#two palms

Five Suggestions on How to Dress for a Heatwave

One of the things I love about living in the Bay Area is the temperate weather -- winters never get too cold, summers are never too hot. At least until this past Labor Day weekend, when California was hit with a record-breaking heatwave. Temperatures in downtown San Francisco soared above 100 for two days, making this City by the Bay feel like Death Valley. So much for that apocryphal Mark Twain line about what summers are like in this town. 

Clothes will never make you feel cooler than it is outside, but I find you can do better or worse depending on what you wear. Jackets are naturally out, but if you choose the right pieces, you can still look great and feel relatively comfortable. Some things that got me through the weekend:

Linen Wicks

Linen is your savior on your hot day -- not because it’s porous and breathes well (linen can be woven as densely or loosely as the mill wants). Instead, it’s because linen wicks, which is what makes it particularly good for shirts. In this sense, linen is one of the world’s first performance fabrics. It draws sweat away from your skin and allows it easily evaporate. Skeptics can test this at home by laundering two shirts -- one cotton, the other linen -- and then leaving both to hang dry. The linen shirt will dry in about a third of the time of cotton. That means, when you wear a linen shirt on a sweltering day, you’ll stay drier and more comfortable. Cotton, on the other hand, will just cling to your sweaty skin. 

Tropical Wool Breathes

It sounds crazy to wear wool trousers on a hot day, but tropical wool is a special class of lightweight fabrics made with an especially open weave (think of it like mesh, but less transparent). This allows body heat to escape and wind to blow through. I find my tropical wool trousers are a lot more comfortable than jeans, chinos, or wool pants made in other weaves. The only exception are loosely woven linen trousers, but those can look like a mess in short time. 

You can find tropical wool trousers at online shops such as Howard Yount and our sponsor Dapper Classics (the second has them in Fresco, which is a brand of tropical wool, just as Kleenex is a brand of facial tissues). In brick-and-mortar stores, most pants aren’t labeled with their correct fabric specifications, but you can test for tropical wool by holding a pair of pants up to the light. If you see a lot of light pour through, like this, you’re holding the real deal. 

Wear Something Interesting

When you pare back an outfit so much, one of the problems is that you can end up looking a bit basic. A well-cut OCBD with slim chinos will always be fine, but it’s also something you’d expect to see at a business conference. If you’re trying to do something a step above, play around the details. 

For example, try something other than your everyday button-ups. Popovers, camp collars, and boldly printed shirts such as Alohas can all be nice. Go for something in an unusual color or pattern, or is cut with interesting details. Some of my favorite hot-weather shirts are from more casual brands, such as Kapital, Visvim, and Two Palms. 

You can also try playing around with the silhouette. Trousers that sit a bit higher up on your waist can give better proportions between your torso and legs (although, without a jacket, you don’t want to go too high). Looser leg lines or carrot-cut fits can also look more interesting than straightforward straight legs. 

See above for some examples: No Man Walks Alone’s model is seen wearing a soft pink, camp collar shirt with cropped, robin’s egg blue chinos. Oscar from Stockholm uses a pair of high-waisted seersucker trousers to transform a basic t-shirt outfit; Jasper in Denver relies on a popover instead of your more common pique-cotton polo. All these are simple outfits, but by using slightly unconventional pieces, you get something more stylish. 

Go for Slip-On Shoes

If you’re looking for summer specific footwear, start with a pair of slip-ons. Penny loafers, camp mocs, and espadrilles are good starting places. This past weekend, I mostly wore my Margiela babouches. Going sockless can be a nice way to feel a bit cooler when the wind blows by, although you’ll want to keep this to strictly casual ensembles. 

Accessorize Well

In the end, if things still feel too boring for you, know how to accessorize well. A colorful Swatch watch can add a point of interest. Western belts and Native American jewelry make for good accompaniments to workwear; thinner one-inch wide leather dress belts lend a little something to a tailored ensemble. If you want to wear socks, I recommend navy cotton ones from our sponsor Dapper Classics (they breathe well). I was also thankful to have a facial wipe or two in my bag over the weekend. They’re basically little towelettes you can use to wipe your face in the middle of the day. A good way to freshen up. 

Ten Summer Essentials You Need This Fall

We all love fall for its weather. Or at least traditionally, as the cooler temps give us a chance to break out our favorite gear -- soft cashmere sweaters, heavy tweed sport coats, and waxed cotton outerwear. Spring and summer style can be OK, but fall and winter clothes are where it’s at. 

Unfortunately, even with November just a couple of weeks away, it’s been too hot for any of those things. Apparently, this is part of a broader trend where each passing year brings a warmer and warmer globe (seems like there ought to be a term for this phenomenon). So, since we strive to bring you honest content here at Put This On, we want to make a fall style guide that’s actually relevant to your life. Here are ten summer essentials you need this fall. 

1. Layering: Good fall style is about mastering the art of layering. This fall, try layering a factory-fresh tee over a slather of deodorant. 3sixteen won The Wall Street Journal’s comparative t-shirt review earlier this year. We love theirs, along with Lady White Co., Uniqlo, and of course our Alternative Apparel runs. 

2. Straw Hats: The perfect accessory for when you’re shopping for those cinnamon scented fall candles. Just look how happy Kim Jong Un looks in his!

3. Shorts: A pair of good shorts is the bedrock of today’s fall wardrobe, so make sure you get the right ones. Khaki and navy will be your most useful colors, which you can pair with deep-seated anger over how no one will ever see your outerwear. 

4. Sweaters: Everyone loves a good stack of sweaters. Transform your knitwear into accessories by tying them around your waist (think of them as capes for your butt). O’Connell’s has over fifty colors in plain knit Shetlands, while Oi Polloi has relatively affordable brushed varieties. Sizing doesn’t matter because you’ll never put these on. 

5. Aloha Shirts: Say Aloha to winter with an Aloha shirt! Reyn Spooner, Two Palms, and Sun Surf have ones that would be perfect for your pumpkin carving parties. 

6. White Jeans: We may be nearing peak fall, but it’s not too late to add a pair of white jeans to your sartorial arsenal. Switch ‘em up by changing out your bright summer whites for earthier autumn whites. These from Sid Mashburn are perfect for apple picking.

7. Swimwear: Don’t let your style guard down during those autumn beach trips. The right pair of swimshorts makes all the difference. Look for a pair that’s really short because it’s super fucking hot. 

8. Unlined Sport Coats: When temps dip into the mid-80s, it’s time to take advantage with an unlined sport coat. Go for chunkier and heavier fabrics. A 9oz linen is perfect for summer, but this time of year calls for cozying up in 9.01oz linen-wool blends. 

9. Sunglasses: As the ozone thins and the sun’s electromagnetic radiation shoots through the skies and into your miserable, sweaty life, you can protect your eyes with tinted eyewear. I’ve been digging David Kind, who offers a range of well-designed sunglasses, as well as customizable clip-ons for their optical frames. Their Roman model is particularly nice. 

A Guide to Summer Shirts

There’s an old saying about how there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. I would amend that to say bad materials. Just as we rely on heavier tweeds and flannels in the wintertime to stay warm, keeping cool and dry in the summer starts with the right cloth. And this past weekend, when we had another heat wave, I was thankful to have some seasonally appropriate shirts. You don’t need complicated, tech fabrics to stay dry. Simple, natural fibers (often derived from plants) are still the way to go. It helps, however, to know which fabrics help you eek out that extra bit of summer comfort. A rundown of some options:

Open Weave Fabrics

More important than anything else, how cool a fabric feels is determined by its weave. This is why we often recommend tropical wool jackets and trousers in the summer. Even if a fabric is made from wool, an open weave will allow your body’s heat and moisture to escape, leaving you feeling more comfortable than if you were wearing something made from a dense linen. 

For shirts, however, the calculation is a little more complicated. Here, a very open, airy weave can leave the shirt looking gauzy. You’ll feel like you’re not wearing anything, but look like it too. The trick is to find something that balances out comfort and wearability. 

The most breathable of shirtings is voile, which is a featherweight, porous fabric made from cotton. It’s great for the most brutal of climates, but might leave you feeling a bit indiscrete. Pro tip: go for a darker color, such as these from Dduggoff or Junya Watanabe. They’ll do a better job of hiding your body underneath than the same fabric in white. 

For something less sheer, our advertiser Proper Cloth has some slubby Japanese cottons and a new material called Airtex. The second, pictured above, is breathable fabric, but made in a weave that’s similar to pique cotton (the material you find on polos). Both are good enough to wear on their own, even in casual business settings. I also like YMC’s Malick shirt, which is almost transparent when you hold it up to the light, but not when you have it on. 

Linen and Linen Blends

Much of what’s been written about linen misses what makes the material so great for shirts. Linen is exceptionally good at wicking moisture from the skin, which means it’ll leave you feeling drier on a hot, humid day. Compare that to cotton, which will cling to your skin all day at the slightest hint of sweat. 

It does wrinkle easily, however. If that bothers you, get a cotton-linen blend, which will hold its shape better throughout the day. Brand new linen can also feel scratchy at first, but the material softens with wash and wear. The best bed sheets are often made from long-staple linen fibers because of how soft and comfortable the material feels on warm nights. 

You can find linen shirts at all sorts of places. J. Crew's are an exceptionally good value. Their collars feel a bit skimpy at times, but the construction and materials are good for the price. I also like the ones at Proper Cloth, Ledbury, The Armoury, and Gitman Vintage. The awning striped one you see above is from Drake’s. 

Oxford Cloth

Oxford can seem like a strange summer fabric. It’s typically a heavier, thicker shirting, which doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you’d want to wear on a muggy day. But here’s the thing: plain weaves are more breathable than twills. The difference can be small, but given a choice, you’re better off with a chambray, an end-on-end, or a loose basketweave when temperatures climb above 80. 

Of all the plain weaves, oxford is my favorite. Over the years, oxford-cloth button-downs have come to symbolize all that’s good: casualness, youth, trustworthiness, dependability, and professionalism. They can also be worn with nearly anything -- jeans or pressed trousers, sneakers or dress shoes, field jackets or sport coats. They’re just about as versatile as a shirt can get, particularly in light blue. 

If you’re looking for provenance, start with Brooks Brothers. They’re the inventor of the style, after all, and their OCBDs now come with unlined collars (allowing the color to have a bit more expression). Michael Spencer offers the same cuts and unlined collars, but with customizable options and at lower prices (they’re having a sale, which ends today). Mercer & Sons has one of the best looking collars, but their shirts often fit like sails. Kamakura offers trimmer cuts, but their collars often only look good when worn without a tie. Proper Cloth is somewhere in-between these two worlds -- a versatile, handsome collar, which you can put onto any made-to-measure shirt. For value, nobody beats Lands’ End. 

Madras

As the story goes, Madras was imported into the US by way of Brooks Brothers, who took the traditional Indian cloth and made them into shirts. When they sold the shirts, however, they found customers coming back angry, complaining about how the vegetable dyes bled in the wash. Henceforth, Brooks Brothers marketed that as a feature, not a liability. Their madras shirts were “guaranteed to bleed,” they said. Which over time, gave their shirts a semi-watercolor like appearance. 

It’s hard to find bleeding madras nowadays. Few people want to put up with their special care instructions, so most manufacturers stick with madras-inspired designs, rather than the originals. That means you still get those bright tartans, but they won’t bleed in the wash and ruin your other clothes. 

J. Crew is great for affordable madras-inspired shirts. Theirs fit slim, but not unreasonably so, and come in really nice patterns. There’s also Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren, the two stalwarts of major prep retailing nowadays, although I think Ralph Lauren’s shirts look better without that pony logo (no logo-free options in madras this season, unfortunately). You can also try O’Connell’s and Gitman Vintage, both of which are a step above in terms of quality. 

Rayon

If you’re not familiar with the word rayon, you’re definitely familiar with the material. It’s commonly used to line suit jackets and sport coats, as well as some casual outerwear. Rayon first became popular in the 1920s as a substitute for silk (indeed, it’s sometimes referred to as “artificial silk”). It has the same supple and smooth texture, but is cheaper to produce. More importantly, it doesn’t wear as warm, which is why bespoke tailors have mostly given up silk linings for rayon. 

Unlike cotton or linen, however, rayon doesn’t soak up sweat very well, which means moisture can get trapped inside a rayon shirt on a hot day. Still, if the weather has a dry heat to it, I find rayon to be great for summer. There’s something cool and refreshing about feeling it against your skin. The other downside is that it typically has to be dry cleaned or handwashed. On the other hand, I find I can get a few more wearings out of a rayon shirt, at least compared to cotton. 

It’s hard to find good rayon shirts, unfortunately. Bryceland’s in Japan has some great mid-century prints, one of which is pictured above. They’re getting some new stock next month and can take email orders. Alternatively, Two Palms uses the material. Their Aloha shirts aren’t the best made (the interiors are roughly finished and the collars could use better linings), but they’re nicely affordable at around $40. You can find them at Independence and their online site. 

Seersucker

Finally, there’s seersucker, which is an American classic. The puckered texture is made by pulling certain lengthwise yarns, known as the warp, a little tighter than the rest. That puckering is said to allow air to circulate better than regular shirtings, although I find the material to be just better at not sticking against sweaty skin. Just as important: seersucker launders easily, doesn’t require ironing, and has a sort of casual, pre-rumpled look. Perfect for the dog days of summer.

You can find seersucker shirts at many of the same companies mentioned above -- J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, Gitman Vintage, Proper Cloth, and Michael Spencer. Additionally, Camoshita has a cream colored one this season with a band collar, which will look a little less preppy than a blue-and-white button-down (although, nothing wrong with that). Club Monaco has something similar, but at a more affordable price. I also like these white short sleeves from Portuguese Flannel and New England Shirt Company. 

A word of caution: navy seersucker can be a nice way to modernize the look, although dark colored cottons will show their age more easily than white. It gives the fabric a more casual appearance, but if you want the shirt to keep its new look a little longer, go with a lighter color. 

Ten Things I’m Excited About This Spring

It’s easy to get down on spring clothes. They don’t have the natural appeal of fall/ winter wardrobes -- no plush cashmere or prickly tweeds to draw you in. There’s also little opportunity to layer. Once the weather warms up, a lot of guys are left scratching their heads, wondering how they can remain well dressed while also staying comfortable. 

Spring can be a great time to play with brighter colors, interesting silhouettes, and unique materials, however. If you’re looking for ideas on what to wear this season, here are ten things I’m particularly excited about. In order of appearance above:

1. Tobacco Linen Suits

A linen suit is your weekend companion for when you want to look sharply dressed, but still somewhat relaxed. Good for afternoon brunches at a swanky hotel, excursions into the city, and nights at a rooftop bar with friends. Linen does well in navy, tan, and tobacco brown (the last is my favorite, and what I’ll be wearing this season). You can use the pieces together as a suit, or break them up into separates for something more casual. Linen sport coats go well with everything from jeans to tropical wool trousers. Pair these with braided belts and striped, open-collar shirts to create a more interesting look. 

2. Suede Leather Jackets

Leather can be too heavy for summer, but it’s perfect for those 60s to 70s temperatures in April and May. I’m particularly looking forward to wearing suede more often this year. It scuffs more easily than calfskin, but in certain designs, that can be part of the charm. I have a suede Harrington and cafe racer, both of which I love, but I’m mostly excited about wearing this Stoffa flight jacket I bought a couple of weeks ago. Also great: James Grose’s charcoal suede double rider. A nice change of pace from the black motorcycle jackets I’ve been seeing everywhere in the city. 

3. Leather Slip Ons

Penny loafers and camp mocs are my usual go-tos for warm weather footwear, but this year, I’m enamored with the idea of wearing more casual slip-ons -- something in between the formality of dress loafers and espadrilles. Unionmade has some nice ones this season from Barbanera (designed in conjunction with Eidos). I also dig these from Christian Kimber and Baudoin & Lange, the second of which is available through The Armoury. A little less dainty than Belgian Shoes, but has the same kind of charm. 

4. Looser Clothes

Slim fit clothes have dominated menswear for the last fifteen years, so I’ve been looking for something fresher. Looser clothes, such as the ones you see fourth photo above, can be a nice way to play with your silhouette when you have little opportunity to wear something more than a t-shirt and trousers. Think: looser fit pants cut a fuller thigh and tapered leg, along with comfy shirts made with dropped shoulder seams. Camoshita, Our Legacy, and Lemaire are good for these sorts of things. Uniqlo can also be surprisingly experimental (and a lot more affordable). Just look at these wide pants!

5. Boldly Printed Shirts

Similarly, when you can’t wear much else, it can be nice to make the most of what you have. A boldly printed shirt in this case -- maybe even cut with a camp collar -- will look a bit more interesting than your usual, light blue OCBDs (as much as I love those things). We’re big fans of Aloha shirts here. See Pete’s two-part series on vacation wear for ideas, as well as my review of Two Palms. 

6. Polo Shirts Under Sport Coats

If your clothes don’t fit as well as they should, this can go tremendously wrong (think: business guys trying to look cool a hotel bars). Instead, pick up something with a nice collar and has long sleeves, which will allow you to show a bit of shirt cuff. Layered under a softly constructed sport coat, this can be a great way to dress down traditional tailored clothing (just make sure everything fits well and don’t pair these with light washed dad jeans). Kent Wang sells some nice, affordable, long-sleeved polos. G. Inglese and Ascot Chang are also worth a look if you have more coin to spend. 

7. Tonal Navy Seersucker Suits

Seersucker is an American classic, but in its usual blue-and-white form, it can feel a bit preppy. As an alternative, I’ve been really digging the idea of a navy seersucker suit. It has all the fun and cool-wearing properties of traditional seersucker, but feels a bit more updated and sophisticated. You can wear one with a band collar shirt and Vans slip-ons, like Kyle above, or with a more traditional spread-collar shirt and dressier derbies. Available this spring in a cotton-silk blend through Camoshita (which is the one you see in the photo), or in a wool-silk blend through Ring Jacket at The Armoury (the product page will be up in a few weeks. The Armoury is also hosting a Ring Jacket trunk show in NYC, starting tomorrow). 

8. Colorful Swatch Watches

What good is spring style if it doesn’t make you smile? Swatch’s colorful timepieces are a great way to add a bit of cheer to your day. They’re affordable, much like Timex, but instead of those serious, classic designs, Swatch is all about bright, colorful watch straps and pop-art faces. Get one in a ridiculous color, such as sunshine yellow or apple green, or my favorite, the company’s translucent design (colloquially known as the jellyfish, which you can find on eBay). They go with nothing and everything at the same time. When the battery starts to die down, you can get it replaced for free at a Swatch store. 

9. Spring Scarves

The easiest way to accessorize a warm weather outfit -- at least until the weather gets too hot in June. I love oversized wool and cashmere scarves in the wintertime, but spring scarves call for something lighter, airier, and more manageable. We have some made from Japanese boro cotton that I think go great with workwear. Drake’s also makes some really special designs, including ones in painted stripe, geometric, floral, and patchwork motifs. Another favorite is Christian Kimber’s Melbourne scarf. The clay brown really complements navy, olive, and mid-gray -- all staple colors for outerwear. 

10. French Chore Coats

Good Morning, My Sweet Prints

Long time readers know how much I love oxford-cloth button-downs. Particularly in light blue, which I find to be more versatile than white, they can be worn year-round with almost anything. Tailored sport coats, field jackets, and anything in-between. They’re an easy, failsafe choice because they occupy that narrow territory between formal and casual -- a shirt that’s smart enough to be worn in the office, but in a collar and cloth that don’t look too uptight. I particularly like the ones sold at Brooks Brothers, Mercer & Sons, Kamakura, Michael Spencer, and our sponsor Proper Cloth.

When the weather starts to get hot, however, it can also be nice to have some bolder shirts -- ones beyond your usual plaids and stripes. Remember: the bolder the shirt, the more casual it looks. And once we get into spring, bolder prints can feel more seasonal. Plus, OCBDs are a bit boring without a jacket. With an unusual print, a simple, jacket-free look can really come into its own. 

Some that I’ve been looking at:

YMC Malick ($125): YMC, which stands for You Must Create, is an old British brand from the mid-90s. This season, they have a splotchy, all-over print called the Malick. The shirt reminds me of those terrible sponge paintings we all did in kindergarten. Who knew that those art projects done in-between nap times made up so well into designer shirts?

Gitman Vintage Rayon Floral ($195): Gitman Vintage in general is really good for bold prints. They do them year round in all sorts of crazy fabrics. You can find them at shops such as Unionmade, End, Supply & Advise, East Dane, Indigo & Cotton, and their own site. I particularly like this floral camp collar shirt at Mohawk General Store. It’s made from rayon, so it’ll feel like silk, but wear a little cooler against the skin. 

Engineered Garments Copley ($264): Engineered Garments is great if you like slightly more contemporary takes on workwear. This Copley shirt is a good example. Band collar, taped edges, and a bold pattern that looks a bit like hand block printing. Would look great on its own with fatigues, which is just about all I want to wear when it’s really hot. 

A Kind of Guise Gioia ($255): This shirt is incredible. Made from a lightweight silk, it has this retro 1970s print that reminds me of soul music and Latin jazz for some reason. I tried it on recently and love how it looks with tan tropical wool trousers. You can almost hear the vibraphones coming out of a Roy Ayers song when you put this on. Don’t bother pairing it with jackets. Its awesomeness shouldn’t be covered up. 

Self Edge ($175+): Self Edge in general is great for mid-century vacation-style prints. They carry the Japanese brand Sun Surf, which reproduces Aloha shirts from the “Golden Era” of the ‘50s and ‘60s. I also like Star of Hollywood, which is an old 1950s company known for their wilder, atomic-style designs. Check out Self Edge’s “La Playita” lookbook this season if you want an idea of how these look with jeans or shorts. 

Officine Generale Dario ($260): Not for the modest. Officine Generale’s Dario shirt comes in voile, an exceptionally lightweight and breathable cotton, but also one that’s exceptionally sheer. The darker color here, however, will make this a bit more wearable than white fabrics in the same weave. Good for hot days, especially if you insist on layering. Another great voile shirt this season is Ddugoff’s Henry ($285), which comes in an abstract print and similar dark color. 

Eastlogue Indigo Pineapple ($255): Like Chinese food in tiki bars, pineapples were put on everything associated with vacation life in the mid-20th century. Highball glasses, tropical themed decor, and most notably, causal shirts. Eastlogue has one this season that looks a bit more contemporary. Sometimes dark shirts can be hard to pair with outerwear, depending on what else you’re wearing. The indigo-dyed blue here, on the other hand, comes in a nice, versatile, mid-shade. 

The Idle Man Palm Leaf ($32): The Idle Man was started by a former buyer at ASOS, a popular fast fashion brand. I haven’t handled their products, but I imagine you can expect the quality to be on par with ASOS (or, in the US, Zara). This Palm Leaf print shirt looks pretty good and is available for just $32. They have other designs as well. 

J. Crew Jungle Print ($59): A perfect example of why J. Crew is special. Reasonably well made, nicely designed, and not too expensive. At $60, this is about what you might want to pay for a “fun shirt.” The jungle print would look great with either chinos or shorts. A bit like something an American tourist would wear, but in a good, tailored fit that bends closer to sharp than sloppy. 

The Breeder Booth 612

Works by Andreas Angelidakis, Ariana Papadimetropoulos, and Kyle Vu-Dunn

Wentrup Booth 711

works by Nevin Aladag, Miriam Böhm, Mariechen Danz, Axel Geis, Karl Haendel, Gregor Hildebrandt, John McAllister, and David Renggli

Two Palms Booth 715

Works by Carroll Dunham, Mel Bochner, David Row, Stanley Whitney, Cecily Brown, Elizabeth Payton, Terry Winters, and Cameron Jamie

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