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Proper Cloth’s Everyday Mask has become one of the company’s best-selling items in the last year. Much of it has to do with the fit. Most masks are about 6 to 8 inches wide, so they cover your mouth and about half of each cheek. Proper Cloth’s masks are much more generously cut — roughly 6.5 inches tall and nearly 10 inches wide — it covers the tip of your nose down to underneath your chin, and wraps around almost ear-to-ear. This gives you much better protection, as the mask can filter out the air that blows out from the sides.
In the last few months, the Proper Cloth team has been making iterative improvements to their design. The new Everyday 2.0 Mask keeps all the good things that made the first version popular — more coverage, a moldable metal nose bridge for a sealed fit, and a multi-layer system with a built-in filter. But they’ve improved the shape, so there’s more breathing room inside, lengthened the pleats to enhance the fit, and made small sewing adjustments to give the mask a cleaner finish. The result is an attractive, comfortable, and effective mask that you can wear every day. Proper Cloth sells them in three colors — grey, navy, and black — and two different strap designs. For every mask purchased, the company will also donate one to a healthcare worker.
Chipp Neckwear is the online accessories arm of Winston Tailors. This legendary custom clothier dressed Andy Warhol, Joe DiMaggio, and members of the Kennedy family during the heyday of Ivy style. Known for their more playful takes on traditional Anglo-American style, the company’s founder Sidney Winston helped popularize patchwork madras and tweed sports, often with colorful linings. Sidney’s son Paul is also known for his cheeky neckwear — a tie for the black sheep in the family, a play on a baseball phrase, and Santa with a … ahem … heart on.
If you ever get a chance to talk to Paul, ask him for some of his favorite tailoring stories — the man has been in the trade forever and has loads of them. On one occasion, while Paul was with JFK and Bobby in the Oval office, helping them choose suit fabrics, he remembers seeing images flash across the TV of troops being sent to desegregate schools. “After JFK’s assassination, Bobby Kennedy called on Chipp to re-cut his brother’s inauguration suit to fit him, as they were entirely different sizes,” Al Castiel once reported in Town & Country. “This process was far more expensive than having a new custom suit made, but Paul believes that Bobby wanted it done for sentimental reasons. During his presidential campaign, RFK frequently met with Sidney and Paul Winston for new clothes, since they were constantly being torn off him by overzealous crowds along the campaign trail.”
The guiding principle for choosing a good pocket square is the same guiding principle for how to dress well in general. You want to put in some effort, but also look natural while doing it. Look relaxed and carefree; don’t look stiff and studied.
There’s an easy way to do this when choosing a square: avoid anything that looks like it may have come in a boxed set with your tie. Instead of choosing something that matches your tie, pick something that complements it — a dominant color that picks up the secondary or tertiary color in your neckwear, or complements the background. A gold-colored pocket square, for example, can be an excellent want to accent a navy tie.
Dapper Classics has pocket squares in every color imaginable. Some come in colorful, non-repeating patterns, such as their designs representing the medical profession or the scales of justice. A little turn here or there, and you can show the colors you want most. The teal paisley pocket square pictured above will go with anything except a teal paisley tie. These squares are made in Italy and feature carefully rolled edges — a nice touch that prevents this from just looking like a napkin in your pocket.
As NBA arena entrances have become something of a fashion runway, many keen-eyed style enthusiasts have noticed that some of the league’s biggest stars have been wearing Rowing Blazers. The preppy-with-a-twist label has been seen on Russell Westbrook (Washington Wizards), Carmelo Anthony (Portland Trail Blazers), Jordan Clarkson (Utah Jazz), Tobias Harris (Philadelphia 76ers), Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz), and D’Angelo Russell (Minnesota Timberwolves), among others. Two weeks ago, retired NBA legend Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) wore a Rowing Blazers sweater (the Princess Diana-inspired “I’m A Luxury” sweater) in a viral video on his Instagram.
So it’s no surprise that Rowing Blazers, which has been on a roll in securing collaboration deals, recently collaborated with the league on a small line of clothes and accessories. The line features blazers, rugbys, sweats, trousers, and accessories, each emblazoned with team logos. There’s a Chicago Bulls bankers bag, a Lakers club tie, a Celtics blazer, a Golden State Warriors scarf, and an NBA league intarsia sweater. There’s even an official NBA basketball produced by Spalding in Rowing Blazers’ regimental stripe. You can find the collection at Rowing Blazers’ flagship store in New York City, Fred Segal in Los Angeles, and online.
Long-known for their high-end menswear auctions on eBay, LuxeSwap recently branched out onto a new auction website, AuctionNinja, where they’re mostly auctioning off womenswear, home items, and vintage. The items are listed as groups, each set consisting of over a hundred items and scheduled to go up (and end) at the same time.
Although most of the auctions are focused on womenswear, you can find some quality men’s items here and there. There’s a quilted Barbour jacket, boxed Brooks Brothers fragrance, white Thom Browne button-down, and a small set of Club Monaco v-neck sweaters. Note that the first lot of auctions ends in about 24 hours. For more items, check back every now and then. Since these lots will likely get less traffic than LuxeSwap’s eBay auctions, you may be able to land an especially good deal.
