First off, I put away your flannels.   Second, break out the linen and fresco; if you have any.  They are two of the ideal summer suit fabrics.  Yes, spring and summer are generally times for lighter shades of colors (like pastels), but it is really the type of fabric that I have found makes the biggest difference in body temperature regulation (ie limiting how much you sweat).

True, there are those lightweight wools (oft branded as ‘tropical wools’) and cottons but it is the open weave structure of linen and fresco fabrics that I find really make them ideal for warmer weather.  The open weave allows air to pass through the fabric more easily, even at heavier weights.  The passing air is what will keep you cooler, and thus happier.  This said, the first thing I advise people to do is acquire shirts, suits and pants in linen, cotton/linen or fresco.  Linen is especially useful when one does not need to be in a more formal business setting.  But for those that need something more formal for the office, look no further than fresco.  It has all the benefits of linen but without the wrinkling issue.  Just keep in mind that fresco is a suiting and not shirt fabric; whereas linen serves as both.

Then we have the more exotic fabrics; silk, mohair and then blends involving them.  I have a wool/mohair fresco, or at least Holland & Sherry’s version of such, that I absolutely love (pictured above).  Personally, I am not a huge proponent of mohair (or silk) by itself because of the sheen that it carries.  I also have pants in a linen/silk blend, which I have come to love because they have the open weave of a linen and the added silk serves to reduce the wrinkling.  Additionally, I have heard others speak good things on silk/wool blends, but cannot speak from my own experience.  Lastly, I have heard people speak well of high twist wools, but again, have no experience myself.  And then there is always seersucker.

The second thing to mind, regarding suits, is the jacket construction.  Generally speaking, the less fabric and lining, the cooler it will wear.  I tell guys to look for unlined or half lined jackets, as they will allow more air to pass through the back of the jacket.  However, the ideal is a buggy lined jacket, one that is unlined in the back and lined only by the suit fabric in the front.  Along a similar in the shirt jacket that Joe over at MyTailor showed me last summer (Old Man Boehlke spoke on it last week).  Essentially it is an unstructured buggy lined jacket made up of shirting weight fabric; which sadly for now I can only dream about.

After professing my love of summer fabrics I am almost always asked where to acquire such items.  Given my predilection for custom and made to measure garments I always recommend places like MyTailor, CottonWork (who to my knowledge has the widest selection of shirt fabrics online), Indochino (who has some linen/wool and cotton/wool suits) or whatever other tailor you may use that carries seasonal fabrics.  For those of you who prefer ready-to-wear clothing Paul Stuart and Suitsupply do an excellent job at incorporating seasonal fabrics in their collections.  Lands’ End has a few jackets and pants in linen, I have 3 pair actually, and thus far am quite happy with them.  And oddly enough there is Zara (I know, you’re probably thinking I’ve lost it).  Over the past few years I have seen a few pretty solid linen pieces come from the brand.  Most recently, I purchased an unlined navy sports jacket from them that I expect will get considerable wear this summer (although I wouldn’t recommend their jackets if you are taller than 5’10″ as they will be too short for you).  It was only $160 and required only $25 of tailoring, not bad.

In summation; linen and fresco fabrics are your best friends and keep the lining to a minimum.  Next time we’ll talk on colors and a few classic summer items.

-JLJ

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True, there are some instances in which black shoes are called for; like the most formal of business and social settings as well as in politricks. But the vast majority of men have little need to wear black shoes regularly.  Yet still we must have at least one pair in our wardrobe (key in thoughts on the minimum pieces of flair).  So as a result, of the 15 pair of dress shoes I have, only one is black.

So, you may ask, what of the other 12 pairs?  Well, there are 5 pair of brown shoes, 4 of burgundy, 2 of white (white bucks), 1 of navy suede, 1 of purple suede and 1 of gray.

So, now you may ask, are all of these other colors (navy, purple, burgundy and gray) necessary?  For some men the answer is no.  But for me the answer is obviously yes.  For I believe that changing up the color of your shoes is one of the easiest and safest ways to elevate and express your personal style.

-JLJ

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What I mean specifically is that companies are producing and selling products that the people seem to want.  So they buy them.  But the problem is that much of what is sold, and subsequently bought, is shit.  So what men actually need, which is clothing of better taste, is not being sold.  It creates an unfortunate vicious cycle of sorts.

To illustrate my point let’s think about socks.  A vast majority of the dress socks that I have seen out there are mid-calf; which seems to be what the people want.  However, they are not what the people need.  Over the calf socks are far more practical and certainly more aesthetically palatable in the sense the cover the leg better and they do not bunch around the ankle. In full fairness, retailers and brands likely have some part in this as I’m sure sometime ago they realized the cost savings in making mid-calf socks.  But anyway, you get my point.

I should note that things do seem to be getting a little better, but still a far cry from where they can be and should be.  But unfortunately, businesses are not idealists, like us bloggers are.  They are capitalists, so they must give the people what they want…

-JLJ

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So, perhaps in the past you have wondered to yourself: should I, or can I get contrasting buttonholes?  Perhaps you were wanting of direction or advice.  Perhaps whatever clothier you were acquiring your suit from was telling you that ‘it’s what all the cool kids are doing these days.’  Or that it will ‘exude a more casual look.’  Or that ‘it really shows that your suit is custom made for you.’

Well, to this I say: ‘Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.  Don’t listen to a word of it.’

My reasonings are simple and sound.  The most important and substantial reason is perhaps not what you would think of first.  In more traditional and classic men’s dress one of the primary objectives of a man’s clothing is to draw the eye of the onlooker up to the face of the wearer.  I am of the opinion that one of the most effective ways of doing this is done by using vertical lines (pinstripes, ties, lapels, suspenders, pants creases etc).  Any abrupt interruption of said vertical lines will interrupt the eyes path up to the wearers face; horizontal lines and hot spots are perhaps the two most common offenders.  Horizontal lines make the onlookers eye pause and perhaps even move side to side.  Hot spots, which is what contrasting buttonholes are, make the onlookers eye pause on a single spot, like a buttonhole.

If you look at the first photo above the red boutonniere and red distal buttonhole are two of the first things you notice; they immediately draw your eyes away from the face of the wearer and to the red.  Which is unfortunate because this is an otherwise excellent ensemble.

A further case against contrasting buttonholes is one that is perhaps more common is that the off color of the stitching makes the suit less wearable because it will be harder to match or complement it.  Great if you can complement it, but that does not assuage the first problem with contrasting buttonholes.  Not to mention that fact that contrasting buttonholes are not appropriate in a traditional business setting.

Now, to address the clothiers comments above.  I must counter.  It shouldn’t matter ‘what all the cool kids are wearing these days’ because you should be able to make your own style and many of the ‘cool kids’ and advertisements you see wearing jackets and shirts with contrasting buttonholes would look better without them.   To the argument that the suit will ‘exude a more casual look’ I say that a casual look should not rely on the color of one’s buttonholes or stitching (don’t even get me started on contrast pick stitching).   But it should rely on the cut of the suit, fabric of the suit and what a man pairs with said suit.  And lastly, my favorite argument people give in favor of contrasting buttonholes (and by favorite I mean it agitates me the most), ‘it really shows that your suit is custom made for you.’  Let the suit speak for itself, if it is custom made for you then the fit should be spot on and that says far more about a custom suit than does the color of the buttonholes.  And you seek to express your personal style, do it by using accessories and pairings.  The combinations are endless and can be changed at will; you are not stuck with one single color plastered about your chest or wrist.  Be understated about, not garrish.  If you want something that stands out or is aggressive, do it by means of fabric or pattern, that is a much more tasteful way to go about things.

The devil is in the details,

-JLJ

Photos from: Ask Andy About Clothes, The Sartorialist, Wingtip

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Enjoy Liberally,

-JLJ

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Although a man should not need an excuse to dress up I think it is prudent to briefly justify my cause here. Now, before I delve more into the subject of what to wear to the orchestra I should note that most orchestras seem to have dropped their dress codes (including the Philadelphia Orchestra, however, the New York Philharmonic takes a more formal stance), no doubt in an effort to attract more attendees.  So you may wonder, why do I rally against the wearing of jeans and t-shirts and favor dressing up?  In short, the issue boils down to matters of respect and formality (with a dash of tradition).  First off, the performers at such concerts are always in black tie and sometimes white tie.  They take the time and care to dress themselves up, why can’t you?  These people have dedicated their lives to the mastery of a given instrument and I think it shows a little appreciation and respect to dress up for these individuals.  Lastly, we have my beloved idea of tradition.  From what I know of history, it was required and thus customary for the attendees of theater and music to dress up for the occasion.  But in our current de-formalized state of affairs the custom seems to be slipping into extinction.  Let’s just hope the music doesn’t follow suit.

Keep up the good fight,

JLJ

Suit: Indochino, shirt: MyTailor, shoes: Meermin, suspenders: Albert Thurston, cufflinks: Rotenier, socks: Gammarelli, tie: Paul Stuart.

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The store shares its style with the New York store (and I imagine the other stores).  The wavy suit racks, well clad mannequins, shirt wall and tie wall (a personal favorite) are all present (I apologize the photos are not up to par, I had to use my phone).  However, the Philadelphia store occupies 2 floors, whereas the New York store only one larger floor.  The two floor set up serves to nicely segregate the suits in the basement level from the less formal options on the ground floor.  The shoes and bags are each given their own walls, which I think is an improvement in presentation over what the New York store offers.

The suits and other gear is a good value, from what I have been able to discern.  There are some excellent fabrics in the current collection on display; lots of linen and silks.  Which alone make the trip worthwhile.  But aside from that a trip to the store should be warranted for any man looking for a new suit who is not set on the made to measure route.  Welcome to Philadelphia Suitsupply.

-JLJ

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-JLJ

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-JLJ

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Yesterday we had a vehicle rescue drill (keyword drill, see photo above to see what the cars looked like after) which involved extricating 4 patients from 2 motor vehicles (a 5th was pronounced dead and a 6th charged with a DUI).  The drill was conducted in front of a few hundred high school students, one of those scared straight type of things; thus the DUI charge.  As the firemen sawed out the windshields and cut through the frames of the cars with the Jaws of Life in order to remove the roofs of the cars I could tell by looking at some of the students faces that an impact was being made.

But anyway, for calls like that it often becomes necessary for the EMTs and paramedics to don turnout gear (pictured below) in order to protect themselves from any number of hazards (fire, glass, metal, other cars etc).  So there I was in my turnout gear in the back of a car holding C-spine on a pt while the firemen were breaking glass and tearing off doors.  It was a damn good day.  But it will be a sad day if and when I have to use those skills in real life  and not in a drill.  Life is not all about suits and ties…

-JLJ

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