1. Cloth Type – you’ll want to focus on 100% wool. Anything with cotton, linen, cashmere, silk, or mohair is going to be a bit too attention seeking, too seasonal, too formal, or too casual. 100% wool does the job you need.

A few months back a representative from Acura Financial Services (AFS) reached out to tell me about a program they’re offering for upcoming and recent college graduates called “Look the Part.”

With AFS, qualified college graduates can save $500 off of a (2015 or newer) Acura. These savings can be used towards anything the grad wants, but a little wardrobe upgrade is both mine and AFS’s recommendation. The style improvement can help ease the transition from college student to working professional.

AFS wanted my style recommendations to help their clients “Look the Part.” Major life transitions are an integral time to make changes in one’s appearance and avoid aesthetic inertia. For recent grads, it’s import to focus on key, timeless pieces that will look great and last as long as possible – singular items that will withstand the test of time.

So here are a few recommendations based on the different archetypes.

Refined

A pair of double monkstrap shoes is about as versatile as a pair of shoes can get. They pair great with a suit and work equally as well with some chinos or dark jeans.

These from Beckett & Robb are hand-made and hand-painted in Italy by a small group of cobblers who create shoes for some of the best luxury brands in the world. Full-grain calfskin leather and a bologna-blake welt make them extremely durable and resoleable – meaning they’ll last as long as that new car.

A briefcase may not actually carry many documents anymore, but it still needs to be part of a business wardrobe. Stowing a laptop, chargers, a protein bar, stain stick, and a deck of cards takes up more space than most men have in a jacket.

The slim briefcase from Saddleback Leather (review here) has a lifetime warranty, is made with no breakable parts, and looks dressed up enough to be elegant in any office environment. It’s large enough to carry the essentials without getting on the bulky side. I prefer the chestnut, but they have three other great shades to choose from.

Rakish

JFK may have killed the hat but it’s coming back. Anyone who’s paying attention to what’s happening at the menswear shows in hubs like New York, Florence, and elsewhere has seen a steady increase of men in wide-brimmed straw hats over the last few years. It stands to reason as well. While we live in a climate-controlled world, we still like to spend our time outdoors and the functionality of a straw Panama is second to none.

Borsalino has worn the crown (pun very much intended) for years as the top hat maker in the world. Their top-of-the line model – the Montecristi – requires a huge investment of hours and sweat as each fiber is woven by hand. Its little brother has a similar level of construction but at a fraction of the price. The brim is a modest width that will flatter most face shapes and the lightness of the straw will make it easy to wear for hours.

There are two types of sunglass wearers in the world – those who spend a little on each pair and don’t mind if they lose them, and those who invest and take care of their shades. I’m of the latter persuasion and believe a great pair of sunglasses, with a frame that compliments a man’s face shape, is a perfect, albeit subtle way, to communicate attention to detail.

A pair like the Oppl Suns from Oliver Peoples will stand out from the crowd without being too attention seeking. They’re a play off of the classic wayfarer that leans more modern in their shape and colorways.

Rugged

A life that’s a little more rough and tumble doesn’t have to be confined to the aesthetic seen at the local big-box hunting store. In fact, the outdoorsman was the original man of style and there’s no better lifestyle suited to the perfect balance between form and function.

I’ve been an advocate for Wolverine’s Thousand Mile for years, and there’s good reason for it – they look great and last forever. I’ve been kicking mine around for almost four years now and the occasional shine is all they need to look like new. The contrast between a rugged boot and a luxury sedan or coup helps creates a little balance and communicates more than one dimension of masculinity. The $500 savings makes it easy to add in a matching belt as well.

Leather won’t be needed for road protection in a car, but the attitude projected with a classic motorcycle jacket can go a long way. Throw it on over a pair of slacks and a tie to turn heads all night. The balance between Rugged and Refined is one of the best ways to show it’s possible dress well because one wants to, not because he has to.

That $500 may not get a Schott Perfecto brand new, but a moto jacket is much better picked up with a little bit of rubber and dirt worn in. Why pay extra for faux-distressing when it’s better to pick up a jacket that’s been worn hard off of a second-hand seller through a market like eBay?

Whatever a man’s style preference, it’s all about being consistent. A luxury vehicle is a purchase made for myriad reasons – performance, comfort, features. But one of the key reasons many of us opt for the next level in a car is because of the styling and what it communicates. That effect can be quickly and easily destroyed by stepping out of a gorgeous vehicle in the same schlumpy clothes worn to class as an undergrad. If a man is moving up in life, he needs to make sure he dresses like it.

To learn more about the program, check out AFS.com.

This content is sponsored by Acura Financial Services.

While I was in Florence last month I was able to be part of one of the more interesting menswear-related discussions of my life. It was a debate between two men in the suiting world – one who chooses to use tailors in China for his company, and the other who won’t work with anyone but Italian artisans.

The man who was arguing in favor of the Chinese was making his main point by saying that they will do whatever it is he asks of them. It doesn’t matter if it’s a natural shoulder, a 90 degree notch lapel, double pick stitching, or any other detail he can think of. As long as he can provide them with a few good photos and maybe a tangible example of what he wants, they’ll do it. Not only will they do it, but they’ll replicate it on each garment and have it delivered to him and his clients by a precise date.

The man who was arguing for the Italian artisans was saying that menswear, and especially tailored suiting, is much more art than science and, while the Chinese may be able to replicate anything that’s thrown at them, they didn’t grow up steeped in the culture of suiting. It’s not the way they were raised and it’s not in their blood. He argued that the Chinese may have the hands to properly execute a specified detail, they don’t have the eye to create or appreciate the art of suiting to the same effect the Italians do.

The reason this is so interesting to me is because it translates over very well from the men who create clothing to the men who wear it. Over the years I’ve met and interacted with many men who understand the science of style but didn’t reflect any personality in their clothing. Their fits often appeared robotic, automatic, and bland – even if they did perfectly execute on all of the rules of style. Their was no art or personality to the clothing they wore.

On the other hand, I’ve met just as many men who were all art with no framework. They’d throw things on knowing they’d probably look good, but not necessarily knowing why. They had an inherent level of taste, but no way of understanding what that taste was based on. They missed a look almost as often as they nailed it.

None of this is new and I know I’m not the only blogger to try to articulate the need for both the science and art of clothing and appearance. However, I believe there’s a third part that doesn’t get discussed – the philosophy.

This may simply be another way of saying something I’ve been saying all along, but I believe it’s absolutely necessary to understand the impact of dressing a certain way. Style is not created in a vacuum and both the science and art are worthless if they’re not rooted in something more personal.

The longer I write about menswear the more I learn that it’s truly a medium by which a man can quickly communicate who he is and is place in the world.

My time in Florence was eye-opening in that I was surrounded by some of the biggest names in the industry and most of us were dressed similarly. There were few socks to be seen, higher waists on trousers, lots of straw hats, plenty of loafers, and a good mix of suits and jacket/trouser pairings.

The key structures weren’t all that different, but the execution in the details provided ways that each man could express who he was. There were men who saw style as a personal uniform and wore the same three outfits, with very minimal variations, every day. Others wore items so garish that it was obvious that their primary goal was to stand out in a crowd of peacocks and their primary value was uniqueness. Still more had subtle variations but chose cuts and designs that emphasized the quality of the cloth or craftsmanship.

This bubble doesn’t only exist at an event like Pitti either. I notice the same phenomenon when I’m in the gym each week. There are men there who try a little too hard to act like they don’t care about their clothes and make it a point to wear old things each week. There are others who are outfitted in all the latest Reebok gear and embrace the aesthetic of the crossfit culture. Still more have subtle variations but choose to follow a pattern of shorts (not too baggy, not too loose), a solid T-shirt, and a clean pair of gym shoes.

The same can truly be seen in any culture group in which men find themselves. Those who ride Harley’s dress differently than flattrack racers, who dress differently still from cafe guys. It can be seen in offices, gun clubs, football arenas, and capitol buildings.

All of these men, in any of these environments have a philosophy to their clothing. It may not be conscious or practiced, but it’s there. And, just like Jack and I talked about in our discussion, clothing is a tool each man should have on his belt. So knowing one’s own philosophy, developing it deliberately, and teaming it up with the science of style and a little bit of taste is the best way to wield that tool.

As versatile as a navy jacket is, it doesn’t cover all of a man’s bases. While we live in a climate-controlled world and rarely have to deal with the elements like generations before us, there are still times when a man finds himself outside and in need of seasonally appropriate clothing.

Along with the functionality of having season-specific clothing, there are two distinct sartorial advantages. First, is the opportunity to have something fresh on rotation. Not wearing particular clothes for half the year makes them look and feel like a new purchase once they’ve been pulled out of storage.

Second, it’s indicative of the intentionality a well-dressed man strives for. By knowing which materials are ideal in given seasons, it demonstrates a knowledge that can often be extrapolated to other areas. Don’t get the wrong idea, I doubt anyone has ever consciously thought, “this man is wearing a linen jacket in the summer, he must be well-thought, deliberate, and intelligent.” At the same time, it’s easy to see a man as absentminded or out of the loop when he’s wearing heavy tweed and it’s 95 degrees outside.

Before breaking down the seasons and how to capitalize on them, it’s important to understand that these jackets are intended to be worn more casually. Think of them as something that’s appropriate with jeans, chinos, and even slim cargoes. They’re sport jackets, not suits. In order to ensure that they look and feel appropriately casual, there are some details to look for.

For the most part, I covered those details in a post a while back on casual suits. The same standards apply to jackets, so give that post a read before moving on. To sum it up, here’s a breakdown of what to look for:

• Cloth with some texture
• Soft shoulders
• Minimal structure through the body
• Patch or flapped pockets
• Patterns or stronger colors

With that being established, here’s how to break it down by season.

Spring/Summer jackets should prioritize lightness and breathability over everything else. Ideally they’ll be made from materials like linen, silk, cotton, tropical-weight wools or any blend of the four.

To maximize that necessary breathability, look for weaves that are more open or a seersucker for cotton (it doesn’t have to have the stripes). These allow for better airflow, which leads to a cooler-wearing garment.

In that same vein, lighter colors are both consistent with the more casual attitudes associated with summer and are also better than dark colors when it comes to heat reflection.

As long as the weave isn’t too loose, I recommend going with a completely unstructured and unlined jacket like this:

This entire thing is so light and minimal that it’s essentially a linen shirt that happens to be shaped like a jacket. I can wear it for hours without breaking a sweat.

As a word of warning, if choosing a weave that is very open, something like a basketweave or a hopsack, I recommend still opting for a jacket with a canvassed chest. I’ve found that the weight of the cloth will misshape an open weave when there’s no canvas in the chest to function as a skeleton. If at all possible, request a summer-weight canvas as even these aspects of a jacket can be constructed with different weights and materials according to the season.

Fall/Winter jackets are just the opposite. The materials used should prioritize retaining the heat put out by the body. Thicker cloths like flannel and tweed, made from winter-weight wool, cashmere, or a mix of the four are the go-to choices for cold weather pieces.

Colors aren’t nearly as important as they are in the summer as no particular color helps retain body heat better than others.

A lot of men I know still opt for a completely unstructured – even unlined – jacket for a fall/winter piece. The reason being that it ends up feeling more like a sweatshirt than a suit jacket or sport coat.

One of the best aspects of the seasonal jacket, regardless of the time of year, is its wearability and versatility. It can be dressed up with trousers and a tie for a business-appropriate look, or thrown on over jeans and a casual shirt for something a bit more rakish.

It should not be considered a special-event piece that is only worn when the occasion calls for it. Instead, it should be part of a well-dressed man’s regular rotation when he wants to go a bit beyond the normal T-shirt and jeans.