Contrast Collar Shirts

The contrast color shirt , wear it alone or with your favorite suit.

Nom De Guerre $214

J Crew $65 

Ralph Lauren Purple Label $350

Hickey by Hickey Freeman $198

Belts

Some hip casual belts. 

Black Fleece by Brooks Brothers $300

Ralph Lauren Cotton Madras $275

J.Crew needlecraft belt (40 hours to make each piece) $300

Apc canvas belt $65

Tanner leather belt $64

The Summer Suit

Here are some light-weight suits perfect for summer in some timeless and stylish fabrics and patterns.

Brooks Brothers Linen Suit $798

Polo Ralph Lauren Seersucker suit $1395

Black Fleece by Brooks Brothers $2700

Jill Sander $1975

Polo Ralph Lauren $1295

Collars

The first priority when buying a new dress shirt is to consider the collars. It is the mens dress shirts collars that are directly under your face. It frames your dress shirts as well as the face.

If it does not complement the shape of your face, then the overall look of your dress shirt will be inappropriate for you.

For example, if the collar is narrow and the face is wide and round, then it will further enhance the size of your head. Naturally, this disproportionate design causes an imbalance to the rest of your dress shirt.

See above for different collar types and below for a quick reference guide, sure there are other collars but these are the most popular and mostly seen in todays world.

ETON COLLAR 

The Eton Collar, so named for Eton schoolboys, requires a collar pin.

 TAB COLLAR 

The Tab Collar, with snap button, keeps the tie in place, with a nice forward tilt, throughout the day, also first worn by the Duke of Windsor.

BUTTON-DOWN 

The Button-Down Collar was copied by Brooks Brothers from an English Polo Shirt that had collar points buttoned to keep them from flapping. It is a very popular collar.

SHARK OR CUTAWAY (SPREAD) 

The Shark or Cutaway (Spread) Collar is usually worn by men with a predilection for dressiness.

KENT COLLAR

The timeless collar flatters a variety of facial types and can be worn with any style of suit.

The Double Button Collar

 

This collar tends to have a more sophisticated look especially when not worn with a tie. It shows that one has paid attention to the detail of the collar and may imply that you know a thing or two about dress shirts.

Mao Collar 

Originally from China, this collar is a completely other world. With no flips, this dress shirt collar in the Western world makes for a unique casual dress shirt.

Swimming time

So im making a list of things to pack for my weekend getaway , and the top item on my list is the swim-trunk.

These days most guys i see are wearing ridiculous loud or very long swim attire or just the same one with the same old boring print.

A great new brand i've had the pleasure to get a sneak peak ,have some amazing classic swimtrunks is blessthesummer - they will launch their swimwear line this upcoming winter.

Ralph Lauren $65

Opening Ceremony $240

Marni $324

Lands end $29.50

Adam $165

Overnight Bag

I have been looking to get a nice weekend/overnight bag recently and found it hard to locate one i liked , here are just a few (although some are not recession friendly) that would do.

Tumi $795

Sandstorm $350

Ralph Lauren $3,700

Loro Piana $3,200

Bottega Veneta $1,270

Barbour - waxed cotton $295

How to care for your suit

The chemicals used in the dry cleaning process can significantly shorten the life of a suit, and I try to have mine cleaned only at the end of their active season. Before cleaning, send suits to an alterations tailor to tighten buttons and make any required repairs. When they come back, have the suits dry cleaned to remove any dirt that might be attractive to moths, and hand pressed. When you get the cleaned and repaired items home, remove the cleaners' poly bags and store them for the inactive season in cloth suit bags.

If you wear hand canvassed jackets and your dry cleaner won't hand press the jacket fronts, I urge you to find another dry cleaner. 

Minimizing dry cleaning frequency requires five minutes of home brushing and steaming before and after each wearing. A suit should be brushed to remove dust and dirt before it gets ground into the cloth. After brushing, empty the pockets, remove belts or braces and hang the suit on a shaped or padded hanger with the closures zipped or buttoned.

Suits should rest for at least 24 hours (flannels and tweeds should rest for at least two days) so the cloth has time to recover its shape. Many wrinkles that developed during the wear will fall out of their own accord overnight.

Before wearing a garment again, remove any remaining wrinkles, and any new ones that developed during storage, with a steamer. Steam relaxes the fibers and, unlike ironing, will not scorch them.

Some trousers may lose their crease during the season. When this happens, I prefer to have my trousers pressed but not cleaned (a jacket and trousers should always be cleaned at the same time to keep them looking like a matched set). This is only a good idea if they are brushed regularly. Pressing dusty cloth, even cloth that looks clean, grinds dirt into the fabric. And, because most people don't brush, many cleaners don't offer a separate pressing service. 

Need help finding a competent dry cleaner? If there is a Four Seasons Hotel in your city, call and ask where they send their guests' clothing. Try the service they use -it'll usually be the best establishment in town.

Rover

Land Rover  is introducing some new faces for 2009 with the new aggressive looking 'Range Rover' offered in 4 versions and my personal favorite the 'Defender' keeping its classic look with a few detail upgrades including a massive grille. 

Also for 2009 panoramic roof on the 'LR2'.

With the gas prices at an all time high they will introduce fuel efficient versions as well.

Fall 2008 Ralph Lauren Preview

So as much as most of us love our dear Uncle Ralphy , i thought it would be nice to share some things coming for Fall 2oo8.

This season, twists could be found at the other end of the Lauren spectrum, in the top-of-the-line Purple Label, with its flamboyant color scheme (to wit: fuchsia herringbone, a strawberry blazer, and radical orange cords)

Wide ties are in heavy rotation in the Purple Label area as well as Fair isles and Herringbones in the Classic Blue Label with hints of colors.

And no that is not Dracula with the cape.

Get ready to splurge.

More to come.

Shirts shirts shirts

Some of my favorite shirts for the summer . 

RRL $185

Polo Ralph Lauren Madras Shirt $85

Daniele Alessandrini $205

Band of Outsiders $175

Topman $55

Polo Ralph Lauren $98