Pea Coat

Ahhh, my trusty pea coat. Some people may call it a navy coat, officers coat or even pilots jacket. What ever you call it, this is about the best jacket money can buy. It is an iconic piece of clothing that has remained relatively unchanged in its long history. This should be a staple in your winter wardrobe, it is my go to winter jacket, I wear it over my work dress clothes and pair it with my favorite heavy wool striped scarf and I am ready for just about anything. Continue reading

Every Swell Man Should Learn…

I read a blog post recently on The Art of Manliness called “What the Young Man Should Know” from Harper’s weekly. It was a great article from the 30s that was a list of skills or tasks that the author believed every young man should learn. It included a few A few items that are still important today, and a few that are no longer necessary (keeping a horse), practical (chopping wood), or advisable (hitch hiking), but it is a great list none the less. I thought for all of you swell readers I would update it for the modern man. I have compiled a list of skills that every swell guy should learn in their lifetime.

I think that this post may spawn a loose series of small posts about how to carry out these tasks; after all I can hardly give you a list without telling you how to accomplish it. So look for some of these items coming up in the category ESMSL, so on that note let’s begin.

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Skyfall

20121111-105722.jpgWell after much anticipation, and blogging I made it to the new bond film, Skyfall. It was everything that I expected from Bond, beautiful women, fast cars, great locations, and of course the villains. From the opening theme , Adele’s Skyfall, to the final…well I can’t tell you, it was action packed and entertaining. Warning, possible spoilers ahead.

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1964 Heuer Carrera Re-Edition Chronograph

Admittedly I have over looked Tag Heuer for some time, aside from a couple of models, not much has got me going from them. Of course I do love the Monaco (you may see that in a subsequent blog post). Recently I acquired a great watch from them, and it happens to be a watch they made twice. One of the only watches that they produced under both the Heuer name, and post acquisition by Techniques d’Avant Garde then again under the Tag name (I’ll explain in a bit). Heuer began as a watchmaker in St-Imier, Switzerland in 1860 with foundation of Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer AG by Edouard Heuer. The company was purchased by TAG Group (Holdings) S.A. in 1985 and Heuer became TAG Heuer. In 1999 TAG Heuer was sold to French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH -Moët Hennessy, Louis Vuitton. Continue reading

The Trilby Fedora

I have fond memories of growing up with my cousins spending time at our grandparents’ house. My grandmother used to teach us how to play poker and we used buttons instead of chips, they also had a great vintage bar in their basement and a gorgeous classic car in their garage (which is now in my garage). This backdrop helped us kids to become thespians; we imagined scenes starring ourselves as mobsters of the coolest make. Of course to “top it off” we all had to have the coolest hat. In my grandparents’ kitchen closet was my grandfather’s hat. He actually had a couple that we wore, but one was always the coolest, and whoever got that one was the “Don”. His hat was the coolest trilby I had ever seen, well at least from a kid’s perspective. I have fond memories of this iconic hat, many fewer men wear hats today, but this one will always be a classic. Continue reading

Swell driving shoes-The original Car Shoe

Car Shoe Classic driving shoeCars with nice leather and heated steering wheels may have eliminated the need for driving gloves for the modern driver, but driving shoes certainly still have a place. I haven’t put much thought into driving shoes until recently, even though I have always been aware of them. Now, I’ve found a great driving shoe that you all need to check out.

Not my car…..unfortunately

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The Proper Care and Feeding of your Summer Style

After writing on mens swim wear, I decided to continue the trend of helping men look swell in summer wear. When it is warm us guys want to be comfortable, and we sometimes have limited options depending on the occasion, so here is a guide to help – The care and feeding of your summer style.

Shorts:

There arent many items in a man’s wardrobe that elicit as much debate as shorts do.I am going to give you some help on wearing them. Shorts are a modern addition to a man’s wardrobe and thus are still finding acceptance.  Although common everywhere in North America, they are not common in many other parts of the world,even where its hot.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries there were many English words for shortened men’s pants. “Knickerbockers” were baggy pants that gathered below the knee, shorter, tighter-fitting trousers that ended at the knee were “knee pants”, and “short pants” sometimes meant knee-pants and sometimes meant shorter garments still. Outside of swimming trunks or boxer shorts most varieties were considered clothing for boys, both unofficially and as part of many school uniforms. Grown men didn’t start wearing shorts beyond a few extremely hot climates around the globe until after World War II.  Soldiers stationed in the tropics were issued short trousers both for comfort and to ration cloth, and this caught on when they came home. Continue reading

Omega Seamaster- Bond Skyfall edition

As this year trudges on, I am looking forward to the blockbusters that are coming out in the latter part of the year, specifically the 23rd release of a James Bond film called Skyfall. I am a Bond fan, and I like Daniel Craig in the role, you can be sure I will be seeing this one right away.
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Bulova Accutron Calibrator

I am admittedly a watch fanatic, and I believe it’s been to long without a watch post on Howtobeswell. Something exciting is around the corner from Bulova that I have just got to talk about. With both mechanical and quartz designs, Bulova watches are intricately and elegantly detailed, using fine quality materials. Founded in 1875, Bulova is one of the world’s most recognized brands, and reaches a wide range of consumers with its variety of watches and clock offerings.  An independent subsidiary of Citizen Watch Company, Bulova is headquartered in New York City.
 
 At Basel World 2012, Bulova announced a revolutionary advance in timekeeping accuracy- at least for the wearer. They are introducing the Bulova Accutron Calibrator, featuring the External Fine Adjustment System (EFAS). This feature allows watch enthusiasts the ability to control the accuracy of their automatic watches, maintaining 99.99% accuracy simply, and without need for a technician. – Their claim, but from them it carries some weight.