Casual Fridays #9: Corduroy

Working to look sharp for a rare evening out on the town can actually be easy. The tough job is trying to look sharp on a daily, casual basis. Yeah, you might have your Friday night suit at your beck and call, but what does it matter if you spend the rest of your time in target t-shirts and jeans? Every Friday, I'd like to offer up some style inspiration for tightening up your casual look, because let's face it... sometimes you just don't feel like wearing a tie, but still want to keep it sharp.

As you all know by now, 1990s' Britpop wasn't really my bag. 1990s Acid Jazz, on the other hand, hit me in all the right spots! I started getting into it, probably thanks to that first Paul Weller album and the first Jazzmatazz album which featured Dee C. Lee, Donald Byrd, and Roy Ayers. When I first started reading about Acid Jazz, the Mod thing, for the most part, was dead, media-wise. New Acid Jazz acts were probably the closest thing to Mod that I could read about when it came to the music scene at the time. And for me, it made sense... acts playing funky soul, funky jazz, etc., bringing that sound forward and looking cool doing it.

And during those days, I was mad thirsty for anything related to Mod style. The nearest contemporary inspiration available was from the stylings of bands like The James Taylor Quartet, Mother Earth, and Cordoroy. I used to pick up On the One magazine which featured pretty cool fashion spreads on 'jazz' style of the time. And although I never got into the whole 'love beads' look, I dug what some of these guys sported on a casual basis. Check out Corduroy, for instance:

From the Mod Speed blog.

These dudes used to rock the short hair, Levis jacket, rolled-neck sweater, and narrow trousers look. And for me, this became a template for my own casual look back then. In the image above, check out the fellow in back. Nice white jean jacket, probably Levis pants to match, and a pair of sharp, leather shoes.

For me, this was a look that was clean, mellow, relaxed, and sharp as hell. I don't wear this look too often these days, not because I don't like it, but because I'm more into a dressier look. But on warmer weekend days, if I'm just going to hang out in our local neighborhood and I don't feel like picking out a dress shirt (because those days exist), I'll most likely follow the Corduroy lead here with my olive green Wrangler jean jacket (or light blue Levis jacket), short-sleeve button-down shirt, sta-prest, and a pair of loafers.

For me, this look is casual done cool. Y'know what else is cool? Corduroy!

And for the Acid Jazz heads out there, hope you're as excited about the 25th Anniversary Box set as I am! And read on for a great interview with Acid Jazz man, Eddie Pillar.