Category Archives: Style

A Cream Suit for Summer with @Andy57

Posted on by

We’ve featured @Andy57 before, and always admire the ease he brings to tailored clothing. We also think he brings impressive panache to daily life, in a way that we could all learn from. He’s also the resident master of the cream jacket – whether as part of a suit or worn separately – so take notes. We asked him to detail his signature summer look: the outfit he returns to during the warmer months, and why he enjoys wearing it. 

I would say that my signature summer look, such as it is, would be the cream or ivory linen suit. It’s a look I’ve been iterating on for several years, learning a little from each attempt.

My first foray into wearing a cream suit was a three-piece Brooks Brothers off-the-rack linen suit. As I wore it I started to realize that there were fit issues that I couldn’t ignore and style issues that bothered me increasingly. My second effort was also from Brooks Brothers, and was a jacket and matching trousers from their “Gatsby” collection from a few years ago. I preferred the style, but it was made from a herringbone linen. I have found herringbone linen to be too soft to make successfully into trousers that can keep their shape even slightly.

About a year ago I purchased a suit length of a Fox Brothers vintage bolt in a very lightweight ivory worsted wool cloth. I had this made into a lovely double-breasted suit that I wore extensively last summer. As nice as it is, and it is still in heavy use during the warmer months, I still wanted that cream linen look that I had in my mind’s eye.

Finally, last winter I bought a suit length of a London Lounge heavy Irish linen, in a rich cream color and had it made into another double-breasted suit. Finally I have a linen suit made from cloth heavy enough that it does not wrinkle, it keeps its shape and has that perfect summer vibe to it.

I’ve worn it with a shirt and tie, but my preferred look is to wear it with a Marol shirt with their “holiday” collar, which has that perfect roll and can only be worn open, having no collar button. Worn with spectator shoes, a cravat, and complimentary pocket square, I have my signature summer look.

Editor’s take: when made up in linen, a cream suit really hits the perfect summer note.  It’s also particularly versatile in the warmer months, when it can be worn during the day or at night (although we feel @Andy57 would be inclined to put on a dinner jacket).  And, as it is definitely not a conservative or business-ready color, cream garments encourage wearing for pleasure. 

Want more great cream suits? Follow Andy on Instagram.

A Talk with Allan Baudoin of Baudoin and Lange

Posted on by

Allan Baudoin is a London-based bespoke shoemaker. He is also one half of the team behind Baudoin and Lange, the ready-to-wear offshoot of his bespoke atelier which focuses on production of the “Sagan” loafer. Baudoin and Lange is led by Allan Baudoin and Bo van Langeveld. In this article, Allan answered our questions about what led him to shoemaking as a young man, what he loves about it, and about his work at large – both as a bespoke shoemaker and with the Baudoin and Lange brand.

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

allan baudoin interview stylefourm baudoin lange styleforum interview

Styleforum: On the Baudoin and Lange website, you go out of your way to mention that both of you come from backgrounds not related to shoemaking or even to menswear. How have these diverse perspectives influenced the growth of Allan Baudoin Bespoke and Baudoin & Lange?

Allan Baudoin: My “background” is in computer science and business. I did not train in shoemaking formally, but had to learn everything on the spot under the pressure of building a name and an income for me in the early days – this means that mistakes are only made once, and you get to touch a lot more of shoemaking than under an apprenticeship.
I had to quickly learn to manage artisans and make decision that went beyond my formal knowledge. In the end, intuition plays a great part in making shoes – that and experience – and luckily I instantly “clicked” with the craft and everything around it. For the first time, I was working on something that felt very natural for me, and I got better at the craft with each iteration to reach the level of knowledge required to launch into RTW with Baudoin & Lange.
Bespoke and RTW use different parts of the brain; a lot more planning is involved as volumes grow, but you always need that bespoke “practicality” to come up with innovative elements and ways of doing beautiful work with nothing. I think one important factor in the growth of B&L is the complementarity of the skills I have with Bo. We are the inverse of each other, and that works very well for running a business. Bo comes from a finance background, having worked in private equity, and is an ex-competitive driver. I don’t have a license, so that tells you a lot about how different we are. In the end, the best decisions are reached by compromise between our two mentalities.

SF: Are there aspects of bespoke shoemaking that you were intent on keeping in your RTW line, or that lended themselves particularly well to your project? Similarly, were there aspects of the bespoke process that you knew would not translate – or even be detrimental – to an RTW line?

AB: I think the lines and aesthetics of my RTW work are very similar to my bespoke, and I did transfer (and improved) on some bespoke shoemaking techniques from the latter to the former – such as brass nail decoration which is now on every pair we make as our logo.allan baudoin interview stylefourm baudoin lange styleforum interview
Of course, some aspects of bespoke have to be systematized to become viable for a RTW line. We still hand-last each pair entirely and close the shoes entirely by hand, but obviously some aspects – like blocking insoles by hand – make no sense in RTW. However, our insoles are still blocked and shaped to the last before lasting, so they do curve around the last – which is rare in RTW.
Many techniques that I learned in bespoke I removed on purpose from the RTW project of Baudoin and Lange. For example, a bespoke shoe has hard counters and toe puffs, uses calf and lining – our Sagan loafers are unlined and unconstructed,  which means they are very easy to fit compared to a normally constructed shoe. This translates into extreme comfort from the first use – by removing something akin to traditional bespoke shoemaking, you end up with the exact same result, and a very large part of our clients are bespoke shoe buyers.

SF: I’ve heard that before starting your shoemaking line you briefly worked at Apple, and referred to your time as “disillusioning.” Even so, are there aspects of working with a large company that you miss, or lessons you learned during your time there that you think are applicable to your current life as a shoemaker?

AB: That’s indeed true, you must have heard this from an early interview probably quite soon after I had left the corporate life and was working from a tiny 10-square-meter workshop out of east-London. I think I was really not wired to work in the kind of spaces and environment that most large companies offer. As a shoemaker, I probably did not take away anything from working in an office, but as a designer and new company owner I do owe a lot to my previous background in computer science and business school.
allan baudoin interview stylefourm baudoin lange styleforum interview
I’ve always been inspired by Apple design and manufacturing principles. The amount of design work and lack of compromise that the ideas go through from inception to execution without being dropped is hugee, because at Apple only great design ideas make it to the finished product. The vision comes from the user experience designers and hardware designers first; the manufacturing team is there to make it happen no matter how hard or how much work has to be put in. It makes everything easier when the product is perfected beyond the competitions’ standards. I think that’s something we try to emulate at B&L – some features our customers need to have in their shoes – and we find ways to incorporate them, sometimes by going very different routes than what a standard shoe company would do.

SF: What was it about shoemaking in particular that appealed to you? Were there other crafts you found equally enjoyable?

AB: I’ve always wanted to know how shoes were made. I think that for me, this is the craft that uses the most of my strengths – touch and the eye. Touch, because it all starts with leathers, and to use the proper kind in the right application takes a lot of gauging, of imagining the properties of the piece you’re holding and figuring out how best to use it for this or this other purpose. The eye, because everything is always in progress while making shoes, and your eyes guide you through the many steps. There is so much checking involved when making shoes, and nothing works faster and better than a trained eye. Being observant is something one is born with, and for some reason I think I’ve unintentionally or intentionally scanned every person’s shoe I have ever seen since I can remember. It is so incredibly rare to see someone with beautiful shoes that fit them – it’s about knowing what works for you.allan baudoin interview stylefourm baudoin lange styleforum interview
Now that I know shoemaking (to a satisfying level, in my opinion), I start to see other crafts as more attainable – and now I want to make too many things! I got to know tailoring a bit from how close our industries are related, but I’ve never been fond of working with soft fabrics. I don’t know why, but how fragile and flimsy they seem to be to work with is something I can’t cope with.
I really like sanding and finishing things at the moment, and so the things I d like to learn for myself one day would probably be watch case making and knife making. I love both watches and knives so that would be useful things to make for myself and I same as for shoes, there are no watches design that I really crave in the market so perhaps I could do something there. For me, all crafts have become more and more fascinating and they all connect at some level. I feel really at home with makers; we have a common language I think.
SF:Can you tell us about the process by which you became involved with the London shoemaking scene? What drew you to the art? How long did it take you to think: “This is what I want to do?”
AB: It took me approximately one week to decide that I wanted to do this. I really just came out of nowhere, I knew nothing about shoemaking or making anything actually – but when I visited a shoemaker close to my apartment in East London everything changed. I was in a mental place at that time where I felt I could do anything, and that anything goes as long as you enjoy it (I had just come back from going to Burning Man in the desert of Nevada, so that did leave an impression on me, the way everybody there was sharing their “trip” to the fullest with absolutely no regard to judgment about it. There, anything goes; everybody comes to share what they are about and in such a beautiful and generous way that it is hard to describe in words what the experience is like.
allan baudoin interview stylefourm baudoin lange styleforum interview I knew absolutely no one in the industry or even in anything related to it, I was introduced to makers by going from workshop to workshop thanks to my laster, and I went on to discover every aspect of the craft by myself by spending time with artisans.
Then, the shoes that I had made at first for me, then my friends and my 1st and 2nd degree network, found their way to a wider audience thanks to social networks.  I did get to talk and meet people who really knew a lot of industry people – first in mind is meeting with Simon Crompton [of Permanent Style] – a guy I had no idea I’d get along with so well. I was not even a reader of any blogs before I met him for lunch one day with no other purpose than to say hi and talk shoes and craft (which seems the way we connect with anyone in this little world of ours). I really have to thank Simon for his help in getting the word out, he introduced my work to everybody he knew. Mark Cho [of The Armoury] has also been incredibly helpful and supportive from the first day he ordered shoes from us.
SF: It appears that the Sagan loafer began as a bespoke or MTO project. How did that come about? 
AB : The Sagan indeed came from the atelier, when I was in the need for a pair of easy to slip-on, all-day comfortable pair to wear around the workshop while making bespoke shoes. My clients and some industry people around me soon took notice and started buying them.
Actually, a lot of tailors and cutters on Savile Row were among my first customers because of how comfortable they are to wear in the workshop while standing, and how well they served and looked in front of customers – perhaps their patronage helped put them on the feet of the right people at the beginning. I still get emails from people telling me that their tailor has recommended them. Today we are stocked in a lot of specialized shops that carry great tailoring brands.

SF: Why did you want this to be your first RTW shoe, and why build an entire brand behind it? How do you see it being worn?

allan baudoin interview stylefourm baudoin lange styleforum interview AB: The idea is of a versatile, extremely comfortable loafer that can go with as many environments as possible in one pair of shoes; from evening wear to summer wear, home use, travel and every day use at the office.
I felt the Sagan really deserved to have an entire brand built around it, because the concept is a new and innovative one – it just needs explanation and focus. At B&L we only make Sagans, and that is how much we believe in the concept. This laser-focus on one product translates to quality of craft and service.
I think the product is very innovative for the industry and for the luxury shoe market in general. I think we’re creating our own space instead of finding a gap in the market. It takes time, but I don’t see other brand or makers as competition – I never have. Every pair is different in use, and I feel no other shoe can replace the Sagan.

SF:Baudoin and Lange is a very accessible brand. Many shoemakers go the other direction – why choose accessibility over exclusivity?

AB: Bespoke shoemakers choose exclusivity by default, because the way a bespoke shoe is made is simply not focused on price sensitivity or lead times. That makes the product very expensive and hard to get which is the definition of exclusivity. I do like the idea of a very small number of aficionados enjoying and recognizing the work that goes into my bespoke shoes – it is a passion that connects us.
However, I really don’t think a great product like the Sagan would benefit from such an approach. Our goal is to put as many great looking, comfortable shoes on the feet of people as possible, not just for a select few who can afford it. Many retailers have told us we could charge double what we do but that’s simply restricting ourselves to a smaller market for no real reason.

SF: Can you describe a bit of the “flow” of the creation and production process? I’m aware that you have several partners in the pattern-making and construction processes – can you walk us through the creation and production of a new shoe for the Allan Baudoin line? Does this differ for the Baudoin and Lange line?

AB: I have a pattern maker, a clicker, a closer, two lasters, and a finisher and we all work really well together. I’d say an AB and a BL shoe start exactly the same way and go through the exact same initial process, but the AB goes to only one customer and uses only one skin of leather, whereas the BLs have to made for a lot more people, which requires many more steps.

It all starts with the last. I usually make lasts myself from “unturned toe” wooden lasts, meaning the toe is left wide and rough, while the heel to the joint area are made to the specific measures I give my last “factory” in France.

A first last is made to do the pattern making. This last and pattern will most certainly be modified a few times to accommodate changes I want to make, which happen constantly – I think the Sagan pattern was remade at least 50 times to accommodate changes in leathers, lasts, insoles, and other tweaks.

allan baudoin interview stylefourm baudoin lange styleforum interview Parallel to that is the work in sourcing and tanning the leathers we use for soles, insoles, uppers, fitting, bindings, and other pieces – they are all made to our specification and color ways that I have chosen over time. I never use ready-made colors or articles (leathers have countless specs) – you just can’t ask a tannery to have the best taste in color or substance and texture.

I will usually spend a lot of time with my pattern maker and closer when making Sagans (a lot of the work is in the stitching of the upper and the fine design details of each variation), and with my lasters for MTM/Bespoke, as these are always made with different sole types and construction methods. I always quality check every shoe, bespoke and Sagan alike, that comes out of the atelier, to make sure they are made as well as possible. This also allows me to spot problems and constantly perfect the shoes.

Every batch we make is always better than the last one, as I tend to always spot new “imperfections” we can improve upon. I think the Sagan range is now very close to perfection, but we always come up with new things, so it is a never ending process. Perfection does not exist, only the perception of perfection – for a trained eye nothing is perfect. I’m pretty sure you could ask any bespoke shoemaker if they are happy with their last work, and they will say “No” regardless of how perfect it looks to the outside world. We know exactly how good the shoes are, and that’s just never good enough. This is, I believe, the drive (and the curse) of the shoemaker.

SF: You’re still very young – do you feel, now, that you’ve found your niche in shoemaking? Or do you still have a bit of the restlessness in you that took you away from your first career path?

I am always restless. I have found a passion and obsession in shoemaking, and I have built a lot around it both personally and professionally. I intend to keep evolving and see where that takes me. I am always interested in all kinds of crafts and topics related to our industry, so you never what will come out of this!

allan baudoin interview stylefourm baudoin lange styleforum interview

Styleforum Member Focus: ChetB

Posted on by

Styleforum, meet ChetB. He flits between CM and SW&D so easily you’d think he was an Internet ghost, but like many of us, he just has a lot of interests. This week, he tells about the lows and highs of online menswear hobby-chasing, and how he ended up where is today.

Luxury Sweatpants (Or: What I Wore While Wasting My Life)

I saw the the best minds of my generation dressed by the internet, starving for 15% off codes, dragging themselves through the Mr. Porter sale section looking for an angry fix (preferably something blue from Japan).

Like other millennial dudes who grew up in the age of the internet, I too have suffered for #fashion. Questing for sick fadez, I sat in a bathtub with jeans on, the cold blue water swirling around me, as clouded as my judgment. I bought suede jackets from Belgian designers too expensive and delicate to wear in the kind of weather you need a jacket for. I wrote eBay listings with phrases like “pit to pit” and “plenty of life left.” I learned to tell forward pleats from reverse pleats and barely wince when I hear “shirting” or “trousers” or “pop of color.” I collected quote-unquote wardrobe essentials the way 80s kid–me collected baseball cards. At my lowest, I searched for cool walls to stand in front of while my wife took pictures of my outfits, which I then posted to the internet in order to farm thumbs from people named “Jet” and “Mr. Moo,” blurring my face to hide the shame.

I used the words “luxury” and “sweatpants” in the same sentence, in consecutive order. I sized down two. I sized up one. I wore shirts made from seven other shirts.

How did I get here? How did we get here?

Slip-Sliding the Slippery Slope

The answer, for me, is a question: “How should my suit fit?”

That’s what I asked Google a decade ago. I was starting my first job out of college and didn’t know how to dress for it. I landed on a site called Styleforum, a place where, among other banalities, grown men fight about how best to fold small pieces of silk. Years later, I’m still down the rabbit hole, exploring all the nooks and hidden passages, emerging only occasionally in chunky baller knits and/or drop crotch pants.

For as far as things have come, they started out slow. I spent a lot of time at first scouring dusty thrift shops, scooping up Paul Stuart ties, vintage Oxxford suits, and L.L. Bean boots. At that point clothing wasn’t so much a hobby to enjoy as it was a problem to solve. As if once you collected all the essential ingredients your closet was “complete.” Like beating a video game or something.

Things changed in a dingy thrift shop in rural Utah, when I happened upon a black Maison Margiela suit. It was like that scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, when early man encounters the mysterious black monoliths. What’s with all the numbers on the tag? Why the exposed white stitches on the back, and the weird cut? Though I didn’t know what to make of it all, for $10, I took it home.

My tastes didn’t change overnight. But now I wondered: what else is out there? Soon my wardrobe of “sensible basics” started looking like a sea of boring, the blue Brooks Brothers collars rolling in like tiny waves. I was ready to start having more fun.

Dreeze Van What?

I never get the chance to talk about fashion IRL. (Except for once, at Costco, when a guy asked me if my Blue Blue Japan jacket was Engineered Garments, and if I knew where the taquitos were). Which is fine with me. I’d probably flub the pronunciation of my favorite designers’ names anyway.

But I’m happy that there’s a community online where it’s not weird to talk about how pants should “break” or why epaulets are lame. A place where people understand my excitement at finding a Hunstman of Savile Row shepherds check tie at Goodwill for a dollar (which, incidentally, I wore at my wedding a year ago) or a vintage shop coat or a Brioni jacket.

As time goes by, I find myself becoming less and less prescriptivist and narrow-focused and instead learning to enjoy all the vast possibilities. It feels sometimes like you’re supposed to pick a team: “I’m a Neapolitan tailoring guy,” or “I’m a workwear guy,” or “I’m a 90s sportswear guy” or “techwear is my thing.” But things are more interesting when you don’t pick a side.

Have fun. Experiment. Don’t be uptight about it. It’s just clothing.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

You can follow ChetB on Instagram

Alternative Outfit Inspiration from Pitti Uomo

Posted on by

Alternative Outfit Inspiration from Pitti Uomo st

Do you know how difficult it is to find a purple blazer that doesn’t come with a picture of Prince on its accompanying costume box? It’s certainly not easy, and that’s one of the reasons I really love this photo for a bit of alternative summer inspiration. Combined with the grey band-collar popover, it’s a really nice, washed-out color combination that’s eye-catching in a good way – and a far cry from the garish neon colors that are no doubt on display on the wall just out of sight. It’s interesting – to me – how much of Pitti has inflitrated Styleforum and is now seen as normal, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing. In the USA, men’s tailoring gets more relaxed every year, and it’s nice to see an outfit that makes you excited about tailored wear, rather than bored. This is relaxed, it’s worn well, and even the lilac straw hat doesn’t look out of place – because come on, it’s Pitti.

I’ve said it before a million times, but there are countless well-dressed men at Pitti, and that includes those who dress well outside the confines of the very real Styleforum Groupthink. It’s a pity that the only ones who get the press continue to be the peacocks, especially as the shift in the last few seasons has been towards streetwear peacocks – a different subspecies, I suppose, but an equally boring one.

Perhaps what I like best about the photo, though, is that it shows one of style’s real truths: it’s more about how you wear the clothes than what you’re wearing, and less about centimeter-perfect fit from top to bottom. When you meet stylish people at Pitti, they come across as stylish not across the main plaza of the Fortezza, but in conversation. This man’s at home in his clothing, and you should be too.

Styleforum Member Instagram Inspiration

Posted on by

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. Direct from our feed, here’s some Styleforum member Instagram Inspiration.

This month, we reached into the vault to collect the 18 most-liked outfit photos from the Styleforum Instagram page. All of these great looks were found under the #styleforum tag, and one was the feature of a Styleforum Member Focus. If that sounds like something you’re interested in, make sure you’re tagging us in your own outfit posts (and following us, of course).

Which of the below is your favorite?

Styleforum Member Instagram styleforum member instagram styleforum instagram

Styleforum Member Instagram styleforum member instagram styleforum instagram

 

styleforum instagram

What My Father Taught Me About Clothing

Posted on by

My father had a routine before every Memorial.  An hour or two before leaving, he’d take out a shoebox and begin layering newspapers on the table.  Out of the shoebox came two tins of Kiwi shoe wax, a brush, and an old shirt.  After daubing a bit of black on a clean spot on the shirt, he’d swirl the wax on the leather while the shoe sat on the newspapers.  After a few minutes, he’d take the other shoe and repeat the process on the other shoe.  Returning to the first, he’d brush it until it reached a dull shine, then on to the second, and finish by grabbing the shirt with his hands on both ends and buff the toe and vamp to a high gloss.

“At least once a year,” he proclaimed, “you should shine your shoes.”

To his credit, my father never shared my enthusiasm for menswear.  He didn’t care who made his suit, what kind of leather his shoes were, or if his shirt was Sea Island cotton; provenance didn’t concern him.  What did matter, as evidenced by virtually every memory I have of my father in a suit over the years, was simplicity and propriety.

He always wore a white shirt.  In later years he ventured into blues and light greys, but they were always solid.  Ties were never too skinny or fat, trousers never too narrow or wide, jackets never too short or long. Mostly, the ties were solid silk twill. Once, I found a black velvet tie with yellow flowers in his closet that I had never seen him wear.  For a split second I had a vision of my dad as one of All The Young Dudes on Barnaby Street in Cuban heels and bellbottoms.  When I asked him about it, he shrugged indifferently.

“I think I wore that once, but it wasn’t me.  You can have it.”

No, velvet was not my dad.  Neither were bellbottoms, Cuban heels, leisure suits, polyester prints, beads, or anything else that ever pushed the envelope.  Even at his most rebellious spell as a teenager, his craziest outfits were comprised of Levi’s 501s and sweatshirts or Ocean Pacific shorts and t-shirts, which he still wears today.  Footwear was a pair of dress shoes, a pair of work boots, and flip flops.  That’s it.  His closet was lean, practical, basic.

Every year as we grew my parents would take us shopping to get new jeans, so when the faded jeans fad arrived, we felt out of style.  My dad’s jeans, though, looked just like them.  I remember asking him how he got them like that – were they stonewashed?  Acid washed?  Blasted?

“I just wear them and wash them,” he replied.  The concept of wearing something for years is understandably foreign to a growing child, but now that I think about it, those jeans were probably as old as I was at the time.  In fact, I don’t remember my father ever buying new jeans.  He’d just wear what he had until it fell apart.

During my late teens I went through a skater phase, when Jive ruled the world and pants had leg openings big enough to cover your suede Pumas.  At this point my dad stopped telling me what to wear, but he did warn me:  “One of these days,” he’d say, “when you dress normal again, you’re going to look back and laugh.”

I can truthfully say that day has come.

Today, I have a shoebox of my own, and shine my shoes before every Memorial. As it turns out, I now wear jeans and flannels to work like my father did. In fact, a large part of my closet reflects what my father taught me about clothing.  While it’s true that the sheer volume of clothes I have could dress an entire football team, the players would all look pretty much the same: properly conventional.

My dad always had a solid tie in his closet, something that I find myself reaching for probably more often than I should.  Almost all of my shirts are plain, white or blue, with one yellow and one pink for when it’s sunny and I feel audacious.  The striped shirts I do have are also blue.  Most of my suits are solid colors, and my sport coats are all in a varying shade of brown.  None of my dress clothes are terribly exciting.  I have only one pair of what might be considered “nice” jeans, but everything else is years old, missing buttons, starting to get holes, or already patched.

If my dad were to look in my closet, he’d shake his head at the size of it.  He’d laugh when I showed him the difference between the collar roll of an unlined Brooks Brothers oxford cloth shirt and an Italian-made one.  He’d shrug in indifference at the clean, taped seams inside a bespoke jacket, or the buttoned cuffs of a locally-made trouser.  He’s just a no-fuss kind of guy, and he’d probably think my interest borders on the obsessive.  But I’d wager he’d wear everything in my closet, not realizing how much it mirrors his.

At least I’d like to think so.  I should ask him.what my father taught me about clothing styleforum dad style styleforum

Pitti Uomo Outfit Inspiration from Andreas Klow

Posted on by

pitti uomo 92 streetstyle styleforum pitti 92 streetstyle styleforum pitti uomo 92 men's style styleforum pitti uomo 92 men's streetstyle styleforum pitti men's streetstyle styleforum pitti men's style styleforum pitti 92 men's streetstyle styleforum best pitti streetstyle best pitti uomo streetstyle best pitti 92 streetstyle best pitti uomo 92 streetstyle photos from pitti uomo 92streetstyle photos from pitti uomo 92 pitti outfit inspiration styleforum pitti uomo outfit inspiration styleforum

This week, I thought it would be fun to take some Pitti Uomo outfit inspiration from Andreas Klow, who has been our photographer in Florence for Pitti Uomo 92. In particular, I quite like this picture – not one he took, but one he’s in, so that we can see how the photographer himself dresses. Of course, he’s in good company: he’s standing next to Simon Crompton of Permanent Style and Greg Lellouche of SF affiliate No Man Walks Alone, both of whom are some of the better-dressed men at Pitti each season, but he’s holding his own very well.

I also like that this picture shows one of the big draws of Pitti: the cordial atmosphere outside the Fortezza, and how generally good-natured people are despite the heat. After all, Pitti is as much a chance to see old friends (and shake on some business deals) as it is a tradeshow – and a chance to enjoy a lot of free cocktails.

In this photo, I particularly like how Andreas has paired dark colors in a way that still manages to look summery and comfortable. A green jacket is a great and oft-overlooked option, and Andreas (well, all three of these handsome gents) does a great job showing how relaxed and comfortable and generally un-stuffy tailoring can look. It’s neither restrictive nor is it overwrought in Pitti Peacock fashion – all in all, a great summer look.

Oh, and it looks as though beards are still in fashion, so if you’re fortunate enough to be able to grow a nice one (sob), I suppose you can take comfort in your facial hair being on-trend (though why you’d want a beard for summer I don’t know).

Our garments this week are all relaxed, summery options – and all Italian, of course. When you’re considering your summer tailored outfits, consider some less traditional, more saturated colors, and enjoy the change of pace.

Streetstyle Photos from Pitti Uomo 92, Day 2

Posted on by

Day 2 is over, and once again Andreas has put together a selection of his best streetstyle photos from Pitti Uomo 92. See any familiar faces?

All photos: Andreas Klow

Pitti Uomo 92 Streetstyle Day 1

Pitti Uomo 92 Streetstyle Day 3

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pitti Uomo 92 Streetstyle: Day 1

Posted on by

This summer, Andreas Klow is in Florence on Styleforum’s behalf, taking photos of the proceedings. In the slideshow below, see his take on Pitti Uomo 92 Streetstyle from Day 1 of the fair.

All photos: Andreas Klow

Pitti Uomo 92 Streetstyle Day 2

Pitti Uomo 92 Streetstyle Day 3

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Making Smart Menswear Purchases

Posted on by

In my last post, I talked about developing a capsule wardrobe. The concept behind a capsule wardrobe is that you have a small collection of stylish basics that all — or mostly all — work together. However, some of us aren’t driven by a need for simplicity. We don’t really need or want to wear a uniform, nor do we need the comfort that comes knowing that any combination of what’s in our closet will look good. Some of us just like clothes and want to look cool when we are seen by other people. This week, I’ll discuss building a versatile wardrobe by making smart menswear purchases – and more specifically, how to know whether to make those purchases.  

Popping tags is fun, and of course the fashion industry grinds on, which makes us want something a little fresh and new every once in a while. Usually, there’s a catch: most of us don’t understand the intricacies of clothing’s historical context, nor do we have the time to read it all for ourselves — nor do we have, most of us, the closet space to house all the things we would buy if time and money were no object. 

And so we make purchases based on what we like – often either what’s new or what’s on sale. “Ooh, an extra 40% off those sweet Wallace & Barnes selvedge chinos!” UPS delivers them a few days later, and you find that they don’t quite look as good with your only pair of nice shoes – museum calf double monk straps – as you thought they would.

The best way to avoid this is to use a framework for your decision-making, one that will ideally keep you from buying garments you don’t need or won’t wear. I’m going to use the metaphor of a picture frame to describe how I make these decisions: there are four sides to a frame, and each side represents a question you can ask yourself as you look through the frame at the item you’re sweating over with credit card in hand.

Question 1: how does the garment fit, formality-wise, within the context of what I wear?

I love me some military field jackets, but generally speaking, my favorite clothing is tailored. Those two don’t fit together very well, except under specific circumstances (i.e. your tailoring is very casual, or your M65 is more of a refined homage to the field jacket instead of a literal reproduction garment). Nine times out of 10, when I go to get dressed on an evening out, I’m reaching for tailoring, not “workwear” or “streetwear.” That’s okay. Other guys rock the M65 all the time, and I admire their style – but that’s just not me.

Similarly, if you only wear tees and broken-in selvedge denim, the midnight navy shawl lapel tuxedo jacket you have your eye on probably isn’t going to give you a lot of use.

For help in understanding how to answer this question from the perspective of someone who regularly wears a jacket and tie, browse the Internet archive version of Vox’s Coherent Combinations for Beginners thread. It was eye opening for me, and it may be for you too. It can help you place your different garments where they belong contextually.

Making smart menswear purchases styleforum

This M65 looked awesome, but I never wore it because none of the rest of my wardrobe at the time looked good with it. So I sold it at a loss.

Question 2: is my wardrobe seasonally balanced?

In building my wardrobe, I have tried to make sure I have good clothes to wear when it’s warm or when it’s cold. It’s hard to keep parity between the seasons because, in the world of tailoring, cold weather gear is immensely more interesting (tweeds, flannel, ancient madder, suede – you know the drill) than summer clothing. I’ve had to consciously ask myself whether what I’m looking to buy fills a more immediate need in one season or the other. You don’t want to be stylish only half the year, even if there’s never been a better deal on a cashmere crewneck than during a summer sale. Try your best to build a complete wardrobe, not one that’s full of nothing but beautiful winter coats.

Question 3: if I buy this now, will I regret it if something else on my wish list is available in a month and I can’t afford it because of this purchase?

One of the major driving forces of my life is opportunity cost. I’ve found time and again that when I get emotionally invested and buy something that isn’t a “need” so much as it is a “want,” shortly thereafter I regret the purchase because something I really do need comes available. 

Take stock of the holes in your wardrobe, and know what you need. That way, when something that makes your heart beat fast comes along, you’ll be able to honestly assess whether it’s something you need and would actually get wear out of, or if it’s just the thrill of popping tags you’re after.

Making smart menswear purchases styleforum

I spent an inordinate sum of money in alterations to try to make this vintage tweed eBay find fit. And those expenses meant a few weeks later when I stumbled on my literal dream Eidos jacket at deep discount, I had to pass for lack of funds. It was soul-crushing. Stupid tweed jacket.

Question 4: Do I already own a similar garment?

This is the one side of the frame that stands out from the rest, because it’s how you help yourself break out of your rut: how many navy polos do you have? Do you really need another one? If you got this one, would you really wear it? On the flip side, would you neglect another perfectly good navy polo that you already own?

Now, some people wear a white shirt to work every day and need multiples of things like that (and please, for all our sakes, I hope you have multiple pairs of socks and underwear). That said, when we’re talking clothes we like and are buying for pleasure, it’s important to make sure you aren’t stuck in your ways. It’s fun to grow. Our tastes and preferences in menswear, like everything else in this life, need growth to sustain our interest. Staying rooted in your style preferences doesn’t mean wearing only the basics day in and day out. Try out those combinations you see the cool blogger-types share. Sometimes you’ll look ridiculous and other times you won’t – you have to try to know for sure.

Use this frame of decision making to help you assess your purchases. If you’re anything like me, it won’t ensure you hit home runs on every purchase, but if you can keep your wits about you in the rush of sale season, you’ll be happier – and generally better dressed – in the long run.