What to Wear When It’s Still Warm

The best time to visit San Francisco is now.  Arriving at the chilly heels of “Fogust”, fortune favors those who visit during mid-September to mid-October, when you are all but guaranteed plenty of daylight, clear skies, and warm sunshine.  Not surprisingly, it’s also the most popular time for weddings in the Bay Area, including my own twenty years ago.  I remember being a bit incredulous when my wife scheduled our wedding for early October, but her confidence was rewarded with wonderfully mild temperatures, perfectly suited for an outdoor garden wedding.  I should have never doubted her.

Fortuitously, it’s also the ideal weather for transitional clothes, those baby-bear pieces that are too airy for the dead of winter and too oppressive for the peak of summer, but just right for right now.  Think breathable linen sweaters, gauzy cotton trousers, and lightweight tops that can be layered.  Never mind that you can only practically wear them a couple months of the year; when that time comes, you’ll be wondering how you ever lived without them.

Inis Meain linen tunic, Eidos cotton boucle trousers

There are a few designers that offer choices for this kind of weather, but none stands out as much as Steve Calder.  Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Steve’s line Informale includes clothes for all seasons, both tailored and casual, but his mid-season clothes are the most compelling to me personally, particularly the double-pleated trouser in 280 gram linen (about 10 ounces).  With a hidden elastic waistband, high rise, relaxed and slightly tapered leg, they have been my go-to trousers practically every moment I wasn’t working or in bed, and look good with everything from loafers and a sport coat to sneakers and a t-shirt, on the streets or the beach.

Eidos jacket in linen/cotton, 18Waits polo shirt in double-faced linen/cotton gauze, Informale trousers in linen, Kilim and Shoes slippers

This aesthetic seems to permeate most of Steve’s Instagram, which is how I got to know of him (and a great source of inspiration for transitional clothes in general).  His feed is full of outfits that interpret classic clothes for a casual environment, and while all of the items are familiar to menswear, it’s not strictly menswear, and neither is it streetwear.  The overall impression is sophisticated but not ceremonial, unstudied but not sloppy.  Or as Steve calls it: sartorial casualwear.

Informale is essentially born out of my own personal style,” Steve relates.  “I wouldn’t say it fills a void or is super unique, but I do want to make sure it has our own signature, a small detail or fabric which can’t be found anywhere else.  When I started seeking out casual pieces to mix in with my tailoring, I noticed that there weren’t many casual options that mix well with the kind of classic, soft tailoring that I was making.  Everything started with the dream of making a pair of drawstring linen trousers with a tailored cut that I just couldn’t find anywhere. I figured, how hard could it be to find someone local in Melbourne who can make me a pair of pants?  And that was what drove me to seek out someone who could make my dream a reality.”

When it comes to styling, Steve says Informale can work piecemeal or wholesale.  “Don’t worry about buying into the entire look; pick and choose the pieces that will work best for you and your own personal style.  I like to believe our designs are simple and easy enough to work seamlessly into our clients’ existing wardrobe.” 

I love flannel as much as the next guy, but before you go all tweedy for winter, ease your way out of summer with transitional clothes while it’s still warm.

pictures mine and courtesy of Steve calder of informale

Labor Wear for Fall

Carhartt recently released a video for Labor Day that good-naturedly highlights the rookie gaffes of apprentices, and you should watch it, because it’s wonderful. I’ve done at least three or four of these, and as embarrassing as it is, everyone stumbles when taking their first steps, and it’s good practice to laugh at yourself, if not then, at least in retrospect. 

I like to think it’s in honor of those who suffered for those benefits we sometimes take for granted that workwear has become such an ingrained part of everyday clothing.  From denim to duck cloth, one can hardly walk down a street anywhere in the industrialized world without seeing something that references the hard-wearing togs of the common laborer.  Many of the upcoming fall/winter collections include a sweeping variety to choose from, so if you don’t feel like going all-out with hickory-striped coveralls and hi-viz, you’ve got plenty of other options.  Here are my favorites for the early season.

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Pitti Uomo 96 Streetstyle Photos – Part 3

The first and second days of Pitti are insane – meetings, parties, and press. The third day slows down dramatically, and by the fourth day, everyone just wants to go home. Presently on the train to Rome to start my trip home, I’m just now realizing that I mostly trawled the booths to take as much advantage of the air conditioning as I could. I should have taken more pictures, but I did catch a lot of video, so check out the stories on Styleforum’s Instagram on these makers:

  • Craftsman Clothing
  • Amidé Hadelin
  • Freenote Cloth
  • Man 1924
  • Valstar
  • Stefano Cau
  • Made With Hart
Andreas in the swealtering heat.
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Styleforum All New Buy&Sell forum – FAQs

You might have noticed the Buy&Sell section of the forum has changed as well.
We were able to improve the navigation of the forum by adding categories and filters that will help you browse the classifieds.

HOW DO I CREATE A LISTING (CLASSIFIED)?

Click on the “Add Classified” button on the top right corner of the page. Fill in the information and upload the pictures in the description box.

IMPORTANT: In order for the listing to show up properly on the Buy&Sell home page, you’ll need to upload a Cover Image.
You can do so after clicking “Save” once you’ve filled in the information on the page.
You will see your listed item and you will have the option to add a cover image using the button placed on the top right corner:

After uploading your cover image, your classified will appear on the home page of the Buy&Sell forum. If you do not upload a cover image, your listing will not feature any image.

HOW DO I EDIT A CLASSIFIED?

You can edit a classified by clicking on the “Edit” button that appears on the top right corner of the classified page:

Styleforum Upgrade – FAQs

You may have noticed that we recently had a little makeover. We upgraded to a better and more intuitive interface that will hopefully make your experience on Styleforum even better and more satisfying.

Here is a list of FAQs: please read them before contacting an admin with any questions you might have regarding the update.

If you do have questions that are not addressed below, please send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to reply in a timely manner (but please excuse any delays – we are working hard to make this transition as smooth as possible!)

Please note that we’ve been working through some minor technical issues (notably email notifications and native notifications) so please keep that in mind and bear with us as we fix these.

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Altering Jacket Shoulders is Possible

I went against rule number one when considering tailoring modifications–altering your jacket shoulders. For a (recovering) vintage collector like me, the risk was completely worthwhile in order to try to salvage some of my most prized pieces. The results ended up surprising me, just like how they will probably surprise you as you continue in this article.

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