Casual Fridays #1: Fred Perry Knit Polo

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.
 
Okay, based on an email from a friend, I realized that I wasn't focusing much on casual wear. Honestly, I'm much more interested in the suit-and-tie look which is the original image of Mods that inspired me to get into this in the first place. Plus, we live in a world where everyone does casual because it's easy and takes no real effort.

As much as I love the detailed suited outfits of 1960s Mods, the flip side is that they also helped popularize t-shirts, sneakers, jeans, etc. And now, that's the predominant look the vast majority of people wear. (Only trade sneakers for flip-flops.) Yawn....

That said, you don't have to sacrifice style in an effort to be more casual and comfortable. Well, after little more than a year of Sharp Stylings, let's switch gears and dig on some Casual Fridays!

Let's start off by getting this out of the way now... Fred Perry. Too many times guys fall back on Fred Perry as the one casual look to sport other than a Who or Jam t-shirt. I know it's iconic, I know Mods in the 1960s brought it to the forefront of this culture, but fellas... it's a tennis shirt.

Oh sure, early on in high school, I coveted Fred Perrys. I was lucky enough to find a couple in thrift shops and I wore them. I once tried buying a new one at my local Puente Hills Mall, but walked out after seeing the $40 price tag. And that's when it hit me... why spend so much on a shirt that has no real style. Plus, the Fred Perrys I did have faded after a couple of washings. Why should I be concerned with this label?

During my first year of college, my buddy Jon B. convinced me that I was on the right track. He admitted to me that he was more of a (Munsingwear) Penguin shirt fan because of the detailing on the collars, the contrasting piping, and the more 'vintage' look. Although I never bought Penguin, I did have to admit that they looked way cooler than Fred Perry tennis shirts.

Another main reason why I abandoned the FP look was that during my first year of college I was able to find affordable 1960s polo shirts at vintage shops! Knitted 3-button collars, varying stripes and designs down the front... these shirts blew away Fred Perry AND Penguin for me! Plus, these shirts set you apart from the other 5 guys wearing the same-styled Fred Perry shirts. Vintage polos were the way to go... until you stopped finding them in shops and the ones you did wear stopped fitting as well (thanks Freshman 15).

Well, guess what? All these years later and I'm coming back into the Fred Perry fold. You know why? Long-sleeve polos like this:

This is sharp! This is my kind of casual! No tennis shirt here, just a well-done knitted 3-button long-sleeve polo with contrasting piping down the chest and around the cuffs and bottom. Let's zoom in on that collar:

This is the type of collar I used to find on those vintage polos I mentioned above! John Smedley has the monopoly on this style, but Fred Perry's a strong contender with this take on it. A simple, subtle look that works for those days when you want to be mellow but still keep it stylin'.

Unfortunately, I don't know how easy these are to find anymore and I couldn't find a link that wasn't sold out of them. But if you're able to find one, snatch it up!

Or, if commercialized cliché Mod is more your thing, then there's always something like this:

Really?

2012 February Want List

I love vintage clothing as much as the next guy, but we're living in a time of some pretty slick NEW clothing too! Once a month, I'd like to highlight some nice pieces found on the internet that may be worth hunting down. 

Granted, some of these items may not be in any of our budgets, but who knows... some day, you may run across them in a sales rack or discount website. So if you like something you see, just keep tabs and wait for that sale! Or, save a photo and take it to your favorite tailor in the hopes he or she can re-make it at a fraction of the designer price. (Also, if there's a book or some music that looks interesting, I'll add to the Want List as well!)

So, the other day, I was having lunch with a buddy of mine (let's call him 'El Brando'). After a nice little meal, El Brando twists my arm (not really) to check out the local Paul Smith shop with him. Well, we're hanging out in there, digging on the socks, the books, and the coats when we come across the shirt section and find their floral-patterned shirts.

Wow! Some seriously beautiful pieces that I started drooling over... until I saw the price tags. "Don't worry, man," El Brando reassured me. "They have some on sale, half-price, over there." Yeah, half-price... still making my wallet weep. But, I did a little Paul Smith online search and found a floral slightly more affordable:

Paul Smith purple 'London' shirt... get it while you still can here.

Guys, this is the business! Amazing pattern, slim fit, great collar, and cufflink-accessible. A casual, colorful way to blow the ladies away! Moving on...

I've had my radar tuned in to Peckham Rye since coming across their shop off Carnaby Street back in October. They were kind enough to open up their doors to us even though they were closed and I felt like we were walking into a candy shop. Luckily, many of their items are available online! Unfortunately, it seems those items sell out quickly. However, after a general search for Peckham Rye ties, I did find this beautiful B&W floral tie:

Click here for close-ups and details on purchasing.

If you look closely at the tie, this isn't a printed pattern... it looks weaved and textured into the tie! Step up your look a notch and grab this awesome piece. Pretty neutral colors so it'll go with almost any suit color!

Guys hip to the current Mod market are already well aware of Art Gallery clothing. Based in the UK, they've been releasing some fantastic pieces of knitwear, including polos, roll necks, and cardigans. For instance, check out their 'George' polo in black, red, and grey:

'George' polo available at Art Gallery.

Now this is on my want list but, full disclosure, I've already ordered (and received) this piece! Soft merino wool in a great fit. What I like about Art Gallery is that they are making the most out of Mod detailing like the broad striping along the sides of the sweater. What I hate most about Art Gallery is that their clothes are made for tiny people.

See, I'm kind of a little guy (height-wise, not necessarily weight-wise)... yet their 'mediums' are too small on me! (I know this because I have one of their medium 'Steve' cardigans, in light blue, which only made me realize I should be eating dust and twigs 3 times a day.) The 'George' I received is a 'large' which fits great and will look even better once I complete a few more weeks months of pushups. Seriously, if you're an American 'medium,' you may want to order their 'large.' And I think it'll be worth it! I kid about the sizing but this sweater is really beautiful and filled with sharp style. And I do plan on ordering more of their items.

A couple of weeks ago, I went on about how I thought vests/waistcoats were an overlooked item of slick, casual dress. Well, over the weekend, I saw a buddy of mine (let's call him Dan Lake) rockin' a great vest that caught my eye and justified that post. Great guy that he is, Dan shared his source. Now, please, ignore the boy-band hipster underneath and try hard to concentrate on the vest itself:

Vest... keep your eyes on the vest offered by One90One.

It's hard... I know! You guys are creative though... imagine a dude with slick, backcombed hair, and button-down, cuff-link shirt under that vest. Okay, you with me? Now, let's move on to the waistcoat: high-gorged, flap pockets, with pick-stitching along those pockets... it's all in the details! This is how you make a vest. Unfortunately, looks like the product may be sold out for now but something worth noting, in case they come back. Or maybe you can use those details next time you visit your tailor!

Okay, guys, one last item for this month and one that caught me off-guard. Earlier this month, His Knibs posted about this new raincoat from, get this, Fred Perry. Usually, I don't follow this brand too much. Yeh, yeh, Mod icon and all, but still... for the most part, they're tennis shirts with a laurel on the chest. Lately, however, they've been releasing some nice vintage-inspired polos. And now, it looks like they're moving into new categories like the raincoat below:

Need more Fred Perry in your wardrobe? Start with this porcelain coat, here.

The color, cut, and shape of this coat look incredible! I have a thing for white or light-colored coats as they can provide great contrast to the dark clothing underneath. And what completes the total look of this coat is the 3/4 length... not too long, so you don't have to look like you're overdoing it on non-rainy, cool days.

My only issue with the coat is the Fred Perry laurel on the chest. Yes, it's standard issue with any FP, but this could have been better if the logo was used in a more subtle way. At least it's in white so that it doesn't stick out too much.

Well, that's it for this month. Payday's coming up for some people, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how many bills you still have to pay after taking a look at some of these items.

Our European Honeymoon, Part 1: London!

At the beginning of October, we took a long-delayed honeymoon to a few places I'd never been before: London, Paris, and Barcelona. Two solid weeks of European travel which blew my mind! Oh, I can spend all day writing about the museums, the food, the people, the sights, and the culture we took in and loved.

But you don't want to read about that. You want to read about Mod stuff!

Well, let me start off by saying that the first thing I told my wife was that I didn't want to do ANY Mod stuff while in Europe. We have Mod people here in the U.S. I want to see stuff I can't get over here! So, no Brighton Beach visits, no Carnaby Street visits, no Mod clubbin'. Let's be 100% tourists!

But then I heard about the 'Reading Steady Go' Mod exhibit which would be closing within days of our arrival. Then, our hosts in Paris let us know that their band would be playing part of a French Mod weekender while we were in town. Then, we discovered that our American friend would be moving to London days before our arrival, just in time to let us know of any Mod nights going on. Well, turns out I'd be needing a larger suitcase to carry more outfits. Of course, this lead to my first mistake in traveling abroad: overpacking! I'll save this for a future post, though.

So obviously, we'd be fitting in some Mod stops into our trip. Still, I protested, no Carnaby Street! All these years, I had heard about it being a grubby alley with cheesy Mod shops and I just didn't care to give in to all that nonsense. (Yup, you guessed it... I ended up changing my mind on that too.)

Well, let's start this thing. We flew in to London in the afternoon, went through the long customs lines, picked up our bags, and hopped on to the Underground. Boy, was I excited... until the train arrived. Hey London, I've got a suggestion for you: instead of 'Mind the Gap', how about "FIX the Gap"?! Seriously... when our first Underground train arrived and I heard the announcement, "Mind the Gap," I snickered and elbowed Irene.

That snickering ended as I tried lifting our OVERPACKED luggage up and over that darn gap within the few seconds allotted to board the train! Oh yeah, and a little air-conditioning on those trains couldn't hurt.

Speaking of which, we hit a heat wave in London! We had packed for nice, Autumn, cool-to-cold weather, and then found out the hard way we should have packed short sleeves. But I'll get back to this in a bit.

We finally hit the end of our tube stop at Euston Square and I am very proud to announce that not ONCE did I make a Jam reference! Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my wife who started to sing a little lyric when we walked out of the station: "Saturday's girls work in Tesco's and Woolworths." I looked at her perplexed. She smiled and pointed at a corner store across the street, Tesco's. Again, I looked at her blankly. "From the Jam song!" she cried. Now, I thought I was a pretty alright Jam aficionado, but apparently not. Turns out it's a lyric from "Saturday's Kids," but unlike me, all of you probably already knew that. (SIDE NOTE: this wouldn't be the last Jam song reference she would make on this trip. When I pointed out Wardour Street to her, she replied, "Oh no! I hope they don't drop any A-bombs on us!" Cue rimshot. And I'm sure at one point she did say, "Hey, we're going underground!" Sigh...)

Now friends, let me tell you about our very first meal in London. After lifting our luggage up 2 narrow flights of stairs in the heat dropping our luggage off at our B&B, we decided to find some good English food to eat. So, we settled on a corner Italian pizza eatery and sat outside. As we were eating our pizza, four women surrounded us, asking for money. Now, here in the Bay Area, we're pretty savvy when it comes to panhandlers. Once you say 'no,' they tend to go away. Not in London! After asking us for money, they then asked for our food. I said 'no' again and thought that was it. I was confused... these women were dressed well, much better than our panhandlers back home. Then we realized they were gypsies! After I declined their request to take our food, one of them actually REACHED OVER AND GRABBED A SLICE! I threatened her with my fork as she looked me in the eyes and smiled a toothy grin. Now, I don't know about you, but I've seen Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell. 

I pulled my fork back because last thing I needed was to spend the rest of my vacation looking over my shoulder and worrying if I'd be dragged... to hell. Luckily, one of the waiters came out and chased them away, but that right there was my first dining experience.

Well, on our first evening in London, we decided to spend it in Reading instead. We had learned that the final days of the 'Reading Steady Go' exhibit would be celebrated this evening with a performance by The Birds with original lead singer, Ali MacKenzie, The Small Fakers (Small Faces tribute band, in case you couldn't figure it out) and DJs Jim and Paul 'Smiler' Anderson (the man behind the exhibit).

We were into this! Despite the heat (did I mention we were in a London heat wave?), we got all dolled up and ready for action! Little did we realize our only action that evening would be learning how the Underground works.

We spent about 30 minutes perspiring in King's Cross station as we tried to find the Reading tube stop. Guess what we learned? There is no Reading tube stop! But we were, however, directed to Paddington Station which we did get to, but not before jumping on a train that went in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, by the time we got to Paddington we realized we would be getting into Reading way too late, not to mention the time we'd need to figure out how to get back to our hotel afterward. So we sat in Paddington, dressed all Mod-like and consoling ourselves with memories of Paddington Bear animated shorts on Romper Room.

We ended up getting back to King's Cross and having a couple of delicious ciders at a pub up the street from our hotel. Then, it was back in the sauna that was our hotel room.

The next day, we continued our trip proper-tourist style: Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, Big Ben, Soho-oh-my god, the London heat! Seriously, guys, we're weather wimps... we admit it! That's why we live in the Bay Area. This heat was too much for us (even though it was probably just in the 80s, or mid-20s, for you Celsius folk). It was so hot, I broke my vow not to go to Carnaby Street. See, I figured that'd be the best place to buy a short-sleeved Fred Perry. After seeing guys all over London in pretty-cool looking FPs, I told my wife I needed one. I'm not even a huge Fred Perry fan, but I needed something to keep cool! (Plus, by this point, it was hitting me: I'm in London. It would be silly to skip Carnaby Street since we're already here!)

Unfortunately, by the time we made it to the street, most everything had closed. However, Carnaby Street was not the alley I had been led to believe it was. Oh no, this place was huge! Several blocks, I'd say, with side streets on top of that. Oh, we'd be coming back alright... but not before taking a couple of photos:

Our 2nd full day in London was spent at the British Museum. Seriously... like the full day was practically spent there! An AMAZING place that is definitely worth a visit (along with the National Gallery)! Afterward, we did a little more shopping in Soho. I was still hunting for a Fred Perry, especially after seeing great-looking vintage-styled ones on random people. We found the 'flagship' Fred Perry store, walked in, and walked right back out after seeing those price tags. We then walked over to another Fred Perry shop and walked out of that one too, seeing as how much worse the quality of those shirts seemed. Gotta tell you, London really loves its Fred Perry brand! We saw this during our hunt for the shirts:

After not buying any Fred Perrys, we met up with our friend Syd at a still-bustling Carnaby Street. Honestly, we skipped so many shops on the main street: Pretty Green, the Merc, Ben Sherman. Sorry guys, but as 'Mod' as these shops claim to be, nothing in the windows looked appealing. And regarding the Merc, I've NEVER been tempted to shop there. I always associated that place with the easy, insta-Mod look. Just not my thing. We did walk in to Sherry's, more as a joke than anything else. For years, I saw this shop as the type of place where insta-Mods might go for their insta-gear. However, I will say this for Sherry's: the people who run it were super nice and welcoming! Sure, they sold a lot of janky, cheap Mod gear, but y'know what? They also sold John Smedleys about 30 pounds cheaper than Fred Perry was selling them for. So, yes, I picked one up! Plus, they carried other current Moddish labels that looked interesting. I always like supporting the small shop owners and for a little mom'n'pop shop, I'd totally recommend them! Stay away from the cookie-cutter 'Mod' suits and hunt down a John Smedley or two.

Hey. Mod enough for ya?

The best shops, however, seemed to be OFF Carnaby Street. As we were walking along, I mentioned that I wished I knew where the Blaqua shop was. Lo and behold, we were walking right in front of it! I ran in, while Irene and Syd looked at the Paul Weller photos in the window. I heard Irene say, "Aw, he looks like such a grandpa..." and put my head down as the shop's proprietor also heard the comment. I told her, "No, no, my wife's a fan..." That started a long conversation on PW between them. I wanted to talk to the shop owner about Carnaby Street fashions and the influences of her clothing styles, but it was hard to interrupt their talk about what Paul Weller was like in person and how his recent shows had been. I did, however, enjoy what she had to say about Carnaby Street and how her shop had been doing. I highly recommend checking Blaqua out, but don't expect a by-the-numbers Mod shop or a Mod shop at all. It's just a small boutique with beautifully patterned shirts and ties, slick jackets, and more. Plus, the items they sell are made in extremely small quantities, so chances are that whatever you get, you'll be one of a few to own it. Dandified clothing that's worth being a part of your wardrobe! (Heck, I bought myself a red/purple floral tie!)

The other shop I dug was Peckham Rye. After Blaqua, I peeked in to this shop to drool over the ties in the window since they had just closed. But the man working in the shop was kind enough to open his door for us!

He shared some of the store's history and probably got a kick out of some American acting like a kid in a candy store in his shop. Ties galore in this place, not to mention pocket squares and scarves! And good news for any of you not near Carnaby Street: these items are sold online!

Well, after a nice Indian dinner and drinks at a pub with our pal Syd, it was back to the hotel to sweat through the evening heat. We had to catch up on rest because the next day, we'd be hitting Highgate Cemetery and then taking a Eurostar to Paris! Up to this point, despite the temperature, London was a hit!

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of our exciting European (Moddish) Vacation!

Remember When 'Trendy' Was a Bad Thing?

On my way in to work the other day, I saw a young man in oxblood loafers, black/gray horizontally-striped socks, dark, narrow pants with no break, dark gray v-neck sweater, light pink shirt, and an orange/blue patterned bow tie. The guy looked not necessarily mod, but definitely slick.

I don’t know about you, but for me, these last few years have been fantastic for men’s fashion! Thin lapels, narrow pants, thin paisley ties, knit square-bottom ties, narrow pointed shoes, bright colors, loud patterns… Years ago, we would have been laughed at for dressing like this. Now, Joe-Schmoes out there aren’t afraid to dress up in tighter, more colorful clothing. Once upon a time, most men were happy to spend all their days off in sports t-shirts, baggy jeans, and Reebok high-tops, but these days they're out there wearing suits more often, even outside of work. And yeah, I know it’s just the current trend with a limited life-span, but believe it or not, we can all benefit from it. 

No, these suits aren't perfect, but they're a step in the right direction!

We all can't afford bespoke clothing, but maybe a Macy’s weekend sale can fit into the budget. I tell yuh, Ben Sherman, Munsingwear, Hugo Boss, and even Alfani all have some nice shirts and ties out there for the buying. If you have a bit more cash falling outta your pockets, take a look at Ted Baker, Banana Republic, Paul Smith and Thomas Pink… great, great colors there! 

Banana Republic on the Mad Men bandwagon, that's alright by me!

Sixties vintage clothing is getting more difficult to find these days, but walk into a Ross or Nordstrom Rack, and you just may find a nice new Arrow or Ben Sherman button-down. In the market for some nice pocket squares? Pay a visit to your local Loehmann’s… you might be surprised! Heck, just take a look at this:

Stop rubbing your eyes... indeed, it's a NEW sweater!

Even Fred Perry, which I'm not super sold on (but I'll save that for a later post) has this vintage style polo for sale:

Photo from http://www.hisknibs.com/

For me, 'trendy' has always been a bad word, so it makes me feel a little dirty when I see that word in print these days because I know that what it's referring to is something that probably fits my taste.

Let’s face it… we’re living in a post-‘Mad Men’ world, and fellas, we gotta take advantage of these trends while they last. It’s all going to change as soon as AMC or HBO has a new hit period show on their schedule... one set in 1980s Wall Street! 

It's just around the corner and you know it! (Photo from http://www.allposters.com.au/)