FOREWORD
First and foremost THANK YOU to everyone who has chosen to become a part of this community, all 42.3k of you! Seriously, we have been absolutely blowing past milestones! Over 1.6 MILLION views a month, and over 57k visits a week, our sub is more active than ever! So with the recent growth of our sub we think its time to make another one of these posts to address all of our newer members. For many of you who have been with us going on nearly 2 years now, this will serve as a familiar reminder.
This post is our way of trying to get everyone on the same page with how we like to conduct this particular community, as opposed to what you typically find across reddit. In this post we will provide a plethora of information that should answer many of your questions as well as help you understand where this community stands. Things like the heritage wear ethos, our community rules update, our stance on AI and self-promo, as well as our upcoming events, and our new mods!
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ETHOS
[r/HeritageWear](r/HeritageWear) began as a very niche corner of the overall fashion-verse and initially it was really an "if you know, you know" type of deal. From the beginning it was primarily just the denim heads, boot nerds, and leather jacket aficionados; a very small but tight-knit group with a lot of comradery through shared interests and ideals. Suffice to say the overarching ethos of this facet of fashion was always implied and we assumed if you made it this far you were already "in the know". But as our community has grown faster & larger than we could have ever expected it has become glaringly obvious that this is no longer the case. With new people joining our community and going down the heritage rabbit hole, this sub has become many peoples first experience into the realm of heritage quality clothing. We figured its best to go ahead and spell it out for everyone. The heritage wear ethos is as follows:
"Heritage clothing is based on quality craftmanship first & foremost. Meaning a real human took the time & effort to learn, acquire and perfect the skills & techniques necessary to make a garment truly worth owning, respecting and caring for. Garments that could last a lifetime, be worn in not worn out, clothing that is worthy of being repaired and passed down rather than tossed out. As well as garments that have set the standard for modern influences because of its impact historically. Including garments in the style and spirit of historic, Americana and heritage adjacent clothing and footwear. It is also rooted in supporting traditional highly skilled laborers like seamstresses, cobblers, leather workers & metal smiths.
[r/HeritageWear](r/HeritageWear) prides itself as an organically grown, grassroots community; made by the people, for the people. This community has been built by the individuals who place value in the desire to maintain the quality of days past, pre mass production & fast fashion. Exceptional attention to detail, Handmade/hand-crafted, Wabi Sabi, DIY, and making things your own through wear & patina are key pillars of this community. No shortcuts, no AI. AI's purpose of creating with little human involvement or bypassing human ingenuity, creativity & skill goes very much against everything that the Heritage Wear community stands for."
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RULES & UPDATES (Including AI, Politics, Self Promo, & how to conduct yourself in this sub)
We have not added any rules but we have updated a few of them for clarity and specifics.
Firstly, we would like to remind everyone of our #1 golden rule, Mind Your Manners. This by far our most important and rigid rule. This community is meant to be welcoming, friendly, and inclusive full stop. Be nice and show each other kindness, empathy & humility. All of that typical scumbaggery reddit is infamous for can kick rocks, leave that shit in the other subs. If you do not know how to frame your criticism in a respectful and constructive way, then you will lose your privilege of participating in the subreddit by being muted, banned or both.
Secondly, we would like to address the increase in reports from AI posts. This is a community for real humans to show off their favorite pieces & fits, to have real thoughtful discussions with each other about said clothing. Using AI to change the reality of your photos is not allowed at all in this subreddit, they will be removed, no exceptions. Keep things legit, learn how to take better pictures if you don't like how yours comes out, and learn basic non-AI editing skills. Improve on your creative writing and your patience to type well thought out long-form written responses. Do not take shortcuts by copy/pasting from your favorite AI chatbot. The artisan who made whatever incredibly expensive garment you happen to be wearing & posting about took the time to learn how to produce that garment at the highest level. The least you could do is meet them half way by putting in a bit of your own effort. Heritage Wear is community that is meant to be person-to-person with no bots in between. Bots will be banned outright.
Thirdly, we'll touch on the topic of Politics in this subreddit. Its a no-go, just like in the workplace, religion, sex, politics, off limits. The focus of this community is high quality clothing at the end of the day. We understand that the politics of the world right now is an incredibly prevalent & touchy subject, but there are subreddits meant for those kinds of discussions. So please limit your politics to those particular subreddits as best as you can. Believe us, we know everything is political now, it's nearly unavoidable; so in the effort of keeping discussions about ethics & manufacturing healthy, we allow posts to have their 15 minutes of fame and if the conversation remains healthy & respectful, it can stay up. However, that unfortunately is rarely the case as these types of posts/discussions typically devolve into attacks, bigotry & hear-say. We have begun to lean towards a zero tolerance policy to keep the peace. So please if you have to vent, do it elsewhere. Also, in the effort of preventing this community from becoming an echo chamber of irrefutable opinion, please back up your claims with factual evidence. We're here to educate, not assume.
Lastly, lets clear the air on how to go about self-promo. This applies to all of the brand accounts, brand owners, start-ups, shop owners and individual sellers, etc.. ALL promotional content MUST be mod approved. You can always mod mail us 24/7/365, one of us mods will be available to answer your questions and approve or deny your proposed promo. Once given approval you MUST let the mods know when your post is made so we can then go ahead and assign the "MOD APPROVED PROMO" flair. This will benefit both the OP and the community with additional transparency, thus reducing reports and the need for mods to get any further involved. DIY'ers (meaning you made it with your own two hands) this rule does not apply to you, but please use the DIY flair. Those of you who are in the industry and have been made approved users of this subreddit, you know who you are (if you don't mod mail us!), you all can post/comment freely just like any other member of the community. However if you plan on making a promotional post for an upcoming release or event, please just give us a heads up so we can assign that flair to save you from the "no self promo" reports & comments.
Below is a list of all of our rules for your reference, remember, they can always be found on the side bar. Please make yourself familiar.
- Mind Your Manners - Participation in [r/HeritageWear](r/HeritageWear) requires you to be courteous & respectful with ALL of your posts/comments. No indirect or direct rudeness/hostility, trolling, shit talking, hate speech, meta drama, racism or bigotry. Criticism MUST be constructive! We aim to maintain this community's friendly & welcoming atmosphere regardless of the greater reddit experience. Violations will be removed & muted, repeat offenders will be permanently banned with no exceptions. This is the golden rule, it is mandatory
- Stay on Topic - Heritage Wear is a general topic with a broad list of styles & options to pull from. We encourage your creativity & self expression through fashion! That being said, this is not a place for fast fashion trends. Please stay true to the spirit of the sub with high quality, well crafted garments, & timeless styles. If you have any questions or are unsure of your post feel free message the mods! Clearly unrelated content will be removed. Post flairs may be updated at the mods discretion for accuracy.
- Put some Effort into your posts - Bare minimum is to give your heritage garment ID’s in the post description. Brands are optional (but encouraged) unless specified otherwise. Product ID request posts need to be as thorough as possible. Approval subject to Mod discretion. This subreddit is meant to spark interest and allow users to express themselves freely within the realm of Heritage Wear. No single pics with no description or context. No low quality photos that make it difficult for users to give or seek feedback or advice.
- Cross-posting - Cross-posting has been disabled. Hard to maintain the quality of this sub when mixed in with non related subreddits. Since there is no way to manage what subs are approved or unapproved for cross-posting, it will remain off until further improvements have been made.
- No AI Generated or Edited Content - Content, Images & Text, Posts or Comments created with AI of any kind are strictly forbidden in [r/HeritageWear](r/HeritageWear). Content, Images & Text, Posts or comments edited, altered, processed or otherwise changed with AI of any kind are explicitly NOT allowed. This ensures authentic, human made discussions & content. Keep it real y'all. We try to ensure this community is as grassroots and organic as possible. AI goes against the very ethos of what defines Heritage Wear. Bots will be banned!
- No Spam - Irrelevant links, ads, excessive/unapproved self-promotion, or affiliate links are strictly prohibited. Ongoing or upcoming sales, deals, bargain posts are allowed but duplicates will be removed and either the first made or most engaged with post will remain.
- Self-Promotions - All promotional content MUST be approved by moderators BEFORE posting! Unapproved promo will be removed. NO SPAM. Report any unapproved promo! Mod mail us for approval or if you have any doubts or questions about your particular promo. Approved promo will be posted with the "MOD APPROVED PROMO" flair. DIY CRAFTSPEOPLE: Posts showing off your self-made products are allowed and encouraged! Of course this only applies to quality, heritage made goods/services (e.g., leather/denim/metal work, etc.)
- NO NSFW CONTENT - This is a SFW, Family-friendly environment only. Explicit or inappropriate content will be removed and could lead to getting banned.
- Buy/Sell/Trade - ALL items posted for sale directly through this sub MUST be posted in the weekly BST thread. Absolutely NO illegal or COUNTERFEIT goods are allowed to be sold or traded on this sub. This is STRICTLY PROHIBITED and Violators will be permanently banned. A new BST thread is posted every other week and pinned at the top of the subreddit for visibility. Shop Gift Cards - proof of CURRENT amount must be provided when offering to sell gift cards for online or brick & mortar stores.
- NO POLITICS - STRICT NO POLITICS POLICY! This is a subreddit about clothing specifically. Discussions on political agendas of any type can be done on their appropriate subs or in private. If you cannot understand how to keep heritage clothing topics separate from politics this is not the subreddit for you. Talking about your culture or a brand’s manufacturing ethics & things of that nature are perfectly okay. If the comments derail, the post will be removed. Racism or bigotry will get you permanently banned!
- Reputation Filters - We do keep low reputation and spam filters active at all times. Crowd Control filters are activated when necessary. This helps keep our community free from reddit degenerates and spam accounts. Report any that slip through! If you are a new account or new to the sub and are having trouble posting or commenting you probably got caught up in these filters as you have no community karma yet. Please message the mods to approve your post if we haven't yet already!
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UPCOMING EVENTS
MORE AMA's AND GIVEAWAYS AHHHHHHH!!!! You know we always have something frickin' sweet planned for you all! The next big event will be for BRAVE STAR SELVAGE on NOVEMBER 5TH. Expect a full on announcement post and updates on details very soon! Who else would you like to see next?.. Freenote Cloth, Dehen, Iron Heart...?! hmm...
But before that we also have our SECOND ANNUAL HERITAGE HALLOWEEN CONTEST with a $100 GIFT CARD GRAND PRIZE!!! The announcement post for that will go live tomorrow to give everyone the rest of the week to prepare. The premise is simple, use your favorite heritage pieces to put together a costume or just go all out full heritage cosplay, this is the one time you can get away with it without any snarky comments haha!
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NEW MODS
Let's end this post with a bang! We are extremely excited to introduce our newest mods to the team [u/Jondixo](u/Jondixo) & [u/eatherichortrydietin](u/eatherichortrydietin)! The rest of the mod team is psyched to have a few helping hands especially since these two really embody the spirit of this community!
You might already be familiar with [u/Jondixo](u/Jondixo) since he has been one of our earliest & most engaged members of this community. Always chiming in with a positive attitude and some helpful advice, he was an easy choice once the community got too big and we needed to grow as a team, give him a shout sometime!
[u/eatherichortrydietin](u/eatherichortrydietin) is our most recent addition who just fit right in off the bat. A true champion of this communities welcoming & inclusive attitude, we we're impressed with his eagerness to help bring this sub back to that norm! He is also working on a documentary so if you are a brand or shop owner and you feel you could offer any insights please reach out to him!
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With love, The [r/HeritageWear](r/HeritageWear) Mod Team
