Question on Trenchcoats

Reader's Question - Michael, NYC:

"I recently came across your blog (awesome) when searching for pictures of the Theory Herringbone Trench Coat you featured on August 17th. I picked it up yesterday as a secondary winter coat (my primary winter coat is a navy Burberry cashmere overcoat - it gets COLD in NY!).

How do you suggest I wear the belt? I tied the belt, but the fabric is quite stiff and the belt wouldn't hold. I am also concerned that the belt will look worn out after tying it so much. Do you suggest that I belt it instead (quite formal) or tie it in the back? The jury seems to be out on this one..."

Thanks for the thoughtful question, Michael. You should be commended on your taste in overcoats. I always feel that every man should own at least a Navy overcoat and the secondary overcoat should be Gray or Camel colored. Those colors will go with most every suit in the closet and will look sharp for any occasion. The herringbone adds visual interest to the gray overcoat, helping to stand out in the dreary weather.  Cashmere and Camelhair are the best fabrics for overcoats; warm durable and fashionable.

Personally, I would opt for the belt to be tied, as shown in the picture.  The belt with time will become less stiff and will hold to the knot better.  Damaging the belt should not be a concern, the high quality of the fabric and manufacturing will help hold it together. For more formal events you can use it as a belt, but I would still opt for tying it in every occasion as it is more sprezzatura and care free (a state that should be constantly strived for by every well dressed man).  Please, Michael, do not tie the belt behind you. No trench coat or overcoat should ever have the belt tied in the back. This removes the sartorial benefit that a secured belt adds to the overall look.

One additional note in wearing this and most all other overcoats. Please, for the love of all that is stylish, turn up the collar. Overcoats, trenchcoats and peacoats should have popped collars. In every case, wear it with the collar up, but please always wear your polos with the collars down. 

With those rules followed, you should be able to enjoy the New York weather in warmth and style.

New York City Trip Recap - Part 2

After leaving the Liquor Store I wandered the streets of New York, enjoying the beautiful fall day and looking for a unique and special find.  I wanted more, I wanted one last store to enjoy immensely.  A store that can only be found in New York and would leave me with a feeling that I had a memorable New York City experience, a final note on an amazing day of enjoyable shopping.  I truly am a nerd for shopping, I know, you don’t have to remind me.  But if you want to you can email me at: mdignified@gmail.com.

Just then I wandered across an interesting looking store, Cockpit.  I poked my head in and found exactly what I was looking for, a great find hidden in the maze of city streets.  Cockpit has some of the nicest staff I have seen at a store.  They were competent, knowledgeable, conversational and yet knew the right moment to leave me alone right before I would have had an urge to injure them.  The store looks like a Military service hang out on an American base in Vietnam mixed with a gentleman’s parlor mixed with a retail store in NYC.

Cockpit makes their own military inspired clothes as well as actual military replicas.  The store also has a great selection of well made Over coats, Top coats, leather jackets, boots, leather shoes and casual wear.  They had some very interesting and well cut henleys, sweaters and military inspired shirts.  Cockpit also had unique vintage pieces from previous Wars like the Japanese Kamikaze pilot flight suit and the 1941 American solider Army helmet.  Apparently Cockpit was the company that made the brown leather Bomber jacket Tom Cruise wore in Top Gun.  Next month they are re-releasing the jacket, which will be sold in store.

My favorite piece was a wool herringbone top coat that was inspired by German officers.  The coat was modernized with a trimmer, sleeker, tailored fit.  It has black velvet accents on the collar and sleeve cuffs that can be worn two different ways: rolled up to reveal black velvet or undone for a more simple look.  It is double breasted and garnished with simple black metal buttons.  The details on the coat are fantastic, including the beautiful lining.  The coat is an absolute statement piece.  It can be worn dressed up or dressed down, but it will always get you noticed.  Sometimes, that is just what a man needs.

Next time in town, I am certainly going to visit Cockpit again.

New York City Trip Recap - Part 1

On my NYC shopping trip that was discussed so much before the trip, here is how the trip went.

My first stop of the day was to Uniqlo, which I went into detail already.  I arrived at the shop at 11a and was there about an hour.  From Uniqlo I went to Rag & Bone and then to Jack Olive.  Read about those stores by clicking the links.  By that time it was half past one and my stomach was growling loudly.

 

On my way to Delicatessen I passed through Canal st., New York City’s Tijuana or the “Fashion” district in Los Angeles.  Anything can be bought on that street, fake designer bags, colored contacts, fake Rolex watches and of course Obama Condoms.  That’s right, Obama Condoms.

Hawked by a woman with a giant shiny sign above her head Obama Condoms are the “ultimate stimulus package”.  They are “hope flavored” and a perfect way to “remember the election with your next erection”.   They even have McCain condoms as well, but there were no catchy slogans accompanying the McCain condoms.  I would be a miss not to mention that you can buy Obama Condoms online.

Finally I made it to Delicatessen for lunch.  What a nice trendy spot in the Village.  It has good food, beautiful women, a nice décor and a fine bar staff.  I recommend stopping by the establishment for lunch during a shopping excursion, sitting at the bar and ordering from Victor.  He has a great sense of humor, comments on the beautiful woman, has a great grasp of the menu and for making drinks, and will flirt with the woman non-stop.  Compared to him you will look like a saint, a perfect compliment to lunch experience.  I recommend you try the Tuna Tartar, which is among the best I have ever had.  I enjoyed the Cheeseburger spring rolls for there uniqueness but wouldn’t get them again.  Above is a picture of the Fried Chicken with Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread.

After lunch I strolled over to the Liquor Store, as it is called.  It is the J. Crew directional flagship store in Tribeca.  It certainly is not your standard J. Crew retailer but instead a destination store that sells all of the special J. Crew men’s items.  The store holds inventory for the items that generally sold only online and via catalogue, no matter the size of your local J. Crew retailer.  They carry Alden shoes, Red Wing Boots, the special edition Levis and Globe Trotter luggage.  They carry the Burbour jackets, Mackintosh top coats, and Ludlow suits.  They even carry things that can’t be bought online or via the catalogue like vintage Rolex watches, tie-clips and vintage belts.

All and all the store is quite unique and interesting experience.  It is the J. Crew ideal in store form, certainly worth the visit.  As for making the store a normal shopping destination, probably not, but I would stop by for inspirational ideas and to try on unique items.  Few other places can you try on the Mackintosh coat to make sure the size fits just right or the pair of Alden oxblood loafers.  I also have to commend the store for having a selection of items sold only at the Liquor Store.  Most people notice the tie-clips, Rolexs and belts, but I took note of the bags and books.

The Liquor Store by J. Crew had a nice selection of Weekender Bags and over the shoulder totes that are not yet sold online.  They also have a selection of books, which seemed quite interesting.  It seemed to me that someone had taken as much time choosing the books as they had choosing the clothes.  For me those details do not go unrecognized.  In the photo above you can see the black leather weekender, it has clean lines and a cool classic shape.  Quite a handsome and smart looking bag.

On my way to my next store I encountered a group of street performers singing outside of yet another J. Crew down the street.  They were quite fun to watch and listen to.  Tomorrow I will post Part 2 of this journey.

Jack Olive - British Menswear in New York City

British Menswear brand inspired by sport of Cricket.  That's the tag line for the men's store on Mercer near Broome in the SoHo neighborhood of NYC.  It is a small boutique with a great store feeling and nice looking clothes.

Jack Olive clothes are made mainly in Italy, which hopefully eludes to high quality clothing.  The clothes are inspired by the game of Cricket, so it is all very preppy and haughty, just way I like it.

They have some fantastic silk ties, some around the 3" wide mark, as we know that is the appropriate tie width.  The ties have the feel of British prep school ties, single, double and triple stripes as well as checks.  My favorite item at Jack Olive is the navy linen blazer with beautiful pewter buttons that have crests on them.  I enjoyed the use of pewter instead of brass, as the buttons still felt quite classic while not be as flashy as brass buttons.
 

Jack Olive unfortunately is not selling clothes via eCommerce yet, but they do have plans to do so in the, hopefully, near future.  They do have a website that shows off the clothes a little, frankly it is a good song and a nice idea, but the clothes are represented poorly.

Look out for Jack Olive, we may be seeing more from this brand in the future.

Rag & Bone - Minimalistic Elegance

Rag & Bone has a small studio store off the main drag, in what feels like a back alley.  The location is very fitting for the brand and their style, like a secret in plain sight.

The store, like the clothing is very minimalistic, simple, and uncluttered.  The display racks held one or maybe two examples of each item.  The men’s rack on the left side of the wall the women’s rack on the right; a table sharing accessories dividing the middle of the store.

In the back of the store sat a beautiful antique leather couch and chairs.  This was near the shoes and fitting room.  The store provided a simple, utilitarian design that uses absence of design and lack of flair to make a statement.  The clothing beautifully mimicked that design ethos.  Overall the clothing had plain muted colors, almost monochromatic, raw and untreated.

The clothing had clean lines and a slim fit.  The designs were deconstructed, removing the embellishments of style and leaving only the utilitarian elements.  Anything that will distract from the cut and fit of the garment is edited out of the final garment.  Quite a refreshing & classic design, especially considering the monstrosity Ed Hardy Store is a block away.  Rag & Bone is a refuge from the over indulgent clothing that permeates most stores.

I really enjoyed a few items they had on display, including a great pair of black boots.  They had a round toe, nice plain black leather, well constructed design, leather soles and all embellishments & unique design elements were removed in favor of clean, classic lines.  The elegance was in the minimalistic design.

I also enjoyed a beautiful gray suit.  It had beautiful classic lines with thin lapels and a slim fit cut.  No flaps on the hip pockets or patch pocket on the breast.  The fabric and cut of the jacket do the work in the garment; sometimes that is all that is needed.

I was impressed with the quality, feel and look of the wool garments.  Rag & Bone had wool beanies, sweaters and gloves that all beautifully weaved, with a vintage look.  The wool was almost as soft as the finest cashmere, yet it did not look to be delicate and airy.  The wool obviously was of the highest quality, breathable, strong and amazingly soft.

Rag & Bone certainly moved up my list of designers with a visit to the NYC store and that is the point to a retail location, isn’t it?

New York Awaits...

My free time in New York City is limited, but I am still determined to make a few spots at retail havens. I have Saturday free, and will make the most of it. Here is my itinerary, but email me suggestions, if you have them (mdignified@gmail.com).

Stop one: Uniqlo - the only store in the USA and a masterpiece from what I understand.

Stop two: J Crew - while I am in the area I want to stop by the Tribeca flagship store for JCrew. It looks like a creative use of the retail space.

Hopefully, there will be a few small stops along the way as NYC is filled with fun shops of all kinds.

Stop three: Delicatessen - the lunch here has come highly recommended. It was also cool enough for Madonna's spawn's birthday party, it has to be good, right?

Stop four: Berluti - I have to stop by the Berluti store in Manhattan and get a feel for their representation of style in a retail location. I am also curious to see which styles they are pushing as the best representations of the Berluti line.

Again, I will try out a bunch of different stores around this area, how bad can the luxe get? It is Madison avenue after all.

In New York

I will be traveling on business for the next week.  New York & New Jersey.  So unfortunately I will not be posting on a regular basis during that time.  Hopefully I will be able to post a couple of times, but who knows.  I will be back to regular posting by Wednesday of next week, if all goes as planned.

Before I head off to New York, I wanted to leave you with a cool tie I found the other day.  It is from Rugby.com, a Ralph Lauren brand.  It is a tweed tie and would look great this winter with a Navy suit.  It is 3 1/4 inches wide (I prefer 3", but its close) and a classic pattern that can really stand out in the right outfit.  Please do not wear it with a tweed jacket or black shoes.

Talk with you all soon.

New York City Trip - JCrew Tribeca

I have decided to add another location to my NYC shopping trip.  As I have discussed, I will be visiting the Uniqlo flagship store in Soho, and since I will be down that way I figured I would go up to the J Crew store in Tribeca.  It is the flagship J Crew store and really quite beautifully designed.  It is the epitome of the J Crew style and store has a similar feel as the clothes, dignified, modern and preppy.  The store from the pictures I have seen online has a Sprezzatura element which has always drawn me to their clothes.

I am certainly not expecting to see anything at the store that I wouldn’t find online or at another location, but I would like to at least see how it feels.  Do they have any additional perks?  Are the store workers more knowledgeable?  Or is it just good clothes in a good location?

I am still looking to add to my list of stores to visit, if anyone has any suggestions please free to email me: mdignified@gmail.com

New York City Awaits...

At the end of October I will be traveling to New York for the weekend.  Part business, part pleasure.  I am certainly looking forward to shopping in NYC.  One of the stores that I am really excited to check out is Uniqlo.  I want to see the quality and fit of the clothes up close and personal, as well as pick up a few items if the clothes hold up to my standards.  From pictures alone, they certainly do.

Uniqlo is kind of like H&M, inexpensive clothes made in Europe.  They carry everything from casual t-shirts to wool suits.  I am very interested in checking out the no wale corduroy jacket that they are selling for $69.95.  I love the idea of a no wale cord, I hope it lives up to my expectations.  I also want to check out their trench coat, which is only $99.  Both seem like a good deal to me.  Finally, I am interested in their buffalo check flannel shirt for only $39.  Hopefully, the shirt fits nicely as I would rather get that shirt for $39 from Uniqlo than for $69 from J Crew or $85 from Woolrich, essentially they are the same shirt, at least in pictures.  I will know more once I am there.

I am certainly going to be checking out additional stores in New York, let me know if you have any suggestions on cool stores to check out.  I will also keep you posted on my Uniqlo finds.