Put This On

Q and Answer: What Makes a Quality Men’s Hat?

Ian writes: Your posts have repeatedly stressed the importance of quality hats, and explained that it’s very hard to find any newly made hats that aren’t prohibitively expensive that are of the necessary quality. What, other than the price, separates a $500+ hat from Optimo from, say, something in Goorin’s ~$120 American Made line?

That’s a great question, Ian. There are different kinds of hats, so I’ll address each type separately.

Flat caps and other wool and cotton caps are a lot like other types of apparel. You’ll find that finer makers use higher-quality materials and construction techniques. I have a couple of Borsalino flat caps that are about fifteen years old. They’ve got silk satin liners and beautiful tweed outers. There’s a difference in quality between them and what I might buy at Macy’s. Still, the spread on price is probably much larger than on quality in this area. If you can find good hats of this type made of quality materials for a lesser price, go for it. Watch out for the polyester that dominates the lower end of the market, though.

With Panama and other straw hats, it’s the weave that makes the difference. Quality Pananamas are flexible, not stiff, and they’re made of soft, fine fibers. There are advantages to a less dense weave - it will wear cooler - but the mark of quality is weave density. A denser, finer weave is more labor-intensive to produce, and thus more expensive to buy. What you’ll find, though, is that it gives the hat a more finished appearance, and much more life. There are still makers who make high-quality Panamas, but they’re tough to find. Optimo, who you mentioned, are one.

As with Panamas, there’s a huge range in quality with fur felt hats. Lower-quality hats, like the ones you asked about, are made with wool felt. Better hats are often made with coney or rabbit fur felt. The best are made with beaver felt. Of course, the beaver-trapping industry isn’t what it once was, so it can be tough to find beaver hats these days outside of specialty custom makers (like Optimo).

A high-quality felt hat has a dense finish. This is a result of the felting process - the fur is crushed and shrunk repeatedly as it is transformed from fur to felt. It can be a variety of different weights, but it will always be strong and resilient. Note that I wrote resilient, and not hard - like good wool, one of the defining characteristics of a good felt hat is that it retains its shape when distorted. It will have a strong shape, but it will not be stiff.

The reality is that as the hat industry has shrunk over the past fifty years, the quality of hats has plummeted. It’s easy to see when you handle a model that’s been made continuously since the heyday of hats, like the Stetson Open Road, which was LBJ’s signature western hat. The example from the 1950s or before and the current model are the same shape, but the quality is like night and day. The current model is stiff, rough and lifeless. When you have a feeling for this difference, you can spot the crap on sight, and you’ll know the Dad Who Thinks He Looks Like Indiana Jones Hats from the Good Stuff.

There are custom makers, who source high-quality beaver from European plants and still make hats as good as the mass-market hats of the 50s and before. There are also a few boutique operations like Optimo (or the English Lock & Company) who maintain the same high standards. The sad fact, though, is that if you walk into a hat store in the United States, even a specialty hat store, you’re likely to find a bunch of junk. Even storied brands like Borsalino sell C+ hats at extraordinary prices.

The best way to experience the difference is to feel it for yourself. If you’re lucky enough to live in Chicago or London, you can just head into Optimo or Lock. If you’re not, first head to your local hat store and feel a hundred-dollar Stetson. Then head to a good vintage store and feel a 1940s Dobbs or Cavanaugh. You’ll understand the difference quickly.

Luckily, there’s a good solution. There are still plenty of hats in the world from the golden age of hats, but there are now many less hat wearers. That means that you can find the good stuff - like top of the line Borsalinos, Dunlaps, Dobbs and Stetsons - for as little as $50, and rarely more than $200.

Q and Answer: How Should I Hang Up My Pants?

Josh from Austin asks: How the heck should I hang up my pants? There’s tons of different options (folded over a regular hanger, those hangers that clamp on to the bottom, the ones with two clips, etc.). Do you find any one way particularly superior?

There are a variety of ways to hang pants, and the difference between them, functionally, is modest.

Given unlimited space, my preference is the clamp style hanger. This wooden hanger clamps onto your cuff (the clamp is lined in felt), and the pants hang waist-down from the rack. The great advantage of this option is that creases will fall out of your pants. For this reason, I usually hang my pants from the cuff in hotel rooms for overnight stays, to help ensure sharp pants in the morning.

You can also hang pants from the cuff using a clip hanger, which is generally used for skirts. It will have the same benefit, but you may get some clip marks or unequal pulling, since all the weight of the pants is hanging from just two spots. Still, if you have the vertical space, it’ll be fine.

A traditional bar hanger is perfectly fine as well. You’re best off using something with a felted bar (the one pictured above is covered in rubber, which helps, though not quite as much as felt). This will help keep your trousers from slipping off the hanger. You can also try this very cool hanging technique, which will keep those trousers secure even in the jostliest of closets.

Here’s where I admit how I hang my trousers: on those space-saver multi-hangers. It works fine, I almost never lose them, and it does indeed save space in my closet. I’ve got cubbies below my closet bar, so there’s no room for a full-length hanging trouser, and horizontal space is at a premium, so the modest amount of saved left-to-right area is appreciated. I’ve got multi-hangers by color - gray, blue, khaki and brown.

Q and Answer: Should I Wear a Sweater with a Suit?

Peter asks: As the weather gets cooler, but still too warm for topcoats, do you think it’s appropriate/advisable to layer v-neck sweaters with suits in a business setting? I guess the idea would be to use a sweater-vest (!!!) to avoid over-stuffing the sleeves of a suit jacket.

Absolutely.

The sweater (or sweater-vest, if you prefer your arms unencumbered) is most at home with a sportcoat ensemble like the one that Jack Nicholson is wearing above. That’s a classic look (particularly with a bow tie, as it reduces the amount of shirt showing in the same way a three-piece would). It’s comfortable and smart.

You can wear a similar combination with a suit, but you should be aware that it will make your ensemble a little less formal. I wouldn’t necessarily wear a sweater vest to a board meeting, but I think it would be fine even in most conservative business dress environments.

When you’re picking what sweater to go for, choose a more muted tone (say gray or navy) if you’re thinking of wearing it with a suit. You want the sweater to contrast significantly with the jacket, but you don’t necessarily want it to stand out. You should also consider a finer, harder-finished sweater - say a lightweight merino wool - especially with harder-finished suiting.

You also want to remember the cut of the jacket: if a jacket is cut very close, as some suit jackets are, adding a layer could lead to a stuffed-sausage situation. When you’re having your suit jackets altered, be sure that your tailor knows to leave a little room for a sweater (or wear a sweater to your fitting).

An added advantage to this combination is that it lends a somewhat more finished look to your outfit when your jacket is off. Since many men doff their coats upon stepping into their offices, this can be a nice bonus. This is particularly true when the office is a bit too cool for shirtsleeves.

Q and Answer: Should I Wear an Undershirt?

Ryan asks: I try to at least wear button-up shirts the majority of the days, the problem I have, however, is whether or not to wear a white t-shirt underneath of them, or to wear a v-neck so it’s hidden, or none at all. Any help would be much appreciated.

The matter of whether to wear an undershirt is one of personal choice. Wearing an undershirt will extend the life of your shirts, and may help absorb sweat that would otherwise be absorbed by your shirt. Some sweatier men prefer to wear them at all times for this reason. With an undershirt, you’ll generally be warmer. In cool weather, this is great. In warmer weather, it might not be. Again: personal preference.

One mistake you should never make is to show your white undershirt. Take a look above, at the guy who’s artificially inseminating a glass of wine. Not cool. If your shirt collar is open, we should see your neck, not your undershirt. Undershirts are underwear, and shouldn’t be seen. If your collar is open, go v-neck or go without.

Of course, a colored undershirt can be worn as a contrast layering piece under a casual shirt. This is particularly useful when the shirt on top is actually a casual shirt for layering, like a flannel in early Autumn. This look is easy to mess up, though. One false move and you start looking like a guy in a television commercial for breakfast cereal.

Q and Answer: Should I Worry About Fakes on eBay?

Pat asks: I know that in many departments such as athletic footwear and electronics, there is a huge problem with counterfeit goods coming onto the market from people all over the world trying to bring in a high price on low quality fakes. Is this ever an issue in the realm of fine men’s wear? If I am going to spend $75 on a Drake’s tie or drop $300 on a pair of Vintage Ralph Lauren Double Monk Straps (if I was so lucky to find a pair) how am I to know that these are the real deal and not some cheap goods that were retagged and sold for a higher premium? – as a victim of poor quality fake Nike’s, I thank you for your insight!

My short answer is simple: don’t worry about it.

Here’s a longer answer:

Some luxury goods have extraordinary markups - purses are often marked up by a factor of ten or twelve. In these cases, what you’re buying is essentially a brand. When what you’re buying is a brand, you have to worry about fakes - because the temptation for the unscrupulous will be strong to add the brand to an inexpensive-to-make product so they can mark it up, say… five times. Same product, same brand, cheaper price = good business for an intellectual property pirate.

The explosion of mass-market luxury in the past twenty years has meant that this is a popular business model, especially in East Asia, where there’s lots of manufacturing and not much IP protection. But does that mean trouble for buying on eBay?

First of all, very few menswear items offer the kind of markup that a purse does. Sunglasses are one, though the market for men’s accessories is so much smaller and less brand-conscious than womenswear, it doesn’t crop up too much. Low-quality neckties with big-name brands are another, though that’s easy enough to distinguish once the item is handled.

There are some “faux” products on eBay - suits by Giorgio Brioni or Salvatore Ferragamite. These aren’t strictly fakes - just meant to give a completely uneducated customer a vague feeling of familiarity. Of course, this isn’t limited to eBay - you’ll find weird Italian names that sound sort of like big brands at the Men’s Wearhouse. Avoiding these is easy.

I almost never see out-and-out menswear fakes on eBay. If you see a fake, it will be of a HUGE fashion brand, it will usually be an accessory or small leather good (not a tailored piece), and it will usually be heavily branded. Hermes ties are sometimes faked. Ray Ban sunglasses. Collectible sneakers. Derek tells me he’s seen fake Tiffany’s money clips. If you buy something, and suspect it may be fake, you can take it to a retail outlet for that brand and have it verified.

Buy from reputable sellers in first-world countries and you really won’t have to worry about that stuff. Besides: if you get something, and it’s not right, eBay’s buyer protections now border on the absurd, so you will be fine.

Q and Answer: How Do I Fold My Pocket Square

John from Iowa writes: So I have a pocket square. How do I wear it?

Let me start here: you’re probably over thinking it. The pocket square isn’t meant to look fussed-over. It’s meant to look like you haven’t thought about it (even if you have).

There are a couple of ways to wear a square.

Generally, the poof is your best bet. Simply pinch the square in the middle and lift. Fold the bottom up so that the whole thing’s the appropriate depth to fit in your pocket without too much creeping, and let a little bit of the top floof out. On larger squares you can gather a few concentric points around the center of the square (say two inches from center) and draw them up rather than the center. This will give you a more dynamic look.

The opposite move is also acceptable. Gather the corners and lift, then fold up the bottom a bit, and let the tips peek out the top of the pocket.

A combo of those two is also fine with a large enough square - gather the square, then fold it in half, so that the corners and the center are touching. A bit of both.

The only real “fold” I’d advocate is the TV fold. Simply fold your square into a rectangle so the edge pokes just outside the pocket. This is suitable for serious, sober occasions and is best done with a plain white linen handkerchief.

No matter how you fold it, you’ll probably have to fuss with your square a bit during the day. Just remember: it should always look like you shoved it into your pocket absentmindedly because you’re just that relaxed and cool.

Q and Answer: How Can I Keep My Feet Comfortable Without Socks?

Andrew asks: I’ve been going sockless this summer, mostly with loafers, boat shoes, and plimsolls, and every time I come home, I take off my shoes and see blisters on my feet. I don’t want to wear no show socks. Do you have any solutions?

Some people recommend toughening it out and just developing callouses, but I think that’s bad advice. Who wants thick, ugly callouses on their feet? My suggestion is to go with terry cloth insoles, which I wrote about in my “Guide to Going Sockless” article back in the beginning of this summer. I use Aldo for mine, but there are other makers. You can order them off their website, but since Aldo has a store in almost every major city, you’re probably already close by one and can save on shipping. They cost about $7. 

You can get by on just having one pair, but if you don’t wear socks often, maybe it would be good to go with two and rotate through them. The top side is a soft terry cloth, which kind of rubs off a bit when you first get it, but they’re fine after a few wears. The underside is latex, so that it doesn’t slip in your shoe. You’ll want to wash them every so often, but not put them in the dryer, otherwise you’ll ruin the latex. 

If you have particularly sweaty feet, sprinkle some Gold Bond powder in there, and you’ll help your feet stay cool and dry while they’re in your shoes.  

Q and Answer: How To Get the Stink Out of a Barbour Jacket

Warren asks: I bought a Barbour jacket on ebay a while back, and unfortunately it’s got a musty smell.  I’ve been hanging it in my garage for most of the spring, and put it outside on sunny days in an attempt to let the sun clear the smell out… but the musty smell remains.   Any ideas on how I could get rid of it?  I’d like to avoid having the scent transfer to my other clothes…

There’s a reason that an English farmer keeps his Barbour in the foyer by the back door and not in his coat closet. Barbour jackets are musty.

Partly this odor is due to the proofing itself - the wax sealed into the jacket that keeps it waterproof. Partly this is due to the fact that the jackets can’t be washed without ruining said proofing.

It’s not usually an overwhelming odor, and for a lot of folks it just reminds them of the great outdoors. For others, it’s a dealbreaker.

There is one way to dramatically reduce the smell, if you so chose. You can have the jacket cleaned and re-proofed. In the United States, the primary company that does this work is New England Reproofers. They’ll strip the jacket, clean it, then re-proof it. The cleaning costs $30, and the reproofing costs $45. They’ll also repair your coat for you if it needs it.

Just remember: even sparkling clean, Barbour jackets have a smell.

Q and Answer: What is the meaning of numbered fabrics?

An anonymous reader asks: Would you briefly explain the meaning of numbered fabrics (like super 150’s, 120’s, etc)? I’ve never seen a good article on this. Maybe you could point one out to me. Thanks very much!

Jesse has a knack for answering questions well and succinctly. I don’t have that knack, but will give you the best answer I can. I’ll take you through the history of Super wools, which I think is a fascinating story, as well as what it practically means for you. If you want the short answer, just skip to the takeaway section.  

The History of Super Wools

The story behind “Super wools” is an incredible tale of how early periods of the global economy affected men’s clothing. 

In 1789, King Charles IV of Spain gave two rams and four ewes to Colonel Gordon of the Dutch East India Company, who in turn brought them to South Africa. Six years later, Colonel Gordon died and the original six animals had by then become 26. His wife sold the flock to an enterprising British immigrant in Australia who would then use these animals to found the multi-billion wool industry in Australia today. Most of the middle- to high-end suits in the market these days use Australian wool, which means much of the tailored menswear industry can be traced back to the six animals that King Charles IV of Spain originally gave away as a gift. 

However, that’s not the story of Super wools just yet; it’s only the background. Australia doesn’t weave wool, it only grows it. Once the wool has been shorn from sheep in Australia, it is typically sent off to Yorkshire, England (more specifically Huddersfield) to be spun into yarn, and this yarn is then woven into cloth. The innovation of “Supers” comes from this Yorkshire town, Huddersfield. 

The traditional way of grading the quality of wool yarn in Huddersfield was to see how much could be spun out of one pound of raw wool. The finer the fibers, the most spools - or “hanks - could be filled. Thus, if a wool was “70s,” it meant that a pound of raw wool would yield 70 hanks. Not only would finer yarn give more hanks, but it also meant that it was softer and silkier to the touch. 

For a many centuries, 60s wool was considered the best in the world. Through selective breeding, however, Australians were able to produce new generations of sheep with finer fleeces. This was the advent of 70s and 80s wool. Consumers at this point still weren’t aware of these distinctions, but people in the trade became obsessed with getting the first 100-count wool.

When it was finally achieved in the 1960s, Joseph Lumb & Sons and H. Lesser, two British companies, decided to market the suitings as “Lumb’s Huddersfield Super 100s.” Now, this is a completely arbitrary distinction. There’s nothing inherently more monumental about breaking the barrier between 90s and 100s than 80s to 90s. It just feels more monumental because our ten-count digit system adds another digit once we reach 100. The marketing of “Super wools” however really took off in Japan, where a few Savile Row tailors had outposts. The idea of a wool being “Super” conveyed that this stuff was the best. It made such an impression that early Japanese and Middle Eastern customers would buy bolts of this “super cloth” and give them as gifts. 

The evolution of the Italian menswear industry at the time also affected the wool industry. After the war, Italy’s ready-to-wear menswear industry really took off. I’ve written a bit about the history of Italy’s most important brands, and if you read through my articles, you’ll notice how many of them went global after the war. These Italian firms heavily marketed their suits as being made of “Super wools.” It was, in a way, to help distinguish themselves as a “luxury” brand on the international market. 

This market reaction from Japan and Italy, coupled with the improvements in loom technology in England and breeding practices in Australia drove the development of Super wools to a point where we’re now somewhere in the mid 200s. Quite a feat given that Mother Nature was only able to develop “60s wool” herself. 

So What Does it Mean for You? The Orthodox View

The simple story here is that the higher the number given to the wool, the softer and silkier to the touch it will be. However, many say that the fineness of the wool means that it will break down faster. As you wear your Super wools, they’ll tend to get shinier in areas that get more stress or wear - like say the seat of your pants. Sometimes it will even wear straight through. It’s a “higher end” wool, but in this case, you trade short term luxury for long term durability. For customers who have a lot of money, this may not be really a big deal, and the tradeoff for luxury may be more valued. If you’ve ever handled a Super 120s and Super 200s, you’ll be impressed with how soft the higher count suiting feels against the skin. 

The other advantage of the higher count Super wools is that the the finer yards will allow weavers to get more intricate colors and designs into the fabric. Imagine then a customer going into a store - stroking and gazing at the soft, beautiful cloth, and being told that this was a “Super wool.” Who can resist? 

The More Nuanced View of Super Wools

That’s the simple orthodoxy - super wools are more luxurious, but aren’t as durable. There’s a much more nuanced and sophisticated understanding, however. 

First, remember that the way we measure wool comes from a centuries old practice that wasn’t particularly sophisticated. It wasn’t a very precise measure of fineness and to the degree it even did that job well, it only measured one aspect. There is more to the quality of wool than it’s thickness, however. For example, there is the length of the fiber. The longer the better, as it will be less likely to break. There is also the crimp, as a waviness to the wool will give it resilience; its consistency in the batch; the amount of natural oils in the fibers; how well its woven; so on and so forth. This point was very well proven in this article by Jeffery Diduch, one of the best sartorial minds around. In it, Diduch shows an old bespoke piece made of Super 150s wool. The lining has been worn straight through, but the wool is in near perfect condition. The suiting is clearly high quality and can’t be reduced to just a number. 

Second, there is the issue of whether the numbers are even correctly reported. The Wall Street Journal had a great article five years ago about how suits designed as being of a particular “Super count” actually clocked in at a higher or lower number. This was found even in luxury end suits by Canali, one of the best off-the-rack Italian suit makers in the world. You have to wonder then whether what you’re buying is really the Supers designation that was given to it. 

The Takeaway

So what’s the takeaway? Super wools refer to the fineness of the yarn, which in turn translates to how silky, soft, and complex the weave can be. However, there is more to the quality of wool yarn that how fine each fiber is. This means that you shouldn’t judge the quality of a suiting just from it’s “Supers” count - either adoring or dismissing it for its high numbers. Instead, you should just take it as one dimension. If you buy a nice Super 150s wool from a very good mill, it will wear fine, though perhaps not as well as a more traditional cloth in the 60s and 70s. There’s no reason to be afraid of it straight out of the gates, however. On the other hand, if you get a Super 150s suiting from a bad mill, you’re probably just being suckered into a marketing ploy. In the end, there is no quick label to tell you what to buy and what not to buy; you have to do your homework. 

Q and Answer: A Striped Jacket with Odd Trousers?

Adam asks: In one of my best thrifting trips yet, I snagged a Brooks Brothers Golden Fleece suit jacket for just a couple of dollars. It’s wool, navy with thin charcoal stripes, single breast with 3-roll-2 buttons, and fits me like a glove. The only problem is that I wasn’t able to find the pants to go with it. I was hoping that you guys could advise me on how best to wear odd jackets like this. Should I try to find some pants to match, or just avoid that altogether and wear it like a sport coat?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Adam, but this was not one of your best thrifting trips yet.

Outside of bold blazer stripes, which are almost never seen in the United States, a striped jacket is part of a suit. A business suit, specifically.

If you’re particularly cool, the fabric isn’t too formal, you’re in Italy, and everything else is going your way, you might be able to pair a suit jacket like this with dark jeans. Be advised, though, that this is a sartorial power move. Ralph Lauren can do this, but I’m not so sure you can.

As far as looking for the matching trousers… the time to do that was when you bought the jacket. Thrift stores often separate suits, so the pants to a suit coat can be located, I’d say, three out of ten times. (Often a suit coat is donated when the pants wear out.) Post-facto, though, your chances of finding a match are slim to none.

If you’re not sure, in future, what kind of jacket you’ve got in your hand, try reading our article on the difference between a blazer, suit jacket and sport coat.