Put This On

I am jealous of the Ace Hotel Palm Springs for having its own sneaker collaboration with Generic Surplus.  The shoes are kind of fresh, too.  Certainly Palm Springs-friendly.  I’m actually staying at the Ace next month for a birthday weekend - I hear the thrifting in Palm Springs is out of this world, and my wife has given me blanket permission to do all the thrifting I want while she sits by the pool.  That’s the perfect vacation.

“MistahWong” is always on the road for business, and lives out of a suitcase as he travels from his home in Australia to Oceania and Southeast Asia.  That makes his difficult achievement - perfectly elegant warm-weather casual clothes - all the more remarkable.

This is a very simple outfit, but the quality and fit are absolutely impeccable.  It’s also perfectly accessorized, with a beautiful pair of suede Alden chukka boots, what look like Randolph Engineering aviator sunglasses, some charming beads and a lovely rucksack.

I recently bought one of these lovely madras shirts from Lands’ End.  I’m always looking for warm weather options - I melt in the heat, and summer’s coming fast here in LA.  The fabric is lovely, and it was only $29, which made it a great alternative to the $80 one I’d been looking at at J. Crew.  One note, though - Lands’ End’s traditional fit is monstrous.  I’m a bit big for most larges, and a medium fit me well.  It’s gotta have a 44 inch chest.  There are several lovely prints, too.  I think I may actually have just talked myself into buying another one.

As the weather starts to warm, it’s time to start thinking about sunglasses.  Since every 22-year-old Pitchfork devotee in America is wearing Ray-Ban Wayfarers, it’s a good time to think about other classic styles, like aviators.

Aviator sunglasses were developed for aviators.  Fliers need comfort and performance, above all else, and where function is paramount, style is often a byproduct.  Above are aviator sunglasses by American Optical.  Randolph Engineering currently makes the military’s shades, but AO made them for decades before.  American Optical shades are made to high standards, but are surprisingly inexpensive - in the $50 range at your local surplus store (less if you look around).  They have high-quality glass lenses, solid hardware and are available in three sizes.  I know from personal experience that with a big face, it’s tough to find un-sized aviators that don’t look pinched.

Classic tennis clothes are close to my ideal for casual warm-weather clothing.

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LL Bean Handsewn Blucher Moccasin

LL Bean’s Blucher Moccasin is a great option for those of you looking for an alternative to sneakers and boat shoes for casual wear.  They look good both with and without socks, and they’re only $69, with Bean’s famous no-questions-asked warranty.  Great with jeans or chinos - just make sure those chinos aren’t big flappy pleaty dad-style numbers, or the shoes will look dad-ly, too.

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Q and Answer: Hippie Wedding

Michael writes: I am getting married in August, and my partner and I are having trouble finding non-formal attire for me to wear. The wedding is on a small island off the coast of Vancouver known for it’s hippy-dippy ways (not that we’re too hippy-dippy ourselves). Do you have any sartorial recommendations for something that will look good without being formal? Right now we just know that we’ll both be wearing Cydwoq shoes.

Sometimes someone writes to us and I’m frankly not sure if they’re making fun of me… or at the very least trying to provoke me.

Speaking of which: a good way to provoke me is to trick me into googling “Cydwoq shoes.” It’s sort of like asking Tommy Lasorda his opinion of Kingman’s performance.

So rather than rising to the bait, I will pretend the last sentence of this email DOES NOT EXIST.  Because I am not a hornet’s nest to be prodded with a stick for your amusement.  Blocking from my memory the appearance of those horrible shoes has come surprisingly easily, though I expect only years of therapy will correct my post-traumatic stress.

As for what you can wear to an informal wedding in August, how about a linen suit?  Looks like Vancouver is usually in the mid-70s that time of year, and linen will be plenty cool enough, and give you the rumpled, natural appearance that hippies love so very much.  The coat will also protect you in case of a cool spell.  There’s no need for a tie, just a nice white shirt and a nice linen suit.

So, now that your clothes are sorted out, start worrying about your officiant.

Things are already warming up here in Los Angeles - I’ve had to move from wool to cotton flannel up top.  Too-hot-for-sleeves weather is just around the corner.  For me, that’s white tee weather.  It was the same, as you can see, for Steve McQueen.  I used to buy my white tees at Costco - the Kirkland brand are durable and cheap.  They’re also a bit heavy for summer in LA and a bit square for my body shape, so I switched to Alternative Apparel.  More expensive, but soft as a baby’s rear, and with a great cut.  Maybe we’ll do a group buy in the early spring.

Check out some more white tee inspiration at Sartorially Inclined.

All I Want For Christmas: Rob Corddry

Rob Corddry is a comic actor and improviser whose sweet mug you know from The Daily Show or film.  He’s got a brand new series coming soon on [adult swim], based on his hilarious web series Children’s Hospital, and in March you can catch him with John Cusack in the real film that is really called Hot Tub Time Machine.  So what does Mr. Hollywood want for Christmas?

“I’m usually yelling at people in Italian so why not dress more like an Italian film director?  Mi Grande!”

Persol 2747 Sunglasses

“I love golf.” - This guy

Q and Answer

Tyson writes:

I try to present myself well at work.  I iron my shirts, shine my shoes, and try to match.  Some people may say, dress for the job you want.  What’s the PTO take?  I work in a khaki/polo/button down habitat.  A suit would be too much.  What are some nice styling’s that don’t scream look at my new suit, but still out-class Dockers and a semi-old Ralph Lauren polo.

Let’s start with the bad news: you can’t really wear a suit in a polos and Dockers business casual environment.  When you’re doing business, you always want to look as good as you can without seeming like a dick, and when everyone else is wearing polos, you’ll look like a dick in a suit (even with a tie).  Unless you’re meeting with clients that day, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb.

That doesn’t mean you have to dress like the guy pictured above, though, and it sounds like you’re well on your way to a better look.

1. No polos.  Don’t wear a polo shirt anywhere you wouldn’t wear shorts.  Playing tennis, weekend in the park, wear a polo, fine.  Having a meeting?  You can handle the five extra buttons and full sleeves on your shirt.  (No short-sleeved dress shirts, either, but that should go without saying.)
2. Don’t wear a tie without a jacket.  This is the fast route to looking like you work at Blockbuster or maybe, at best, are a teller at Wells Fargo.  Ties are meant to be worn with coats.
3. Watch your fit.  Most men wear casual pants like chinos way too long and way too baggy.  A trim, clean fit in your pants is key.  Buy them the right size and avoid pleats at all costs.  Similarly, your shirt shouldn’t pool out around your waist.  Buy a slim-fitting shirt, or take your shirt in to the tailor to get the waist taken in - it’ll cost $10 or $15 and make a huge difference.  A button-down collar is a nice way to keep your collar in check if you’re not wearing a jacket.
4. Wear good shoes.  A great pair of shoes will take you from boring to sharp.  No Kenneth Cole duckbilled b.s.  No corrected-grain leather with a plastic-y finish.  Rotate a couple pairs.  Wear a belt that matches.  No clunky rubber soles.  You work in an office, not on a marathon team.
5. Wear a sportcoat.  Even a quiet pocket square if your office won’t think you’re totally insane.  It shows that you care without showing anyone up, particularly since you won’t be wearing it around the office much anyway.  A nice cashmere sweater won’t hurt in the winter, either.

We’re essentially talking, here, about focusing on the fundamentals: wear quality clothes that fit.  Dress so that someone looking at you would think you’re someone who they’d trust to work with.