The way I present myself usually lends a bit of understandable confusion. There is often a presumption that a guy like me – a guy who likes tailored clothes and puts some care into his appearance – is on the luxury spectrum and prepared to talk about or even relate to matters of luxury, designer clothes and other expensive things. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
From its beginning, this blog has been about my pursuit of sartorial stealth and effective living. Comparatively speaking, the sartorial stuff is much easier and clearer to write about than the finer points of effective living, which encompasses pretty much everything outside the wardrobe.
As a middle-aged man returning home to an elderly mother who’s in the midst of a tumultuous stay in the hospital with a Whack a Mole set of medical issues, the pursuit of effective living presents a series of daunting and uncharted challenges. Put simply, it’s about showing up. Put more specifically, it’s about showing up in ways I’ve never had to show up before.
Filip Ambroziak had a problem. He was looking for tie bars with a specific design in mind, and he couldn’t find them, at least at his preferred price point. So he decided to have a collection of them made, effectively launching a small online shop offering variations on the original tie bars he had in mind.
In the aftermath of an astonishing and crushing week, I found some solace, wisdom and healing in two particular programs in digital media this week.
As one of the many Americans who feel crushed by vanishing work, I’m not so quick to point a finger at a villain in this story. The idea of making something “great again” has always felt like a reductive sentiment that conveys a distinctly backward motion. It boils down to this: record stores are never coming back. The sooner we accept that fact, the quicker we can get on with it. It’s more about accepting that nothing stays the same (whether we like it or not) and being open and willing to change, grow and progress.
I have a friend named Kelly who works as a wardrobe supervisor and dresser for Broadway shows. Over the years, she has invited me to be her plus-one date for several opening nights on the Great White Way, including the parties that immediately follow. Because of Kelly, I’ve had the privilege of attending the opening nights of The Seagull with Kristin Scott Thomas, A View from the Bridge with Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johannson, Death of a Salesman with Philip Seymour Hoffman and An American in Paris.
Kelly’s current gig is the wardrobe supervisor for the new production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses with Liev Schreiber and Janet McTeer, and she invited me to attend what would be my last opening night as a New Yorker. As is our way, Kelly and I like to bring a sense of occasion to the affair, since we’re talking about an opening night in American theatre’s most prestigious form.
One of my pet peeves with the average dress shirt is the fused collar. A fused collar is one that undergoes a high heat process that fuses multiple layers of fabric together, producing a collar that looks and feels perpetually starched, whether it’s been ironed or not. It’s fine, and I tolerate it. But I’ve grown to appreciate (and even favor) a non-fused collar. It’s not so stiff looking, lending a more relaxed, confident and cooler nonchalance to an otherwise crisp look.
Anybody who rides a bike can use an extra compartment for things like lock and chain keys, a phone, a tire repair kit, a bag of weed… The big challenge is finding one that balances looks, durability and price. Brooklyn Bicycle Co. just introduced one that does just that.
One of the most iconic pairs of glasses in cinematic history was the pair Michael Caine wore during his tenure as Harry Palmer in the films The IPCRESS File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967), all based on spy novels written by Len Deighton. Now you can get an authentic pair of your own…
The cooler and edgier bros of the moment have been embracing all kinds of remixes and twists with classic tailoring. The suit has moved on, yo. It’s all about being short, brief, casual. A hyper-softening and casualization of the suit is in full swing, moving it closer to comfy and approachable athleisure. Slouchy, even.
According to the so-very-right-now, the classic tailored suit as you’ve known it is dead, bro. Or at least that’s the vibration on the street and the interwebs.