The Proper Blog

The guys at Street Etiquette are doing cool stuff.  Love the music track on this.

From the letter box:

Dear Proper Cloth,

I’ve always bought my dress shirts from Brooks Brothers, size 16-34 Slim Fit.  I believe this means my collar size is 16 and my sleeve size is 34.  I’m now thinking of switching to custom tailored dress shirts, so I went to a tailor to be measured.  According to the tailor, my sleeve length should actually be 35.5.  What gives?

Did he mess up and exaggerate the sleeve length or is this just different in some way?

Thanks,

Long Armed in Los Angeles

Dear Long Armed,

Don’t be alarmed.  The proper way to measure your sleeve length is from the center of the back of the neck, over your shoulder and down to the center of the back of your hand.  It’s common for this sleeve length measurement to be longer than you’re used to.   Truth is, you’ve probably been wearing the wrong sleeve length your entire adult life.

Try this – next time you prop your elbows up on the mahogany conference table while contemplatively rubbing your chin and mentally preparing your response to the analyst questioning the ‘employee morale’ expenses you incurred in Greece last quarter, take a moment and note how far up your forearms the cuffs of your shirt have moved.  If you’re not wearing a custom dress shirt this will probably look mildly ridiculous.

You were probably convinced that your shirts fit fine because when your arms are hanging relaxed at your sides, the cuffs come just to your wrist.  It would seem that if you add another inch, they will be too long.  After all, you don’t want your sleeve coming over your hand.

You’re absolutely right that you don’t want the sleeve coming up over your hand.  With custom fitting shirts this doesn’t have to be the case because can specify the correct cuff size.  Most off-the-rack shirts have over-sized cuffs, made to be loose on even the largest wrists.  However, a proper fitting cuff will have a circumference of just 2-2.5 inches more than your wrist’s measurement (to the skin).  A properly fitting cuff will not slide up your hand when your arms are at your sides.  It will hold the cuff in just the right spot at the base of your hand.

Long story short, custom shirt sleeves are usually made a bit longer because they should be.  And with custom, they can be.

Stay Proper.

It’s finally summer in New York, which means that the average temperature, humidity and degree of discomfort while waiting for the subway have increased dramatically. We’re also seeing the number of women wearing skirts, dresses and short shorts increase but that doesn’t really cool things down.  Which brings us to a peculiar trend:

The Summer-Man-Scarf

This isn’t the first summer we’ve heard about the summer-man-scarf. A (very) little research shows that the trend was spotted on celebrities in Summer 2008, but the buzz around the topic is on the rise this summer (at least according to Google).

The momentum of the trend became most obvious to us when watching the trailer for Ashton Kutcher’s new movie “Spread”.  In the movie, Ashton plays the role of really-cool-guy-that-every-girl-wants-to-sleep-with.  No, we’re not going to discuss how intricate the plot of the movie is, but we do want to point out that his character seems to wear a lot of summer-man-scarves.  In LA.  Where it’s not cold.

Now, I have a strange feeling we’re going to start to see these summer scarves everywhere, and you may find yourself asking “Are summer-man-scarves cool?”

So, let Proper Cloth break it down for you.

Summer scarves are really cool in the right situation.

The first situation is that you are either David Beckham, Kanye West or Jay-Z.

The second situation is if you own your own yacht and need to protect your skin from sunburn while cruising between the British Virgin Islands.

The third situation is that you’re spending this summer in Argentina, where it’s technically winter, and are trying not to freeze in the Patagonia’s.

The fourth situation is that you’re partying in the desert at Burning Man at 3am, have several tattoos, play lead guitar in your band, and go by the name John Mayer.

The fifth situation is that the scarf around your neck is bright red, you’re in Pamplona, and you’re being chased by a bull.

If you don’t fall into one of those categories, summer scarves are not cool.

Be yourself.  Stay Proper.

We recently got our hands on Esquire Magazine’s “Handbook of Style” - a cool little black book with loads of information, advice and style rules for men.  We like it – and can definitely recommend it as a suplement to closely following The Proper Blog.  Just remember – rules are made to be broken, so do your own thing.  Here are the top ten tips the book provides (and our thoughts)

1.) Know your neck size – you should be able to fit one finger between your collar and neck when buttoned up.

Yes – without a doubt.  Sleeve length is helpful to.  You should know these.  If you don’t, drop by Proper Cloth and we’ll take your measurements for you.

2.) A tie’s stripes should always be bolder than a shirts.

This is pretty sound advice.  Of course there are exceptions to this rule though.  But, if you find yourself always being the exception, then please double check if you are dressing like an idiot.

3.) It’s ok to not wear socks in summer, but only if you give your sweaty shoes a break every other day.

Ok, this one left us speechless followed quickly by WTF?  I never understood the attraction of wearing sneakers without socks- but do what you want – at least until it starts smelling.

4.) An invitation saying “black-tie optional” means you can choose between a black tie (tuxedo) and a suit, but it really means black tie.

We generally disagree with this – but it depends on what sort of parties you’re going to.  In business school we had several formal “black-tie optional” affairs and at all of them, it was often a minority wearing tuxedos.  Depending on your age and the caliber of events you go to, there’s a good chance you don’t really need a tux – but – of course, it doesn’t hurt.

5.) Know the nuances of khaki pants – don’t roll up the cuffs to your calves like clam diggers unless you are actually digging for clams.

No comment.  We don’t wear khakis, we don’t dig for clams and we don’t roll our pants up.

6.) Never put eyewear, your cell phone, an ink pen, or a bulging key chain in your pants pockets.

Hold on!  Are you serious?  We understand that having stuff bulging out of your pockets can be distracting and unappealing, but there’s NOTHING wrong with having your cell phone in your pocket!  Those clip-on-your-belt cell phone holders are so nerdy looking.

7.) There are three proper ways to tie your shoes: straight laced, criss-cross, and over-under.

Ummm – who really cares?

8.) Your wallet is for credit cards only – cash goes in a money clip in your front pocket.

I had never heard this before – always thought that men simply had the option of money clip or wallet… turns out we need both… What’s so bad about putting cash in the wallet anyways? If you have ideas about this, please share them.

9.) The five terms your barber will understand are thinned out, layered, choppy, razored, and texturized.

Unless your barber is a man in china-town that doesn’t speak English…

10.) It is acceptable to wear your jeans five to ten times between washings – but fewer if they get visibly dirty or baggy at the knee.

Thanks for approving of our dirty secrets!

Stay Proper!

Happy New Year!  Yes, we are a day late with the greeting, but post-NYE-hangover had Proper Cloth pretty much shut down yesterday.  Now we’re back though!  Well rested, well hydrated, and ready to take on 2009.

We’ve been thinking about making some New Years Resolutions so today we considered the popular ones, (courtesy Wikipedia).  Sadly, nothing seemed to really stick.  Lose weight (already skinny), get out of debt (just finished business school – impossible), get a better job (love my job), get a better education (see get out of debt), drink less alcohol (hahahahahaha), and quit smoking (never started that one)…

So, after careful consideration, we decided that our New Years Resolution for 2009 will be to dress better.  It’s one of those great commitments that provides infinite room for improvement and thus zero chance of failure: We pledge to spend more time crafting our personal image and aspire to present a polished, professional image at all times.  We’ll try to look good at all times – kind of like James Bond in Quantum Solace (with two exceptions though)  1.) We might not wear Tom Ford suits EVERY day and 2.) instead of battling an evil villain in Bolivia, we’ll be battling crowded subways and winter storms in New York.

So, what is the key to dressing up in 2009?  We’ll try to focus on the basics:

Nice Leather Shoes

Now, more than ever is the time to invest in a nice pair of leather shoes.  These will typically cost $200-$300+, but with the discounts going on now you can find great deals.  Avoid trendy but low quality shoes (Steve Madden) with rubber soles.  These look nice on the shelf but wear out quickly.  A good pair of shoes will last several years.  A really good pair of shoes will last you over a decade.  Look for leather soles and wooden heels.  You can never go wrong with a nice black dress shoe from Kenneth Cole, or something of similar or superior quality.  Keep a good pair of brown dress shoes in the rotation and if it fits your personality have some trendy blue leather shoes, or black combat boots as well.

A Good Quality Coat

If you’re going to dress up and look the part, especially if you’re in a cooler climate, you’ll need a nice jacket that fits the look.  This should be a high quality dark gray or black wool or cashmere coat.  It could be double breasted, a nice pea coat, or a more classic 3/4 length suit overcoat or trench coat.  A nice coat like this will dress up any outfit.  Your snowboarding jacket is not an appropriate cover to your suit and tie.

Nice Leather Belt

Don’t take this for granted.  If you’re still wearing the belt you wore in High School, it’s time to upgrade.  Make sure you have a couple high quality leather belts in black and brown.  The general rule is that the belt should match the shoes, so pick the shade of your belts based on the shade of your shoes.  When you wear slacks or khaki’s you should wear a narrower belt – probably 1″ wide.  When you’re wearing jeans the belt should be wider – probably 1.25″ or more. Get this right at all times.

Nice Slacks

If you didn’t get the memo, worn out jeans with raggedy holes are not in style.  And even if they were, they don’t qualify as dressing up (no matter how much you paid for them).  This year, dressing up and looking good is best accomplished with a nice selection of dark colored wool slacks.  Our friends up the road at Bonobos have some cool stuff as does J Crew and Banana Republic.  Avoid front pleats and make sure they fit right (length, waist and ass).

Wear a Tie – Just Because

Seems like people only wear ties for “special occasions” these days.  Put on a tie and suddenly everyone assumes you have a job interview or something.  But, there’s nothing wrong with rocking a tie every now and then.  You might think this is crazy talk – but trust us.  We don’t suggest styles that are out-there and truly “fashionable” or “trendy”.  Wearing a tie is as classic as you can get, so show the confidence to look good in one.  The good thing is that there are plenty of cool looking ties you can find at H&M, Express and Thomas Pink – and they’re probably all on sale now!

Great Dress Shirts

If you read this blog frequently, you knew this was coming.  The real key to dressing up and looking good is the shirt.  Everything else just supports this part of your outfit.  So, if you want to look better in 2009 than you did in 2008, make sure you get the right dress shirt.  Pay close attention to fabric quality, collar construction and especially how well the shirt fits.  Go for a slightly slimmer fitting shirt than you did before.  This can either be a custom tailored dress shirt made just for you or something you find off the rack that you have altered. Just focus on quality and take the time to get the fit right.

So if your goal for 2009 is to take your style up a notch, these tips should get you (and us) there. Best of luck!

Fancy yourself a pretty cool bloke?  Consider yourself on the bleeding edge of fashion?  Think you have the confidence to pull off the truly original?  Then, maybe you’ve considered wearing your watch on the outside of your cuff?

Ridiculous right?  Well, apparently some people think it’s cool.  According to fashion guru the Sartorialist, this is

“…still extremely pervasive on Italian Sartorialists…”

Really?  Who are these Italians?  We want to meet them.

A bit closer to home, the Natty Banker says”

“It’s more a specialized, advanced, and interesting thing to do. But certainly not dominant or necessary! Also the occasion matters. I think it’s best saved for going out to dinner or having cocktails, as opposed to when attending a graduation, for instance, or just going to work.”

Ok, we want to meet that guy too.

In the photo above is Gianni Agnelli, the inspiration for any man that wears his watch on the outside of his cuff.  You may ask: who is this Gianni clown?  Well, he’s passed away now, but in his time he was a super successful Italian business man.  As the head of Fiat,  he controlled 4.4% of Italy’s GNP.  He’s also known for having impeccable style, a beautiful wife and for “allegedly” sleeping with Jacqueline Kennedy.  Basically what we now refer to as a Master of the Universe.

In this case, we suggest you think twice before copying trends from the uber successful.  There’s a lot we can learn from them, but there are also certain things they can get away with that us mere mortals cannot.  For example, while we strongly advocate dressing more like Brad Pitt, we also suggest you think twice before copying his new moustache.

So, in conclusion, no matter how gutsy and fashionable you are, we suggest you take Daphne Galizia’s advice:

“Watch – strictly to be worn BENEATH your shirt-cuff; when you wish to know the time, push up your cuff; this can also be used as a signal that a meeting is over and you wish the annoying person sitting across from you to be on his way.”

Stay Proper.

2009 is coming.  Next Thursday actually. Yes, we are celebrating.

What you should wear on New Years Eve depends entirely on where you’re going and what you’re doing.  Here are some ideas.

Lying Low – Nice Dinner (Not Our Plan)

If your NYE plans are to simply take your girlfriend out to dinner.  NY Magazine suggests a nice black suit, white shirt and red tie.  Very presidential really.  We like this advice.  If you’re going some place nice expect everyone to there to be looking their best and you need to make your date proud.  Even if you didn’t twist your brokers arm to get you a table at Jean Gorges it won’t hurt to be looking extra sharp.

Lying REALLY Low – The Couch (Also Not Our Plan)

If you can’t be bothered to get out of the house for New Years Eve and are planning on staying at home alone (or with other miserable people), then it doesn’t really matter what you wear.  We suggest either nudity, or a comfortable pair of sweat pants and white t-shirt.

Something Outside (Also Not Our Plan)

If you’re planning on going to Times Square to watch the ball drop with the mob your friends, About.com suggests you wear plenty of warm layers (hats, scarves, jackets) and comfortable shoes and socks.  The last couple days it has been warm(er) in NY, but it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next week.  Don’t worry about looking good as much as being comfortable.  Bonus tip: DO NOT let your girlfriend wear heels or you will be hearing about it all night.

The Scene (Also Not Our Plan)

You’ve already booked your table at the club.  You’re planning on going through several bottles of Dom Perignon and Grey Goose.  Justin Timberlake, Paris Hilton, or (insert celebrity) might be there and it’s going to be the best party ever.  You’re not taking a date, but you have coordinated with several girl “friends” to be at the same club – anything could happen.  If you’re prepping for this sort of scene you want to look the part.  We suggest following Askmen.com’s advice and going with a leather jacket over a blue or eggplant dress shirt.  Ignore their advice to wear leather pants though.  Stick to a good fitting pair of slacks or consider a nice pair of dark washed designer jeans.

The Loft Private Cocktail Party (Yes, This is Our Plan)

Either a friend, a friend of a friend, or a friend of a friend of a friend has an apartment that can comfortably accommodate 50+ people and they’ve agreed to host a party.  This could range from a catered all you can drink cocktail bar with professional DJ to a keg in the corner and someone’s IPod hooked up to a stereo. Regardless it will be fun.  As the party varies so does the dress code, so be aware of what you’re getting into.  Most likely your outfit should be somewhere between fancy dinner attire and the over-the-top-night-club.  A good host will lay out guidelines in advance – like “black tie” to help their guests – so be respectful and dress according to the suggestions.  Just do it better than everyone else.  You will certainly want to wear a dress shirt.  Possibly a jacket and or tie.  The lighting will be better than at the club and you’re probably going to take your jacket off, so make sure your dress shirt fits you right and makes you look your best.  We also suggest wearing a nice pair of shiny leather shoes.  They won’t get destroyed as badly as they would in a club and people will notice.

Ok – now that you got the “what to wear” problem solved – move onto the much more important “who to kiss” problem.  Sorry Proper Cloth can’t help you there – but we wish you luck.

Have any other plans, or know of any good parties?  Let us know.

Stay Proper.

We’re not sure if Brad Pitt deserves the credit for how well he dresses, but (at least on screen) the guy can make an outfit work.  One of our favorites is Mr. and Mrs. Smith – where he demonstrates how to really wear the men’s dress shirt with style.  Here we’re going to examine what it is exactly that makes the outfit work – and how you too can get the right look.

Stick to Simple Colors

The first thing to notice is the color of the shirt.  It is white.  For most of the film it is just simple, plain old, boring white.  There are a few scenes where he’s got some thin black stripes on the shirt, but for the most part the color and pattern is extremely simple. This is so important and often overlooked.  So many guys will look through hundreds of fabric patterns and not see anything they like – as if some strange combination of pink and blue stripes is going to make them much more attractive.  Truth is, for most guys, the more simple the color and pattern of the shirt the better you’ll look.  Classic plain white pinpoint will never fail you.  Ever.

But you say – “White is so boring – how will I stand out?”

Get the Perfect Fit

What’s really critical to looking good in a dress shirt is getting the right fit. In the top picture, you can see that with a tie on the collar fits perfectly around his neck – not squeezing at all, but not too loose either.  This looks comfortable and effortless.

In the second picture you can really see how well the shirt fits in the arms and shoulders. The yoke of the shirt goes right to the edge of his shoulder but not past it at all.  Most off the rack shirts you buy will have a yoke that is too wide – and it will come over the edge of your shoulder.  The width of the sleeves is also important. Here you can see that it doesn’t cinch around his arm, but doesn’t have a lot of extra fabric either.  The length of the sleeves is also perfect.  Even with his arms extended in front of him the sleeves come just to the base of his hand.

Insist on High Quality of Construction

The key to a nice dress shirt is the quality of the construction.  Probably the most visible way of telling a shirts quality is looking at the collar.  A high quality shirt collar will be smooth, fairly sturdy and have a round curve around the neck.  Cheap, mass-produced shirts usually don’t get this right because it needs to be done by hand and takes some time.  Look at the collars in the two pictures above.  The curve of the collar flows smoothly and the points are crisp.  You don’t see an imprint of the collar stays, and the tips don’t flair out at all.

Proper Cloth offers high quality dress shirts with a perfect fit.  We offer the most advanced online system to purchase shirts and all shirts are made in the US from Italian textiles.  See what our customers are saying here and get Brad’s style next time you buy one.

This is a guest post from Amy Salinger, a big time “image consultant” in NYC – more about her at the end.

As a fashion stylist people love to ask me the tough questions. For men, mixing patterns is apparently the toughest task of all! Stop fretting, getting dressed should be the least complicated part of your day and I am here to be your superhero stylist of fashion.

Here are a three basic rules to keep your anxiety levels low and your style quotient high:

Rule One: Stay Safe by Mixing Subtle with Subtle

Mixing patterns should be complimentary, and the safest way to make this happen is to combine subtle patterns.  Don’t be that guy with the crazy tie and the checkered shirt. Simply put, subtle patterns with subtle patterns will always be a winner. Think thin pinstripes with thin pinstripes or solids with solids.

This is one of the easiest pattern mixing looks to achieve. The main goal is to keep the patterns as simple and subtle as possible. This mixture of tie and shirt works because of the thin pinstripe against thin pinstripe. Nothing overpowers the other. Having all of the colors be underneath the blue umbrella creates a no-brainer approach to styling. Contrasting the blues is what makes this simple combination pop.

Rule Two: Be Bold with One Standout Piece

Your tie can scream personality while your shirt and suit are the simple backdrop.  Have everyone talking about your tie by picking a bold and fun color just like this red striped one.  You can work in another pattern as long as it is simple. This shirt may appear to be busy, but that is because this is an extreme close up. At a glance the black and white checkered pattern will seem more gray against the red color of the tie. Have lots of fun with your ties, just be sure to keep the backdrop just that, a backdrop.

Rule 3. Take Care When Combining Bold with Bold

Here is an example of how “Bold with Bold” can work. Remember that practice makes perfect and that this should be reserved for the stylishly capable! This works because not only are the colors playing off of each other, but the bold stripe with stripe combination is extremely complimentary. The tie has enough of a contrast to the shirt that it stands out as a focal point of the ensemble.

Amy Salinger has worked or appeared on Oprah, What not to Wear and The Today Show. She has been quoted in such publications as People, InStyle and The Wall Street Journal among others. Check out www.SASSNSTYLE.com for your daily does of style from the sassiest stylist of all!

Gabe and Max, we salute you.

Four Pillars to Having Man Style

Pillar 1: Only own silk underwear
Pillar 2: You can never be too over confident
Pillar 3: Just a little makeup
Pillar 4: Be yourself

Stay Proper.