Fall

I’m currently down at my parents’ house in Maryland for the holiday, not so patiently awaiting the arrival of the rest of my family and tomorrow’s epic meal. So, to whet my appetite, as well as yours, for my favorite meal of the year, here’s five Thanksgiving inspired kits. Have a good holiday everyone, eat, drink, take a nap, and rest easy. Now, go get off the internet and enjoy yourselves.

Epaulet Daltrey Shetland Tweed Sportcoat - Howlin’ by Morrison Neish Sweater - Aspesi Button Down Fine Corduroy Shirt - Gant Rugger Cords - Alden Sand Suede Chukka Boot - Paul Stuart Oriental Tiger Scarf - Dents Peccary Gloves

Paul Stuart Syndrome – A Fall Phenomenon

November 20, 2012

Anglo-American, Fall, Paul Stuart, Thanksgiving Week, Tweed

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A few days ago, thanks to several well-placed, cancelled classes, I was fortunate enough to be graced with the coveted five day weekend. With Thanksgiving on deck, and not much on my docket, I fell back on the old standby of absentmindedly walking the streets and watching the hours tick by. It might’ve been that the impending holiday was on my mind, but as I walked around, meeting up with friends, and running into people, I found myself preoccupied with all that surrounded me. I consider fall to be the only real season that really has a distinct character to it, which some say is produced by the colors of the season, but to me it really has more to do with the emotions and ideas that this atmosphere creates.

Playboys, Steve McQueen, and Why Chocolate Suede Chukkas are Made for Fall

October 17, 2012

Boots, Chocolate, Chukkas, Fall, Layer Up Week, Suede

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A few weeks back while I was writing my post about chunky cardigans, I stumbled upon the above photo of Steve McQueen, which has come to redefine my notion of “the quintessential fall outfit.” At first glance it’s nothing more than a simple navy cardigan and khakis, yet it’s McQueen’s chocolate suede chukkas that have this shot so memorable to me. The search for a pair of fall boots can be a struggle. On one end of the spectrum sits the lot of burnt red workwear boots that everyone seemed to pick up in the fall of ’09, while on the other we have more formal dress boots that evoke connotations of British imperialism and Downton Abbey Halloween costumes. Then of course, positioned squarely in the middle are Clarks Desert Boots, a reliable yet all too predictable route that seem to be an essential item for any teenager kid’s “menswear” starting kit these days.

Breaking Barbour

October 15, 2012

Barbour, British, Fall, Layer Up Week, Outerwear

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After a seemingly never ending, on again off again Indian summer, this past week has finally felt like the proper arrival of Fall. Well that is until I woke up this morning and saw temperature climb back into the seventies. While I for one welcome the cold with open arms, the one fall phenomena that I just can’t get beyond is the Barbour coat monotony that has hit our city with more force than a nor’east wind.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Barbour’s, in fact my trusty Barbour x Tokito jacket is sitting next to me right now, but it’s the inescapable olive green quilted Barbour Bedale and it’s equally as unavoidable brother, the Beaufort that seem to be the only winter coat options on earth right now. I don’t resent Barbour in the least, they’re one of the greatest outerwear companies of all time, and if everyone in this city seems to be fascinated by their jackets, it’s with good reason. As one of the first heritage brands to get a big co-sign from pretty much everyone in the blogosphere, Barbour’s hundred year history of made in England outerwear has been told and retold countless times.

Weekends and Blundstones

October 10, 2012

Blundstones, Boots, Dad, Dad's Style Week, Fall, Personal, Shoes

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Yesterday morning, during a phone call with my mom, she regretfully remarked how she knew her vacation with my dad was over because he was “back in his uniform.” For as long as I can remember my dad has worn a black suit, starchy dress shirt, tie, and black shoes, without fail every single day of the work week. I’ve always been inspired by my dad’s commitment to his armor (I’ll save a full reflection on this uniform for tomorrow’s post,) but lately I’ve been thinking equally as much about my dad’s off-the-clock attire.

Camel Hair – The Crisp Side of Fall

September 27, 2012

British, Camel Hair, Fall, Fall Primer Week, Sport Coats, Trad

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Shot by Matt Smith

Fall is made in the fabrics. Burnt orange donegals, sage green herringbone tweeds, ivory colored cashmeres, dark grey lambswools. These are the textiles that spring to mind when we think of fall, the many textures and hues that mirror the rich fall landscape. Coming from the brighter yet simpler summer palate we are quick to jump on these dynamic fabrics, searching for something a bit more dramatic than the flat textiles that we have been wearing for the past dew of months. As a result though, we tend to forget that amongst a sea of the bold and the complex, it’s often the most understated pieces that stand out the strongest.

Chunky Cardigans – Toeing the Line

September 24, 2012

Cardigan, Cozy, Fall, Fall Primer Week, Sweaters

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We purchase two kinds of clothes, those that rest in our closet and those that rest in our minds. We buy those essentials-shirts, shoes, socks, trousers that sit idle throughout our rooms waiting for us to toss them on absentmindedly as we piece together a Monday morning outfit. And then there are those rare few pieces that drive us simultaneously towards inspiration and obsession. They make us never want to wear anything else, to find a way to fit them into every single outfit we wear with in a week, these are the items that illustrate the true value of clothes. They make us happier when we wear them, they strike confidence in us, and when they’re on our backs we truly believe we’re the best we can be. I was fortunate enough to acquire one of these elusive pieces this past week, as I stumbled upon a late eighties Polo Ralph Lauren double breasted cardigan.

Outlier’s Supermarine Anorak

August 6, 2012

Anorak, Fall, Jackets, Summer Edition, Technical

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Last week I was a bit overzealous in using the title “Winter Week,” so this week I’ve decided to go with the more moderate “Fall Week, Summer Edition” and focus on lightweight jackets. Seems a bit more reasonable.

I’m not sure if I’d consider it a mid-life crisis, or adolescence or what, but right now menswear is going through it’s confused years. Everyday we see brands that were once heritage turning toward Neapolitan style tailoring, we find Japanese labels that are better at Americana than American brands because those American designers are preoccupied with channeling Scandinavian design. We are in the midst of a melting pot full of influence where once conflicting styles are blended together without anyone batting an eyelash. And then on the other hand there are brands like Outlier, a company that hits the sweet spot, never “reinventing” themselves, or trying to stay on trend, Outlier simply makes great clothes that you just can’t help but get behind.

Outlier began with a simple goal, they wanted to create a pair of pants for the bike commuter that rides into a traditional workplace each day. A pair of pants that fit well and could take a beating but still looked appropriate for a workday. They succeeded in creating what can only be described as a pair of tailored, technical, trousers that propelled Outlier into the spotlight. That was back in 2008 and since then they’ve taken their unique design approach and applied it to everything from shirts to bags to shoes to create products that couple a thoughtful modern fit with revolutionary fabrics.

Over the past year I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting Abe Burmeister,Tyler Clemens, and Roy Dank, who together make up team Outlier, and every time I run into them I hear stories of cutting-edge materials and insane ideas. Which is why when Roy emailed me over some info on their newest release, The Supermarine Anorak, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that it was one of the most amazing jackets I had ever seen.

The jacket has all the fundamentals of a solid anorak-a half-zip front, a large kangaroo pocket, a deep hood, but taking a closer look at the details, you can see the level of consideration put into the piece. The half-zip is protected by an adjustable magnetic throat piece to add an extra layer of protection, the jacket is equipped with side vents to allow for breathability, there’s a rear stash pocket, and then of course there’s Outlier’s strongest suit: the fabric itself.

Supermarine cotton is the sort of fabric that has made Outlier legendary over the past few years. It’s a highly breathable, water resistant, entirely windproof material that very few people use because it hasn’t seeped into the mainstream yet. Outlier sources the fabric from Italy, and it’s a revised version of the original Supermarine cotton that the British military used during World War Two to outfit their fighter pilots in case they crash landed in the North Sea. The material is lightweight, and practically silent compared to Gore-Tex and other so-called “technical” fabrics making it easy to toss on and move around in during those brisk fall days.

The Supermarine Anorak is an extraordinary piece, but it’s exactly what I’ve come to expect from Outlier. Outlier is one of that brands that I consider to be true “designers.” They aren’t simply tinkering with little details, or color, or patterns, they’re approaching each garment like a problem, taking an existing design and stripping it down to it’s foundation only to rebuild it again as something we have never seen before, and that’s why there’s really no other company like them out there today.

Aran Sweaters – Irish Islands and Faux-Classics

August 1, 2012

Fall, History, Ireland, Sweaters, Winter, Winter Week Summer Edition

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Sitting in a suburban backyard on a sweltering summer afternoon, the only thing on my mind isn’t the intoxicatingly sweet air, but a pullover cable-knit sweater sitting in my drawer back home. A sweater much the same as Irish fishermen wore back in the fifties, yes just the fifties, because while we all assume that those cream colored cable-knits are some sort of ancient Irish tradition, they’re nothing less than modern.

Truth be told, they don’t even root back to Ireland proper, but actually the Aran Islands off the western coast of Ireland. For centuries families across Ireland and Scotland had been knitting in cable formations, with each having their own unique design that was passed down through the generations. And then during World War One, the fledgling fishing industry on the Aran Islands became short-staffed. With all their workers away, the island community turned to young women from across Ireland and Scotland to fill the gaps.

These girls made a living picking guts and bones out of the daily haul but at night they sat in dimly lit rooms and knit while they told stories of their childhood homes. After a while they began sharing their respective designs with each other, joining together all of their various styles of cable-knits into one sweater with many patterns. Named after the Aran Islands, the sweaters were made from thick, neutral wools that were quick and easy to weave together. The girls soon realized that their knits were an industry all their own, setting up shop around the Aran Islands, selling the sweaters and building their reputation.

Eventually the sweaters jumped the Atlantic Ocean and became popular across America and oddly enough it was only then that Irish fishermen began wearing the sweaters. The tight cable patterns could not only withstand the blustery sea winds but had the ability to become soaked without the fishermen even noticing. It was for these same reasons that the sweaters caught on in the New England yacht community, as evidenced by icons such as JFK and Steve McQueen (yes those names again) who could be seen proudly wearing an Aran sweater out on the water. On dry land, the sweaters have remained an icon in their own right, a clever way to break up the monotony of a solid layer. Traddy but not traditional.