A reasonable and experienced person would look at a $150 price tag on a suit and see a huge red flag. The fabric must be cheap, the construction has to be horrible, the buttons and lining probably melt near an open flame, and the people actually making the suit are likely grinding out an 18 hour work day with a 10 minute lunch break in an un-airconditioned fire trap in eastern Asia.

I get bludgeoned with emails from startups in the over-saturated menswear world looking for free promotion in the blogosphere. At best, some of these brands might have fine ideas that are poorly executed. At worst, they’re amateur gimmick magicians who wouldn’t get past the first audition for Shark Tank, offering an ill-conceived fix for something that was never broken just to make a buck. Then there is the rare diamond in the ruff, compentently presenting an elegant solution that meets my four criteria, which dictates that the product or service be 1.) handsome, 2.) well-made, 3.) affordable and 4.) workable, i.e. have an actual application in one’s life. Combatant Gentlemen is one of those rare diamonds in the ruff.