Traveling Light- Versatility

Back in this post I preached about the virtues of versatility, so now I wanted to put that into practice. In this shoot with The Bizi Bee, I took a very basic set of clothes and threw them together to show how versatile pieces can give you a range of options without the need for a huge closet.

In this case, the idea was to “pack” light. Maybe you’ve got a business trip to Chicago. Maybe you’ve got a weekend of strippers and cocaine in Las Vegas. Who am I to judge? But if you're packing the right things, you can fill a carry-on with a wardrobe that'll last a week.

Start with a suit. A suit is a traveler's best friend, because it give you three options. First, obviously, you can wear the suit, should the need for full-fledged formality arise.

A white oxford cloth button-down is also a great thing to have, because it's comfortable and it goes anywhere. Once you find one you like, buy two or three. That way, you'll always have at least one clean one in your rotation.

Start with the suit, ditch the tie and belt, throw on a different shirt, and you'll have yourself something more casual to work with. This gingham shirt is sort of a pale blue, so it's not too far off from white. That makes it versatile (since you can pair it with damn near anything you could with a white shirt) and thus a great companion to a white shirt (for your suitcase or closet).

A white cotton pocket square is cheap (mine was $8), it’ll fit in with pretty much any shirt/tie combo, and it’s an instant style upgrade that’ll set you apart from the rest of the schleps in suits.

Of course, you can also lose the jacket and just wear the pants. No need to look this creepy.

Everything you see in this post was able to fit in this weekender bag. I had three shirts (white, gingham, and blue plaid), two pairs of shoes (one dress and one more casual), a pair of jeans, a tie, and the suit. I also had two pocket squares, because I’m the affected style type who would pack two pocket squares.

Wear jeans with the shirt and tie, throw on the jacket as a separate, and now you've got a classy look for a night of dinner, drinks, and whatever else the kids do these days. As a side note, the denim of these jeans is very lightweight, so they're comfortable enough to wear in the summer. Fabric is an important aspect you should consider when deciding on what to bring on a trip (or buy in a store).

I haven’t updated my cooties vaccine in years, so needless to say I was VERY uncomfortable during this shoot. Wasn’t lying though when I said girls fawn over me. Not sure if it’s the rugged good looks or the devil-may-care attitude.

Cotton suit by Calibrate, shirts all by J.Crew, jeans by Banana Republic, shoes by Cole Haan and Sperry Top-Sider, tie by Calvin Klein, watch by Marc Jacobs (with NATO strap, seen here), glasses by Warby Parker (feat. here), weekender bag by Polo Ralph Lauren.

Thanks for reading, and be on the lookout for upcoming posts featuring the cotton suit,

MD

NATO Straps for Summer

It’s my birthday this week. And before you get all, Congratulations!-y, let me stop you right there and say, I’m not a big fan of birthdays. Part of it is because I have the soul of a 90-year-old curmudgeon. But the main reason is because for some reason, birthdays give people a sense of entitlement that supposedly justifies them being drunken, annoying brats all day. I don’t care if your mom pooped you out 25 years ago (that’s how it works, right?), you’re being a complete jackass right NOW and your mother would be embarrassed to see you. 

That being said, I can’t find a good reason to deny myself some simple pleasure in order to modestly celebrate my own birthday. I went a little crazy this year and bought myself a new NATO strap for my watch.

I don’t think I can sing enough praises for why you should invest in these. #1 they add flexibility to your watch, because #2 they’re easy to install and swap out, and #3 they’re cheap. It’s no problem to grab a couple in different colors/styles and switch them out depending on your outfit/mood/daily de rigueur (Yeah I speak a little French).

For my first go-around, I went with an olive band, which I found for $13 on Amazon. I chose olive because it’s a neutral color that can go with most anything, and I thought it’d be a cool nod to the NATO strap’s military origins. For details on how to install, check out this site here (which is picture heavy), or the one from my Facebook page (which has more detailed instructions). Just find one in the same millimeter width as your watch (which you can find online if you look up your watch from a retailer and check the tech specs) and take care when removing the spring pins. Other than that, it’s not hard at all. 

One thing to consider, which I learned the hard way: Not all straps are designed the same. Notice the difference in these two nylon straps.

The one on the left has a lot more fabric between the watch bezel and the clasp, while the olive one has barely any. This affects how the watch sits on your wrist. I didn’t take notice of this when I bought the olive strap, and I personally prefer to have more fabric between the bezel and clasp, because the whole thing feels more like a normal band. 

The clasp on the olive strap sits on the side of my wrist, which is an odd feel if you’re used to that being under your wrist. However, it does make for a more rugged, military-inspired look (good thing I went with olive huh?). In any case, make sure to look at the thing before you actually pull the trigger so you know what you’re getting. Though at $13 a piece, you can afford more than one. 

More news as it develops,

MD

PS- find your new strap to be too long? Check out this video on how to shorten it.


PSS- also consider the size (i.e. length) of the strap. Nearly one month in and I've found my strap has stretched a bit, enough so that I've had to go down (or is it up?) holes in the strap. What I mean is I'm having to wear the strap tighter so the watch won't slide on my wrist, but I'm now on the last hole. Maybe it's because I have baby wrists, but just something to take into account when buying and sizing.

Here's the story of Bonnie and Clyde

If you didn’t notice it here, my friend Bizi and I worked on our first (of many hopefully) collaborative photo-shoot. Normally here at Midwest-Dressed I offer simple, foundational style tips to help you get the ball rolling on upgrading your wardrobe. Hopefully now, you can start to see some of my advice in action. And, with summer coming and my schedule clearing considerably, I’ll be able to send a lot of similar content your way. 

The inspiration here was 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde," with a modern twist.

Want to step up your suit game without reinvesting completely? First, find yourself a good tailor. Notice my my pants are tapered, and my figure is slim. Warren’s is boxy. That’s an excess of fabric, not fat, and any good tailor can make your suit cut a lean figure, even if you can’t. 

Another simple step? Throw on a pair of crazy socks. This trend seems to have nearly cemented itself in menswear, which is nice because it allows you to break out from the boring browns and blacks you’re probably pairing with dress shoes. Find something that compliments what you’re wearing (or your date) to tie the look together. 

Socks by Happy Socks, Tie by Public Opinion, Shirt by Calibrate, Shoes by Cole Haan

The same goes for ties. The above tie is linen, and cut a bit slimmer (which kind of goes against the spirit of the point collar, dress shirt). Also note, the dark purple and gray pair nicely with the pale purple shirt. There’s no problem with matching colors, as long as you’re not overly matchy by wearing things exactly the same color and shade.

Again, peep below. Silk, purple tie, with a charcoal and white checkered, button-down shirt (which actually has faint, thin purple lines criss-crossing it). You can do a lot with the same color palette if you’re mixing up shades, patterns, textures, etc.   

Tie by Calibrate, Shirt by Gap, Vintage Burberry Hat that was my grandfather's and which I generally don't wear except to theme parties

This time, blue on blue. Shirt by J.Crew, Tie by Clavin Klein

Had to end with a badass pic, or do I sound like a tool saying that about myself? Anyways, simple OCBD, black silk bow tie (although don’t wear a bow tie intentionally untied. More on this later this week). All suits were by Ben Sherman, which I thoroughly recommend. Their pieces are solid quality fabric and construction for the price, and since they’re British based, they’re cut fairly slim. They fit me great off the rack and require only a minimal of tailoring (because all suits require tailoring). 

Shirt by J.Crew, Tie by Bruno Piatelli, Watch by Marc Jacobs, as seen here

Special thanks to Bizi for participating and her wonderful mother for taking pictures/putting up with us for an afternoon. Lord knows I was hungover.

More news as it develops,

MD