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500 wears, 150 washes, & Time Flies

by oxford cloth button down on January 12, 2024 in Style with 10 Comments

I was doing some laundry when I noticed some fraying on a pair of chinos, then saw the start of a hole, and I thought to myself, “That happens quicker than you’d think.”. I took a look at the tag to see exactly when it was that I got them. The answer was spring 2017. Wow, time flies.

I have 2 pairs of these J.Crew 770 chinos that I wear casually. They are a bit slimmer than my go to 1040 J.Crew pants that I wear or rather wore to the office. These casual khakis see action several times a week and especially on the weekend. I would guess that I wash one pair every week on hot and dry hot. I am hard on them. I do this with a lot of my casual gear ala Seinfeld. Cue the quote,

JERRY: But see, look at the collar. It’s fraying. Golden Boy is slowly dying. Each wash brings him one step closer. That’s what makes the t-shirt such a tragic figure.

JERRY: Elaine, see this t-shirt? Six years I’ve had this t-shirt. It’s my best one. I call him… Golden Boy.

ELAINE: Yeah, I’m on the phone here.

JERRY: Golden Boy’s always the first shirt I wear out of the laundry. Here. Touch Golden Boy.

ELAINE: No thanks. [to phone] Yeah, yeah, I’ll hold.

JERRY: But see, look at the collar. It’s fraying. Golden Boy is slowly dying. Each wash brings him one step closer. That’s what makes the t-shirt such a tragic figure.

ELAINE: Why don’t you just let Golden Boy soak in the sink with some Woolite?

JERRY: No! The reason he’s the iron man is because he goes out there and he plays every game. Wash! Spin! Rinse! Spin! You take that away from him, you break his spirit!

Back to the chinos. Doing some bad math I have had them for a little over 6 years. Continuing with my quick and dirty math that’s somewhere around 500 wears and 150 or so washes. In actuality probably more than that, but I will let the numbers stand. The wear and tear is in all the typical places that you’d expect. The cuffs are fraying and there are some holes developing around the back pockets. Despite the onset deterioration they still have quite a bit of life left in them.

I think I paid around $50 per pair for these khakis. In my opinion that’s money well spent. I might try my hand at some mending down the road. Before I head out I thought I’d ask, “With a wider silhouette being the norm these days are these pants too slim?” See pics below. Sometimes I think yes, and other times I think not really. I appreciate the input.

Tropical Ivy & Rainforest Trad

by oxford cloth button down on January 5, 2024 in Lifestyle, Style with 10 Comments

I have been MIA from the blog the last two weeks on vacation. I was down in Costa Rica with the family and it was glorious. I don’t get many trad fits off on my vacations. Most of the time we are enjoying the great outdoors, but I do have a few tips for this kind of weather. The type of tropical weather that I am talking about is hot, often humid, and with a good amount of on again/off again rain in the mix. As I said we hike and explore so this is more rainforest trad than your typical resort style tropical ivy.

Let’s start with fit. Bigger is better when it comes to hot weather. Baggy clothes or a more refined word might be billowy, allows for a layer of air to get in between you and your clothes. This will help keep you cool. This is one of the reasons why I often size up in my madras shirts especially my popovers. That and it makes my popovers easier to get on and off. If you wear popovers you will relate. Baggier isn’t just better for shirts, but shorts and pants as well.

Sizing is important, but so is fabric. You want a fabric that breathes. Natural fibers are the natural chaoice. It also helps if it can dry quickly. I have mentioned in the past that linen isn’t my thing, but I do have a cheap linen/cotton popover from Target that I like and brought along (see below). I may be coming around on linen. I like it when I can make it look more rugged than refined. More on that later. The fabrics I stuck with are madras, lightweight cotton, and some synthetics which are my Patagonia baggies.

It is going to rain. This is one thing that you have to accept in a rainforest climate. I think my biggest takeaway is that no matter how light your rain jacket is it’s going to be too hot. You have a few choices. You can use an umbrella (a popular local option), wear a ball cap, or just accept being wet. I typically go with a ball cap for light rain or I will put on a long sleeve shirt to soak up the misty rain and remove it after it stops (see my pic with my Costa Rican friend below for an example). The locals all seem to favor PFG gear for this very reason which makes a lot of sense. I may have to give this a go next time around.

Who were the winners on this trip? My Patagonia baggies, J.Press Madras, old Merona brand cotton/linen popover, and green cut off cargo pants were my most worn items. Runners up were my old LE Original Oxford and Jcrew cotton henley which both served as rain jackets on a few occasions. I can’t forget to mention my Ralph Lauren madras cap and much beloved grey t-shirts. My Patagonia web belt also came in handy because it’s light to wear and because it matches nothing it works with everything.

I love visiting Costa Rica. This was my second time there. There will definitely be a third and a fourth. There are volcanoes, beaches, jungles, fresh fruit/juice, gallo pinto, wild life, sweet plantains, friendly people, amazing coffee, and I can’t forget to mention all the cool 4×4’s! Enjoy the bonus pics below!

Collar Roll Roll Up

by oxford cloth button down on December 15, 2023 in Style with No comments

We are always talking about collar roll over here at the OCBD blog. Today is no different. This week I pulled together a few posts that dive into the nitty gritty details that effect collar roll. Let’s get right to it.

First up, renowned UK ivyist The Weejun has been back blogging. Not too long ago he went on a long rant ( his words, not mine) about button placements where he named names and pulled no punches. Here is an excerpt below, head on over to The Weejun for the full post: The Weejun Rants On Collar Buttons

But who really stops and thinks about where those buttons should be placed on a collar? Aside from us freaks of course. Well, people surely don’t because they (and we) assume the makers of such fine wares know what they’re doing and where the buttons should be placed on the collar of a shirt.

You see where I might be going with this?

It’s all about the ‘tips’, ladies and gentlemen.

That’s right. The buttons are supposed to be on the TIP of the collar points.

2. Next up I talked briefly about the collar band, collar band types, and how they can influence collar roll in my COLLAR ROLL VARIABLES: THE TOP BUTTON post.

I had never given much thought to the collar band on my shirts before. However, when I started to search for a new OCBD provider it jumped out at me pretty quick. The first OCBD that I tried was from Brooks Brothers. When I put it on I immediately noticed that the collar band…

3. Finally, I address the two biggest reasons that collars don’t roll in the “Why Won’t my Collar Roll” post. Before I sign off I do have a question that’s been in the back of mind which is, do Adam’s apples influence collar roll? That’s all for this week. May your collars always roll, your ties always dimple, and your eBay purchases always work out.

Shetland & a Long Sleeve T-Shirt

by oxford cloth button down on November 30, 2023 in Style with 13 Comments

The world keeps getting more casual while us trad’s try to remain the same. I’ve always struggled with casual outfits. When I say casual I don’t mean business casual. I am talking about Saturday type casual. I’ve had some success with switching out my chinos for green fatigue styled pants, wearing flannel shirts, and by leaving my shirts untucked. Lately I decided to branch out even further.

The trad’s instinct is to always wear an OCBD under a sweater. This is a great instinct because the shirt keeps wool off your skin and the OCBD collar gently protruding from under the sweater just looks fantastic. The problem is that this is my go to office look so it doesn’t look all that casual when I do it. Even if I swap my penny loafers for blucher mocs it doesn’t quite get there. Sneakers help, but this has been my casual Friday look. My current solution has been wearing a long sleeve t-shirt under my sweaters.

As I was writing this post I realized that this is a look that I have done done in the past. However back then I typically used a turtleneck. This is a nice way to dress this look up a touch and it still looks more casual than wearing an OCBD underneath. I am currently a big fan of the long sleeve-t though. It’s even more casual looking especially when paired with jeans, fatigues, or even our beloved chinos.

I can’t leave without mentioning how this look really helps with one specific type of sweater. The tennis sweaters or cricket sweater (depending on which side of the pond you live on) can have some 80’s movie spoiled/evil rich kid baggage. The t-shirt underneath seems to help kill a lot of that vibe. I hope this helps any of you that are struggling with those weekend casual looks. Before you ask, I just wear Hanes or Fruit of Loom long sleeve t’s!

People Watching: Charlie Don’t Surf

by oxford cloth button down on November 10, 2023 in Style with 4 Comments

This week I am back with another installment of people watching. Although he longer posts this UK based all-around cool guy who goes by Charlie don’t surf on IG (see here) continues to give me inspiration. Specifically he gives me fall/winter inspo with his casual-leaning-heavy-duty-rugged-ivy style mixing trad, ivy, and old school/new school gorp with fantastic results. It reminds me of an updated version of the 70s trad looks that HTJ used to post and it is really good.

Here’s how he does it. He goes for a boxier straight but not super baggy silhouette. The pants are almost always denim, but there is the occasional corduroy 5-pockets in brown. The shirts are OCBDs in blue or white. His shetlands are typically earth tones. The outerwear is rugged 70s gorp (down jackets, down vests, 60/40 jackets, etc.) and always offer a nice contrast with his sweater. The shoes are casual, often chunky and suede (Padmore 204s, camp mocs, Paraboots, desert boots, grey New Balance). His accessories are a cap (bucket or baseball) and a ribbon belt in green/red. David’s style is a study in silhouette, color, and texture. Couple that with his knowledge of self and you have some very very good fits.

A few takeaways. David’s reinforces my belief that a simple uniform style approach to getting dressed is the way to go. He keeps it simple, does variations on what works for him/what he likes, and it pays off. I have never really been into low top wallabee style shoes or ribbon belts, but now I am considering both. If you like his old school outdoor outerwear look for older REI, L.L. Bean, and brown label North Face on Ebay. You know I love my old green down vest. David is more proof that you can look cool wearing trad/ivy and that it doesn’t have to be all heyday, repp ties, and navy blazers even though that’s cool too.

After checking out this post you might also enjoy, The Late 70s Prep Checklist that I did back in 2015. It can provide some more inspiration for this style. I’ve included more pics of David below. Be warned, when imitating these looks that he is a very cool guy and your results may vary. Have a great weekend!