Baby Boomers: The Villian?

First, you should read this article from the WSJ.

If you didn't feel like reading all that, I'll sum up the character outline they provide Dr. Chris Wayne. He's a doctor who lives in Miami Beach and collected 1.2 million dollars from Medicare in 2008 mostly by providing therapy. He claims he collected it all legally, which seems reasonable as all public policy has loopholes. He is successfully painted as a villain in the article. Which brings me to my point: WSJ painted him as a villain easily because he looks like the child who didn't grow up.



He looks like he never grew up. Almost unnaturally, he dresses himself in everything from the past that he loves. Spikey hair, vintage cars, Ed Hardy sneakers (wait, is that current?), he revels in everything that he feels shows that he is still young and quite rebellious. Being of a generation that is irritated by anything "unauthentic" (I know, it's a vague term, argue with me later), I think we can all find this man enraging. He doesn't appear to have worked very hard for his money, at least any harder than a family doctor. Dr. Wayne just knows how to work the system. In an blogosphere that has a hard on for hard-working America, this is the stuff that drives us nuts.



Which brings me to my next point. The current college/entering workforce generation feels that we got screwed over as the boomer generation will be enjoying Social Security and Medicare on our overburdened shoulders. We complain that they enjoyed America as it was booming, and got good jobs and failed to continue that growth, while retiring on a broken system. To me, Dr. Wayne emcompasses the boomer generation. He appears as the perfect villain to pin these problems on. His lifestyle doesn't represent what I idolize. However, in the boomers' position, I don't doubt that we would have done the same. Maybe we just have to grin and bear our outlook (and stay so fly).

MS & Co.

Did you buy a MS & Co. selvedge iPad sleeve and not own an iPad 'cause you're too broke? The good news is that you can still use your sleeve and get totally rad authentic fades. I hear there's mad respect on the blogosphere for authentic paper clip fades. Besides paperclips, I'm presenting a guide to some stuff that you can fill your sleeve with and put it to good use.



I think the most obvious thing to put in your sleeve are coins. Though the sleeve doesn't have a zipper, they probably won't fall out. And if they do, just hope that there's an attractive girl around to help you pick them up. And remember, the horse ride machine outside the grocery store is still only 50 cents. Start saving.



Those 3D glasses you got from Jackass 3D? Yea, they've been sitting in my car too. I'd throw them in the sleeve so you're not tempted to use them when driving. It makes the median look like it's in three different places.



Cookies are probably the best thing to keep in your sleeve. When you're in a meeting or in class, it's fun to eat a cookie and try to see if no one will notice. Act like you're chewing cud and people will be too grossed out to accuse you of anything. Also, the crumbs come in handy when you need a snack a few weeks later.



Most textbooks won't fit into a MS & Co. sleeve. At least you will have authentic rips.



A portfolio should fit.



And that sums it up. If you have any ideas for things to put into your iPad-less sleeve, just leave a comment, I'll be sure to add them to the list.

Parting Thoughts: A gift guide is not in order. If you haven't started Christmas shopping yet, you're in trouble.

Missed the Boat

I think maybe these jackets by Woolrich missed the boat. Probably because they were faddy only a couple years ago. Parkas have been missing the distinctive lining at the hood for the past few seasons. You could say that it makes sense, as this fur lining seems more luxurious than practical.

Back in the day, Woolrich used to make a lot of these parkas. The Europeans loved them, but with the global warming fad catching on, their sales dropped. You can't order them off Woolrich's website. Ebay is probably your best bet.

Why the blogosphere doesn't love these is a bit of a mystery.



Rappers love anything exotic around their neck, woman or animal. "The Crew" love rappers ('specially Big Boi). I should see a coat like this in my blogroll at least twice a day. Does not compute.



Italians loved them. Looks like this Italian lost his parka a while back. I guess it explains why his sportcoat is longer than his puffy bomber.

"The Crew" loves Italians. I would've expected to see the "retro Italian" fad rolling around already.



Does anyone remember 13th & Wolf? The dude knew where it was at.

My only explanation for all this is that "The Crew" is actually PETA. Makes a whole 'lotta sense, actually.

JK.

Real reason: Have you ever seen someone shoveling horse shit in a coat like this? Neither have I.

Pictures robbed from:
sumbro?
13th & Wolf
The Internet

What Went Wrong?

Let's take a theoretical world. Everyone dresses in a uniform 1984 style. None of this personal style crap, just clean cut. Take American individualism and the desire to consume differently than others out of it. Everyone eats the same food, wears the same briefs, and wakes up at the same time every morning. Then, out of somewhere awesome, someone starts to do things differently. Underwear is put on backwards, cookies are for breakfast, and said person rolls out of bed at noon; just in time to miss the staff meeting.

Unfortunately, this is not where menswear has come from the past few years. Uniforms? They're out the window. Individualism? It's rampant to the point of bad taste.

Collections tend to want to progress with the male. They take him from his basics one season, onto the stripes and patterns the next. They seem to be trying to help him build his style. Here's the problem. People buy individually, and buy into the advanced seasons, thus missing the point of actually building the basics. JCrew falls into this problem this season.



Credits to SF

Awkward three button or 3/2 roll jackets (they're loosely ironed, meaning that you should be individual and unkept), tuxedo orphans, and silly hipster hoodies abound.

All this? All this would be great if menswear were coming from that theoretical world described above. As mentioned previously, it's not. It's coming from a world where men wore whatever they wanted. And now if they wear a collar, it's quite the step up. Dressing like Frank suggests isn't much more individual than wearing flippy flops and a trucker hat. Sprezzatura is not going from Threadless t-shirts to undone french cuffs flopping around your wrists. It's not mismatching a tuxedo jacket with your pants. It's not throwing a bunch of crap together because the male should be an individual.

Brands like JCrew need to spend time perfecting the basics. It's not going to happen after one season. It'll probably take five.

Maybe menswear needs to spend some time in North Korea.

FYMW

Fuckyeahmenswear is funny. There is no doubt. I didn't want to write this but I feel that people don't quite get it. Is it his/her/it's/Maurice's hip-hop references? Is it how he/she/it/Maurice knows menswear better than your average tumblr ass clown? Sarcasm? His/her/it's/Maurice's corruptions of Bastian and Cucinelli? Is it that he/she/it/Maurice makes fun of our ridiculousness?

It's not.

It's funny because FYMW so subtly strokes our ego.

People love inside jokes. It makes them feel included. Do you know the difference between a Danner and a Bean Boot? Good, then you're in. By poking fun at menswear, FYMW assures us of our presence. He/she/it/Maurice builds our ego by tearing us down. Like when your best friends rag on you for being a character, or for being unique, FYMW does the same thing.

People seem to think that FYMW is so great because it makes us introspective and cast off our absurdities. The former is true, but there is a secondary effect to this introspection and it is not that we cast off our absurdities. It makes us believe that our preposterousness is actually a good thing. Few menswear bloggers/readers are in 7th grade, the last thing we want to is to fade into the background. We revel in our quirks.

We love ourselves so much.

Love Me Tender

Another brand outta' the UK? Whatever, this brand goes hard for locomotion references. Trains? Cool in my book. I'm all for Obama's reinvest in America program as long as we get lots of cool trains. I'd pay extra taxes for that (and have less dough to blow on oxfords). However, I suggest that we should put a clause in the act requiring all new trains to get Thomas the Tank Engine faces. That way America can be just like the Island of Sodor. As it should be.








Wait, hold on. That lining? Look familiar? Yep, here. They must share mills.

Get your train on. My prediction? #trainwear2011

Emil over at Denim Debate will be trying a pair of Tenders. Excited to see the first fits.

Wankerchief

With the utilization of the internet for menswear, learning how to dress is as easy as looking up whether or not Jeanne Tripplehorn was in Waterworld or not (she is, in fact). We've learned how to tie a bow-tie, buy a suit that fits, and get great fades on a pair of selvedge denim (to non-selvedge heads, selvedge jeans are like legos. They're fun 'cause of the process). The internet is democratized style by instructing every man to rock their inner badass/womanizer. Of course, we've seen a resurgence in a number or timeless trends. One of them being the wankerchief.



Originating in England, when gentlemen were in the doghouse after too much to drink, the wankerchief was created to keep yourself clean. It should also be mentioned that the phrase, "CHECK YO' SELF" also took root here, as a reminder to your friend that he needs to clean himself before he leaves the house. No one needs to see that.



Recently, the wankerchief was reintroduced into menswear. Many place their selvedge, it shows wear better and lets people know how lived in and authentic you are, wankerchiefs in their back jean pocket (also selvedge for ultimate authentic results).



While wankerchiefs are often utilitarian, some used them for decorative purposes. Here we see Sinatra stunting the wankerchief folded in his breast pocket. Purely decorative as Frank Sinatra never had any wanking to do. He was Frank Sinatra.



Contrast Sinatra's wankerchief with the wankerchief sticking out of the back pocket of this pair of jeans. You can see it's a heavily used wankerchief. You'll get some crazy cool fades on that wankerchief in a year or two with all the use it's getting.



Here we see Will from ASW using the wankerchief decoratively. Good to know that he uses his decoratively, otherwise that would be gross. He's kinda' old.



The internet has re-popularized the wankerchief which is good news for everyone. Before you leave said wanking area, you should always use your wankerchief to "CHECK YO' SELF". I can't imagine the 90s when no young men used wankerchiefs. Barbarians.

Wankerchiefs are great for those who need to clean the spoog off themselves after making parody posts that all seem the same. It helps if you use the same words every time.

Doin' Manly Stuff in Uggs

Uggs, sensing a trend in men's boots, gives us a line for doing super manly stuff in. It's a line that I'm super excited about and I can't wait to get my hands on a pair.



The marketing campaign is quite appealing, though I can't find an ad scan. Most ads have men lounging outside, near chopped wood with the script, "It's a man thing" plastered under the model. Quite appealing, as all men like doing man things.



This picture from the Ugg website is pretty manly. Boots and chopped wood makes me feel like I have balls, and that women will desire me more.



This is a really cool model. With all that fur at the ankle opening you can do manly things like go to the mall and watch TLC.



If those first boots don't provide you with enough ankle support you can go with these. You can do even more manly things in these like bake chocolate chip cookies. But they have to be gluten free, your mother-in-law is allergic.



These slip-on driving mocs are great, just fantastic looking shoes for doing manly things while keeping it low cut. I would imagine that these are the perfect shoes for doing manly things like painting ceramics and eating veggie burgers.



If putting on a shoe is too hard for you, you can always go with a clog. I think this is the ultimate man shoe for doing manly things. The fur is still there, making sure that you stay comfy while you leave your bedroom to make hotpockets on a Wednesday afternoon. You can do every imaginable manly thing in these: listen to Meg & Dia, read the Oprah magazine, sell your Beanie Babies on ebay, and talk about your period on the internet.

This collection is the coolest thing I've seen on the blogosphere in a few months because, y'know, "it's a man thing".

Natural Selection

Natural Selection is a brand out of the UK that's selling consumers the workwear aesthetic. They've got the typicals: selvedge, workwear shirts, selvedge chinos with lots of buttons for suspenders and side cinches, three button jackets, and some graphic tees for the kids. Availability in the states? None that I found, but I'd like to take a look at it anyway... so I can complain about it.






















The most important thing about selling a workwear brand, is to make sure your model is a stoic dude. I mean, they're representing the proletariat. They're still waiting to rise up and abolish capital. Power to the people, yo.






















Pretty standard. He's a little more happy in this one. But that's because he's working with wood, and wood makes everyone happy. Look at the size of the v-patch! That dude must sweat lakes!






















"That hole in the wall? Yeah, it used to be the crematorium. The dust makes great fertilizer. You should pick up gardening, it would further push your workwear aesthetic."






















"See these chinos? They're selvedge. That means they're... that mean they're... well, they have tape... and... and I'm standing by a chair."






















I really can't lie, the stuff doesn't look terrible on the rack. The three button jacket actually looks quite scrumtuous. The washed selvedge is a no can do for me, but I'm sure some people like their denim washed out. It's not a huge collection, but it seems fairly repetitive. There's some nice stuff here, but unless the price point undercuts the competition, there's no real reason to take a look.

Budget Turtle Neck

Gap fills the affordable Turtleneck gap with this guy. $50 and you'll be looking sharp with this under a flannel shirt, tweed blazer, or suit jacket. They've got grey and black, though grey is the more versatile of the two. Of course, it's Gap, and you get what you pay for. Don't expect merino wool of Brooks Brothers or JPress quality. Gap claims it's 100 percent merino wool (which is probably true), but I'm sure it won't feel like that when you try it on. If turtlenecks aren't your game and you want to see if they can be, without dropping more than $90, this would be your best bet.

Look @ What I'm Wearing

I don't get good vibes from this.



Seems like a lame marketing tool.

I don't know how this promotes the Gant brand; I guess constant exposure to the website by uploading your outfits in which people can comment how douchey you look.

You get free mp3s to apply to your outfits, which is worth as much as toilet paper.

Also, you've got to connect via facebook, letting know people that you actually care about how you look, which to some, is less than desirable.

I think they gave Brennan Woods @ thepursuitaesthetic.com some free stuff. Will I get some free stuff for posting about this? Probably not.

Oh, wait. I can get free mp3s to apply to my outfits. Woopie.

I kind of wish that brand marketing would take a chill pill. I feel that the less a brand tries to be cute about their marketing, the more I'm attracted to the brand. I can make my own decisions. I don't need to upload 'outfits' via facebook (I do that on blogger... pause). I was attracted to the Gant brand, until now. This is just lame. My money will be taken elsewhere.

Grown Up Silly Bandz

In case you haven't heard, the kids are ragin' about silly bandz. So much so, that people have produced some music to promote the brand.



Next time you need a bumpin' tune for your next party, you can thank me.

Now trendsetters are adult-inizing silly bandz as they show off their man jewelry as if to say, "I may be 34, but I can accessorize better than a 11 year old girl." Tailors are including working sleeve buttons on jackets, invented so dudes can roll their sleeves to show off their collection of adult silly bandz.



This guy is super silly steezy. Look at all those adult silly bandz. I'm not sure why he hasn't unbuttoned his jacket sleeves. Maybe they're not working button holes, like many jacket button holes pre-adult silly bandz fad.



Poor guy only has one adult silly band. If you've got a couple extra, maybe you could lend them to this guy.



This guy brings new meaning to "get silly".

Photos via giltmanual and someplaceidontremember.

Remember folks. Stay relevant and get lots and lots of adult silly bandz. Fake Rolex dealers will thank you.

An Indian Bummer

Second day of fall? Long sleeves are getting left at home. Hell, jeans are pushing it. We can't wait to preview the flannel, but all good things have their time. Come February, I'm going to be wondering why I was in such a hurry to wear sweaters.



Go short sleeve with a thrifted Eddie Bauer seersucker shirt. Did this see a tailor? Naw, all those tight fitting clothes tend to do a lousy job of regulating your body temperature. I'm not swimming in it via trad style, but it's no SE fit.



Fresh jeans and hat. Gotta' keep it clean for the first few weeks of school.



John Rawls: great philosopher, confusing writer.

Socks might have been a bit much today as it nears 90.



"You gotta' take notes."

The Silliest of Pants

You've seen this image before. Gant and MB s/s '11, right? It's based off of Marilyn Monroe's husbands. One of them being Joe DiMaggio, who probably inspired these pants with baseball bats embroidered on them. They're not bad, but I do have one problem with them. DiMaggio probably would have never worn them. When worn by a non-ball player, they're wimsical. When worn by a ball player, they're tacky and boastful. Do others wear their profession on their sleeve? Usually not. Do you see doctors wearing ties referencing their profession? Actually, sometimes you see pediatricians wearing ties with stethescopes on them, but they're the silliest of doctors.



Don't wear your profession on your sleeve. If people want to know that, they'll ask you.

Sidenote: If you're a pediatrician and are under the impression that you aren't silly, you're reading this, which means that you are quite silly.

Dress Shirts

People new to the game of wearing a tie have it wrong. Well, they're wearing a tie right, but it's about the shirt. Casual shirts DO NOT WORK. Casual shirts are meant to be worn without a tie. They typically have floppy collars, and are fitted in S,M,L, which results in an inappropriate sleeve length and TERRIBLE collar fit. The collar is bound to be too big (not often the case for those with fitted shirts) or too small (I see this a whole lot more).

Because the collar doesn't fit, we see a lot of kids rocking the loose tie... before hours. This is blaspheme. This results in looking affected, and reminds me of walking about with your fly down. The tie comes loose after hours bro, when your date is so hot you can't handle it (well, maybe not, but we can wish).

Also, S,M,L dress shirts can be the downfall of many a folk. The fit is typically off and even if the collar is stiff, it won't look as clean cut as you would hope. Know your collar size and know your sleeve length, then hit up Lands End, Brooks Brothers, or LL Bean to find a shirt that fits.

Sidenote: To all those 'skinny' guys out there, you won't swim in a LL Bean slim fit or a Land's End tailored fit, BoO has just trained you to think so. Tuck your shirt in, and you'll see how amazing a LL Bean or Land's End oxford can be.

Sidenote 2: GQ has more info here.

Rolex? More like Borelex

Spend all you want trying to find vintage Rolexes 'cause they totally reflect your vintage and hard working personality, this guy won't be throwing out the dough for that (until a real salary comes about, of course).



When I wear my dirt cheap Casio I'm channeling the:
"Oh, baby, are you into nerds? No? Damn."
"Dominos doesn't offer the 555 deal anymore?"
"I was considering plastic, but this cheap metal looks so much more classy"
"I blacked-out and lost my watch. Get over it."
"Actually, my mother does have several pink flamingos in her lawn." vibe.

If you fit any of these vibes, then this watch might just be for you.



When I wear this watch, I get so excited I shake.

You can skip lunch and order it here.

Friends Got Yo' Back

Thrifting is something I spend a decent amount of time doing. I'm usually collecting old BB ties or digging through old men's belts and shoes (finding AE shoes in 9s rather than 10s drives me bonkers). Knowing labels always helps. Last semester I took my roommate for one of my scavenging trips and he picked up the gist of what's good and what's worthless. Over the summer, his grandfather was cleaning out his closet and gave a bunch of his stuff for my roommate to root through. My roommate didn't fit into any of it, but he picked up this Lacoste/Izod sweatshirt for me.



It surprisingly fits very well for a large. Snug but not tight, it fits exactly like I want my sweatshirts to fit like. It looks super sharp with an oxford or polo. I'm guessing it's an 80s sweatshirt as research turned up nothing. Y'all can go around spending mad dough on finding the "perfect sweatshirt" (and on that note I would like to add that finding a perfect sweatshirt is dumb. It's a sweatshirt, not a suit) but I'll get mine for free.

Edit: Uber-prep sweatshirts or bust for this guy.



This all being said, I didn't just show you this sweatshirt to tell you how homo my relationship with my roommate is, but to show you how sometimes dressing well is about being a community. One good turn will always result in another. When it comes to thrifted clothes, don't just remember yourself: remember your friends, remember your siblings, and remember that helping each other out can be easy on your wallet.

Sidenote: I went back through old posts. I can't believe how bad the layout looked. Ew.

Sidenote 2: Dear Jake Davis, more lovely ladies in menswear. PLZ.

Sidenote 3: GQ, bums use roller luggage, not classy gentlemen.

3Sixteen Camp Hat

3Sixteen doesn't really need anyone tooting their horn. They've successfully marketed their brand into the hearts of a wide range of denim enthusiasts and oxford junkies. So maybe this is a thank you note that never got into the mail.



I'm a sucker for ball caps. Sartorialists all over can bemoan the decline of culture that the ball cap has brought upon us, but being a college student, a full brimmed hat or a driver's hat looks contrived and reminiscent of that kid who tried to bring them back in high school. I'll make a metaphor for you. If a driver's hat or full brimmed hat is the cherry on the top of the ice cream sunday, then you'll need a solid bunch of ice cream and syrup beneath it. I'm a college student, I don't wear suits (often), I don't wear long overcoats, and I'm not dressing in that ice cream sunday style. Casually, (i.e. when I'm not wearing a blazer) I'll throw a ball cap on as it feels and looks right.



Camp caps have gotten a revival from streetwear brands as an alternative to those flat brimmed monstrosities. When I picked up a patterned polar fleece camp cap from Durkl last winter, I was hooked as it quickly became my winter go to over my Filson tin cloth ball cap. I picked these two as alternatives as they're certainly less peacocky. After taking the rip-stop canvas green cap for a few test drives, I've gotta' say: these are some well made hats.

So, thanks 3Sixteen, they're dope.