was gay, I shifted into full Guns n Roses/Def Leppard mode where I wore nothing but ripped jeans and black concert T-shirts with sneakers. The 80s was a time of very bad ideas for me :)

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9 hours ago, Ferrariman said:

Uh, maybe you should pay a little more attention to what people are wearing?  The T-shirt / suit jacket look has never gone away. In fact it's become so, for lack of a better word,  "common"  that you hardly notice it anymore.

So true, Ferrariman! There's a giant billboard in the men's department right now at my local Target... TODAY... marketing to high-school/college kids... showing a young man in a T-shirt / blazer combo. According to mxlplk's rules above, Target must either owe Don Johnson a royalty or needs to be shut down immediately :)

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12 hours ago, vicegirl85 said:

I think people should wear clothing that is comfortable and makes them feel good.  If wearing 80s style loose-fit pastel or white sport coat/blazer and a t-shirt feels good and you enjoy wearing it, I say go for it!  Having the confidence to choose your style (including emulating iconic styles that are no longer commonly seen everywhere) is a great thing :) 

Yes! It's all about confidence. Your belief in yourself shines through any clothing you wear.

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1 hour ago, Titus said:

Yes! It's all about confidence. Your belief in yourself shines through any clothing you wear.

Post of the week! :clap:

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On 7/25/2016 at 3:19 PM, Dadrian said:

If you ever get this far, stop :):):) 

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If i laughed about me wearing the vice look? Never tried because i have the idea of this ridiculous act. Its not anyone that can really dress like don johnson. I am one of these ones. I dont see any problem with this guy on the pic. Maybe the hair. But yes, i saw many ppl wearing the look, and i avoid to express me personal point of view of how they look. I let them have fun. I do tried the way how don jonhson talks on the first episodes. I really like it. But ppl dont like it a lot because they think im an arrogant prick lol. Well its too late, i am. lol

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2 hours ago, Titus said:

Well said!!! People dress so badly nowadays my question is, "How can we NOT dress like Crockett?" :dance2:

As for the 80s, at the time I was a Duran Duran wannabe... skinny ties, skinny belts, upturned (or no) collar shirts, hair short on the sides long in the back. Then when all the girls I liked thought I was gay, I shifted into full Guns n Roses/Def Leppard mode where I wore nothing but ripped jeans and black concert T-shirts with sneakers. The 80s was a time of very bad ideas for me :)

I went the more Iron Maiden/Accept/Anthrax route with a concert t-shirt (still have my long sleeve Motley Crue Shout at the Devil shirt circa 1984-5 somewhere), jeans, the denim jacket with band patches on the back, and combat boots. I also was one of the 'trenchcoats before they were cool' people. The Vice look never really made much headway where I was, and if it did it was with the rich kids. And we were NOT them...

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I don't have a problem with the way anyone dresses whether it be MV, hipsters, goth, preppy or whatever.  It's called personal style for a reason and I don't see a reason to deem what others are wearing as "bad."  We all know what we like and don't like but it is up to the individual to decide how they'd like to look to feel good.  I don't want to be judged and I won't judge others on style.  Do people make bad choices, like wearing pajamas to Walmart?  Sure, but that's their style and I just contradicted myself.  lol

Edited by IA-SteveB
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7 hours ago, Mr. Calderon said:

If i laughed about me wearing the vice look? Never tried because i have the idea of this ridiculous act. Its not anyone that can really dress like don johnson. I am one of these ones. I dont see any problem with this guy on the pic. Maybe the hair. But yes, i saw many ppl wearing the look, and i avoid to express me personal point of view of how they look. I let them have fun. I do tried the way how don jonhson talks on the first episodes. I really like it. But ppl dont like it a lot because they think im an arrogant prick lol. Well its too late, i am. lol

It was a wig. This was Halloween. 

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7 hours ago, IA-SteveB said:

I don't have a problem with the way anyone dresses whether it be MV, hipsters, goth, preppy or whatever.  It's called personal style for a reason and I don't see a reason to deem what others are wearing as "bad."  We all know what we like and don't like but it is up to the individual to decide how they'd like to look to feel good.  I don't want to be judged and I won't judge others on style.  Do people make bad choices, like wearing pajamas to Walmart?  Sure, but that's their style and I just contradicted myself.  lol

Of course, because it's human nature. Everyone judges everyone else to some degree or another. It's how we frame ourselves in relation to everything around us. It's what you do with that judgment (or don't do as the case may be) that makes us different. I've found that people who loudly deny judging others (not directing this at you, Steve, of course) are often the ones most actively judging others.

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13 hours ago, Robbie C. said:

Everyone judges everyone else to some degree or another. It's how we frame ourselves in relation to everything around us. It's what you do with that judgment (or don't do as the case may be) that makes us different. I've found that people who loudly deny judging others (not directing this at you, Steve, of course) are often the ones most actively judging others.

Exactly! We all judge others. I do. Also, I know I'm being judged every time I walk out of my house. The key is to know it, accept it, and have the inner confidence to simply not give a s*** about it.

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On 9/8/2019 at 6:37 PM, mxlplk said:

If you have ever gotten laughed or snickered at for dressing like Sonny Crockett then, I hate to say this but, you probably deserved it!  

Now let me explain as someone who grew up in the 80's and was in the middle of the fashion frenzy back in that era.  I was there when Miami Vice fever hit in 84/85 and how you dressed defined who you were, or at least how you wanted to be perceived, more than any era before and since that time.  Not only did I watch Miami Vice obsessively but recorded it on VHS so I could re-watch what Don Johnson was wearing from week to week.  I would read GQ voraciously to see what was popular, including the ads.

If you want to collect 80's era Miami Vice suits and sport coats to feel more emotionally attached to the series you love (like how Star Trek and Star Wars fanatics collect props), or wear a white suit and a pink three button T-shirt to your fave 80's party then that's fine.  It's harmless fun.

However, to dress like Sonny Crockett as part of your daily wardrobe is just asking to be laughed at and here's why...

1. The look is too iconic.  Don Johnson cemented the sportcoat or suit with a T-shirt look to the point that it can't be worn by anyone else.  Even though 30 somewhat years has passed that look is still associated to Miami Vice.  Particularly, the unconstructed white linen sportcoat/suit.  It's associated to Sonny Crockett and Don Johnson as much as the three piece white suit is associated to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, or the red windbreaker and white-T is to James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.  To wear those items as the characters is inviting ridicule.  To paraphrase a quote I remember from American GQ magazine on style: Imitating someone else is not style; it's being a copycat.

2. It's anachronistic.  Nothing screams 80's then wearing an unconstructed sportcoat with a T-shirt but here's the irony: the Miami Vice look was neither invented by Miami Vice, nor was it a popular fashion trend in the 80's.  I roll my eyes everytime I see an article about fashion from the 80's from some young writer who was not even born back in the day.  One online article stated that Miami Vice popularized if not invented the look.  This is so incorrect.  The Sonny Crockett look was based upon what many rockers and pop artists were wearing back in the 80's hence "MTV cops".  Huey Lewis, Hall and Oates, Gino Vanelli, Duran Duran, and even Eddie Van Halen (red and black blazer over his famous "No Bozos' t-shirt) all wore suits and blazers over a T-shirt far before Miami Vice.  In fact, Tom Cruise wore a sport coat over a T-shirt in 1983's Risky Business along with Wayfarers.  Walter Matthau wore a sport coat and T-shirt in the 1968 film, The Odd Couple, so perhaps he should be credited with pairing the two?  Regardless, the Miami Vice style has become strongly associated with the 80's.

Moreover, not many guys wore the Miami Vice look even back in the mid-80's.  Even back then it was too much on the fringe, and too associated with Don Johnson who once made fun of people who dressed like him in an interview with David Letterman.  Most young males dressed more like the characters from John Hughes movies which more accurately depicts the fashion of the day.  Yes, I did wear the Miami Vice look briefly in 1985, complete with a three button T-shirt, but the look was considered quite hackneyed by 1986.  Young males were dressed more like how Kirk Cameron dressed in Growing Pains.  Loud, oversized shirts, oversized bomber jackets, acid washed jeans.  Or many dressed preppy in Lacoste or Polo shirts and pleated cotton pants and Sperry Topsider shoes.   Older males in the 80's gravitated more towards how Tubbs dressed with power suits. 

The exception was the oversized, unconstructed, sport coat.  Yes, they were popular during the mid 80's and beyond but not in pastel colors, nor with a T-shirt as that was, again, considered too hackneyed after it became associated with Miami Vice.  

The 80's was a fickle time.  It was full of fads and not a lot of trends lasted more than one or two years.  By 1986, Top Gun had guys dumping their Wayfarers for Ray-Ban aviators and flight jackets.

Also regarding anachronisms, the jackets worn during the mid-80's are far different from the the jackets worn today.  Wearing an old Gianni Versace sport coat bought off eBay looks as dated as wearing a leisure suit.  The sport coat and suits from the 80's, especially by Armani, and Boss, had huge shoulder pads, and large lapels, no vents, and often large arm holes which gave it a very boxy look.  The colors and patterns of many 80's sport coats are also quite dated as bold patterns are no longer popular.  Yes, you will look a bit silly going out to a bar or dinner wearing a loud, Gianni Versace sport coat from the 80's.  Sorry.

 

MIAMI VICE FASHION TODAY...

Even though Miami Vice did not invent the t-shirt and suit look, contrary to what revisionist historians think, its impact and influence is still present where men no longer restrict their wardrobe to grey, black, and blue outfits. 

My advice for anyone trying to look Miami Vice without actually looking too Miami Vice is to take one or two styling cues from Miami Vice without looking like you are copying it.

Do's.

1. Wear a modern cut sport coat to avoid looking dated.  You can find unlined, unconstructed ones that look more modern than wearing a vintage one from the 80's that look dated.  I see some posts from people asking where they could acquire loose fitting blazers and sport coats made out of shirt material like the green plaid one that the Sonny Crockett character wore in the episodes, Bought and Paid for, and Definitely Miami.  A few years ago, the Kenneth Cole Reaction line released summer blazers and jackets that were eerily similar to the that style of jacket.  They were made of very thin shirt like materials, unlined, had no padding and felt like a shirt.  You still might be able to find them on eBay.

 2. Wear a polo shirt, mock turtleneck, or a pullover sweater rather than a T-shirt.   Or, wear a tweed sport coat or blue blazer over a black t-shirt and jeans.  This way you will still look casual cool but without looking like you are copying Sonny Crockett.

 3. Choose anything other than white.  Yes, I know: you really want to emulate Sonny Crockett.  But, again, this is asking for ridicule.  Choose an off-white sport coat instead, or better yet take another color like blue (e.g. Smuggler's Blues).  It's less chiche yet still an homage to Miami Vice. 

 Don'ts.

1. Avoid wearing that 80's era Gianni Versace sport coat with bold patterns.  It may have been cool in the 80's but that's where it belongs.  Times have changed.

2. Don't do the white suit.  Again, that just screams "I'm trying to be Sonny Crockett".  No one is going to think it's cool.

3. No pastels for obvious reasons.

4. No oversized clothes.  Yes, I get it, anyone over 35 hates the new slim fit clothes including suits where the pants look like they are two sizes too small.  But oversized anything screams mid 80's.  Will oversized clothing make a comeback?  Possibly since the Nino Cerruti 1881 line recently did an homage to the 80's.  However, I would wait until it becomes more mainstream before hauling out that circa Miami Vice Hugo Boss jacket where the shoulder seam drops past your tricep!  

Sorry, but it sounds like you are very insecure about how others perceive you. If you're not comfortable in your own skin, you won't be able to pull of a classic gray suit or a Sonny Crockett look. You're so worried about how people see you and not concerned about expressing yourself.

I think most of us here have the balls to wear the look and not care if someone snickers because we are comfortable in it. Inviting ridicule? From who? Maybe some older folks will make references to Miami Vice, but not many people are just going to laugh at you. If they do, screw them, they probably have no class in the way they dress anyway. 

It's 2019 and people wear whatever they want. Have you seen the way the average American dresses? They look like homeless slobs. Loose-fitting t-shirts, raggedy jeans, horrible sneakers. Then you've got people with tattoos as far as the naked eye can see and people with rainbow-colored hair and piercings everywhere. No one cares anymore. There are no standards anymore. Wear whatever you want.

99% of the time, dressing in a sport coat alone puts you a step above everyone else alone. Pair that with some clean pastel or white trousers, a t-shirt or henley, well-fitted, and sockless shoes and Ray-Bans, voila: You've outdressed the majority of people and you WILL get compliments. I've gotten many compliments and never been ridiculed for it. Older folks especially appreciate it and I've been told I look like Don Johnson many times. Then they ask why you're dressed like that? You say because I like it. In this day and age, you don't need a reason.

If you don't think it fits in today, don't wear it. No one is going to adhere to your rules and no one is going to be put down by it unless they have no confidence to begin with. 

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Only reason I ain't wearing the white suit and tee is cuz it's too hot down here in southern Florida, lol. Maybe come December I'll try it out. I've got plenty of polos, tees, and shorts to rock those pastel colors (along with whites, and light grays). Currently working on my shoes to get more white slip-ons.

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10 hours ago, TylerDurden389 said:

Only reason I ain't wearing the white suit and tee is cuz it's too hot down here in southern Florida, lol. Maybe come December I'll try it out. I've got plenty of polos, tees, and shorts to rock those pastel colors (along with whites, and light grays). Currently working on my shoes to get more white slip-ons.

For white slip-ons, I really like these:

https://www.macys.com/shop/product/stacy-adams-mens-cicero-perforatd-moc-toe-drivers?ID=5701231&CategoryID=65&swatchColor=Misty Rose#fn=sp%3D1%26spc%3D2%26ruleId%3D78%26kws%3Dstacy adams drivers%26searchPass%3DallMultiMatchWithSpelling%26slotId%3D2

They run big so a half to full size smaller is what I recommend.  I had to triple check the tag to make sure they were the size I ordered because the first pair was like clown shoes at my normal size.  Had to exchange.

2019-09-18_9-03-13.jpg

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If someone is laughing at you because you're doing what you love....let them laugh. It's a sign of THEIR insecureness and limited perspective - not yours. It's because their petty-minded paradigm does not allow them to cope with what their brains are not able to process. Because they never grew the related synapses. Don't blame yourself and be proud of who you are. :funky:

As for the question:

Laughed at?           :checkbox:

Raised eyebrows? :done:

Strange looks?      :done:

Comments?           :done:

Compliments?       :done:

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  • 6 months later...
On 9/15/2019 at 12:00 PM, pmconroy said:

Sorry, but it sounds like you are very insecure about how others perceive you. If you're not comfortable in your own skin, you won't be able to pull of a classic gray suit or a Sonny Crockett look. You're so worried about how people see you and not concerned about expressing yourself.

I think most of us here have the balls to wear the look and not care if someone snickers because we are comfortable in it. Inviting ridicule? From who? Maybe some older folks will make references to Miami Vice, but not many people are just going to laugh at you. If they do, screw them, they probably have no class in the way they dress anyway. 

It's 2019 and people wear whatever they want. Have you seen the way the average American dresses? They look like homeless slobs. Loose-fitting t-shirts, raggedy jeans, horrible sneakers. Then you've got people with tattoos as far as the naked eye can see and people with rainbow-colored hair and piercings everywhere. No one cares anymore. There are no standards anymore. Wear whatever you want.

99% of the time, dressing in a sport coat alone puts you a step above everyone else alone. Pair that with some clean pastel or white trousers, a t-shirt or henley, well-fitted, and sockless shoes and Ray-Bans, voila: You've outdressed the majority of people and you WILL get compliments. I've gotten many compliments and never been ridiculed for it. Older folks especially appreciate it and I've been told I look like Don Johnson many times. Then they ask why you're dressed like that? You say because I like it. In this day and age, you don't need a reason.

If you don't think it fits in today, don't wear it. No one is going to adhere to your rules and no one is going to be put down by it unless they have no confidence to begin with. 

Now let me say an insincere "sorry" to you as a preamble, pmconroy, and say that you don't know me so don't troll your psychoanalytic profiles about me.   First of all, why don't you read my entire post instead of just reading the first line and getting all upset and taking it personally?  If you read the entirety (I know it's long), I actually provide tips on modernizing the Miami Vice look without looking like you're going to an 80's tribute party.

But I still contend as a reply to the original poster's question in the most honest way possible:  Yes, you will be laughed at for dressing like Sonny Crockett today.  I'm sorry if you don't like that frank and honest answer.  It has nothing to do with who has confidence and who does not.  It's the facts of a judgemental world.

You don't want to hear it from me?  How about from Don Johnson, himself?  He poked fun at people copying him even back then on the June, 11, 1985 David Letterman show.  Listen at the 2:30 mark as a response to when David Letterman mentions how people are now dressing like him.

A 1986 GQ article, January 1986 with Cary Grant on the cover to be exact, said that copying someone else does not give you style.  It just makes you a sad copycat.

Unless you're cosplaying Sonny Crockett for fun, perhaps that is the person who is actually lacking confidence and trying to project themselves into a fictitious character.  Hmm?

True style is original.  True style is an expression.  I don't have to justify myself to you except to say that I actually happen to have over a dozen sport coats in my collection of modern vintage of all different styles which is probably more than the average male today: tailored, traditional cut, modern slim cut, unconstructed, lined, etc.    But I wear them for me and in my own style.  Not to cosplay Sonny Crockett.  

Yes, I love Miami Vice.  I grew up with it.  I saw the original broadcasts and even dressed in t-shirts and unconstructed sport coats when I was young and while it was still fresh and cool for about 16 months before it became hackneyed by late 1986.  It is no longer cool.  That was a point in time.   Dressing like Sonny Crockett is a painful 80's cliche and I contend, whether you like it or not, people will laugh at you and think you're a clown if you wear a white suit and pink t-shirt.  If you're comfortable with that then good on you.  Go ahead and dress like Sonny Crockett -- it's a free country.  You can dress like a 70's Vegas Elvis if you want.  Neither makes you original nor have style, however.  SORRY.

 

Edited by mxlplk
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