What I Wore Today Working from Home: John, Active-duty Soldier

Welcome to “What I Wore Today Working from Home.” AKA, WIWTWFH (pronounced: wee-WIT-wu-fuh). A series on, you guessed it, who wears what to work, when working, or NOT working, from home. To help keep you on track with your work (day job or self-improvement) when stuck inside for the next few weeks, this is a series on how to dress at home to put you in the right frame of mind. Would you like to be featured? See the bottom of this post for instructions. 

About the Author: John B. is an active-duty soldier in the United States Army currently assigned to Northern Virginia. He used to command M1A1 Abrams tanks; now he commands a cubicle in a big government building. At least, he did until last month. For the first time in his life, he’s teleworking. Since the Sergeant Major can’t see him anymore, he has eschewed his usual duty uniform to indulge his fondness for workwear/Americana with a milsurp twist.

The Jacket: Made in the USA Flint & Tinder Unlined Waxed Trucker – $168. In green, to keep things from getting too Canadian Tuxedo. Plus, it nods to the vintage Army aesthetic without going overboard on the milsurp. Mine’s a Levi’s trucker, but this one fromHuckberry fits the bill since Levi’s doesn’t seem to have theirs in olive currently. Want something in a lighter shade that’s light on your wallet? Try this one from GAP.

The Watch: Seiko SRPB67J1 Presage (no longer available) on a Crown&Buckle Black/Olive Premium NATO Strap – $12.50. Sinn looks on a Seiko budget. Seiko really outdid themselves on this watch – the perfect balance of rugged and classy. Plus its got a sapphire crystal and the R435 hacking/winding movement. But add this one to the Please-Bring-It-Back list. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be available anymore, except maybe on Ebay for inflated prices. The Black/Olive “Bond” NATO is, of course, wheelhouse Dappered and kills on this watch.

The Shirt: Weatherproof Vintage Men’s Long Sleeve Chambray Shirt -$17.99. Costco clothes can be hit-or-miss, but every now and then they hit one out of the park. These chambray work shirts are fantastic. Mine will get lots of wear as the mercury climbs in the coming months.

The Jeans: Levi 501 Shrink-to-Fit – $35.70. God’s gift (or rather Levi Strauss’) to us odd-proportioned, misshapen misfits who can’t get regular pre-shrunk jeans to fit quite right. You can keep them unwashed to work on your “sick fades” or just shrink ‘em up to fit your tuchus and wash ‘em like normal. I prefer the latter, but might the give the former a try sometime.

The Pen and Paper: Retro 51 Sherman Tank Big Shot Rollerball Pen – $37.60 and Rhodia Reverse Book Dot Book – $15.47. Because working at home, no one’s going to steal my “nice” pens. Retro 51 makes the coolest roller ball pens around, including this Sherman tank inspired one. But get ‘em while they’re hot -the owner is retiring at the end of the summer. The Rhodia DotBook is the ideal companion for taking notes and making sketches during all those Zoom meetings. The dot grid gives you some structure, but doesn’t get in the way of your creativity.

The Boots: Corcoran Tanker Boots – $139.99. Tanker boots are worn by tank crewmen and use leather straps instead of laces that are liable of getting caught in a tank’s machinery. Under jeans, they wear like engineer boots and look terrific. The leather is not going to impress all you GYW aficionados out there, but it is tough as an M1 Abrams. Corcoran still makes these in the US of A, in old school black or current mil-spec coyote brown suede. If the Tanker style is not your jam, check out those retro brown Corcoran Jump Boots. Killer Iron Ranger alternative with a Band of Brothers vibe.

The AFTER Work Bourbon: Bowman Brothers Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey – $29.99 (in Virginia). After a hard day’s telework keeping the world safe for democracy, it’s time to unwind at the virtual happy hour with my preferred pour from a local artisan. This stellar bourbon starts off life as distillate from Buffalo Trace and is then distilled again in copper pots and aged at the A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg, Virginia (yes, that Fredericksburg). I’m terrible at picking out individual notes in bourbon. Suffice to say, its super yummy. If you can’t get Bowman Brothers in your area, it’s a close cousin to regular Buffalo Trace, which is universally loved and Dappered-approved.

Want to submit your own WIWTWFH? Send an email to joe@dappered.com with who you are, what you do, and what you’d like to submit. And no, you don’t have to actually be working. There are plenty of jobs on standby right now whose workers can’t do the work from home. I’m not gonna discriminate. That’d be dumb. Now, to be featured, we’ll need a picture of you at home (at work, or not) as well as the details on what you’re wearing. 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. 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. Let’s keep it “Dappered.” But be yourself. Pics of pets always help too. Good luck. We’ll be in touch.