Archive for May, 2015

The Search for Classic Golf Shoes

by oxford cloth button down on May 31, 2015 in Footwear, Lifestyle, shoes, Style with 11 Comments

I am back on my golf kick. While I am by no means a natural athlete I usually pick up sports pretty quickly. At least well enough to not embarrass myself. Golf on the other hand has turned out to be a whole different story, but I am making progress. In fact, I got my fist par last week! Now that I am getting comfortable enough to get out on the course more regularly I need to invest in a pair of golf shoes.

I spent some time last week hunting down a pair of classic golf shoes. It turns out this not an easy task if you want something saddle-like in brown leather. Which of course I did, I even found a pair for or two in the $200 range, but my current golf game is not yet deserving of such nice shoes. Below are my top 3 picks for classic looking golf shoes and my runner-up .

1. Allen Edmonds First Cut Golf Shoes – $295
Allen Edmonds makes some of the best classic dress shoes around so it is no wonder that they do the same when it comes to golf. These classic saddles have a rugged distressed look which is great for the course and are eligible for recrafting adding some lifetime value to the purchase. 2. FootJoy Custom DryJoys Tour – $230
I used FootJoy’s My Joy custom online program to whip up these saddles. There are numerous color options to pick from, but this pair which consists of a waxy bomber brown base with a brown smooth leather saddle are gorgeous. If it were not for the futuristic sole these may have been my #1 pick. 3. FootJoy City – $190
These FJ City’s are reminiscent of a pair of dirty bucks with their tan base and brick red sole making them a natural choice for the trad golfer. Coming in at under $200 dollars they also don’t hit the pockets quite as hard as the first two. Runner up – Footjoy Superlites 2-13 Closeout – $59.99

Last, but not least is the pair that I purchased. Before you start thinking that I am in bed with the people at Footjoy I am not (FootJoy people, call me!), but they do seem to cater to the traditional crowd more than most. I chose this pair, because the style and price all lined up. I can’t give a detailed review t this time as I am still eagerly waiting for them to arrive. I am going to settle for the white & tan saddles at the moment. As I said, my game needs a lot of improvement before I can make justify dropping $200 or more on a pair of golf shoes, but it is good to know that there still are some classic looking golf shoes on the market.

It does seem that there are very few companies targeting the traditional/classic/heritage market. The two biggest players appear to be Footjoy and Allen Edmonds (don’t forget to check the AE shoe bank!). Are there any golf shoes that I overlooked?

Office Trad

by oxford cloth button down on May 25, 2015 in Lifestyle, Style with 12 Comments

I thought this would be a nice follow up piece to last week’s post on dressing for events. I wrote about dressing for the modern office way back in 2015. I think it still holds up pretty well. I do wonder, below I say that this look won’t be antiquated in my lifetime. Now I’m not so sure. Is this still good advice? Will you look outdated? I’d love to hear your what you think in the comment section.

It is no secret that I am an advocate for the traditional American look. I think that it is a way of dressing that will serve one well for the duration of their life. I also think that is a look that will serve one especially well in the workplace. I have listed just of few of these reasons below.
See my uniform of OCBD, khakis, and penny loafers above. I think that this is a good example of the look that could be applied to most business casual settings.

1. Be seen, but not heard. – The look is conservative. It does not draw attention for being extremely colorful (I suggest keeping GTH gear outside of the office. At least until you get a good feel for the office.), inappropriately tight, or revealing. It is not too casual nor is it cuff link and Windsor knot fancy. These are good things. It also demonstrates a neat professional appearance that is generally appreciated by companies. In summary, your clothes will not speak louder than your work.

2. Always appropriate. – This is not a style that changes much. Sure lapel widths, collar points, and the rise on trousers have changed a few times over the last 65 or so years, but not much else. The upshot here is that you won’t have to buy a new wardrobe and change your style every few years, because your clothes are no longer cool. While the look may not always be fashionable it will always be appropriate. I wanted to say that it is more economical as well, but all my trads know that is probably not true!

3. Ready, set, go! – The look is simple, easy to learn, and looks great on almost everyone. My biggest decision in the morning is deciding what color Shetland or tie to wear. The best part is that any of them would work. Someone once told me that this style will allow you to close your eyes, grab some clothes, and still look good. Maybe not great, but good!

The trad look can be an asset to you at the office. That is, as long as you apply it to fit within the parameters of your workplace. If you do this you can navigate almost any office dress code written or not. For example, if your office is dressier add a tie and a blazer. If no one wears ties then lose the tie and the jacket. It’s a perfect style for the office as it will never be outdated (at least in our lifetime), it’s flexible (it can easily be dressed up or down), and it’s a simple style that is easy to learn. Long live penny loafers, chinos, and the OCBD!

Striped Shirt & Striped Tie

by oxford cloth button down on May 17, 2015 in Accessories, Style, Ties with 18 Comments

I often hear (or read) that you should not wear striped ties with striped shirts. I don’t know the origin of this “rule.” It may not even be a rule at all, but a tip to keep sartorial novices such as myself to stay away from pattern matching. What I do know is that wearing striped ties with striped shirts is one of my favorite things.
Pulling off a striped tie with a striped shirt relies on the same principle as any pattern on pattern matching. It is all about scale. It is also not complicated, at least in theory. The two patterns simply have to have enough difference in their scale to work. In general, it tends to work best when the shirt pattern is smaller than the tie’s pattern, but I am sure that there are exceptions to this.

Traditionally I wear a blue university striped OCBD with a striped tie. Like I said, it is one of my favorite looks. However, using different kinds of striped shirts opens up endless possibilities. I am slowly working on adding a new stripe type or color to my closet (Common types of shirt stripes). I recently purchased a pinpoint shirt with red stripes from Brooks Brothers primarily to wear with one tie in particular (see the combo here!), but I know that I will find many more to wear with it through experimentation.

I like rules. They provide structure and guidance. Rules can help you to avoid things that should be avoided without you having to fully understand why. On the flip side, once you better understand the reason for the rule you may be able to apply it as necessary instead of blindly following it. For those of you who don’t do stripes on stripes I hope this post encourages you to give it a go.

From Matunga to Manhattan

by oxford cloth button down on May 10, 2015 in Clothing and History, Historical Fashion, Lifestyle with 1 Comment

The weather has been unseasonably warm here the last few days which led me to jumping the gun on Madras season. While I blame the heat I am not at all upset about this development. It has been gorgeous outside.

A few weeks back a writer from the Daily News and Analysis India approached me about using one of my Madras images (see above) for an upcoming story on the fabric. While they ultimately chose not to use my image I thought that it was an interesting article well worth sharing with all my Madras loving Trads.

There’s apparently nothing in common between Ramasubbu and Brooks Brothers. The former is a street vendor in Matunga Market, Mumbai. The latter, an upmarket men’s clothing brand – the oldest in the US – headquartered in Manhattan. But dig deeper, and you’ll find that they’re inextricably linked by a design so much a part of Indian society that we seldom think twice about it.

Click here for the full read. I am off to enjoy the warm weather.

Saturday Style

by oxford cloth button down on May 3, 2015 in Lifestyle, Style with 12 Comments

I am going to continue talking about casual clothes this week including small collars and even untucked shirts (revolutionary stuff, I know). Commenter Young Soul Rebel asked a question last week about the size of the collar on J.Crew’s popover. I replied that I don’t worry too much about collar size or roll on casual shirts. As a matter of fact this is not the only concern that I throw out the window when it comes to casual clobber.
First let me define what I mean by casual, because there is a lot of it. Before I get attacked for my untucked shirts and shorts let me make it clear that I am not talking about fine dining or an event. I do not consider anything outside of 9 to 5 to be casual. I am talking about a casual that I call Saturday style. This is after work golf practice in my yard type casual. What I would wear to the grocery at 9am Saturday morning, to grab lunch with friends, or conquer weekend errands.
I often find pictures more helpful than words which are why I shared so many in this post instead of trying to describe my casual style. I think that overall I am a fairly conservative dresser, but outside of work this is not nearly as true. As you can see some of the collars are small (though I would prefer they weren’t), the shirt is often untucked, there are white sneakers and grey sweatshirts, and I like it. Just keep in mind where you are going, always be somewhat presentable and you should be fine.

*For those of you that are wondering a few of these pictures are from last year which is why I wearing Madras prior the flag being raised (see the madras flag being lowered here). Not that would stop me.