Bravado Living

A couple of years ago, you couldn’t have paid us enough to wear a velvet blazer. Today, we’re skipping meals to save up for this one. For an added level of flair to your blazer and jeans combo’s there is no better jacket then the velvet blazer. Worn with a CRISP white shirt, and a pair of dark jeans you can’t go wrong. Stick with dark purple or black without any tuxedo satin accents, rhinestones, designs, or anything else that would come out of an Ed Hardy factory. Keep it nice, clean, and simple- the velvet alone is a bit eccentric. We personally like this blazer from Ben Sherman. The rich purple lends itself as a jacket meant for nights at the club, or cigars with the boys. It’s also lined by an iridescent orange liner for a little extra when you decide to take this bad boy off.

BUY IT Ben Sherman Velvet Blazer $400

Despite the fact that I don’t play Rugby or know enough about it to have a conversation on it for longer than a few minutes, I do know that a rugby shirt is a great addition to any man’s wardrobe.  What’s great about rugby shirts is that even though they are a sporty piece of threads, they don’t make you look like you are ready to sprint and tackle.  In fact, they’re pretty versatile when you wear it properly. You can layer that rugby shirt with a sweater or a vest to get a different look going on, they look great with pants or khakis, you can pair them up with shorts for those days when you spend long stretches in the outdoors. Another great thing is that the more you wear your rugby the better it is going to look.

This Classic-Fit Pieced Rugby by Ralph Lauren is a great article of clothing.  The shirt is a 100% cotton and has a plethora of neat little extras, such as an embroidered applied “3″ crest accents on the left chest and a jumping horse and rider embroidery and jockey team verbiage at the right chest.  These smart-looking stitches are inspired by authentic jockey silks. Quality is insured since Ralph Lauren didn’t slack on the labor, I mean the embroidery at the chest alone includes 40,600 individual stitches.

BUY IT Ralph Lauren Classic-Fit Pieced Rugby $145.00

It's bucket time.

Gentlemen, check out this Nubuck Leather Bucket Hat by Armani. This ain’t your regular bucket hat, this is a bucket hat for champs, a bucket hat that would’ve blown Gilligan away. Bucket hats are great for keeping the sun out of your face, making them great hats to wear to any casual outdoor festivity, be it the beach, the boat, or a BBQ.  Glare protection is also a must for any man trying to spot midday MILFs in the hot high noon sun. This is great accessory for your casual closet, ready to wear for a bucket load of occasions, the hat being pretty versatile in relation to what you can pair it up with.

I love when designers take classic apparel like the bucket hat, which has been around since pretty much forever, and tweaking it until they get something a little more exciting and new. Bucket hats are usually made out of cotton and denim, and while I would wear a hat made out of these fabrics, I love that this piece is made out of leather. There’s just something about wearing animals skins that makes me feel great. Add that to a classic hat design, alongside some other clever innovations, like the faux twill finish, and we have a great hat. That’ll do Armani, that’ll do.

Come get it, Mary Ann.

BUY IT Armani Collezioni Nubuck Leather Bucket Hat $555.00

These shorts are just phenomenal. I love the color blue and I love the fact that YSL made these corduroy shorts such a bright blue. Blue is the type of color typically reserved for shirts, sweaters, and the rest of their ilk. You don’t see many people wearing pants done in bright colors. Well, I guess you could say you do, but I’m purposefully excluding every hipster douche and indie princess that haunt the downtown areas and thrift shops of our nation’s great cities.

Human refuse aside, I think these shorts are perfect for casual outings, especially to beach locales or out on the boat. I’m probably biased since I frequent South Beach all the time and many of my casual clothing purchases usually reflect on that choice of locale. Every man should really get a pair of corduroy shorts, they will outlast your denim ones stitch for stitch.

They go for $575

Jeffrey New York, 449 W. 14th St., New York, (212) 206-3928,
Get them here.

We’ve been getting a lot of questions asking us the difference between a blazer, a suit jacket, and a sport coat. Well gentlemen we’re here to clear the air. Blazers are a basketball team from Portland, Oregon (please excuse the bad joke, it’s 2:00 am).

In all seriousness.

BLAZERS

Blazers are not merely jackets that are worn with a pair of off-color slacks. They are a staple in a man’s wardrobe. In many instances should be one of the first major clothing purchases in your life, and will serve you very well as versatile, stylish, anchor of your style. So what is it?

A blazer is a two or three button (buy it in two), wool jacket , most commonly seen in navy, and adorned with gold buttons. Other than your favorite pair of dark jeans, no item is more forgiving. Trust us. You can wear it with just about anything from khakis on casual friday, to jeans for a night on the town, to seersucker pants if you’re really feeling adventurous, this companion can do it all. If you don’t have one already, please buy one. Like most things they make, we prefer Ralph Lauren’s Purple Label version as it sits well, holds its shape, and looks phenomenal.

Also make sure to get it tailored. Notice the silhouette of the jacket above and how the shape can make you look jacked, even though you haven’t done a pull-up in your life.

SPORT COATS

Sport coats on the other hand tend to be a patterned worsted wool with either a checker, herringbone, or corset pattern. It is almost always a rougher texture due to it’s lower thread count. This lends itself as the most casual jacket of the bunch. Worn for lazy days at the track, a passport holder at the airport, or to dress up a pair of jeans, the sport coat- while not the most essential of items- will definitely yield itself useful when the time comes.

SUIT JACKET

The suit jacket is recognizable by it’s higher thread count and matching pants (never wear a jacket with “close enough” pants and try to pass it off as a suit- everyone can tell). It can be adorned by any number of patterns but most commonly a chalk or pin stripe like the suit featured below.

Notice the pocket square, thinner tie, and tailored jacket. Well done, sir. Well done indeed.