You’ve heard of doppelgängers, right? Folklore has them parading as evil versions of yourself but by modern definition they are basically a double of you. Keep that in mind as we continue. For years now I have been characterized by my tall hair and bushy beard. I stick to classic clothing mostly, and all this has worked for me, until now.

I have had conversations with my brother (who is not in fashion and looks virtually identical to me) over the years about how my look is conformist. I would counter that his short-back-and-sides and collection of polo shirts made him a walking contradiction. We would laugh and move on. It wasn’t until a recent launch that I was faced with the realization that he may be on to something. I walked down the stairs into a sea of beard and denim and coiff. It was devastating. Not that I walk among the sheeple as such, but that my fellow men of the cloth may be characterized the same as me, and what’s fun about that? We blog and reblog, we seek out something different and end up with a lot of the same.

I reached a point last year where I didn’t even bother wearing something special for fashion week because there would be plenty of boys doing that for me. It wasn’t that I was becoming completely jaded by the fashion and blogging industry, but it was feeling a bit pointless contributing to something so mainstream and unoriginal. For this reason I have only worn a bow-tie a couple times.

Things changed a bit when I blogged for TopMan last year. I walked around the store before it had opened and contemplated buying a few things. There are loads of nice pieces for boys but it was a rack of plain white tee’s that really struck a chord with me. I bought several of these R50 James Dean roll-ups, and I wore them virtually everyday. It was invigorating! Paired with only black jeans and my white high-top All-Stars I abandoned my collection of brogues for the summer and opted for this refreshing and simpler uniform. I started seeing the beauty in simplicity, and in that rediscovered my love of clothing.

It was at this time that I had to change hairdressers. Mine deserted me for a surfing holiday in Cape Town so I took the opportunity to try out Wyatt hair at 44 Stanley. I walked in with tall hair and walked out with slick gelled back hair and no sides. I even shaved off my beard last night. It added to my need to completely strip down and it feels awesome. I’m not saying I won’t grow a beard again, I certainly will. I was a beard grower before I was a blogger. But I’m starting to see why I kept things simple before, the key to fashion is to make it work for the individual.

When this happened it occurred to me I could do with simplifying the rest of my life and even my blog. My 2013 resolution is to attempt just that. Less posts, better quality, returning to much of what made me love the blog in the beginning.