I'm Back!

Hello Everyone, I'm back from vacation, stay tuned for some new posts in the next couple of days!

Will be MIA for the Next Week!

Hello Readers,
Just want to let you all know that I will be MIA for the next week and highly doubt that I'll be making any posts during this next week. My wife and I are off to Montego Bay, Jamaica in a couple of hours for our 2nd Anniversary. Be safe out there and enjoy your summers!

A Casual Suede Wingtip

For those wondering what type of suede shoe or suede wingtip you can wear that is more on the casual side, well below is your answer. These as you can see are a little wider/bulkier not as streamlined as some of my other wingtips. These shoes look better under something like jeans than a suit. The brown shade as you can see is a lot lighter than the rich brown that I would refer to as more dressy and it has contrast stitching as well. The bottoms are rubber which makes these a great shoe for the fall and winter for wet and icy conditions. However, believe me when I tell you that these look great during the Spring and Summer as well.

So I actually found these in November in the Clearance section of Cole Haan at my local outlet during Black Friday. Picked them up during their midnight special: 50% plus 20% when shopping from 10p-1am so I think I paid $27 or $32 fir them.

Dressing It Up A Bit...

The following ensemble I wore for the graduation of my Seniors back at the end of June. I tried to keep it simple by keeping everything somewhat subdued. Thought about a red tie but I wanted to keep it in the blue family and quiet per say. Thought about wearing my Bespoke suit from MAB but went with one of my OTR (Off The Rack) suits that I got for a great deal. The suit is Navy with a gray pinstripe with black striping on each side of the gray pinstripe from Calvin Klein, the shirt a simple white shirt with a spread collar, tie some no name brand from eBay. Not pictured: The shoes, which I wore some burgundy wingtip Florsheim's.

Notice the small details in terms of the jacket, simple white pocket square and a silk cufflink in the lapel, both are things used to draw attention to my chest and shoulders and not my stomach. More on what's being worn after the pictures.

Excuse the stupid face please. Tie knot: 4-in hand with a dimple.

Detailing on the suit is a little more noticeable here.

Tie has some purple polka dots and white one's too.

The details:

Suit: Calvin Klein Size 46R via cladmen.com Final sale-$160 plus $15 for alterations, $175

Shirt: Merona Size XXL via Target (shirt needs to be taken in everywhere), $22

Tie: No Name Brand via eBay, $1

Pocket Square: Pierre Cardin via Marshalls, $5 for a pack of 5

In Lapel: Silk Cufflink via eBay, $1

Shoes via Florsheim's website, $80 (not pictured)

Get Yourself a SHOE HORN!

Shoe horns are necessary to keep your shoes in the best possible shape, literally. I personally never cared for them or thought I needed one. I remember being asked every time I went for a fitting if I needed a shoe horn at MAB and always declined it. My stylist, Casey mentioned that I should use one to keep my shoes' back from giving out. Well I still ignored it and kept just slipping my feet in and using my finger to bend the leather back...bad idea.

One of my favorite pairs, my vintage Florsheim loafers (pictured below, courtesy of TSB.com), the back heel on my right shoe started to bend badly and I could literally feel and hear the leather bending. When I looked at the top of the back heel I started to notice that from me just pushing my feet in, I was crushing the leather. It was then that I realized why I needed a shoe horn.

First of all this is probably the CHEAPEST thing you can invest in to keep your shoes looking good, as you can find one for under $5 at Target or eBay. OR you can head to DSW and pick one up for FREE! I never knew that they have them away for free if you simply ask. My parents actually told me, when I asked where they had gotten theirs. The best thing about the DSW one's is that they are not the short ones that are about 4 inches long, these are the harder to find longer ones. Usually I've seen these run over $10 for plastic and $25 plus for the metals one. So go and ASK!

These are Vintage Florsheim's I'm referring too, old but great!

Notice the two widths and in addition it'll save your back a little.

What I Wore Today...

This is what I wore today, something simple yet comfortable. The bottom is not featured since I wore the same bottoms that I wore in the post about getting my pants hemmed. Wore my American Rag jeans that I just got back with my Gucci Loafers and H&M socks. The short sleeve shirt is from Old Navy which I bought about 2 years ago or so.

FYI: Doubt they'll be a post tomorrow night since I'll be going to the Dodger game!

Still Dropping Some Weight (Why to trust your clothes versus your scale)

So for the past three months I've been trying to loose weight, as of 3 weeks ago I've gone down about 15 pounds, I haven't weighed in since then but I think I'm down another 5-7 pounds as of right now. It's great to see the change in the scale but personally I never go by that. My doctor has stated to me that I should've dropped more weight based on the diet he has me on but I feel the scale is deceiving at times so I always go by my clothes.

Pants that used to fit me tight; as in leave a mark on my waist from how tight they were, are now about an inch too big in the waist. I've gone from a 38 to a 36 and now the 36 now fit loosely as well. My chambray shirt which I don't have a picture of, went from fitting me okay, to fitting me so tight it was pulling (which is when I knew I needed to shed some weight). Now it fits me loose. Below are a couple of pictures of me trying on my linen blazer and my jacket from MAB suit. For prior reference to how they fit before refer to thestyleblogger.com post.

Sorry for not a proper fit post, felt like complete crap today and didn't leave the house. I wanted to see if I had gone up or down with my weight turns out it's down. First picture is how it fits without me adjusting it, second of me adjusting it with my hands.

Linen Blazer by Tasso Elba, Size XL, $100 at Macy's 

Notice it's a bit loose. 

Not a great example but ideally I need it brought in about an 1-1.5 inches.

Michael Andrews Bespoke Wool Blazer Part of a Suit: $$$

Actually debating if this one needs to be tweaked, my sides got smaller!

If I do tweak it it's just a bit

Opinions???

Hemming It Up

As you recall I had some pants hemmed this past week and here they are. I had my slimmer fit jeans cut  a little longer than most of my slacks but still wanted something that had no break. Here they are:

Jeans: American Rag $7, Hem: Free, Loafers: Gucci $Gift

Notice that they end right at the top of the loafers which is exactly where I wanted them to end. I like this length because as you can see it shows just enough sock or skin when sock less but if I were wearing a higher cut shoe, they would end with no break as well.

Advice from you, the Reader

So I keep debating whether I should order the following chukka boots:

http://www.landsend.com/pp/canvas-mens-jackson-chukka-boot~242917_-1.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::DRC&CM_MERCH=IDX_sale-_-men-_-shoes&origin=index

Comment, should I get them or should I not? If I do I'll probably get these as well since there is a sale going on now too:

http://www.landsend.com/pp/canvas-mens-whitecap-canvas-oxford-lace-up-shoe~238543_-1.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::QAI&CM_MERCH=IDX_sale-_-men-_-shoes&origin=index

What you guys decide wins, by Monday.

White Jack Purcells, a staple...

If you are like me and many others I know on NikeTalk's dressing better thread at one point or another you were likely into Sneakers. Making the transition for some of us from sneakers to dress shoes is easier than for others and if you're like me possibly wear sneakers sparingly now. For me this is mostly due to the fact that I didn't really own many casual low tops.

The all white Jack Purcell's and I'd even say the classic blue one's as well can help alleviate this. I personally prefer the all-white. They are low, streamline, simple, understated that look better with wear. For when you feel like wearing sneakers but not looking sloppy, these are it. Dress down a suit by loosing the tie and putting these babies.

DSW currently has them in their clearance section; sizes vary, for $40 after the 30% markdown. I suggest you size down 1-1.5 sizes. Usually an 11.5/12, these below are a 10.5.

What the Buck!

It's hot in mostly every part of the country so many of us are in as little layers as possible, in light fabrics both in color and weight and in shorts or lightweight chinos. But what to wear on your feet? Bucks! Today they come in a plethora of colors but I personally like to stick to the classic light brown. These will look great with anything from jeans, chinos or shorts (sock less of course!). If you want to keep the classic color like the one's pictured but want some color look for them with different colored soles like green, blue, pink, and so on. I like the classic brick red.

Pictured below are Bucks by Cole Haan purchased last year at DSW for $45. I haven't seen them lately at DSW but Bass or any Bass outlet should have a great deal on them.

High Risk, High Reward, Terrible Pose...

So this picture was taken a few months ago. Usually if I'm in shorts and a short sleeve button down I'm wearing sneakers. This is the first time I have actually ever gone the wearing loafers route with the shorts look. I feel it looked a lot better than the picture shows as the pose is just terrible. Have at it everyone...

WDYW:
Linen/Cotton Blend S/S-Old Navy $9 (Size XL)
Chaps by Ralph Lauren Shorts-Marshalls $10 (Size 36)
Vintage Florsheim Loafers-eBay $35 (Size 11)
Watch no name brand-The Time Factory $10
Total: $64

Alterations...are your BEST friend!

I just got three pants back from my mom's friend who has been tailoring for over 30 years. She always does great work and is reasonably priced. Luckily because she is very good friends with my mother, I was charged 0! Even then, she only charges $3-5 for hemming a pair of pants, lets be honest that's cheap. If you are interested and in the LA area (specifically LAX) leave a comment and I'll send you her way.

I had 3 pants taken in: 2 Jeans and 1 Chino. I had the jeans hemmed previously by someone else but still felt they were too long, same with the Chinos. I'll post pics tomorrow of how they fit now but here is how I had them hemmed or what I had in mind when I had them hemmed again, I should say. Chinos were cut to end right below the ankle, to show some sock/skin, my more slim fit jeans were cut with little to no break so that it's the pair of jeans I can wear in a more dressed up manner, and the looser jeans were cut just long enough to fall over a dress shoe or sneakers.

What Did I Wear...yesterday

So remember the loafers posted in yesterday's post? Well here's how I wore them yesterday. Usually I would have gone with brown shoes but opted for black for 3 reasons: 1) to break in the shoes 2) to experiment with khaki and black and 3) I wore a black sweater.

Sweater: Banana Republic Size XL-$15 Shirt: Linen Old Navy Size XL-$8 Pants: Chinos H&M Size 36-$7.50 Socks: H&M-$3 for a pack of 3 ($1 per pair of socks) Shoes: Thom McAn Loafers Size 10.5-$20 Total: $51.50

Black Chiseled Toe Loafers...for $20

I am not a big fan of black loafers, only owning two pairs...maybe three. The reason I'm not a fan is due to the fact that many companies who make black loafers make the huge big squared toe bulky shoes. It is very rare, at least in my opinion, to find a black loafer with a nice round toe or nice rounded chiseled toe.

Surprisingly, I found a pair, more surprising, where and the price. On a trip to Sears with my parents in LA (currently on Vacation visiting my family), I ran across these Thom McAn black loafers for $20! They were on sale for $20, original price $65. Now before someone goes on threads and say denounce these shoes because their cheap, let me just say, big deal. Look I know that these shoes are probably not crafted with the highest quality leather but frankly, since they are going to be one of my 20 plus pairs of dress shoes, they will last quite a long time due to the rotation I have. On a quick note, Thom McAn as a brand has been around for decades known for making some very good quality shoes, hopefully this is still the case, only time will tell.

Side note: I usually don't like tassel loafers either but these surprisingly enough were a great combination of chiseled toe, tassels and mod toe. Also I paid $0 for these since my dad was adamant about using his gift card to buy them for me.

Thom McAn, Size 10.5, No Flash.

Thom McAn, Size 10.5, Flash.

Look #1 from TSB post...simple, classy, clean and cheap!

So the look below is from the first look on TSB.com. The look although looks like it was expensive to put together was actually relatively cheap.

Let's start with the most expensive item and work our way from there; in this case the blazer.
Linen Blazer by Taso Elba-$108 with tax at Macy's
Pocket Square-$2 for a pack of 5 by Pierre Cardin at Marshall's
Short Sleeve Cotton Shirt-$9.50 Old Navy Clearance Section
Chinos-$7.50 at H&M Clearance; same pants from this post.
Loafers-$30 via eBay
Lapel Acc.-$1 Cufflink via eBay

Total:$156
*I didn't add the watch since I wear it every day but it ran me $40 for Kenneth Cole at Nordstrom Rack.

As you can see a great look put together on a budget. Take the shoes out of the equation as they can be worn multiple times a week, we're talking no more than $125 and $100 of that was for the blazer.

It's NOT All About the Name Brand

Yesterday my parents, brother and I were having a discussion on clothing and how people dress, mainly sparked by my feature on thestyleblogger.com. My brother mentioned how he has a co-worker that all he buys is high-end designer clothing; whether it's a t-shirt or a suit. A great point was made during the conversation by one of them that name brand doesn't equal quality. This is a really good point, plan and simple.

Too many people are stuck with the fact that if it is made by the many high-end designers that it must a great quality product. This isn't always the case. Many times a lot of these high-end brands manufacture their garments the same way many less expensive brands do. Merely they just stick their nice big high end brand on the garment and charge the high price. This for many keeps them from wanting to upgrade their wardrobe and start dressing better. Well it's not all about the name brand...

The basic, your typical collection of short sleeve shirts which I would say around 3-5 for the hot and warm seasons, 5-6 dress shirts, 3-4 dress pants, 1-2 dark jeans, a few sweaters, etc. do not need to be purchased at high end retailers. Personally I LOVE bargains and will gladly admit I am a bargain shopper. Brands that I recommend, Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and stores like Marshalls, Ross and H&M come highly recommended.

Next post...possibly tonight, I'll break down some of my looks from TSB and other of my own personal shots to demonstrate how you don't need a lot of money to look great. (Actually these may be many multiple posts)

A Couple That Didn't Make the Cut

A lot of pictures and I mean a lot of pictures were taken for the shoot for thestyleblogger.com but not all could make the cut. The look below is the only look that didn't make it into the post. I wasn't a fan of the look and frankly I think it was the sloppiest of them all. Not saying it was a bad look just I can see that my jeans need a hem, and my shirt needed a press.

And It's Up!!!

As you know I'm not a small guy by any means, I'm on the shorter side at about 5'9 and on the heavier side at about 225-230 pounds. Slowly but surely I've been dropping some weight and inches. To say the least I need a few more.

However I've never been ashamed or embarrassed of my weight, on the contrary I embrace and have learned to dress it appropriately to make me look as best as it can. That includes not wearing oversized clothing that only adds to your size but not wearing clothing so small it suffocates you.

thestyleblogger aka Dan aka the best dressed man in America allowed me to participate in one of their posts to address just this. Please click on the link and check the post. Leave comments there AND here! I will add a couple of the pictures that didn't make the cut in the next couple of days.

Enjoy!
http://www.thestyleblogger.com/12454/dressing-your-body-type-tips-for-heavier-guys-featuring-sergio-arteaga/

Photo Shoot with Thestyleblogger.com

Sorry for the not positing anything lately, my wife and I met the rest of my family in Las Vegas and well haven't anywhere near a computer until today.

However, Wednesday before leaving I had a photo shoot with the popular style blog, thestyleblogger.com. I believe the post should be up some time today or tomorrow. When it does I will post the link for all of you to see!

The premise is giving tips for bigger guys...like me :0)!