Letters to the Editor: Date Night Outfits, Jersey Knit Sportcoats, Sleeping, & more

If you’ve got a style tip, question, or anything else you’d like to pass along, you can send those in to joe@dappered.com. If you’d rather your question not be featured in a future mailbag, just go ahead and say so in your email. Want more than one average Joe’s (HA!) opinion? Check out our forum, Threads.

 

Q: Date Night outfit in a more casual city?

 I always seem to struggle with date night outfits. Last weekend, I treated my wife to a dinner at a very nice steakhouse in town. Dining out has changed however, at least here in Texas. Things are more casual. I probably would have worn dress slacks, a button down, and sport coat several years ago but now people are wearing jeans and sometimes even shorts out. While I’m not interested in shorts and wouldn’t condone anyone wearing shorts to a steakhouse, I’d prefer to look like I’m not headed to a business meeting. I ended up going with some dress chinos, button down, and sport coat and it worked but I felt like it was kind of boring. What are my options?

-J.L.

I hear you sir. One of my most favorite places to go when I’ve got some time off is a little ski town in the mountains (during the off season) and everyone dresses there like they just came off the river or the bike trail. No matter how nice the restaurant. And that doesn’t bother me, but, I can see where you’re coming from. I figure you’ve got two options. One? Dark wash denim and a sportcoat. (AKA the “business mullet.”) The second would be to look like you own the place and wear a suit with no tie. I’d argue that a suit with no tie, while technically more dressed up than slacks and a sportcoat, looks more cool and relaxed. Plus, you get to wear your suits more. And that’s hardly ever a bad thing. Give the suit sans tie look a shot. See if your wife will put on a nice dress. You guys will get stares, but the good kind.

 

Q: How’s Nordstrom Rack Work?

I found a brown Filson Original Briefcase in my local (Austin) Nordstrom Rack. Price was $149.97! Might want to let the readers know? Or do Nordstrom rack’s carry different stock depending on the location?

– Andrew C.

First, that’s a hell of a deal. Well done. Second, Nordstrom Rack’s do carry very different stock depending on the location. It’s almost (but obviously not quite) like thrifting. Certain cities/neighborhoods are gonna have different stuff. It’s where the merchandise from regular Nordstrom stores goes if unwanted. So, the fact that a Filson Original made it to your local Nordstrom Rack in Austin doesn’t mean another Filson Original made it to the Nordstrom Rack in, say, Bakersfield. Doesn’t mean one isn’t there, but, with a price and item like that, it feels like a rare find.

 

Q: What do I wear with Jersey Knit Sportcoats?

I’ve got a jersey knit sportcoat, (it’s a grey, sweatshirt-standard color, not dark one like the ones Nordstrom has featured in the past couple of months), and I can’t for the life of me figure out what to wear it with – it hangs in my closet 99.9% of the time. It’s way too casual for anything nice, but I feel like it’s a little “trying too hard” when I wear it more casually. What do I wear it with?

-Ryan N.

Sneakers or chukkas. And jeans. And either a rumpled poplin button down or a t-shirt (if wearing a t-shirt with a casual sportcoat is your thing). They’re more casual than a chino blazer, but not by much. It’s still a jacket. But yeah, try it with a casual button down, jeans (doesn’t have to be super inky dark wash) and some Stan Smiths. And don’t worry, this’ll get easier once it cools off. Think of it less as a sweatshirt, and more as a cardigan. Just cut in a different way.

 

Q: What’s with your Spring & Summer hatred?

What’s with your hatred of Spring and Summer? Reddit seem to think you despite those seasons.

-Brian

I don’t hate spring. Spring’s fine. It can stay. It’s summer that I hate. But there are ways around that. I think it comes down to a couple of factors. Are you a morning person? If you are, then you probably don’t like summer. It’s tough as hell to get a good nights rest, and thus, get up (comfortably) early when it’s blazing hot out and still sunny at 9:30pm at night. Also, there’s only so many clothes you can (legally) take off. Even in the dead of winter you have more options to dress well, and more importantly, be more physically comfortable.

 

Q. Undershirts

Have a question regarding undershirts… what are the best undershirts around at various price points?

-Andrew C.

So, here’s what I think about undershirts. See #2. I just don’t wear em’. Used to, but then I figured out:

A. Cotton is garbage for managing sweat. It does the opposite of what many think it does.
B. It’s better to figure out how to lower your overall sweat level than wear another shirt (even if it is a tech fabric undershirt, which is absolutely what I’d suggest if you have to have one on.)

So tech fabric undershirts are by far the best if you’re gonna wear one. Also, if they start to pick up a stink over time? Use a little white vinegar when you do the laundry. Works wonders on workout/other tech & synthetic gear.

 

Q. What to wear to a funeral?

Question for you. What about events (or really, the event) that none of us want to be at? What about funerals? I have two suits and neither is appropriate for a funeral. So, what should I buy next? Black? Navy? Charcoal?

-Josh C.

First, we’re a weird species, aren’t we? The traditional American funeral is, with all apologies to those who are in the necessary business of taking care of our dead, the worst. The end of one life is sad enough. But the canned organ music, the musty interior of a funeral home, the open casket showing the waxy shell of what was the person we once loved, yet is now void of their spirit and energy and thus, NOT how you’d want to remember them? When I buy the farm, what’s left is all going, direct non-stop to organ and tissue donations, and then science. If some CSI student can learn from what was my body, rotting in a field, the information needed in order to solve the next serial killer’s code of abhorrent conduct in time to prevent another murder? Than that’ll be better than anything I did in this life. So yeah. Take my sorry ass and make some real use of it.

Sorry. To answer the question, charcoal should be the first suit you buy, specifically because it’s appropriate for a funeral (and black suits are all but useless). Navy is still too showy at funerals. Wear a white shirt, black matte necktie, and black dress lace ups.

 

Q. Seriously, how do you sleep at night?

Your advice is so terrible. You recommend such ugly looking clothes. Seriously, how do you sleep at night?

-M.

On my right side, facing the wall, with a fan on. A little ZMA never hurts either.

 

Q. Abbreviated Words

I’ve noticed you use ” em’ ” very regularly to describe the plural of about any article of clothing. I don’t object to the use of the abbreviated pronoun, however the repeated improper placement of the apostrophe is something I feel someone needs to address. As a rule, the apostrophe is inserted where the letters have been omitted from a word. In the case of “them”, then, it would be ” ’em ” ( the “t” and “h” are omitted ). It has begun to physically distress me whenever I come across it in a post (which I have said is often). If it was rarer, I could deal.

-Brandon H.

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Got a question, suggestion, or a style tip? Send them to joe@dappered.com.