Put This On

Inside Track: January 16th – January 22nd Edition

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 09:20:46 +0200

Here are our hand-selected favorites from eBay for this week, plus heads-up on recommended sales. If you’re a member of the Inside Track, log in with your CrateJoy username and password.

If you’re not a member, you can join now for just $5 a month. You’ll get access to one of these members-only lists every week, and your membership supports Put This On!

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EBay Roundup

Sat, 15 Jan 2022 01:40:08 +0200

There’s a lot of great menswear on eBay, but to find the good stuff, you have to search for hours. Which is why we do these roundups, so that our readers can find good deals easily and quickly. For those looking to get an extra round-up each week, subscribe to our Inside Track newsletter. We not only cover the best of eBay, we also list each week’s store sales.

To find more menswear on eBay, try using our customized search links. We’ve made them so you can quickly home-in on quality suits, excellent dress shirts, fine footwear, good jeans, workwear, contemporary casualwear, nice ties, great bags, and well-made sweaters.

Suits, sport coats, and blazers

Outerwear

Gray Stoffa flight jacket, size? (pictured above)
Olive Beams military jacket, S
Navy Private White VC trench, M
Nigel Cabourn x Eddie Bauer down parka, 40 (1, 2)
Grey herringbone Officine Generale topcoat, 40
Green Beams anorak, M
Sage de Cret field jacket, M
Beams N-3B parka, L

Sweaters and knits

Shirts and pants

Shoes

Ties

Misc.

If you want access to an extra roundup every week, exclusive to members, join Put This On’s Inside Track for just five bucks a month.

The post EBay Roundup appeared first on Put This On.

Style & Fashion Drawings: The Odd Vest

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 20:01:32 +0200

The post Style & Fashion Drawings: The Odd Vest appeared first on Put This On.

EBay Roundup

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 23:52:45 +0200

Twice a week, we round up the best of menswear on eBay so our readers don’t have to. For an additional roundup, along with a list of each week’s best sales, subscribe to our Inside Track newsletter.

Suits, sport coats, and blazers

Blue plaid Ring Jacket sport coat, 38 (1, 2)
Samuelsohn tuxedo, 38
Blue plaid Eidos sport coat, 40
Brown checked Armoury sport coat, 44
Tan checked Armoury sport coat, 44

Outerwear

Sweaters and knits

Shirts and pants

Vintage Army t-shirt, XS
Bryceland’s denim Western shirt, M (pictured above)
Black Gitman Vintage bandana shirt, M
18 East camp shirt, M
Orslow patchwork print work shirt, L
Plaid Engineered Garments shirt, L
Red corduroy Drake’s shirt, 16
RRL denim Western shirt, XL
Blue Kaptain Sunshine pants, 32
Brown Anglo-Italian chinos, 32
Corduroy A Kind of Guise trousers, 32 (brown, navy)
Charcoal Samuelsohn trousers, 33
Bryceland’s Army chino, 34
Armoury chinos, 34
Gray Armoury four-ply trousers, 36

Shoes

Bags, briefcases, and wallets

Harajuku tote bag

Misc.

If you want access to an extra roundup every week, exclusive to members, join Put This On’s Inside Track for just five bucks a month.

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Inside Track: January 9th – January 15th Edition

Sun, 09 Jan 2022 07:40:09 +0200

Here are our hand-selected favorites from eBay for this week, plus heads-up on recommended sales. If you’re a member of the Inside Track, log in with your CrateJoy username and password.

If you’re not a member, you can join now for just $5 a month. You’ll get access to one of these members-only lists every week, and your membership supports Put This On!

The post Inside Track: January 9th – January 15th Edition appeared first on Put This On.

#PTOMan Highlights

Sat, 08 Jan 2022 02:21:09 +0200

Our Instagram followers are stylish people, so once a week, we like to bring you some highlights from our feed. Joe looks fantastic in a rain coat and Needles scarf, Macs stays warm in a polo coat, Sam dresses down a double-breasted jacket, and @grouchos_fits layers with a chunky turtleneck.

If you want to be featured follow us on Instagram and tag your photos with #PTOMan. Bonus points for full-body shots as opposed to just shoes or collars.

The post #PTOMan Highlights appeared first on Put This On.

EBay Roundup

Sat, 08 Jan 2022 02:20:38 +0200

Suits, sport coats, and blazers

Gray pinstriped Ring Jacket suit, 36

Outerwear

Sweaters and knits

Beams patchwork cable knit, S (fits like XS)
Kanata Cowichan, S
Black RRL sweater, S
Olive collared Drake’s sweater, 40 (might fit like 38)
Navy Drake’s lambswool vest, 40 (might fit like 38)
Scott & Charters grey shawl collar cardigan, 40
Green cashmere Sid Mashburn v-neck, M
Olive RRL shawl collar cardigan, M
Navy Ascot Chang v-neck, M
Navy Howlin v-neck, M
Tan Howlin sweater, M
Brown Beams cable knit, L (may fit like M, get measurements)
White Eidos long-sleeve polo, L
Light blue Howlin sweater, L

Shirts and pants

Shoes

Ties

Some nice ties

Misc.

Blazer buttons

If you want access to an extra roundup every week, exclusive to members, join Put This On’s Inside Track for just five bucks a month.

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EBay Roundup

Tue, 04 Jan 2022 21:54:16 +0200

Outerwear

Sweaters and knits

Shirts and pants

Blue plaid Studio d’Artisan shirt, M (fits like XS?)
Denim Taylor Stitch Western shirt, S
Kapital corduroy wabash Western shirt, S
Indigo 3sixteen shirt, S
Retro styled Levi’s shirt, M
Yellow striped Drake’s shirt, 16
White Eidos camp collar shirt, 16
Striped Camoshita shirt, L
Engineered Garments chambray work shirt, L
Blue Real McCoys summer shirt, XL
Olive Taylor Stitch flannel, 44
Olive Freenote Cloth shirt, XL
Brown RRL cords, 28
18 East double knee pants, S and M

Ties

Red paisley Liberty London tie

Shoes

Bags, briefcases, and wallets

Filson dry bags (1, 2) (pictured above)
Lotuff & Clegg briefcase

Misc.

Black Sid Mashburn dress belt, 32

If you want access to an extra roundup every week, exclusive to members, join Put This On’s Inside Track for just five bucks a month.

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Darn It: A Guide On How To Fix Holes In Sweaters

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 22:28:49 +0200

As the weather outside has gotten chilly, many of us will find ourselves reaching for our favorite knitwear. But just as you’re about to put your sweater on, you may notice a small hole. Perhaps your belt buckle rubbed against it while you were washing dishes. Or your cat swiped at you. Maybe worst of all, a moth found its way to a delicious meal despite your best sweater-keeping methods. No matter the reason, finding a hole in your knitwear is disheartening.

However, it’s not hopeless. Although holes can appear devastating, you can repair them using darning. Darning is a repair technique that fills a gap with new material, rather than requiring you to patch it or sew it closed. When done with yarn that resembles the original material, the repair can be almost undetectable.

There are two ways to repair a hole in a garment: pay a professional or do it yourself. A professional mender will make holes literally vanish. Some specialize in what’s known as French reweaving or invisible reweaving, where individual strands of thread are woven into the original cloth. You can use these companies for holes you find in woven materials, such as what you’ll find on suits, sport coats, or trousers. As you can imagine, such services are not inexpensive — a hole the size of a pencil eraser can easily cost $50 or more to repair. These companies can also fix knitted sweaters, although the same logic applies. The finer the knit, the more expensive the repair, and in some cases, the repair cost may exceed the sweater’s price.

This leaves us with the most economical and arguably, the most rewarding option. If you’re working with a hole in a sweater, you can learn how to darn it yourself. Thankfully, darning is not challenging to learn.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Needle
Scissors
Thread

Optional:

Darning mushroom. Alternatively, you can also use any hand-sized, round object, such as an orange or a tennis ball.

First, you want to make sure you’re working with a neat, clean hole. If there are any remaining threads or frays, cut them off to have a tidier starting area.

Next, thread your needle. If you’re trying to make your repair less noticeable, you’ll want to use yarn that matches the size and color of the original fabric. Some new sweaters actually come with an extra bit of yarn, so save those whenever you get them.

To start darning, apply a darning stitch, which is a simple running stitch where you weave the thread in rows along the grain of the fabric and reverse directions at the end of the row. Start by doing this horizontally or lengthwise.

Left: the flow of the darning stitch; Right: darning stitch over the hole, highlighted in green

Make sure not to pull too tightly as you want your stitch to remain loose. Otherwise, you might create some creasing or puckering in the end. A darning mushroom or other round objects can help apply tension to the hole, making it spread out. Remember, the goal is to fill the gap, not close it.

Once completed, you then weave your yarn through the stitches you just completed. You’ll see that you’re weaving in new material as you progress. Eventually, when enough yarn has been incorporated, the hole will be filled.

Weaving pattern used over darning stitch, illustrated and over the actual hole

For more darning resources, check out this Reddit guide or Youtube video.

I think the last step is to acknowledge that not every repair will be perfect. Even with some practice, I have difficulty darning larger holes, which are less forgiving than smaller ones. However, even when the repair looks poor, I take great pride in it. Clothes are often an extension of our identity, so I find it noble to see someone has taken the time to repair a garment. You can even inject some character into your repairs by using different color threads or trying new stitches. In the end, you learn a new skill, help the environment by not throwing away a sweater, and hopefully gain a deeper connection with your clothes.

The post Darn It: A Guide On How To Fix Holes In Sweaters appeared first on Put This On.

Inside Track: January 2nd – January 8th Edition

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 10:46:22 +0200

Here are our hand-selected favorites from eBay for this week, plus heads-up on recommended sales. If you’re a member of the Inside Track, log in with your CrateJoy username and password.

If you’re not a member, you can join now for just $5 a month. You’ll get access to one of these members-only lists every week, and your membership supports Put This On!

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Our Beloved Sponsors

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 08:30:15 +0200

2021 has been an incredibly challenging year for everyone, and we wouldn’t have been able to get through it without the generous support of our sponsors. Every two weeks, we like to give them a special shoutout. Doing so allows us to thank them for their support, and update readers on our sponsors’ special happenings.

Proper Cloth is one of the few, if not only, online custom clothiers that focuses on both weekday and weekend wardrobes. They specialize in made-to-measure shirts, where you can have the perfect shirt made according to your body measurements or the measurements of your best-fitting shirt. Not unusual, especially if you live in a city with other custom tailoring operations. The thing that makes Proper Cloth special is their cloth selection. Along with the pinpoints and broadcloths that you might wear to the office, they also have brushed cotton flannels, low twist Japanese plaids, stretch corduroy, heavy oxford, and supremely soft Tencel-cotton pique knits. You can use these to make your traditional button-up shirts or slightly more casual styles such as snap-button Westerners and long-sleeve polos. Proper Cloth also has a perfect fit guarantee, which means they’ll remake your shirt if it doesn’t fit.

Along with shirts, they also have suits, sport coats, trousers, sweaters, and accessories. In their trouser section right now, you can find casual winter pants made from sturdy materials such as moleskin, stretch corduroy, and heavy cotton. Proper Cloth offers five fits, ranging from slim to athletic, and nearly every size imaginable. For off-duty days, you can pair these with one of Proper Cloth’s sweaters, such as their speckled Arans made to look like the Donegal tweeds that hail from Ireland.

For people who have been paying attention to men’s style for a while, many will have grown up reading blogs such as A Continous Lean, Permanent Style, and (hopefully) Put This On. These sites shaved readers from legacy sites such as Esquire and GQ. At the time, there was a growing movement of men’s style aficionados who wanted more from their media. They didn’t just want to know how celebrities dressed — they wanted to know about garment construction, clothing quality, and how to spot value. Consequently, a lot of microbrands also popped up to serve this growing community.

Wolf vs. Goat was one of those brands. Founded in 2009 by Mauro Farinelli, it’s an under-the-radar label with a cult following (even its own dedicated subreddit). Farinelli is obsessive about garment construction, factories, fabrics, and how to bring the best possible value to his customers. He produces clothes in Italy and the United States, and the retail prices are unbelievably low for the garment construction — almost wholesale level — and made better through their Rewards Program, which allows you to get 50% off all non-sale purchases when you pay a one-time fee of $25. People who have been following menswear for a while will be sure to have heard of the label. Wolf vs. Goat does the kind of transparent, value-focused menswear that a lot of guys care about.

Much of what you’ll find here are the building blocks of a wardrobe: button-down shirts, wool cardigans, cashmere scarves, sweatshirts, and summer-ready tees (made more interesting here through an unusual bamboo-Sonora fabric). Over in their sale section, you can find silk-linen polos for $85, cotton polos for $80, and linen shorts for $45. Their trousers, which are made in Italy from Super 150s wool, are just $95 (discounted from $375). The fabric is soft and silky, woven in Italy by Vitale Barberis Canonico, one of the more respected mills in the world and one that supplies various bespoke tailoring houses. Just double-check measurements, as all sale items are final.

Chipp Neckwear is the online accessories arm of Winston Tailors. This legendary custom clothier dressed Andy Warhol, Joe DiMaggio, and members of the Kennedy family during the heyday of Ivy style. Known for their more playful takes on traditional Anglo-American style, the company’s founder Sidney Winston helped popularize patchwork madras and tweed sports, often with colorful linings. Sidney’s son Paul is also known for his cheeky neckwear — a tie for the black sheep in the family, a play on a baseball phrase, and Santa with a … ahem … heart on.

If you ever get a chance to talk to Paul, ask him for some of his favorite tailoring stories — the man has been in the trade forever and has loads of them. On one occasion, while Paul was with JFK and Bobby in the Oval office, helping them choose suit fabrics, he remembers seeing images flash across the TV of troops being sent to desegregate schools. “After JFK’s assassination, Bobby Kennedy called on Chipp to re-cut his brother’s inauguration suit to fit him, as they were entirely different sizes,” Al Castiel once reported in Town & Country. “This process was far more expensive than having a new custom suit made, but Paul believes that Bobby wanted it done for sentimental reasons. During his presidential campaign, RFK frequently met with Sidney and Paul Winston for new clothes, since they were constantly being torn off him by overzealous crowds along the campaign trail.”

Dapper Classic is waving out the year with a special promotion. At the moment, you can take 25% off any purchase with the checkout code BYE2021.

The promotion applies to their popular line of trousers. Made in Massachusetts by the Hertling company, these come in staple fabrics such as wool flannel, linen, brushed cotton, and Fresco (a high-twist, breathable tropical wool designed for summer). With the promotion, select trousers come down to just $85. You can also use their code to get a pair of socks, which are knitted in North Carolina at a third-generation family-owned mill. Produced from silky cottons and fine wool yarns, these come with hand-linked toes for improved comfort. If you don’t yet already have some solid navy wool over-the-calf socks, get at least five or six pairs. They will literally go with any pair of tailored trousers. With the code, you can get a pair for just under $19.

Most men’s clothing derives in some way from war or sport, but few things in our wardrobe have a more direct connection to modern sportswear than rugbies. The collared pullover style has been a staple for a certain kind of Northeastern prep look for decades, but rugbies also come in many other flavors. There’s David Hockney’s “art dude” rugby look, Yvon Chouinard’s “1970s rock climbing” rugby style, and Italian Paninaro youth culture.

Our friends at Rowing Blazers have been making the kind of authentic, heavyweight rugbies that men used to wear out to the field 50 to 100 years ago. Some of their most popular models are called “dad rugbies. “We’re drawing on a very specific reference for these designs: the rugby shirts of 1980s catalog culture; the rugby shirts worn by outdoorsmen, weekend warriors, dads of all shapes and sizes in the late 20th century,” says Rowing Blazer founder Jack Carlson. “These are slightly lighter weight and baggier than our ‘authentic’ rugby shirts, and have a twill collar instead of a knitted collar. They will retail for less than our ‘authentic’ rugbies and won’t have embroidery.” You can wear them with jeans or chinos, under duffle coats, or even the right sport coat.

Every Thursday, LuxeSwap posts hundreds of new menswear auctions on eBay. Since LuxeSwap founder Matthew Ruiz is a seasoned thrifter and menswear veteran, he’s able to spot top-of-the-line items. However, unlike other “curated” vintage shops, everything is sold through auction — almost always at a starting price of $9.99. That means you get the curated selection of top-end vintage stores but the value proposition of Goodwill.

In recent years, LuxeSwap has become popular with No Man Walks Alone and Epaulet’s customers, partly because they have a special trade-in program where consignors can get store credit in exchange for selling their least-worn clothes. For LuxeSwap’s customers, this means you can get clothes from some of the internet’s more discerning shoppers. Keen-eyed readers will spot some beloved brands in this week’s LuxeSwap offerings. There are G. Inglese shirts, Edward Green shoes, Epaulet chore coats and pants, O’Connell’s Shetlands, Lemaire sweaters, 18 East cargo pants, and Ring Jacket tailoring. As always, you can use the search term #1 Menswear to find what Matthew thinks is the best.

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EBay Roundup

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 01:22:56 +0200

Suits, sport coats, and blazers

Outerwear

Sweaters and knits

Brown Drake’s brushed Shetland, M (fits like S and pictured above)
Navy Arpenteur button-shoulder sweater, M
Gray Ralph Lauren shawl collar cardigan, M
Brown Ralph Lauren long-sleeve polo, M
Burgundy shawl collar RRL cardigan, M
Brown O’Connell’s Shetland, 40
Blue Inis Meain linen sweater, XL (may fit like L)
Yellow Paul Stuart sweater, XL
Navy Inis Meain Aran, XL

Shirts and pants

Inglese shirts, various sizes
Red plaid Freenote Cloth flannel, S
RRL chambray work shirt, M
Drake’s chambray, 16
LVC stadium jacket, L
Cream Levis jeans, 30
Engineered Garments cargo pants, XS (1, 2)
Tan Kaptain Sunshine pants, 32
Tan Rota chinos, 34

Shoes

Ties

Misc.

If you want access to an extra roundup every week, exclusive to members, join Put This On’s Inside Track for just five bucks a month.

The post EBay Roundup appeared first on Put This On.

EBay Roundup

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 00:55:37 +0200

Suits, sport coats, and blazers

Outerwear

Sweaters and knits

Shirts and pants

Shoes

Ties

Misc.

If you want access to an extra roundup every week, exclusive to members, join Put This On’s Inside Track for just five bucks a month.

The post EBay Roundup appeared first on Put This On.

On The Pleasures And Perils Of Matching Your Partner’s Outfit

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 22:49:39 +0200

Some people love to match their clothes with their partners’ — others detest the idea, finding the effect twee, or even creepy. While I cherish sharing life’s pleasures with my spouse, dressing like twins isn’t one of them. Outside of Halloween costumes, I’ve always felt there’s something off about those couples who dress in identical Rick Owens shrouds or painted Bodie ensembles. The impression is that they’ve melded not just their wardrobes but their very psyches.

The problem is that during the pandemic, those of us with live-in partners have all spent so much time together that, naturally, our tastes have begun to merge. For autumn, my wife bought herself some Paraboot loafers that I’d been coveting for years. When I saw her prancing around the apartment in her new, thick-soled stompers, I was overcome with jealousy. On her feet, they looked like little black hooves, so elegant in their ugliness, a perfect complement to her loose black trousers and denim duster. I hated to admit it, but they looked better on her!

With this realization, I had to accept the fact that as long as my wife was wearing her pair, I’d be forgoing mine. The alternative would be to each have our own set, and then coordinate who was wearing them when. Perhaps Google Calendar could work for this shared custody arrangement, but I sensed that was a bridge too far. I decided I’d be magnanimous and wish her well on her new purchase. I even waterproofed them for her.

This experience got me wondering about other clothes-loving couples, and how they navigate sharing their favorite things (or not). I wanted to know whether they embrace the idea of “matching” or avoid it, as I do. So I reached out to two well-dressed couples — each with their take on the subject.

The first couple I spoke with was Will and Rachel, both in their twenties and living together in Yorkshire. Because Will is a nurse, his work uniform involves scrubs, but outside the hospital, he favors clothes with wild prints or unusual details from gorp-core brands like Patagonia, Gramicci, and Mont-bell. Rachel tends toward practicality in her wardrobe. Lately, however, they’ve both gotten into “rambling,” so their new favorite clothing shop is Go Outdoors, the British equivalent of REI.

Of the two, Will is the more style-conscious and an especially keen thrifter. When the couple first met, “The way he dressed was definitely one of the things that pulled me in!” said Rachel. At the time (about ten years ago), Will was sporting a sharp, 1960s mod style. “He wasn’t afraid to look different, and I was attracted to that.”

In the early years of their relationship, Rachel says she tended to mirror Will’s look with ‘60s short straight skirts, tights, and turtlenecks — but these days, she’s steering away from flashy or overly tight pieces. “I value my comfort and being able to mix and match my clothes.” Rachel borrows from Will’s closest on occasion, but there are a few pieces she won’t touch, either because they’re too unique to Will (like his vintage Budweiser bucket hat) or because the item “is not my thing whatsoever.”

“I can never hide my dislike for it, but fortunately, Will never minds!” she says. “I’m thinking of a particular salmon jacket.”

When it comes to matching, Will grudgingly admits that “coordination happens from time to time when we leave the house.” The problem, he explained, was that they both like similar palettes (greens, blues) and similar gender-neutral styles (Breton stripes, three-quarter fleeces). “It does sometimes drive me nuts, so I’ll deffo change!”

“Myself, I’m never fussed whether my outfit matches Will’s,” says Rachel.

Though she can find Will’s choices a bit odd, she’s glad he’s been willing to share his passion for jawnz with her, as it’s changed the way she thinks about clothes. “Until I met Will, I didn’t know much about fashion at all.”

My next stop was a conversation with Buzz and Vanessa — both of whom work in fashion and beauty. Buzz is the founder of bespoke tailoring firm The Anthology, and Vanessa does digital marketing for Jo Malone. I wondered whether a more style-conscious couple would have more boundaries or fewer, but was surprised to find many of the same dynamics that Rachel and Will negotiate.

Since I’m living outside London these days, I decided to meet up with the pair in person for some udon noodles. Buzz was wearing a fuzzy, rust-colored sport coat, white flannels, and a turtleneck with an oxford shirt collar poking out, while Vanessa was dressed in wide flowing trousers, a black asymmetrical top, and had a large coat draped around her shoulders.

Vanessa describes Buzz as “classic as it gets” while Buzz says his girlfriend is “feminine and sophisticated.” During the pandemic, when wearing a suit went from quirky to oddball, Vanessa has enjoyed “seeing Buzz relax his dressing style [and] introduce more casual clothing into his wardrobe.” Unstructured shirt jackets, knit shirts, even drawstring trousers have all made their way into his rotation (and are now on offer from The Anthology).

When it comes to matching outfits, Buzz believes it’s ok to both wear neutrals or blacks, but you shouldn’t show up to the function in the same shade of something loud, like Kelly green or bright red. The trick for achieving coordinated but not matchy looks, he says, is to focus on “a complementary color tone” rather than “couple-twinning t-shirts or monogrammed scarves.”

For this couple, sharing is almost too easy, as they wear the same size shoes and are close in height and weight. Vanessa likes to try one of Buzz’s double-breasted jackets for what Buzz calls “a powerful ‘boss lady’ look,” while occasionally, Buzz will try out Vanessa’s oversized coat “when it works.” The truth, however, is that Vanessa gets a lot more out of Buzz’s closet than he does hers.

“He has yet to wear any of my dresses, whereas I’ve pretty much raided his closet,” she told me. There was, however, one caveat. “I do have to follow one rule — no spilling anything!”

The post On The Pleasures And Perils Of Matching Your Partner’s Outfit appeared first on Put This On.

Inside Track: December 26th – January 1st Edition

Sun, 26 Dec 2021 10:00:09 +0200

Here are our hand-selected favorites from eBay for this week, plus heads-up on recommended sales. If you’re a member of the Inside Track, log in with your CrateJoy username and password.

If you’re not a member, you can join now for just $5 a month. You’ll get access to one of these members-only lists every week, and your membership supports Put This On!

The post Inside Track: December 26th – January 1st Edition appeared first on Put This On.

Style & Fashion Drawings: Dick’s Holiday Dressing Tips

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 23:45:49 +0200

The post Style & Fashion Drawings: Dick’s Holiday Dressing Tips appeared first on Put This On.

#PTOMan Highlights

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 23:32:57 +0200

Our Instagram followers are some stylish people so, once a week, we like to bring you some highlights from our feed. Willy wears a navy jacket and watch cap, Frederik is ready for Christmas in a buffalo plaid dinner jacket, @moon__d0l looks good in a turtleneck and sport coat, and @_gi_miyon bundles up in a topcoat.

If you want to be featured follow us on Instagram and tag your photos with #PTOMan. Bonus points for full-body shots as opposed to just shoes or collars.

The post #PTOMan Highlights appeared first on Put This On.

EBay Roundup

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 22:01:09 +0200

Suits, sport coats, and blazers

Outerwear

Sweaters and knits

Shirts and pants

Shoes

Ties

Bags, briefcases, and wallets

Misc.

If you want access to an extra roundup every week, exclusive to members, join Put This On’s Inside Track for just five bucks a month.

The post EBay Roundup appeared first on Put This On.

How To Dress For The Holidays

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 00:59:05 +0200

Karl Lagerfeld, the former Chanel creative director who dressed like he was on a heist, was as known for his outrageous quote as he was for his fashion designs. The designer seemingly loved little, expressing adoration only for his cat, Coupette, Hedi Slimane’s stick-thin clothes, and life-sized chocolate sculptures of men. For everything else, he held nothing but contempt. In a March 2008 interview with Hong Kong’s Prestige Magazine, he said that he hated children (“I hate all children”), people in general, and the process of ordering bespoke clothes because it involves being touched by strangers. He also hated ugly people (“[they are] very depressing”), when people talk to him about their illness (“I’m not a doctor!”), intellectual conversations (“I only care about my opinion”), the smell of cooking (“I hate the smell of cooking”), and selfies (“what I hate most in life is selfies”).

Unsurprisingly, Lagerfeld was also not a fan of holidays. “You need to work with your brain,” he said, according to UK magazine Grazia. “I don’t think stops are healthy. Holidays were invented for people who go to the same place every day and do the same thing. They need a break. I don’t need that. I have a lot of variety in my life.”

Of course, like most people, I need a holiday, and I adore the one at the end of the year the most. Winter holidays bring good food, sweet snacks, time with family and old friends, reasons to travel, and most importantly, excuses to dress up. If you have something in your wardrobe that you love, but haven’t had many opportunities to wear, the holiday season is a great time to break it out for various social engagements (not least of which includes New Year’s Eve parties, which Lagerfeld also detested). Likewise, there are plenty of stay-at-home clothes that are incredibly satisfying to wear this time of year. Here are some ideas on how to dress for the holidays, even if you hate everything like Lagerfeld.

The Happy Suit

For decades, the fashion industry has told people how to dress down their tailored clothing to look more natural in business casual environments. Like other fashion writers, I’ve dutifully repeated the same lines: wear sport coats instead of suits, aim for a soft shoulder line, and think about casualizing details such as patched pockets and open dress collars. But after more than a year of lockdown, I’ve yearned to dress up again. When the country reopened last summer, I returned not to sport coats but suits.

In the past, I’ve called these fun suits, happy suits, and going-out suits. These are simply suits that you wear to feel good. Unfortunately, as offices have become more casual, most men have few opportunities to wear one. Yet, nothing flatters the body better or looks as elegant. If you enjoy wearing a suit, consider breaking one out of the holiday. The suit today can be a festive, celebratory garment, not just something you wear to look serious for Powerpoint presentations. Depending on what you have in your wardrobe, you can wear a suit to holiday parties, upscale restaurants and bars, outings to the city, and anything that can be described as a soiree. Of course, it helps to be in the company of others who are similarly dressed up, but most people only need a bit of gentle coaxing this time of year.

When choosing a suit, consider the time, place, and location (or, as George Costanza would say, dress according to mood). A dark brown corduroy suit would look great in the afternoon with suede chukkas and an oxford cloth button-down, but it might be too casual for some environments in the evening. If you’re headed to the city to get dinner, consider something like a grey or navy mohair-wool suit, which will have a subtle sheen that looks tremendous under artificial light (think: dimly lit restaurants and bars). Dark, monochromatic outfits also look very sophisticated in the evening, so long as you’re in the right setting. In the photo above, Alan See of The Armoury is wearing a dark grey flannel double-breasted suit with a black turtleneck (a pair of black oxfords or tassel loafers here would look smashing). This outfit would be great for an evening holiday party.

Photo via Elliot Hammer

Tweed Sport Coats and Denim Shirts

If a suit is too formal, the next step down is a sport coat. Lately, I’ve been really into wearing them with snap-button denim Western shirts. A denim shirt is your perfect travel companion if you’re traveling for the holidays. Traveling means accepting that your clothes won’t always arrive in perfect condition, or that you’ll have the time and tools necessary to iron every day. Since denim is heavier than most dress shirt materials, it rumples more than it wrinkles, making it a good substitute for a non-iron shirt without the use of chemicals. Plus, a rumpled shirt has a rugged Robert Redford charm, whereas wrinkled dress shirts in poplin or even oxford look unkempt.

Denim shirts look especially good with tweed jackets. Ralph Lauren is known for wearing this combination, and his team often relies on it for runway presentations, lookbooks, and in-store displays. It somehow looks like a very American thing to wear without being too trad or Ivy. A denim shirt is your rustic Americana foil for your city-mouse attire, and it tames the formality inherent in tailored clothing. For trousers, try rustic materials such as tan cavalry twill or brown whipcord. Tan chinos also work in a pinch.

My denim shirts are from Wrangler and Kapital. You can also find good ones from Bryceland’s, Barbanera, Taylor Stitch, RRL, Joe McCoys, J. Crew, and Todd Snyder. Our sponsor Proper Cloth offers one of the more unique denim shirt offerings. Since they’re an online custom shirtmaker, they can make a shirt according to your measurements and specifications. However, once in a while (like now), they also offer uniquely washed indigo shirts, including denim. These shirts are put through a special enzyme wash, which breaks down the fabric and makes the seams more puckered. This gives the material a more lived-in feel, but it’s typically a look that’s only achievable through ready-to-wear. Most custom shirtmakers can’t do this for you because washing an individual shirt this way is too costly and time-consuming. Proper Cloth gets around this by organizing bulk runs. The result is a very casual, charming shirt that’s typically only available through ready-to-wear, but with the precise fit of custom tailoring. Ian at From Squalor to Baller has a review.

Photo via Giuseppe Santamaria

Overcoats with Chunky Sweaters

If suits and sport coats are too formal, you can always reach for an overcoat. The overcoat is possibly the best winter garment. Not only are they practical this time of year, as they shield you from wind, cold, and perhaps rain, they cover up so much of your body, they almost define the outfit. You can wear an overcoat with nearly anything and know you look put together. Tailored trousers and a sport coat? Perfect. Jeans and a sweatshirt? Still great. You can’t wear an overcoat indoors for an extended period, but it’s a great way to get some of the flattering, face-framing effects of tailored clothing without looking too dressed up.

There are three things to think about when choosing and wearing an overcoat. First, aim for ones that are a bit longer and roomier than what was commonly sold ten years ago. Short, slim overcoats simply don’t have the same drama or verve. Aim for something with enough room to layer, and ends around your knees or just above it. You want something that swishes when you walk.

Second, if you’re wearing a roomy overcoat, you’ll want something heavy enough to layer underneath. A chunky sweater is often the perfect solution because it not only keeps you warm, it’ll also match the visual weight of the coat. Thirdly, and lastly, consider how the sleeves and shoulders are constructed. A set-in sleeve will give you a relatively more squared-off, T-shaped silhouette, which helps broaden the shoulder line. By contrast, a raglan sleeve, which will have a shoulder seam that goes from your armpit to your neck, will give you a more relaxed, rounded silhouette. Neither is better or worse; it’s just personal preference. But it’s worth paying attention to how these different styles look on you. For more about overcoats, see our buying guide.

Photo via Peter Zottolo

Wool Trousers and Textured Sweater

The most common and practical holiday outfit usually involves a pair of jeans, sometimes chinos, teamed with a plain merino v-neck or crewneck sweater, occasionally layered over a dress shirt. This is the outfit you break out for mom or to have dinner with the family. To be sure, it’s a perfectly fine and sensible outfit, but it lacks something in terms of style. It’s a little too business casual.

Instead, try swapping the jeans out for wool trousers or five-pocket cords, and then changing out the plain merino sweater for something textured or patterned. This is still the simple, unassuming outfit you can wear when you don’t want to look overdressed. But by switching out jeans for trousers, and a boring, smooth sweater for something a little more interesting, you move things away from business casual and towards something stylish. Some sweater ideas:

Cable Knit: Admittedly pretty vanilla, but still steps ahead of The Most Ubiquitous Sweater on Earth (the plain merino). You can find cable knits at every mall, including retailers such as J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and Ralph Lauren (avoid chest logos, if you can). For an upgrade, William Lockie makes some of the best cashmere cable knits in the world, and they will last you a lifetime if you take care of them.

Shetlands: My favorite type of sweater. These are durable, relatively affordable, handsomely textured, charming in history, and can be worn with nearly any kind of wardrobe (classic, workwear, contemporary, etc.). You can find them for as little as $25 in thrift stores and eBay. For something new, check Boise, Trunk Clothiers, Howlin, Junior’s, The Carrier Company, Anglo Italian, Drake’s, and my favorite, O’Connell’s. Additionally, J. Press makes a famous brushed version known as a Shaggy Dog, which is softer and even more textured. Brooks Brothers has a more affordable version, although it’s not as fluffy.

Fair Isles, Norwegian, and Icelandic Sweaters: Although these designs are rooted in regional traditions, I mostly associate them with the holidays. They’re a staple of every festive holiday commercial, and the sort of thing you’ve seen layered underneath parkas, Barbours, and topcoats. For the real deal, check Jaimeson’s, Junior’s, The Carrier Company, LL Bean, William Lockie, Drake’s, Monitaly, and O’Connell’s. J. Crew also sells slightly more modernized versions.

Fisherman Sweaters: A chunkier sweater that adds visual weight and warmth. There are lots of regional traditions, such as the guernsey, although most people will probably want something like what Chris Evans wore in Knives Out. Check Inis Meain, Colhay’s, O’Connell’s, Trunk Clothiers, Junior’s, Inverallan, and The Aran Sweater Market.

Shaker: An American sweater style that grew out of a Christian sect known by the same name. These sweaters have a beautiful social history associated with the group’s beliefs in pacifism and equality. American Trench is selling some right now.

Classic Adjacent: These sweaters sit just outside of the canon of classic men’s style. They complement a wardrobe full of suits and sport coats, but may not necessarily fall into one of the categories above. They feel dressy, refined, and elegant, but have a directional element that makes them more interesting. Check De Bonne Facture, Colhay’s, Heimat, Cavour, Berg & Berg, Yeossal, GRP, Frank Leder, Stephan Schneider, and Rubato. Stoffa is also great for this sort of thing. The company skillfully rides the line between classic and directional, offering customers things that sit comfortably with tailored clothing without bordering on business casual. They made the ribbed polo you see above.

Photo via Stoffa

Chunky Shawl Collar Cardigans

The chunky shawl collar cardigan is possibly the most sumptuous, indulgent thing you can wear in the wintertime. In old Brooks Brothers catalogs, the Madison Avenue clothier suggested that you could wear one in place of a jacket. “Handsome shawl collar cardigan of ribbed 3-ply Shetland wool with leather buttons,” read one catalog from winter 1979. “Can easily serve in lieu of a sport jacket. Natural or gray.”

I mostly think of them as something you wear at home, possibly around the neighborhood, but not really for long durations outside. They work well in lieu of a sport coat in the sense that you can wear one at home when hosting holiday parties. With a large collar that drapes like a scarf, they help frame the face better than a crewneck sweater. You can wear one with almost anything: a pair of wool trousers and an oxford cloth button-down, some beat-up jeans and a t-shirt, or chinos with a thin merino turtleneck (get that knit on knit action).

It’s almost impossible to go wrong when purchasing one, so long as it’s made to a reasonable standard. The best shawl collar cardigans tend to be made in Scotland, typically from lambswool or cashmere. Lambswool is a little itchier but more affordable. If you can splurge on cashmere, it’s a tremendous luxury and feels great when layered over t-shirts. I favor the more sober colors, such as navy, brown, and gray. But unusual colors such as pine green, burnt orange, and even black can be wonderful. Check brands such as Colhay’s, Scott & Charters (stock coming soon), The Armoury, Drake’s, Cordings, Bullock & Jones, O’Connell’s, Winston & Company, Spier & Mackay, Kent Wang, and Northern Watters.

Photo via Drake’s

Black Tie

New Year’s Eve is the one time per year when almost anyone can wear black tie. You don’t have to attend a fancy ball or opera — although those would be great excuses to dress up. Black tie can be worn to NYE parties, upscale restaurants, and fancy bars right before the clock clicks over. Remember that black tie is an inherently celebratory garment — it’s a party rig — and NYE is for celebrations.

Black tie can sometimes seem like a complex web of arcane rules, but you can put together a great outfit if you follow some simple ideas. First, a black tie rig can be single- or double-breasted, but the jacket should have peak or shawl lapels. Notch lapels don’t have the elegance or formality this rig should communicate. Second, you can wear a single-breasted coat open, but if you do, you should cover your trouser’s waistband with a cummerbund or dress vest. If either of those things feels arcane to you, the simple solution is to never unfasten your jacket.

The traditional tuxedo shirt is a Marcella shirt made with a bib or pleated front. Instead of buttons, this is closed using studs, which you can secure on Amazon for as little as $30. Mark Cho of The Armoury, pictured above, tells us that he sometimes wears fly front, plain tuxedo shirt to keep his formalwear looking more modern. Doing so also does away with dress studs (although he still likes French cuffs to help mark the occasion). For shoes, go with a pair of patent leather opera pumps or black, plain toe oxfords that have been freshly shined. Your neckwear should be a black bow tie made from the same material as your jacket’s facings, and you should wear a neatly folded white pocket square. If you wear a watch, keep it simple — a small, time-only watch on a black leather strap to match your shoes.

If you’re hesitant about black tie and don’t want to get something you may only wear once a year, consider getting a suit that you can wear to dinner and parties, but falls just short of the formal tuxedo. One idea is a navy mohair suit made in a slightly more formal configuration — single-breasted, peak lapels, dual vents, one-button closure, and jetted pockets. When paired with a white shirt (possibly French cuffs), black bow tie, white linen pocket square, and black polished oxfords, this can be something you wear to fancy parties and dinners but doesn’t look as conspicuous as a full tuxedo rig.

Photo via The Armoury

The post How To Dress For The Holidays appeared first on Put This On.

EBay Roundup

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 01:15:27 +0200

Suits, sport coats, and blazers

Outerwear

Sweaters and knits

Shirts and pants

Shoes

Ties

Misc.

Blue Ralph Lauren pocket square

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