Maroon Herringbone Tweed WDYW-Yesterday

So if you remember I bought this Maroon Herringbone Tweed blazer from eBay about 2 weeks ago. The question I got was, well what are you going to wear it with? I understood why, the color was just not something that is common. Partially that was one of the main reasons why I bought it.

Simply when trying to wear a jacket or piece that is of a "louder" color, pattern, etc. anchor it down with some neutral colors/pieces. In this case I paired the jacket with dark denim and white shirt with dark brown almost maroon stripes. A simple white pocket square anchors this too.

Details:
Blazer-eBay $15
Pocket Square-Pierre Cardin Marshalls $2
Shirt-Unknown Brand $10
Pants-American Rag $7
Total: $34

WDYW...Yesterday

Wore the following outfit to teach yesterday. Wanted to not do a blazer so I did a cardigan. I kept it simple and relatively cheap, as it is the point of the this blog!

Details:
Shirt-Joseph Abboud via eBay $10
Tie: LandsEnd via NT'er $6.25
Tie Bar: No Name via eBay $3
Cardigan: Gap via Gap Factory Store $15
Trousers: Custom Made via Alteration Friend $50
Wingtips: Florsheim Imperials via Gift ($60 otherwise)
Total: $84.25/$144.25 with shoes
Retail: Well over $225

Golfsmith nearby? Go! Shoe Trees for $4.95!

Short post...

Had to go exchange a few things at Golfsmith and ended up getting a few things in exchange including shoe trees for $4.95!

Reddish Herringbone Tweed Blazer

Got it today from eBay, fits great and was SUPER CHEAP!!! Paid about $18.

WDYWT-Meet the Teacher Night (Mixing High & Low)

Today was Meet the Teacher Night so I decided to wear my Michael Andrews Bespoke suit for the occasion. Frankly I'm getting tired of my male co-workers saying something snarky whenever I dress with a shirt and tie or a suit, it's not my fault that you're self-conscious about how you look...just saying.

Nonetheless just because you're wearing an expensive suit, it doesn't mean that everything else must be super expensive too. This is the ultimate mix on high end (Bespoke Suit) and low end (shirt, pocket square, tie bar and tie, and some would argue the shoes and watch too). Just because the suit was a couple grand doesn't mean that everything else needs to be as well.

The shirt, tie, tie bar and pocket square were no more than $16 together (bought separately) and the shoes and watch were no more than $120 together.

The Outfit for Today:

The Breakdown

Suit: Bespoke Suit via Michael Andrews Bespoke ($2000+)

Shirt: American Living Purple Check JC Penney's ($9.72)

Tie: eBay No Name Brand via eBay ($1)

Tie Bar: eBay No Name Brand ($3 or $4)

Watch (not pictured): Kenneth Cole Brown Leather Band via Nordstrom Rack ($40)

Pocket Square: Pierre Cardin via Marshalls ($.50, pack of 4 for $2)

Shoes: Florsheim Lexington via Florsheim.com (Gift but were on sale for $80 at the time)

Always a Shoe Head...

I stopped collecting sneakers about 1.5 years ago but you never really stop collecting. Apparently I have accumulated a large number of dress shoes since then, 33 at least to be exact, not counting the handful that I still have in storage. I decided to take a few pictures today.

I'll be posting some more pictures of individual sections in the next coming days on here.

A little bit of everything I must say.

Giving These Away!

So I bought these on eBay thinking they would fit but I am nowhere near an 11A, as they are way too narrow for my foot. So if you're a size 11 with a narrow foot these are yours for the taking just pay shipping. They are Florsheim's.

Shoes were never worn by me as they don't but were probably worn a handful of times by its original owner.

Interested, just leave a comment!

WDYWT 9/12

Kept it simple and wore what money would consider "the uniform" for casual work-wear at a place that usually requires you to wear a suit. Since my school isn't necessarily the suit, shirt and tie place, what I wore today is considered still being "dressed-up" but in a casual way alas no tie. What do I mean by "the uniform" well I mean khaki pants and a navy blazer. Two great neutral colors that go well together and where almost any shirt can be thrown into the mix and still would look great. As I am a teacher I kept it conservative with a white and blue stripe Michael Kors cotton button down shirt.

Believe it or not the blazer is from Sean John. It is actually a nice cotton fabric with no sheen and peak lapels, I think my only blazer with peak lapels. My only gripe about it is that it has no chest pocket so no place for a pocket square. Other than that the OTR fit was pretty good.

Navy Blazer with Peak Lapels and cotton button down

Match your leathers or at least be in the same family

What I wore:
Shirt: Michael Kors ($10 Macy's)
Blazer: Sean John ($20 Macy's)
Trousers: H&M ($7.50)
Shoes: Vintage Florsheim Loafers ($35 eBay)
Bag: Coach (X-mas gift from wifey)

Total: $72.50

Treating Your Wife Like A Queen

Sometimes treating your wife like a princess is good but there are times that you need to treat her like a Queen. My wife has been wanting these Lanvin pumps for about 2 months now and we finally found them in her size. The shoes are amazing, I must admit. My wife has a few pairs of Christian Louboutin's and their quality is pretty amazing too. I wasn't expecting the leather on the Lanvin's to be superior to the Louboutin's but by the touch and feel, just may be.

What's great about them is also the satin back heel which makes them different than the typical black pump you see out there. Got them for a great price too! These originally retailed for $850, probably would have been around $930 with tax, but Neiman Marcus marked them down to $382, $413 with taxes about 2 weeks ago. Some times it pays to go check the website a few days or a week after you have bought the item to see if it has gone down. Today, I randomly checked and they were under an additional 25% off promotion. Well, I contacted a customer service rep via their online chat and got the adjustment for $95. In all, $318 for a pair of shoes that would have cost about $600 more last season, not bad at all.

I will say that Lanvin's packaging by far is one of the best I've seen for women's high end shoes. Christian Louboutin could take learn a thing or two. The shoe bags are also an awesome detail that come in handy when traveling.

WDYWT 9/10

So I apologize for lack of posts but here is what I wore yesterday. My wife and I are trying to have our clothing out for the week, since we get up ridiculously early and this would just be one less major thing to do in the morning. I apologize for the crappy pics as they were taken with my iPhone.

Items worn:
Sweater: Old Navy Argyle Sweater-$10
Shirt: American Living (JCPenney)-$9
Tie: No brand red/black stripe tie (eBay)-$1
Pants: Michael Andrews Bespoke (sample sale)-$20

WDYWT...well what I wore on 9/7

This Friday was the first Friday of the school year. The debate for me was should I wear dress pants, a shirt, tie, and a blazer or go Friday casual. As a teacher there is a "grace" period before you pull out your casual duds, however, I think this only applies when you're teaching a group of students you've never taught before. Thankfully for me, I'm teaching the same students that I taught 3 years ago and they know how I operate. Therefore, keeping my look authoritative wasn't necessary. So I went for a casual look as did others.

Shirt: Old Navy Short Sleeve, White/Navy stripe as featured in Look 1 of TSB's feature. $9

Jeans: American Rag purchased at Macy's as featured in Look 3 of TSB's feature. $7

Shoes: LandsEnd Desert Boots, posted a few days ago. $21 shipped

Total: $37

How Suede It Is!

I LOVE SUEDE SHOES! I think they are just some of the nicest dress shoes out there and they add a nice little change to the usual leather shoes you see on your typical man.

For example, the dark brown cap toe suede shoes (the one with the shoe tress), third from the right, I wear those usually to either change it up from the "typical" brown leather shoes or to add a little "weight" to a fall look, by pairing with corduroys or a heavy wool suit. The brown boots to the left are by far one of my favorites as well  and were a steal at about $60 from Nordstrom Rack, by Nordstrom's own brand 1901. Wingtip suede boots, that I usually wear with jeans to dress them up a little or some cords as well. Then you have my bucks which I must admit have not gotten much wear and should have this past spring and summer. The 2 shoes to the right of the bucks I haven't worn yet but one is a nice rust color suede wingtip and the other a chocolate brown cap toe, both by Cole Haan. My favorite pair is the gray chukka boots by Joseph Abboud, VERY versatile and look great with everything, a steal from NR for about $60 as well (I think I bought both boots the same day).

Will try and post some separate shoots of each with some old what did you wear's.  Missing from the pic: two brown suede shoes from LandsEnd, a pair of loafers and desert boots. The boots are a recent pick up, the loafers I completely forgot to take them out and snap a pic.

Stafford's Wingtip Boots

First, I apologize for the lack of posts on the past final days. I didn't post my WDYWT since I literally wore what I posted on August 20th or 21st. Now on to the post...

So these Stafford Wingtip boots have been getting posted all over, on sites like NT, dappered.com and stayclassicblog.com and I can see why. Finding a pair of brown wingtip boots for under $150, much less under $100 is extremely difficult if not rare.  Well JCPenney has a pair for $60. Yes, $60! The boots are great, the leather on them is nice and soft, not the stiff leather you usually find on run of the mill cheaper leather shoes. The soles are rubber commando style soles. For those who live in areas where it gets wet or snowy during the winter these are great. You'll be able to use them functionally and look good at the same time.

If you do consider getting these size down, and size down A LOT. I am usually an 11, these are a 9.5 I kid you not.

Commando Sole

Cognac, 6in tall

Awesomely rich color