What makes something a classic? For starters, it helps to have timeless design and durable quality. Also important is the intangible ability to remain stylish, relevant, and useful year after year. With the recent resurgence interest in handcrafted menswear and heritage brands, the role of the simple bag has been elevated to something akin to…
A Barbour jacket is perhaps one of the most iconic garments around today. Even at a distance, they are immediately recognizable. The Barbour brand itself is synonymous with country living, horses, rolling estates, a stiff drink and, more than anything else, heritage. Your classic Beaufort or Bedale coat is meant to be with you for…
In part one of this essay, we discussed some of the changes that have begun to redefine the concept of brand loyalty. While consumers may still be loyal to a given brand, the way in which they interact with that brand is much more fragmented, delineated, and nuanced It’s still an ongoing shift of course,…
Here at OTC, we like a good bag. Men have come to appreciate the role of a good bag in their lives and for many the seminal bag is the universally useful messenger bag. Messenger bags are much hipper than a backpack and have the implied ruggedness of utilitarian cool. There is some debate about…
Every now and then OTC is contacted about a brand that is so well executed it effectively redefines its product’s category. Sette, maker of incomparable seven-fold neckties, is such a brand. You are invited to visit with Sette’s founder and peruse their beautiful neckties tomorrow, Saturday, April 21. Read on for the event’s particulars. Founded…
When we first sat down with master leather craftsman Frank Clegg to discuss the idea of creating a leather goods collection, it was an idea not fully formed. Our thought was to start with some basics, but to interpret them in a more luxurious way while still keeping practicality and function front and center. After…
Ignatious Joseph is not a subtle man. Known sartorially for an elegant and distinctive style of dress, including his ubiquitous handmade red shoes and bowler, he also happens to make some of the finest dress shirts available. Based on shirts from the 1930s, when the soft collar swept the menswear world, Ignatious Joseph’s eponymous brand…
Frank Clegg doesn’t just make leather bags; he crafts heirlooms, one at a time, by hand. While Frank and his small team of craftsmen design and build elegant leather goods under the Frank Clegg Leatherworks name, the workshop also produces exquisite products for some of the most revered of American luxury labels. Frank is an…
Alan Flusser, the legendary clothier, celebrated menswear author, guru of classic style, and all around charming fellow, will be in Washington, DC, next week. Alan and his crew will be in town Tuesday, February 21, through Thursday, February 23, to meet with new clients and check in with old friends. If you have ever wanted…
From billfolds to pocket secretaries to slim card cases, a wallet is one of the most personal items a man carries. In addition to credit cards and cash, IDs and licenses, your wallet is often home to those personal scraps of memory and nostalgia unique to you. Unlike your bag, your shoes or even the…
