Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

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Style Scenario: Valentine’s Day – Alone. Home. Spitting in Cupid’s eye.

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What are you going to wear?  Sometimes there’s an easy answer. Sometimes not. Sometimes it’s good to look at a few suggestions then add your own tweaks and ideas. That’s what these are for.

Y’know what’s worse than being alone?  Not being able to be alone.  Y’know what’s not bad at all?  Being alone. Because if you’re not okay being by yourself, you’ll never find yourself in a relationship worth being proud of.  So if you’re single this Valentine’s Day, congrats.  Always better to enjoy life solo as opposed to being hitched to someone for the sake of a warm body next to yours.  Because when that happens, 30 years go by and your guts have then become so withered that you’re too scared to escape.  Prost to the proudly single.

vday alone

The Drink: Old Crow – $15.99 / 1.75 L.  As our official Bartender puts it: “You could do worse.  But not by much.”  Yet Old Crow is a drink of choice for our Tech guru Paul who just spent a year on the road living out of a van.  Solid on it’s own but terrific for infusing.  Sad, like all liquor is, when purchased in the larger plastic jug, BUT… not so sad if you’re sticking it in a big swing top jar with the peel of a medium sized orange, 3/4 of a cup of roughly chopped figs, and a tablespoon or two of cloves.  Wait two weeks so the flavors can mingle.  The end result is fantastic.

The Entertainment: Skyfall – $14.99 – $19.99.  Well look what came out this week.  Not romantic.  See 007’s reaction to how the William Tell Scotch scene goes.  Yeah, Vesper died awhile back didn’t she.

The Belt: Wheelman & Co Thomas Belt – $29.00.  L-XL on sale over at Maxton Men if you’re a L-XL.  $19.60 if you use the code 20MORE, which is good through 2/15 for an extra 20% off sale items.

The Pants: GAP Slim Canvas 5-Pocket in Garment Dye Wash – $59.95 (but less w/ sales)

The Shirt: BR Soft Wash 91% Cotton/9% Linen Denim Shirt – $64.50 (but again, less w/ sales)

The Sweater:  Lambswool Button Mockneck – $62.99 w/ STYLE30 ($128)  

The Watch: Timex Expedition Brass Case Chrono – $65.00.  One of the best values in substantial chronos out there.  Has a great weight and good size to it.  Not flimsy in the least.

The Boots: Rancourt & Co Handsewn Chukka in Navy – $134 ($268).  Made in the USA of Horween leather.  On sale through Brooks Brothers.  A cheaper alternative in a standard brown would be these via L.L. Bean Signature.

Power to the proudly single this Valentine’s Day.  And be safe if you’re heading out Thursday.  Top Photo: C. Drumm.

Comments

  1. I’m thinking this outfit should be a yellowed wife beater, tighty whiteys, some really cheap ugly slippers, and one of those thin robes that are kind of short. For added zing throw in a weeks worth of facial stubble and some mustard stains on your shirt. Old Crow is fine though, but try to kill the whole bottle. Now THAT’S a good ‘single on Valentine’s Day’ outfit. At least that’s what I’ll be wearing.

  6. Busted. I’ve been Old Crow-free for a few months. Then it got cold and turned into hot toddy time. Now I’ve got a liter bottle on hand. Makes a good warm drink. Still need to try the infusion thing.

  7. Joe, are you trying to give single men the worst hangover ever? Haven’t these men suffered enough?

  8. Don’t use the good stuff for infusing though.

    AND… Old Crow? Seriously not that bad. I’ve spent far too much on liquor, and while yes, there’s fantastic stuff out there, the Crow offers crazy value.

  9. Add some pepperoni and OJ and you’ve got Jon Favreau in the start of swingers. Butu that setup would have produced: “What, because I’m single I’m a LOSER?!?” comments. Totally with you though. Almost went in that direction.

  11. Assuming a [very] speedy shoulder recovery, I’ll be enjoying my date with some iron at my gym and then taking a final exam. Sadly I think I’ll have to skip the gym tomorrow.

  12. Great intro paragraph. And love the setup. My vday will consist of work, going to the autoshow myself, and then meeting up with a lady friend for drinks to talk about our crummy dating life.

  13. You can often find Makers at Walmart for like 18 bucks for a 750ml bottle. Not as cheap, but a much better bourbon than Old Crow. I usually drink Bulleit Rye though. I’ll splurge an extra 5 for a whiskey I actually enjoy.

  15. You wish! The only people that will be getting that picture will be girls I drunk text with a caption of, “See what you’re missing?” or something like that.

  16. Walmart doesn’t sell liquor in ever state. Also, you know they’re reducing the proof of makers to keep up with demand.

  17. Don’t they dilute liquor at Walmart though? And Makers is already going to be diluting their entire like by 3% anyway. Lame. I’m not a huge bourbon drinker but I’ve been quite satisfied with Evan Williams which is pretty cheap

  18. If you’re going the cheap bourbon route, give Evan Williams a shot. Even cheaper and in my opinion pretty good once it opens up. I’ve infused fig, blackberry, and mint with it and all of them came out great.

  19. I figured if there was anywhere I wouldn’t find booze snobbery it would be here. There are plenty of inexpensive booze options that are very tasty and good quality. As a matter of fact I find the midrange liquors to be the least impressive.

  20. I like Old Grand Dad when it comes to cheaper bourbons. The name doesn’t exactly conjure up an image of a stylish young gent though. I like everything in this ensemble but the mock turtleneck sweater – those seem kind of 10 years ago IMO. Am I wrong about that?

  23. Nicely done, Joe. I’ve been liking these outfits you’ve been putting together recently. Kind of like your version of Primer.

  24. Skyfall was a near terrible movie. Side note, Craig looks like he keeps his PPK up his bottom when he runs.

  28. Well now you’ve done it. NOW yer gonna hate it :). On the nice but still affordable side, Wathens. Or Willett, if you can find it.

  32. Well if Bond drank it maybe it does conjure up stylish images. And the name does nod in the direction of eventually finding love and having offspring, who go on to have offspring, so it’s more hopeful than Old Crow, which conjures up images of some terrible woman you wound up with out of desperation.