#superdenim

A Darker Blue Shirt is Your Answer to Everything

We’ve written before about how your shirt wardrobe should revolve around basic whites and light blues. And how you can wear white dress shirts in smarter ways. Last week, we also had a post about ecru button-ups, which sit somewhere between these two worlds. 

Many times, however, your answer to almost any wardrobe question is: wear a slightly darker blue shirt.

Want to dress down a tailored outfit? Darker blue shirts distinguish themselves from your usual button-ups in that they’re more casual. They go great with navy sport coats and gray wool trousers, keeping things relaxed without crossing over into novelty. With a tobacco linen summer suit, they feel appropriately dressed down. In a sturdy material such as denim or chambray, they’re also natural accompaniments rustic tweeds and corduroys. Ralph Lauren himself has made wearing a washed denim shirt with tweeds almost a style signature. 

Want to wear a light colored sport coat? Most outfits involving sport coats rely on the same formula -- dark jacket, light shirt, dark tie, and contrasting trousers. Lighter colored jackets, in this sense, can be a good way to make tailoring look more modern, but you often need something that centers the eye. A darker blue shirt here can be a great way to anchor a non-traditional color combination, visually bringing everything together like a navy necktie. See how Alan from The Armoury and Jack Nicholas are wearing theirs above. 

Want something casual, but hate business casual? Mid-blue chambray and denim shirts have been cornerstones of classic American sportswear forever. For a simple, casual look, they can be worn on their own with chinos or jeans in a way that’ll look better than your standard poplins or even oxford cloths (pair one with a chunky shawl collar cardigan, like you see below, once the weather turns cold). A dark blue shirt can be worn with lighter blue French chore coats and old blue jeans, creating a tonal outfit. I also like how Visvim designer Hiroki Nakamura wears his above with a white t-shirt and olive field jacket. If you get something in a heavier, thicker material, you can also use it a mid-layer. 

Like with anything, getting the right shirt is about the details. Heavier shirts will naturally feel more rugged, making them easier to pair with casualwear. A dressier fabric, on the other hand, might be better suited to tailored clothing than a pea coat. Similarly, cleaner, single-needle seams will look dressier than things that have been put through a wash. Check the seams to see there’s any puckering. The more textured and detailed the shirt, the more informal it’ll look. Details such as chest pockets, Western yokes, puckered seams, and plackets all push shirts towards the casual end of the spectrum. 

That said, don’t be afraid of some contrast. I really like Proper Cloth’s washed denim shirts precisely because the puckered edges make my sport coats look more casual. In his video feature at Hodiknee, John Goldberger paired a snap button Western shirt with checked tweed jacket (that video is awesome, if you haven’t already watched it). 

Some options this season: If you know you’ll only wear this with tailored clothing, start with slightly dressier options. Something like these finer plain weaves at The Armoury, Ralph Lauren, Wolf vs. Goat, and Drake’s will look better with a soft shouldered sport coat than the heavier options at RRL. Similarly, I really like the slubby Japanese fabrics at our advertiser Proper Cloth. They start off kind of scratchy, but they soften with wear (I use mine with light colored, summer sport coats). Michael Spencer also has a nice mid-blue in end-on-end, which is a kind of plain weave with a  subtle cross-hatching of yarns, giving the shirt some visual depth. At the moment, they’re having a promotion where you can get a second shirt for $40 off with any full-priced purchase. 

Alternatively, you can also go with a pique cotton button-up, which is something like the halfway point between a dress shirt and polo. Our advertiser Twillory calls these their “Friday shirts” given how well they work in casual offices. They have one in a nice mid-shade of blue. So does G. Inglese. 

For something more distinctively casual, there’s J. Crew, Club Monaco, Freeman’s Sporting Club, Ddugoff, and my favorite budget-friendly option, Wrangler. You may also want to check specialty workwear shops such as Unionmade, Standard & Strange, Superdenim, Self Edge, and The Bureau Belfast. Given how much those guys love indigo, they often carry blue shirts in every hue imaginable. 

It’s On Sale: Heavy Price Drops Here and There

End-of-season sales this time of year are always a bit dicey. The deals are great, but the sizes are spotty. That said, stores have been doing big markdowns this week as we head into February. If you’re willing to do some hunting, here are six shops that I think are particularly worth a browse right now:

Mr. Porter: Arguably the leading online stores nowadays in terms of scope and selection of high-end menswear. Prices tend to be high, but they become considerably less stomach churning during sale season. Today, they just made their final round of price reductions, with select items now offered at 70% off. 

Some surprisingly good stuff still kicking around, including Chimala workshirts starting around $114; Nike sneakers starting at $44; Inis Meain Donegal knit for $135; Heshung boots for $317; and rarely-discounted Viberg shoes starting around $455 (including their popular service boots). 

Club Monaco: If you’ve ever wanted a leather jacket, Club Monaco has some great deals on Golden Bear outerwear. The jackets are slimmer fitting than some of the Golden Bear’s mainline offerings, made in the USA, and constructed from great materials. At the moment, they’re offering an additional 30% off sale prices, which brings these under $500. Just note that all black pieces such as this double rider will probably go best with black denim and boots, while ones with silver trims will be more versatile. 

Club Monaco also offers great value on knitwear (just stick to the non-cashmere pieces). Trim fitting, reasonable well-made, and very affordable once you account for all the discounts. These basic crewnecks are just $55 once you go to checkout. 

Unionmade: One of our favorite stores for vintage-inspired Americana, workwear, and outdoor gear. I love a lot of the lines here, such as Chimala, Orslow, Camoshita, Eidos, and Howlin’ by Morrison. There are also some great deals on SNS Herning fisherman knits (be sure to size up one). The bubble knits are a good way to add texture under simpler outerwear. If you like the workwear styles here, you may also want to check out the sale sections at The Bureau Belfast, Superdenim, and Blue Button Shop. This playfully ribbed knit from Ikiji at Blue Button Shop looks great. 

Standard & Strange: Some nice, basic casual shirts in the sale section. I like the texture on this blue checked workwear-inspired piece from A Kind of Guise (a relatively new German label). The company also has an Italian wool bomber with removable collar (if you take the collar off, this looks more like a varsity jacket, making it a kind of two-in-one design). 

No Man Walks Alone: NMWA just dropped their sale prices down to 50% off (as well as added some new items to their sale section). I really like their selection of outerwear right now from Eidos, Document, and Kaptain Sunshine. I picked up this Eidos Donegal topcoat not too long ago and have been wearing it all the time with jeans. These Kanata cowichans also look cozy. 

Barney’s Warehouse: Take an extra 70% off already marked down items. The selection here isn’t that great, but these Garrett Leight sunglasses look nice. Frames that originally retailed for $420 are now available for $90. The company bills these as “classic eyewear with a California touch,” although I have no idea what that means. 

Wayne Berkowitz est un entrepreneur australien a l’origine de la plateforme Superfuture.com. Fondé en 1999, le site est avant tout connu pour son forum et ses city guide. Avant de lancer Superfuture, Wayne Berkowitz a travaillé en premier lieu pour une entreprise de graphisme puis fut directeur artistique pour un magazine à Tokyo. Après quelques années il décide de lancer propre projet. Quelque chose à la frontière entre le design, le shopping et les voyages. Berkowitz avait déjà développé des plans de Tokyo pour sa famille et ses amis qui lui rendaient régulièrement visite en Australie.

«Tout le monde venait à Tokyo et me demandait de les emmener mais j'avais à peine deux minutes par jour pour faire quoi que ce soit, alors j'ai fait des cartes : les quartiers de Harajuku et Shibuya d’abord. Un an après j'avais toute la ville de Tokyo. Encore un an après ça, celle de New York. » Wayne Berkowitz pour Thebrilliance.com

Les city guide proposés comprennent 12 destinations de Portland à Tokyo en passant par Sydney, Shanghai, Paris, New York, Berlin, Londres, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Pékin ou Bangkok. Chaque guide fait en moyenne 30 pages dont une bonne partie qui comprennent des cartes détaillées avec des suggestions de boutiques, d’hotels, bars, restaurants ou clubs mais aussi la liste des 10 adresses incontournables, des suggestions d’itinéraires sur une journée, la météo de la saison ou encore le programme des expositions en cours. Le tout est à imprimer et à relier chez soi pour 10 à 20$ le guide papier selon la destination. Une application mobile est même disponible pour les habitants de Hong Kong et Tokyo.

«Nous couvrons le haut de gamme et les choses assez pointues. La plupart des autres guides de voyage ont tendance à avoir un objectif différent - ils optent pour le courant dominant. Nous allons définitivement aux deux extrémités du courant dominant. » Wayne Berkowitz pour Thebrilliance.com

Au cours des 11 premières années, Superfuture a continué de grandir jusqu’à atteindre environ le million de visites uniques par an, principalement grâce au bouche-à-oreille et à son forum.

Beaucoup des sujets qui nous intéressent ont déjà été traités 10 ans plus tôt sur ce forum. Et notamment sur les “sous-forums” Supertalk et Superdenim. On ne peut que vous conseiller d’y aller jeter un œil. Un exemple en image ci-dessous :

Superdenim est un eshop multimarque anglais fondé en 2009 qui propose une sélection de marque workwear tel que The Real McCoy's, Orslow, Viberg, Engineered Garments, Lady White Co...Le e-shop est actuellement mis en vente sur la plateforme Exchangemarketplace.com au prix de 95000$ par Lewis H. son fondateur. A noter que quelques mois plus tôt, le prix était de 135000$.

Quelques chiffres intéressants :

Une moyenne de plus de 17 000 visites uniques/mois en 2019

Un chiffre d’affaire mensuel moyen de plus de 25000$

Un revenu net par mois de 5000$

Une mailing list de 25000 personnes

Si vous êtes observateurs vous remarquerez les bannières MARRKT sur le site de SUPERDENIM. MARRKT est un site de seconde main que l’on aime beaucoup. Et nul doute qu’il s’agit du nouveau projet des équipes de SUPERDENIM. Est-ce à dire que le marché du vintage est porteur ? Probablement oui. C’est également un marché sans vraiment de grosse concurrence installée sur le web, contrairement à SUPERDENIM qui doit lutter face à une myriade d’acteurs dont les puissants MrPorter, Endclothing...