Recommended Clothing

June 25, 2025

Introduction

  1. Find the highest quality (durable, most effective, etc.) clothing for specific areas
  2. Create a uniform
  3. Go about your day, create a routine, and keep working at life

Socks

Darn Tough Tactical T4088. Get the mid cushion one, the no cushion doesn’t feel soft and has little give in the fabric, so it compresses your foot.

I prefer ankle socks so winter doesn’t cause ankle coldness. Tall socks cause fabric bunching and are annoying to take on/off. Around 3-4 pairs is probably enough.

Shoes

They don’t really matter that much to me, as long as they’re comfortable and reasonably OK looking. I get black shoes and black pants so it creates a cohesive base silhouette.

Anecdotally, I’ve noticed more mass-produced shoes having less of an arch in recent years. Humans likely metabolically have become worse and more flat-footed, so Adidas is adjusting to these changes accordingly. On Running is a flat-footed shoe.

Shoes should have some cushion. Onitsuka tigers, Birkenstocks—will kill your ankles walking on concrete all day, though the latter has good arch support and width options.

Tried to get into boots but couldn’t. Timberlands, Thursday Boots, GORUCK, all of them were extremely uncomfortable for me, but I’ve heard these are not really ‘real’ boot brands like Red Wing. I’m not in a career where I need to wear formal shoes, but do what is necessary based on your industry.

Belt

GRIP6. $35 or so. The carbon fiber is overpriced at $99, and I even tried 3D printing (SLS rather than FDM) a buckle but it isn’t strong enough and the texture is weird. You might get similar belts at REI though.

Underwear

I just have some basic ones from Adidas. They’re 9” inseam, almost knee length because otherwise they ride up.

Haven’t found an urgent need to replace these. Have heard merino wool is recommended.

Pants

Currently just wearing some black cargo pants from Izzue. Overpriced for the material quality but happened to fit me.

Haven’t found a perfect pair yet. Ideally should not smell bad (no polyester), vents for sweat/air flow, loose enough to not hug skin (leads to getting dirty from sweat), durable in wash. Mesh inside to reduce abrasion or knee zips would also be helpful.

Outlier often recommended but imo overpriced, and the pants are rugged but not breathable. Lululemon Utilitech is similar. Also heard of Workman, but haven’t tried in person.

I tried two of the Japanese denim shops in Taipei, Blue Beach Denim and Take5, which is named for the Dave Brubeck Jazz song. I didn’t get any because none of them appealed to me. You should try to buy such things in Japan as they’re cheaper.

Something I realized is that the Japanese and Korean pattern are still consumptive patterns of sedentary culture, though at slightly higher quality. The constant purchasing of new clothes to fit certain styles is a waste of time and money, and increasingly something that is exhausting itself. I merely aimed to find one or two pairs of high quality, acceptable pants because most clothes at Walmart are polyester slush—the quality gets worse and worse every year.

Uniqlo and Muji are no exceptions to the decrease in clothing quality, though the latter has home goods that make up for it.

Shirts

Some reasonably well-fitting semi-heavyweight grey shirts. I’m too skinny (due to health stuff) so thin clothing doesn’t look good on me.

Don’t think about what to wear all day. Think of Steve Jobs: same thing all day because your effort is meant for more important things.

Cover the mirrors in your house so you don’t spend attention staring at yourself.

Jacket

Many people aren’t aware of the latest advancements in jacket technology and its purposes. Not knowing where to start, they might buy a leather jacket, a semi-formal “sports coat” appearance jacket, a softshell jacket, a zip-up hoodie/fleece, or a giant jacket for the cold.

All of these are less that functional. The first two require you to bring an umbrella, and the giant jacket is difficult to pack. Also, wearing a puffer jacket on the outside isn’t something I do because the rain damages the down and it tears easily.

The best way is a triple layer technique: an outside shell that is water and rain-proof, a middle layer of feathers (down) or wool (merino) that keeps warm, and a base layer that doesn’t soak too much water (cotton gets damp, heavy, and cold). They say “moisture wicking” but that teminology doesn’t really make sense to me: there’s no candle wick or thread to draw away the moisture!

I haven’t figured out the base layer because polyester looks bad and smells, and the cold weather waterlogging of base layers isn’t something I’ve encountered much, so what I have now works. I like the channel MyLifeOutdoors for insights on gear. He says GoreTEX is supposedly a waste and side zips are better.

I wear the Columbia Mesh Watertight II (has mesh inside, waterproof outside), imported from Taobao.

Accessories

Gloves, hat, shorts, neck scarf. You will find these necessary at certain times. I’m quite active in cold weather so I need the former, and I don’t go to warm places much.