honestly, it never even occurred to me that someone can look like a dork in tweed. i recognize that you can look like an old man. but it's easily my favorite fabric and I've always found it super charming.
if you're getting your first tweed sport coat, get a mid- or dark brown sport coat. this will be easier to wear with grey pants, which are a staple in a tailored wardrobe. they can also be worn with other things.
a brown tweed can be worn with blue jeans, tan chinos, taupe whipcords, cream cavalry twills, and grey flannel trousers. pair with light blue oxford cloth button downs, crewneck sweaters, turtlenecks, or long-sleeve polos. can be worn with or without a tie.
a grey tweed is also very nice, especially if you plan to primarily wear it with jeans. but depending on the specifics of the two garments, you may find it harder to wear with grey trousers (a staple of a tailored wardrobe).
i think grey tweeds work especially well in the evening because it's a more elegant color than brown. nice for getting dinner, if you can round up friends who also like to dress up.
a third or fourth tweed down the line can be in sage green or blue (i think blue tweeds are easier to wear when they have a grey undertone. this makes the color cooler, rather than warmer, and will pair easier with cool colors that likely dominate your wardrobe)
tweed can be whatever you want it to be: sporty or academic, semi-formal with a tie, or very casual with a Shetland sweater.
when in doubt, know that it's a rustic material, so it pairs better with colors like brown instead of navy, materials like whipcord and corduroy instead of worsted wool, and semi-casual leathers like suede or county grain instead of polished calfskin
some tweeds come off as a bit old fashioned. i love the look but recognize not everyone does. toothy checks like gun clubs can come off like this. if you're worried about it, try herringbones, glen plaids, or donegals, which are more neutral.
if a sport coat feels too formal for your lifestyle, try a tweed overcoat. these can be worn with tailored trousers or jeans. you will likely need some kind of knit underneath to balance out the visual weight of the coat. try Arans, Shetlands, turtlenecks, and such.
anyway, tweeds are great and you should try them. here are some tweeds with a dog.
to answer the question I know is coming: "where can i buy one?" here are some stores that i like for ready-to-wear tailoring. it's early in the season, so fall stock is still coming in.
An offhand comment about how Prince Harry doesn't dress very well seems to have stirred up his fans. So here's a thread on how both Harry and William don't dress well when compared to the older men in their family — and how this represents a broader decline in taste. 🧵
I should say at the outset that I don't care about the drama surrounding the Royal family. I don't care if you're Team Markle or Team Middleton or Team whatever. I am simply talking about clothes. The following is also not meant to be personal jabs; just an honest review.
The first thing to understand is that select members of royal family were incredible dressers. Most notable is Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor. For a time, whatever he wore, others followed. He popularized cuffed trousers, belts, and a tailoring style known as the "drape cut."
When we zoom in on the wallet, we see the label "Saint Laurent Paris," a French luxury fashion house that became popular about ten years ago when Kanye started wearing the label. This was also when Hedi Slimane was at the company's creative helm.
For many young men at the time, Saint Laurent was their entry into designer fashion, partly because the designs were conceptually approachable (LA rocker, Hot Topic), while the Kanye co-sign made them cool and the prices signaled status (and for the uninformed, suggested quality)
When I was on a menswear forum, navy trousers were of great controversy. Discussions about them lasted many years, resulting in long-lasting rivalries. Sometimes people refrained from speaking about them out of fear of dredging up old debates.
First, I should state at the outset that there's no way to have this conversation without, in some way, speaking crudely about certain classes of people. I make no judgements about their worth or dignity. I am only describing the semiotics of men's dress.
Second, everything depends on your goals. Dress is not a science, so there are no overriding laws. Everything is contextual to culture. More on this later
Before we start, here are two outfits involving green sport coats. Which do you like better? Please choose before moving on.
I get this question a lot. I don't have strong views on how transmasc people should dress, but since I often get the question, I've thought about it a bit. Will share some thoughts in this thread. 🧵
My general feeling is that this question often approaches the idea of style from a perspective I don't share. I don't believe in approaching dress first from the perspective of body type. For instance, there are a lot of guides online that break down body types like this.
I disagree with this perspective because they always seem to be about forcing the person into one narrow ideal. So if you're short, they tell you how to wear certain things to give the illusion of height. Or if you're heavy, they say how you can dress to hide your weight.
I don't think people such as Hegesth are intentionally choosing to dress like this to signal they're "not like the swamp." I think we're simply in a generational change in terms of taste. Will show some examples. 🧵
A hundred years ago, men's dress was governed by time, place, and occasion (TPO). If you were of a certain social position and had to do a certain thing, you were expected to wear certain outfits. If you didn't know these rules, a tailor would tell you.
Over the course of the 20th century, these rules loosened, partly because society became more accepting of different social groups and their lifestyles (which is a good thing). By the close of the 20th century, the rise of business casual swept tailoring out of offices
Anthony Constantino, CEO of Sticker Mule, says that he would use a US manufacturer for his company's t-shirts. However, he feels the US company doesn't meet his quality standards and they "must maintain quality."
So what constitutes a quality t-shirt? Let's find out. 🧵
For reference, I'm comparing Sticker Mule's t-shirts (made in Nicaragua) to Bayside Apparel (fully made in the US from fiber to finish). Sticker Mule charges $19 for their t-shirts. Organizations that print on Bayside blanks sell their merch for $27.
I should state at the outset that to properly determine quality, I would need to send these t-shirts to a lab, which I'm unable to do because I don't own a Sticker Mule t-shirt. Additionally, quality can be subjective, as it depends on your preferences.