North Country Camps is divided into two sections: Lincoln for boys and Whippoorwill for girls. They’re a back-to-basics summer camp organization that emphasizes a rustic attitude and getting back to nature. The bunks don’t have electricity, the campfires are plentiful, and the camps’ location in New York’s sky-high Adirondacks means there’s a heavy emphasis on mountaineering. Like many things during this past year, North Country Camps have been temporarily shut down due to the pandemic. To compensate, they have taken the camp spirit online with Zoom meet-ups, including some for alumni. Considering that North Country Camps has been operating for over a hundred years, there are many of us. So when I saw an Instagram post announcing a reunion of campers from the 1940s and ’50s — my god — I was immediately drawn to the vintage photos of young adventurers.

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Russell plaid is one of those patterns you rarely see anymore, but it’s a classic check. It’s like a large scale glen plaid, except the horizontal sections of the check have been stripped away so that only the vertical lines dominate. For the lateral parts, there are just thin stripes, which are typically done in dark brown, burgundy, or rust orange. Those colors complement the ground of the fabric, which usually ranges from pale wheat to golden tan. (I choose the golden tan version).

These seem like the perfect colors for a fall/ winter sport coat, but truthfully, after having owned the jacket for a few years, I rarely ever wore it. Then one day, it dawned on me why: I don’t have the right pants. Frazier got his Russell plaid done up as a suit, but as a sport coat, I had to think harder about color temperature. Some colors run warm; others are cool. Where your jacket and trouser combination isn’t a forgone conclusion, as it would be with a suit, you have to think about how a color visually “feels.”

Neutral Tan

Every color has a temperature, but let’s focus on tan to make this simpler. The photos above show some tan suits. The tan here is pretty neutral — neither warm nor cool. It sits in the middle of the road like a spring day. This is the hue you probably imagine when you hear the word tan.

Warm Tan

Now, let’s add some yellow to it. Suddenly, the color becomes brighter, stronger, and, most importantly, warmer. Luca Rubinacci often posts photos of himself on Instagram wearing the radiant tan double-breasted suit you see above. Notice how he chooses his accessories: the rust-colored tie and burgundy colored shoes. You can wear a cooler brown in these instances or even a cool navy tie, but his choice in warm-colored accessories shows he gets this concept. Everything is visually strong.

Cool Tan

Here’s Obama in his infamous tan suit. Notice here, the tan feels very cold, almost like a pale grey. The color is colder than the neutral tan we posted in the first set of examples and certainly colder than the bright, goldenrod suit Luca Rubinacci is sporting. Like Luca, Obama is wearing accessories that match his suit — a cold, taupe-colored tie and dark brown shoes.

Pairing Color Temperatures

You can add visual interest to an outfit by adding accessories in contrasting temperatures. A warm, gold-colored pocket square, for example, can look fantastic with a navy suit. Similarly, cool navy ties go with anything, including warm-colored suits. But generally, you want your jacket and trousers to match in terms of color temperature. Simon Crompton, who’s always impeccably dressed, can be seen above wearing a warm-colored double-breasted coat with grey trousers. Simon still looks excellent here, but the outfit could probably be improved if he were wearing Mark’s white pants or something warmer (say a lighter shade of khaki with a similar yellow cast).

You can sense temperature more clearly when fabrics are placed next to each other. The Loro Piana fabric book above shows three varying shades of tan, going from darkest on the bottom to the brightest in the third swatch at the back. But you can also see how the colors start to feel warmer. The middle swatch almost has a slightly red undertone.

In the second photo, David Isle at No Man Walks Alone shows how three different shades of off-white can be used to support different kinds of sport coats. They plug into each other like correctly set Legos — switch the positions of the taupe and blue sport coats, and the combinations wouldn’t work as well.“The photo shows what I would consider the three different kinds of off-white: grayish-white, brownish-white, and yellowish-white,” David writes. “The most useful off-white shade to have is brownish-white – what I would call ‘natural,’ the color of undyed linen. You can see it in the middle of the photo above. This is a just-right happy medium between the too-warm color of yellowish-white and too-cool color of grayish-white. If you were to get only one pair of linen trousers, you would want these.”

The yellowish trousers are the least versatile, partly because their yellowness draws too much attention. To make the pants work, you need a coat that’s vibrant enough to hold its own. This can be done in bright colors, such as David has here with a bright blue jacket. Or a ruddy, warm color, such as rust. Finally, the greyish-white trousers on the far left, what retailers sometimes refer to as “stone,” are a natural complement to cool navy and taupe brown.

This concept works in other ways. Brown shoes are famous for this because, if the temperature is slightly off, they sometimes don’t match as well to certain outfits. The brown suede boots in the first photo are relatively neutral, and consequently will be the easiest to wear in terms of color. But the other images show how mid-brown suede can have red or yellow undertones, which make them feel brighter or warmer. Dark burgundy shoes can look great with navy suits because there’s a social convention for that pairing. But certain red hues can be more difficult because most men don’t have the trousers or coats necessary to support such a warm color.

There aren’t any hard and fast rules for this. Sometimes a warmer shade of tan can work with grey trousers. Sometimes you need something stronger. Your best bet is always just to develop your eye. Next time you’re at the store, take a look through just the selection of dark blue fabrics — some will have a purple undertone, which makes them feel warmer, while others will be a truer and cooler blue. Once you pay attention to color temperature, you can figure out why a particular combination may not look right and where you can turn to improve.

The post How To Think About Color Temperature appeared first on Put This On.

A lot has been written about the death of tailored clothing, as well as its accompanying necktie, but the first piece of traditional men’s dress to have disappeared is the hat. It’s been said that men stopped wearing hats en masse when President John F. Kennedy declined to wear one at his inauguration. Neil Steinberg, I think, gives a much more nuanced and convincing account. In his book Hatless Jack, he traces the slow disappearance of men’s headwear back to the late 1800s. Changing social norms and technology probably had more to do with it. Plus, hats were seen as stodgy and conformist at some point, and post-WWII fashion valued the young rebel. In an age when informality is equated with authenticity and self-expression, the fedora and its cousins can feel phony.

That doesn’t mean you can’t wear one. Like suits and sport coats today, hats are more of a style statement, whereas they used to be about social norms and etiquette. Baseball caps and beanies are still reasonably common, but if you’d like to try something a bit more traditional, start with a straw hat for summer.

Straw hats have a few advantages. For one, they have a full brim that can flatter your face, but they don’t come with any of the social baggage that’s associated with felt fedoras. Unlike floppy baseball caps, which mostly take the shape of your head, a traditional piece of headwear like this can be more flattering. A crown can help elongate your face, while the brim frames your features. And since straw hats are relegated to spring and summer – or at least sunny days – you have a good, practical excuse for wearing one. There’s nothing better for taking the pretenses out of a hat like the sun beating down.

Most of all, a straw hat is versatile. Depending on its design, a straw hat can be worn with suits and sport coats, like Jim Parker of The Armoury demonstrates above. The same hat, however, can be worn with battered jeans, a t-shirt, and a chore coat. Or a slim pair of chinos and a one-piece collar polo. Or a pair of linen pants and a safari jacket. Barring the avant-garde, it’s hard to think of many wardrobe styles that can’t be worn with the hat above.

Tips for Shopping

Here are some things I’ve found to be helpful when shopping for a straw hat:

• Know Your Size: Wrap a tape measure around your head, just above your ears and on or slightly above the bump at the back of your skull. This diameter, in centimeters, is your hat size.
• Make Sure It’s Comfy: Traditional hats can shrink over time. Which means, if a hat is a little small a first, it’ll only get worse. The difference between a felt hat and a straw one, however, is that not all straw hats can be easily stretched back into their original shape. So when shopping, make sure the hat feels comfortable from the get-go. If it’s a little tight at first, you may be better with the next size up. Plus, it’s easy to adjust a hat that’s slightly too big by putting in a thicker sweatband, whereas you can’t always adjust a hat that’s too tight.
• Pay Attention to Color: If you’re self-conscious about wearing a hat, try something in tan, rather than bleached white. One of my favorite hats is Lock & Co’s Napoli, which is made from sisal. Lock & Co’s sisal hat is a few shades lighter than peanut butter and woven with a slightly looser weave. I find the combination gives the piece a more casual feel than your traditional cream-colored straw Panama. A welcomed thing when hats are so uncommon for men nowadays.
• Go for a Fuller Brim: Guys who are just getting into hats often opt for something with a stingy brim, presuming that smaller features will be less conspicuous. But a stingy brim often doesn’t look very flattering. It’s a bit more ska band than Frank Sinatra, which can be cool in mod/ soul communities, but look a bit goofy in other contexts. If you’re new to headwear, a traditional brim can feel big at first, but you’ll be happier with your purchase over time. Aim for something around 2.5″.

Options for a Straw Hat

If you’re looking for options, companies such as Worth & Worth, Optimo, and Brent Black are great starting points. They’ll have the finely woven straw hats made in Ecuador, known as Panamas, which I think look best with traditional tailoring. The finer the weave here, the more refined the hat will look (and the more money you’ll pay). Bailey of Hollywood and Paulmann are worth a look if you want something more affordable. For something more casual, I like the options at No Man Walks Alone. Some of them are too informal for a pressed summer suit, but would look great with a loose overshirt and some jeans. If you’re looking for more specific suggestions, here are five I like:

J. Crew ($49.50): We try to balance a respect for the best with an appreciation for modern clothing budgets. For something that’s affordable and widely available, check out your local J. Crew store. From product photos alone, you can see how J. Crew’s straw hat has a lower “thread count” than hats from, say, Worth & Worth. But at less than 1/4th the price and with the ability to try things on in J. Crew stores, it’s a great value. Plus, this is a hat you won’t feel like you have to treat with particular care, a bonus as it will likely endure canal-zone-level sweat and sun this summer.

Yellow 108 Stevie Straw ($104): Yellow 108’s Stevie Straw is a little wider with a 3″ brim, but we think this is a good thing. The brim helps frame your face better, looks proportional in outfits, and actually does the important work of shielding your face from the sun. The woven seagrass straw is, again, a little rougher than the finest of Panamas, but wouldn’t look out of place with a summer suit. It can also be worn with anything casual. Plus, it’s made in the USA. Available through Yellow 108’s website and Stag Provisions, as well as on sale right now at Iron & Resin if you’re willing to purchase it on final sale.

The Armoury ($300): I tend to trust The Armoury for this kind of stuff since the guys there have a good eye for style and know how to make traditional clothing look relevant in a modern context. Their Panama looks beautifully shaped and proportioned. It’s been handwoven in Ecuador, then blocked and finished in Italy. Jim Parker is often seen wearing this model on their New York store’s Instagram, and he always looks great in it.

Lock & Co.’s Napoli ($335): My favorite option on this list. Lock & Co’s Napoli is made from sisal, is a type of fiber drawn from the agave plant. It’s a strong fiber, which is why it’s traditionally used to make rope, twine, and sacks for agricultural purposes. I find the slightly darker color is easier to wear than bright, bleached white. It gives the hat a slightly more lived-in look. The folded and sewn brim edge also keeps its shape well, while at the same time looking more casual than taped brim edges. The challenge is finding a retailer. Try Lock & Co in London, Tassels in Hong Kong, and Brogue in California.

Bates ($465): Finally, check out Bates, one of the best hat shops in London, if not the world. They have a whole section dedicated to summer hats. While their prices aren’t inexpensive, their hats are excellently made (e.g., beautifully woven), while remaining a bit more affordable than the top-tier hats from Brent Black. I’m mostly including this mocha brown Antibe trilby for color variation, but everything in their shop is wonderful. Their natural linen fedora is just $165.

The post Finding A Straw Hat For Summer appeared first on Put This On.

To be sure, there are good reasons to never wear shorts. They can be too suggestive of Boy Scout and private schoolboy uniforms, as well as an age before childrenswear became shrunken-down versions of their adult counterparts. They also show off your legs, and few men have good-looking legs. But most of all, few people know how to wear them well. What do you wear with shorts? How long should they be? Can they be patterned?

For direction, we turned to Sam in South Korea, the head of the Seoul-based menswear boutique THE RESQ & Co. and one of the best short wearers we know. Sam wears shorts three seasons out of the year. During the colder months, he pairs them with parkas, Champion sweats, and neo-retro styled outdoor gear. In the summer, Sam switches those things out for lightweight military-styled jungle jackets, overshirts, chambray shirts, button-downs, and graphic tees. His outfits reference the heydays of American style, particularly Rugged Ivy, and look a whole lot better than the cargo-shorts-with-polo ensembles that give this style a bad name.

Tips for How To Wear Shorts

The Right Cut: There’s nothing wrong with a shorter cut — thigh-length shorts are popular right now — but if you’re getting your first pair, consider something middle-of-the-road. Most of Sam’s shorts fall a little above the knee, which keeps them from looking too fratty or daring. And while he has a couple of baggy shorts, most of them are slim-straight and keep good proportions with his body. “It is important to choose shorts that complement the thickness of your legs,” he recommends.

Color and Pattern: Much like the cut, there’s nothing wrong with something adventurous in terms of color and pattern. But if you’re after something you can easily throw on in the morning, treat these like chinos. “Khaki, olive, and navy are pretty easy colors to wear,” says Sam. “Solid colors are also easier to coordinate with shirts and shoes.”

Details: “I like to wear shorts without a belt,” says Sam. “And I like the design to be functional, so I look for smartly designed pockets and sometimes pleats.” When it comes to the very controversial cargo short, Sam says it depends. “I prefer basic shorts, but sometimes I’ll wear cargos. Cargo shorts often have to be a little longer, ending around the knee so that they can accommodate for the large pocket. Generally, it’s easier to wear plain-colored, khaki shorts in a more basic style.”

Styling: Sam says he generally wears shorts with oxford button-downs and chambrays. Then, if the weather allows, he’ll layer with a lightweight jacket, such as a jungle jacket or military overshirt. In a few of the outfits above, you can also see him wearing shorts with t-shirts. Graphic t-shirts have gotten a bad rap, not undeserved, but Sam’s choices are tasteful. If he goes with a plain colored tee, he says he likes to play more with textures (a waffle knit t-shirt can do this for you).  And for shoes, he generally sticks with classic sneakers, loafers (tasseled and penny), and flip-flops. “I like matching colors through a bag or watch strap,” he adds.

Stay Within an Aesthetic: It takes a bit of familiarity with fashion to do this successfully. You’ll probably need to know a bit about the history of the item or how things are generally combined in specific niches. But the general idea is not to pluck random things from your closet and throw them together in a way you assume looks good. Find a well-defined aesthetic — workwear, Rugged Ivy, contemporary classic, etc. — and work towards that.

Sam mixes and matches the sort of things that have made American style famous. There’s the military surplus gear GIs continued to wear after the Second World War, when they returned home from their stations abroad. There are also campus classics, such as retro running sneakers, oxford button-downs, and collegiate sweatshirts, which comprise the dressed downs styles of the Ivy era.

The best way to wear shorts is to stay within a well-defined aesthetic. When you’re just starting out, however, it can be challenging to learn this visual language. Find inspiration where you can – films, music scenes, historical archives, and fashion lookbooks are natural starting places — and try to create a message with your clothes. We have a two-part series on different casualwear styles.

Favorite Brands: Being the owner of a menswear boutique, Sam naturally favors his own line of shorts, which are available online. If you don’t read Korean, THE RESQ’s website can be a little hard to navigate. However, you can reach out to Sam directly through email (his contact information is at the bottom of the site). Sam says he also likes to wear military and sportswear styled shorts from both vintage and contemporary brands. “RRL, Engineered Garments, and Champion have great vintage-inspired details,” he says.

Thanks to Sam for taking the time to answer our questions! For more of Sam, you can follow him on Instagram. 

The post How To Wear Shorts appeared first on Put This On.

Building good wardrobe is like making a good sitcom. You assemble elements you think have the right chemistry, refine the vibe over seasons, and see how it all plays out in different situations. Over time, the characters (stay with me here) become familiar; you know what works together and what doesn’t, and your audience knows what to expect. Sometimes, you introduce something bold and new; sometimes it works–Rob Lowe and Adam Scott brought new energy to Parks and Rec–and sometimes Poochie has to return to his home planet.

Brett, a TV critic and pop culture journalist in New York, has had his basic cast in place for a long time. “I’ve dressed more or less the same since I was a freshman in high school. A denim jacket, Hawaiian print, argyle and plaid and polka dot, a suit when no one asked me to wear one–those have been staples of my wardrobe for 20 years.” He’s refined his style over time, though, upgrading where possible and getting more comfortable trying different ideas.

With his husband at a friend’s wedding, in an Indochino suit.

About a decade ago, Brett found a style northstar (or consience) in actor Martin Freeman. “In my early 20s, my goal was to dress like all five Strokes at once. Discovering Martin Freeman’s personal style choices was a major turning point in how I look at clothes. I was always self-conscious about being 5’6″ and gray-haired, but Freeman–who is both of those things–showed me I could look like that if I tried.” He checks off Charles Nelson Reilly and Bob Newhart as additional style icons–he even ran a (truly awesome) Newhart style blog, The Natty Newhart.

He also keenly aware of what his clothing choices say to others. “We use clothes to communicate who we are to the outside world and, as a gay man that was deeply closeted through college and who still can ‘pass’ for straight, I like using my choices to be proud. That’s why I default to a lot of florals, pink, and purple… and also partly why I have a mustache.”

Martin Freeman in The Rake, wearing a Mark Powell suit.

For many of us, wearing tailoring is a choice rather than an obligation. We regularly recommend building a suit and sportcoat wardrobe by starting with basic fabrics and designs (navy, gray; single breasted; not a lot of trim detail) to maximize value. If you’re just going to have one suit and one blazer, you need to make them work for the modern semi-formal occasions, where other people’s expectations are still rather narrow — weddings, funerals, job interviews.

Brett makes the case, however, for knowing what you want and therefore going for it. He told me he owns only a few suits, but wears them as much as possible. He saw a green, double-breasted suit online at Suit Supply, and ended up accidentally ordering a custom version. “I made an appointment to go in for a fitting unaware that I was making an appointment with the made-to-measure department. When I showed up, I realized I’d be plunking down twice as much money as a I planned, but my specialist (Josh B. Cooper, who I will always shout out) helped me customize the suit so that I could wear it year round. The default version was a heavier green wool, but I was able to get it custom made in that same shade in a lighter fabric, and half-lined. Way more usable year round.”

“It’s the most expensive thing I own, and I find every. single. excuse. to wear it.”

Brett’s rad Suit Supply suit in green.

Thanks, Brett!

Brett in his Worldwide Pants jacket, which he got while working as a page at CBS, and a great polka dot scarf.

The post Real People: Homing In On Your Personal Style appeared first on Put This On.

That all changed in the summer of 1947, when about 4,000 motorcycle enthusiasts roared into the small California farming town of Hollister. They came for the annual Gypsy Tour, a three-day carnival of races and field events held over a Fourth of July weekend. Hollister was completely unprepared for the attendees that summer, since nowhere near that number showed up to previous years’ carnivals, and consequently, the small rural community was thrown into chaos.

Over the course of three days and nights, bikers representing groups such as The 13 Rebels, The Pissed Off Bastards, and The Galloping Goose got drunk, brawled in the streets, smashed up bars and storefront windows, and participated in illegal drag races. They slept in haystacks, on sidewalks, and on people’s lawns. Hollister’s seven-man police force tried to keep things under control, but they mostly watched in horror as crazed, drunken crowds took over neighborhoods. By the end of the weekend, after state troopers were called in, about fifty bikers were arrested and sixty people were injured (one person had a skull fracture). The streets were awash in urine, beer bottles, and debris.

Shortly after, Life Magazine published a story about the event titled “Cyclist’s Holiday: He and Friends Terrorize Town.” One of the main photos was of a young biker, later believed to be Eddie Davenport, slouched astride his Harley Davidson, shirt open, and surrounded by broken beer bottles. He was wearing what looks to be a naval deck jacket, possibly a clue that he was one of the many ex-servicemen who joined motorcycle clubs after returning home from the Second World War. There’s some debate about whether media coverage afterward exaggerated the amount of violence and damage, but nevertheless, the event forever clouded the lens through which the non-riding public would see black leather jackets.

After 1947, black leather jackets became the second skin of rebels — a symbol anti-conformist lifestyles, restlessness, and lawlessness. Small town residents worried about motorcycle “hoodlums” and potential rampages. Marlon Brando cemented the image of the leather-clad rebel in his role in the 1953 film The Wild One. “Brando’s pebble-kicking stride, his insolent sneer, the rakish angle of his cap, and the casual straddle of his bike, identify him as a challenger of society’s values,” Bruce Boyer wrote in his book Rebel Style. “[The Wild One] clearly shows the opening chasm between the middle class, concerned with refinement and decorum, and the outsiders who show their disdain for the status quo.” The Twilight Zone later had an episode where three leather-jacket-wearing, motorcycle riding strangers invade a peaceful neighborhood (they were later revealed to be aliens). Leather jackets have been part of every rebel subculture since — bikers, rockers, and outlaws; beats and beatniks; modernists and mods; hippies and bohemians; punks and skinheads.

Those rebel associations hold remarkably strong today, even when conservative, establishment figures such as Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin wear black motorcycle jackets on TV talk shows. They’re also the reason why guys often pause when buying their first leather. They’re expensive, for one, and there’s always that nagging feeling that you might not be a “leather jacket kind of guy.” We like them because of their dark and dangerous associations, but worry that we’ll just end up looking like poseurs.

So, what to do if you’re interested in a leather jacket, but aren’t sure if the style is right for you? Like reading formality in suits and sport coats, there’s a language in leather jackets that can swing them towards different aesthetic directions. Whether you prefer something a little more fashionable and modern, or traditoinal and conservative, there’s assuredly something out there for you. Here are some things to consider:

Pick a General Style

The first thing to remember is that leather is like any other material, such as wool, cotton or linen. It can be used to make nearly any style of outerwear, from dressy to rugged, traditional to the avant-garde. Broadly speaking, most leather jackets will fall into one of two traditions:

Flight Jackets: Flight jackets were originally made for the hide-busting activity of piloting aircrafts, but civilians have been repurposing bombers for almost a hundred years. The original pilot jacket was the A-1. The American Air Force originally spec’d it in a lighter weight capeskin, then finished the collar, hem, and cuffs with a knitted trim. The style’s most distinguishable characteristics include the button-front, which runs from the hem to the collar, and the stand-up knitted collar that helps frame the face. The A-1, however, was only used for a few years before being replaced by the more familiar A-2.

During the Second World War, the US military issued thousands of A-2s to fighter pilots. The jacket’s design replaced the button-front of the A-1 with a zipper and storm flap, and then changed out the stand-up knitted collar in favor of a shirt-style leather collar. The shoulders were given passants; the hem and cuffs retained their windproof knitted trims. The A-2 is one of few clothing items that can legitimately be called iconic — for many, it is the leather jacket. Like most bomber styles, the traditional A-1 and A-2 have blousy, slightly rounded silhouettes, although they generally look great on most men regardless of age or fitness.

By virtue of its popularity, the A-2 is also so unobjectionable, it can border on boring, but a well-cut A-2 is a great entry point into leather jackets. The A-1 makes more of a statement while still hewing traditional. For something a little less common, you can hunt for a G-1 or MA-1. The G-1 started as the Navy version of the Army A-2, but while the Army version sometimes includes a detachable fur collar, the mouton (sheepskin) collar is standard on the G-1. The G-1 also omits passants and the storm flap, and it features button-through pockets rather than snap pockets. The MA-1, meanwhile, was originally a nylon, synthetic-fill, knit-collared jacket developed for the pilots. MA-1s became popular with punk rock kids and skinheads in the 1970s and early 1980s, and in leather form, they become a little more fashion forward.

Motorcycle Jackets: Classic leather jacket styles often come out of the very practical purpose of driving or piloting some large piece of machinery. For moto styles, the earliest forms were actually repurposed A-1s, which drivers used to wear over their suits and sport coats. But as motor vehicles improved in performance during the inter-war years, and more men drove them, there was greater demand for tougher garments and different styles. Soon, Harley Davidson started producing a variety of “genuine” motorcycle jackets, and big retailers such as Sears, Robuck & Co., Montgomery Ward, and JC Penney added a section of “sport leather jackets” to their catalogs.

This is when we start seeing things such as the double-rider and cafe racer. Double-riders derive from “lancer-front” motorcycle jackets, which feature a kind of double-breasted closure (where one side of the jacket overlaps with the other). Eventually, this style made it into asymmetrical zippered form, most iconically represented through Schott’s Perfecto (pictured on George above). Sometimes these styles have details such as snap-down passants, metal-buckled belts, D-shaped pockets, and fur collars. All things equal, the double-rider, particularly in black, is the most “aggressive” of all leather jacket styles, if only because of its connection to motorcycle culture and rock ‘n roll, but in softer leather forms, it’s also commonly used for fashion purposes.

If double riders are too much for you, try a cafe racer, which is notable for its visual minimalism. The style was originally worn on circular or oval race courses comprised of wooden planks, where oil slick tracks demanded some kind of protection. Racers often wore flimsy, tight fitting, unlined leather racing shirts, which at some point metamorphized into the famous Buco J-100 and eventually what we now call a cafe racer. The style is typically sculptured to give a close fit, although not as close as early 20th-century shirt-style versions, and features zippered body pockets, zippered sleeves, and a simple, symmetrical zip front. Some have a reverse box pleat at the back to allow for easier movement on a motorcycle, although it’s not uncommon to see a plain back on fashionable cafe racers.

Other Styles: Flight and motorcycle styles aren’t the only leathers.  There are about a dozen more that reach various categories. To run through a few.

• Classic and Contemporary: Varsity jackets, baseball jackets, and trucker styles occasionally come in leather. These styles are traditionally made from softer materials, such as cotton or satin, but in leather, they can feel a little more rugged or luxurious, depending on the detailing. Generally speaking, these styles are better suited to classic or contemporary wardrobes.
• Fencing: Adopted from a softer style of outerwear worn by fencers, leather fencing jackets usually have asymmetrical closures and a high collar. The style is much more avant-garde than what we normally write about here at Put This On, but goes well with dark, arte povera-inspired clothes from brands such as Rick Owens, Carol Christian Poell, and M.A+.
• Workwear: Nearly every leather jacket roots back to some utilitarian design, but styles such as the grizzly jacket, field jacket, Cossack, and more unusual moto styles such as those inspired by the Belstaff Roadmaster are often more rugged than most.
• Tailored: Mostly relics of the 1970s, styles such as the leather sports coat, leather trench, and three-quarters length leathers are true high-risk, low-reward items. It’s possible to wear these things well, but they require such specific requirements, it may be better to look for something else.

Tip: If you’re not sure about leather jackets, stick to the A-1, A-2, and cafe racer styles. Depending on their details, those can be more conservative and classic than most, making them suitable for casual offices and nights out on the weekend.

Pick a Material

The styles listed above are just the general templates for leather jacket design. The rest comes down to the material and detailing, which can swing a jacket towards different directions — classic or fashion-forward, dressy or rugged, aggressive or conservative. Let’s first start with the leather:

• Lambskin: Typically the softest and lightest of all leathers, lambskins are supple and luxurious feeling. They usually have very little grain, which makes them very smooth (with some exceptions, such as Rick Owens’ blistered lamb). They can be a little fragile, but unless you’re actually piloting planes or riding motorcycles, they’re fine for most lifestyles. Just don’t, you know, go scraping this against a stucco wall.
• Calfskin and Goatskin: A lot can depend on the tannery, but generally speaking, calfskins and goatskins are a little harder wearing than lambskin. They’re still fairly lightweight and supple, but they’re more tear resistant (although, at the same time, they don’t have the same buttery feel of lambskin). Calfskin is generally a smooth leather unless it’s been put through a finishing process. Goatskin, on the other hand, typically has a visible grain. Much like how Scotch and pebble grain shoes are a little more casual than calfskin footwear, goatskin leathers will also look a little less refined and dressy than lamb.
• Cowhide and Horsehide: The toughest and hardest wearing of all leathers. Original flight and motorcycle jackets were typically made from these heavier leathers, as well as goatskin, so they could offer more protection and stand up to daily use. These leathers will generally develop more “character” over time, whereas lambskin looks best when it’s in like-new condition. Cowhide and horsehide are good for guys who really want to feel their jacket on their shoulders, have something they can wear in tougher environments, and see how the leather breaks in over time.
• Suede: Almost any leather can be made into a suede. Sometimes it’s a reverse suede, which means it’s just the underside of a smoother leather; sometimes the top of a smoother leather has been sanded down to reveal its fiber core. Suede jackets are a nice way to add texture to an outfit, and they can look a little more approachable, but they stain easily and aren’t easy to clean. Be careful of getting one in a style that doesn’t lend itself well to patinas.

When choosing a style, think of how a jacket’s design template and material come together in a way that works for your lifestyle and wardrobe. A rugged jacket, such as a goatskin bomber or cowhide cafe racer, can be worn with jeans, fatigues, and workwear-styled chinos. Dressier, slightly more conservative designs, such as a lambskin A-2 or cafe racer, on the other hand, can be worn with tailored trousers and dress shirts. In the photo of the Stoffa jacket above, you can see what a difference lambskin can make even for the most rugged of all styles, the double rider. Suddenly, the jacket transforms into something else — less workwear, a little more refined.

Tip: Again, if you’re worried about whether a leather jacket can work for you, pick a softer, more approachable leather, such as lambskin, calfskin, or even suede. Those will generally look less “aggressive.” A heavier, more rugged leather such as cowhide, can be paired with a cafe racer or A-2 bomber style for a very classic look if you’re cautious about looking overly fashion forward.

Pay Attention to the Fit and Details

Lastly, pay attention to a jacket’s fit and detailing. A very traditional style, such as a cafe racer, can be modernized with a softer, lambskin leather, bell-shaped sleeves, slim-fit body, and long, diagonal chest zips, such as the Margiela jacket you see above. The same style can be made from a heavier leather, fitted with a traditional silhouette, and come with traditional detailing, such as an Aero Board Racer. The first will be more contemporary and easier to wear with both jeans and tailored trousers. The second is a little more classic and better suited to traditional combinations, such as jeans and t-shirts.

When shopping for your first leather jacket, think of how you plan to wear it. Do you need something with a lot of abrasion resistance, or do you plan to mostly wear this to the office? Would you characterize your wardrobe as classic or contemporary, rugged or refined? Do you want something that you can wear with both jeans and tailored trousers? Do you want something that patinas over time or something that stays looking fairly new and fresh? Will you wear this in the winter time or summer? Do you want something thick and heavy, or soft and light?

Once you have a sense of what you’re looking for, shop first at the brands or stores where you normally buy your other clothes. A trad-y guy in button-downs and flat front chinos may find his perfect leather at shops such as Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren. A guy who favors classic-contemporary clothes might want to look at the selection of Golden Bear and Valstar jackets at Mr. Porter and No Man Walks Alone. Workwear aficionados will probably like RRL, Fine Creek Leathers, and Schott.

Tip: Most guys will look good in a Valstarino, which is a citified, Italian version of a traditional American A-1 jacket. It’s a style that goes well with slim-straight jeans, flat front chinos, and even tailored trousers. It’s something you can wear to work and weekends, and it’s light enough for spring and fall. The silhouette is a little rounded, so if you prefer a slimmer look, try a cafe racer. Aero’s Board Racer is great with jeans, while Brooks Brothers often has racer styles that can be worn in more conservative environments. Todd Snyder, Enrico Mandelli, Taylor Stitch, Sandro, and Falcon Garments are also worth a look.

The post Leather Jackets For Guys Who Aren’t Sure About Leather Jackets appeared first on Put This On.

The internet has enthusiast forums for almost every single imaginable niche nowadays (here’s one dedicated to just Miami Vice), which can be treasure troves for good information. But the information often runs deep and wide, and it can be difficult for a newer poster to get answers on how to get started. Seasoned members get tired of answering the same questions, preferring to direct newbs to the search bar. Besides, good answers are often very case dependent and can take a while to figure out. When I interviewed guys like Michael Hill of Drake’s and Mark Cho of The Armoury a few years ago about what they wear the most, surprisingly few stated the sort of basics that show up on every Top Ten Essentials list. The best purchases often reveal themselves through a pile of bad ones.

When you’re new to a field, however, you may be fumbling around trying to develop a personal sense of taste. And it can feel like you’re reaching deep into your pocket to afford even the most entry-level of items. (I still feel light headed when reading about watches at Hodinkee). So while Top Ten Essentials lists are mostly useless, it can be helpful to start with one recommendable purchase and use your experience with that item to inform your views. For guys who are just getting their first pair of good shoes, let me recommend a specific model: Loake’s Kempton.

Loake is just one of the many British ready-to-wear shoemakers based in Northamptonshire, a region known for its footwear manufacturing. Fifty years ago, this East Midlands county was bustling with shoe exports going around the world. Today, there’s still a big shoe industry here, but the trade is a shell of its former self. During its heydays, one in three workers in the region were employed at one of Northamptonshire’s fifty or so shoemaking firms. At some point, the trade found new ways to incorporate synthetic materials into the manufacturing process and advancements in transportation made shipping cheaper. This crippled Northamptonshire’s shoemaking industry, which is mostly reliant on natural materials and has to pay British wages and rents.

The good news is that, among the manufacturing firms that have survived, you can be reasonably assured they sell quality products — mostly. Among Alfred Sargent’s many high-end shoes, there are some corrected grain clunkers. And in Loake’s range, only the premium 1880 line is worth buying.

The 1880 collection has all the hallmarks of quality shoe manufacturing. The soles are attached to their uppers using a method called Goodyear welting, which means they’re stitched-on and not glued. This allows you to resole your shoes when they wear down, rather than throw them away. The uppers are also made from full grain leathers, not corrected grain, which means they’ll look better with age. Corrected grain leathers are typically cut from lower-quality parts of a hide, which are marred with scars, tick bites, and cuts. To get a smoother and more uniform appearance, a tannery will sand down the leather’s surface and “correct” it with a chemical treatment. That treatment will look nice on day one, but it’ll crack and age poorly with time. Full grain leather, on the other hand, will develop a patina like the surface a well-polished tabletop with all of its changing highlights.

Among Loake’s 1880 collection, you’ll find their Kempton chukka. Chukkas, for those unfamiliar, are an ankle-high style boot, typically featuring two or three eyelets for easy lacing. It’s similar to its cousin the desert boot, but it’s dressier; slightly more structured; comes with a leather or studded rubber sole, instead of crepe; and is made with a welted instead of stitched-down construction. The style gets its name from a period of continuous play in polo (which is also sometimes known as a chukker). In the 1980s, it was a popular choice among London’s Sloane Rangers, a kind of upper-class consumer who liked to affect a certain lifestyle (think British prep). Today, the style is just a good match for the tailored tweeds and Shetland sweaters many men favor.

Kemptons check all the right boxes for someone who’s just starting to build a better wardrobe. For one, they’re well-made (again, Goodyear welted with full-grain uppers). They’re just shapely enough to go with tailored trousers, but are still casual enough for jeans, which will allow you to experiment more freely. The studded Dainite soles may not be appropriate for the most conservative of professional offices, but they’re fine in most settings. The soles are also more all-weather appropriate than dressier leathers. Leather soles, while handsome, can prematurely break down like wet cardboard in the rain. Studded Dainite soles, on the other hand, are good for dry summer days, wet spring mornings, and even snowy winter conditions. Michael Hill of Drake’s tells me that suede chukkas are his go-to travel shoes. “I don’t know if I should admit this, but even if I’m going away for business, I’ll take mine and that’ll do me well across the board,” he says. “They’re a tremendously useful style. You can wear them with casual suits, you can wear them to dinner, you can wear them on weekends. There are very few situations where they don’t look right.”

Best of all, Kemptons are reasonably affordable as far as these things go. The cheapest, reasonably well-made shoes on the market are sold through Meermin, where you’ll find chukkas for $210 ($14 lower than the Kemptons at $224). Meermins can be stiff at first, however, and take a while to break-in. The Kemptons are reasonably soft from the get-go (although welted shoes will always take more time to break in than shoes made with glued-on comfort soles. Give it a week or two). Invest in a $7 can of Allen Edmonds waterproofing spray and treat your suede Kemptons to a coat or two before you wear them outside. The spray will protect your boots from roadside splashes and errant food drippings.

How to Wear Them

Versatility can be overrated if you’ve already found your personal style and/ or have a large wardrobe (no one needs fifty pairs of the same gray slacks). But when you’re just starting off, versatility can be a good way to develop a grab-and-go wardrobe that allows you to get dressed in the morning without going through all the combinatorics and permutations of what-goes-with-what. A smart purchase should also allow you to explore different styles without requiring you to build a totally new wardrobe.

Chukkas can be that sort of shoe. They go naturally with tailored clothing, such as tweeds, navy sport coats, gray flannels, brown whipcords, autumnal corduroys, and tan cavalry twills. They’re good accompaniments with either suits or sport coats (when I visited Antonio Panico, a bespoke tailor in Naples, many years ago, he was sporting a pair of buckle strapped chukkas with a navy worsted suit). They go well with denim-and-sport-coat outfits, but also with tailored trousers. And they can be worn with topcoats and jeans for guys who want the benefits of tailoring without looking overly dressed up.

As an ankle boot, these naturally have a more autumnal sensibility. I find chukkas work three seasons out of the year. You may want to keep them away from the most distinctively summery of tailored outfits, such as linen or seersucker suits, but if you’re just starting out, you probably don’t have linen or seersucker suits anyway. Problem solved.

More casually, you can wear chukkas with waxed cotton Barbours, quilted jackets, certain leather jackets, overshirts, peacoats, a simple button-down-and-chinos combo, chunky shawl collar cardigans, cabled fisherman Arans, and almost anything that could be described as classic casualwear (which if you’re just starting out, you probably favor). Chukkas work with the sort of outfits often posted at From Squalor to Baller and Gezzaeyes. For a more directional look, they also work with certain kinds of workwear, such as slim-straight jeans and milsurp field jackets.

Like with tailoring, you may find that chukkas aren’t as useful in the summer with casualwear. For things such as camp collar shirts, you can supplement with a simple pair of sneakers. Superga’s 1705s can be had for between $40 and $60. We also do sneaker roundups every spring and stand by all of our previous suggestions. You can put the money you’ve saved from a better summer footwear purchase into things such as outerwear, which will make more of an impact on your wardrobe.

If you’re willing to spend a bit more money, plenty of other options become open to you. Carmina makes some wonderfully sleek chukkas (better with tailored trousers than denim, I think). Alden’s unlined, oiled-soaked flex soled chukkas are comfortably soft and better for spring through fall, rather than the coldest days of winter, but they have an appreciably relaxed look and feel. Lof & Tung come in a handsome tobacco color; Vass and Enzo Bonafe are a step-up in terms of construction since they’re handwelted (instead of machine-made Goodyear welted), which means they can withstand a greater number of resolings. Among my favorites are Crockett & Jones Brecon, which today is still probably one of my most worn shoes. They’re a little sleeker than Kemptons, and I’ve found the leather ages a bit better, but they’re about double the price (or triple if you buy them stateside). Like with everything, there are serious diminishing returns after a certain point once you climb up the price scale.

A note about style: mid- and dark-brown chukkas will always be more versatile than light brown. Black chukkas are mostly useless except for very limited contexts. And I find this style often looks better in slightly textured leathers, such as napped suedes and pebbled grains. When chukkas are made from smooth calf, the boots can look too plain with all that unbroken leather.

If you end up choosing the Kemptons for your first good pair of shoes, get professionally measured on a Brannock device before buying (too many guys think they know their shoe size when they don’t — leather shoes fit differently from soft and squishy sneakers). Generally speaking, you’ll want to go one size down on Loake’s UK sizing system from your US Brannock size (e.g., a US 9D on the Brannock will likely take a UK 8F in the Kempton). Try to buy from a domestic seller who allows for easy returns, just in case things don’t work out. And refer to our guide for knowing when your shoes fit properly. Loake’s Kemptons may not end up being your shoes-for-life, but they’ll help you find yours.

(photos via Street x Sprezza, From Squalor to Baller, Voxsartoria, J. Crew, Drake’s, The Armoury, Red Clay Soul, JHilla, A Rich Inner Life)

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Marty Staff, who headed an apparel business at the time that traded heavily in neckwear, was one of those members. “It was deliberate,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “Historically, the guy wearing the navy suit, the white shirt, and the burgundy tie would be the CEO. Now he’s the accountant.”

There’s no way around it: wearing a necktie can make you stand out. Unless you work in certain industries, such as law, finance, and government — and, increasingly, perhaps not even then — most offices today are dressed down. But like the sport coat itself, putting on a tie today can be elective — and it can feel good. A tailored outfit can sometimes look a little empty without a bit of wool or silk hanging between he jacket’s fronts. “Plus, the necktie helps cover over a bit of one’s paunchy stomach,” Ben Stein once said on CBS Sunday Morning. Hard to argue with that.

The good news is that fall and winter are two of the best seasons for neckwear — the materials are often more interesting and the colors are more muted. If you’re thinking about dressing up again this season, here are some options:

Ancient Madder Ties

Perhaps no neckwear is better suited to the cold than ancient madder. The term madder refers to two things. The first is the rich-red, vegetable dye that’s derived from the Eurasian plant Rubia tinctoria. In ancient times, it was used to dye regal clothes, which Bruce Boyer says is how we get the “ancient” part of ancient madder. Then we have “madder style,” which is an old method of printing that involves using thickened mordants, drying, aging, dunging, and dyeing with alizarin (the coloring agent obtained from madder root) or other coloring agents. I’ve never known whether madder in silks refers to the first or the second, but for what it’s worth, not all madder ties contain red.

At some point, scientists discovered that two of the three madder dyes used to make madder cause cancer, at least in lab rats. Which meant, when printers dyed their silks and dumped the solutions out to disposal plants, they risked getting carcinogens into water supplies. They never found a way to filter out those chemicals, so the dyes were banned and replaced with synthetics. Today, only the third dye (indigo) remains in its original form.

Modern madder still has that chalky hand, but it misses the muted look of yesterday’s prints. They’re brighter and more vivid, especially in areas where the silk has been dyed red. Still, they make for great fall/ winter neckwear. Just as good with tweed and corduroy sport coats as they are with worsted suits and pinstripes. Paisley patterns are traditional, but I particularly like them in geometric and abstracted motifs, like you see above.

Wool, Tweeds, and Cashmere Ties

There’s as much variety in wool and cashmere neckties as there are tailored jackets – everything from flecked Donegals to fuzzy wools to soft cashmeres. Add to that any number of patterns and you can see how this category could be broken up into ten more.

I like wool and cashmere ties in darker colors and lighter weight constructions. Since the material itself can be a bit thick, especially if it’s tweed, it’s important to make sure the interlining and padding inside are thin, and there aren’t many folds. Otherwise, even your tightest four-in-hand knot can look like a full-Windsor.

The upside to a solid-colored wool tie isn’t too unlike the advantage of silk grenadine. In solid colors, they help anchor patterned suit and sport coat ensembles. At the same time, their unique texture lends visual interest to plainer outfits. I also like them in patterns, such as district checks, although I find I reach for my solid-colored ties more. For the best of both worlds, consider unique weaves, such as birdseye, herringbone, or Donegal. Wool blends can also sometimes have more interesting textures than pure wool.

Since wool ties are less shiny than their silk counterparts, they’re also a little more casual. I like them with suits and sport coats in similar wool textures — flannel, covert, and tweed. They can also add a wintery touch to a basic navy sport coat and grey wool trousers ensemble. If you’re getting your first one, consider colors such as navy, chocolate brown, or forest green. Grays can also be nice, but with wool pants, they can look a little too coordinated depending on the combination.

Wool Challis Ties

A special enough category for wool ties to deserve its own mention. Wool challis has been used in men’s clothing since the 19th century, when it was first woven in Norwich, England. The term challis is actually a corruption of the imported Indian word “shallee,” meaning “soft.” And it’s that softness that makes wool challis so wonderful. Unlike many wool you’ll find elsewhere, wool challis has the softness you want out of a fall/ winter tie, but none of the bulk.

About fifty years ago, people still hand block printed on wool challis. That means large blocks of wood (roughly about the size of a piece of paper) were set with ink and then pressed against the fabric. The process was labor intensive, but the prints beautiful.

A former David Evans manager once told me, however, that customers used to complain about the small inconsistencies found in hand block printed ties (any handwork is bound to have some small variation). That, coupled with the need for great efficiency, means that almost all wool challis today is silk screened. The process is still done by hand, but here, a large screen is set against the wool and a rubber blade is then passed from one end to another. This pushes the ink through certain parts of the screen, which sets the pattern. Thankfully, the quality here is just as good as the old methods.

If I had to narrow my neckwear wardrobe, it’d probably come down to just a handful of ties in ancient madder and wool challis. The second is just easier to work with in the morning given its firmness and weight. It drapes beautifully and ties up nicely, giving you a substantial, but small knot. Imagine your favorite silk ties, but with a soft and supple hand, as well as a matte finish.

Wool Boucle Ties

You don’t see boucle used much in menswear, especially traditional tailoring. It’s more often than not reserved for women’s clothing or the occasional adventurous menswear designer. Maison Margiela has used it for knitwear; Lemaire for overcoats. The fabric is distinguished by its uneven surface – a nubby surface with tiny loops and knots twisting over on themselves, as though the yarns were made from thousands of badly tangled lengths of string.

The material makes for great neckties, however. Think of boucle as the winter version of raw silk – something with a rough, uneven surface for a casual look. Like with a raw silk tie, boucle neckwear is a nice way to dress down a tailored jacket. The hard part is finding one. Drake’s has done them in the past, but this season only used boucle for a sport coat. The only option I can find right now is at Brooks Brothers.

Wool Knit Ties

Most knits are made from silk, but wool and cashmere are great if you want some variety. They’re softer and more matte, giving them a more cold-weather feel. I especially like them with Shetland tweeds, corduroy sport coats, and chunky hopsack jackets. They’re a little floppier and more casual than your traditional four-in-hands, and the perfect choice for guys who want to look a bit more dressed down in their neckwear. One little trick: if you get knits with pointed ends, rather than square, you’ll have a bit more wiggle room in terms of tying it at the right length. Getting a pointed end to hit your belt is a bit easier than getting a square one to do the same.

Black is, unexpectedly, one of the most versatile colors for knit ties. Better than the standard go-to colors for neckwear, such as brown, burgundy, and bottle green. Better even than the always wearable navy. The black silk knit was perhaps most famously worn by the literary version of James Bond, who was often described by Ian Fleming as wearing a dark suit, clean white shirt, and a “thin, black silk knitted tie.” It’s also heavily associated with other mid-century icons such as the fellas in The Rat Pack. In fact, one of the first ties I bought as an undergraduate student was a black silk knit, precisely because I thought Sammy Davis Jr. looked so great in them.

You can wear almost anything with a black silk knit tie: brown tweeds, navy jackets, or grey suits paired with white or light blue shirts in solids, stripes, or checks (knit ties are especially nice with checks). Given that many men today want to wear a tie without looking too formal, the black silk knit is about as good as you can get. Versatile in color; casual in form.

Where to Buy Good Ties

If you’re looking for value, it would be hard to beat Sam Hober, Kent Wang, and our sponsor Chipp Neckwear. Sam Hober is the most expensive of the three options, but they offer bespoke ties made to the highest standards (all handsewn and using excellent interlinings). Kent Wang does ready-to-wear for a very reasonable price of $75. Our sponsor Chipp is a little more affordable and their ties are handmade in New York City. Chipp can do custom-made ties to almost any length and width for a small surcharge, and they just got in a new wool challis option (Paul tells us more will be on the site soon).

If you’re willing to spend a little more money, few companies capture my heart like Drake’s. Their ties are made in their own workshop in London, but their real advantage is in fabrics. Whereas most small-batch producers have to be a bit more conservative in their selections, Drake’s has all sorts of great ties that look unique without being distasteful.

E.G. Cappelli, Tie Your Tie, Calabrese, Vanda Fine Clothing, and Bigi Milano are also excellent for handmade neckwear. EG Cappelli and Vanda are available for custom orders, while the other thee are largely ready-to-wear. The constructions here are often on the softer side of things with the ties being minimally lined with wool- or wool-blend materials (good for getting a bit more spring-back quality when tying your tie and ensuring the wrinkles fall out).

There are some other notables. Bryceland’s, Berg & Berg, Shibumi, and Rampley are popular online suppliers. British clothiers such as Turnbull & Asser, New & Lingwood, and Anderson & Sheppard have great selections. Their counterparts in the US, such as Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Ben Silver, J. Press, and O’Connell’s, are worth a look. Our sponsor The Hanger Project has a special line of ties made for them in France by one of the world’s best producers (they also make for a famous Parisian bespoke shirt making shop). Lastly, while they don’t have an online store, Nashville bespoke tailor Herrie has some wonderful looking accessories. You can order by emailing them.

(photos via The Armoury and Voxsartoria)

The post Guide To Fall And Winter Ties appeared first on Put This On.

In his 1990 book Eminently Suitable, Bruce Boyer has this line that I love: “wearing clothes is still something of an art — it has not descended to one of the sciences.” Well, eat it, Bruce Boyer, cause a StyleForum member just found the scientifically best fits of 2018.

OK, it’s not totally scientific, but it’s at least democratic. Allen, who goes by Baltimoron on StyleForum, is in the final stretch of a PhD program where he studies brains. His work involves a fair bit of computer programming and data analysis, and with a bit of free time over the holidays, he downloaded and reviewed the best outfits of 2018, as voted on StyleForum. For those not on the forum, StyleForum has a feature where other members can “thumb” a post, which basically provides that poster with positive feedback. And while it’s not always about the outfits themselves (sometimes a user will get thumbs cause the photo is funny or if they’re just a popular member on the board), generally speaking, the best outfits will climb higher in terms of thumb count.

Compiling that data, however, isn’t simple. “The process is often called web scraping,” Allen explains. “I wrote a script that basically ‘reads” information on a webpage and stores the parts I want in a table. On StyleForum, each post has information about the user who submitted it, where it sits in a thread, and the number of thumbs other users gave it. I pull all this information and sort it based on the number of thumbs in order to determine the top 100 posts. My script then downloads the images associated with those posts.”

Allen’s breakdown follows the two big organizational categories you’ll find on StyleForum — there are the top outfits for “streetwear and denim” (which is basically StyleForum’s term for casualwear) and “classic menswear” (which is mostly about classic tailoring). Allen also created a category for best posters who crossed the divide. Dedicated Put This On readers will see some familiar faces from our weekly PTOman Instagram roundups, including Peter in San Francisco, Andy from San Jose, and Charlie from Canberra, Australia.

Scrolling through photos like this can be a great way to develop your sense of taste and give you a broader appreciation for aesthetics that may not be your own. Guys who are just starting out will often follow a matryoshka of “rules”, which extend to the minutest of details, but once you get past the basics of how to dress reasonably well, style is often intuitive. David Isle once wrote: “Among art dealers, The Eye is that unteachable and irrevocable power to discern art from trash, real from fake, inspired from derivative. It is the capacity to appreciate something that you have not already been taught that you must appreciate. The legend of The Eye would have it that this talent cannot be learned. But I believe that attention and exposure to a wide variety of interesting objects is what sharpens The Eye.”

“One of the reasons that I started compiling these year-end summaries is to archive the contributions of older posters,” says Allen. “The StyleForum community has seen its share of turnover across the years. Many of the users that I looked up to when I joined have moved on from the forum or have migrated to other platforms. The other reason was to provide an accessible resource for new users. Styleforum can be a bit overwhelming at first because there’s so much depth and the main threads can move quickly. My hope is that these summaries show new users that the SF community is home to a wide variety of styles and that it will encourage them to contribute.”

Some of Allen’s favorite outfits from last year include gray herringbone overcoat and chunky cream-colored turtleneck sweater seen on penanceroyaltea (“He has a great eye for color and drape, and mixes a lot of different brands together”) and this similarly long coat worn over tailoring by urbancomposition (“I’m impressed by how well he executes both casual and formal outfits. People that can do both to that degree as rare, so I’m happy to see him appear in both albums.”). You can see Allen’s original thread summary for 2018 here, his roundup of 2017’s best outfits, and a similar compilation posted on Reddit back in 2015. Below are some of my favorite photos pulled from last year’s albums.

The post These Are Scientifically The Best Fits appeared first on Put This On.

A couple of years ago, I was talking to Wall Street Journal columnist Christina Binkley about how men’s clothes have gotten a lot more comfortable over the years. Fabrics are lighter and softer; tailoring a little more deconstructed. Even tailors on Savile Row – the last holdout against fashion trends – tell me they’re using less padding than they were thirty years ago.

The most comfortable clothes I own are the ones I wear at home. There’s a pair of soft linen pajamas I had made through Ascot Chang. Some Indian-inspired drawstring pants from Eidos. A heavy “winter wear” flannel from The Flat Head,  which was made with a quadruple-brushed interior (oh so so soft, and I wish I could buy more). All of them are wonderful, but nothing compares to these handsewn moccasins from Town View Leather. They’re some of the more affordable things I own, but somehow feel the most luxurious.

Moccasins differ from most shoes in that the leather wraps under and around your feet. There are usually two pieces of leather — one for the sides and then the other for the “plug” — which are then sewn together using a hand saddle stitch. You may have seen this sort of construction on Quoddys or Rancourts, two other popular Maine-based moccasin makers. The process involves passing two thick needles through the same hole, with an awl first piercing that hole and then guiding one needle through. This gives the area the flexibility it needs while also maintaining a strong seam. That’s how you get that handsome, handsewn seam around the shoe’s apron.

Small leather goods like these are some of the last holdouts for true cottage industry production in America. Some of the brands that sell these moccasins have been around for over a hundred years. And while Quoddy and Rancourt are factories, many are just home-based businesses that are run by people who have been handsewing forever. In fact, the perseverance of this craft is partly about about practicality since smaller producers can’t match the kind of production you’d find at a factory. Jacob Gallagher once wrote of them: “At times many of these labels have remained stuck in time, immune to the progressions of the clothing industry as a whole. This general stoicism paid off though as the wave caught up to them so to speak, and the rising interest in hand made shoes, especially those with a ‘Made in America’ tagline, also opened up space within this field for newer, more creative labels to exist alongside the stalwarts.”

Some of the names here will be familiar to anyone who has paid attention to men’s style for a while. There’s Quoddy and Rancourt, two of the larger Maine-based producers and ones that mostly specialize in the sort of moccasins you’ll wear outside. Then smaller companies such as Wassookeag Moccasin, Willymoc, and Maine Mountain Moccasins.

My favorites are from Town View Leather, which is a small home-based business owned and operated by Galen and Gayenne Wintle. Back in the day, Galen worked for Dexter Shoe, a now-defunct Maine handsewer, for 22 years. They essentially only have one model: Ole’ Maine Comfort Classic, which comes in two colors, tan and dark brown, and has the option for a soft deerskin lining (get the lining).

Town View’s moccasins actually have a triple-leather sole since Galen puts an extra layer of leather between the moccasin and the stitched-on double-sole for added comfort. The bottoms of the shoes are also made from a thick bullhide leather. I wore their unlined model for about seven years until a hole developed. They were, admittedly, a bit ho-hum at first, but once a footbed forms, they’re just about the most comfortable things you can wear. Better than a hundred-ply Scottish cashmere knitwear; better than silk dressing gowns; better than the softest Italian tailoring. Once these conform to your foot, you won’t know how you ever went without them.

Earlier this year, I re-upped and bought a few more pairs. The unlined ones have a lining at the top, which I found eventually dried out and cracked. So I bought a couple of pairs in their lined and unlined makes. The lined version, it turns, out, is stupidly comfortable from the go. I’m a little concerned about the durability of the lining given my previous experience with these shoes, but in the end think the comfort is worth it.

Unfortunately, good things aren’t getting any cheaper. When Jesse first wrote about Town View Leather in 2011, their moccasins were available for about $80. In 2013, they jumped up to $95. And today, five years later, they’re $115 (or $130 lined). Not inexpensive, but also surprisingly affordable in today’s menswear market. I wear the unlined model with American Trench’s wool-silk socks, pictured below, but the lined ones barefoot because they’re so comfortable.

If you’re enterprising, you can also make your own. A reader once told us that The Art of Handsewing Leather is one of the best books for learning leatherwork, while Native American Moccasins is a bit more specific to various types of Native American moccasin designs. Maurice H. Decker, who served as Camping Editor for Outdoor Life, also wrote this amazing guide on how to make your own leather moccasins in a 1937 issue of Popular Science.

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