The Urban Adventurer

I’ve noticed a lot more urban adventures out there this winter. They’re not out climbing glaciers or trekking the Appalachian Trail. Nope – they are just going to work. These guys look like they’re in the process of summiting K2, or in Washington’s case, Capitol Hill. You’ve probably seen them too; out driving their sport edition Range Rover (spotless), carrying their laptop to work in an expedition quality back pack and weathering the weather in a Patagonia blizzard-proof parka.

Now, I don’t want to pick a fight with anyone. I’ve said at least a dozen times that classic, preppy styles center around the idea of repurposing functional clothing for daily life. I mean, who do you think started the trend of wearing foul weather gear to the office anyway?

Most people follow this train of thought in some way. The difference here is that too often men who yearn to be manly men turn themselves in to affected parodies of their heroes.  Everyone role plays a little bit; I like messenger bags, but I’m no bike messenger. Some wear military fashions yet have never so much as scraped a knee, or sport team jerseys that barely fit over their couch potato paunch.

These looks are usually a desire to connect with a cherished role model or organization. It’s a search for identity and belonging; aspirational but not overblown.

Yet when it comes to the couture mountain man look, moderation seems to go out the window. Even if you really are a transcontinental hiker, please don’t wear your Fortress Peak GTX hiking boots to the office. It’s tacky.

When worn in moderation, I think the outdoors look is classic, fresh and emotionally fulfilling. One feels a little more independent, perhaps a bit lone wolf about life. While I do agree with my fellow contributor Winston Chesterfield, that strapping on a back pack while wearing a business suit is tantamount to sartorial blasphemy, the pairing of a technical jacket with selected business attire is really quite pleasing.

Basic rules of proportion hold true: your outer coat should cover any suit or sport jacket underneath and avoid any outsized puffy jackets. A mountaineering jacket may be rugged and functional, but its scale and overall feel should match your other clothing.

If done well, the look says you are at home in both the outdoors and the corner office. It should not look gimmicky or forced. If you are wearing a bespoke cashmere Brioni and alligator slip ins, leave the parka at home.

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Commuting Bags

For quite a while I’ve wanted to write a follow-up to my “Defending a Man’s Bag” article, one of the most popular I’ve written. Well, here it is and I now suspect that these updates will be an ongoing project. As I am now expecting my first child, due sometime this summer, the bags I carry will soon serve a totally new purpose. I now have to reevaluate their functionality with new eyes. I’ll be moving around not only with my own stuff, but roughly a ton of baby supplies as well.

This got me to thinking about the kinds of bags best suited to commuting, an equally daunting task usually measured by how hard it is to get home should something be forgotten. The further away from home base equals the amount of stuff you stuff in the bag.  When I speak of commuting here, I’m excluding those of you who travel by car. You don’t factor into this one; just those (me included) who must tote their worldly possessions slung over a shoulder day after day.

Currently, I have an olive drab Jack Spade Day Bag that I use for day to day commuting. It’s essentially a small messenger bag, perfect for a book, wallet, agenda, mobile phone, Blackberry, etc. It’s simple and neutral – fine for business related travels. The problem is that I also have a laptop with me every day and with that added to the mix, the Jack Spade bag is too small.

So, I actually carry two bags.  The laptop goes into an ever changing variety of other bags – currently a very cool helmet bag from Flyboys.com, a supplier of armed forces pilot gear. It’s light and has a great military feel to it. As it’s designed to hold a fighter pilot’s helmet the bag is also cavernous. It was inexpensive and meets my needs for an informal commuter bag. Namely, it carries a lot without being bulky, has a good number of well placed pockets and is very durable. All key points for a good commuter bag.

That said, I really need a single bag that does it all. In a few months I’ll have to pare down to only one bag so it better be a good one. It needs to act as a classic “man bag” and hold all the stuff I need every day (which will now include spare diapers, bottles, etc.), as well as a business bag that can handle a laptop, files and other work materials.

The other issue is that when it is loaded up, there should not be any physical discomfort; no shoulder strains or aching back. Oh, and it needs to have some good, classic styling that can take me from errands to office.

How hard can that be?

I’ll let you know, because over the next month or so, I will be searching for that elusive commuter/dad bag and will report back on my findings. After some preliminary scouting a few have come to my attention.

Jack Spade (no, I’m actually not a paid endorser) has a pretty good version in the “Field Bag.” He also produces a specific dad bag, but so far as I can tell, it’s just a Field Bag that comes with a changing pad.

On the casual side, Timbuk2, the classic messenger bag maker, also has a good option with its large original messenger bag. The great thing about this brand is that you can choose your own colors when ordering online.

Of course, if you don’t want to carry a shoulder mounted bag, the granddaddy of classics is the LL Bean Boat & Tote. Perhaps one of the simplest yet versatile bags, it has achieved iconic status for many folks.

Whether you are looking for a basic everyday man bag, a commuter bag, or a dad bag, the same rules apply for all. It should meet your functional needs, be sturdy, have enough interior pockets to keep things organized, and have a distinctly masculine look to it.

I’ll let you know how my search goes and let me know if you have any suggestions of your own.

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Changing Your Pants: Dressing Up

I am feeling a little vindicated today because it seems dress and casual pants, long the forgotten stepchild of designer jeans, are making a comeback. As retail sales for men’s jeans are finally starting to slip, corresponding numbers for dress and casual trousers are actually rising. This shift is being blamed on a combination of supply and demand – there is a glut of denim in the market and not enough buyers – and that men are showing more of an interest in dressing well.

While the market most certainly is saturated with too much denim, I personally think that the latter argument, that men are more interested in dressier looks, is the real culprit. As I have mentioned before, I think menswear is growing up and growing out of, “all casual all the time.” Guys want to dress well and look more put together. As a friend of mine recently said, to stand out as an individual these days, you need to dress up. The blue blazer as social rebellion – go figure.

Trousers are a key way you can give yourself a more polished look and the trend toward better dressing only helps. The hybrid versions of dress trousers that have been an industry focus – like five pocket khakis modeled after jeans – are giving way to sleeker and traditional dress trouser styles. Flat fronts with pockets that are either on seam (the pocket opening is literally on the pant leg seam) or besom (the pocket angles slightly forward off the pant seam) are the formats of choice.

Another issue centers on how the pant bottoms are finished. The best option in my opinion is open bottom pants, meaning the hems are unfinished and can be properly tailored to your body. Closed hems are the pre-fished pants that you grab, go, and hope will work. While convenient, if they do not fit you just right, the pants will look either too short or too baggy. In the casual category this is not an enormous issue, but when it comes to dressier trousers fit matters.

This leads to an obvious fork in the road: are most men – at least those who now want to dress better – ready for the tailor? It can take time, cost money, and delay the instant gratification we are so used to these days. But I think the payoff of well tailored clothes makes a huge difference in both your overall wardrobe and in how you feel and carry yourself. If men are ready to dress up a couple on notches then they are probably ready to invest some time and money in making sure those new clothes are worth the investment.

I am under no illusion that everyone is about to start sporting suits and trilbies every day of the week, nor would I want to see such a thing happen. I am confident however, that we are turning a sartorial corner.

As I mentioned in an earlier column, the Dot Com bubble which imploded many people’s retirement accounts also ended the “suit-as-anonymous-uniform” rule. The resulting casual work wardrobe movement has now reached its predictable nadir and guys are wondering why they all look shapeless and generic. The “return to dressing up” that DNR somewhat pans in a recent article on this very subject, is not a return to the past but rather a rich and varied exploration of the clothing, quality, and stylistic opportunities that we simply did not have before.

Just look around at the renewed attention to tailored clothing, fabrics, bench made footwear, fine leather goods, and luxury mechanical watches. To me, it’s not so much a return to dressing up or even an obsession with luxury as it is a shift toward new opportunities in personal expression and a celebration of quality and uniqueness in an increasingly homogenized world.

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Looking Forward

To be honest, I’ve been rather dreading this article. It is what you might call a keystone article; the kind that is supposed to be significant, exceptional, or at least special. That’s a bit intimidating considering everyone is try to write that article – the one that makes you sit back and say, “whoa, now that guy’s a genius.”

I write about men’s lifestyle issues which means I don’t often get to cover other areas of my wandering interest, like geopolitics, economics, theology, sociology, and archeology (hence my affection for Dr. Jones’ sartorial traits.) Really, these are all my other pastimes; my father was ready to kill me in college until I settled on political science.

So, when I sat down and started writing this end-of-year wrap up, I decided to wax a little philosophical.

I have always looked at things like clothing, etiquette, and an appreciation of history as at least – and sometimes more – important than other top of mind subjects. How you present yourself to others, how you treat them, and your understanding of the world are vital and important skills to master. This is the core message I have always tried to convey through my columns for MensFlair and my blog, Off The Cuff DC.

Mastery of your own image and how you wish the world to perceive you is an incredibly important expertise that successful people understand. And when I say successful, I’m being democratic. I don’t care if you are the president of the United States or the head of Amity High School’s drama department in Woodbridge, Connecticut. If you are in charge of your own life, being a good steward of your community, and being true to yourself, than in my eyes, you are a leader.

In this New Year, resolve to become a leader yourself; in your community, your industry, your home, and most importantly in your own life. Are you where you truly want to be? Are you happy with yourself and with your role in the world? Take control of the things you can and yes, your wardrobe is one of them. Take a long, honest look at what you are telling others about yourself through your clothes, your attitude and your knowledge of what’s going on in the world. Do you like what you see? If not, take action.

Get rid of clothes that you don’t really wear, that are out of style or just don’t fit. Give them to a charity that can put them to good use or consign them and perhaps you’ll make a little back on the deal.

Look at your job and your family life, your friends, clubs or other organizations to which you belong and ask yourself, “Am I doing what I need to be doing here?” Are you playing the role you really want to? Do it one step at a time, but make a solid and personal resolution to be who you really want to be in each of these roles.

One of my favorite quotes is, “You can’t do everything you want, but you can do anything you want.” Decide who you want to be and start acting and looking that way. I’m not saying that you can, overnight, become whoever you idolize. I am saying that you can make a start and each day move closer to that person.

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Mastering the College Professor Look

I’ve been growing a beard recently. Not a mountain man beard, just a nice trim one to see how it looks. There have been a number of very nice comments that fall in the “wow, you look pretty good with a beard” category.

One that caught me off guard – in a good way – was when a friend said, “Nice, you look like a college professor”. In addition to the evolving beard, I had on khakis, an oxford, saddle bucks, and yes, a corduroy sport coat. In fact, I did sort of look like a college professor.

That got me thinking; what exactly is the “college professor” look and why is it so interesting? First off, this classic Ivy League look can be more accurately described as a 1930s prep school teacher look. It combines two unique elements: a timeless, idealized version of the privileged life and the intellectualness of an exclusive liberal arts education. Though it may sound a little esoteric, this is a very emotional and evocative style of dress. Just saying “tweed” or “leather dispatch case” does not capture the unique connection many people have to this look.

Think of the outfits worn in such films as “Dead Poets Society,” “A Beautiful Mind,” and any “Harry Potter” movie. The clothes themselves provide an emotional touchstone that quickly defines where you are and who you are. It is a sort of intellectual uniform, a symbol of belonging that is timeless and appealing.

Ralph Lauren in particular has captured the college professor look, completed with leather bags, horn rim glasses and appropriately Oxbrige inspired backgrounds.

A key element to achieving this wonderful look is to not overdo it. The college professor look is at its best when you appear to have not thought a great deal about it. Tweed or corduroy coats, chunky sweaters layered over old button down shirts and school ties, grey flannels, corduroy pants, or heavy khakis. They are simple and classic components that, when combined, create an instantly recognizable image.

Accessories are also important. Try a leather folio or full scale gusseted legal briefcase. Classic pens and watches work best here, as does traditional footwear. Suede shoes, heavy brogues, and dressy boots are good choices. For cooler days, wear a scarf in a nice tartan or your school colors. A hat may appear a little too affected, but try and pull it off if you wish.

The overall effect should be of a natty intellectual.  If you are ever in doubt, just think of the ultimate stylish college professor, Indiana Jones.

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