Thanksgiving evening. The mission: Dress appropriately for work, a task that involves looking professional, yet a bit frivolous, in keeping with the holiday. The shift at Space Camp will involve a lot of walking around, going in and outside... and enduring whatever fresh hells that can be conjured up by a crew of 50-odd unhappy souls spending the holiday in rehab.
The solution - The Standard Navy Blazer and Grey Pants.
But with a few twists. First of all, the Brooks Bros. blazer is an old model, and a 3/2 sack cut. That means the jacket has no darts - those ugly-ass seams in the jacket front - and the top button is rolled under the lapel and has no real function.
I found the jacket at the Goodwill in Torrington, Conn. - $3.50, and required no alteration.
The tie is from the Lands End overstocks section - great source of good quality neckwear at a very reasonable price.
The suede Allen Edmonds Hancocks add a touch of informality to the whole thing, as do the pocket square and argyle socks. The AEs came from eBay seller Grapevinehill for about $100; the square from Sierra Trading Post and the socks from the Brooks outlet in Lee, Mass.
The trousers are from LL Bean and a bit of an experiment - at full retail they wouldn't cut it, but for $60 or so it was worth a shot. I didn't order them cuffed as LLB tends toward the miserly inch and half.
The Orvis watch - the "Snows of Kiliminjaro" model - has a strap from Central Watch, and the J. Press oxford cloth buttondown, with the flap pocket, was obtained from an Ask Andy About Clothes.com member whose office went biz casual, to his dismay and my great benefit.
Total cost of everything: $200 or so. At retail, easily $1000.
1 comment:
Those surely are some beautiful shoes. And, despite (or perhaps because of) the lack of cuff, that's a nice-looking break on your trousers.
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