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Football Season

23 October, 2012

What to wear if you’re attending a game, be it high school, college, or professional.

Here’s the breakdown:

Blue OCBD shirt
Slim-straight dark jeans
Grey shawl collar cardigan
Desert boots
Brown casual belt
Team scarf

The idea is to keep it comfortable while still looking like a man with some taste. The beauty of this outfit is it can be worn if you’re 17 or 70, 100 pounds or 300, muted contrast or stark. It takes just some tweaks to work well for any man. You can also throw this together for just over a hundred on the cheap end or quite a bit more if you’re purchasing higher-quality products.

PS. Have you gotten your Style Evaluation? It’s a great way to know the strengths and weaknesses of your current wardrobe.

Product Review: Herschel Supply Co

22 October, 2012

A while back I did a staples post on the overnight bag explaining that it’s the perfect travel option for shorter trips. A little while later I did a follow-up post showing a good-looking option for those of you interested in buying a new overnight bag.

Well, since then I’ve been in contact with Herschel Supply Co. who were kind enough to send me that same bag to try out.

I’ve had it for a month now and have been fairly happy with it.

The Good

If you’ve travelled with a duffel bag in the past, you know that one of the most difficult aspects is proper shoe storage. Most of the time I just shove my shoes in the bottom of the bag and hope they don’t end up rotating around and exposing the dirty soles to the rest of my clothes. Nine times out of ten I can get through a weekend or even a full week without a problem. But there’s always that one time where I end up having unwearable clothes because they’ve been sitting on top of dirty shoes for three days. Herschel found a simple but effective solution to this problem – make a shoe-specific pocket that is accessible from the outside of the bag.

Nice and easy. It removes the worry of your shoes contaminating everything else. I used this to my advantage quite a bit while I was up in rainy Oregon a couple of weeks ago. There wasn’t a whole lot of time to try out and throwing my boots in the shoe bag kept the rest of my clothes dry.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the size of the bag. It’s large enough that you could very easily pack a week’s worth of clothing and have room for your cords and a book or two. It’s quite a bit larger than the weekender I’ve been using for the last couple of years so I’ve felt pretty spoiled on the trips I’ve taken with it.

The construction seemed pretty sound and the zippers and stitches held up even though I had one trip where I had to really work to get the bag shut. This was actually surprising because the bag itself looked to be on the cheaper side of quality and I had read complaints about Herschel in the past. My experience with the construction quality was good though and I’m not worried about using this thing in the future.

Aesthetically the bag held up as much in person as I was hoping from what I’d seen online. It’s definitely a casual bag and is not something you’ll want to use on a trip to Monte Carlo, but the brown leather contrasted with the white stitching and the grey body very well. I also liked the red and white candy stripe lining. It has a very Americana prep feel to it.

The Bad

My biggest complaint was with the quality of the hardware. Although the zipper held up well, it’s plastic and I’m worried about it breaking easily from being roughed up – even if it holds up to a full bag. On top of that, the attachment rings for the shoulder straps are plastic as well – both on the strap and the bag itself. A metal option will have a lot more durability and also make the bag look better.

The shoulder strap itself is also just a nylon as opposed to being the same leather of the bag handles. This isn’t a quality issue so much as an appearance one but it’s still an improvement that could be made.

Conclusion

All in all, this bag provides a good bang for the buck. A lot of the negatives really would only be negatives if this were a bag you were paying a couple hundred for. But just being south of $100 ($80) is a reasonable price. The biggest advantage is the shoe compartment and how simple a solution it is to a common problem. I’m comfortable recommending this to my readers as a worthwhile bag.

PS. Have you gotten your Style Evaluation? It’s a great way to know the strengths and weaknesses of your current wardrobe.

Casual Friday: Trucker Coat

19 October, 2012

Like:

The coloring. This guy has a pretty warm complexion so the colors all help keep the focus on him. The red of the sweater plays off his hair and beard to really frame his face.
The tie. Most of the time a tie is incredibly difficult to pull off in a casual situation. He nails it by wearing the denim jacket and the beat up chucks.
The shoes. A perfect example of not worrying about your sneakers getting filthy. When you wear white shoes you have to learn to embrace the imperfection that comes with them.
The pants. By having bolder colors in the top half of his outfit he does well to keep things more neutral below the waist. Otherwise there would be too much competition and the focus would be on the clothes, not the man wearing them.
The jacket. Trucker jackets can be great High/Low pieces. If he swapped out the jacket and the shoes, the rest of this could be worn in a lot of business situations. However, the jacket dresses it down so it’s appropriate for a Saturday walk with the dog.
The sunglasses. Clubmasters are a classic shape and these are the right size for his face. They look both timely and timeless without venturing into the trendy category that thicker frames tend to fall into.

Fence:

The jacket length. This is picking some serious nits, but I’d like to see it an inch longer.

Don’t Like:

Nothing this week. He killed it.

PS. Don’t forget about the Instagram Contest. You can win a free Basic Consultation or five free Style Evaluations.

Toggled

19 October, 2012

New post at Nexxt Level Up. Go check it out.

Long Sleeves

18 October, 2012

Got this from a reader last week:

I realized I forgot some long sleeved fall wear when I was going thru my wardrobe. I have a couple of polo sweaters and a cool navy sweatshirt, but the school week is five days long and I’m starting to live by the principle: “Anytime anyone sees you, you should be dressed better than the people around you.” I’m even starting to look down upon people who don’t take care of their style even though I was among them at one point.

I need to pull off a peacoat, that will give me four pieces of fall wear. Still not enough for my ever expanding closet. What else should I target??

Now this guy happens to still be in high school but his concern is valid for any age group. I’m going to assume that he’s asking about casual wear because your dress shirts should already be long-sleeved and you should also either be wearing a suit or a sport coat in the cooler months. I’m also not going to write about casual button-ups as that was already touched on last week in my post on work shirts. Instead, we’ll focus on other options and, as always, I’ll start with the most casual and then work up from there.

Waffle Knit Thermal Crew Neck

This is really just a beefed-up T-shirt. The long sleeves and the waffling make it more substantial so it will wear warmer and drape better, which will make it look better as well. Essentially this used to be men’s underwear but now can be worn in any casual situation. Wear it in class, up at the cabin, or making a stop at the grocery store this time of year. Because it’s a casual shirt, I don’t like to spend too much on these. You can find them at Target for about $14.00

Long-Sleeve Henley

Nothing really new or revolutionary about this as it’s just a long-sleeved version of the tried-and-true henley. Still a very casual option but the buttons help dress it up a bit. You could get away with wearing it on its own in a casual situation or dressing it up under a blazer for some High/Low appeal. Since this is casual as well, it’s another option you’ll want to pick up from Target or Old Navy.

Cable Knit Crew Sweater

A cable knit sweater is going to be the heaviest of a man’s casual options. These were originally made in coastal regions and used by fishermen and dock workers to keep warm. The crew neck was functional but is also what keeps it casual. It’s too big and bulky to be worn with a suit but is awesome on its own. I recommend wearing it without a collared shirt underneath as it’s a very casual, blue-collar sweater and should be embraced as such. You’ll pay a bit more for one of these but should be able to find them under $50 at places like H&M and the Gap.

Rugby Shirt

A rugby shirt is the one of the biggest improvements any guy under 30 can make in his casual style game. It’s a hoody that has replaced the hood with a collar so it should replace any hoody you have in your closet except for the one you keep in your gym bag. The origin of these should be fairly obvious and even though most people won’t be able to consciously recognize that they’re worn by rugby players, they will make a subtle association between one of these and sporty manliness. A rugby can be worn on its own or layered beneath a blazer as well.

Slim Cardigan

Cardigans are huge right now and have been for a couple of years. Thankfully they’re based on traditional styling so they’re a way to look timely and timeless all at once. The key to avoiding any hipster associations is to make sure your cardigan fits you like everything else. Most hipsters will wear these too big and contrast them with pants that are too skinny, thereby making them appear even more scrawny and feminine. Stick with the right fit and you’ll look masculine. Slimmer, simpler options like this above can be worn over a T-shirt, with a button-up shirt, and even with a suit. They’re the most versatile of any option in this list and should be in every man’s closet.

Shawl Collars

These can be either pullovers or cardigans. The collar dresses it up a bit and can be worn over a shirt and tie. However, you won’t want to wear these with a suit as the collar is still too casual for that. Usually shawl collars are made on thicker sweaters that are best if worn on their own instead of as a layering piece.

V-Neck Sweater

I’ve already dedicated an entire post to the V-neck sweater so I’ll just reiterate that this is a Staple for a reason. Can be dressed up or down and is the most suit-appropriate option in this whole list.

Chunky Cardigan

Just like the rugby is a better option for guys under 30, a chunky cardigan is better for men over 25. They’re essentially the sweater version of a blazer and are meant to be worn on their own. These are not work sweaters and are best kept to situations like Thanksgiving dinner with the family instead of the deer hunt. You’ll pay more, but the investment is worth it if you live in a climate that’s cold more than six months of the year.

Remember that these are all options that can be worn either with or instead of long sleeve button-up shirts. Given all the alternatives out there you should be able to do more than just five day’s worth of variety this fall.