Happy (early) birthday, YouTube. To celebrate the site’s 20th anniversary, we present:The InsideHook Guide to YouTube, a series of creator profiles, channel recommendations and deep dives about the viral, controversial, unstoppable video-sharing giant.
As far as algorithmic content buckets go, style (fashion, menswear, whatever you want to call it) would appear one of the leakiest, if only because it’s filled to the brim and then some. What is style on the internet, after all? Is it wardrobe walkthroughs or capital F Fashion takes? Maybe it’s timepiece tidbits, designer drops and grooming guidance? You understand what I’m getting at here: despite their wildly varied subject material and, at times, incongruous audiences, all of these niches and more have been lumped together into one category.
This is particularly apparent on YouTube. Don’t get me wrong, the platform is a gold mine of content that can help you live a better-dressed, better-looking, better-smelling life. Seasoned sneakerheads splicing Jordan 12s in half to examine the midsole foam, avant-garde obsessives waxing longform poetic about Margiela, noted watch guy John Mayer dorking out about his G-Shock collection — these are all entertaining, often informative avenues exclusive to the platform (Instagram’s ‘fit pic-laden grid could never), but just about as different as they come.
All of which to say, while there’s a lot of great content out there among the reported 14 billion videos on YouTube, you have to know where to look. One wrong click and you’re consuming cringe-inducing “how to dress to get girls” videos or worse, toxic alpha-male bullshit — a perilous, if not incredibly common place to end up, particularly for young men — camouflaged as style advice.
That’s where I come in — or rather, where the following channels come in. All eight of these creators have been hand-selected and vetted by yours truly and can help whether you’re simply looking for a place to start your style journey or you want an encyclopedic resource for designer names you only sort of recognize. Here’s all the intel and entertainment you’ll need spanning fashion, fragrance, footwear and whatever else qualifies as style.
Yes, YouTube is a treasure trove of niches and rabbit holes, but it’s also an excellent resource for anyone who doesn’t have the first clue about clothing. London-based creator Tim Dessaint has been helping viewers through the intimidating undertaking of discovering and honing a personal style — or, taking a step back, just learning how to build a basic functioning wardrobe — for more than a decade through simple, succinct videos that focus on some of the most basic questions (how a tee should fit, for instance). While serious menswear fanatics might quickly outgrow his biases for Uniqlo staples and minimalist Scandi inclinations, Dessaint’s canon of simple style instructions should be the first stop for any man just finding his footing in the world of dressing well.
Fashion is intrinsically tied to the ever-expanding onslaught of manicured lifestyle content — after all, what someone wears says as much about them as their car or morning routine. To his credit, the genuine love and commitment to clothing that Daniel Simmons brings to his vlogs is inspirational. While Simmons’s videos may skew informal, they’re still a genuine resource for anyone interested in parlaying clothing into a life aesthetically lived.
There are plenty of folks doing well by the watch (if you’re only here for the personalities, I’d recommend the likes of Teddy Baldassarre or Adrian Barker). But given their resources, blog-turned-media-empire Hodinkee is rarely outdone when it comes to quality video content around timepieces. There’s something for every enthusiast in the brand’s catalog of nearly 1,000 videos — new releases, in-depth reviews and expert takes are all just a tick away.
If we’re being honest, the sneaker scene is kind of dead. What was once a booming resale market full of unique kicks has been reduced to a handful of enthusiasts squabbling over the same few silos, and the YouTube content reflects that. There is, however, another way for footwear freaks to get their kicks: Weston Kay, better known as Rose Anvil, has spent the better part of a decade putting his in-depth knowledge of leather, expert cobbler skills and serious videography setup to good work in an effort to identify and champion the best-made stuff — mostly footwear — out there while revealing the less-than-benchmark practices of some of the biggest shoe brands in the world. This process involves sawing, hammering, splicing and otherwise politely destroying shoes to really inspect what exactly is going on, a process that both scratches that monkey-brain itch and dispenses serious intel about which goods are actually worth your hard-earned bucks.
Disclaimer: Harry Has is not for everyone. That being said, there are few folks doing a better job at accurately prescribing the current trend zeitgeist than him. His succinct, listicle-style videos — which range from covering hot new brands to sharing some of the best seasonal trends — are fairly accurate to what I’m seeing in real time. The guy clearly reads InsideHook.
Given the tactile nature of clothing, shopping online can oftentimes be a crapshoot, especially for limited designer items that don’t receive the same mass-marketed model treatment as, say, Gap. Canoe Club, an online retailer that also has a store in Boulder, Colorado, has found a way to mitigate the lack of tangibility via their excellent YouTube channel. Since 2017, the brand has been showing off their perfectly curated stock of brands like Visvim, Auralee and Stussy with informative, motion-filled try-on videos, highlighting how the ultra-rare, ultra-pricey pieces actually look on-body. More recently, they’ve rolled out walk-throughs of entire seasons of clothing, along with fit advice, textile breakdowns and more. It’s a fantastic resource for serious shoppers with an eye for of-the-moment menswear.
Where can budding style enthusiasts and seasoned industry vets find in-depth analysis of current runway fashion and comprehensive histories of the industry’s biggest players? On YouTube, thanks to journalist Odunayo Ojo. Fashion Roadman brings the same editorial sensibilities and drive that’s earned Ojo clips in the likes of Vogue, GQ and The Business of Fashion to the smallest screen; each video is jam-packed with insightful takes, researched background and a whole lot of nitty gritty for fanatics to obsess over.
When I interviewed then-mini TikTok sensation Albert Muzquiz more than two years ago, I had a feeling he was going to be a star. In the years since, @Edgyalbert has been profiled by GQ and Esquire, become a brand ambassador for the likes of Levi’s and Ralph Lauren, and ballooned into a massive social media influencer, amassing a whopping 16.3 million likes on TikTok alone. Anyone who takes a peek at his new-ish YouTube channel should immediately understand exactly what I felt and why I felt it. It doesn’t matter if he’s walking through how to shrink your denim or getting wildly dirty scrounging for storage-bin deadstock, the guy’s got serious charisma.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Local News
Comments / 0