We’re really thankful to have sponsors who support our work. It’s because of them that we’re able to bring you content every day, so twice a month, we like to give them a special shoutout. Doing so also allows us to update our readers on our sponsors’ latest happenings.
In the last few years, Proper Cloth has become one of the largest online companies for made-to-measure shirts. Custom tailoring used to be only possible through local tailors, but Proper Cloth has built a reliable supply chain that allows them to make custom-fit dress shirts without ever seeing a client in person. The process is simple: you can either give them a few measurements of your body or your best fitting dress shirt. They also have ready-to-wear sizes, which allows you to get a basic fit but still customize all your style options (e.g., fabric, shirt pocket, collar style, etc.).
Proper Cloth also offers much more than your standard poplins and broadcloths. They have options for the weekend, such as slubby chambrays, indigo Japanese cottons, and printed Aloha-style shirts. This week, they introduced a new line of smart performance fabrics, which behave sort of like your gym shirts. They resist wrinkles, wick sweat, and stretch where you need, which allows you to look your best even when bike-commuting to work (or, you know, just suffering through a hot summer).
They also have some new summer suits and sport coats available through their made-to-measure custom tailoring program. Their blue melange sport coats lend a bit of texture of a plain summer outfit, while also being airy enough to allow your skin to breathe. The hemp and wool jacket pictured above can also be combined with everything from grey wool trousers to blue jeans.
Long-time readers know Chipp supplies the most affordable grenadine neckties. They source their silks from the same Italian mills as top-end brands, but their ties start at a much more affordable $45 (grenadines are $60 and, like everything Chipp sells, made in New York City). Paul Winston, the shop’s owner, tells me he can’t imagine charging much more because he remembers what neckties used to cost fifty years ago, back when his family’s business dressed men such as President John F. Kennedy, Andy Warhol, and Joe DiMaggio.
If you’re looking for your first grenadine, consider three colors: black, some sort of dark blue, and silver. Black can look severe in certain contexts, which is why it’s often not recommended for suits or socks, but the color manages to be neutral for grenadines and knit ties. You can wear a black grenadine with navy suits, tobacco linen suits, and brown tweeds. Dark blue, either in a shade matching your navy suits or one shade lighter, is equally versatile (a dark blue tie can also be a good way to visually anchor a light-colored sport coat, which could otherwise float away from you). Lastly, silver grenadines are for guys who only wear ties on special occasions — weddings, fancy parties, and other formal gatherings. Silver ties look less like office-clothes than their dark blue counterparts, and the textured grenadine weave here keeps these from looking cheap and shiny.
For a variety of reasons, it can be hard to find quality trousers for less than $200. Some of this is because the few remaining factories dedicated to making quality trousers are mostly located abroad, which means their products come into the US with high import costs. Others require high minimums. Their brand partners end up having to sell their trousers through various retail and distribution channels, which in the end comes with higher mark-ups. One of the few exceptions is Hertling, a Brooklyn-based factory that specializes in just trousers. Since they’re located in the US, their products can be sold to US brands at a much lower price. And since they require very low minimums, our sponsor Dapper Classics can sell them directly to consumers online, helping to keep costs down further still.
Dapper Classics is having a sale this weekend, from May 3rd to the 5th, where you can knock 20% off trousers, shirts, and ties. This is their first significant sale on trousers this year. Some models, such as their cotton-stretch chinos, will be available for as little as $116. Their famous Fresco trousers will also be available for $188. Fresco is a high-twist, open weave tropical wool. By having the wool woven in an open weave, the trousers will allow your skin to breathe on hot days. And by twisting the yarns one more turn during the spinning process, they become stronger and more wrinkle-resistant, which is why Fresco is so popular with frequent travelers. For versatility, get mid-gray, light-gray, and tan. Those colors go with nearly anything.
On Thursday, May 2nd, 2019, along with the grand reopening of the Rowing Blazers Clubhouse — now a permanent location — Rowing Blazers will be offering their second SS19 delivery. Drop two includes core styles designed for the warmer weather, including seven new colorways of their hand-embroidered Derry Bones and Racquet anti-logo t-shirts. They’ve added another Fun Shirt, now featuring tongue-in-cheek embroidery. And in celebration of their favorite champagne, the official drink sponsor of their grand opening party, they’ve produced a limited edition run of Bollinger hats.
Rowing Blazers’ line of authentic Pima cotton polos has been updated in white with a variety of hand-sewn satin stripe colors, along with their trademark ties in croquet stripe and zig-zag styles. The highlight of SS19’s latest drop is the introduction of The Original Number Tee. These high tension cotton jersey t-shirts originated in the sport of polo, famously worn by players such as Prince Charles, Steve McQueen, and Laddie Sanford. By the early 1990s, the number tee was appropriated by London’s youth skate scene and became a part of streetwear style history. The competing pasts of The Original Number Tee are equally important in telling its story, one Rowing Blazers feels embodies their ethos: transcending labels while also embracing history.
