Style Scenario: Valentine’s date night at home (dressed up-ish)

What are you going to wear? Sometimes it’s good to look at a few suggestions, then add your own tweaks and ideas. That’s what these are for. Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and relevant style scenarios will be tackled in the next few days . Valentine’s Day out on the town can be a true mess. Restaurants are swamped, service staff are overworked, and it seems like everyone out there is trying to turn their date into ego-feeding Tik-Tok/Instagram performance “art.” This one’s for those who are just fine with avoiding the knuckleheads. (Above photo by Samuel Bryngelsson on Unsplash)

The Blazer: J.Crew Ludlow Legacy Blazer in Italian Wool Flannel – $315 w/ SHOPNOW ($450). Or whatever comfortable, easy wearing navy blazer you may have. Perhaps you’ve picked up the J. Crew Legacy lately, as it had been on pretty absurd sale for awhile there. Full review here if you’d like it. Anyway, a knit “swazer” would work here as well. Or you could just skip the blazer altogether, but putting on a jacket (less construction, soft shoulders) while at home projects intention. Don’t worry, we’ll dress it down with the rest of the picks.

The Pocket Square: TheTieBar Linen with Color Pop Border Burgundy Pocket Square – $12. It is Valentine’s Day after-all. Gotta make a nod to the day. Could always just use a red or pink bandana too.

The Sweater: 100% Cashmere UNIQLO Crewneck Sweater – $79.90 ($130). Bringing out the cashmere big-guns for Valentine’s. Light “natural” shade makes it luxurious. On sale at UNIQLO keeps the price palatable. That and UNIQLO’s sweaters are usually anything but bulky. So it should layer a little more like a t-shirt, and less like a sweater.

The Pants: Amazon Essentials Men’s Slim-Fit 5-Pocket Stretch Twill Pants – $25. Continuing to dress down the blazer by going with 5-pockets instead of chinos or dress trousers. They’re not as dressed down as a pair of well worn denim, but with the jeans-like pockets setup, they’re still down-to-earth.

The Watch: Orient Bambino Small Seconds in Champagne – $235. Was just down to $165 at Amazon last week, which is as good a price you’ll find. But sadly, looks like they’ve sold out/moved over to a 3rd party seller. So link here goes direct to Orient. Automatic movement, vintage-like champagne dial. Classy small seconds sub-dial.

The Belt: Banana Republic Nubuck Leather Belt – $64.99 ($90). Not a total match for the chukkas, but that’s okay as it’s nubuck and not suede. A shorter nap means the texture will contrast enough.

The Shoes: Allen Edmonds Chandler Chukkas – $209.95 ($475). Part of the extra 30% off Sale items deal Allen Edmonds is running. Goodyear welted, crafted in Port Washington Wisconsin, “Loden” green suede that’s surprisingly versatile but still interesting. The less expensive option: Clarks Bushacre 3 – $70ish

The Socks: Eggplant Emoji Cotton-blend socks – $11.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯