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What Is a Spring/Summer Suit

8 April, 2014

Some parts of the States will argue with me, but we are moving into warmer weather. It’s supposed to reach the mid 70’s in Salt Lake today and I couldn’t be happier about it.

For most men, the transition from colder months to warmer is pretty easy, at least when it comes to casual clothing. The poorly dressed have already donned their cargo shorts and flip-flops and won’t abandon them until the holiday season. The better-dressed have swapped out their winter coats for spring-appropriate jackets or layers, and many are starting to go sockless.

Thankfully, the changing wardrobe is not just limited to casual options. A man’s suits and business-casual attire can fluctuate with the seasons as well. While an all-season suit is the most versatile, there’s something much more comfortable and appropriate about having one or two dressed-up items that are only worn during particular times of the year.

To the untrained eye, it can be tough to tell the difference between and all season, spring/summer, and fall/winter suit. So today I’ll break down what to look for while suiting up for the longer, warmer days ahead.

If made and worn correctly, a suit and button-up shirt can make a man cooler than if he were out in shorts and a tank top. Take for example, the traditional clothing of men in desert environments. They are covered from head to toe in lightweight materials that allow maximum breathability, create pockets of cool air, reflect the sun’s heat, and keep the man wearing them comfortable.

Material

The cloth from which a suit is made has a huge impact on how comfortable it is in different seasons. Certain materials and weaves are better for trapping in body heat and keeping the wearer warm, while others afford more breathability – optimizing airflow and allowing body heat to escape.

Obviously for spring and summer the focus should be on breathability over heat retention. The two cloths best for this are cotton and linen.

Both are breathable materials that allow warm air to leave the body and cool air to pass through. Linen is typically the more breathable of the two and is optimal for summer whereas cotton has more variability between the two seasons.

Cloth Weight

While the makeup of a cloth is important, its weight is as well. Cotton is a great example of how varying weights can create different effects. Spending a May afternoon in a seersucker jacket and then again in one made of corduroy is going to create vastly different comfort effects. The former will keep a man nice and cool, while the latter will have him sweating himself silly.

The same can be said of wool. Few people know there are light and tropical-weight wools that are created specifically for warmer seasons and environments.

Canvassing

The canvas is the interior layer between a jacket’s main body and the lining. Cheaper suits are made without a canvas and through a process called fusing. More expensive jackets are made with a full canvas that covers the entire front and sides of the jacket from the collar down.

While a full canvas is a great option for increasing the structure and drape of a jacket, the extra material is an additional layer that can trap air and heat. Spring and summer jackets are more comfortable (and formal) if made with a half canvas or more comfortable (and casual) if made unstructured. Leave the full canvas for the cooler months and the all-season suits.

Lining

Choosing a lightweight material with little or no structure is pointless if all breathability stops at the lining. The industry standard for a jacket’s lining is Bemberg Rayon, a synthetic, polyester-like material. While it has its benefits and is the go-to for a reason, its primary drawback is how much it restricts airflow.

It is pointless to choose a cloth with maximum breathability if that airflow is stopped by the interior lining. When looking for a seasonally appropriate jacket or suit, it is better to opt for one that is either unlined or half lined.

Color

Most of us learned in our middle school science classes about the way different colors respond to the rays of the sun. Darker shades like charcoals and blacks will absorb the sun’s heat while lighter colors like cream and white will reflect it.

This does not mean it’s inappropriate to wear black, charcoal, or navy between now and September, just that it could potential be less comfortable. When planning on making a purchase of a new suit or sportcoat, it’s best to weigh the garment’s versatility and formality against its comfort. A cream suit may be more comfortable, but it’s also going to appear more casual.

Formality

While formality does need to be considered, the world of suits and sportcoats tends to dial down its seriousness a degree or two during the warmer months. The cream suit mentioned above may not be appropriate for a board meeting but will be just fine for a Tuesday at the office.

The lower level of expected formality is also advantageous with spring and summer-weight cloths. Linen and cotton are both much more prone to wrinkle than a heavy wool, as are unstructured and unlined jackets. Rather than chaffing at the wrinkles, many men choose to embrace them and the attitude that comes with longer days and warmer weather.

While I always recommend custom if possible, I acknowledge that there are plenty of men who can’t or don’t want to spend more than a month’s worth of rent on a suit or sportcoat. There are plenty of off-the-rack options that can fit the bill and one that recently caught my eye is a new offering from Bonobos.

According to the company, the new Foundation cotton/linen suits are made with a half canvas, half lining, and Irish linen. They are simple and straightforward enough to be great as business suits but also casual enough to be worn as separates. I can’t vouch for the quality as I’ve never worn one, but the $450 price tag should make them appealing to the cost-conscious man who doesn’t want to skimp out on quality.

Style as a Structural Attractor

20 March, 2014

One of the interesting things about writing is the opportunity to develop friendships with people with whom a man would never have contact otherwise. One of these friendships I developed years ago with a man named Athol Kay.

Athol runs a great site and coaching service called Married Man Sex Life. Don’t let the ambiguity of the name fool you, it’s a site geared towards helping men improve their sex lives with their wives. There is a ton of information and Athol really knows his stuff. However, to boil it down to its essence, I would say his overall philosophy is that most relationships suffer because husbands stop doing things that build attraction as a result of being too focused on building comfort.

All marriages need both attraction and comfort. Without the former it’s not really a marriage, it’s a business and/or roommate agreement that involves finances, household responsibilities, children, etc. Without the latter, it’s not really a marriage, it’s a sexual liaison with the potential for separation as soon as a better sexual option presents itself.

One of the key points that Athol hits on is the idea of building structural attractors. These are things that take some initial effort up front, but once they’ve been established, really only require maintenance. The two examples he uses most commonly are that of having a well-paying job and getting into shape.

Both of these make sense. Women are not only attracted to, but also find comfort in a successful husband. It demonstrates his ability to provide but also exert a level of control over his sphere of influence. Whether a man finds a great job, builds a business, or combines some measure of the two, attaining a high-level career requires a lot of initial effort. There are long hours to be worked, ambitious hurdles to jump, key relationships to establish, and other time-consuming steps. However, keeping and even excelling in a great job typically requires less effort than landing one.

The same goes for getting into shape. As I’ve started to learn from personal experience, effectively losing fat and building muscle requires a lot of meticulous effort. There are calories to be counted, macros to be conscious of, cardio to be done, weights to be lifted, and sacrifices to be made. The first few weeks or even months in the gym can be discouraging. They require the mental exercise of learning and developing proper form, on top of the physical effort of performing the actual lifts. Breaking out of the meal inertia of eating cheap, easy junk food is difficult and can often upset the balance of the whole family. However, after a little while the lifts come naturally, the food is easier to prepare and eat, and less discipline is required as a man’s body takes on its proper form.

The point of both of these is to have them be something that can be done on autopilot once an acceptable level of accomplishment has been achieved. They become passive systems in regards to the amount of effort a man has to put in, while still remaining active systems in building attraction with women and respect from men.

Style is another great structural attractor. It should come as no surprise that women while find a man more attractive and men will find him more respectable if he not only knows how to dress appropriately but how to dress well.

The initial process takes some active effort. It means paying for new clothing, learning guidelines about how to dress better, discovering the unique strengths and weaknesses of each man’s body and building a wardrobe that works within those constrain, adjusting to new, unfamiliar fits and styles, building a wardrobe wherein each item works with the others, and even finding clothing that is consistent with a man’s lifestyle.

It’s not easy at first and does require a lot of effort and investment. However, once a man has the foundations of a good wardrobe established, it becomes incredibly simple and passive to be well-dressed.

A maintenance level is easier to attain than most men think. It doesn’t require a closet as big as a guest bedroom and a different pair of shoes for every day of the month. In fact, the whole reason I write about the Staples is to give men the key pieces needed in a well-rounded wardrobe. Sure it’s nice to have things beyond just the basics, but they’re unnecessary when it comes to building a competent closet.

Once that structure of a stylish wardrobe is established, it frees a mans mind and time to focus on other, more important things – which is really the point of all of this. Clothing is a means to an end, and once a man’s style is established, it can be a passive means, freeing up his mental energy to work on other elements of being a better man.

Buffalo Jackson

18 March, 2014

One of the more unique aspects of being a style blogger is the review process. Reviews make sense because all three parties benefit. The blogger gets an article of clothing that he can wear and a topic to write about, the company gets new (hopefully good) exposure to the blogger’s audience and typically a recommendation, and the audience gets exposure to a new product and the chance to see the pros and cons of a particular item before deciding whether or not to purchase it.

At first, it was incredibly difficult to get companies to send items for me to review. I had a fledgling blog and the risk they took sending me something free was much greater than if they sent it to someone with and audience two or three times larger than mine. However, like anything else, the momentum of well-received reviews picks up steam and more and more companies are willing to work with a given author. At the next level, the blogger starts receiving requests to review products, and eventually won’t have to make requests, because more companies are aware of the site and are lining up to be featured.

Going through the review process and remaining objective can get a bit tricky. As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, getting set up with review products requires establishing a relationship with PR people or owners of different companies. I have yet to work with a company whose representation annoyed or grated on me. Most of them are people I genuinely enjoy and we’ve been able to find common ground. However, there also has to be a balance with my relationship with my readers. My experience differs from a lot of bloggers in that I have worked personally with hundreds of my readers on individual consultations. I know their names and their interests. I know their style preferences and their aspirations.

To be positioned in the middle of these two groups is not only something I enjoy, it’s something I take seriously. I don’t want my readers to end up with junk just because I liked the PR girl from the company who sent it to me. Nor do I want to besmirch a brand’s reputation by objectively pointing out a few flaws during my review process that I believe would benefit my readers. I also don’t want to tarnish my own reputation by appearing afraid to speak truthfully about a product. Some bloggers are obvious shills for every offer that comes through their inbox and others take such pride in being above the fray of working directly with clients the rest of the world can easily see up their up-turned noses.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because I received a review product from a company that I don’t have a review for. After learning what I have about them, I don’t believe I can write an objective and unbiased review anymore.

Buffalo Jackson reached out to me a couple of months ago and immediately identified me as a kindred spirit. Rather than copy a few, key excepts from their About page, I’m going to encourage you to go read the whole thing.

It’s no secret that I write what I do because I believe in a crisis of masculinity. There are hundreds of other worthwhile blogs that tackle this same issue, I simply choose to do so from the perspective of aesthetics and style. While many of the companies with whom I’ve worked in the past and with whom I will work in the future are geared towards men or even appreciate my approach to menswear, it’s always secondary. I’m a style blogger who peppers his posts with interesting aspects about masculinity, rather than being a men’s blogger who approaches masculinity from the context of men’s clothing. It’s a subtle but key difference.

In our current society, it’s a risk to be too pro male. A company’s public image is its life blood and that image can quickly and easily be destroyed by a person who takes offense to the old-world man. To mitigate that risk, most businesses strive to remain as neutral as possible. The focus is always and only on the clothing. Let the customer determine if it’s going to be used to help him communicate his masculinity or not.

Again, I don’t take issue with this. Not every business needs to see things my way for me to feel they are worthy of my money or that of my readers. But when I find one whose philosophies align as closely with my own as do Buffalo Jackson’s, I have to admit I’m removing my objectivity from the equation.

It’s the same reason you’ll see me write about and promote Beckett & Robb, but you’ll never see me review a product of theirs. I’m so close to the product development I would be obviously biased. And, I’m so inclined towards the ethos and end-goals of Buffalo Jackson that I’m obviously biased there as well.

So I suggest checking them out. The vest they sent me has been great in the environments in which I’ve worn it, but I haven’t put it through its paces enough to see how durable it is. A lot of the stuff they make is a little too cowboy for me, and other items come across as a bit too gimmicky.

If all things were equal between a Buffalo Jackson bag and one from some other company, I’d take the BJ bag every time, simply because of Xan’s approach to his business and his willingness to be unapologetically masculine and promote that as part of his company.

Don’t Become a Cartoon Character

12 March, 2014

When I was six years old my entire extended family on my mom’s side took a collective trip to Disney World. Looking back, the only real memory I have from the experience is being so tired and jet lagged that one of my brothers and I fell asleep face first in our personal-pan pizzas from Pizza hut. If only cell phones and their attendant cameras had been around then, right?

While I don’t have any permanent moments from the trip, other members of my extended family all have varying things. One family in particular had hand-drawn caricatures in their hallway for years. They were the kind seen fairly often at carnivals and amusement parks. The artist did a quick sketch that got the basic proportions of each person correct and then over exaggerated one or more of their key features. If the person’s face wasn’t unique enough, then the artist would typically insert a drawing of them performing their favorite activity.

Obviously in the correct context, these things can be a lot of fun. We may be self-conscious about our long necks, large noses, or odd face shape, but when we see it depicted so well and so cartoonishly, we can’t help but relax our self image a bit.

However, in the wrong setting, an over pronunciation of any attribute can serve as a distraction. I’ll give you an example from my own recent experience.

I’ve had a beard off and on (mostly on) since 2007. I look like I’m 15 without it and it helps to define a non-existing jaw line for me. I’m lucky enough to have a full beard that comes in evenly and well. Up until last October, I’ve always worn it short and well-trimmed. I worked in a more corporate environment and never really had the inclination to allow it to grow past the horrible itchy phase. But, for some reason this last fall I decided I wanted to grow it out.

At first no one really took notice. The change was subtle enough that it had to get pretty long to catch on. However, after a month’s worth of growth beyond my usual trimming, it started to get a lot of positive comments and reinforcement. I posted this picture on Facebook:

quite a few old friends came out of the woodwork to tell me they liked my beard. At that point I enjoyed the compliments almost as much as I enjoyed the underhanded comments I’d get from my mother (it doesn’t matter how old I get, I still love getting a reaction out of her). I was past the point where it itched, and it became something I was comfortable with. I enjoyed the contrast of a full beard against the sharp lines of my haircut. It was a good mix of Rugged into my normally Refined and Rakish aesthetic.

So I just let it keep going. It got long enough that I started to need to shampoo and condition it, use a beard oil (review coming soon), and even have my barber trim it and give it shape for me when he cut my hair.

It got so long and curly that I started to look like Cthulhu. At one point the responses from people changed. I became the beard guy and it completely overshadowed everything else about me. It started to affect my relationship with clients at work, friends and family, and even casual acquaintances. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like people started to talk down to me or criticize me. What they did do was start seeing me as just a beard. It became a topic of conversation every time I spoke with someone I hadn’t seen in more than a week. It was a distraction for other people and an overbearing character trait for me.

I had become a living, breathing version of the caricatures done at Disney World. The rest of who I was had started to turn into a simple back drop for my beard.

This isn’t to say there’s anything objectively wrong with a long, full beard. Nor is there anything wrong with pushing the envelope of a man’s own comfort zone and that of those around him. The breaking point for me was when it became the most dominant part of who I was to most people beyond my close family and friends. I was the “beard guy.”

In the past I’ve written about how to dress when a man wants to be the focus of attention and how to dress when he wants his clothing to be the main draw. My beard had taken me so far into the latter camp that it didn’t matter what else I did in the former. I could wear a solid suit, white shirt, dark tie, and dark shoes to a funeral, in a fit and cut that didn’t look extremely fashion-forward nor outdated, and I’d still just be the “beard guy” to everyone else who was there.

It’s not just beards that create this effect. It can be tattoos, jewelry, loud clothing, always wearing the same colored shirt, or any number of good concepts taken to excess.

As men start to dress better it’s easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm of doing so. It’s an area so vague and unfamiliar to many of us that the positive responses we get from people become addicting. As a result, it becomes easier and easier to seek that high by always trying to step up our game to the next level – and that’s what creates the world of high fashion and trendiness. The end goal shifts from being well-dressed to being unique enough to get attention – and, while there’s room for that at the right place and the right time, it shouldn’t be a constant display from any man.

If you’re looking for a brand that can represent the fact that you’re a man who shapes the world in his image, I suggest giving Alfred Dunhill a try. From bags, to tailored suits, from stationary, to simple support of men who act deliberately, their products and lifestyle help tell the world you’ve arrived.

Style Lessons from the 2014 Oscars

4 March, 2014

No I didn’t watch them, although I do own a TV and even spend some time watching it each week. However, my Twitter and Tumblr feeds blew up with this stuff all night Sunday and into the day Monday.

Whether we like to admit it or not, these men are at the peak of society. Men want to be them and women want to be with them. They have fame, fortune, and influence – all of which are indicative of a level of power. Yet even these apex men and their reputation are impacted by their appearance. Obviously some of it is fueled by a bottom-up mentality, in which people not as high up the social ladder will grab onto any apparent flaw or weakness in an attempt to level the playing field. But it’s not just fueled by jealousy, those who worship these celebrities look at their clothing as well. It’s a way to confirm that they really are as cool, put-together, and flawless as hoped for.

So here are the top things I learned from seeing all of the photos of the men at this year’s award ceremony.

Pay Attention to the Break

Whether it’s one of many things going wrong with a look, or the only problem to ruin perfection, pants that have too much break is a near omni-present issue at celebrity-attended black tie events. I get that not all of these guys are style gurus who care, but they are dressed by professionals who should know better. It’s getting to the point that I’m starting to think it’s a subtle way of indicating elite status in an occult group. That way people like me can write about how bad it looks but really they’re just signaling to each other that they’ve sold out their souls.

Standing Out Can Be Overrated

In the past I’ve written about the difference between dressing so people notice the man and dressing so people notice the clothes. When someone is at the social level these men are, the only reason a man should want people paying attention to his clothing, rather than paying attention to him, is when he’s trying to avoid recognition. Although there is the occasional trend setter, most guys who attempt to out-unique others just come across as lesser men trying to status-jockey within their own group.

If who the man is carries more social capital than his implied willingness to expose himself to risk by standing out, it’s better to emphasize the former over the latter.

As a counter point to this argument, all of the attention-seeking outfits shown thus far (excluding Pharrell) are within a normal enough range of tradition as to be considered classic. Therefore, by choosing to embrace a little risk these men communicate that they don’t take themselves too seriously and enjoy dressing up for its own sake. Although Leto’s hair looks ridiculous, everything else about his wardrobe was spot on, making the cream dinner jacket a good tweak instead of a cry for help.

Proportion is Key

The three men who were the best dressed all had their proportions down to a science. Pant length, lapel width, button stance, and more are all in complete agreement with the natural build of each man.

If DiCaprio and Levitt were to swap tuxes, they’d both look ridiculous, even if they were tailored to fit their bodies. What makes their individual appearances so strong is how well all of the minor details compliment their unique features.

What it really comes down to is, the higher a man climbs, the more he’s scrutinized for any apparent flaws. I could do this same post about a high-school band’s banquet with even worse offenses but no one would care. However, the mere fact that these are celebrities means they’re constantly under public scrutiny. If a man wants to maintain a hard-earned image of dignity, daring, respect, rebellion, or anything else, his style needs to be consistent as his reputation increases.

Author: Tanner