The Case for Selvage Denim →

The mark of selvage denim. (This picture is from Wikipedia, from this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Selvagedenim.jpg. Don's sue me, bro!)

They’re Dark!

Dark denim will take you many more places than will light denim, mainly because it is generally more formal than the latter. You can’t (well, shouldn’t, at least) wear light jeans to a dinner or to a club, but you can most certainly wear dark jeans to a picnic or to your local grocer. As far as selvage denim goes, you would have a hard time looking for a light-colored pair of selvage jeans. The vast majority come in some sort of a dark rinse. So if you’re buying selvage jeans, you’re probably buying dark jeans.

They’re Durable!

The word “selvage” is a transformation of “self edge.” Instead of having a frayed edge like you would when you cut a piece of fabric, this type of fabric is folded onto itself, creating a “self edge.” Or something like that, I dunno. What do I look like, some fabric aficionado? Sheesh! If you wanna know the real reason why they’re durable then ask someone who knows their fabrics. Just know that they’re infinitely more durable than washed jeans by some strange magic. It’s not too easy to rip these things in everyday wear.

They Age Well!

Like a fine wine, really. As you wear them, they will fade and distress naturally. So the marks and the wrinkles all belong to you, and make them one-of-a-kind. If you’ve ever bought a pair of pre-distressed jeans, you may have observed that the distress marks behind the knees (the honeycombs, as they are apparently called) do not always land where your knees are. This is especially true if you’re short like me, damnit. I often find my honeycombs at my calves. Distress like that make it obvious that you bought those jeans that way, whereas with raw selvage jeans the whiskers and honeycombs will land as they should because you’re the one who made them. They will also soften in time and feel much more comfortable if comfort is a concern to you.

They’re Versatile!

When you put the above together, you see you can wear selvage jeans in these ways: You can wear them every day, and build their character stacks and honeycombs quicker, or you can save them for dinners and other special occasions and keep them nice and crisp and dark. Either way, you’ll have yourself a quality pair of jeans.

As with any other jeans, make sure they fit. These awesome jeans won’t do you any good if you’re not wearing your proper size. My favorite is a slim-fitting pair (see title link); not too loose, not too tight. Get them hemmed to the right length, too. Also - and I cannot emphasize this enough - avoid washing your selvage jeans as much as possible. If you must, get them dry-cleaned. Or wash them cold by themselves.

Follow these words and you will have a pair of jeans that could very well last you a lifetime - and look continually better along the way.

The title links to some selvage jeans from Gap, by the way. They are quite reasonably priced for selvage jeans and the fit is exactly as I would recommend for them. They were also featured in article about jeans in GQ, if you care. Save the size 28’s for me, though; I call dibs on them.

whats your glasses prescription

Perhaps it’s just my own personal opinion, but I adamantly disagree with it. You wouldn’t wear your sunglasses at night, would you? (Don’t give me some Hyphy Movement mumbo-jumbo either; that princess is in another castle.) Likewise, you wouldn’t wear braces if your teeth were straight, right? So why would you wear glasses if your vision is just fine?
To me the point of glasses is to correct one’s vision if it needs to be corrected. As one who is required to wear them every day, glasses are not so much a fashion piece as they are a necessity. They just so happen to look cool.
I just imagine the scenario where a person with novelty glasses is asked something along the lines of “Cool glasses, what’s their prescription?” How would that person respond?

Long story short, I’m against it. Leave the glasses to those who need them. But that’s just my opinion.

…What was that? Oh, sorry! I thought the question was “What do you think of people who wear non-prescription glasses?” Well good sir or madam, I’m not too sure of that myself. I have it written down somewhere but I’m too lazy to look at it right now.

Ask me anything

What stylish AND budget friendly gift would you suggest for a guy who needs to dress to professionally impress?

Here are some suggestions:
- A slim (not skinny), thick silk necktie.
- A well-fitting, white or light-colored (think powdery pink or pastel blue) shirt.
- A solid cotton v-neck sweater in black, navy or gray. Red would be good also, though not everyone thinks so.
- A simple silver tie bar or tie clip. Most men don’t bother with one, but it makes a noticeable difference.

When choosing a necktie, a shirt or a v-neck sweater, I highly recommend that you choose one in a solid color (or bi-colored stripes, in the case of the necktie), as it will be the most versatile. Also make sure there isn’t some sort of screen print or such on it. Trust me, that giant eagle print on the back of the shirt will not sit well with his higher-ups at work.

Also if you want to buy him an article of clothing, make sure you know his size and his body type. You don’t want to buy him a super-slim shirt when he’s on the round side; likewise, you wouldn’t want to buy him a full-sized shirt with a box pleat in the back if he’s real skinny.

Basically you want to buy him something that will he can wear often and keep for a long time. You don’t want to buy him something he’ll wear once and never wear again because it doesn’t go with anything he has in his wardrobe, do you?

As for where to buy it, you can get a real good deal at H&M and Zara. Gap is pretty good too I guess, and you can catch some pretty good deals at Express also if your timing is right.

If it were for me, I’d want a dark gray v-neck sweater from H&M. It’s less than twenty bucks, but it is one of the most flexible pieces in any working man’s wardrobe.

Ask me anything

Do you know why men’s dressy shoes have such wide rubber soles? For example: http://img.alibaba.com/photo/50342780/Men_s_Dress_Shoes.jpg

Heavens forbid they think it’s fashionable, ‘cuz in most cases it’s not (bar work boots and/or combat boots, which seem to have a moment right now - not that I keep track of fashion trends or anything).
In terms of sole width, it provides for more traction and less slippage. More surface area covered by your shoes means more grip with the ground - and more grip means less slipping. Conversely, less surface area means more slippage. (Ladies, think about walking across a mopped floor in heels and you’ll know what I’m talking about.) I for one prefer slimmer soles, ‘cuz they look fancier.
In terms of sole thickness, it’s a matter of durability. As you may or may not have noticed, most thick soles are made of rubber. That’s because while rubber is a much cheaper sole option than leather, and also provides more grip, it’s not as durable, and wears out easily. Manufacturers thus make soles thicker to make the soles last longer.
Also, thick rubber soles make stomping around in muck and mire much easier - and safer, too. Would you rather accidentally step on the sharp end of a syringe wearing your Toms or your Red Wings?

Ask me anything

formspring.me

My Formspring misses your questions.
http://formspring.me/JohnQSmith

What is the best way to rock a skinny tie?

I’d really prefer slim ties over skinny ones, mainly because wearing skinny ties are one step closer to bolo ties. But if you really wanna wear that skinny tie out, here, I’ll give you some tips:

- Keep to a small collar. You don’t want your four-in-hand drowning in a large flappy collar.
- Solid shirts are always a safe bet. Stripes are acceptable as long as the stripes are not as wide as your tie.
- Keep your shirt slim. That means no box pleats in the back.
- The same thing applies to your pants and your jacket. Slim. You don’t want your tie getting lost in all that loose fabric.
- And the lapels, too. Keep those slim too.

So, uh, yeah. Keep your stuff on the trim side. It’ll give your outfit the right proportions.

Again, I’d much rather have a slim tie, but that’s just me. Do yo’ thang, meng.

Ask me anything

Warby Parker →

Warby Parker's Huxley in Tennessee Whiskey

Okay, so I love my Burberry frames to death and all, but damn - I payed too much for them.

Well, not really. I mean, they were about $240- after insurance and tax and what not, but still, compared to these bad boys (above) I totally did. I mean, come on - $98- for a pair of glasses, with prescription lenses included? Given the choice I would rather have gotten two pairs from Warby Parker than the ones I have on now! (Not really. Must be that $142 Burberry logo.)

Okay, so let me tell you how these guys work. They’re an online glasses retailer. And I know you’re all like, “That’s horrible! How am I supposed to know how they look on me?” but Warby’s got a nice thing for that. You see, they have this “Home Try-On” thing, wherein (as the name implies) you can try on their frames at home. You pick up to five frames that you wanna try on at home and they’ll send you those frames free of charge to try on. So you do your thing with them and try them on and what not. Then you tell them which ones you want and send back all the frames you tried on (in a pre-paid, um, envelope I guess?), and they send you back the frames you wanted with the prescription lenses in place.

Oh yeah, they look nice, too. Look at those Huxley’s up there. For $98 it’s real nice. They’ve got frames for girls, too, and those look nice as well. And a monocle too, apparently.

Oh, and they do this thing where they donate a pair of glasses to a glasses charity for each pair of glasses they sell. Kinda like Tom’s shoes in glasses form. All we need is a clothing store to do the same and we’ll have some real stylish poor people. But I digress.

One last thing. In my personal opinion, glasses should be worn on an as-needed basis. I dunno, to me wearing glasses without a prescription is kind of like wearing sunglasses at night. It serves no purpose other than to make you look douchey. But hey, that’s just my opinion.

Stop listening to me rant and check out warbyparker.com already.

The Only Parka You'll Ever Need →

Gobi Parka in Dark Grey from ContextClothing.com

I’ve never been a fan of parkas until I saw this jacket last year. Sadly, I had caught glimpse of it too late (Spring was just around the corner at the time), but it’s back and still looking as awesome as ever.

What distinguishes this jacket from the others is the detailing. The PJS patch, the metal collar latch, the yellow straps and all the other details brings this bad boy ahead of the pack. I mean, damn! Wearing this makes me feel like I’m about to rescue some musher trapped in an avalanche in the Alaskan wilderness!

Not really, but the utility detailing really adds machismo to the parka. And if you really did find yourself rescuing some musher in the Alaskan wild while wearing this jacket, you’d be the most stylish musher rescuer in the Alaskan wild.

Good luck finding this jacket, though. Not many retailers sell it, and when one does it sells out fast.

Brooks Brothers | Men | Classic Cotton | Extra Slim Fit →

Traditional and conservative clothier Brooks Brothers is slimming up its collection. A sign of the times.

The Shawl-Collared Cardigan →

Shawl-Collared Cardigan from Rugby Ralph Lauren

This, gentlemen, is the sweater that will get you through this winter. Think of it as a cardigan, except with a shawl collar to keep your neck warm. But enough with the redundancies. Put one of these bad boys inside a wool blazer (preferably in gray or navy) and pair it with some jeans and desert boots for a look that’s, well, befitting of Rugby Ralph Lauren.

The usual sweater rules apply with this cardigan: You want it slim and fitting, with armholes as high as they can be. And you’ll want the cardigan to go an inch below your belt line at its longest.

Try one out, I say. Your neck will thank you in these colder months.