ben brings us back
31 Dec 2006
happy new year, men! thanks for keeping bold swaths in your bookmarks or rss even though i didn’t give you much to read these past few months. i’m not waiting for new years to officially arrive to keep my promise to myself and all of you and bring this baby back to life IN FULL FORCE. so here we go.
ben sherman helped jump start our return with an end of the year online sale that found its way into my mailbox yesterday. you can’t go wrong with a nice shirt from ben. and right now ben’s gonna let you change your stripes on the cheap.
if you’re feeling slim, the gouty (what a name, eh?) has got rockabilly cool written all over it. grey with imperfect dark red stripes that just says cuff your jeans high, put on a pair of black boots and get out the pomade. bonus points if you have a rockin motorcycle jacket or some tattoos on your arms. if you’re not feelin slim but are feeling mighty buff, you can get away with this one if you’re willing to leave the top few buttons open. maybe wear a wife beater underneath.
if you’re not feeling skinny, that’s cool. the richman is light breezy tailored shirt that gives you a few months to get to the gym (new year’s resolution?) before pulling it out on spring vacation or come the warm months. the color will show off your new tan, and the cut, which is narrow at the waist but full around the chest, will show off your hard work.
there’s more hotness on sale there too. if classic surf-era polos are your thing, the foxton is a winner. warning, this is cut really slim. still need a jacket to keep out the cold? herringbones and tweeds are gonna be hot for the next 12 months. pickup up this old military style jacket for a warm and fashion-forward late winter.
big john
29 Oct 2006
fall is a great time for layers. you get to throw on 3 or 4 of your favorite shirts / sweaters / jackets at once! i realize fall is nearly over, but it looks like this winter is going to rock the layers too, especially with a few jackets that take me back to my hardcore youth.
i flew the flannel, and this winter, you better too. all the hipper designers are dressin up dudes in classic lumberjack / fargo style flannel. but we’re not suckers like that. go buy the real shit and it’ll cost less and be warmer too! you gotta go for the lined flannel in winter time and throw it over like 3 shirts and a hoodie. top it off with a down vest and you’ll be toasty warm and the envy of every hipster who thought he was so original when he bought that $120 flannel shirt some little shop the other day.
the moose creek edmonton is just about the perfect lined flannel. the pattern is huge, the pockets are diagonal, and it’s got a quilted lining. it’s the truckers’ special and the inspiration for this post’s title. big john’s was a trucker store where i used to buy these.
if you want more of a jacket and less of a shirt, look no further than the moose creek ponderosa. it has a flocked lining to keep you warm like those corduroy jackets everyone is wearing, only the plaid flannel says you know what’s rockin this year.
bonus! combine it all together, including the hoodie you’d throw on underneath with one jacket from dickies.
pickup in pink
18 Oct 2006
you know what a pink dress shirt says about a man? he has confidence and style. seriously. a man has to be confident in his masculinity and in his looks to wear a pink shirt and look like he was born to do it.
this shirt from ben sherman makes pink a little easier since it has an awful lot of grey in it. it also has more panache than just about any other collared shirt around since it has a hand sewn element to it. the small bars of horizontal stripes are actually a second fabric sewn on to the shirt, that’s not a print or in the weave of the fabric.
little things like that show the world (or just that girl / guy across the bar) that you pay attention to detail. and you know how they love that. if you have any game at all, i’m pretty sure this shirt will get you laid.
winter formal
18 Oct 2006
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.
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.
hang ten
6 Oct 2006
the gap will tell you khakis never go out of style. they’re probably right but you’re not the khaki kind of guy (or if you are a khaki kind of guy, they better not have pleats). i’ll tell you what else never goes out of style – classic california – board shorts, flip flops, tank tops and the terry cloth golf shirt. and now that summer is over here in cali, the american apparel charlie o is on sale at like half price.
why buy american apparel and not some high-fashion brand? well first off these are actually made in the states by workers paid honest decent wages. second, it’s a terry polo, it never has logos or prints or tags on it so who cares if yours isn’t prada. third, it’s cut with slightly narrow shoulders and smaller arm holes which means if you’ve been hitting the gym at all, you are going to look bad ass in this next summer (or when you head somewhere warm for a winter getaway). blue, pink and yellow are all pretty good choices. black and red are for a bolder kind of man. stay away from the tan.
