Derek Guy, also known as "the menswear guy" on Twitter, is a Canadian men's fashion industry writer and commentator.[1][2][3] He gained fame following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk when the site's algorithmically curated "For You" tab promoted his account @dieworkwear to a large audience.[4][5][6] Guy has contributed pieces to publications including GQ, The Washington Post, Esquire, Foreign Policy, Politico, The Guardian, and The Nation.[7][8] He is listed on the Business of Fashion 500, "the definitive index of people shaping the global fashion industry." [9]

Derek Guy
Born
Vancouver, Canada
Other names
  • "the menswear guy"
  • "dieworkwear"
Years active2011–present
Websitedieworkwear.com

Early life

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Guy was born in Vancouver to Vietnamese refugee parents.[a] His family first fled Saigon in the late 1960s, crossing the border to Cambodia. From there they went to Iran and Canada, before settling in the United States.[15] Guy's father, who is ethnically Chinese, worked as a school janitor while his mother was a secretary.[16][11]

He became interested in fashion in the late 1990s, after growing up around people involved in the Lo Life subculture, which revolves around an appreciation of Polo Ralph Lauren and other similar fashion brands.[17][18]

Guy began writing about clothing around 2011, maintaining a Tumblr blog and writing for the website PutThisOn.[19][20]

Personal life

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Guy lives in San Francisco, California.[21][22][23] He has cited author G. Bruce Boyer as an influence on his writing.[24]

He is described as "oddly private" and is never photographed, maintaining a level of anonymity despite his online fame.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^ Attributed to multiple sources:[10][11][12][13][14]

References

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  1. ^ Paiella, Gabriella (January 26, 2023). "@Dieworkwear, Twitter's 'Menswear Guy,' Is Just as Perplexed as You Are". GQ. Retrieved August 13, 2023. Ever since Twitter rolled out their algorithmic "For You" tab, one man rules your feeds. You know him by his bespectacled avatar, his prolific threads about menswear minutiae, and his Aimé Leon Dore jokes. He's the man they've started calling: "Menswear Guy."
  2. ^ Pahwa, Nitish (January 26, 2023). "The "Menswear Guy" Who's Gone Viral on Twitter Is Confused About the Whole Thing, Too". Slate. Retrieved August 13, 2023. Of all the new Main Characters on Elon Musk's Twitter, Derek Guy is the best dressed.
  3. ^ Kaur, Brahmjot (July 25, 2023). "Are people turning on Twitter's 'menswear guy'? He doesn't care either way". NBC News. Retrieved August 13, 2023. Derek Guy has become known for criticizing the men's fashion of prominent figures. Some are growing tired of his tweets.
  4. ^ Guy, Derek (July 21, 2023). "Male Politicians Dress Like Crap. The Twitter Menswear Guy Is Here to Help". Politico. Retrieved August 13, 2023. Derek Guy is a menswear writer who has written for the Washington Post, Financial Times and Esquire. He runs a men's style site called Die, Workwear!
  5. ^ Corse, Alexa (January 28, 2023). "The 'Menswear Guy' May Be the Twitter Algorithm's Favorite Person". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 13, 2023. Elon Musk's Twitter is tinkering with recommendations, and a men's fashion writer is suddenly everywhere. He has no idea why.
  6. ^ Thakker, Prem (January 27, 2023). "Now That You've Found Him, the Twitter "Menswear Guy" Would Like to Talk to You About Fast Fashion". The New Republic. Retrieved August 13, 2023. Derek Guy, @dieworkwear, doesn't know why he's suddenly on so many people's timelines. But he would like to talk to you about how to dress well and sustainably.
  7. ^ "Derek Guy". Muck Rack. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  8. ^ "Derek Guy". The Nation. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  9. ^ https://www.businessoffashion.com/people/derek-guy/
  10. ^ @dieworkwear (September 23, 2016). "I'm Canadian as well! Although now living in US. From Vancouver" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ a b @dieworkwear (July 5, 2011). "My dad is ethnically Chinese, not 100% sure what my mom is. Both parents are from Vietnam. I was born in Canada" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ @dieworkwear (June 24, 2023). "my family fled vietnam as refugees; some by boat. we lived in the US as illegal immigrants for decades" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ @dieworkwear (December 15, 2023). "My parents are war refugees from Vietnam, and I grew up as an illegal alien here" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Pahwa, Nitish (January 26, 2023). "The "Menswear Guy" Who's Gone Viral on Twitter Is Confused About the Whole Thing, Too". Slate. Retrieved December 27, 2023. Many of them don't even speak English. In the U.S. there's a marginalized group of first-generation immigrants, often from Southeast Asia—where my family's from.
  15. ^ @dieworkwear (February 23, 2023). "My family fled Saigon shortly after the Tet Offensive. First place they went was Cambodia, where my uncle died. Then they went to Iran, where someone in my family was helping run a restaurant. Shortly after they landed, the Iranian Revolution happened. Then they went to Canada" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ @dieworkwear (February 23, 2023). "im asian. parents escaped vietnam, then cambodia, and then iran. when my parents finally landed in north america, my mom worked as a secretary and my dad was a school janitor" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2023 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ Ferrier, Morwenna (August 5, 2023). "Derek Guy: the notorious fashion tweeter on Sunak's short trousers". The Guardian. Retrieved December 27, 2023. Guy became interested in clothing in the late 90s after growing up around "guys who were part of the Lo-Life". This subculture was defined by its members who wore Ralph Lauren Polo shirts and came at a time when hip-hop was starting to intersect with fashion. "I admired the dress and became more interested in Ralph Lauren, and that's when you start to learn about its tweeds and button downs, and then tailoring," he says.
  18. ^ Komankova, Jana (2024-08-22). "Interview: Derek Guy. From hip hop clothing to classic menswear". Proti šedi (in Czech). Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  19. ^ a b Sherman, Lauren (2024-06-20). "The Twitter Menswear Guy on Fashion's Missing Middle". Puck. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  20. ^ Thorn, Jesse (2011-04-11). "Please Welcome Derek Guy!". Put This On. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  21. ^ de La Calzada, Marta (October 21, 2023). "Derek Guy: "El secreto de Felipe VI está en la plancha (y en la planta)"". Telva (in Spanish). Retrieved December 27, 2023. Quien halaga el estilo de nuestro monarca vive en la Costa Oeste, en San Francisco.
  22. ^ Cumming, Ed (September 11, 2023). "Why Prince Harry's style is 'odd' and Gary Lineker looks 'fantastic' – by America's most outspoken fashion critic". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 27, 2023. We know that Derek Guy is his real name, he is Asian-American and lives in northern California where he works as a fashion journalist.
  23. ^ Ferrier, Morwenna (August 5, 2023). "Derek Guy: the notorious fashion tweeter on Sunak's short trousers". The Guardian. Retrieved December 27, 2023. Derek Guy is a menswear writer, critic and prolific Tweeter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  24. ^ Powell, James (September 2, 2023). "The Twitter Menswear Guy is still here, he doesn't know why either". USA Today. Retrieved December 27, 2023. He credits his penchant for cultural writing to the influence of author G. Bruce Boyer.
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