Welcome to “What I Wear to Work.” A series on, you guessed it, who wears what to work. Would you like to be featured? Seems like some of you might? See the bottom of this post for instructions. To get this party started, I (the headless Joe guy who runs this God forsaken popsicle stand) will go first:
The Suit: Black Lapel Online Custom Suit – $499+. I’m a bit lumpy in some areas (mostly on purpose), and sometimes those lumps just don’t fit into usual drop zones when it comes to suits. So, a couple years back I took the leap with the online custom thing (after seeing really good results with a super long-armed friend I helped get a suit for a wedding) and its been a lot of Black Lapel suits since. I’ve found that compared to other online custom outfits, these guys don’t randomly chop suit jacket tails (seriously other guys, enough with that), and their attention to detail is better than most. Directions for measurements are simple, they encourage you to upload pics for posture reasons, and their platform is easy to navigate. I like em’. A lot. Shown above is their basic charcoal number. Jacket has a ticket pocket. Pants have a single (not double) pleat for a little more room in the rear.
The Shirt: Ledbury Fine Twill Mid-Spread Dress Shirt – $145. I’m hooked on these things. Bad. It’s a crap ton of money to spend on a shirt. And while they do run sales, they don’t run them that often. But man are the shirts awesome. Incredible fabrics, great collars (especially the mid-spread if you don’t usually wear ties), two fits, and they last forever. Shown above is the light blue.
The Belt: Marino Ratchet Belt in #37 Brown– $24.99. Prefer a more exact fit than what regular belts can offer? Want to be able to loosen your belt after the wedding cake without messing with belt holes? This is for you, and it looks like a regular dress belt.
The Shoes: Allen Edmonds Clearance First Quality Shoes or Boots – $157 – $250. I don’t play the seconds game. Why? Because for whatever reason, I keep finding excellent first quality shoes in the AE clearance section for enormous discounts. You can return clearance shoes, for free, and they’re supposed to be first quality. So, that’s the section I shop. At the top of the post is an old pair of discontinued, Bleeker Street Chukkas. Love ’em In the graphic is a pair of MacKenzie wholecuts in brown. I have those to. Although I didn’t get them or quite as low as the current absurd asking price of $157.
The Watch: Seiko Samurai Dive Watch – $344.95. Or, whatever your favorite diver happens to be. Cheap, mid-price, expensive, whatever. They’re just so darn versatile.
The Briefcase: Saddleback Flight Case – $549. I’ve carried dirt cheap briefcases. I’ve carried slim, fashion forward briefcases. This is the one I might be sticking with for a while. It does it all, and I really like that wide mouth “gladstone” hinge opening. It’s not small. It’s not light. But I love it. Spendy as hell (I got mine during their pre-order sale when they launched), but that 100 year warranty sure is nice.
The Socks: Nordstrom Over-the-calf Merino Socks – $14.50. I know. You’re shocked.
The Underwear: Ex Officio Give-N-Go Breathable Brief – $19.98. A total game changer. Way better than all cotton underwear when it comes to keeping you cool and dry. And the next time someone invents a boxer brief with legs that don’t ride up? That’ll be the first time. So as dorky as briefs may be, I don’t have doughnuts of bunched up fabric in my craw all day. Which is a plus.
Head over to LinkedIn to discuss this with your coworkers or follow Dappered if you want to see these in your feed. If you want to take this for a spin, send an email to joe@dappered.com with who you are, what you do, and what you’d like to submit. To be featured, we’ll need a picture of you at work, as well as the details on what you’re wearing/usually wear on the job. Final image will have to be cropped down to 1500×840 pixels, so, keep that in mind when shooting. Landscape mode please, and let’s keep anything from the chin up out of it, since our eventual robot overlords will one day scalp the web for faces that they can scan and plaster onto their metallic skulls to increase their “trustworthiness.” Note that sending an email with your picks and a pic doesn’t guarantee publishing. We gotta have some variety, y’know? That’ll help your chances. But be yourself. And get your employer’s permission if you’re gonna get specific with your place of work. If you get fired, that’s on you. Good luck. We’ll be in touch.