Tag Archives: style

White Tie, Black Tie, And Watches: Is It Ever Okay To Wear A Watch With A Tux?

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Reblogged from Hodinkee WEDNESDAY MARCH 30, 2016

The trend in men’s style over the last few hundred years has been towards less and less complexity, but every once in a while, one still gets an invitation that says, “black tie.” There’s a tendency to think of the black tie dress code as something rigidly fixed, but despite that, there’s still room for sometimes very varying ideas on what, exactly, is or is not okay for a gent to don at a black tie event – and one of the subjects we’ve seen HODINKEE readers wax right wrathful over, is whether or not you should or should not wear a watch. Let’s get into this delightfully contentious subject and see whether or not, whether pro or stridently con, you’re on the right side of history and custom.

Ralph Lauren 867 Square Model, White Gold

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The Ralph Lauren 867 Square Model, white gold, 27 mm.

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The Calibre de Cartier Diver

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Calibre-de-Cartier-Diver-dialFor a long time Cartier has been over looked as a serious watchmaker. Although they are a top tier jewelery design house (my personal favorite at that), and have been making fantastic watches since the wristwatch was created, for many years their name was far from the lips of those discussing haute horology. That is certainly changing as of late, Carole Forestier-Kaspi is leading the Cartier’s watchmaking department into a new era. Every year they have been coming up with new and innovative complications and creating modern, wearable watches with fine in-house calibres. The latest masterpiece is the Calibre de Cartier Diver, an ISO-certified dive watch powered by the in-house 1904 MC calibre. Continue reading →

The Most Amazingly Swell Men’s Skivvies Money Can Buy

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charcoal-orange-300x300We can’t really talk about how to look and dress swell with out addressing the basic foundation of clothing. Of course we all know that if you sweat wear an undershirt, going commando is for kids, and tightey-whiteys are way out, but there should be more thought put into your underwear than just grabbing a package of what is on sale at your local stuff-mart. Continue reading →

I’m Bringing Paisley Back

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paisleyAhh My favorite pattern, If Justin Timberlake can Bring Sexy Back, I can Bring Paisley back! Well it never actually left, it seems to be in a perpetual state of renaissance, as much of an oxymoron that may be. The Paisley pattern is one of the most enduring in textiles. Its name is derived from a town of the same name in central Scotland. Paisley (the town) was where a huge surge of textiles bearing the design were manufactured in the early 19th century, to meet the demand of the returning colonial soldiers who had seen it in the far east. It is English for a design of eastern origin. Resembling a twisted teardrop, the kidney-shaped the design is known as Boteh Jegheh and it has been used in Iran since the Sassanid Dynasty (AD 224 to AD 651).express-paisley-button-down-1

HandlerImports from the East India Company in the first half of the 17th century made paisley and other eastern patterns popular. It was thought to ward off evil demons. Paisley was also particularly popular during the sixties identified with psychedelic style and the interest in Indian culture promoted by the The Beatles trip to India in 1968. At that time Fender even made a pink paisley version of their Telecaster guitar, by using wallpaper on the guitar bodies.

Today you can find it in all sorts of great clothing and accessories for men and for women. It is so much more than just some design you once saw on your grandfathers handkerchief. contrary to what the uninitiated may think it is a very masculine design, representing strength and fertility. Although that thought never enters my mind when I wear it, I just like the look. A quite a few mens designers have incorporated it into ties, pocket squares, shirts and even jackets! And for women the options are endless.

bow tie

shortsA few designers have done a great job with this; Indochino has a nice assortment shirts, ties and accessories, and Bertigo offers some beautiful shirts with contrasting color cuffs, but one of my favorite conceptions of it is in the extra slim fit shirt from Express. It’s done in a black and white paisley pattern. Cut in a slim (athletic) fit and is 100 percent cotton, so it is comfortable and durable. The make it is a few patterns, and they are all great, and if you hit them during a sale (which seems like all the time) you can get a nice quality, great looking dress shirt for pretty little.

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What you’re wearing today

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I thought I would do a quick post and try out the WordPress app on my I phone. Since I write I style blog, what better to write about than my style today.

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I am wearing one of my favorite shirts from express. It is a French-cuffed cotton shirt with a black and grey bulls-eye pattern. I love French cuffs because I love cuff links. Cuff links are a great way to show some personality subtlety in your wardrobe. With many themes and whimsical designs there is a cuff link for every swell guy.

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Mrs. How to be Swell thought this shirt was too daring, but I think it looks swell. I matched with a pair of cuff links that I really like in solve with Onyx and a cool snake design surrounding it.

You will also notice my favorite watch to wear with this shirt is my vintage Heuer Carrera, I think the black and white dial with the perforated is the perfect compliment to this shirt.

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I finished it off with a charcoal paisley skinny tie, and grey pinstriped trousers with black belt and shoes.

It’s fun to dissect what your wearing in a given day, and why. Try some cool combos, and think about why you would put them together. Also tell me what you think of the “iPhone post”. So go have some fun and always look swell.

Pea Coat

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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 →

The Trilby Fedora

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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

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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

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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 →

Mens Swim-wear

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The warm weather is here, and that means its time for the waves. Since it is now the first official day of summer, I am thinking about swimming. Now, us men have many options for swim wear so that means that there is no excuse not to look swell, even at the beach this summer.

There are three main categories of modern swim wear available to men. Depending on body type each of these styles of suits have something great to offer. They are as follows: Continue reading →