Off the Cuff

Style doesn’t have to take a vacation just because it’s summer. June, July and August are three months in which men generally swap fashion for comfort. The cargo shorts, the jerky t-shirts, the “mandals” all have their place, but that place is in your driveway, washing your ride, not squiring your girlfriend around downtown, or dining al fresco with friends. Ditto your younger cousin’s graduation, your sister’s outdoor wedding, or when the boss springs for club seats at the ballpark and there are waiters, not vendors involved. So what’s a guy to do? You can’t walk around in a seersucker...

Blue for boys, pink for girls, right? Well, it wasn’t always that way. In the early 20th century, and right up through WW2, pink was seen as synonymous with health, vigor and strength...just right for an early 1900s boy. Blue, on the other hand was thought of as more delicate and dainty – a better fit for a little girl. Fellas, it’s time to reclaim pink. It’s a shade of red. Red like a matador’s cape. Red like a firetruck. Red like Michael Jordan’s jersey. See? Nothing to be afraid of there. And it looks sharp. Put a pink sport...

Just in time for Valentine’s Day here’s my: Totally Subjective Top Ten Love Stories of All Time.   Spoiler alert, you will not find The English Patient or anything with Hugh Grant in it on my list. 10. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Gangster chic. Two beautiful people meet, fall in love and, very elegantly, rob banks. Remember the banks were the bad guys in the foreclosure-heavy 1930s, so this criminally well-dressed duo was sticking it to the enemy. 9. Say Anything (1989) Putting the “boom!” back in boombox, John Cusack rocked a trenchcoat, and staked his claim. A sweet little...

  1. It’s light, and crazy warm: Punching way above its weight class, it has a weight-to-warmth metric that other materials can’t come close to. 2. It’s a 3-season material: It is called extra-fine for a reason. It breathes, and unlike bulky wool sweaters, can be layered in late September or fly solo in early May, and all of the days in between. 3. It’s the highest grade of Merino wool: Remember the Cadillac Cimarron? The Chevy-Cavalier-with-a-hood-ornament was a Cadillac in name, but it didn’t fool anyone. Those big box $39 merino wool sweaters are the same hustle. There’s Merino...

If the place you work is populated with enough characters, you may notice that there are certain roles that people play. Maybe there’s The Crossword Puzzle Guy. Or The Gossip. The Crisis Magnet. The Oversharer. The Lady with Three Cats, All of Whom Have the First Name of Mister. I’m the Style Guy where I work. People stop by, if not daily, then at least thrice weekly to see what I’m up to clothing-wise. They’ve seen polka-dot socks, Ivy-league inspired sport coats, and a bangin’ pair of suede oxfords that cost more than my first car (my ’73 Impala was...