There have been some twists on the pea coat that I have come across recently, but a classic is the version from Schott of New York City. Schott was founded in 1913 and is currently run by third and fourth generation members of the original family. Much of the company’s product line is still made in the U.S. If you’re looking for a pea coat, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Schott Pea Coat

For a twist on the classic, there is this option from Unionmade. It was done in collaboration with Golden Bear and was made right here in San Francisco.

Bodega Pea Coat from Golden Bear and Unionmade

That’s pretty bold, and while I like it, my wife owns a red pea coat of her own and there is no need for us to start dressing alike. Here is a version with the colors reversed, which might be a possibility.

Bodega Pea Coat in Navy

If you want something other than wool, there is also this interesting option, also from the Unionmade/Golden Bear collaboration. The fabric is described as “ring-spun indigo canvas” — I have tried this one on and it retains the heft of its woolly cousins, and I think the canvas would do well against the elements.

Golden Bear Shawl Collar Jacket

So if you are looking for a pea coat to finish out the winter in, you will likely be happy with any of these options. Or, you could always seek out a military surplus store if you are trying to save some money. Just remember to flip up that collar and wear the hell out of that pea coat.

It’s easy to forget about belts. They seem utilitarian, and, overly simple crosswords or not, they really do hold up your pants. But that doesn’t mean you should just pick up the first one you find in your size*. Here are some good options if you’re in the market for a new belt.

First up is a ring buckle (also known as an “O-ring” or “D-ring”) from Oak Street Bootmakers. Oak Street has a reputation for its hand-sewn footwear, but they also offer three different belts. The other two have the more typical prong-type buckle, but I like the look of this one the best:

Oak Street Brown Ring belt

Here is a similar option from Grown & Sewn, shown in saddle, chocolate brown, and black. I like either the saddle or the chocolate brown:

Grown & Sewn O-Ring belt

Here is a more traditional offering from Bonobos, the Fourth Degree brown belt:

Bonobos Fourth Degree brown belt

There are many more belts out there.  Don’t worry too much about getting them to match your shoes exactly, somewhere in the same color range will do. And some will say to never buy a black belt, since you should also not buy black shoes, but if you want black, who am I to judge? Whatever you do, find a belt that has nice leather and solid hardware, and you can’t go wrong.

*Why are belt sizes almost always 2″ bigger than your waist size? Why not make them the same?

For Christmas my wife gifted me a Hill-Side tie from Unionmade in San Francisco:

The Hill-Side selvedge chambray

I ended up swapping it out for this one, as I feel more like a “point” kind of guy:

The Hill-Side selvedge gingham

This is my first tie from the Hill-Side, but I had previously picked up a couple of pocket squares, also from Unionmade:

The Hill-Side Starburst Dots pocket square

The Hill-Side selvedge chambray pocket square in Kyoto violet

According to the information provided at Hickoree’s, an online retailer:

The Hill-Side is based in Brooklyn, New York. They make neckties, handkerchiefs, and scarves out of utilitarian fabrics not commonly found in neckwear, such as selvedge chambray, hemp/cotton selvedge denim, left-hand twill, cotton duck, and waxed canvas.

Each piece is hand made at a small factory in New York City.

Hickoree’s and The Hill-Side share their DNA, as they are both products of the Corsillo brothers, Emil and Sandy. It’s good stuff, and now having a few pieces of my own, I can see the care and quality behind The Hill-Side brand. Since Hickoree’s is in New York and I’m in San Francisco I haven’t been lucky enough to visit them but I hope to at some point. Until then I can rest assured that I can find their goods locally at Unionmade, or order them directly though Hickoree’s website, or I can even go through J. Crew if necessary. It’s nice to see a brand like this get some well-deserved attention, and I highly recommend them. If you would like more information about the operation, check out this interview:

http://the189.com/feature/hickorees/

Here are a few possibilities, at various prices:

Florsheim Haviland

I used to think of Florsheim as old-man shoes. I’m not sure if the Florsheim brand has changed, if prevailing styles are different, or if perhaps I have turned into an old man. Whatever the reason, I think these shoes look pretty cool.

Grenson Tom

I have a pair of Grenson Tylers, a smooth brown leather shoe that has a similar shape to the Tom. I like the cap toe on this one, and the brown is rich and dark.

J.Crew Allerton wing tip

This is a recent offering from J.Crew. Apparently it was popular enough to sell out before Christmas. It’s back in stock now (returns, maybe?) but with only a few sizes to choose from.

Alden Wallace Plain Toe Walker from Unionmade

Finally, there is this nice offering from Unionmade’s selection of Alden shoes. The most expensive of the bunch, but I’m sure you can find many guys who will tell you how great Alden is. Whether or not it’s worth it to you, I cannot say.

The Unis Gio, in oxblood

I tried on a pair at Unionmade in the week after Christmas, but they were out of the oxblood. For some reason this was the color I had settled on, and so I checked out the Unis website. I had tried on a size 33 at Unionmade and they felt good. Normally I’m a 32 but they didn’t have any 32s in stock — the 33 was maybe a little on the loose side, but given the overall slimness of the fit I thought it looked and felt just fine. And I hate wearing pants that feel too tight.

I ordered a pair of the oxbloods in 33 and I’m still waiting on them to arrive. Hopefully they’ll work out since I can’t return them. If I like them I noticed a few other colors that look good, so perhaps I’ll splurge on a second or even third pair.

There are many blogs devoted to men’s style, and I have linked to some of them on this site. There are tons more out there, each with its own blogroll. This provides countless hours of reading, with plenty of photos, links to retailers, and more. Another thing you will come across are various rules of style, handed down by any number of writers.

I admit that one of the reasons I started seeking out these blogs is for advice. I wanted tips on how to put things together for maximum effect, and I was also hoping to find new sources for clothes beyond the typical mall shops and department stores. However, after a while I noticed that some of these writers are downright pedantic. I think it’s fine to write about style, and to make recommendations, but there’s no reason to be a total snob. If we’re at least giving it some effort, don’t run us down for not having our pocket square just so.

Another thing about these “rules” is that you will soon find contradictions. For example, here are some rules I have come across:

1. Every man needs a navy suit
2. You should never wear black shoes or a black belt
3. You cannot wear a navy suit with brown shoes

There is an obvious problem here, so what’s a guy to do? What I suggest is that you find your own rules, the ones that make sense for you, for your environment, for your budget, and for your relationship with your significant other (and if you don’t have one, I assume you might want one). You need to find things that make you feel good when you step out of the house. Maybe you want to get noticed when you’re out to dinner, maybe you want to be the guy in the office who is consistently dressed a little nicer than the norm, and maybe you want the significant other (real or hoped-for) to say “You look really nice!” Whatever the motivation, none of this is going to work unless you feel good in your clothes.

So, that being said, I have come up with some rules of my own. These are just the ones I have adopted, and I am not suggesting that you have to follow them yourself. To me, they make sense, but make of them what you will.

First, it’s important to buy clothes that fit. This is one thing that all style writers seem to agree on, so it’s first on my list. When I think back on my younger years, when I could get away with being casual every day, I can’t believe that I would actually buy Extra Large shirts. When I see photos from that period, I just look ridiculous. In truth, I’m pretty much a Medium (40R jacket, 15×34 dress shirt — not an Extra Large, to say the least). I think my rationale was that I didn’t want to wear tight clothes. What I failed to grasp is that there is some middle ground between “tight” and “tent.” Now, when I try on clothes, I’ll go for my size and if it feels a little large, I’ll try the next size down. If that’s too snug I go back up a size knowing that I can always get things tailored to dial in the fit.

Second, buy clothes that are within your budget. That doesn’t mean you should always buy the least expensive things you can find, but if you really can’t afford it, it may detract from your enjoyment of it. If you’re going to stress over the cost, just move on and look for something similar that is your price range, or save up until you can afford the more expensive one. This is a useful tip, I think, since often you will find that the more expensive items are better made and thus will last longer. But do your research first and decide if the added cost is truly worth it. You will always find someone who will say that you can’t find a good (insert item name here) for less than (insert some sum of money here). Well, that may be true, or it may not, but if you listen to others too much you may wind up more confused than when you started. I recommend figuring out the pieces that will be most important to you, and which ones you will wear most frequently, and deciding how much you’re comfortable spending on those pieces. Then build out from there, with my next rule in mind.

Third, try to buy items that are versatile, and that will go with some things you already have. In the past I have had clothes that could only go with one other item in my closet, and when that happens, it starts to feel like a costume. I’m not saying you shouldn’t expand your horizons, just that if you push too far you may not feel all that comfortable. And if you aren’t comfortable, what’s the point?

And that brings us to the last rule: be comfortable. Being comfortable does not mean wearing sweatpants and a fleece, either. It just means that you can find nice clothes that fit you well and that make you feel good when you wear them. It may be a suit, it may be jeans and a button down, or it might be khakis and a nice white shirt. If you’re not comfortable, nothing else is going to work for you. But at the same time, try pushing the boundaries of what you’re comfortable in. For example, I have started wearing a tie around, even on the weekends, for no special reason. But my wife likes it, and I think that’s good enough for me.

But no matter what you do, don’t take anyone else’s rules as the absolute truth, not even mine.

My wife and I love small businesses, and we try to spend our money in locally owned places as much as possible. Whether it’s grocery stores, bookstores, record stores, or clothing stores, we really try to support the small business owner. The question we always ask ourselves is “How would we feel if this place went out of business?” You can’t simply say you love locally owned businesses without patronizing them. They depend upon sales, not positive thoughts. So we decided to get out and show our support this past weekend.

I paid my first visit to Freemans Sporting Club (FSC), a menswear shop that started in New York and has recently set up shop here in San Francisco. In addition to the clothing store they also have a barber shop. Since I just recently got my hair cut I didn’t need to take advantage of the barber, but I may in the future.

I had only recently learned about FSC through another blog. I visited their website and was thinking about making a purchase when I saw that they actually have a San Francisco location. Nice. I like visiting clothing stores for two reasons: I like being able to see the clothes and try them on, and I enjoy talking to the people working there to get their opinions on stuff.

I went in and talked to a super nice guy named Joe. I was asking him questions about their suiting, which, if you are in the market for a really nice suit, I highly recommend. It’s spendy, but you can see the quality that goes into it. Great fabrics, excellent construction, cool styles.

However, I wasn’t suit shopping, I was looking for pants, and FSC has some nice choices. Another great thing about FSC is that much of their stuff is made within a few miles of their NYC location. They even list things by the number of miles away it was made. Now that’s local. Also, they were having a 20% off sale which makes it even easier to support the small business.

Anyway, here are the pants I had my eye on:

Winchester Trouser in olive

The fabric is a very soft cotton twill. It is densely woven and has a really nice feel to it. I had originally been looking at some other colors, such as khaki or rust, but the green is so rich and deep that I went with it. Of course there were many other things I was scoping out, but the real intention of this shopping excursion was for me to find something for my wife’s birthday, so I reined it in.

Next on our list was my wife’s favorite clothing store, Sunhee Moon. Sunhee is a local designer who actually went to high school with my wife’s sister. Over the years my wife has gotten a lot of really great things here, and it’s her “go-to” place for cool clothes.

I sort of cheated this year for a birthday gift, as I told my wife ahead of time that I was hoping she would pick out some things she liked and I would buy them for her. No surprises, but this way she would get exactly what she wanted. I try to be a supportive shopper when my wife is looking for clothes, and Sunhee made it easier by handing me a glass of champagne. My wife tried on a bunch of things, I gave honest opinions (some were heeded, some weren’t), and we ended up getting a few new things for her to wear this fall and winter. It was a fun experience and my wife was happy. Another successful visit.

Last on the list was a return visit to see the Taylor Stitch guys at The Common. It was my second time in the store, and like the first time, I walked out with a shirt and a tie. I’ve gotta say, I really love their stuff. The quality is superb, and they really couldn’t be nicer. This time I ended up with the Blue Box Check shirt, seen here:

Blue Box Check

The tie is this black wool one. I know, some people have a prohibition against all black clothing and accessories, but I like the deep color, and really, the black isn’t so severe:

Black herringbone tie

It looks really good with the shirt. Also, I recently purchased a charcoal herringbone sport coat (I will not say from where, sorry), and I think the black tie will look good with it.

I felt great about all the stuff we picked up, and I enjoyed having conversations with the people at these various shops. But it got me thinking that the support of small businesses shouldn’t be confined to one day out of the year. Shopping locally helps build up our communities, and it supports the concept of the entrepreneur. So keep that in mind as you shop. I guess you could say we are occupying Main Street when we buy local, and really, don’t we care more about what happens on Main Street than what happens on Wall Street?

The Effortless Gent is a great blog, and the tagline is “Better equipping the everyday man.” Prior posts address buying quality dress shoes, how to speak with a tailor to get the right break in your pants, and the most recent one, entitled “The Effortless Guide to Cocktails: See Mix Drink.” If you haven’t checked out his blog, I highly recommend it. Just not now, because I doubt you’ll come back here.

In addition to The Effortless Gent, Barron and his partner, Katie Wintrode, have created the brand Fifth&Brannan. They got off the ground using Kickstarter to obtain initial funding. Here is a link to the Kickstarter page, which contains a video of Katie explaining the philosophy behind the brand. They currently offer shirts, ties, and pocket squares. I recently asked Barron if he would answer some questions about his experiences with Fifth&Brannan, and he was kind enough to agree.

Q: What motivated you to start Fifth&Brannan?

A: Kate dreamed of creating a menswear line for a long time. If you ask her, it’s been on her mind since studying at FIDM and in Europe. I urged her to just start planning and designing, and I would create the storefront, plan the marketing, and work on brand building. The nice thing about our partnership is we get to work on the particular aspects of the business we enjoy, and in the end, create a product we both love.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you face as a small brand in a crowded industry?

A: Our biggest challenge is establishing brand credibility and recognition. If you look at the menswear market there are brands that have been making clothes for a few years, and some that have been doing it for over 100.

I think the key to overcoming this challenge is honing in on who we are as a brand, and who we’re looking to clothe. That takes a little bit of the pressure off (since, in reality, not every single brand is a competitor) and allows us to really focus on the Fifth&Brannan man, and making garments he loves to wear.

Q: Where would you like Fifth&Brannan to go in the next few years?

A: We’re planning to expand our offering into a full collection, with tailored pants, denim, blazers, and knits. We’d also love to work with complementary brands that are doing great things and carry products the Fifth&Brannan guy would want to buy… things like leather accessories, bags, and shoes.

Q: What other clothing brands do you particularly admire?

A: Kate and I wear a lot of J.Crew. Some of our favorite menswear designers are Michael Bastian, Eunice Lee (of Unis), Billy Reid, Simon Spurr, Ovadia & Sons.

Q: What is your personal favorite from the Fifth&Brannan collection?

A: Right now, my personal favorite is the Regis. I love the English spread collar with the red and blue check, looks great with a tie.

The Regis

Kate’s favorite is The William; the dove gray with contrasting white club collar is a combo that we don’t see often and we really love.

The William

We have some new favorites in our upcoming collection, but you’ll have to wait a bit to see what we’ve got in the works.

Q: What is your favorite non-Fifth&Brannan piece at the moment?

A: I have a pair of dark green double monks from Bally I snagged off eBay. I don’t wear them as much as I should, but I love em.

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Many thanks to Barron for answering my questions. Be sure to check out The Effortless Gent and Fifth&Brannan!

I had a great conversation with one of the guys (Mike) and ended up buying a button-down shirt and a wool tie from them. The tie is a Taylor Stitch brand, although I didn’t see the ties on their website. If you are in San Francisco I recommend you visit them — I doubt you’ll walk out empty handed, as their goods are solid and the service is great.

This is not me

The fabric on the shirt is a nice gray chambray, and I believe Mike said it’s from Japan. It was made in the U.S., which is awesome, and the fit is superb. They size their shirts the way men’s jackets are sized, so you can dial in the fit off the rack. Plus, they offer a custom shirt program with a ton of fabric options if you want to go that route. The 40 fit me just about perfectly, but I can see myself taking advantage of the custom program at some point.

Here are a couple of shots of the tie. It’s a nice 2-1/2″ across at the widest point.

The fabric is really great. According to the website, “The fabric is sourced from small bolts of Holland & Sherry fabrics, the prestigious UK woolen merchant that has been operating for over 170 years.  Each tie is part of a 16 step process that occurs in a famed New York tie factory.” I wore the tie the first day I got it and the wife was impressed. I combined it with a red, white, and blue gingham shirt, a navy blazer, some dark denim and a pair of Clark’s desert boots and was all set. Sorry, but I was too busy drinking wine and eating pizza to take any pictures of the full outfit. Maybe next time.

Dah brunch, Maui, Hawaii

This was similar to Le Brunch in that it was a large conglomeration of a bunch of separate things. In this case, it was two eggs over easy, bacon, fried potatoes, toast, and a short stack of pancakes in case I was feeling cheated for starch.

This may have been the first morning we spent on Maui, and you can’t tell from the picture, but the ocean is only about 100 yards away from where we were sitting. In a setting like that, food doesn’t need to be all that good, but I can honestly say that Dah Brunch was better than Le Brunch. Everything was done really well, especially the pancakes, and about 12 minutes after this picture was taken, I had officially joined the Clean Plate Club. This meant, of course, no swimming for at least an hour, but it was worth it.