Sperry Top Sider

Thank you Emily and Megan!

Katy's Sperry's look great and she'll wear them until mid-October.

High Fashion or Exchange Size?

I got a great deal from Tommy Hilfiger a couple of weeks ago. $27 dollars for 100% wool dress pants originally ticketed at $128. I got them when I got home from work and threw them right on!

Here's how they fit. Should I keep them and use them as high fashion or try and exchange them?














































Now, I think about keeping them because of the influence of Thom Browne, who designs for Brooks Brothers, and himself. He's been a huge influence on jackets, blazers and pants being a whole lot shorter than most of America is used to.

Martin Patrick 3 Grand re-Opening

Katy and I ventured out to a Grand re-Opening of Martin Patrick 3 in the North Loop of Minneapolis. I found out about the store about a year ago while on Pierrepont Hicks website.

So, I have been back numerous times since, most often perusing their fantastically textured ties, their summery bow ties, the start of them getting some clothing and their wallets, phone cases, business card holders and more.

















We were going to meet, James, a fellow manager at Herbs, there. We were one of the first people there as I had the NCAA Tournament to watch (ie-that UConn vs. Arizona post) so we didn't want to go late and stay all night. We wandered through looked at the goods and waited a bit for James to get there as he was fashionably late.

Once he arrived we walked through the new space with him and looked at their Altea Milano ties, Pierrepont Hicks neckwear, Corgi socks, Fred Perry polos, a great collection of vintage tie bars and cufflinks and books, notebooks and accessories that a gentleman would admire. We also stopped on the ID Design side, a furniture space for design and looked at vases, modern furniture and accessories.

Meanwhile, I found a Pierrepont Hicks bow tie and Katy found a tiny ring holder with the "at" @ symbol on it to put her rings in while she's getting ready. We people watched and finally got in line to get going to make our way to watch the UConn tournament game.

James and I said we were going to go and "dress to the 9's." And I tried.
























Katy went very nautical in her striped long sleeve crew neck shirt with a navy blazer styled with the arms rolled up and a nautical anchor necklace on.

I wore my new Clark's Desert boots with my more vintage Levi's from J. Crew last fall. I had on a charcoal belt on from Club Monaco a light blue oxford from Ralph Lauren and a Pierrepont Hicks tie casually fastened around my neck. It was a cool night so I layered with a DKNY charcoal blazer and a heavier DKNY navy blazer with vertical stripes giving it some differentiation from all of the solids I had on.






















































Ok, back to the story. We were "dressing to the 9's." I wanted to be trendy, fashionable, textured and layered since it was cold and I wanted to wear an oxford and a Pierrepont Hicks tie. So yeah, we were on our way out but the guy who rang me up noticed my tie and said "you should meet the creators of your tie." And around the corner comes Mac. It was perfect timing. He might have overheard but he looked right at me and said something to the effect of "I designed that tie" or "that's my tie." I shook his hand and he suggested we should meet his wife, Katherine.

Well we wandered to the other side of the dividing wall, patiently waited for a few minutes and talked with the creators of Pierrepont Hicks, Mac and Kat! It was a very fun conversation about the ties, how I wore it, how it was fun to see how 'real' people wore their products, their growing up in Minnesota and New York City and Katy and I growing up in Connecticut and California. We talked about business and how I went to Space519 in Chicago at Christmas to get my dad a Pierrepont Hicks tie but they didn't have one! They were engaging and interesting, have two young girls at home and seemed to really enjoy talking to us. We got on the subject of twitter and that we followed both the brand and Katherine herself; it was a fun 2011 connection partially through social media as I knew they'd be there at some point due to me and Katy following Katherine on twitter.

He kindly and very business like gave me his business card and encouraged me to buy ties right from him!

Oh, this is the bowtie I bought that night. And this is one I want, Nautical bow.

And I will.

I'm sure for me and Dad.

To Pop or Not To Pop

The men behind Gilt MANual answer your most pressing style questions.

-By Josh Peskowitz, Monday March 28th, 2011 at 4:47 pm

Collar

Cool Hand Luke

FLipped

Paul Newman

Pea Coat

Is this not a "functional purpose"?

Aside from the functional purposes, i.e. blocking the sun/for sports/cold, is it ever okay wear your collar turned up?

As I write this, dear reader, my collar is popped. I am sitting at my desk, indoors, and yet it is completely okay for my collar to be turned up—because this collar calls for popping. Now before people start calling for my head (and my neck is protected, so remember to swing the axe extra hard) let me say that collar popping should be mostly relegated to jackets; any overcoat is fair game, as is a blazer provided it’s of a sturdy material. While a suit jacket is a no-no, a jean jacket or a field coat are without question poppable, and don’t make me even talk about pea coats. A turned collar on a jacket seems more natural than on a shirt, so focus your flipping there—unless the shirt you’re considering the pop on is made of a sturdy material; heavy flannel or a rugby shirt come to mind. The truth is, popping one’s collar on anything other than a polo (which you should never do, that’s been ruined) comes down to personal preference, and you must carry it with absolute confidence. Ask yourself, “can I pull this off?” And if the there is doubt in your heart, it’s probably best to avoid it. Unless it’s a pea coat, then there’s no excuse.

TAGS: Collar, Cool Hand Luke, FLipped, Paul Newman, Pea Coat, Polo



This article is from GiltMANual.

I'd just like to say; how many years have I been popping my pea coat collar? Since my black Gap pea coat I bought for a Christmas Banquet at Bethel to my DKNY off-brown pea coat to my newer brown Timberland pea coat and my exquisite black Ralp Lauren pea coat with military influences I've been popping my pea coat collar for years!

30 Shirts

I needed to do some laundry for this week so I pushed through a few loads. However, it looked like dress shirts were going to need two cycles. They weren't that dirty, I just had that many.
































My favorite shirts are the two gingham navy and white shirts. The bigger gingham is Ralph Lauren with a spread collar. It looks great with navy, gray or black. You can't mess it up. The smaller gingham shirt is Tommy Hilfiger with a spread collar as well. I also like the light blue houndstooth shirt with a spread collar and made by Ralph Lauren. They were all cut to fit me better by my tailor, Altug. (Well, he's really not mine but I support his local business on occasion.)

Why do I wear spread collar? Because it helps widen my neck and face since I have a skinny neck and thin face.

Surprisingly it didn't seem like it took forever to iron everything. I think I did 13 or 14 on Monday night and then finished the next 16 on Tuesday morning while I watched "Run for your Life." It's a documentary on the founder of the NYC Marathon.

Mom, thanks for buying me my Rowenta and for teaching me how to iron!

What I Wore

Well, I didn't wear this today but the idea was given to me from Mr. Porter, a new website as a high end shopping website for men. It's outfitted with Burberry, Gucci, Ralph Lauren, John Lobb, Paul Smith and more. It offers style advice, style icons and more. It's a place that offers alot of what a very good blog does in terms of content but will also sell you the items. It's self promoting in the sense they'll place the products under the answer like the question below. They offered what high end items they had underneath the answer.

My friends dress very casually and it would be odd to wear a jacket and tie when I see them, but I cannot bring myself to go out for dinner in a T-shirt and hooded sweater. Is there a halfway house?

Yes: slim chinos, desert boots, a colourful belt (either woven or in canvas), a button-down shirt, a fitted cotton jacket, and perhaps a knitted tie. It will be smart enough to set you apart, but casual enough for you not to feel odd.

This is what I came up with.

DKNY navy striped three button sports coat
Club Room navy cashmere v neck sweater
Banana Republic long sleeve brown plaid woven
Ralph Lauren chocolate brown knit tie
Ralph Lauren navy and white striped nautical nylon belt
J. Crew classic fit chinos (actually J. Crew's slimmer cut)
Banana Republic gray and brown argyle socks
Clark's Desert Boots

What would you name/title a men's style blog?

Katy's Creativity

Katy bought a dress the other day at Macy's for like $10. It was a pretty simple empire waist she tells me. It's a sleeveless dress with an empire waist; white on the top and solid black below.

So, I guess she decided to spice it up. Here are a couple pictures of her progress I took with my iphone.

She found the pattern from a fabric website and decided to buy fabric, cut it out and stitch it on the dress, which she did the whole dress in about a day and a half.

I think it turned out nice, and definitely made a $10 dress a very unique piece.

Fun in the Sun

Well, Katy and I are in Las Vegas. We have been since Friday night.

We spent most of last weekend hanging out on the strip with Ashley and James which was a blast wandering around, chatting, eating, drinking and checking out a few casinos with some pool time mixed in. (drinking=mostly water)

Saturday when Ashley and James got in we hung out at the house for a while before figuring out what to do. Finally we decided, and found last minute tickets to Wayne Brady's Improv show, Making $#!^ up. It was hilarious and a very well spent sum of money-considering we got the tickets at 8:10ish and went right to the 9pm show. It was an hour and forty minutes of improv comedy, skits, mockery and then some of Wayne Brady singing himself. He is actually quite a good singer. Umm, Mom- remember the show Whose Line Is It Anyway? Wayne Brady was one of those guys. He is just as impressive live as he is on television but he's gotten away from tv because he likes live performances better.

After the show we went to a couple casinos to give some money away. We did. Mom, don't worry I only have given away $7 so far. :) Then we went to Denny's because we were hungry again.

Sunday we went to the pool for a little bit before going to Red Rock Casino which is 1.25 miles away from their house (I know, I ran it) for lunch and some blackjack. Then we went to In N Out for dinner and went back to the strip for some more entertainment. We got some dessert at Serendipity 3 at Caesar's Palace. We sat outside and chatted and watched people for a couple hours before going home.

Monday we hit the pool and the buffet at Red Rock again before Ashley and James left. Oh, we also went to Public Enemies with Jim. It was a pretty slow long movie but I would grade it as a solid B movie. It was a long movie but seemed to lack a ton of detail. It seemed like a 2 hour 20 minute synopsis with not a ton of new interesting information. I think the film making and the acting was good but I'm going to stick with a B rating.

Tuesday morning I got up and ran 3 miles in the desert. It was pretty nice-hot but nice to see the scenery all around-being the mountains nearby. Then Katy and I went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and did some shopping. I bought a $145 dollar shirt by John Varvatos. (for $45 bucks) and...oh I got some Theory pants for $42 at Marshalls! (Normally $225)

All in all that's about the money I've spent other than on food. So after shopping we went to BJ's restaurant and ate a delicious pizza with a pizzokie. A pizza cookie with some ice cream.

That brings us to present time. We got back from the pool again and we're not waiting for Karen to come home so we can continue this hot adventure!

Love the Look

Photo Courtesy of The Sartorialist

Love it! Wonderfully executed!

Springy, interesting with the pinstriped shirt and tie with a couple of small details. The sport coat makes gives it another layer and warmth. Great worn brown belt along with a casual but well fitted pair of denim and shoes. Throw in the watch and pocket square and that adds more embellishment and interest. How everything fits makes it all that much better!

I would love to have a job where I wore that to work!