Let's talk about this because you may get invited to a party this holiday season that calls for "cocktail attire." What is cocktail attire? And how can you do it well? 🧵
The term "cocktail attire" comes from a time when people went out and mingled at cocktail bars. In these physical spaces, there were two groups:
1) People just getting off of work 2) People on their way to another evening event, such as seeing a show
As such, cocktail attire refers to the things that people naturally wore during this period, given where they had just come from or where they were heading.
Office workers wore suits.
People on their way to an evening show, such as the opera, wore black tie.
We don't really live in that world anymore, but if the invite says "cocktail attire," you will never be wrong showing up in a dark business suit or black tie.
However, in doing so, you should aim to dress elegantly. That means wearing dress shoes instead of sneakers, black calfskin instead of brown suede, dark worsteds instead of rustic materials like brown corduroy. Maybe a bit of velvet. Think: fancy evening attire.
Many in these situations will feel tempted to ditch the tie, fearing that they'll look overdressed. If you are wearing a dark business suit, I encourage you to not do this. A dark business suit without a tie is like the night sky without stars. It looks sad and defeated.
If you're not going to wear a tie, I encourage you to put more thought into the rest of your outfit. Don't just ditch the tie and assume you look like George Clooney. One solution is to wear a thin merino turtleneck. This looks more thoughtful and stylish.
Another easy solution is to wear a long-sleeve polo, but not like the ones you see at Lacoste or Fred Perry. You want a polo with a collar band, so that the collar stands up better. This will make it behave more like a dress shirt. @ProperCloth sells some nice MTM ones
If a suit feels too formal, then try a sport coat. To me, sport coats lack the elegance of a suit, but they're still a great option for evening events. They are also easier to wear without a tie, as the whole ensemble now looks more casual.
Since this is an evening affair, consider how to make this look elegant. Something like this black/ white houndstooth from Besnard will look better at night than a brown sporting tweed (which, while wonderful, is better for the afternoon).
If you have room in your wardrobe, you can also get a wool-mohair suit (60/40 blend is my preference). Mohair is a stiff, slippery fiber that has a slight sheen. I think it looks amazing under artificial light (dim bars and restaurants). Outfit can be conservative or wild
An easy way to make an outfit look more chic in the evening is to rely on the same color and get your contrast from fiber, texture, or sheen. For example, a navy merino turtleneck can look amazing with a navy suit in hopsack or twill. Again, black shoes in the evening.
If you have the personality for it, you can also pull off something a little more colorful. My friend @toneloki73 here is wearing tartan trousers with a velvet jacket and red turtleneck. The whole outfit feels very celebratory, perfect for drinking cocktails.
The point here is to use history as a guide. Once you know the origins of cocktail attire, you can get a sense of how you should dress. Then use the parameters to express yourself. Aim to create an elegant party outfit. Make the night feel special.
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The New York Times, a publication I've worked for and love, recently published a guide on the best men's jeans. Included are $300 APCs and $50 stretch jeans from two different brands. I have a different view on how to find the perfect pair of jeans. So here's a thread. 🧵
I should start by saying that while I use the Wirecutter for all sorts of things, I don't think their format works very well for clothes. That's bc clothes are not like appliances or gadgets; they don't make for easy comparison. Matters of fit, silhouette, and taste are critical.
A friend in the cashmere industry gave me a good analogy. "People who are into coffee have all sorts of ways to describe things," she said. "Coffee can be light or dark roast, washed or naturally processed, and have different notes. I wish ppl had the same language for clothes."
A peak lapel looks totally natural on a double breasted jacket because you get these long, sweeping lines that cross over the body in an armorial way. In fact, if you get a double-breasted, the lapel should only ever be peak or shawl—never notch.
But on a single breasted, the peaks can end up looking short and stubby. They look less like the sweeping wings on a double-breasted and more like the nubby legs on a cooked chicken.
It's true that prior to the industrial revolution, everyone wore "handmade shoes." This is true by definition because shoes were not yet put through an industrial production process. But you mistake quality with "handmade." In fact, there were two types of shoemakers.
In London, the lower working classes would have gone to a cobbler, which is someone who cut up old shoes and "cobbled" something together. In terms of quality, these were quite poor and didn't fit very well because of the scrap materials used and lack of a custom last
I don't know if fragrances can smell gay. But just as certain shapes and colors can be coded in terms of gender, so can certain smells. And some of the best scents are non-binary. Let's explore some together. 🧵
By "gendered," I don't mean these scents are inherently gendered. Anyone can wear anything and our gender codes can change depending on context. For instance, Knize 10 comes from one of the best bespoke tailoring shops in Vienna. It's a very "masculine" leather scent.
We think of it as masculine because that's what men coming out of that shop smelled like! Similarly, Chanel No. 5 is a powdery floral. I think of it as feminine because when I was growing up, that's what sophisticated women of a certain generation wore.
Many people have a very narrow view of fragrances, while not recognizing that scents are used in nearly everything—soap, lotions, shampoos, toothpaste, etc. They assume that fragrances have to smell powerful and heavy. This is not true. 🧵
Take, for instance, ISO E Super, which is synthetic aroma-chemical common in soap and detergents. It's a warm, slightly woody scent. By itself, it's almost undetectable unless you literally press your nose up to the object.
About 20 years ago, Escentric Molecule 01 was super popular in the fragrance community bc it was a rebuke of heavy scents. Many in the community suspect this is basically just ISO E Super, which can be bought for much less.
As with all of my suggestions, my recommendations only apply if we agree on a premise. For tailoring, my premise is that men looked better in tailored clothing sometime between the 1930s and 80s than they do today. For instance, which do you think looks better?
If we agree that the photo on the left looks better, then we can have a discussion on how to recreate that aesthetic. However, if you prefer the outfit on the right, then disregard my suggestions. We simply disagree on aesthetics—and that's OK. This is a low-stakes subject.