John Lugg, the writer behind A Guide to Bad Taste, wrote a funny post yesterday about menswear clichés. I was mentioned in it (is it bad to be mentioned on a site that’s about bad taste?), and John said he thought maybe I use Die, Workwear! as a place to dump things that are too lame or banal for Put This On (the other site I write for, if you haven’t been following). John was obviously joking, but I admit I’ve struggled with what I should do with this site since writing for PTO. For a while I thought about killing it since the two sites are so similar. However, I’ve decided to keep it around for things such as lookbooks and my own shopping considerations. The first is too fashion-orientated for PTO and the second is a bit too navel-gazing for a site I share with other people. Here, however, I can write about whatever I want, so let’s navel gaze some more.
I’ve been considering getting four seasons worth of shirt jackets. One 14oz linen for spring and summer, one 14oz tweed or whipcord for fall, and one 21oz moleskin for winter. These would be worn on weekends or when doing errands, and paired with things such as wool trousers, corduroys, or even jeans. The idea is to have something that I can wear like a Pendleton board shirt, but looks a touch sharper. I admit I like Pendleton board shirts, but they do feel a bit slovenly.
I’m thinking about getting these made with four flapped patch pockets, each closeable with a single horn button. The linen piece might have bellow pockets at the hips in order to give the garment a more “jacket-like” detailing, but on the heavier moleskin, bellows might be too unruly. The fronts would have slightly bigger buttons and the back would be half-belted. Again, to distinguish this as being a jacket and not just an untucked shirt. They would have shirt-like barrel cuffs, however, and be made without any canvassing or structure. This is why I think a heavier, more rigid cloth is necessary. With something too soft, a shirt jacket can easily crumple and become a mess in short order.
I’m still deciding on whom to take this project to. It would either be a shirtmaker such as Ascot Chang or a tailor such as WW Chan or Napoli Su Misura. I assume the latter two would be more expensive, but I haven’t gotten quotes yet. All of Naples is more or less on vacation until September, and I want to finish my current order with Ascot Chang before inquiring about the next project.
In any case, three shirt jackets for four seasons. I think they’d fill the gap between formal and informal clothing quite well.
(Photos taken from Men’s Flair, Ethan Desu, and The London Lounge)
