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As you might have noticed, we’ve spent the past couple weeks trying to make the summer pocket square happen. (Think: bold, vibrant, sometimes-asymmetrical prints of dancing flamingos—or dancing steps, even). And with this new crop of summery silk from Aussie tailor P. Johnson, we can officially say this is happening. Tuck one into your breast pocket and wear it like a badge of dapper festiveness. Our job here is done.
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Derby fever is strong in the air this week. To add to the list of reasons to hop the next flight to Louisville: the best souvenir in sports we’ve seen yet.
It’s a familiar sight at sporting events everywhere: concession stands hawking flimsy plastic cups emblazoned with a team name and asking you to pony up a few extra bucks for something that sounds like a good idea on your third beer, but probably won’t make it home with you. Mostly because they’re hardly anything you’d regard as bona fide souvenirs—something, say, stately enough for your bookshelf.
Which brings us to this hand-engraved pewter julep cup (any Kentuckian worth their salt knows the drink deserves to be enjoyed from a frosty metal cup). It can be yours at this Saturday’s Kentucky Derby—you’ll just need to be in attendance at Churchill Downs and donate a grand to charity. The best part is that, like any good souvenir cup, it will arrive to you filled with mint, sugar, Woodford Reserve bourbon and crushed ice to the brim.
We’re betting this one makes it home with you.
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By now, your dress code’s gotten a little breezier and you’re looking forward to turning up the volume a bit. (A good start would be with your chinos). Thing is, it’s more than likely that the blazer you’re reaching for is in a staid navy twill or earth-tone-y linen. Here’s where you’ll want to inject a little pattern: the pocket square. And you’ll do well with these new offerings from Michael James Milton (h/t Well Spent) that are cut from Japanese cotton and handmade in San Francisco, and range in vibe from classic polka dot to toile to the number pictured here—we’re calling it “Neonavajo.”
Just don’t match them to your tie.
The sun just woke up. And it is angry.
So while during the other eight months of the year, a brimmed hat might be a lovable affectation, we’ve entered the scorching stretch of days when that brim serves a vital function. You need shelter from the sun—and if possible, you’d like to do it without looking like a complete yokel. If you’re ready to move beyond the baseball cap, we’ve got three places for you to look…
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The sun is out, the air is hot and, trendy or not, the shelves are filled with Hawaiian shirts.
Gentlemen, this is a dangerous situation.
It’s not that the Hawaiian shirt is such a bad idea. Pull it off right, and you’ll be carrying around a beach-drink-flavored halo all day. But pulling it off right is so tricky, and if you don’t do it perfectly, you’ll be stuck in a purgatory of itchy polyester and substandard episodes of Magnum, P.I.
The way we see it, you’ve got three options, any one of which should keep you in good sartorial standing. Let us count the ways…
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Ah, the siren song of the standing desk. So close, so seemingly healthy…and yet so far.
Adrienne Jeffries tangled with the calf-destroying monster recently, and lived to tell the tale in this morning’s Observer. It’s a familiar story, starting with good intentions, medical statistics and kind words from start-up CEOs. By the end, the kind words have been replaced by back pain and the ridicule of her co-workers.
It’s enough to make you wonder, what leads a person down this path to begin with? And before you say, “well-established health benefits,” we’ve got another possibility we’d like to propose…
As a general rule, ironing isn’t fun—but maybe that’s because you’re doing it wrong.
We’re not talking about extreme ironing; just a frighteningly efficient and dedicated approach to the task. The kung fu of ironing, if you will.
It’s inspired by this video of a professional ironer at work, doing quite a number on a spread-collared dress shirt. He’s fast, he’s purposeful, and he knows exactly what he’s doing. Naturally, it’ll take a while to build your skills up to that level…but a guy can dream.
Like most menswear bloggers, we’ve got a soft spot for factories. The flow of the assembly line, the rhythmic whir of the machines, the forward march of materials being made into goods.
It’s not perfect, though. For every 10,000 identical Coke cans that roll off the assembly line, there’ll be a couple that are a little off the mark. Or better yet, a lot off the mark. And now there’s a blog devoted to sharing them with the world.
It’s called Errors in Production, and it hosts everything from mutant gummi bears to a double-handled espresso cup. It’s arty, make no mistake, but there’s something funny and more than a little poignant about seeing all those castoffs in one place.
And most importantly, they’re taking submissions—so that misshapen Grolsch bottle can finally be put to good use.
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We’ve been getting some weird vibes from the menswear blogodome lately.
It’s a sudden antisocial feeling, an uptick in cold shoulders—and, more recently, a cotton pocket square that says “fuck off.” The days of polite, well-behaved pocket squares are gone now, possibly never to return.
We’re not taking it personally, but it’s hard not to notice: menswear’s gotten a lot grouchier in the last few months. Maybe it was inevitable, given the recent level of swagger in certain corners, but we can’t help thinking something’s gone terribly wrong…
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With winter safely in the rear-view mirror, there’s a whole new breed of tie up for grabs. Forget the gray wools and somber brown hues. Now that the sun is out, we’re more partial to raw silks, textured cotton and madras ties—the rare breed of neckwear that actually looks good on a beach. And in case you want to join in the celebration, we’ve pulled together a few of our favorite examples after the jump.
The fashion world draws a pretty clean line between fall/winter and spring/summer. The shops changed over about six weeks ago, and the hypothetical wardrobe made the shift roughly a month after that. We’re as guilty as anyone. We’ve been waiting all winter to bust out the linen pants—and now that they’re almost seasonal, we’re pretty excited about it.
The only problem is, that’s not how people actually dress. So we’d like to offer a few words of wisdom on the style limbo of early spring, focused around the all-important image of the rolled-up sleeve.
It’s as close as fashion gets to a golden rule: as the weather gets warmer, the colors get lighter. And not just lighter, but hazier, too. Suddenly, the jeans are a little bit more broken-in, the sweatshirts a bit more weathered.
It’s a look designers spend whole seasons on, tinkering with dyes and rinses until they get that perfect washed-out shade of red—but we’d like to propose a shorter path to the sun-baked look: let the sun do it.
You won’t be needing your winter coat anytime soon.
So now’s the time of year when we usually throw all our sweaters and tweedery into a ventilated box under our bed, and bring out the linen shirts and tees. But as you might expect, it can get a little musty in there, so you’ve got some cleaning to do. Don’t worry; it’s simpler than you think. After the fold, we’ve got three places to focus, to make sure you finish off the month as crisp as you started it.
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via Uncle BeeboIn the editorial world, we like to talk about trends, but some things just work. They’ve worked for decades and they’ll work for decades to come, long after the double monks of the world have come and gone. Our favorite example: the divine convergence between navy blue and khaki, the two poles of gentlemanly spring style.
The eternal appeal of navy and khaki, and how to make it work»
The startup era has uprooted a lot of genteel business customs. There was the firm handshake, the gray flannel suit, the quaint courtesy of eye contact—and now, it looks like the business card is coming into the crosshairs.
This Chicago Tribune piece lays it out in detail, but the gist is simple: after email signatures, you don’t need them, so fewer and fewer people are bothering to print them up at all.
But we’d like to offer a word of warning to anyone thinking of going paperless: when you give up your stack of cards, you’re giving up something much more precious than paper. You’re giving up control…
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It never fails: the sun comes out, the coats go into storage…and pretty soon, we’re thinking of polo shirts. They’re a warm-weather classic for most of the Western Hemisphere, and for 2012, we’ve rounded up the three most important models, from the preppy to the fashion-forward, to help you attack the summer in style.
via tuckedWalk into any shirting outfit (the new J.Crew Ludlow Shop, for instance) and you’re likely to see two different classes of button-up. There’s the soft, casual kind—your oxford shirts, your flannels—and then there’s the iron-ready, stiff-collared dress shirts that dominate the modern business uniform.
In the heady workwear days (say, mid-2008), you might have been inclined to skip the latter category altogether, and a lot of people did. The stiff shirts were boring, the kind of thing bankers wore. But with the rise of Italian style, the dress shirt is suddenly essential again—and there’s a specific look that sets it apart from the banker-ready version. If you were wondering what to wear underneath your Isaia DB, look no further.
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Technology is an incredible thing.
It’s given us the wheel, the airplane, the split atom. And perhaps more impressive than all these things, this week it gave us the Hot Tub Boat, a floating hot tub large enough to accommodate six people and two coolers of beer, with a top speed of six knots. It’s going to be a bold future.
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This inspiring diptych comes from our favorite Tumblr of the day, Coffee and the Newspaper, which joins up handsome menswear pics with even more handsome close-ups of food. They haven’t tackled oranges yet, but it’s only a matter of time.
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This handsome cotton jacket just came down the transom from Drake’s, offering a pretty good primer on what double-breasted style looks like in warmer months. Our favorite touch: the strong navy blue in the tie and pocket square, all the more important set against the wide swaths of khaki.
The bad news is, this one will only be available at the Clifford Street shop in London, so most of you will probably have to seek double-breasted solace elsewhere. We’d suggest Cucinelli for the well-heeled and a custom tailor for everyone else. (You may even want to show them this picture.) And remember, keep the shoulders in proportion.
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Fashion Week has kicked off in earnest, and we’ve already spotted a few clever details we’re eager to see in stores. At the top of the list: the wide-necked sweater.
It’s like the boat neck on your typical Breton-striped sweater, but this one doesn’t taper to a point on the side. Really, it’s just a bigger, wider version of the crew neck. This one, seen at Hyden Yoo, doesn’t give away any nautical elements at all, aside from a knit that’s slightly thicker than usual.
Mostly, it’s more room for layering collars and ties—and good news for the Constanzas of the world.
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Sometimes, four layers just aren’t enough.
This shot comes from Coggles in York, England, where things have apparently gotten cold enough that a gentleman needs a bomber jacket, cardigan, V-neck, shirt, tie and (presumably) undershirt just to walk down the street. And even more surprising, he pulls it off without looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
It helps that he keeps his baggiest layers on the outside, like the leather bomber, while the trimmer sweater and shirt end up a few layers down. They’re also pretty thin, so he doesn’t have to size up to accommodate anything as bulky as a puffer vest.
And, of course, a sharp enough pair of red shoes will let you get away with just about anything.
Your work style: impeccable. Your weekend wardrobe: masterful in the extreme. But once you’re away from your closet—say, on a late-winter escape to warmer climes—it’s easy to lapse into a few days of flip-flops and ratty tees…
It happens to the best of us (even a Style Guy or two), but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do. Herewith, a few easily packed items that will keep you in fine sartorial form while you’re away in the tropics…
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It’s time to face the ugly truth. Men are carrying too much stuff.
It came to a head with the glut of oversized bag pictorials in the most recent round of magazines, but this has been a drag on gentlemanly style for years—and no number of murse jokes is going to make it go away. We need a bold step, a moratorium, a line in the sand…
So we’re declaring cargo bankruptcy. For seven days, we won’t carry anything that doesn’t fit in our pockets.
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It used to be you could get by with just a four-in-hand and a smile… but times have changed. The collars are more complex, the ties are stuck between mod-thin and banker-thick, and suddenly your knot’s either busting the seams or lost in a chasm of empty fabric.
So we figured we’d boil things down to the bare essentials. After the jump, we’ll match the four most common types of collar with the ties and knots that suit them best, and along the way, show you where to pick up some of the better specimens.
Choosing the right collar, the right tie, and the right knot»
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