Double breasted jackets come in many different layouts. Fortunately, one style of jacket allows us to compare these layouts directly. Through use of the transformable double-breasted jacket (or "doppiopetto transformible"), I will explore the pros and cons of each layout. But let's start with the most common layout:

The 6x2

The straightforward way to cut a double-breasted jacket is with the button cinching the jacket at or near the natural waist; this most commonly results in a 6x2 layout, but could also be a 4x2 or a high 4x1 (which is to say, a 6x2 with the bottom row of buttons missing). The buttons naturally shape the jacket, so as long as the waist and chest are the right size, it's not too tricky to fit.

(for legibility: I tend to pronounce "6x2" as "six by two," some say "six on two," but nobody will fault you for saying "six ex two")

At some point, I found myself looking, obsessively, for a Ralph Lauren 6x2. It was a grail, for me... But I blew my expectations out of the water.

This format was most popular during the so-called "Golden Era," the 1930s and 40s, at least until fabric rationing started to affect what men actually wore. Although the buttoning point is roughly halfway down the jacket, the lapels ultimately cross one another higher up, revealing relatively little shirt while the jacket is closed. The silhouette reflects the classic proportions of a two-button single-breasted, but the jacket takes up a larger portion of the outfit; the nexus point might be 1/3 of the way down the jacket, or higher, or lower.

Which is all to say that a 6x2 can be very traditional. And they can certainly be incredible in a wide variety of ways:

The 6x1

The 6x1 was developed more recently by Frederick Scholte, tailor often credited with inventing the British drape cut. The style has been carried forward famously by Cifonelli. They realized that by lowering the buttoning point, you can elongate the lapel line, make the lapel line more vertical, and lower the nexus to show more shirt and more tie, while maintaining the distinct charm of a double breasted jacket.

So these bespoke tailors managed to develop a cut you'd have a lot of trouble finding off the rack, made to measure, or even bespoke from a tailor that doesn't specialize in the style.

The challenge presented by the 6x1 (and the similar low 4x1) is that you generally still want the jacket to shape around the natural waist, and not the lower buttoning point. Cinching the jacket at the buttoning pont results in... this, and it's not as good:

The solution takes a special set of skills. You not only need to cut a jacket to shape itself at the waist, relative to the chest and the buttoning point, you also need to consider the fabric's weight and drape (as it ages), the position of each button (vertical and horizontal), motion, and the risk that the lapels might buckle, even when anchored by an anchor button. The lapel should also roll smoothly to the one (the bottom button). Accordingly, a 6x1 is among the most difficult suit styles to fit.

The format was popularized in the mid-80s, partly by Ralph Lauren—more on the Polo suit in a bit—but largely by Giorgio Armani. Armani's cuts were intentionally long, unstructured, and relaxed, with fabrics meant to highlight a certain louche, slouchy drape.

As a general rule of thumb, the functional buttons on a transformable db or a 6x2 will be vertically aligned, whereas a 6x1 will often have all of its buttons arranged in a V-shape, since the middle button does not need to function.

The Transformable DB

So what's harder than cutting a 6x1? Cutting a jacket that can do both. A jacket with a lapel that can roll to the one or the two, has the shape of a 6x1 when worn as one, but also cinches nicely when worn as a 6x2, and whose lapels look great either way. You need to cut both lapels to roll reasonably well to both points—again, considering drape and button placement, including the anchor buttons.

And unlike a true 6x2 or 6x1, a transformible jacket can't really be cut with a bellied lapel, as it needs to roll neatly to two different positions and the lapels need to work at two different angles, but if you want the traditional format of the 6x2 and the long lapel line of the 6x1, a straight lapel might not be a problem.

Caraceni famously developed this style for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; the 6x2 paralleled his father's preferred cut, and the 6x1 represented his own personal flair.

You can still buy a Transformable DB from Terry Haste, Rubinacci, or Assisi:

Ralph Lauren saw Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in one of these suits and found himself inspired. Althoguh Ralph's famous suit above is from Cifonelli, the suits sold off the rack by Polo Ralph Lauren at the time were actually intended as transformables. Of course, it was hard to get the perfect fit both ways off the rack, but when I ordered one off eBay, I was happily surprised. This is what it looked like right out of the box:

Further Reading

• Hallmark of the Sartorial Rebel: The 6x1 Double-Breasted Jacket
• The characteristics of the Double-Breasted Jacket | The Rake
• Assisi bespoke double-breasted tweed: Review | Permanent Style
• I Love the DB | A Little Bit of Rest
• The double-breasted section of my own article on dark brown linen

Steven Stokey-Daley has been getting plenty of love over the past few years. In 2022, he won both the coveted LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers and the British Fashion Council Foundation Award.

Showing at Pitti Uomo 105, "Elliot’s Room" explores the brand's common themes of British boyhood upbringing and class dynamics by evoking needlepoint tapestries; rugby shirts; upscale rest, relaxation, and play; dormitory life... The show was styled by longtime friend of the brand Harry Lambert, whose outside styling work has also often engaged these themes of boyhood and play.

Features that stood out to me:

• sleep themes, and loungewear generally
• big jackets
• cool bags
• kilted loafers
• stuff I'd wear to a beach in the winter if I were rich enough to own a weather machine

So here are my personal highlights. Let's start with the tailoring!

More on the Collection

• S.S. Daley website
  • S.S. Daley on Instagram | Steven, Himself
• S.S. Daley Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• S.S. Daley FW24 Unites Florence and Britain's Sartorial Legacies | Hypebeast
• Why is Everyone Talking About S.S. Daley & Magliano? | A/W 24 Menswear Round-Up | SHOWstudio (YouTube)

Other Collections

• Wales Bonner Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Egonlab Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Louis Vuitton Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Auralee Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Lemaire Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Todd Snyder Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• JW Anderson Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Feng Chen Wang Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Hed Mayner Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Dries Van Noten Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Loewe Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Junya Watanabe Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• ERL Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Kidsuper Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway
• Kartik Research Men’s Fall 2024 | WWD
• Balmain Fall 2024 Menswear | Vogue Runway

More

• Hypebeast's FW24 Coverage
• Vogue Runway's FW24 Menswear Coverage
• WWD's FW24 Menswear Coverage
• As Harry Styles Invests in S.S. Daley, the Designer Reflects on the Transformative Impact of His Famous Fan’s Support | Vogue. Boyhood and play are consistent themes in Harry Styles' aesthetic approach, and in the way Lambert styles him.
• My SS24 highlight, Dries Van Noten SS24 is Fantastic

A while back, I wrote an article about some pants I wanted. A silly premise? Maybe. But it was a fun way for me to explore my intentions as I expanded my wardrobe. Now, as I continue to spend a lot of time thrifting, I'm not always buying the exact thing I want—sometimes my wardrobe is built through serendipity, finding things I didn't know I wanted—but having that article as a guide for myself, I was able to get most of the types of pants I want.

So here are some clothes, shoes, and accessories I want to find in the next year. I'll think, in writing, through the reasons I actually want these things. Maybe some of my reasoning resonates with you. I hope

I'm not going to get everything on this list. I really shouldn't, it's a long list. But I do think this will be a good exercise in navigating my next move.

I'll warn you now, I'm going to identify a couple of major gaps in my wardrobe. Try not to judge me. I'm going to start with a big one

Sections:

• Tailoring
• Other Clothing
• Footwear
• Accessories

Tailoring

A Good, Bespoke, Single-Breasted Navy Suit

So... Yeah, a major gap.

My first custom suit was a charcoal SB. It's fine as a business suit, but the cut isn't actually... good, at all, it's a generic slim MTM cut from Black Lapel. It's fine for most guys... But I wanted to be picky and get something good made in navy—good, by a higher standard. Some kind of ideal.

Since then, I've had my CustomMen suit made. I've thrifted a navy DB from Canali that's... fine, and will maybe tide me over for the ~year it takes to have an SB made, but it's a bellied 6x1 with a weird cut, it really doesn't satisfy my desire for a more classic suit. I have six suits total, not counting my South2West8 suit.

So... I want the perfect navy suit. I've seen dozens of tailors who can cut a fantastic jacket, but only a handful who can cut a pair of pants that aren't way too slim for my taste. I've been thinking about The Anthology, I Sarti Italiani, Taillour, K-Zao...

I'm heavily leaning towards The Anthology. I've come to terms with how ridiculous I'll feel spending a few grand on a garment I wear a few times a year. Ultimately, this is my hobby, I do have the money, I want a navy suit I can really love, and I want the experience of buying and having a bespoke suit from a brand I deeply appreciate.

A Tuxedo

Yet another glaring omission. I have a wonderful ivory dinner jacket, but if I had to go to a proper black tie event tonight, I'd... have to buy something last minute and would end up looking like shit.

I need to have a tuxedo made, and the main issue with that is that I'm not going to audition a tailor by asking them to make me a tuxedo. That'd be stupid. I need a tailor—even a reputable one—to make something else for me first.

I also have a more narrow vision for a tuxedo. I either want a vaguely Sexton-esque or Husbands-esque SB with a flared leg (I have one specific non-dinner jacket I'm going to reference to the tailor I go with)... Or a DB shawl with one button, but... let's just say I'm still working on my shawl lapel inspo album.

So realistically, I won't be ushering in New Years' Eve 2025 or 2026 with either of those dream tuxes; I'll get the navy suit by 2025 and the tux some time in 2026 if I go straight back to back.

In the meantime, I am also trying to thrift a tux to fill in that gap, but I haven't found one I like yet in anywhere near my size. My ivory jacket would at least help me out in black tie optional affairs, but that's not enough... But I'm picky, and I don't want to settle for something I just don't like because I need one.

A Couple of Beater Sport Jackets

This is a paradoxical category. I need a couple of sport jackets that are good enough to wear but not so good that I'll want to baby them. I want some linen thing and some soft tweed thing or some soft corduroy thing that I just want to beat up, wear every other day. Something with patch pockets that I use, really use. Something I keep in my outerwear closet and throw on haphazardly. Shoot, maybe I keep it on a coat rack or in some other ill-advised place.

This is no easier for me to find than a good sport jacket, though. I'm picky. I need a relaxed fit with a good slouchy fabric. And it's weirdly hard to thrift jackets with patch pockets (without flaps, thank you, I'm going to be using these pockets), especially when I need a short length.

I might get this from a mall brand on sale. Todd Snyder or J. Crew. Maybe a Suitsupply Roma, but all of their pockets right now seem to be jetted. I guess they read my blog.

Other Clothing

Shirts

More Blue Shirts

I have blue dress shirts that are fine, I have a herringbone button down I like, I have multiple navy linen shirts, and I have a fantastic denim western.

But, again, I'm missing a coupe of basics: a solid blue OCBD, a blue university stripe OCBD, and a chambray shirt. I don't need all of these immediately, but... I feel like I do need one of them. I have a couple of makers I might go to for a chambray shirt, or I might thrift an OCBD, I might go to Jake's... we'll see what happens.

A Tuxedo Shirt

If I get a tuxedo, I need a shirt to wear with it, this isn't rocket science. There are still a few questions open in my mind—pleated front? Wing collar? Covered placket or studs? I don't really know yet.

Pants

As a quick recap of my some pants I want article, I wanted off-white jeans, Bode pants, big linen, something else funky, and a pair of good flares. Besides Bode pants, I covered all of those categories, but two of those cases have left me wanting more.

Some Off-White Pants

Simply: I thought I wanted slimmish off-white jeans. I got some. I wasn't into them.

My plan is clear. I'm probably going to buy a pair of straight or relaxed-straight ecru jeans from 3Sixteen. They don't make the latter yet... We'll see. I'll try the regular straight ones on. I'll work something out.

More Big Linen

I also bought Polo Ralph Lauren Andrews in linen. These are fantastic and so easy to find on ebay. (Andrew = double forward pleat, Hammond = double reverse pleat, nothing else matters).

But since I currently only have one pair, I'm afraid to wash them, and since I want to wear them constantly, dry cleaning is not a practical solution. So, by the time summer comes, I'm going to drown myself in so many pairs of big linen pants that I can listen to the poeple constantly telling me they wash fine.

More big chinos.

I like my big khaki RRL officer chinos. And I like my flared Gucci chinos. And I've tried on J. Crew Giant Fit chinos and Todd Snyder Relaxed Fit chinos, and I like them too. And I'm also interested in some more interesting options, like something from Studio Nicholson I could do with a pair of big navy chinos. Or I might get a pair in off-white, instead of the off-white jeans I wanted for... whatever reason. Or black, or dark brown, or... well, I'd like something I can wear with my sneakers, but I'll talk about sneakers below.

Purple Cords

Idk. Maybe brown cords. Maybe cream cords. I already have purple jeans. I don't need more purple in my wardrobe. But... There's something about purple cords... Corduroy just takes color so well. I might get some PRL Andrew cords.

Knitwear

A Mohair Cardigan

I might buy one of these in the current sales from Mr. Porter or Nepenthes... maybe. I have my eye on one that is beautiful, but not especially wearable... I might keep my eye open until I find the perfect option that's at least a little bit unique and at least a little bit wearable.

More Textured Knitwear in general

I've been talking about textured knitwear on instagram, in case you missed it. And I've gotten a boucle knit since then, and I want mohair, and... I have a lot of options. But I want more.

Specifically, I think I could use a pink shetland, but most of the common options don't fit me well. And I want a really nice off-white aran sweater. And I wouldn't be upset with another shawl collar cardigan, or four.

Another Knit Tee

I really love my Anthology Knit Tee. It's great for summer days when I don't feel like wearing a button up, but still want to do something. It layers nicely and looks even better, I realized,when tucked in to the right trousers.

But I can't say buying another one is a priority right now. They're still expensive. I might buy one, I might not. I'm not sure what color I'll want next—maybe espresso? Maybe I'll get one from another brand just to mix things up. Scott Fraser Collection's Chet knits are cool and unique, although they're even more expensive. Maybe Spier and Mackay's cotton crew neck—not sure how good these actually are.

Another turtleneck.

Maybe an Aran, maybe something I can layer. I've had fun with my burgundy turtleneck, but I can't pair it with all of the things I want to pair it with.

Outerwear

A summer-friendly rain coat

Sometimes it rains in the summer. I need a practical option that covers my body and my head and won't make me overheat. I might get a barbour jacket and one of the detachable hoods they do, or I might just accept that any decent lightweight rain jacket will not look great or actually breathe all that well.

A winter parka

Maybe from Frizmworks. They have a super wide variety of good outerwear. But I have specific needs beyond decent aesthetics: handwarmer pockets positioned and angled in a way I can actually use, sleeves short enough that they don't swallow my arms, water- and snow-proofing, enough warmth to get me through an NYC winter without worry, and, of course, a hood. How the heck am I going to survive in the snow or the freezing rain without a hood? Why are people making weather-proof types of jackets without hoods? Who does that serve?

... So yeah, maybe I'll just get an N3-B parka. Or a Kara Koram-type parka, if the pockets work out right. Or this one from Todd Snyder, which checks all the boxes, but looks kind of plain given the price... but then again, isn't that what I want for such a utilitarian piece? Plain, versatile, easy to wear whenever it's snowy or rainy or too cold for an overcoat.

Footwear

Well-Made Winter Boots

I've needed a pair of boots for a while. But after some pickiness, I came to a moment where I realized I needed sneakers more. I need comfortable shoes that I can actually wear and stand around in all day, even with my weird posture issues. I could barely wear my Meermin loafers anymore, standing around in them too long would leave me in pain the next day.

And that issue paralyzed my decision-making even longer. What was I going to do, spend $400 or more on a pair of boots and risk that, even after the break-in, I'm still afraid to wear them? I decided to throw a curve ball. Instead of going for some fancy, expensive thing that /r/goodyearwelt told me was really, really good bacause of the fudge wheeling, I'd get something that never pretended to be that kind of shoe in the first place.

So I said fuck it and got myself some ALD x New Balance Rainiers. They are kind of Timberland-inspired, but in a funky colorway like you might expect from Teddy Santis. I like them.

But now I find myself wearing my dress shoes a little more. My Duanes (from the Armoury) and my Aldens are much more comfortable. Maybe the Meermins are just not that great, or maybe the issue was the way I stood around in them all day long, or maybe the issue has been resolved by my exercise routine. In any event, I have renewed confidence in my body, and in "well-made" shoes.

Maybe I'll go to a Viberg sample sale. Maybe I'll buy something from the Stitchdown folks at some future Alfargo's. Maybe I'll just go with Grant Stone or something. Maybe I'll fall ass-backwards into a pair of Galways. Who knows?

Color 8 Shell Alden Tassel Loafers

I mean, does this one need an explanation? I actually bought a pair this year, but they're too narrow, so if you're a 7.5A, DM me.

The Missing Sneakers

I really like my go-to sneakers right now, my olive New Balance 990s—also a Teddy Santis colorway. But I'm left wanting. Particuarly, I want something that feels right with the pants that don't work with any of my existing sneakers. I don't like these 990s with my khakis or tan cords, or against off-white pants, or... Well, there have been some other corner cases. I've filled those spots with loafers, but like I said, I do need comfortable shoes. I want something I can wear all day long.

I think these might be just right—chunky, comfortable, a little bit of tan, a little bit of pink, not too bright, not too boring, versatile in the ways I need and then some... The main problem is that I don't want to become a guy who pays above sticker price for a pair of sneakers.

So I'm waiting for the next thing to pop onto my radar. I've seen some others that look okay.

Accessories

Not More Ties

I do not need more ties. I have so many good ties... I have like three great yellow ties, and I don't want to get rid of any of them, but I should, I really should, why do I have so many yellow ties?

I do need a grenadine and a seven fold tie to round out my collection. And I definitely need a La Bowtique bowtie when I get my tux...

But... I can't actually justify any more long tie purchases,

Another Funky Scarf

I love scarves. You know that. But again, I've found some gaps in the colors, patterns, and textures in my wardrobe. Aside from solids, I have intersting winter scarves in orange and pink, and summer scarves in navy and green... But that really doesn't leave me with everything I want. I still can't go full Stephon and just wear a fantastic scarf with every outfit. I could stand to mix it up a bit.

Some New Kind of Hat

I have a lot of caps I like, I have a few toques I like, I have a bucket hat that I sometimes don't hate. Maybe I need a better bucket hat, with just the right type of floppitude. I've never been a beret guy, but Bode's are kinda cool, maybe should go to Bode and try on some of those on. I just want to mix up my headwear.

Some more meaningful jewelry

I love my dad's Chai necklace. My grandma bought two of them—one for my dad, one for my uncle. Now my cousin and I own them. They're kind of dumb-looking, but that's not the point.

I don't know how I'll ever find more men's jewelry with a story worth telling, but I could use more. It'd be nice to have something I don't have to call "dumb-looking."

The Future

But, Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

I'm not going to stick to any plan too closely. Nothing above—not even the navy suit—is guaranteed. But through this rambling, I've given myself a direction. I might follow through on a lot of these notes. I might find another path forward. I will still go to Alfargo's, and I will still buy things there I didn't know I wanted.

But this was a useful exercise, in any event. I hope you got something out of it, and have some idea, now, of what you want to buy next. If you want to put your intent in writing, feel free to leave a comment, and refer back in a year or so to see how that plan worked out. It just might.

Afterword

I forgot a lot of things I want a lot from this list. I want a belted overcoat. I want a belted cardigan, maybe a RRL handknit. I want Alden tassels in black calf. I want a Wythe pearl snap tencel shirt. I want that belted Dries van Noten suit. I want some belgian loafers. And I need a better black belt.

The point being... this list could have been a lot longer, and I will buy things that weren't on it.

Just a quick list of sales here, nothing too deep. Will keep this list updated but relatively short. I'm not a big sale guy in general, but there are a few worth highlighting this time around. Note that some of these links are affiliate or referral links.

If you want footwear-specific deals, you can skip to the footwear section.

• Canoe Club. Use code "blackfriday23" for 30% off across the board, plus $20 of credit if you use my referral link. Includes a good selection from brands like Wythe, Needles, Kapital, Story MFG, FrizmWORKS, Karu, Auralee... I ordered myself a FrizmWORKS jacket, their outerwear selection is just strong this season.
• No Man Walks Alone is having a sale featuring brands like Kaptain Sunshine, Dopiaa, Blue Blue Japan, Valstar, Inis Meáin, and De Bonne Fracture. My Referral Link gives an extra $25 off.
• Cavour is 30% off across the board. Good for tailoring and refined basics in Europe.
• Mr. Porter's sale is pretty solid, with highlights including this Needles cardigan in every size but mine, this belted DBF cardigan in a 52, some Golden Bear outerwear and this whole selection from Séfr
• Todd Snyder is doing 30% off most things, including their recent collection and their collection of Inis Meáin knitwear.
• While J. Crew always has big sales, and this one is not uprecedented, it's pretty good. It's also pretty confusing, in that some pieces are up to 50% off with some of those pieces getting an extra 60% off, but giant fit chinos are 20% off (with one pair getting the extra 60%, which is good), and a good batch of discounts on Kenmare tailoring (a relatively full cut compared to the shrunken Ludlow). These Wallace and Barnes Officer Chinos are actually down to ~$40-$54 depending on color, and they have an Alpha Industries a fishtail parka, M65, and fatigues at 30% off. For that matter, Alpha Industries' own site is 30% off accross the board, including their N-3B Parka.
• Notre Shop has a wide selection at 40% off with code BF40, including pieces from Engineered Garments, Dries Van Noten, Wales Bonner, and The Row.
• Ralph Lauren is doing 40% off if you spend $125+. Nothing too crazy for them, but I needed to justify the use of the above meme.
• Backcountry has a few good discounts, including some pieces from Gramicci, Karhu sneakers, a few Kanata handknits (50% off, but unfortunatley no cardigans), and a small selection of Rocky Mountain Featherbed jackets and vests at 30% off.
• American Trench is 20-30% off made-in-USA goodies sidewide. Their Retro Stripe Socks are widely beloved and super cool, and their ventile bucket hat is a very practical way to keep your head dry in the summer.
• 18 East is having an archive sale, 50% off with code ARCHIVE50.
• Found is 40% off sitewide with interesting outerwear for cheap. Their pants are also cut very nicely, but beware their poly blends.
• Porterhouse has an additional 25-50% off already marked down prices (depending on how many pieces you buy) from brands like Freenote Cloth, Naked & Famous, and Gitman Vintage.

Footwear-specific deals

• Meermin has boots and loafers and things on sale. Well-made dress shoes for dirt cheap, some models down to ~$120
• Carmina has 15-25% off various styles + free belts. They're also an exceptionally good value at full price.
• Grant Stone is 20% off orders of $400+ (roughly one pair of boots and one accessory or shoe care product will get you there).
• Canoe Club, again, has a strong sneaker selection. With the 30% off from the code + $20 from my referral link, you could get Onitsuka Tigers or 550s for as little as $50.
• No Man Walks Alone's footwear selection includes Paraboot, La Botte Gardiane, and Huaraches from Chamula. Again, my Referral Link gives an extra $25 off.

I love cardigans. So much so that the first inspiration album I ever put together was themed around cardigans. But in the past five years, my perspective has changed some. So I thought it would be worthwhile to put together a new album to share some new perspectives. And I broke it out to five sections:

• Classic ribbed shawl-collar cardigans, which, in the classic styling—solid colors, thick ribbed knit, fit nicely into the casual end of a classic menswear wardrobe, but can really be worn in a wide variety of ways.
• Cowichan cardigans and similar patterns, particularly the brilliant work of RRL, which, as an indigenous American style, fits into western themes exceptionally well, and are just generally... so damn good.
• Mohair cardigans, which I think look cool in funky prints and colorful styles. This can feel like a hypebeast option, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
• Coogi Cardigans, a short section but an interesting one.
• Other textures and patterns, like cable knits, patchwork, argyle patterns...

This might be a good time to note that you can right click and save any photo on this blog, and that the filename usually has some details that you might find useful. While I'm at it, I'll let you know that there are a few affiliate links in this article.

Classic Shawl Collar Cardigans

as cozy as they come

So, generally speaking, over the past five years, I've sort of rejected minimalism and accepted that funky and interesting clothing can just be great. But that's not to say that all clothing needs to be funky.

The thick ribbed knit shawl collar cardigan is simultaneously simple and beautiful. It is the essence of coziness in its quintessential format. The main reason I want to be wealthy is so that I can afford to wear $1000-12-ply-cashmere-shawl-collar-cardigans around the house all day, every day, and not have to worry about pilling or anything like that. That's my goal in life.

Where to get shawl collar cardigans

• Spier & Mackay. 4-Ply merino wool for $200 is hard to beat. Use referral code E4HPYF to get 20% off your first order.
• Colhays, with good options for both lambswool and cashmere.
• Dreyden which... doesn't have anything listed on its website yet, but you're gonna want some, trust me. 8-ply cashmere.
• The "Indulgent Shawl Collar Cardigan" from Permanent Style and Anderson & Sheppard. 12-ply cashmere.
• For a somewhat different option, North Sea Clothing makes a low-gauge version without the thick ribbing.

Cowichans

and similarly-patterned cardigans

A piece of indigenous American heritage, the Cowichan-style cardigan fits neatly next to western themes, and also brings that feeling of... Good classic casual style. Cool, meaningful, not minimal or experimental, time-tested but bold nonetheless.

Some cowichans are cable knits. Some are buttoned, or belted, or zippered. Sometimes the patterns are used in different contexts.

Where to get Cowichan-style sweaters

• Kanata Hand Knits.
• Pendleton, as a relative budget option,
• RRL handknit cardigans. That's "Double R L," if you're saying it out loud. You can sometimes also find good ones from Polo Ralph Lauren, but the RRL handknits are absolutely the move.
• Chamula, which has a variety of styles

Mohair

and stuff that looks like it

Mohair is an opportunity, in my mind, for fun. Solid mohair cardigans are fine, but I'm not going to list them here as inspo. The fuzziness and shoulder-seasonness and slight sheen and hype culture around them just makes them such a good opportunity for the funkiest patterns you can find.

Mohair is good for spring and fall. It's breathable and cooling in a way that's hard to explain if you haven't tried it on. Some find it itchy, but I don't think that's quite the right way to describe the experience of wearing it. There is a certain coziness to it.

Where to get mohair cardigans

• Supreme, although given their drop patterns, linking to their website feels futile.
• Nepenthes brands such as Needles and South2West8.
• Todd Snyder, although their current selection of mohair cardigans doesn't speak to me... I much prefer this Argyle Mohair Polo. They also have alpaca options which are kind of reminiscent of mohair.
• Marni comes out with something new every season.

Coogi Cardigans

and Coogi-style cardigans

This will be a short section. I'm not always a fan of these maximalist sweaters, but I appreciate them when used well. As with madras, I believe they look best when layered thoughtfully. I also think they speak to a certain sense of nostalgia for reasons that... aren't entirely clear—no, Bill Cosby never wore Coogis.

Where to get Coogi Cardigans

This one's literally just a brand name.

Other Cardigans

all cardigans are special

some more places to get cardigans

• A Kind of Guise
• Chamula, again, for a variety of styles
• ts(s) easy cardigans, although there's not a lot in stock at the moment (here or anywhere). They tend to make for good casual summer layers.
• Story Mfg. for the vegans and hippies in the crowd.
• Filson's handmade full-zip shawl collars are fun.

Further Reading

• My original Cardigan album
• My reel on classic shawl collar cardigans
• RRL's Handknit Cardigans | Die, Workwear!
• Valet Mag's cardigan guide

Fit is king. Clothes that fit poorly never look good, and simple clothes that fit well often do. We know that.

We also know that silhouette is one of the most important considerations when building an outfit, and sometimes, pants that are just a little too slim or shaped not-quite-right can ruin the intent behind an outfit.

But does an otherwise well-crafted, complex outfit instantly fail because the hem is a little too long, or because the sleeves are a little too short? If the outfit is meaningful, is that meaning destroyed when fit is a tiny bit off?

I don't think so. This might be controversial, but I often think that getting the hem length exactly right is not that important. It doesn't hurt, of course, but it's not the point of this thing we do, and focusing too much on precise fit can distract from building a good outfit overall.

What is important is the overall effect and meaning of an outfit. Details matter, but they only matter in service of the overall effect and meaning.

Sometimes, the effect and meaning depend on hem length. There is a difference between a slight break, artful pooling, and showing off two inches of ankle. There is a difference between a shivering break and no break, even if it's subtle, even if it's more or less lost in motion. There are reasons why you might want to have your pants create a puddle around your shoes.

But sometimes, a piece fits perfectly while you try it on, but rides up a little when you sit down or bend your arms. People move in their clothing. People are dynamic, and constant perfection isn't realistic.

And sometimes, it doesn't matter. Sometimes, the point of the outfit is the way the upper half is layered, and getting caught up in how the pants break on the shoes is missing the forest for the trees. And sometimes, intentionally getting the fit a little bit wrong is the right thing. The canon of sprezzatura is full of sleeves a half inch too long, worn open, dangling past the jacket and past the knuckle.

I find it's extremely practical to keep this in mind when building unusual outfits. If your pants are hemmed to wear with loafers, they might hit your boots a little differently, and they'll probably hit your sneakers in a completely different way from that. And that's okay, as long as the complete outfit can portray the meaning you intended for it to portray.

I'll also say: details may matter more in a simple outfit; the execution is all you have going for you. In a complex outfit, the intent and the expression can come out more clearly, and the details only matter in service of the expression. Sometimes, bad fit feels sloppy. Sometimes, getting the shoulders too big by accident is like painting a happy tree. And often, if you love something that doesn't fit right, you should just get it tailored.

But some alterations are not worth bothering with. Sometimes you find a perfect jacket at the thrift, except the shoulders are a little bigger than you like. Sometimes, the right move is just to suck it up and play with the jacket you found. Maybe you'll learn to layer it better, maybe you'll just learn to wear it in a slouchier way.

The same holds true for casual pieces. Maybe you want a band tee for a band you love, but they just run long for you. Maybe you are in love with a one-of-one shirt that just can't be had in the "perfect size." Maybe your grandpa's cardigan makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, despite being a little shorter than you're used to.

I've ruined shirts I liked by altering sleeve pitch, or shortening the sleeves so far that I couldn't roll them up anymore. Was it worth it? Of course not. If a shirt is unique and special and can't be tailored to fit perfectly, just let it be unique and special.

Details matter. Fit matters. Getting it right is better than getting it wrong. And by all means, try to match the ideal you have in your head about how clothes should fit. But reality is messy. Embrace it, and build an outfit meaningful enough that minor imperfections don't detract from it at all.

I said this back when the lookbook dropped—Todd Snyder FW23 is really good. Sometimes, a good lookbook is just that—a good lookbook. But Todd's recent collection is not just styled well—delivered on pieces with details that are just really solid. The first drop is out now, so I picked out some of my favorite pieces and features that highlight what I love about the collection.

I'm going to work my way to some cool statement pieces, but I'm going to start with the thing that has me the most unreasonably excited...

Shirts with Long Point Collars

Shirting in general has been... bad. For a while. Most makers, especially ready-to-wear, have been making shirts with short, whimpy collars. Most MTM brands aren't offering long options. Some companies, more recently, have made longer button down collars, but a long point collar has a unique charm about it. These collars both frame a tie better, and frame your face better, and are framed better by a jacket (or cardigan, as you'll see). And finding this off the rack has been very hard.

Todd Snyder and Hamilton did it. Hamilton is a great shirtmaker. They're not cheap at $300, and we only have three colors so far (white, tan, and olive), but I choose to view this as the beginning of the end for whimpy collars, and a big win towards the general resurgence in good clothing.

The collar seems a little on the structured/stiff side, but that seems to serve the effect—it helps the collar rest under lapels, or hit a cardigan, as intended, and

There are also some very exciting collars in the lookbook for some knit polos, but it looks like we'll have to wait a while for those.

Alpaca Cardigans

This alpaca cardigan also looks great with the collar. I like the dark edges and pockets... and the fact that it has pockets in general, cardigans should have pockets, pockets are good.

It's a synthetic blend. That's not the end of the world, it's a textured Alpacca cardigan for $300, the blend might help them get the texture, drape, and feel they're going for. Try it on, see if you like it. And if you want purer knitwear, there's always...

Good Turtlenecks

Todd Snyder has its own turtlenecks. They're nice, sure, and 100% cashmere. But... They aslo carry Inis Meáin. So... Get the Inis Meáin Boatbuilder Fisherman Sweater in Natural. It's the genuine article, from one of the Aran islands; knitwear does not get better.

Now, is there a difference between "Natural" and "Bisque?"

Corduroy Tailoring

I'm a fan of Todd's madison cut: the proportions are right, the lapels are a respectable width, and it fits me well enough that I can comfortably layer it with knitwear. Everything I want in a fall jacket.

But more importantly, I like their corduroy. It's a soft, warm, wide-waled fabric—everything I look for in corduroy. It's also a 2% elastene blend—but, since corduroy sags anyway... the elasticity actually helps preserve the non-sagged form of the corduroy a bit, it's a bit of a paradox but the math checks out, I promise.

If you've been looking for a nice casual corduroy jacket or suit, the Madison jacket in Spruce (and pants) is my recommendation. But check out all their options, they have some fun options.

The Coats!

There are still more coats coming, but this glenplaid alpaca coat has a beautiful texture, and the double breasted teal Casentino wool coat is unique and awesome too. Casentino is a special brushed wool that can have an sort of fleece-like texture, but unlike poly fleece, it is not a nightmare for the environment, and... well, it comes with all of the benefits of wool. This is a piece you'll want to check out in person, if you ever get a chance.

And this Corduroy Chore Coat

Finally, the statement pieces—this corduroy chore coat in "watercolor floral" has been getting some well-deserved attention.

Wear it to a museum or art gallery or... any room as fancy as the one in that photo. Or wear it with jeans on a tuesday; chore coats are pretty easy to just toss on.

And this Argyle Mohair Polo

Funky mohair cardigans are nothing new, but Todd Snyder chose this season to play with four different form factors. I particularly like the color scheme on this argyle polo. Mohair sweaters are always a blend—46% mohair is actually quite high—so just enjoy the texture and vibe. And they're usually best for shoulder seasons, but you'll be able to layer with this for a while.

Todd's Just Good

There's more in the drop. This flannel is solid. The new dark brown color of their suede trucker (they're also making the truckers in corduroy, now)... And the selection of brands they carry and collaborate with is as strong as ever: Inis Meáin knitwear, Hamilton shirts, vermeil jewelry from Miansai, footwear from King Kennedy and Rubinacci...

And this is a harbinger from good things to come in menswear. Better collars, better knits, more casual tailoring, and hopefully more experimentation from brands that were once boring.

Todd Snyder has been hitting the right notes. Pay them a visit.

I got a lot of great shirts this summer. Just when I had told myself I had gotten enough, Will at SLOU offered to send me a seersucker popover... you should know by now that my thirst for good summer shirts is insatiable. I saw the collar and thought it would be worth playing with.

I've since put together two casual-casual outfits, and two less-than-casual outfits. A popover is usually not meant to be tucked in, but I felt it was worth exploring. I've gotten a feel for the shirt, and I have an idea of how I'm going to wear it going forward... But let's go through them one by one.

The first outfit, which I wore to visit a friend at the Instagram office in NYC, is also my first outfit with these ALD Rainers. I was actually kind of excited to wear them with shorts, inspired by the ad ALD originally used. Obviously, my outfit is less gorpy, missing the layers and the socks... but it was hot out, I'm happy with my execution. I like the color scheme I put together and everything.

And this might be my favorite use case for the shirt. Toss it on over shorts for a carefree summer vibe. The sleeves roll up nicely. The one-button-done state is simultaneously loose and breezy while rolling nicely.

Then, I wanted to try some casual tailoring. The outfit is simple, I even went with slim chinos just to keep things... straightforward? Idk, I just felt like busting out these chinos.

It definitely works. The highlight is the glorious collar roll, at its best with two buttons done.

But I prefer the shirt in the first context for two reasons. One, the sleeves are long on me. I'm a short dude, and I decided to size up on this shirt because a popover needs to be relaxed, and because Will told me it would shrink a bit if I tumble dried it. I thought—I'm going to wear this shirt to the pool, I'm going to wear it in the heat and sweat in it, I don't want to baby it every time I wash it, I like relaxed fits anyway, I might as well size up. After tumble drying: the fabric is still great, the fit is still nice and relaxed (but perfect in the neck), but the sleeves are still just long for me.

More importantly... I don't like the way seersucker tucks. Seersucker is crisp, and has a certain... stiffness. It's great if you know how to play with it, but I just don't like the way it looks around the waistband, it doesn't drape softly over the waistband. This stiffness also prevents the sleeves from bunching up higher on the sleeve... which I actually wanted when I put the jacket on, since the jacket sleeve would hide that and nobody would ever have known the sleeves were too long. Oh well.

Back to casual outfits. The zero-button state is the shirt at its slouchiest, so I pit it against my slouchiest pants and slouchiest jacket. The collar still looks great. The shirt is still long on me, and I think this would work a little better if the shirt was a little shorter, so. the shrit and jacket hems had more distance between them, but without the jacket, the length only adds to the slouchiness, so I'm not too upset.

Side note: don't wear tee shirts on hot days, wear this. This will breathe a hundred times better.

I had to try it with a tie. And while I still don't like the tuck or the sleeve length, the collar frames the tie super nicely. (I also like the way the seersucker sits when the collar is open, but I didn't have a good fit for showing that off).

I'm looking forward to SLOU's next button down, because if it comes in a material I do like tucking in, you're gonna see me in ties more often. (Note: Will says their next shirt might be shorter, too... I'm excited).

Except for the tuck and the sleeve length, I do love this fit. Slouchy but classic summer tailoring. Also the innagural fit for my blue suede Alden tassels!

All in all.. yes, I sitll love this shirt, but I love it more untucked. It's breathable and slouchy and light and crisp... Everything a seersucker popover can be. If you want a simple, casual summer shirt, this is a great option.

You've heard that style is personal. You've heard some say that art is about self-expression. You've probably heard that getting dressed can be an artistic endeavor, and that you can and should express yourself through clothing.

But... How do you do it? How do you express yourself? What does an OCBD mean, what does it express? Do ripped jeans make you a punk? Do khakis say you're a Republican? What if you just like leather pants?

If style is language, how do you speak it?

I reached out to people whose style I thought was interesting, expressive... good. And I asked them for their perspective. This was partly for selfish reasons: I'm still learning to connect the clothes I appreciate to the stories I want to tell. I'll be learning with you.

The task at hand is difficult. Many of the questions I asked are questions I don't know how to answer. Some of the people I interviewed struggled with these questions. Some of their responses surprised me. But through that struggle, I think we all learned.

This is only part one of... at least two. I was lucky to get some great responses from some great people. But there's only one way to start. The grandaddy of personal style, who simultaneously treats clothing as artistic expression and a simple act of just wearing whatever he wants...

Ethan M. Wong

Ethan has found three overarching themes in his style: Classic Menswear, Americana, and Slouchiness. He uses these themes to explore his "fandom" for clothing; he is sharing his hobby with you, and his greatest hobby is getting dressed. But each day, he will express that in a different way. "Some days I’ll play up my inner, wanna-be intellectual/artist vibes, and sometimes I want to play up that I like going to flea markets, or that I like Star Wars." He has different "characters," but each of the characters is him.

Pieces might be disparate or belong to a certain “character” or capsule, but there is an overall theme of being me.

To Ethan, each piece is coded with different expressive properties, and the fun is combining them to express something. His idea of business casual is Ivy style; he will combine a knit tie, blazer, OCBD, loafers, chinos or jeans, all around the throughline to an ivy outfit. But he might, alternativley, wear the OCBD with military chinos and vintage sneakers to give a casual vintage effect. His approach to shopping involves keeping a consistent point of view in mind, so that every piece is something he can see in the context of his style.

Do people understand Ethan's style? He thinks so "Or at least, I’m avoiding negative connotations, like being a real estate agent, lawyer, corporate guy, or stuffy professor." But it's not all clothing that lets him express himself. "I have other things that help me signal my expressions: I have a beat up tote bag (not a briefcase) that has an Ugly Doll attached to it. I have some sort of camera in my hand. I’m usually cracking jokes or riffing (like I do on my podcast)." Moreover, he talks to people, and people understand him through their conversations, through his hobbies.

Ultimately its about having my clothing expression go hand-in-hand with what people learn about me. To make them go "oh now I get it" or "that makes sense." I obviously don’t think I can affect true randos who don’t interact with me for more than 10 seconds; I don’t care if they understand. But when it comes to people after some conversation, I think I’m successful in my expression. They might just read it as a "weird, nerdy guy who wears suits and has a camera," which is just fine by me.

As for next steps, Ethan is trying to stay aware of new styles, and is willing to try new things, but isn't actively seeking any real changes. He's more focused on finding more pieces that fit his point of view well. He's refined his shopping process to get the pieces he really knows he loves. He's settled around a few of his favorites:

Rayon shirts with big collars. Big fit OCBDs. Wide leg pants.

And he's been developing more pieces with his preferred tailoring brand, Atelier Fugue. "Recently, Dave [Fugel] and I have increased the leg opening to 10”, but this also involved changing back rise, hips, and the grade of taper. I have to be this involved in order to truly get what I want, especially since this already deviates from what Dave typically offers to his clients. I’m glad he’s a patient friend who lets me use his service the way I want." That's the magic of being friends with the person who designs your clothing.

Lawrence Schlossman

Larry is a cool guy. Known, in part, for Throwing Fits, his broey podcast with James Harris, Larry has a long history writing and talking about menswear. So you might be surprised to hear that he's not really concerned with dressing for outward expression or being understood. Rather, it's an internal process.

"I'm getting dressed to feel good inside," Larry says. "Externally, what I'm trying to project is confidence, happiness, or satisfaction in myself." That comes out in different ways, but he tends to find a comfort in repeating themes he knows he likes. He describes his style as "uniform dressing with a recency bias." But he tries new things plenty. Like his Levi's Silver Tabs.

I got my first pair of Levi's silver tab jeans, I'd never had silver tabs before and I found a pair that is perfect for Larry, and I've been wearing those every day.

But the lesson is not "you should buy Levi's Silver Tabs and a Metalwood Stuido hat." If you read that, you're not paying attention.

"I hate, with a passion, recommendation culture, especially with how it has evolved now, with this ID, ID, ID. I think it is detrimental to the foundational element." James makes fun of him for repeating the same advice again and again: "the ultimate seed of life in this world is personal style. I love trying new things."

So try Levi's Silver Tabs, try a few different hats. Try different loafers, try black and brown, try things you wouldn't think to try. Figure out what feels like you you.

This can be hard, but it's the whole art of dressing well. "And there's an emotional gambit... Whether it's a trend, or something you thought you'd never look good in... I love trying new stuff. Stuff that I love, I carry it with me, and stuff that I don't, I'm happy I tried it."

That visceral love of our little fucking hobby, for me it really is... when you say forever, that can be daunting, but it's exciting.

As for how others feel about his style: Larry has friends in the industry, but he doesn't seek their approval. This can be complicated, since the way he personally chooses to dress has a "bizzarre symbiotic relationship" with his job. "If one day, it were decided that Larry dressed like shit, objectively, that would be a problem... It's kind of important that people who listen to the show don't think I look like shit, but really, at the end of the day, I do not care." He has a financial incentive to keep looking cool, and he enjoys the positive reinforcement, but the deeper love of clothing drives him to dress for himself, and just hope the world appreciates it.

And not everybody loves his style. In fact, he says he lives with his biggest hater—his wife. He doesn't think that's a problem at all:

If your girl hates your fit, that's how you know it's fire.

Charlie Caulfield

Charlie's style is hard to pin down for a few reasons. On instagram, go by "the hero of a thousand faces." Partially a reference to Campbell, this quote is more a reference to Charlie's journey though their gender and style. "I identify as genderqueer and I am influenced by a wild amalgam of things from my cultural background, personal experiences, and local fashion scene, and thus have never fully committed to one style identity." Some people describe their style as being similar to "wearing a costume" or "playing a character," but to Charlie, it's all authentic.

[I]t means doing my best to physically represent my authentic self as it changes from day to day.

That might sound hard, but it comes naturally for them. "Because I dress in so many different styles, it makes shopping easy. I only buy secondhand these days, but I just look for special (usually vintage) statement pieces that I can build an outfit around." There's no use being too picky. If it's magic, they will make it work.

Because Charlie has so much fun with wacky, special, loud, fun, magical, vintage pieces, and combines them in such a wide variety of ways, there's no need for any baseline or standard. Every outfit can be a bold reinvention.

I don't personally believe in basics or staples, I'm a maximalist at heart. Why can't an outfit be all bangers all the time?

And they make some pieces of their own, too.

And again, Charlie doesn't care if anybody understands their style. "It's validating to be clocked as male when I present that way, but otherwise, I don't think much about it." They have taken not caring to an extreme in the past. "As a kid, I showed up to school in a velvet cape and knee-high Converse. As a teen, I wore 1950s prom dresses and buckskin jackets." But it doesn't stop them.

I've been posting fit pics online for almost a decade and I've heard just about every negative thing you can hear about your appearance. I don't take it to heart anymore.

Again, it all comes down to authentic personal style. "It might sound arrogant, but to express yourself authentically and have fun doing it, particularly with something as subjective as fashion, you have to be self-assured. Otherwise, you'll run around in circles trying to please everyone."

Sometimes there are practical complications to this expression. Having twice been pregnant, Charlie had multiple occasions to deal with sudden changes to their body. Getting a suit that fits right is hard enough when there isn't a big ol' fetus in your uterus. But Charlie found a way, and, in the process, wrote the "Menswear guide to pregnancy fashion." These outfits were seamless; I met up with Charlie in person during that time and had no idea they were pregnant. I took this photo, where Charlie was practically reusing this old outfit. Seamless.

Charlie's style is changing, and their environment factors into that. "I've always struggled with dressing professionally (I would rather wear a tutu than a shift dress), but as I return to school as a "mature" student and begin to advance my career, I want to be able to express myself while still presenting in a polished, appropriate manner."

Lessons So Far

I knew, going in, of course, that style is deeply personal. But it was kind of inspiring to hear how and why none of them cares about what others think, or even about being understood. You'll see one person who cares in part two... kind of. It's not what you think. (subscribe if you feel like subscribing)

Nobody is too straightforward. There are no political messages on their tees or hats. Style, as a medium of expression, is generally not that prosaic. Ethan's approach is the closest; he'll wear graphic tees for things he's a fan of.

They agreed on a few little things. Larry hates recommendation culture, and so does Ethan—I let Larry know that this reminded me of Ethan, and he didn't seem to mind the comparison: "I love Ethan, to hear that from you, for me, that's the highest compliment."

Charlie is in the process of figuring out a business-appropriate wardrobe that's still fully expressive: something Ethan has been working on too, post-pandemic. They both dressed in ways nobody understood in high school, but used that experience to refine their tastes into something people can appreciate today.

But there were also surprising moments of disagreement. Larry finds himself settling into uniforms, while Ethan almost never repeats an outfit. Ethan and Charlie's interpretations of Americana and vintage menswear come across totally different—more so than I thought they would.

And they're all trying to express different things. Ethan is dressing to represent his hobbies and interests, and clothing happens to be one of them. Larry is just wearing clothes that make him feel good, and put him in a good mindset, and other people just happen to read a vibe from it. Charlie is trying to express deep, day-to-day changes in their identity and mood.

But they're all expressing themselves, and it all works. Let personal style reign.

More and more, guides out there have started to extol the benefits of minimal leather sneakers—so-called "dress sneakers." These guides are quite ridiculous, as there are certainly no such benefits. Minimal leather sneakers are the worst of both worlds, simultaneously bland, casual, and uncomfortable, and the popular white ones look especially ugly with a dark, tranditional suit due to the high contrast drawing the eye to the feet. Worse still are the frankensneakers, dress shoe hybrids pioneered by Cole Haan with especially ugly wingtip uppers glued haphazardly to orthopedic-looking soles. Please, for the love of God, never wear those.

These guides are terrible, but they belie the desire people have to understand and embrace casual tailoring. The question becomes: how, if at all, can you pair sneakers with tailoring and still look good?

To me, the answer is not to try to find the dressiest sneaker, but to build the whole outfit from a more casual perspective. Casual tailoring is difficult to get right, but I love it. So here's some inspiration.

Before I get into it, I'll share a few insights to keep in mind:

• There is no such thing as a dress sneaker. Sneakers are always casual. Even suggesting that some sneakers are slightly "more formal" than other sneakers is kind of ridiculous. They're all absolutely casual.
• Your approach should generally not be to build a formal outfit and decrease the formality, but to build a casual outfit and throw on a jacket, or build a casual outfit around a casual suit. For those new to the concept of casual tailoring, this might be a tricky concept. Just keep an eye out for good inspiration, casual fabrics, and interesting silhouettes as you try to learn.
• There is no such thing as a dress sneaker. A frankenshoe with a dress shoe upper and a sneaker sole is an abomination against nature and won't ever look good.
• It's always helpful to refer to a specific aesthetic, as opposed to throwing pieces together haphazardly. Classic ivy might involve canvas sneakers. Neo-ivy, pioneered by Aimé Leon Dore, is largely built around New Balances. Are you going for a grandpa vibe? A dadcore vibe? A Japanese Streetwear vibe? Some of these outfits use sneakers as sportswear, some as streetwear, some to give nautical or classic casual or lazy or nonchalant vibes. Sometimes, the sneaker you originally think looks ugly on its own feeds into a greater aesthetic to better complete an outfit. Chunkiness and other features are casual, but they're sneakers, they're all casual. Lean into it.
• Nothing that is a sneaker can ever be dressy. There is no such thing as a dress sneaker. A minimal leather sneaker is not a dress sneaker, it's just bland. It lacks vision; it feels like you decided you needed to wear sneakers because you're afraid of dress shoes, not like you actually had an aesthetic in mind. Minimal sneakers fail on every front: they're not more comfortable than dress shoes, they don't look like dress shoes, and they don't look good.
• If you wear all-black sneakers hoping to pretend that they are black dress shoes, you might as well wear a tuxedo tee-shirt and a combover. It's not tricky, it's obvious and it's sad.

There will be a few different styles and silhouettes in this album, but I'll tell you now: Hirofumi Kurino is just the best.

Conclusion

There's no such thing as a "dress sneaker."

In case you're new here: Alfargo's Marketplace in New York City is a menswear thrifting popup that makes Pitti Uomo look like your average afternoon in a law office. Deejayed by Kris Lynch, Alfargo's is an occasion to get fitted in whatever makes you happy (especially if tailoring makes you happy), and talk about clothes with people who really love them. Oh, and good clothes go cheap.

I go to buy and sell, but also to talk to people who appreciate clothes. It's a place where you can have a conversation about the new Dries Van Noten collection, or about your Anthology jacket in that one fabric they do, you know the one. But while I'm there, I really like taking photos. I love capturing a candid, but some moments are just ephemeral—I can't show you Elias and Auden's excited hug on day one, I wish I could. But there are plenty of things I can show you.

It's been a while since I did one of these in article form. I have been posting on Instagram—October, December, February in two parts, April in two parts. But I got too many good photos this time, and I had too much fun to contain this on social media. So here we go. You're about to see some sick summer fits.

Day One

Let's start with Kris before he goes inside to do some deejaying. That shirt is fantastic, isn't it?

Henry came casual with a graphic tee and baggies, but completed the outfit once he got there with a RRL linen blazer and a good bucket hat.

Victor leaning heavily into the lanky-schoolboy vibe.

Shane is not a crook, but you'll feel like one when you buy from him, his prices are too damn good.

Sarah at work. She does for Alfargo's what she does for Ralph Lauren, and she does it well.

Drew putting that corridor shirt to work. He almost changed into corduroy shorts from Rowing Blazers, but he was actually more comfortable in the heat wearing these linen trousers.

Ryo of LIC Vintage Clothing, having just posed for somebody else.

Auden wore a dinner jacket and tuxedo shirt to celebrate their birthday. Kshitij can't sit down because he's wearing Issey pleats.

Jeff and Max talking about watches, and about how incredibly different their outfits are.

Edan in a slim knit shirt, big pants, loafers, and a 'stache. Speaking my language.

Elias in some good sunglasses. And jewelry. And clothing. As always. And Auden, proving she can find her way into more of my photos than anybody else.

I recognized Joe's shirt, immediately, from a distance, as Bryceland's diving rayon. We chatted about that and other good things.

Will and others discussed the proper way to pronounce "Stoffa." That's where his clothes are from, btw.

Chomsky making change in a GRP knit.

Zoe and Ramsey of Ram's Head Vintage. A friend of the blog, Zoe wrote the postscript on my article about all that "old money aesthetic" nonsense.

Donovan's day one outfit, back from a time when he had never had Veselka. Seen here with one of the titular mascots for his brand, Grandad's Suitcase.

Stephon rocking his safari jacket and a signature scarf. And Adilton in ivy. Gotta love a guy who rocks a tie in summer because he wants to.

I used my camera to take photos of people. Zane and Chomsky take photos of people. Alex? Alex brought his camera to take phtoos of dogs. So you have that to look forward to. That's probably what they're talking about.

Bryan bought some of Rowing Blazers' Warm and Wonderful prints. Just a few pieces though. Nothing too silly.

Get you a girl who actually likes your fits. Edit: Andrew said this photo is one of the things that finally convinced him to start putting up videos. He seems to be doing pretty well for himself now. I'm happy.

Brian in a full fit from Scott Fraser Collection.

Veer, trying on this jacket he should have purchased from Los Torres Tailors.

Ivan showed up at the end of day one with a halo.

Day Two

Michael's friend made this hat, and Charlie tailored this suit for themselves. Fans of Charlie's should probably subscribe to The Second Button newsletter or RSS feed. Hint hint.

Andy made an active effort to tone it down for Alfargo's. Click his IG link if and only if you want to see what I mean.

Ryo brought it with this black and tan. His shirt, like the shirts around him, is from Polo. Dude likes polo.

Heaven only knows what these two troublemakers were up to.

By this point, Donovan had had Veselka twice, and is therefore much happier and more fulfilled as a person.

Ivan takes a different approach to cullinary delight, celebrating Grimace's birthday with a burger and fries.

Megan repaired my RRL chinos while Sora was busy looking pretty in that Todd Snyder linen herringbone jacket.

Laura usually wears tailoring—I recall one heavy tweed suit in particular—so seeing them here with this more punk vibe. Dandy Wellington is Dandy Wellington They're helping a shopper try on a heavy, heavy tweed jacket in the summer heat.

Brian going through Shane's criminally underpriced silk goods.

This dude's about to get my money.

Sam really seemed to enjoy the various odds and ends on this rack.

Andrew tried this jacket on, and I thought it really completed his outfit. A lot of people make serendipitous finds like this at Alfargo's.

Is Tai just drinking, or is he posing for the camera? It's hard to tell sometimes... Is he a little too cool, here?

Ivan switched into these pants on the spot. See? Serendipity.

Brian of legendary vintage shop Wooden Sleepers.

Thomas, embracing the wrinkles of good linen.

John in a guayabera from Gala Octuvre and trousers he made himself.

Auden, Sora, and Laura return from a beer run. You can just barely see Laura in the back, but you unfortunately can't see their fit.

I love the way Elias is rocking this PRL Casino shirt. Let loose, people.

As with Charlie, people who want to read more about Elias's style will want to stay tuned

Stephon caught in public cavorting with an attorney. They should really ban attorneys from this thing, we're the worst.

And we'll close out with Elliot, who was just passing through, but I asked to take his photo, and I apparently made his day. Listen, if you step out in a good fit with Margiela GATs, you deserve to have your photo taken at least once.

My Finds

I walked away from the first day with only one tie, thinking I might actually make some money over the weekend, but the second day got me. My total haul:

• A PRL paisley tie from Zane. I keep telling myself I have more than enough paisley, and then I find myself getting another piece.
• A Land's End tie from Zoe. I'm running out of room for ties in my home, I'm going to need another tie rack soon. But there's something fantastic about this.
• A guayabera from Nick. Short sleeve linen/rayon blend with some nice details. I now own two guayaberas with plans to buy a third. I did not see that coming.
• A denim shirt from Tai and Bunpei at Rugged Road. Vintage Dickie's Vaquero, It's soft with an excellent collar and good details
• And a suede trucker jacket. I'll probably end up wearing this very casually, we'll see.

This is a quick one. Not a lot to be said, except... Dries Van Noten Men SS24 is really, really good. The tailoring is great—especially the belted DB above—and he uses shorts uncommonly well. Even the slimmer silhouettes are good.

I enjoyed a few other SS24 collections—Lemaire did well, as it usually does, and Pharell Williams' first collection for Louis Vuitton was significantly better in motion, and with music. I'll list a few more shows this season below. But Dries won out, for me. Here are a few highlights.

That's all. Let me know how you feel about the collection, or other shows this season, or short-form posting in general. I'll keep doing the long-form posts either way.

More shows worth checking out this season:

• Lemaire SS24
• Louis Vuitton SS24
• Amiri SS24
• Auralee SS24
• Etro Man SS24
• Prada SS24 Menswear
• Wales Bonner SS24 "Marathon"

Do you own anything truly unique? I don't just mean unusual or rare—do you own anything that nobody else anywhere owns an equivalent to?

There's a certain magic to a unique piece. It becomes a part of you, a signature nobody else can replicate. This can help you love a piece and appreciate it more forever. It can help you feel pride when you get complimented for it—this shirt is not just the designer, it's you, you're the only person who decided to buy it.

These shirts share a bohemian spirit and a perspective of true passion for clothing. The individual craft and care that goes into each one is just a little bit of magic. It's the type of clothing that makes you love clothing. It shows how much fun clothing can be.

I'm going to start off with a brand I hope you've heard of, and then see if I can show you something new. As an added treat, I've gotten a few of the designers to share a few of their favorite shirts.

Bode

Emily Adams Bode Aujla's wide selection of one of a kind shirts is just fantastic. She loves to use not only deadstock fabrics and found materials, but new fabrics made according to vintage methods. She has a whole design language, and I think at least some of the brands here are directly inspired by the spirit of her beautiful men's clothing.

It's also worth remembering, in the context of one-of-one clothing, Bode's custom senior cord. You'll see some similar personally-customized options below.

Pikol

I found out about Pikol through an article by Derek Guy, who accurately called them bohemian and in keeping with Bode's aesthetic (and their approach to found fabrics). Their fantastic shirts instantly appealed to me and many others, deservedly growing wildly in popularity over the past year.

Founded in 2020 by Dan Branston, Pikol makes shirts from "embroidered tablecloths, tea towels, tapestries, antique linen sheets, and blankets." Accordingly, supplies are limited. Shirts come out at 6pm on Fridays, British time, and sell fairly fast. And each one, work of art that it is, has its own unique name.

Gala Octuvre

Ana at Gala Octuvre, a first-generation Cuban-American woman, combines custom chain-stitch embroidery with a piece of her own heritage—the linen guayabera.

Technically a piece of formalwear on equal standing with the tuxedo in some traditions, the guayabera is characterized, primarily, by two rows of front pleats. Gala Octuvre's designs also use a traditional four-pocket layout, which both makes the shirts more interesting and more practical—it's particularly handy to have a dry pocket available when your bathing suit is wet.

Although Gala Octuvre sells basic linen guayaberas, the real selling point is the beautiful chain-stitch embroidery by Joy Nuanez. You can have something custom-embroidered (like I did, more on that coming), or buy a ready-to-wear one-of-one piece they've already imbued with beautiful designs.

KPC

Kelsey Peyton Crane tells the story of what inspired her eponymous brand quite well:

In the 1970's, my dad spent his summers surfing in Central America. While he was there, he would purchase canvas and muslin feed sacks and coffee bags to bring back to the US. They were then taken to a tailor where he would have the textiles made into garments.

KPC, again, uses unique deadstock fabrics, in the spirit of her father's habit. It's a special skill—to look at something that seems to others an ordinary feed sack, and see a beautiful shirt.

Karu Research

Karu Research is a fun brand. Everything they make comes in limited quantities, but some pieces are truly unique, handmade beauties. Kartik Kumra has a real eye for vintage fabrics and embroidery. Their recent popup with Colbo in NYC featured plenty of one-of-one shirts and jackets. µost of Karu's shirts are not quite one-of-one, but still bring a lot of the same Bohemian spirit you might appreciate.

And that's not to mention their collab with the next brand on this list (alt link)...

Small Talk Stuido

With such noteworthy clients as Virgil Abloh, Mordechai Rubinstein, and Avery Trufelman, Small Talk Studio is no secret. Nicholas Williams customizes white trucker jackets, jeans, and shirts, as well as... just about anything you send him. While white is clearly his preferred canvas, he has the talent to handle whatever medium he's working in. Unfortunately, his services are in high demand since his Blackbird Spyplane feature, and his prices have risen accordingly, so if you need a piece of his, you might get a better value out of a jacket or some jeans that will last you ages.

Pentimento

You know how a painting might include layers of paint, and one image hidden behind another, as the artist paints layer over layer? Over time, paint might fade, and you might see the lower layers of the painting. The mistakes. The history. The hard work that went into each individual piece. This underlying image is called a pentimento.

The aptly-named Pentimento celebrates this spirit with... you guessed it, handcrafted shirts in found fabrics. The whole operation is run by Timothy Haught, who crafts each shirt by hand, and his wife. He doesn't like drawing too much attention to himself, though; he believes the work should stand for itself, and it does.

Otakara NYC

Satoshi Suzuki of Otakara NYC does custom embroidery. He's also had pop-up events with Engineered Garments and Post O'Alls, and done a ready-to-wear collaboration with Kith, but I'm definitely here for the custom stuff.

As a bonus, I've included a few close-ups of Satoshi's hand-embroidered details from the above shirts at the end of this article.

Relevant Links

• @hagedesu183, a Japanese Artisan making similar one-of-one jackets; Lauren Roche, who seems to be doing... everything but shirts... and a few more brands you'll start seeing on your IG explore page if you spend as much time digging into this as I did.
• A New Generation of Designers is Treating Clothing More Like Art | GQ
• Summer's Best Shirts (2022) | Die, Workwear! See also, the things Derek is excited to wear this spring (and summer)
• New York Times article about Bode's Senior Cords and the university tradition they're based on
• Complex interview with Nicholas Williams of Small Talk Stuido
• My guide on How to Talk About Collared Shirts, for a more general perspective on shirts
• Sprezza's guide to spring shirting, for less unique options

Okay, let's start out by getting the various elephants in the room out of the way. Yes, Harry Styles is very popular. Yes, he has worn a dress, and often wears pearls. Yes, he has a team of stylists working on most of his outfits. Yes, Gucci gives him money.

But at the end of the day, Harry is a well-dressed man who speaks a complex language with his personal style. I want to show you that language.

I'm not here to, specifically, focus on the way he plays with gender—aside from pointing out that he's not beholden to traditional concepts of masculinity—or with sexuality, although this NY Times piece wrongly assumes his yellow suit is a women's suit, and I'll mention that.

I'm here to describe the common threads in the ways Harry wears tailoring. Although they are consistent with, and heavily influenced by, the approaches of Alessandro Michele, friend of Styles and Creative Director of Gucci from 2015-2022, and Harry Lambert, Styles' main stylist since 2015, these common threads are consistent across brands and stylists, and seem to indicate a deeply personal style proper to Harry himself. I'll also share some photos I like of him in more casual attire, which I think are contextually relevant to his language.

You'll notice obvious features like bright colors and bold, feminine accessories. Some of his suits are embroidered. But I'll invite you to consider the silhouettes. His trousers are often flared or wide. His jackets often have bellied peak lapels. Like most men with taste, he loves a double breasted jacket. He often wears sleek white boots. His suits come from not only Alessandro Michele's Gucci, but Alexander McQueen, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, and Edward Sexton. Focus on the commonalities in all of these cuts, and you'll see that there's more to his style than initially meets the eye.

Through reading this, I hope that you'll learn to read tailoring, and what different pieces and elements might represent. I hope that this process will help you refine your own personal style, even if it's nothing like his. I hope you gain practical insight from seeing the spirit of his style.

Bellied Lapels

In case you don't read a lot about tailoring, it's now important to explain what a bellied lapel is.

The edge of a lapel is usually either cut straight, or curved slightly so that, when folded over a chest in three dimensions, it appears straight. Some lapels are curved upwards (concave up), like a smile, so that it has a fat little "belly" underneath. The relatively rare "reverse belly" is a strong downward (concave down) curve—it sort of sprouts outward like a flower.

For context, shawl lapels are always cut concave up, so a "bellied" shawl is a shawl that is more bellied than usual. But you won't see many shawls here, really a different ball game.

The New York Times wrongly assumed the suit below is a women's suit. Putting aside the femininity or queerness embodied in the outfit, the suit is objectively a men's suit, as it was made custom for Harry by Marc Jacobs, albeit based on a women's runway style from Spring 2020. This is clear enough not only from the fact that it fits him well, but from the fact that the buttons are on the right—come on, NYT, you should know that women's suits button on the left, that's basic.

Tommy Nutter and Edward Sexton

Many of these design details are rooted in the tradition of Nutters of Saville Row. Founded in 1969 by Tommy Nutter and Edward Sexton, two trained bespoke cutters in the British tradition, Nutters is known for developing a truly unique cut that excited rock stars. Their suits have been worn by the Beatles, Mick Jagger, and Elton John. It is carried through to modern times, after Nutter's retirement, by, and under the name, Edward Sexton.

Their signature cut includes bellied lapels, flared legs, and a structured shoulders. They are known for loud colors and bold patterns. Is any of this sounding familiar? While other tailors employ some of these elements, it's clear that Harry's tailoring is specifically referencing the Nutter style. You'll see, as we continue, bias cut pockets, unique edge taping, and other features taken directly from the Nutter style.

For more on the brand, I'd recommend reading House of Nutter. Thank you to John Reuter, friend of the blog, for teaching me about the brand and constantly raving about the book.

Gucci HA HA HA

So, let's dig into the HA HA HA campaign (alt link). The video reflects a few themes that reflect Harry's friendship with Alessandro Michele. Boyhood; play; vintage inspiration; sleep; whimsy. This is his dream wardrobe, so it fits that the video feels somewhat like a dream.

The collection includes certain old-school elements like tweed and flat caps; graphic tees; DBs; bow ties; flared trousers. It makes specific references to famous pieces, like a Tommy Nutter blazer made for Ringo Starr. The outfits combine pieces in an eclectic way, and piles of clothing are strewn all over the place. Though this be madness, there is method in't.

Bringing Harry's Language Together

So we've established that Harry is more than a pop star with nail polish and good hair. There's substance to his style. There's a consistent, coherent language. It's not just flare, but playfulness. It's not just reappropriating queer and feminine elements, but reimagining masculinity through those lenses as something more bold, more fun, more relaxed, happier. But he's not reinventing masculinity from scratch: he's repurposing the rock stars' cuts and exciting fabrics with real heritage, and using a new lens to make them fun, cool, and appealing in a modern way.

Is he advertising products? Sure. Is there a performative element? Sure, but you could say the same of anybody. Is it overtly sexual? He's a pop star, let him have some fun.

You can levy a dozen criticisms against them man based on your own personal taste or how you interpret his language. But style is personal, and he clearly has a consistent, pointed perspective of his own. He speaks his own language, consistently, and it comes through. Can you read it, now?

A little while back, I had a chance to speak with Buzz Tang, co-founder of The Anthology. In case you weren't aware, The Anthology is a bespoke tailoring house with a combination of modern and classic perspectives, and an array of unique casual pieces with classic twists.

I tried on a few of their ready-to-wear garments (everything is great) and spoke to the team (Buzz, Co-founder Andy Chong, and Ed) before sitting down and asking Buzz the questions I had prepared. And while I was excited to be there, interviewing a man I had been following online, it really felt like a natural conversation. Buzz speaks freely about the brand's design process, experiences with clients, sources of inspiration, and even some upcoming pieces. What follows is a deep dive into not only what makes great clothing, but the spirit of a modern bespoke brand.

We spoke for a bit before I started recording, so I dive in at the part that feels right, and maintain our casual, conversational tone throughout. Enjoy.

The Interview.

Daniel Hakimi: I really want to talk about casual perspectives, but I definitely want to start with proper tailoring, suit and tie. I want to get a perspective on how you develop your cuts, and where where the inspiration came from. There seems to be some 30s or 40s inspiration, some "Esquire Man," but there's definitely also a modern take on it, and I want to get your an idea of the design process.

Buzz Tang: It goes way back to the name itself. "Anthology," a library, a curation of fine things. Not meaning like, you know, we're not a multi-brand store, we're not The Armoury, we're not trying to get, you know, Maker A, Maker B, Maker C. Everything's made in-house by ourselves. Our idea of curation is: we curate, and we do research on, multiple facets; basically explore different realms of menswear, or even lifestyle in general, depicting, for example, streetwear—well, not exactly streetwear, not quite there yet, although you may argue, like the Casentino jacket, that blouson is a little more street, you can actually go down to soho...

DH: Oh yeah, I can definitely see certain streetwear guys I know wearing something like that.

BT: Yeah, so we're getting there as well. We're slowly exploring different identities. As we always say, we love amplifying a personal identity to someone. So, it's quite open-minded. It's a little bit of an open book as well.

Our casual identity... I think we have a little bit of that sort of like golden era inspiration, in the sense that, when you actually look at the shoulder, at our signature roping, there is a little bit of natural drooping, and then kind of pops back up again. Those tiny things... It's that combination. Both the old and modern. It's old school because it still has a little bit of that sort of roping but at the same time it's really soft, it's padless. I think it's the nuance that we have in our design that makes the Anthology garment a modern garment. Especially with the way we present it as well.

DH: Right. So, I do also want to talk to you about styling because I feel like, on your on your main Instagram accounts (@theanthlogy, @theanthology_tw), there's a lot of ties, there's a lot of woven shirts. It's a lot of proper tailored, classic outfits—and and obviously, you know, the blouson too, the knit t-shirts too. But then I see a lot of Anthologists—particularly, there's there's a lot of guys who will wear, say, your suits with graphic tees, and the like.

Do you think there's anything particular about your cut or your brand identity that makes it more available for for experimenting in those ways, or for, you know, dressing down in those ways?

BT: Hmm, I could certainly... The house style itself. The versatility. What this garment as a base, can offer, starting from the shoulders, to the lapels, to the specific gorge height. The curvature of the garment—I think that distinctively differentiates our garment from, for example, a very traditional English garment, where everything's little edgier as well as squarer, or maybe a little more triangular, a little more geometrical, whereas ours is more rounded, I think with that balance, it gives a slightly friendlier profile. A little bit more pared down. Even when you have it done as a suit you don't always think it would be a very formal garment. It's formal enough. It would actually suffice for, you know, for work. You can actually wear it, put on a tie the way we would wear them.

DH: Absolutely. Yeah. Again, it has those classic inspirations, the features of thoe 30s and 40s cuts, but it straddles line beautifully. And then obviously, your double-breasted cut, it has a little more of those angular features, those peak lapels, even some peak lapels on single breasted jackets. But yeah, maybe just the softness, in general, manages to straddle that line.

Let me talk to you about fabric. You use a lot of tweed, you get deadstock fabrics and vintage fabrics, but you also developed that beautiful Harris Tweed with Jamie Ferguson. And the Fab Gorjian gray and yellow fabric, I love that one. I love the fabric you're wearing now. The Casentino...

BT In fact, we had something very similar back in the day, our first batch of ready to wear, which was actually our own development with a very with a very renowned Scottish mill. It was a shaggy dog jacket. It kind of resonates a little there, there's a certain resemblance to a Casentino cloth. Like, it still kind of had this sort of... shag fuzziness the fuzziness. It kind of looks like a sheep.

DH: Is is that the cream jacket from... wasn't that a couple of years ago?

BT: Exactly, 2020.

DH: That's a great jacket.

So how do you pick fabrics that fit your brand's identity, especially given that tweeds, which are not common today... people think of them as heavy, and itchy, but menswear enthusiasts... there's something about tweed...

BT: Interestingly, this is only one of a few tweed jackets. Whenever we launch tweeds, there's a very specific reason to it. We don't always do tweeds either. We actually still focus on... wool cashmere, wool silk linens, linens. If anything, linens are really part of us. It's our bread and butter—especially in Asia, because it's hot.

DH: Yeah. I think I featured you early on in my blog, in my article about dark brown linen, And I remember you had a dark brown linen double breasted suit with black buttons. And I remember reading the caption about the black buttons, and how you picked the black buttons for that suit.

BT: The mother of pearl buttons.

DH: ... and I always wanted a brown linen double breasted suit. I eventually ended up getting one, but yeah. Black buttons, that stood out to me. And it was a great cut, Obviously.

BT: Sometimes it's all about like putting a slight creative twist to it. At the end of the day, classic tailoring is just... a tailored garment. It's a garment that still has structured shoulders, lapels, collars, two pockets on the side... there's only so much you can actually work around with. So obviously within the very limited realm of things that we can actually play around with, we try to be as adventurous as we can, yet still making sense for everything that we're trying to do. We, we are constantly designing garments that could actually speak to both, without a better word to describe them, enthusiasts and "normal" consumers as well. Cause a lot of consumers cannot relate to, for example, getting a tweed jacket. So we must have something that would eventually work them. For example, our Lazyman jacket, which is the casual side of things. But It still says a lot about the brand identity, still carries that classic image. It just has a different approach.

DH: Right.

I would like to hear more about designing specific pieces. And specifically, the Knit T-shirt and the Lazyman jacket. First, the Knit t-shirt. It sort of took the world by storm—or, the menswear world by storm at least (laughs). The name... it's a knit t-shirt. Jersey is a knit. Every T-shirt is a knit, but it's a t-shirt that feels more like a sweater. It has that great ribbing... I think the ribbing and that dense sweateriness make it feel simultaneously like something you can wear with a blazer, and something that you can wear casually out the door the way you would wear a t-shirt. Would you be able to share any insight into how you designed it, or how you picked the colors? They're great colors.

BT: Interestingly, when we design things, we actually design as a whole team, like both (co-founder) Andy and I, and we consult our colleagues as well. Be it, Edward (who was there with us), or Casper and Willie from our talent team... So whenever we actually design things, we ask the whole team how they feel about it. These products, they don't necessarily speak to every one of us, but there would always be elements that speak to a specific one of us.

Every other classic menswear business actually has a polo shirt.

The knitted t-shirt's inspired by 1950s sort of sportswear. The shorter cut, the ribbing, this and that. We just want to do a modernized take on it, a very simple t-shirt that could actually work with tailoring because as modern times progress, a lot of people actually wear... especially summer jackets without wearing a shirt. Not even a linen shirt, these days. So in that sort of case, there's only so many things you can actually play around with. There's a polo shirt and there's a t-shirt. So we're like, okay, great. Polo shirt. Done. Sweet. Every other classic menswear business actually has a polo shirt. That's bog standard because it's easy to sell, and it's an essential piece that everyone thinks should exist. Which, we finally have one because we've kind of hit that point where we're like, "okay, you know, we've got the t-shirt, but we need something for the winter." And for the winter, you want something with color, so like great long sleeve polo shirt. There you go. But prior to that, we wanted something that has a very special identity that really differentiates us from any other menswear business, hence we had the idea of having a t-shirt that could fit into like a menswear/sartorial wardrobe. So that was our proposition. We actually made a lot of modifications to it, even deciding whether to have pockets or not. At the end of the day it's a simple exercise of like... elimination. Having this pockets, yeah, great, they look very vintagey, but is it exactly our thing? Not quite.

DH: All right! The Lazyman also stood out to me. And Teba jackets in general. They take elements of what makes what makes us love a blazer. But they're also very clearly, very visually, not quite a blazer. There's something casual. They have the straight hem, they have in your case the patch pockets. You know, the Teba jacket might have different lapels... it has the upsides of a lapelled jacket, of almost a blazer. It speaks to the menswear sensibility, but it's also something that I feel like I can throw on while I'm walking out the door, no matter what else I'm wearing, and just feel comfortable and not feel like I have to make an excuse for dressing up because it's not quite that.

BT: You got the jist. You could easily write up the article without my help, honestly. (We both laughed at this). No, thank you for taking the time.

I always want to dress in a sartorial manner, but my friends actually don't relate to it.

Yeah. I'm very fond of the Lazyman jacket. It speaks a lot about myself as well. I always want to dress in a sartorial manner, but my friends actually don't relate to it. It's really hard for them to like, when you're actually dining out with people, when you wear like a suit and tie... It's just feels really out of place. For example, if you actually go down to Brooklyn, unless you're like an art school kid, where you actually want to dress in a full aesthetic... it just doesn't make sense to wear a tie.

DH: Unless you're Ethan Wong.

BT: I guess so, yeah. Ethan Wong is a very strong individual. He's very interesting in his own way. But for myself, I live in a modern world as well. London is fast moving, like Hong Kong or New York. So in societies like these, I don't think a suit and tie is always appropriate. It has its own time and place.

DH: I'm not wearing one now!

BT: Exactly. I'm wearing one because it's a special day for us. We're running a trunk show, so we're seeing clients who are actually a little more proper as well. It makes sense.

Back to the Lazyman jacket, I'm really fond of it. It's a garment that I'm really passionate about. We even had a joke about it. So... before we designed it, we always wanted to actually have a deconstructed jacket, which now we do, the featherweight blazer. We've only added canvas to a certain part of jacket to retain the lapel roll, yada, yada, yada. You can actually read it online. It's kind of, I don't wanna bombard you...

DH: Don't worry, I'm loving it.

BT: But the Lazyman jacket's basically a cardigan-jacket hybrid. That's our original idea. Andy and I always had this joke, you know, back in the days when... "Meta," when Facebook was still a thing, we were always like,
"classic menswear is going downhill. We have to design these garments that would suit Silicon Valley boys." So we're like, "okay, great. Maybe we should actually do something that still has like a collar and a lapel, but making sure that it doesn't look exactly like a jacket." So that was the original idea. So we wanted a loungey jacket that you actually wear at home, you can actually wear for Zoom meetings. Back when Zoom meetings weren't big yet.

DH: There are some details that deviate... First of all, I assume it was at least partly inspired by the Spanish Teba jacket.

BT: Not quite, actually.

DH: Really? Just a coincidence? Maybe more of a chore coat that turned out...

BT: Actually, we were thinking of making chore coat. The chore coat was actually the closest thing we had in mind. The Teba jacket, I specifically did not want to reference because we're not a Spanish house.

DH: Fair enough. Yeah. But it is a little bit like a Teba jacket in that it has the the square hem...

BT: I can tell you a bigger coincidence as well. So, I like art to a moderate degree. Obviously I'm no guru, but I remember I was actually reading some books about a French artist, Jean Cocteau.It happened he actually had a jacket that was very similar to a Lazyman jacket, but I only found out a year after the Lazyman jacket came out. So I was really bummed out because I was like, "oh, if I knew earlier, I could have used Jean Cocteau as an inspiration and talked about it." But yeah, it came a bit late.

So yeah. Teba jackets. Yes, I do see certain resemblances, I see similarities. But when I was designing, to be very honest, I wasn't thinking of it. I do think the Teba jacket is not a thing that I could fully relate to. I do think I can admire, I can appreciate the structure of a Teba jacket, but for some reason I feel like there's a little bit of a, almost like a countryside or like hunting sensibility, a Teba jacket. Whereas the Lazyman jacket is definitely more like a city guy's approach to...

DH: Well (laughs), you know what the Armoury calls their...

BT: City Hunter. Oh yeah! Of course!

DH: Yeah.

BT: But I don't hunt in the city. No. I might, I might be hunting for cash, you know, I might be hunting for money, but no.

DH: It's more... something that you can throw on and go to a bodega, than go hunting.

So, you mentioned knit jackets. Or, cardigans, you said. Yeah. the, the Lazyman, you have it in a bouclé, in camel hair and in a lot of softer, fuzzier fabrics.

BT: It's the secret recipe to a Lazyman jacket. Every time we run development for a Lazyman jacket, where we do samples, where we're sourcing, there's a list of requirements of what we want to be implemented. For example, there was a while we actually started offering made-to-order for our customers, because obviously a lot of our customers have been buying a lot of our Lazyman jackets, and they're like, "oh, you know, I really wanted to actually use my own cloth, actually do something with you guys." Can we offer that? There's a very strong elimination process where we're like, "you cannot do this, you cannot do that. This is not available, that's not available."

(At this point, Buzz told me the only fabric they do make MTO Lazyman jackets in, but he wanted to keep this a secret.)

BT: ... But, for instance, linen is something that we wouldn't be using in a Lazyman jacket.

DH: Why exactly. Just doesn't feel right?

BT: It's part of our secret recipe. I guess to make it very easy, it's too crisp. It's almost a little denser, you know what I mean? So it's very different from a Lazyman jacket.

DH: Yeah. It's, it's dense and it's, it's linen can be heavy, whereas you, you want something you can kind of throw on and, and be cozy in.

Imagine it as a blanket.

BT: Imagine it as a blanket. I think that's probably the easiest way to describe it.

DH: I like that.

So, I don't want to talk too much about other brands, but a few brands like... Camoshita, recently, they've been doing knit blazers.

BT: Not aware of those. But (Yasuto) Kamoshita's (founder of Camoshita (no, that's not a typo)) a great guy. I've met him a couple of times. He's really nice. I have a lot of respect for him.

DH: He's a legend. So... I don't see too much knitwear from The Anthology, aside from the knit tee. I know you wear a lot of turtlenecks. Have you ever considered doing more knitwear? Maybe a knit jacket or knit knit Lazyman or something like that?

BT: The first day we arrived here, we were almost ashamed, because when we saw each other... I flew from London, they flew from Hong Kong. I came a little later. So by the time I got here, I saw them in turtlenecks. I was also wearing a rollneck, and I was like, "gosh, we oughtn't be doing something that similar, otherwise people would be complaining about it." All of our photos during winter, we're wearing these sorts of things, but we're not selling any of them.

So yes, we're working really hard towards a goal, but every development takes a lot of time. Almost a little bummed out. You know, I'm almost embarrassed to say that we still haven't had them ready, but they will eventually come. And it's been made official!

DH: Turtlenecks, specifically?

BT: I don't know what form. Can't promise now, but some kind of knitwear will eventually be coming around.

DH: That's good to know.

Can I ask where you get your turtlenecks and roll necks from?

BT: Mine? A lot of places actually. Cashmere manufacturers, like Johnstons of Elgin are great. I've also had a little bit of... branded stuff, actually, Previously obviously I bought a little from the Armoury. I don't know, a little bit from... let me think. I weirdly had some from Loro Piana, Brunello... I did have some from Prada as well. I'm a little bit of a fashion kid. Like, if you really wanted to delve into that, I was a fashion kid, so I like my fashion as well.

I'm a little bit of a fashion kid.

DH: I was gonna ask, do you think of yourself as a fashion designer?

BT: I would love to think that way, yeah. I think, because we're designing as a team, you know, I don't take full credit for my design. The design actually belongs, obviously, to all of us. But yeah, I would perceive myself or ourselves as like, a... partial fashion designer. Right. Mainly menswear designer because of where we are and what we do right now.

DH: Right. Maybe you're not the same as Alessandro Michele, but you're not not doing fashion. You're, you're not immune to trends even, even though you take inspiration from classic...

BT: Pretty much. Might be a little controversial, but, a lot of people say "style is not fashion," yada, yada, yada... I do think they share a lot in common, actually.

DH: Yeah. People like to imagine that they're immune to trends and that their taste just triumphs over anything that anybody else is doing. But we're all products of our environments. We all see things. If my friends are wearing something I'm gonna say, "oh, yeah, that's actually cool. I never realized that." So there, so there's something propagating over time. You can't just design anything in a vacuum. Even though there are timeless inspirations. And there are basic tastes that, you're a very tasteful guy, but...

BT: You're too kind. But fashion is constantly about referencing, but there are also certain things that I actually don't enjoy about referencing as well. It's awful referencing, for example, things that carry strong military connotations, or things that are, this might be another controversial issue... a lot of these designs came from like military designs. Is that a good or bad thing? I am not sure.

DH: It's a hard thing to avoid in menswear.

BT: Exactly. But I also think it's something that we're actively trying to avoid. As a very sensible, modern person. I'm very sensitive about anything that's borderline culturally appropriative. Or Military related. You know, even when we talk about field jackets, obviously every other menswear brand would have a field jackets, a Safari jacket... "Safari," itself, as a name, it's almost colonizing.

DH: Yeah...

BT: If you know what I mean. This could be off the record, but...

DH: No, I hear you.

BT: It's not exactly my favorite thing to say. And even field jackets, when you have like all these functional pockets. I get it. You know, I had this conversation with another writer some time ago. I think field jackets and Safari jackets are still acceptable. You know, there's functional pockets and you actually don't fully advocate for that military image, it's still fine. But ghurkas, I've always found really interesting. They were army trousers. They were Vietnamese army trousers, and they were worn at mankind's very worst hour in wartime history. Why would someone... I get it, back in the day, in, like, the sixties, seventies when students were kind of broke, they had to go thrift for these Ghurka trousers. I get it. Because back then it was the lack of resources and money that led you to thrifting. But right now, when you have ample resources, as a fashion consumer, you're spending hundreds of dollars on these types of products. Why are we recreating pieces that don't necessarily elaborate on the best idea of mankind?

Why are we recreating pieces that don't necessarily elaborate on the best idea of mankind?

DH: I think that's really a good perspective. Not to knock, there are brands that make beautiful military-style pieces, and that draw great inspiration from that. And I'm not trying to disrespect those brands, but that's a really great perspective for your brand to have. And it sort of reflects...

BT: There's a huge gray area as well.

DH: Yeah. People talk about stolen valor, also. And people who were actually in the military have an attachment to that, that we, at least I, I've never been in the military. You know, I don't even wear a lot of workwear because it doesn't feel authentic to me.

BT: I'm on the same page as you are.

DH: Yeah. So finding something authentic to me is not about referencing milsurp, or workwear, or things that other people wear. And to some extent... I do have denim. I do have a chore coat. But to some extent, I'm looking for something a little different.

So, we touched on this earlier, but there are things that you won't do for some customers. Like with the Lazymen. How do you draw a balance between being a custom clothing brand and having your own specific vision where you say "this is what works. This doesn't. I'm sorry. We won't do that for you."

BT: That's a brilliant question. It's a really hard line to follow. There are things that... you have to constantly say no to people, while, obviously, it's an operating business at the end of the day. There are certain things you kind of have to budge on, as well. Things there we don't allow people to do... Prior to us having a single breasted peak lapel suit or jacket, there were people who were like, "you know, I love Tom Ford's style. I love the five button design. Can you do this? Can you follow this and that?" When people bring in a Liverano and Liverano photo, they have a printout of a Tom Ford suit they bring in, they tell you...

DH: (laughing) They just want you to copy it, huh?

BT: Exactly. Hong Kong has always been notorious with tailors who are super efficient, super cheap, and just copycats, but nothing else. As creatives, these are things that we're really against, would really be a hard no, because it's not part of us, and we don't want any of these garments to leak out and for people to know that we're the wishy-washy kind. Because our image has always been jeopardized by part of the market. And now we're perceiving ourselves as an international label, but at the end of the day, because of our origin, a lot of people are still like, "these guys are from Hong Kong." And when they actually had such connotation we'd have to go an extra mile to make things right.

So these are the times that would give people like a hard no. But, for example... in the bespoke world, sometimes you have to adapt to customers' lifestyles as well. As a very simple example. You might have actually read our latest feature on Bill Nighy. A very famous British actor. He's a very nice gentleman. He's lived very well in his own Saville Row suits. So when, when Andy was conducting the spec fittings with him, he specifically asked for a longer jacket. It was very long to a point where like, that doesn't look quite like an anthology jacket. In some ways. So, these are things that we have to budge on. We have to... negotiate, going through rounds and rounds of discussion to reach an outcome. So there are certain things that we still have to accommodate. Things that we don't necessarily like, we still have to suck it up.

DH: It makes sense. It's just great to have an artistic vision that is strong enough that, if somebody's offering you a few thousand dollars to do something,you can say no.

BT: There are times that we still have to kindly turn them down. Very simple example, say someone's looking for a very powerful, edgy suit, say a very (Edward) Sexton-esque sort of thing. We, especially in London, we actually refer... there are a couple of names that we always refer them to. So we don't necessarily get the business sometimes, but it is part of the deal. We'd rather lose on these small gains, but catch a big fish, which is our overarching aesthetic approach in grand scheme of things. I think in conclusion what we had in mind was, as long as it doesn't deviate too much from our house aesthetics, it should be okay.

DH: So, you are an international brand. Especially in London, you refer people to different tailors. What's the difference between different customers around the world in London, New York, California, Hong Kong—any patterns that you've noticed?

BT: Well, we're still quite new to New York, to be honest. We have two stores. One in Hong Kong, one in Taipei.

Hong Kong was, or maybe it still is, a very strong financial hub. So the typical bankers will come in for navys and grays, that sort of thing. The occasional younger generation, kids with a little bit of money, they would get sport jackets and like a lot more interesting stuff. So we are very lucky to have cultivated a cohort of very friendly diehards who are very good friends of ours, very young as well, who are very into the culture, but want a little bit of that modern twist. That's where The Anthology kicks in. So that's Hong Kong. A lot of lawyers, barristers, attorneys like yourself—we don't use that word in Hong Kong, but it's the same thing.

In London, again, a lot of KCs or QCs (basically meaning lawyers, barristers). We have a lot of those clients. Very well educated, well-versed, very cultured in general. We have bankers as well, but obviously because we're operating on a trunk share basis for people who would actually join trunk shows at a young day, they are enthusiasts, to an extent. Otherwise they wouldn't even have heard of us. We're, we are still a very small company at a young day. New York... I would say London is very refined in the sense that I feel like a lot of our clients have experienced bespoke tailoring in the past, hence I feel like they know exactly what they're looking for in terms of fit, meaning that they come in, they leave it in our good hands, but you also know they understand why they're coming here and what they're looking for.

Whereas in New York, I feel like... this is really our second trunk show. So it's very hard to say because we were still at an early stage. But yeah, my understanding of New York is, clients actually... they love to get garments to wear. They really wear the shit out of it. So that's what New York clients are. They commission garments, they're like, "I want this, I want that, "I want this for like a specific occasion, I want this for a specific and event." So I think it's more like a styling game, rather than just tailoring. Obviously it has to come hit a certain standard, in terms of fit and everything, which is Andy's forte. So we have that covered, and the rest of it is really fun for me because I can explore different things with customers. Whereas in London, I feel like it's more... conservative is definitely the wrong word to use, but definitely a little more classic. Like, people are looking for very classic things. That are inspired by, I don't know, the royal family, traditional... money, wealth...

DH: Heritage.

BT: Heritage. There we go. Thank you.

DH: Okay. one more question. This one comes from Ethan (Wong), actually.

BT: Oh. Oh! Is that for me, specifically?

DH: Don't get too excited because it was kind of a joke. How do you come up with the social media copy?

BT: ... about the Anthology? Really? (turning to the rest of the team in the other room) Guys, how do we come up with social media copy? ... Intuition?

DH: Intuition.

BT: You get drunk, and then... Not really. We're not drinkers. Ethan would know. I am technically allergic to alcohol. I only started drinking maybe a year ago. But I'm not heavy drinker at all, we seldom drink.

DH: It's overrated. I mean, it, it's fun in college, you know, you stop caring about things.

BT: If you like drinking, you like drinking. To each their own, I'm not the police, I don't care. But how do we come up with social copy? Well... It's just ideas. You speak your mind. Sometimes we even question ourselves, are we actually losing a certain level of authenticity as a brand as we grow bigger. And it's concerning, because you feel like your creative ideas are actually being defeated by multiple elements, multiple facets, and as a friend, I would always hope that people speak up for us, share our posts, talk to people about what we do. Very kind of you, writing the blog, talking to these people, obviously any digital footprint helps the brand as well. So I genuinely appreciate your time coming over for us as well.

DH: It's really my pleasure.

BT: And... we really don't wanna just rest on our laurels. I would take that as a compliment, from Ethan or you or anyone else. The creative identity is in us. Some people... I don't want to sound disrespectful to any of the tailors out there, but there are definitely tailors who only know how to make clothes, but have no idea what they're actually serving. No idea what sort of value they're actually offering to today's world. But maybe because we actually see tailoring in a very different perspective. We see tailoring, apart from making the best clothing we can... it's also about creating a new cultural phenomenon. Like we want to change the world in the way we can. Hopefully for the better, but not worse. So... how do we create social copy? It's just speaking our minds freely. Which is exactly the way Ethan would do it, as well.

DH: It absolutely is.

Sorry, you reminded me of one last question. This might be silly. How much market research do you do?

BT: Market research. In what terms? Like look at what other people are doing.

DH: Look at what is trending with consumers, what consumers are gonna wanna spend money on...

BT: Ah, okay. So you've heard a lot about trend forecasting. Yeah. I studied fashion as well. So obviously, we were told to do this and that. You have to be on it, see what's happening. Upcoming seasons. As a classic menswear business—obviously we're... half classic, half modern, but still classic at the end of the day. In some ways, trend forecasting is bullshit to us, because our things are very seasonless, first of all. Like we wouldn't say "oh, a high street brand or luxury brand out there is doing this, and that's why we have to do this." Obviously the blouson was, is designed without putting in any sort of like, consideration as such. Do we do market research? Yes, of course.

I'd rather look at... Louis Viton, Bottega Venetta... Prada... Zimmerman, The Row... Even Visvim.

We care about what people are doing. Not necessarily other classic menswear businesses. I'd rather look at... big brands, even Louis Viton, Bottega Venetta. I actually like Prada, womenswear brands, Zimerman, The Row, I look at multiple things. We love fashion. Even Visvim. There's so many different things that we can actually look at. Market research as a whole... It just seems like... you'd be looking at competitive brands, brands that are higher than you, lower than you... Our way of running the market research is... Obviously it's statistics-based as well. From the e-com side of our team. We actually look into it. If you talk about, from the design perspective, or product-wise, we just look into things that we think would actually work well for us, and we would always look out for the right talents, the right people to actually be involved in the process. I don't tend to overcomplicate things. I overthink a lot—don't get me wrong, I'm an overthinker for sure—but I don't overcomplicate market research.

DH: That's good answer. Thank you. This has been fantastic.