How to Wear Sneakers with a Sport Coat This Summer

suit with sneakers sneakers with sport coat sport coat with sneakers sneakers with suit styleforum

Picture this: you’re packing for your summer vacation. You’re trying to pick the ideal shoe – something you can wear sockless while carrying your towel bag down the rocks to the beach, but something that also works in the evening when you put on a jacket and trousers – or even a suit.

What you want is a white canvas sneaker.

Before you accuse me of telling you lies, let me assure you that wearing sneakers with a sport coat is a fine thing to do, and it’s pretty common in places that aren’t the USA. Arianna tells me that she can remember seeing Fiat managers wearing sneakers with their charcoal and navy suits, and of course sneakers are all over Pitti Uomo. You don’t have to go full-on captain of industry or Pitti peacock-hashtag-menswear to make the sneakers work, though – you just have to avoid the pitfalls of looking like a Disney star or a child playing dress-up.

Let’s talk about those pitfalls first. If you’re going to wear sneakers with a sport coat or a suit, and you’re after inspiration on how to do it, the first images you’ll find on the internet will probably be of either actor-slash-model types standing on the red carpet wearing really tight clothes and designer high-tops, or waifish Scandinavian dudes wearing black suits with white leather slip-ons inside their million-dollar Youtube-content-creator-slash-graphic-design-influencer offices.

Not that I’m jealous.

The point is, a lot of people try really hard to build their tailored outfits around the sneakers they’ve chosen. Along the way, they often pick up a few more trends – really tight trousers, gingham shirts, skinny ties – and this has the effect of making them look, well, childish. Like they’re playing dress-up. That’s not what you want! What you want is to wear sneakers with a jacket and trousers and look like a well-dressed adult.

So, instead of sizing down on everything you own, treat a pair of canvas plimsolls the same way you would a pair of loafers or espadrilles. Wear them sockless, with a lightweight trouser that’s hemmed at the ankle (or even just above, if you’re really feeling the warm weather look). If you’re wearing a suit, it’s probably safest to go with one that’s obviously made for the warmer weather – say, a cotton number in khaki or even green, or natural linen if that’s what you’re after, but an odd jacket and trousers will work just as easily.

There’s no need to buy something fancy, either. In fact, that sort of goes against the intent. White canvas plimsolls from brands such as Vans or Superga will look great, but if you’re really wanting to branch out you could try a leather slip on from Common Projects or Buttero. In all cases, stick to low-tops. Once you’ve picked your sneakers, the next and final step is to put them on your feet and never think about them again. After all, you’ve a life to enjoy.

suit with sneakers sneakers with sport coat sport coat with sneakers sneakers with suit styleforum

Visiting La Stoffa Clothing

Few clothing companies can lay claim to owning an aesthetic.  The best brands combine beauty with function in a way that is organic and intuitive, when each of their products are simple, alluring, and useful.

This is Stòffa, who I found out about purely by accident.

Months ago, while enjoying drams of Macallan and Highland Park, Ian, a fellow forumite and friend, told me about them in hushed tones of awe.  

“Have you seen their jackets?” he asked, to which I admitted I hadn’t.  “You’ll be hearing about them soon,” he proclaimed, and while my interest was piqued, I never followed up, and quickly forgot.

Later, my editor, Jasper, sends me an email:

Stòffa is doing a trunk show this week in San Francisco.  Write an article.

Since I had to leave for Los Angeles in a few days, I quickly emailed Agyesh of Stòffa.  He was completely booked, but would be doing a trunk show in LA that weekend, so we made an appointment for Sunday.  In the meantime, I did my research: what is Stòffa?

Turns out, Stòffa is everything you ever wanted in a jacket.  And trousers.  And much more.

Sunday rolls around, and I meet Agyesh in a new development in Culver City.  He is keen to meet before he shows me any of his wares, and I’m glad I did.  Over Blue Bottle Coffee, Agyesh reveals himself to be an everyman who loves clothes.  “I was a computer engineer,” he begins, “Developing interfaces for the end user, where their experience was paramount.  Then I worked at Isaia, had an unlimited budget, an amazing mentor and the very best resources at our disposal, and could go anywhere I wanted to creatively.  But the concept felt so detached from the customer – the end user.  And the waste,” his head kicks back and his hands wave. “There is so much waste, did you know that?  

“With Stòffa, it’s practically nothing. With retail, you made so much more than what we sell. It’s almost impossible to get out of that cycle with retailers; I wanted a new supply and delivery chain from the start with Stòffa.”

The way Agyesh is able to do this is simple: take your order, and your order is made.  There is no stock, nothing that may or may not be bought.  There are just four jackets, six options of material, and every piece is made to order.  And more important: made to measure. Also, fabrics are created in such away that they are used across categories, and the same raw yarn used multiple times.

“The guys that I know that are into suits, they are so conscious of fit and proportions,” Agyesh says, “Which is fine, but when they wear casual clothes, they are not nearly as particular. They settle with what is made for them.  That is ridiculous.”

As a man with a stature less like the Adonis-esque models often chosen for menswear, I personally have found that, with suiting, bespoke offers a fit that cannot be achieved with simple alterations to off-the-rack garments.  Agyesh takes that model and applies it to casual wear.  “If you’re short,” he explains, “We won’t simply shorten the sleeves.  We’ll shorten the length, raise the pockets.  Everything to make it look proportional.”

With a background in programming UI and working at one of the world’s most well-known clothing manufacturers, I’m convinced this man knows about how things should fit.  But what about style?

“I had in mind a relaxed and elegant style coupled with a little personality that suits the lifestyle and context of a man in the modern times. Someone who is always one the move and wants to maintain an air of elegance without forced formality through every aspect of his life.”  The result is neither fastidious nor slovenly. Simple and casual, yet elegant.

He then shows me to his samples at the trunk show, and I am awestruck.  Not by anything radical or unusual, but by the distinct approach to an otherwise staid concept.  The four jacket styles are nothing new – their flight jacket, field jacket, asymmetric jacket (similar to a double rider) and longer coat are hallmarks of casual menswear and a staple in most men’s closets.  However, it’s the way in which they are rendered that makes them fresh: large pockets, sweeping collars, and luxe fabrics. 

Agyesh gives me a flight jacket to try on first.  “This is the most elegant,” he says, and I immediately see why.  The clean and familiar lines evoke just enough nostalgia while avoiding gimmicky costume.  Instinctively I reach to put my hands in side pockets, and they’re there.  Agyesh notices. “We wanted to make something practical, not simply an exercise in art,” he says.

Agyesh himself is sporting the asymmetrical jacket in taupe, which looks unassumingly chic with his breezy rumpled linen trousers and beat-up Superga sneakers.  “I’ve had this for over two years,” he says with a smile.  “All of our clothes are tested for a year or more.  It’s something I’ve taken from my years as a developer – nothing was released until it had months of testing.  I wanted to make sure everything not just lasted but looked better with time.”

Finally I tried on the asymmetrical coat, a three-quarter length piece with generous lapels that inconspicuously buttons off-center.  “There is absolutely no structure in this, no lining,” Agyesh explains, “so we had to shape it with seams.”  Indeed, for a coat so light, I’m impressed by its classic cut down through the waist and graceful a-line sweep outward.  This is the  jacket I’m getting.  Or…Agyesh’s.  Or maybe the flight jacket.  

I’m still undecided.

If you’re interested in seeing Stòffa’s wares for yourself, you’ll have to make it to one of their trunk shows – remember, everything is made to order, and you can’t buy the clothes online. Stòffa  has trunk shows every 5-6 weeks in LA, San Francisco, New York, and Stockholm, which hopefully will give you enough time make a decision.

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Inspiration and The Pleasure of Unexpected Menswear Combinations

Sometimes, despite having lived with the contents of our wardrobes for years (or months, for some of our more enthusiastic members), we happen to stumble upon a combination of garments we’ve never worn together before. Sometimes, if the stars have truly aligned, that combination may even be a great combination. I’m not just talking about this constant, social-media-fueled drive to separate ourselves from other, lesser wearers of clothing by sporting nonsensical mixes of stuff. Rather, I’m talking about considered combinations that you just haven’t considered before.

Some of these may come to you as real “Duh” moments – such as realizing that the green grenadine tie you rarely wear actually goes quite well with your brown suit, or what the plain white oxford you forgot you owned goes with just about everything you wear. Other combinations may come from randomly putting a jacket over a shirt and deciding you like the way you look. Still other types of inspiration may smack you in the face while you’re getting into bed, and you’ll think something like, as I recently did, “How come I never wear those beautiful loafers on my shoe shelf?” and pretty soon you’re running over possible combinations in your head.

My fear, as both a reader and writer interested in men’s clothing, is that we very easily get conditioned into safe clothing combinations. This can happen in many ways. On Styleforum, for example, we see it happen when a well-regarded poster shares an outfit in a WAYWT thread, and soon after other posters are attempting something similar until we reach a point when we all think we desperately need the same pair of linen socks for summer.

In the same way, certain combinations are so over-shared by other menswear outlets – every man “needs” a pair of snuff-suede double-monks to wear with worn jeans and a tailored jacket – that pretty soon every item in our wardrobes become part of a set that can’t be broken up. We start to think things such as “I wear these trousers with this jacket and this tie and this shirt, and these jeans with these boots and this jacket and sweater.” Of course, this isn’t always a bad thing. Over time, we all develop favorite combinations that we return to over and over again. However, it can still be a relief to break out of a habit and stumble upon some inspiration.

Many of the people I think of as stylish, both on the forum and in real life, not only dress very well, but dress in a way that makes me think “huh.” Sometimes this comes from unexpected color combinations, sometimes from unexpected or well-done silhouettes I’ve never tried, and sometimes for well-considered details. Especially since this is the time of year when we’re all going through our closets, wondering what we can get rid of, I’d encourage you to take another look at what’s actually hanging inside. If you’re feeling really plucky, you might even lay out some garments on the kitchen table. If you’re lucky, you might even stumble upon a new favorite. 

Member Focus: Stanley van Buren

One of the more (in)famous Styleforum posters, Stanley van Buren is perhaps best-known for his over-the-top photography and dedication to the true art of the Styleforum WAYWT photo. Inspirations for his pictures have ranged from film noir to B-Movie action flicks, and in all cases, he and his wife have made a strong argument for both the usefulness of WAYWT and for the plumbing of its artistic depths. We asked him to talk a little bit about himself – which he did, grudgingly.


 

“Lookin like u jus smoked a blunt n ****** a **** up da **** while watchin Gone Wit Da Wind *** ****” –tcwalter07

Do you remember thumb comments? I remember thumb comments. The above quote was one that I received from the most well-known thumb commenter, tcwalter07, who may also be one of the best success stories of Styleforum’s streetwear & denim forum (though that came later). That quote was printed out and framed along with the photo it was referencing and the whole thing was given to me as a gift at Christmas in front of my family. There was some censoring of a couple letters here and there, and yet I’m pretty sure my parents were still able to work out what the words were. Hopefully it’s reproduced in all its glory here, since Jasper [Styleforum’s editor] specifically told me “No restrictions on content or anything,” words which I was intent on making him regret and so here we are.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, a few years ago, Styleforum switched platforms and the new software had, for the first time, a ratings system for individual posts. One could give a post a “thumbs up” and then the post would show a count of the number of “thumbs” received. Similar to likes on any other social platform, but there was one wrinkle: before the “thumb” was submitted, there was a mandatory field that popped up asking for a comment to be added. There was a character limit, so the message had to be short, and it was possible to leave no comment at all but the option was always presented. For whatever reason, the members of the streetwear & denim forum were light years ahead in taking advantage of this feature. And, in particular, there was tcwalter07.

Around that time, I had a new girlfriend. She is now my wife. For a span of maybe 6 months to a year, we spent a considerable amount of effort to post photos almost entirely just to see what kind of comments we got in the thumbs section (and of course, in particular from tcwalter07). There was also Miran, but that’s another story. Yes, I was already into clothes. Yes, she was already into photography. But now we had found a way to combine the two interests and get some great entertainment out of the feedback from the forum. Shooting photos for styleforum was something we bonded over and had an absolute blast doing, and still do to this day.


It helped that I had already started to establish myself on the forums around that time. I had made the sensible decision, as any member of my generation would do when faced with a desire to gain some sense of style; I had subjected myself to trolls on the internet and let them ridicule me until by process of elimination I had arrived at a respectable wardrobe. I began the transition from a law student in baggy suits to some kind of respectable attorney, or at least, one whose clothes fit. So using that, and whatever else we could get our hands on, we told stories. Stories that involved plaid pants and vintage Fiats and explosions (I was specifically told to talk about the explosions). We took weekend trips out to Palm Springs or up the 395 and would always try to fit in a quick photo shoot if one of us had a good idea (which was and still usually is her).

At some point the “thumb comment” feature was turned off. There were several of us who were quite upset. Dozens, even. Then, everyone got used to being able to thumb a post in one click instead of two, so when, years later, the feature was brought back, most saw it as an inconvenient and unnecessary second click, and few took advantage of the option to leave a comment at that point. Few remembered how thumb comments had been used as an art form in the past. But my wife and me? We’re coming up on five years of marriage this December. We remember thumb comments.


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Packing for a 3 Day Weekend Over Memorial Day

what to pack for a 3 day weekend packing for a 3 day weekend styleforum packing for a 3 day vacation what to pack for a 3 day vacation

The absolute most important rule of packing for a 3 day weekend, and in fact packing for any trip, is: don’t overpack. If you’ll be gone for 3 days, you probably won’t be needing 15 shirts when you wear the same 3 shirts all the time anyway (yeah, we know your secrets). Whether it’s by car or plane, you’re headed off to have fun, not to drag around a full-size checked bag that barely squeezes in under the weight limit. That’s a recipe for a bad time and a lot of stress during both the packing and unpacking periods. The only exception to the “don’t overpack” rule is socks and underwear. I’d recommend bringing an extra one or two pairs of each, because you never know what can happen.

Keep things simple. Pack items you can wear more than once, and pack your favorite pieces – the ones that all go together. Beyond that, think about what you’ll be doing. Nice dinner with family? Barbecue with friends? Running your yearly 10k? If you’re going to be lying by a pool or a beach all weekend, you probably won’t need a suit. On the other hand, if you’re meeting your grandparents for dinner, maybe you do (you probably don’t).

Here’s the thing: a lot of sites are going to tell you that you need things like laundry bags and dopp kits and endless accessories to be prepared for a 3 day weekend. And, if you’re throwing a bag in the back of a car, you have the freedom to pack some extra stuff. If you’re taking a plane, however, it just takes up a lot of room, and all your fancy skin creams and sunscreens are going to have to go in an infernal ziplock bag anyway. Instead of packing a laundry bag, either grab a plastic grocery bag (which can be used to protect your bag from a wet swimsuit), or just use a worn t-shirt to keep your dirty laundry separate in your bag from your clean.

If there’s anything that can’t get wrinkled, fold it flat on the bottom of your bag, then roll things such as tees and undies and pack those on top. If you’re not wearing a jacket to travel, try to keep an extra layer near the top of your bag in case you get chilly. You probably won’t need more than one pair of shoes, but if you’re set on bringing an extra pair, wear the ones that take up more room on your travel day – an elementary tip, but still.

For warm weather vacations, try to bring things that feel good against bare skin in case you don’t want to wear a shirt – that way, you can get up in the morning and pull on a sweater, overshirt, or even jacket against the chill and enjoy the feeling of fine fabric without anything getting in the way. And finally, don’t forget things like sunglasses, sunscreen, and swim trunks.

Oh, and if you’re planning on lounging in the sun, bring some reading material. It’s always nice to take a break from your backlit computer screen.

 

Clothing:

1. Visvim Shawl Collar Cord Jacket at Norse Store

2. Inis Meáin Linen Sweater at Mr. Porter

3. Eidos Band Collar Shirt in Indigo at Unionmade

4. Lady White Co. Tee from County Ltd.

5. Orslow “Ivy Fit” Denim from Blue Button Shop

6. Orlebar Brown “Bulldog” Short

 

Accessories:

This Month’s Most Popular Posts on the Styleforum Instagram

Styleforum’s wide-ranging community isn’t active only on Styleforum.net. You might know that we’re also active on Instagram, and that we often feature Styleforum members who use the hashtag #styleforum.

This month, we reached into the vault to collect the 16 most-liked outfit photos from the Styleforum Instagram page. All of these great looks were found under the #styleforum tag. If that sounds like something you’re interested in, make sure you’re tagging us in your own outfit posts.


Here are the 20 most popular looks from the last month:

best of styleforum instagram best menswear instagram men's fashion instagram best of styleforum instagram best menswear instagram men's fashion instagram

Which of the 20 is your favorite? Let us know in the comments section, and go drop these finely-dressed men a follow. While you’re at it, make sure you’re letting us know about your best looks.


styleforum instagram

Member Focus: Mossrockss

Styleforum member @mossrockss is probably best-known for always looking good in a blazer in jeans. He exists in the very nonchalant space between East Coast Ivy and Neapolitan tailoring, and is as popular on Styleforum for being A Very Nice Guy as he is for his well-considered outfits. Here, he talks about the three pillars of his personal style, and what took him to where he is now.


The Three Pillars of My Style

The first pillar is advice I read in 2007 or 8 in Glenn O’Brien’s Style Guy column in GQ. A reader had asked whether he should wear his trench coat in his car—will it cause undue wear and tear? What does Glenn O’Brien do? Glenn memorably replied that he generally let his car’s highly engineered climate control do its job, but as to whether the reader should be concerned about wear and tear, he replied, “Don’t worry about your coat, it was made for the trenches.”

Wear your clothes. This is foundational to me because I can’t afford to buy and own things I don’t actually wear. I recently posted a picture of myself holding a baby sea turtle on the beach in Mexico, about to release it into the bay, wearing a white Eidos polo. Someone told me, “that shirt is much too nice to be wearing on the beach!”

Forget that. Clothes are meant to be worn. Wear them.

The second pillar is a feeling I had shortly after starting to wear tailored clothes, around 2012 or 2013. I thought something along the lines of “I just want a blazer I can wear dressed down, with jeans and stuff.” I wanted to dress well, in tailored jackets because they make me look better, but without coming across as fussy. The reason I felt like my jackets looked out of place – too “dressed up,” too “put on,” that they were “trying too hard” – was shoulder padding. I had bought a Brooks Brothers navy blazer in the “Regent” cut and tried to dress it down, but I always felt self-conscious wearing it casually. It was those shoulder pads! I saw pic after pic of the knocked-down, natural, pad-free (but not necessarily wadding-free!) Neapolitan style from @whnay, @voxsartoria, @maomao, and others, and I knew that’s what I wanted.

This is why every sportcoat in my wardrobe is now Eidos—soft-shouldered, slightly casual, Neapolitan in heritage, at a price point I can swallow – in textured, unique, fantastic fabrics. And of course it is paramount that the fit on me is perfect like lamb and tuna fish (what, you prefer “spaghetti and meatball?”). I was lucky to get on the Eidos train before it became more about Indian pajamas or whatever, but the key here is the fit and fabric, not the brand (and thankfully, Antonio – @NickPollica – still throws us tailoring fans a bone).

The third pillar is the very simple economics 101 principle of opportunity cost, which was somehow baked into my DNA from birth: When I was a kid and my family would go out to eat somewhere nice, I’d ask my parents if I could choose something on the menu, but get McDonald’s dollar menu food instead, and then they could give me the cost difference in cash (to save up and buy Metal Gear Solid or Tomb Raider II or whatever).

When I first got into clothing, I was a college student on the cusp of graduating and getting married within 4 months. Then I was a poor married guy with no full-time job for about a year. Then I got a modest-paying job while she pursued her dream of running a photography business where all the profits were reinvested in the business. Today I’m in the same modest-paying job, but with a house and its attendant costs. In other words, I’ve never been in a position to drop loads of money on clothing.

My style journey has been the opposite of so many a Styleforum newbie, who discovers he loves clothing, then goes on a ridiculous buying spree dropping thousands before realizing two-thirds to three-quarters of what he’s bought doesn’t fit him, doesn’t suit him, doesn’t work in his life’s circumstances, looks ridiculous on him, and was ultimately a waste of his money. Yes, I have made dumb buys, but thankfully every ill-considered purchase I’ve made has been a second-hand eBay (or B&S) purchase.

Given these three pillars, and since I love tailored clothing but am not a suit guy (don’t need to wear one that often), my wardrobe looks like this:

  • three fall/winter sportcoats (one in dark emerald green, one in brown donegal tweed, one in navy small-herringbone faux-donegal)
  • two spring/summer sportcoats with a third coming soon (one in navy, one in dark chocolate brown with matching suit pants, one in tan)
  • one navy suit in a year-round standard suit fabric that I’ll upgrade at some point.

My shirts and pants collection is a hodgepodge of brands, mostly inexpensive, because opportunity cost (a nice, say, G. Inglese shirt is $300; I’ve gotten some of my Eidos jackets for just over double that. Explain that to me). And shoe-wise, I rotate between four pairs of shoes (snuff suede penny loafers, snuff suede chukkas, tan suede jodhpurs and brown calf double-monks; I’m looking to add some light brown suede tassel loafers to the mix) when I’m not wearing my beat-to-death Sperry canoe mocs.

So, when people tell me “You do the sportcoat and jeans look so well, how do you do it?!,” hopefully this will give you some clues. I’ve spent nearly a decade ruthlessly pursuing my style, figuring out what I feel comfortable in, what makes sense for my life’s circumstances and that I like the way I look in, then trimming away everything that doesn’t get me there. Here’s where I am now:

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Spring Style: Printed Blazer with White Jeans

blazer with white jeans and blazer styleforum printed blazer

I’ve long been a fan of printed blazers, and Post-Imperial, started by Styleforum member @Tirailleur1, brings a beautiful and unique perspective to tailored clothing. The garments are adire-dyed in Nigeria, the founder’s home country, before they’re constructed in New York. It offers a nice counterpoint to the European take on the flaneur, and is cosmopolitan and bohemian in a way that few brands manage to be. If you don’t believe me, believe Yasuto Kamoshita, who is often photographed wearing the ties.

Since it’s getting warmer out, a linen shirt is in order, and a popover is perfect for wearing tieless. Drake’s keeps releasing hit after hit, and their spring lookbook is fantastic – this wide-striped shirt will look equally nice under the jacket or alone, with the sleeves rolled up. It also comes in a spread collar variation, so you’re welcome to choose whichever style better suits your life.

Now, let’s take a moment to discuss white pants. White pants can be, in the right cut and setting, incredibly elegant and well-styled. The problem that I see most often is the propensity to wear them far, far too tight, which is really not something you want to do when wearing white pants, no matter the material. Jeans with a wider thigh – such as these bog-standard 501’s – will be more comfortable in the heat, and look better as well. If you’re really wanting to embrace the artiste vibe, hem the jeans to your ankle and leave them frayed and raw, just as the jacket sleeves are.

To finish it off, add a pair of woven loafers and a printed square. I like these from Barbanera, which are a little sleeker than your usual woven shoe without being too casual. The square is from Kiriko Made, and offers a nice complement to the tonal linen belt.

Finally, you may remember milliner Ana Lamata from our “Best of Pitti” series, and her gorgeous, sculptural, handmade straw hats are perfect for spring and summer. Keep in mind that she is also offers a fully bespoke service, should you decide that you want to work with her directly. The amount of work that goes into each hand-made piece is astonishing, and the results are beautiful.


Terrible Men’s Wedding Style Mistakes

By now, you’ve glanced through or at least bookmarked our guides to dressing for a wedding. Because – seriously – it is about to be wedding season once more, and every year we see the same mistakes. Mistakes that are not just ‘mistakes’ in a pedantic sense, but mistakes that are to be avoided no matter the nature of the wedding or the occasion. Mistakes that you, whether bride or groom or guest, will probably look back on in horror. Life goes on, of course, but these are wedding style mistakes you really should avoid if you’re over the age of 13.

Please.


1. Wearing a vest with no jacket

I have never understood why men insist on doing this. It is, in my mind, the most egregious of all the mistakes on this list, and it accomplishes exactly nothing outside of making the wearer look like a buffoon. Even seeing pictures of this disaster fills me with visceral revulsion. What’s worse is that I read constant affirmations on the internet – “Embrace personal style!”, or “I do this all the time and it looks great!” – and it is absolutely mind-boggling. Just this morning, I read a recommendation that a wedding guest wear a vest, no jacket, a tie with the shirt un-tucked and the top button un-buttoned, and a fedora. I felt like I was dying.

Please, please don’t do this. It won’t make you look “sharp but casual.” It won’t channel “relaxed elegance.” It is not “casual formalwear.” It will look as though you forgot to put on the rest of your clothing, or like you’re a creepy misogynistic pick up artist. There are other, historical reasons for the rise of the waistcoat – a King’s whimsy, the ability to flatter a larger physique, even the existence of pocket watches – but those are stories for another time. If you are wearing a vest, you are wearing a jacket. Period.

2. Wearing a tie with no jacket

In the same vein, there’s no reason to wear a tie if you’re not wearing a jacket. Worse still is wearing a tie with no jacket and leaving your shirt untucked. This is an excellent way to look as though you’re off to high school prom, with no clue how to dress yourself. You’ll appear slovenly and juvenile, neither of which is a good thing to be at a wedding.

Of course, depending on the type of wedding, you may find yourself removing your jacket once the hands of the clock pass a certain hour and the music has gotten louder. While you’ll certainly look better with a jacket on, we understand the impetus. As you will (unless it’s black tie).

3. Wearing a visible crewneck underneath your unbuttoned shirt

Are you noticing a theme here? These are the kind of ‘touches’ you’d expect from an adolescent, not a grown man. It’s fine to wear an undershirt, but keep it hidden. If you don’t, you risk looking like you just came from the gym and didn’t change, and guests will be wondering if you’re also sporting some hidden Cheeto stains.

4. Never buttoning the top button of your shirt when wearing a tie

Again, this will only serve to make you look juvenile. Buy a shirt that fits you properly, and keep it buttoned. You’re not a teenager rebelling against a school dress code, and you’re probably not the lead singer of a punk band (if you are, you should still keep your shirt buttoned at a wedding). As @Butler once told me (while he was wearing a 3-piece bespoke suit and a cape inside an Irish Pub in Florence), “What’s the point of wearing a shirt and tie otherwise?”

5. Wearing a matching tie and pocket square

We understand that many men don’t have much call to wear tie or pocket square these days, and that the temptation to buy an all-in-one kit can be attractive both for its convenience and because you actually get the opportunity to dress up. However, wearing a matching tie-and-square set looks tacky, and should be avoided. Instead, learn how to choose a pocket square on your own, and if the wedding dress code is anything other than “casual,” just wear a white linen square and enjoy the occasion.

6. Renting an ill-fitting suit or tuxedo 

Look, we get it. Why should you have to buy a suit just because someone wants you to come to their wedding? Not everyone has the money, or wants to spend it. You can just rent one, and it’s basically the same thing. Right?

Wrong.

First of all, the chances that your rented suit will actually fit you are miniscule. The places that offer these rentals don’t have a clue what they’re doing, and they don’t care to learn. You are going to look terrible – I guarantee it. Besides, most suit rental packages start around a hundred bucks. If you know what you’re doing, that’s anywhere from half to a quarter of what you’d spend to get a thrifty but well-fitting suit that you can keep, thereby avoiding paying for a crappy rental the next six times you go to a wedding. Besides, a staple suit in charcoal or navy has plenty of utility outside the one wedding you’ve been invited to this year – it will be appropriate for just about any event and any occasion, so once again, you’re getting your money’s worth. You’ll look better, and you’ll be happier in the long run.

7. Bathing in cologne

I’m all for fragrances, but there’s almost no easier way to be “That Guy” than to show up for an event smelling as though you just smashed several bottles of “Man Scent” on the floor and then rolled around in the destruction. Consider your fellow guests: the people sitting next to you during the ceremony (if there’s a ceremony) will be miserable, and they will also be wondering who was rude enough to inflict themselves on the entire wedding party. If it’s an outdoor wedding in the summer heat, you might find that you’ve had a few drinks “accidentally” spilled on you by the end of the day.

Instead, a delicate application is all that’s required. And please – wear something deserving of wearing. You are absolutely forbidden to wear any kind of body spray that comes in an aerosol can.

8. Dressing like blogger bait

Here’s the thing – the thing that an unfortunate number of wedding guests struggle to recognize. You are not the star of the show, even if you read Styleforum. Unless you’re one of the people getting married, your job is not to stand out as much as possible. Your job is to celebrate the love shared between the people who have invited you and the love they have for you, and to accordingly make the proceedings as smooth and elegant as possible out of respect for the event and the company present.

A wedding is not an occasion to wear the loudest colors you can find, leopard-print suits, or cover yourself in absurd accessories (unless, of course, that is the kind of wedding you’re attending). Don’t wear a hat at the dinner table. Don’t wear your favorite basketball jersey. Don’t wear pink plaid trousers and crimson shoes. Wearing extravagant pieces or colors that detract from the attention due to the couple being married is rude and boorish, and I’m certain you’re neither.

9. Constantly bothering the couple about the dress code

Did you read number 8? Did you see the part about the wedding not being about you? How many other things do you think the couple have to consider aside from your questions about whether you can wear your favorite Converse sneakers with your tuxedo, and will they really mind?

If you are genuinely confused by the dress code, it is entirely appropriate to ask for clarification.  It is not appropriate to badger the couple about what you want to wear.  I don’t care if you’re a man or a woman: you may not throw a fit about wardrobe choices, and it is better still to show up to a wedding overdressed than underdressed. Respect the occasion. Respect that you’ve been invited. Don’t make the organizers regret it.

10. Acting like an ass

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, style is about more than the clothing on your body. If you’re going to a wedding, be a gracious guest. The event is not about you. That means that you should, to the best of your ability, follow the dress code; that you should not arrive at the wedding for groomsman and refuse to wear the boutonnière because you don’t like it or think you know better; that you should be friendly and outgoing; that you should congratulate the happy couple on their marriage; that you should not throw a fit; that you should not get too drunk; and that you need to understand that, if it’s the wedding of a friend, there are some stories you don’t share in public.


To recap: a wedding is one of the few times when we really, really recommend dialing back your inner wild child out of respect for the event and the couple. If you are going to a wedding, wear a jacket, shirt, tie, trousers, and respectable shoes. It is better to arrive overdressed than underdressed. Don’t behave or smell like a pig, and you’ll make it out just fine. You might even remember to have a good time along the way.

Member Focus: Frank Cowperwood

This week, we’re pleased to introduce you to @FrankCowperwood, a man who has become, over the last year or two, a standby in the Streetwear WAYWT, in addition to sharing his wisdom throughout the rest of Styleforum. He’s known for his fine taste in shoes, his embrace of color, and his individual style. Here, he shares what brought him to Styleforum – and where he thinks he’ll be in the future.


There’s no good reason to be awake. The sky is Phillip Guston’s colors, livid. The wind is blowing down out of the mountains. The jays are fractious, worrying the dusty cotoneaster in the garden court. Their shrieks punctuate the slow music of the traffic. How did we get here?

Well, for me, it started with Alden. Search for anything Alden, and you’ll as likely as not end up on Styleforum. I did. I wanted to know what color shoe polish to use, and for that matter what was the color of these shoes I’d bought anyway? Whiskey? Cigar? There are answers to these questions, of course.

I appreciated the photos people were posting, too, and so I figured I’d be a good citizen and post some of my own. And once I was on SF, I started having a look around. WAYWT was too advanced for me, but I found an affiliate vendor whose clothes I liked and dove in there. After a bit, I realized that I liked seeing people’s photos of full fits, and decided that, to be a good citizen, I’d contribute some of my own. A little easier said than done.

I upgraded my camera, found a place to put it and came to terms with the self portrait as a traditional exercise of art, only recently debased by banal selfies and their haphazard funhouse angles.


From there I’ve wandered into other affiliate vendors’ threads and found interesting stuff. And I worked up the courage to post in the WAYWT threads. There are, I think, various dynamics at play in the thumbs farmed in these threads, and really the worst that happens is that, if you’re polite, you realize that perhaps the outfit you shared wasn’t so interesting really. Don’t worry, you’ll live without the affirmation.

I’ll be the first to admit that I can wander around a little bit in my style. Sometimes the trousers are slimmer, and sometimes they’re wider. There’s been more denim recently. And a lot of popovers – though I’m not sure that’s obvious. Many of my fits gravitate toward some intersection of workwear and dadcore, I think, with a more-than-lingering fondness for patchwork and loafers that goes back to my younger days. Throw some wannabe cowboy and dirtbag in there too. And then there’s what seems to be a growing tendency to Google things I like and find out that they are big in Japan. That may be walnut-overdyed denim, or boots with triple leather soles and two kinds of leather.


Oh, and back to my my shoes. They are often the wrong color, or too many of them are anyway. I did just finally acquire a pair in black.

Living where there are seasons (albeit including one that can best be described as ‘generally grey,’ in a way that’s reminiscent of Dickens’ description of London at the open of Bleak House, but without the mud so much because of paving) means I get to wear long coats and shearling collars and alpaca lining (these are warm!) and boots and sweaters and leather jackets, but also linen and indigo-dyed tees and, maybe a bit more now, washed denim. I’ll skip the shorts, and for some reason I never end up with sneakers.


I have a vision of my style reaching a point of elegant deshabille, though good old American acquisitiveness has made this hard to realize. That’s my fault, of course. Not the clothing’s. Don’t blame the clothing. I’m getting there with a few things, but looking back through my SF photos I also realize I own, ahem, a few garments I haven’t worn in a while.


So now you know how we got here. And maybe a little about where it all may be going. But don’t put too much down on the black, you play it and the red comes up. In the end, you may just find me rolling off a freight and down an embankment in sight of the Panamints, dusty and ecstatic, the undyed leather on my jacket and boots gone orange and red like the sun behind me reflecting on the peaks. In silence, but not by the sea. And on the other side, it won’t be the heat that gets me. It will be the humidity.