Dress Like a Man (23 page)

• Fatigue jackets
  are another military style, but shorter than greatcoats and duffel coats. They end at the hips, with a full-length front that either zips or buttons all the way up, and usually feature large flap pockets on the font. Turndown collars are typical, as are epaulets.
  
• Blousons
  are slightly dressier, more fitted fatigue jackets with a cinched waist and a very slight flare down to the hips. Dressier versions, featuring lapels, are sometimes called "Eisenhower jackets." Avoid the puffy "aviator" style -- it was a brief craze in the 90s, and is better left there for good.
  

• Waxed jackets
  , especially the Barbour brand, are a good way to dress up functional weather protection. They're reasonably rainproof, and the quilted construction offers warmth, but the outsides are kept dark and neat for a slightly dressy look. For mild wet weather, they're a perfect compromise between style and function. (If you're going to spend all day out in a serious rainstorm, obviously, wear the best outdoors gear you can get and don't worry about the style.)
  

• Jean jackets
  can look sharp, if they're well-fitted and you're careful what you wear them with. Loose, unfitted ones are strictly work wear however -- clothes for manual labor, not for style. Keep the denim dark and fitted when you want to impress, and never wear one with jeans on your lower half as well.
  

Other styles of casual coat -- canvas barn coats, for example, or plaid wool hunting jackets -- aren't really meant as style pieces. That doesn't mean they can't look good, but their primary purpose is purely functional.

Own one or two for when you need the protection. Try, however, to wear a sharper-looking coat whenever the weather permits...and whatever you do, don't wear big, puffy ski parkas anywhere you can't see lift chairs.

Seriously.

C
HAPTER 31:
M
EN'S
U
NDERWEAR AND
U
NDERSHIRTS

It's not a style choice that most people are going to see, but your undergarments do bear some careful consideration, for your own comfort if nothing else.

Every guy makes his own call about his most intimate layers. But broadly speaking, it's better to have undergarments than not, both above the waist and below it.

They're not glamorous, but undergarments serve several practical function. They protect your clothes from your skin and vice versa, absorbing sweat and keeping heavy, stiff fabrics from rubbing uncomfortably.

Underwear is a lot cheaper to replace than items like trousers and dress shirts. That makes the cheap cotton layer of fabric a pretty good investment in the long run. It prevents shirts from getting "pitted out" with sweat stains, and keeps the crotch of your pants from turning funky on you (an especially important consideration for raw denim devotees who avoid washing their jeans).

At the end of the day, it's worth the added expense to have a good underlayer. Some men just can't stand that extra layer of fabric, and if that's you, it's not the end of the world -- no fashion police are going to come for you because you're not wearing an undershirt. But it's a smart investment for men who don't mind the extra layer.

Undershirts

The basic function of your undershirt, as noted above, is to absorb sweat and pad your skin.

That means buying a style that suits your physical habits and your patterns of sweating.

• T-shirt
  style undershirts are simple, basic, and functional. They've got sleeves that reach a little ways down your bicep, making sure the whole armpit is covered, and the crew neck takes care of chest and back sweat all the way up. The biggest disadvantage is that the neck of the shirt is visible if you undo any of your shirt buttons.
  
• V-neck
  undershirts solve the T-shirt problem with a triangular cutout at the neck. They're ideal for wearing under dress shirts without neckties, or other styles of shirt that expose some of your neck and collarbone.
  
• Sleeveless
  undershirts (which go by a lot of names, some more offensive than others) are lightweight and usually have low, scooped necklines, meaning they're unlikely to poke out from underneath your shirts. However, they don't do nearly as much for armpit absorbency, so if you're a heavy pit-sweater they may not do you much good.
  
• Long-sleeve
  undershirts provide added insulation in cool months. Many are made from high-performance synthetic fibers for extra wicking. They tend to be a bit pricier than short-sleeve versions, but make invaluable underlayers for men who are active outdoors.
  

With any of these styles, a close fit and a thin, lightweight material are paramount. Don't cut corners here! A saggy undershirt isn't absorbing any sweat, and it's going to put wrinkles in the layers above it as well.

For mostly sedentary men plain cotton works just fine. It isn't glamorous or very absorbent, but it's cheap and easy to clean. Men who do a lot of physical activity may want to invest in a higher-performance material. Athletic brands do well, as do specialized undershirt companies.

Underwear (Lower Body)

We won't go into too much detail here. A man's drawers are a personal matter.

You're looking for something that fills the same basic functions as an undershirt, with the added consideration that you want everything snug but not too tight. A good fit is not just a visual consideration down there!

Most lower-body underwear fits into one of these categories:

• Briefs
  - Short, snug undergarments that cover from the waist to the upper thigh, angling downward to the crotch. They're plain, functional, and often thought of unglamorous, especially in the cotton Y-front "whitey tighty" style. Darker colors make them a bit more flattering, for men who worry about such things.
  
• Boxers
  - Looser undershorts where the legs are longer than the crotch. These are widely viewed as less constricting than briefs, but they may also cause lumps or wrinkles in trouser legs if the fit is too loose.
  
• Boxer-briefs
  - A practical style that combines the longer legs of boxers with the skintight fit of briefs. Better support than boxers, and a little more modesty than briefs.
  
• Thongs
  - An abbreviated style with a small triangular pouch of fabric in front and a very narrow band in back. Generally worn with costumes or very tight pants where any other style would leave visible lines on the outer garment.
  
• Long underwear
  - A thin, snug lower-body sleeve that runs all the way down to the ankles, or in some "footie" styles to the toes. Generally worn for winter insulation, with the best models made from lightweight and moisture-wicking wool/synthetic blends.
  

In years past the "union suit," which combined a long-sleeved undershirt and long underwear into a single, unbroken garment, was a practical option for working men. These days it's a bit of a relic, and certainly not a fashion statement. You might wear one for a long day of working in the winter cold, but otherwise most men prefer to keep their underwear two-piece.

Visible Underwear and Underwear as Outerwear

The trend of wearing thin undershirts visibly in hot weather isn't a new one. Men have been doing it for practical purposes as long as undershirts have existed, and it's come into and out of fashion for various subcultures (especially youth ones) over the years.

That doesn't make it a good idea, however.

A man who aspires to seeming "well-dressed" or "sharp-looking" can't show any visible underwear, on his upper body or his lower. That includes sagging pants that show the waistband of his undershorts, obviously, but it also applies to a visible curve of undershirt seen through a collar opening.

Make sure you're picking underwear that can stay hidden when you want to look good. V-necks or scoop necks are ideal for wear with dress shirts.

Casual dressers can, in
some
cases, look all right wearing an "undershirt" as a basic T-shirt. It's never going to be fancy, but a tightly-fitted white T-shirt with jeans has been a sexy rebel sort of look since the 1950s. Use it with caution, and only if you've got the body for it, but if you want to break the look out at a tailgate party or something, more power to you.

Just be aware that visible underwear is always an ultra-casual look. It's deliberate rule-breaking -- fun, sometimes, but not what to wear when you need to be taken seriously.

C
HAPTER 32:
M
EN'S
B
AGS AND
L
UGGAGE

Travel is a necessary part of almost every man's life. It's also not a bad time to look your best.

Commercial travel, these days, is more likely to result in delays, confusion, and bureaucratic hassle than not. Unfair as it seems, a man in an expensive-looking suit or jacket is going to find his problems resolved
much
more quickly than a man in a beat-up pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

Good luggage is part of a good look. In fact, it's not just reserved for travel -- a man in a sharp business suit needs a leather briefcase, not a school backpack, and even a casually-dressed man will look better carrying a sleek messenger bag than a couple of beat-up old tote bags.

Day Use Bags

If your wardrobe doesn't include any sort of small bag for carrying papers, laptops, books, and other day-to-day supplies, think about adding one.