The Best in Affordable Style from the Month that Was

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 Anniversary Sale (expired)

Has to be, right? It was later this year due to the pandemic. Usually it’s in July, but it got bumped to August just so they could hopefully catch up, and get a bit more stock in. Yet stuff certainly sold faster than in years past. Everybody’s trying. This is a tough knot to untie. And kudos to Nordstrom for, albeit in a very small, retail-based way (read: doesn’t matter big picture)… delivering a bit of normalcy.

Most Useful Post: How to Dress Business Casual with Style – 10 Tips for Men

Whether you’re a cube farm worker (or more accurately for the times, a WFH cube farm worker with 8 zillion zoom calls a day WHY ARE THERE SO MANY MEETINGS?) or not is irrelevant. At some point, you’re gonna have to dress “business casual.” So how do you pull that off, look appropriate, but not be stuck in bad khakis and a blousey button down? Here’s how.

Best Steal Alert: J. Crew Ludlow Longwings for $104 (expired)

Full retail is $348, and a “target” price of these things is usually whenever they drop under $200. Made in China, Goodyear Welted, and the uppers are Italian leather. They really are, quite nice when on a bit of a sale. But a hundred bucks? That’s… crazy.

Best Mega Cheap Steal Alert: Amazon Merino Blend Bomber Sweater – $6 – $10 (expired)

Sometimes, the Amazon pricing robots get drunk. This was one of those times. And for the record, they’re still insanely cheap. Kicking around at $10 – $15 at post time. Looks like these originally launched at $50.

Best Big Picture Advice: 10 Tips for Staying Stylish If/When You Become a Dad

A lot of us aren’t dads (my hand is raised), but that doesn’t mean our guy Ryan’s advice isn’t still super useful. Just replace “become a Dad” with…. well… any big change in your life that brings some unpredictability. Like, say, adjusting to a pandemic. There’s some terrific advice here. Huge thanks to Ryan. Way to go, Pops.

Best New Release: The Nodus Contrail II – $600 ($675)

That right there, is beautiful, rugged, simplicity. Assembled in the United States too. Applause to the fellas at Nodus. That thing is sweet.

Most Divisive Garment: This Button Up Sweater Polo thing from Banana Republic

Is it Rat Pack cool? Charlie Sheen boorish? The answer appears to be: both. The vote was split. And you have no idea how much it warms my cold, stone-dead-heart to see that 9% of the total vote came in for “I like turtles.” God bless you. Each and every one.

Strangest Status Symbol: Yeti Cooler

I remember, as a kid, being dragged to carpet stores and clock stores to look at what was, at the time, the most stone-dry boring “grown up” crap ever. I just wanted to play with my legos at home. And now? Our guy Jason has me wanting a seafoam green Yeti cooler. What the hell.

Best/coolest looking stool sitter: This Guy

That man… can sit on a stool. Like, seriously. How does he make it look, y’know, not awkward? Perfectly casual but intentional? I can’t think of anything that could make this shot look any bett….

Oh SH*T. Fixed it!

Best Dappered Space Splurge: Amazon Stone & Beam Chesterfield Chair – $950

That thing is a beast. When it comes to leather accent chairs, there seems to be the cheap crap (mostly plastic, bonded leather) and then the mega expensive stuff (think $2000 – $4000 for one chair). This one from Amazon’s Stone and Beam brand appears to exist in the very, very rare middle ground. Still quite the investment, but delivery is free, and the reviews are surprisingly positive. Part of August’s Dappered Space Most Wanted.

Best non-clothes related photo: Corn Salad Galaxy

This was provided by our own Michael R, he who puts together the weekend reset. It looks like something the hubble space telescope took. The colors, the textures, the background of the stainless steel bowl… all of it. That’s art my dudes. I’d print that on a canvas and hang it on a wall, frankly.

Best Suggestion: Get out for an evening stroll

Leisurely. If you have a dog that needs to be walked, get that done earlier in the day. Yes of course the dog can come with! But this is leisure. This isn’t business. The pandemic has brought back the late evening stroll. Keep it up until the weather turns nasty.

Biggest fall trend?? Corduroy…

Sure, cord pants are always gonna be a thing. But this year that particular fabric is showing up in lots of places. Brace yourself. Here comes this zip-zop that is corduroy. Vest shown above is by Banana Republic.

Biggest Conundrum: The “mahogany” leather from Allen Edmonds

On the one hand, I can 100% see what they’re going for here. They want a super smooth, virtually maintenance free, soft and glossy leather for the younger set who don’t get and don’t want to “get” shining and polishing shoes and leathers that look more natural. It’s not plastic. It’s not rigid, gasoline smelling junk. Hardly. Some real thought went into this. On the other hand… no. And therein lies the challenge for a company like Allen Edmonds. Sure. We might all guffaw at their tattoo shoes and other attempts to branch out. But y’know what happens if they just do the same stuff they’ve always done? They become Brooks Brothers. It is a very, very tough nut to crack. And I don’t know what the answer is.