when it rains, it pours

winters in the northwest are not really winter so much as rainy season. in portland they don’t get rain so much as drizzle, but in seattle and san francisco, we get us some serious friggin wetness. some days the heavens will just open up… for hours. and you can’t always stay inside.

the jetstream is the most perfect rain jacket i could find. it has the same water proof rating and advanced technology as jackets that cost twice as much from burton or oakley. in fact, it’s even more high tech than those, it’s just not quite as hip in the style department – though in black it doesn’t look nerdy or outdoorsy. it has welded seams instead of sewn and taped ones. it has waterproof stretch panels under the shoulders and pit zips so you can wear it for more athletic pursuits. it and it has the most adjustable hood i’ve ever seen other than on montbel jackets.

warning. the jetstream is cut slim. very slim. if you pack on pounds in the winter and have to add layers, you might want to pay more for the burton continuum, which had a slightly more generous cut (seriously, not by much). or if you think you need to order up a size, check out the awesome deal on last year’s continuum, which fit much looser. if you are generally slim but have a big chest or shoulders, the jetstream’s stretchy panels have you covered.

really the only shortcoming about the jetstream the length. it’s only a jacket, so it comes about halfway down your butt. it is not a coat. i actually went looking for a coat length thing first, because nothing sucks more than wet thighs. i checked out the north face premeire line, which features a number of coat length models but the cheapest waterproof one is $750. YEOUCH! so my suggestion is get one these jackets since they’re so packable you can carry them all the time and put a little of the dough you saved into a good umbrella, like the nanonuno.

buy from patagonia

winter formal

as the weather grows colder every guy who has a pair is breaking out his charcoal grey slacks for those times when he has to look a little more business and a little less casual. now all you need is something to wear with your pants. my first suggestion comes from something i discovered this weekend.

the ben sherman scarborough shirt is a stretch dress shirt. it’s ben’s “mod” cut, which is super slim. i normally wear a small in ben’s other cuts, but if i wear a medium in this shirt, something wonderful happens. i can button the shirt all the way up to wear a tie with it. it’s not just the larger size, it’s also that the shirt is slightly stretchy. it’s 97% cotton so it’s not flammable or too shiny, but it does stretch just enough to make button the collar comfortable. and since it’s a slim cut, it doesn’t look stupid when you wear it one size bigger, you just have a little more shirt tail to tuck in.

the scarborough comes in many colors but one of the best for winter will be the sky blue. it’s not that predictable button down blue. it’s totally subtle. more like off white. just the right color to go with every pair of pants you own and to make a great background for a bold tie.

buy from nordstrom

which brings us to cyberoptix, who make ties that make statements. not offensive statements, just manly ones. jocko likes bombs away, which would look great in so many color combos with this shirt. i’d recommend grey with black print, or if you want to go really bold, black silk with a white print.

buy bombs away from cyberoptix

i prefer the gas mask. i’m a sucker for victorian style prints of odd contraptions. because of the print, you can rock the monochrome look and get the black print on a light blue tie. either one will look a whole lot better than that seasonal tie you got last year for the company holiday party.

buy gas mask from cyberoptix

keep your pants on

most guys, they don’t tuck their shirts in. sure, there’s special occassions where we have to look nice and we know beter than to leave our shirt tails out, but most days, at least if we can get away with anything less than business casual, the shirt comes out over the jeans.

but the jeans still need to stay up. so you need a belt capable of holding up a maximum amount of pant with a minimum amount of belt. if you had a big belt, or a big belt buckle, all it would do is cause an unsightly bulge under your shirt making it look like you have some weirdly shaped beer belly. we don’t want that.

you know who’s good at making belts with minimum materials and maximum cinching power? outdoors outfitters. these guys are experts are making things as light as possible that still work. sure they aren’t going to win on style points but who cares. no one will ever see them. in fact, that’s the whole point. they also know that belts have to be infinitely adjustable. if a pre cut notch makes a belt too loose or too tight, are you really gonna spend the next 8 hours constantly adjusting your pants while trying to climb that peak? no.

bison has two belts that are thick enough and good enough that they won’t look totally stupid if someone does see them. the last chance is a wide belt that stays tight by looping back on itself. it comes in black or olive. you cant go wrong with either.

buy from bison designs

the plateau isn’t quite as wide but is still respectable and has a plain aluminum cam lock buckle. this baby will definitely hold your pants up. you can order the belt itself in something like 30 different patterns, but a smart guy would stick to one of the solid colors. if you can’t resist a pattern, the ladder patterns aren’t awful, but i think the four bars is the hidden gem.

buy from bison designs

wallet 2.0 or no?

you know what goes hand in hand with pants that fit well? a slim wallet! (and a slim cell phone, but i’m trying oh so hard not to turn this into another gadget site for guys.) first off, if you have one of those george costanza super thick wallets because you’re using it like a purse, please throw some shit out. we all need to take out the trash sometimes.

to get the thinnest wallet possible you have to narrow down what you carry to the essentials. come on. we’re guys! we don’t need that much shit. throw your gym card in your gym bag if it isn’t in there already. there’s one less thing in your wallet. but you also need the right wallet. compartments and slots that organize your cards and bills only make your wallet thicker, which is why i personally go the japanese route with a comme des garcons coin case as my wallet. it’s called a coin case but it’s plenty big enough to fit a guy’s wallet essentials (including an ipod nano). plus it’s a coin case, so you can stick your change in there too and keep it from jingling in your pocket.

the wallet 2.0 is certainly bigger than the coin case, but looks to be smaller than you average wallet. and it has 5 organizers for bills, coins (yay) IDs, credit cards and other shit that all slip inside. but it’s silicone, which is nice because it will be more flexible than the jimi and holds more too. but it looks, well, less classy and more sporty than an actual wallet. however it’s intriguing.

so i leave it to you dear readers. they’re 15% off through october 13th. should i try it out and take one for the team? or should i just work on coercing harputs into putting their full stock of coin cases online so you can buy those instead? or you can try one out and tell me what you think.

buy from aeroportz

watch me change my stripes

i once lived in cowboy country, where people wore belts with buckles the size of small platters without a drop of irony. you know what? it’s really uncomfortable to sit down if you’re wearing a huge belt buckle. why do you think all those hipsters wear theirs twisted to the side? but the cowboys and hipsters do have a point, there’s nothing wrong with expressing yourself – with adding a little flair – on something as normally dull as belt. i mean if you have to dress up in boring business duds, don’t you deserve to spice it up a little? and who better to spice it up with than paul smith? a man whose variable width stripes are synonymous with mod, and i’m sorry but mod never goes out of style. so next time you have to slip into a something a little less comfortable to impress a big client or that special date, i say put on a belt that holds up your pants but doesn’t hold back your self expression.

buy from eluxury – sorry, sold out