I am who I am

I went to Chicago this past weekend for a career conference/networking session, and hung out an extra day to celebrate the girlfriend’s birthday. The weather forecast was grossly wrong, so she ended up in snowy Chicago with only a spring weight cotton jacket. So, being a good boyfriend, I let her wear my quilted LE jacket, and wore this Stanley Blacker wool flannel blazer pretty much everywhere.

This outfit is what I wore to the career/networking event. Tried to be as classical and traditional as possible: blue shirt, repp tie, grey wool trousers, navy blazer. In retrospect, I could have ironed a better crease into the pants. At events like this, you want people to remember you as the guy who looks neat and put together, not the #menswear dude.

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Shirt: Merona button-down collar pinpoint dress shirt (thrifted, NWT, $4)

Dress pants: Zaharoff Basileia - I’ve never heard of this brand before; items on Ebay seem to be going for a lot of money, it is really high quality material and construction (thrifted, $7)

regimental tie: Jos. A. Bank (thrifted, $2)

Navy blazer: Stanley Blacker (thrifted, $8)

Wingtips: Florsheim Haviland (MyHabit, $90)

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Notes on fit, esp. pants: I’m kind of torn on whether to have the pants shortened a little. I like having a little fullness and break in my dress pants because it helps balance my proportions. I have 23.75” quads on my 5’8” frame, so 7.5” openings with no break make me look funny. The fit of these pants is insanely comfortable, especially in the waist and thighs, without being baggy. I’m just trying to decide if the current break is a little too much. 

My new Florsheim Havilands went out on their maiden voyage yesterday. I got them off of MyHabit for $89.99 shipped. They are basically Veblens with faux-dainite soles, which I prefer for comfort and for foul weather resistance. The leather is pretty decent, and they are both comfortable and good looking. Highly recommended.

Up top, I wore a cardigan over a long sleeve polo. Not sure how that combo works; I think a regular shirt works better under the cardigan.

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Long sleeve polo, Merona, thrifted new with tags ($4)
Cardigan, Old Navy, clearance ($10)
Jeans, Target, clearance, ($7)
Longwings, Florsheim, ($90)

Took the girlfriend out for a belated Valentine’s day date to our favorite steakhouse. Snuck this selfie in the restroom on the way out.

Glen plaid sportcoat: Stafford, thrifted
White OCBD: Nordstrom, thrifted
Grey slacks: Dockers
Saddle shoes: Bass

WIWT yesterday:

Lands End OCBD
Lands End Canvas shawl collar sweater
Denizen jeans
Syrian farmer scarf
Wilson Leather jacket (black)

Mensroom pic

Been a while since I posted a #mensroomwear photo

WIWT

Had to judge a poster session for a sophomore class, so I decided I shouldn’t be dressed any worse than the undergrads. 

Unstructured cotton jacket: Calvin Klein outlet

Microcheck shirt: Lands End (thrifted)

Stone chinos: Tommy Hilfiger outlet

Driving shoes: Skechers. Not my best buy :(

cotton bandanna: Target. I actually keep this in my pant pocket, and use it as a handkerchief, but I stuffed in my jacket pocket for the #mensroomwear photo-op.

My apparently dressy getup today. It was in the 60s and sunny, so no sweater or cardigan today. I worried about wearing this shirt (traditional fit, gasp!) without another layer over it. But, you know what, I don’t think it’s all THAT bad. If I find a good seamstress in this town, maybe I’ll get it darted or slimmed. But I don’t think it’s that big a deal at this point.

Blue university stripe OCBD: Lands End
Grey canvas web belt: thrifted $1
Denizen by Levi’s jeans: Target, clearance $7
Grey bucks

I finally figured out photosets!

Some outtakes of what I wore today at the poster session. I got to look all professorial while treading on the dreams of some of these bright-eyed, bushy-tailed young ‘uns.

Mensroom photo is obligatory, of course.

Mens room fit pic #2