Newsstand | Off the Cuff

For the Bookshelf: The Gentry Man

On May 4, 2012, By OTC

One of the exciting side effects brought about by the sustained and evolving resurgence in menswear, elegantly executed lifestyles, and well-crafted luxury goods, is the recent release of some great new books geared toward men.

For the past several years, there has been a coffee table drought of sorts; a lack of interesting books devoted to mens style. Alan Flusser’s contributions are de facto bibles when it comes to elegant dressage and, as he so eloquently coined it, “permanent style.” However, few titles have been able to give him a worthwhile nudge on the bookshelf.

Things changed in 2009, when “Take Ivy” was published. Previously beloved as a cult classic in the fashion world, the Japanese language book was republished in English. The publisher was stunned with the intense demand once word got out. Apparently, men were starving for quality style guides and substantive books filled with interesting, useful, historical, and practical information about how to dress, how to live, what to drink, and how to behave.

Authors obliged. Some of the weak offerings were no more than a collection of generalizations and pictures of people on boats and sitting on tartan chairs. Others, like the impressive “Preppy,” sought to delve deep into the fashion and philosophy of the preppy lifestyle. “The Ivy League,” a stunning new book, which will be reviewed soon on OTC, captures both the style and culture of the Ivy League world. It prompted a deep reflection on this editor-in-chief’s own upbringing and resulted in a major article currently undergoing final edits. Finally, the quality of menswear books is beginning to meet demand.

Perhaps the most interesting book to land on our doorstep is “The Gentry Man: A Guide for the Civilized Male.”

Gentry was a landmark magazine for men from the 1950s, which covered all aspects of gentlemanly pursuits. It lead with a distinct worldly, intellectual approach; a cross between today’s Esquire and Monocle magazines.

From cocktails to suiting, automobiles to academic treatises. Art, culture, and travel mingles with fashion and interior design. It was a magazine for the thinking man’s dandy. Playboy, but without the nudity.

Editor Hal Rubenstein collected some of the best articles from the magazine’s 22 issues – far too brief a run. Of course the technology is out of date and the fashions a touch stodgy, but that is beside the point. The hefty book, 256 pages, is divided into distinct sections that take advantage of the subject matter’s depth and breadth: Style; Homes, Cars, and Travel; Food and Drink; Sports and Culture; and Art and Architecture. Thomas Crowne likely read Gentry.

Much of the advice perfectly relevant for today, especially the underlying message of gentlemanlyness and intellectual curiosity. These are the hallmarks of a true man and this wonderful book is a guide-cum-historical reference for those seeking to put some substance behind their style.

The Gentry Man goes on sale May 8, 2012.

The Best: Monocle Turns Five

On February 29, 2012, By OTC

Launched in 2007 as a new concept in print journalism, this March Monocle celebrates its fifth anniversary. One of our favorite, or rather favourite, publications, Monocle has grown into a unique and substantive media presence.

With its flagship magazine, online home base, retail arm, Monocle 24 radio broadcast (and iPhone app), and Bloomberg television show, Monocle’s footprint has carefully and deliberately expanded in a targeted approach which neither cannibalizes itself nor devalues the overall brand. Monocle’s hip seasonal Alpino and Mediteranio newspapers support the magazine in a clever and resort-focused fashion and are themselves collectable – like the bookish magazines.

Monocle’s ownership structure and the family-like nature of its core investors allow the company to develop innovative and intellectual products and services that under traditional corporate models would never see the light of day.

Not only has this approach worked, it has created – along with founder and editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé – a profitable, popular brand that is beloved by its affluent, cultured and globe hopping readers.

We vote with our wallets; OTC’s library has every issue except one; the first. Dear Monocle, would you perhaps have a spare Issue 1 lying about Midori House…?

Preppy: Cultivating Ivy Style

On November 7, 2011, By OTC

When first reading my copy of Preppy: Cultivating Ivy Style, I was reminded of how omnipresent the whole preppy thing has become.

OTC hit the internet back in 2005. Back then, there were very few men’s fashion blogs out there. And there were even fewer sites dedicated to the preppy/Ivy League/East Coast style so familiar to me.

Over the intervening years, the appeal of preppy style and East Coast lifestyle – at least as seen through the eyes of Lisa Birnbach – gained wider appeal and the proliferation of online experts and opinion-makers ensued. Back in the 1980s, when The Preppy Handbook first gave birth to a new, aspirational preppy phenomenon, the style was bombastic and over the top, colorful and caricatured. Today, it’s serious business. And I mean that both figuratively and literally.

Companies from J. Crew to Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers to J. Press are all rediscovering their uber-preppiness. New smaller brands that fancy themselves cultural artisans and holders of the “true” preppy standard are popping up by the day. Of all these modern labels only Brooks Brothers, J. Press and L.L. Bean can really lay claim to a physical connection to the genuine preppy aesthetic. At the same time, many fashion bloggers and armchair fashion historians extol the virtues of being “authentic” focusing on “heritage” brands.

I’ve seen some of this exuberant tut-tutting in the reviews of Preppy: Cultivating Ivy Style and find it a little perplexing. Some are critical of the book’s lack of historical gravitas and its apparent concession to modern (and apparently blasphemous) interpretations of preppy style. Too much Ralph Lauren – that’s not authentic prep! Does that make Polo/Ralph Lauren, founded twilight years of original Preppy, any less preppy? Is it less authentic? Of course not, Polo is the bedrock of modern preppy style.

All of this came quickly to mind as I unpacked the book, sent to me through the kindness of its authors, and started to leaf through the pages. I, and several other bloggers mentioned or quoted in the book have been aware of its development since last year. When I was contacted for permission to use a quote from my Roots of American Preppy article – for the introduction no less – I was intrigued. I liked the idea behind the book and the authors’ approach to creating a modern understanding of the style.

Turns out I also like the book. In fact, I think it’s a great resource for anyone looking to better understand and adopt preppy style. Preppy’s authors, very aware of bloggers’ influence and impact on modern preppy style, also reached out to some of the leading online influencers and mined our archives and writings. That perspective adds to the larger picture of preppy style today.

I don’t know if some people were expecting the Ivy League equivalent of Alan Flusser’s Dressing The Man - a book so detailed, complete and authoritative as to garner only criticisms about its obsessive detail. This book is more of an elegant and somewhat contextual style guide that shows you how to dress and accessorize in the preppy fashion. It’s not an exhaustive tome dedicated to the intricate nuances of preppy culture and history, pedigree and monogramming rules. Rather, it is a visual reference for achieving the preppy aesthetic.

Preppy runs the gamut of Ivy League influences and trends, styles, luminaries and brands. It also goes somewhere most books on this subject do not – to modern times. Photos from Fred Castleberry are mixed with references to the gritty cool urbanity of Street Etiquette.com. Modern influences have taken the preppy look in new directions, J.Crew being the standard bearer of the “New Prep.” In fact, even though J.Crew strives to break its generic “preppy” label, no other brand has so forcefully defined what kids today understand to be preppy.

What makes the preppy style of today so resilient and ubiquitous is that it’s not static – it’s not the old 1980s caricature. Through style blogs and social media, consumers have decided what they like and how they want to blend looks and even eras. Creating personal signature looks by blending new and old brands, mass market and small run specialty pieces, old school preppy and new school ironic keeps things fresh.

And that’s the way is should be. “Real” American preppy has always been about practically, function and quality. Together, those elements yielded the timeless and classic looks we so covet today. From bags to dogs, footwear to navy blazers, preppies created a distinctive style by finding what worked, sticking with it and evolving to include new elements that matched their style. Same thing with this book.

Preppy: Cultivating Ivy Style takes vintage and modern preppy, blends them up and gives us the recipe for achieving a look, a style and, sort of, a life style. It’s a lovely book and a great addition to a collection or coffee table.

Gentleman Prefer Blogs: OTC Featured in Washington Post Express

On July 16, 2011, By OTC

Off the Cuff was recently interviewed for a Washington Post Express article (below) on the impact of blogs on how men dress. Assistant Styles Editor Katherine Boyle, pulled together a great piece explaining how the rise of the menswear blog has helped guys become more comfortable with style.

More importantly, many blogs, including OTC, provide the kind of context men seek when building their own personal style.

Please be sure to view the original article, at this link.

There’s one in every workplace. He sits at the cubicle across from you. Gregarious and well- groomed, he’s the star on your office’s kickball team. But he’s also a secretive character, hunched over his keyboard, closing windows with the haste of a hunted gazelle. Is he dabbling in soft-core pornography or high-stakes gambling?

A secret agent? Arms dealer? EBay overlord? No, chances are that innocent young dandy is just browsing men’s style blogs.

Long ago, in the old country, males visited trusted tailors for tips on fit and style. In the 20th century, fashionable fellows read lifestyle bibles such as GQ or Esquire in the seclusion of their own bathrooms; yet even there, a 100-page monthly couldn’t break the standard, sartorial tropes imposed upon them. Man was divided: urban or rural, white- or blue-collared.

The valiant wore vibrant flourishes such as studded cuff links or magenta socks, but, mostly, men dressed like their forefathers, who passed down style heritage like they would a good pocket watch: “[Suits] have to be new, yet they must look old. Filling the pockets of one’s new suit with stones and hanging it out in the rain is one possible solution,” said John Robert Russell Bedford in the 1965 classic “The Duke of Bedford’s Book of Snobs.”

But times have changed.

“Guys today have lost all sense of occasion. They’re not taught to dress for different circumstances,” says Glenn O’Brien, “The Style Guy” columnist at GQ magazine.

O’Brien’s newest fashion-cum-philosophical treatise, “How To Be a Man: A Guide to Style and Behavior for the Modern Gentleman” ($25, Rizzoli), links men’s wardrobe downfall to laziness, bad manners and rejection of history.

But man, ever the entrepreneur, found that the blog is mightier than the sword. The same Web culture that gave way to one-click purchases and 13-year-old viral pop stars preserved a culture of anonymity, a haven for eccentric alter egos once relegated to AOL chat rooms.

And so the stylish man emerged, posting on anonymous forums such as “Ask Andy About Clothes,” a 2001 precursor to menswear blogs, where style enthusiasts debate the construction of calfskin tassel loafers or flap- pocket oxfords. Shortly after, the style blogger arrived, making it hip, or, at least, socially acceptable for men to make videos called “How To Wear an Ascot.” Now, independent blogs such as “A Continuous Lean” (Acontinuouslean.com) or “Put This On” (Putthison.com) offer advice, as do popular brand offshoots such as UrbanDaddy Kempt (Getkempt.com).

“Some guys are shy to admit they’re interested in clothes, but we all want to look good and appropriate. Men want that information instantly,” says The Style Blogger (Thestyleblogger.com) founder Dan Trepanier, who was voted “The Best Dressed Real Man in America” by Esquire in 2009. “While a magazine will take a couple months to publish a story, bloggers publish within days and give men the vocabulary they’re looking for.”

And for men, immediate encyclopedic knowledge is the key for making fashion a masculine endeavor. Chris Hogan, who started the D.C.-based menswear blog “Off the Cuff” (OffthecuffDC.com) five years ago, finds that men are comfortable talking about clothing, so long as they’re given historical context. “It’s different than the way women talk about fashion. Men want context for what they buy. That information is now available. It’s not, ‘I’m wearing these jeans because Brad Pitt bought them,’ it’s more, ‘I’m wearing these jeans because they were made in a factory in Raleigh, N.C., using traditional techniques.’ The heritage, updated preppy movement put menswear in a new context, especially in Washington.”

Trepanier finds that men are more forthcoming about their interest in clothes because so many bloggers are average Joes. “There’s still a stigma surrounding the fashion industry, but blogs have done a service for regular guys,” he says. “I grew up on a farm in Canada and played basketball. That makes fashion seem more OK.”

Retailers and designers view blogs favorably, too. Philip Soriano of D.C. men’s shirt company Hugh & Crye (Hughandcrye.com) sees that guys are more familiarized with styles and taste. “In the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of our customers reading specialized fashion blogs. They know the collar and fit they want. Any blog that highlights fit is a bonus for us.”

Besides providing a shame-free place for dudes to scour trends or watch “how-to videos,” blogs have democratized men’s style, making eccentric sartorial choices available to any guy, whether he lives in Williamsburg or Wichita. “TV sort of homogenized everyone, and for a while, everyone dressed the same,” O’Brien says. “But the Internet changed that. It’s the great cultural medium that’s taking things out of the hands of monopolies.”

And even Washington, one of the last bastions of baggy suits and Dockers, is changing with the times. “I’ve noticed a lot of younger guys in D.C. dressing great,” Hogan says. They’re more comfortable with customization. It’s almost as if they’re rebelling against their parents by dressing well.

Alan Flusser (Finally) Profiled in The Rake

On May 26, 2011, By OTC

Issue 15 of The Rake, out now, has a wonderful profile of OTC friend and legendary clothier, Alan Flusser. Though not available in the United States, The Rake is having a significant impact on the modern meaning and execution of classic American style.

Perhaps the only serious examination of classic menswear and men’s style on the news stand today, The Rake is a rich and intellectual celebration of what its publisher refers to as the “renaissance of gentlemanly sophistication and style.”

With that said, the hefty U.S. subscription fee may very well be worth the outlay.

We are also excited to point out that the article was assembled by two other OTC friends. Christian Chensvold, founder of Ivy Style and a contributing editor at The Rake, penned the piece. Fred Castleberry, founder of Unabashedly Prep, took the outstanding photographs. Both of their sites are knowledge-filled resources for those seeking advice, inspiration and, certainly in Ivy Style’s case, the stories behind East Coast / Ivy League style.

Alan himself is a wonderful example of how classic style, or as he puts it “permanent fashion,” while timeless is not immutable. The Custom Shop, Alan’s famous home base in Manhattan, has received a significant face lift and his English drape inspired house silhouette has similarly been refreshed a tad.

Does this mean Flusser is selling out and going for the trendy skinny look? Not at all. While the new Flusser drape suit is a touch slimmer and proportionally closer to the body, its inherent comfort, balance, flow and stylistic longevity are very much intact. Anyone who knows Alan knows that he is far from a stuffed shirt. His style and personality are equally colorful and expansive.

No slouch on the technical end of things, his BeSpeak and SnapDress iPhone applications are building a growing and devoted audience. BeSpeak 2.0 is expected to launch later this year with even more functionality.

The Alan Flusser brand may evolving, but he is not changing its core values one bit.

To that end, the custom shop’s new streamlined and rakish look evokes Alan’s love of the Art Deco period and his proclivity for personal detail and refined understatement.