My Last Days with Dad
March 1, 1990 was the last day I would ever spend with my father. It was a Thursday, and I had flown home to Cleveland the night before from Boston where I was in the second semester of my freshman year of college.
The Oscars: A Hospice for Well-Executed Black Tie
It’s official: the Oscars are possibly the worst occasion on which to observe well-executed black tie, with very few exceptions. Not only are simple tailoring cues missed by a mile, but there is also that unnecessary urge for some men to make a statement.
Going ‘Hotel Chic’ with my Studio Apartment, Part 1
My evolutionary process is ever changing. After trying on an office space for a few months, I’ve realized that it doesn’t quite fit me. So I’m stripping down my studio apartment to the bare essentials to accommodate what I call a “hotel chic” aesthetic. It’s all about less but better.
Down with Down: An Alternative for Luxurious Sleep
I’ve been sleeping under down comforters for more than thirty years. But when my puppy Lenore recently turned my bedroom into what looked like the massacre of a flock of seagulls (with an impressive debris field, I might add), I took the opportunity to try an alternative to a feather-stuffed comforter.
My First Custom Suit from Black Lapel
After a series of difficulties and an eventual breakup with an online made-to-measure company I’d been using for years, I decided to finally try Black Lapel.
Ideal Wardrobe Essentials for an American President
I’ve never made a living doing just one thing. I’ve always had side gigs here and there that supplemented my livelihood. One of my fantasy jobs would be as a wardrobe consultant for a politician, an executive or an on-camera personality. I think I’d be really good at it.
I’ve written before about the streamlined dress code of men in power, a subject that interests me greatly. Over the course of the much-ballyhooed current election cycle (or any election cycle, now that I think about it), I can’t help mentally re-dressing the candidates. Even with the inherent sartorial constraints of American politics, which entails a lot of blue, gray, white and splashes of red, there is a lot more room for elegance without being overly flashy.
Two Common Mistakes Men Make When Wearing a Jacket
In this video, I talk about two very common mistakes men make when wearing a single-breasted jacket or blazer with two or three buttons. The mistakes involve 1.) how to button the jacket, and 2.) when or when not to button the jacket at all.
Joseph Abboud Won New York Men’s Fashion Week FW16
Apparently, it’s been about 15 years since Joseph Abboud showed a collection on the runway. His name hasn’t really come up on my radar in a long time, except when I’ve seen his name in collaboration with Men’s Wearhouse in ads on the sides of city buses.
In the second season of the resuscitated New York Men’s Fashion Week that took place in the first week of February, Abboud not only popped back up on the grid, he won. His brutally elegant Fall/Winter 2016 collection was filthy with rich fabrics and textures cut into classically British tailored silhouettes with an American flair. Wools, tweeds, velvets. And he really punched up the accessories with a decidedly masculine flourish. “Rugged dandyism,” he called it. And the healthy-looking, well-fed, full-grown models were part of the statement: no hairless, prepubescent waifs, and yet no overly-bearded hipsters, either. This was no bro collection. This was a fantastic collection of clothes for real men.
My Urbanears Headphones
If you’re willing and able to drop $199 or more for a pair of Beats by Dre, the universe will surely shower you with radiant envy as a member of an exclusive club. If, however, you’re interested in a good pair of well-made headphones with fantastic sound and an elegant, understated design for $49, then hear me out…
My Thoughts on Fur and the Irresponsible Plague of Canada Goose
I recently posted a link on social media to an article in Huffington Post that challenged the ethics of Canada Goose’s use of real coyote fur on their jackets. For the record, I am vehemently opposed to fur.