The Best in Affordable Style from the Month that Was – May 2019

A wise man once asked: “What the hell just happened?” And for good reason. There is value in looking back. It gives us all a good gauge as to what is good, and more importantly, what is not good, going forward. Sure, the “clip show” is mostly a cheap (affordable?) device to create new content out of already published stuff. But it’s also a good way to catch up in case you missed something. So cue the flashback music. Here’s the very best from the month that was…

 

Best Sale: Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale

From terrific in house stuff, to big name brands, Nordstrom does it right. Here’s the original post. It’s over now. Kinda. Most of it is sold out, but further reductions have been taken on some of what was left. How do you know a sale is really good? When it gets even a little bit better, somehow, when it’s over.

 

Best Individual Deal: J. Crew Goodyear Welted Cap Toes – $138 (exp)

The consensus seems to be that J. Crew’s quality and customer service seem to have taken another noticeable dive in the last 6 months to a year. But that doesn’t mean they still don’t make some real winners when the items are on mega sale. The above cap-toes are proof of this. $140 is glued-shoe DSW prices. The leather on these things is super soft, the shape is perfect, they’re goodyear welted, and the tan and dark brown and black options would find a home in almost any man’s wardrobe. Deal has since expired though. More best dress shoes under $200 can be found here.

 

Best Individual Deal depending on your Laundry Luck: Luxe Touch Polos for $16 – $18 (exp)

Deal has since expired, but for a while there over the weekend, these slim, tipped, luxe touch polos from Banana Republic were going for as low as $16ish. But some have reported that these things shrink worse than lil’ Costanza in a swimming pool. Just depends on your laundry luck I suppose.

 

Best Watch worth crossing the river Styx for: Bulova Devil Diver

Flipping Satan the bird just gets me every time. A hugely underrated movie. Anyone with cats will appreciate it. Also, and unrelated to the video above, nice watch.

 

Best Style Related Psychological Terminology: “Enclothed Cognition”

Huge thanks to DeJuan for not just submitting his What I Wear to Work, but also for introducing me (and I’m sure more than a few others) to the term “enclothed cognition.” As more and more work remotely, I can see the theory that dressing well, even if you work from home, becoming not just a thing, but a big thing.

 

Most Wheelhouse Post: How to wear white Chinos or Jeans

Every once in a while I get an email from someone in the UK giggling up a storm because we use the term “pants” to describe trousers of all kinds (dress pants, casual pants, etc.) And they think it’s hilarious. Because over there, the word “pants” means underwear. So in this case, “how to wear white pants” to many Brits would = this.

 

Biggest yet oddly Quietest Change: Suitsupply has new $359 “Blue Line” Options

These things used to start at $399. Now some are $359? Excellent. No, not ALL of their Blue Line suits (which come in more colors than blue) have been reduced to $359. But many wheelhouse favorites have been reduced to $359. That’s no small thing. Still half canvas. Still nice Italian wools. Still ships and returns for free. But now forty bucks less. Nice work outta them!

 

Best use of Leather: Gustin’s new Deluxe Briefcase – $349

Oh my. A little bit larger now. Still made from beautiful Horween leather here in the USA. Campaign sold out lickety split (23 Skidoo!) first time around, so currently unavailable, but you’d think they’d bring these back. Dimensions are 17″ x 12.5″ x 5″.

 

Most awkward conversation: “What are you doing?”

(me, starting to set up the camera to take the above picture)

Random Guy smoking a cigarette in the alley: “I’ve never seen someone take pictures of just bricks before.”

Me: “I work in masonry.”

Random Guy: “Ah, well there you go.”

(me, snaps a couple pics of just the bricks, then walks back inside to maintain the illusion that I am, in fact, just taking pictures of bricks. Because why ruin the narrative?) 

 

Most Double-Take Job Description: “Chip” Marketer

I thought at first it was beep bop boop beep chips. NOPE. It’s crunch crunch COOL RANCH BABY chips! I choose to believe that Sameer was the one who brokered the deal between Doritos and Taco Bell for those tandacos with the shell made from Doritos. That is genius. Now, whether that actually was him or not is irrelevant to me. I choose to believe it was him. Many thanks to Sameer and everyone else who continues to submit What I Wear to Work outfits.

 

Best Advice: Disconnect for a weekend (or more.)

From this past weekend’s Reset. Get. Off. The. Grid. Step away from your news feed. Say goodbye to social media (always recommended in nearly any situation). Don’t even think about opening up (insert device here). Just step away from all of it. ALL OF IT. This includes watching anything that can be construed as news coverage. The best time to do this for first- timers is when you have an extended weekend. I understand this is a big deal for many of you. I understand. Baby steps people. Baby. Steps.

 

Father’s Day Gift way better than Socks: A Nice Watch

So your old man can watch the seconds you took off his life while you were in your hooligan phase tick by. Or, perhaps you’re the dad in question. And if you are, congrats! You ARE the father!

 

Best Reason to take a Final Sale Risk: Massdrop Carmina Oxfords

Two things here are true. First, $350 is a LOT of cash to float on a final sale pre-order from DROP. Second, $350 is a screamin’ deal for these Spanish Made Oxfords. Not currently available for purchase, but, we’ll keep an eye out. Huge thanks to our shoe expert Adam for giving his unbiased take and fit advice on these things. Good luck to you if you decide to take the plunge the next time around.

 

Most Absurdly Long Pre-Order Timeline: DROP x Glycine Combat Sub “Soda” Swiss Automatic – $399 FINAL

Nice watch. But the estimated ship date is Dec 3, 2019. Good grief. December? Merry Christmas to you? C’mon man. What are we doing out there man.

 

Biggest “Savings” during Nordy Sale: Gucci Colorblock Track Pants

Back to $1500 now, but they were $750 during the sale! There goes the rent money. I understand nothing.

Feeling Nostalgic? Here’s the archive containing previous editions of Best of the Month that Was.

Joe

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