The Inspirational Dress Shirt: Talking Shop With Our Resident Expert, Michael Contreras.
Jill Smith: Given the fact that you are thinking about a new collection almost a year ahead of time, what provides inspiration for your new dress shirt assortment?
Michael: Every dress shirt developed for the collection is primarily inspired by a combination of history and trend. History is all about what customers really liked the previous year. So since we’re talking about Spring 2012 today, I looked at what our guy was loving in Spring 2011 and isolated the elements that made them so overwhelmingly appealing. I then
“Man jewelry” can be a tricky thing to pull off, and many purists will decry cufflinks as too ostentatious, preferring to leave the the precious stones and metals to the fair sex.
But one way get around this is to make an item of man jewelry your trademark, and there’s no item better suited to this than cufflinks.
You can be the most sober and restrained dresser, clad in a daily uniform of grey suit and white shirt, but with a different pair of cufflinks every day your style factor goes through the roof. After all, the more stylish… Continue>>
Style icons were often known for one or two distinguishing details. It’s funny, but the smallest items often pack the biggest personality punch. Put 10 stylish guys in the same simple gray suit and they’ll all manage to make it different. And often the way they do it is with accessories.
Perhaps because these items are small (a fountain pen worn in the breast pocket), sentimental (a watch that belonged to your grandfather), or transforming (a killer pair of sunglasses), accessories are often the most cherished things we wear.
The best dressed men know that style comes down to details, and they relish choosing the little things that mean a lot. Here are… Continue>>
What do French cuff dress shirts say about a man? Perhaps that he’s detail oriented. Or maybe that he has an advanced sense of style.
But because French cuffs — and the cufflinks that they hold — are considered more formal than simple button cuff dress shirts, they most likely indicate that the man has power — or craves it. It’s no surprise that when Bud Fox starts dressing more like zillionaire Gordon Gekko in 1987’s “Wall Street,” he starts wearing French-cuffed shirts along with more authoritative double-breasted suits.
Part of the extra formality of… Continue>>
A man’s home is his castle — at le
ast some of the time. So when it’s time to shop for the men in your own royal family, try these distinctive gifts with Old World appeal.
Castles get cold in the winter, so cover his feet in slippers fit for a king. Our Velvet Emblem Closed Back Slippers will keep him warm while the embroidered crown reminds him he’s tops in your world.
Patterned in the Royal Stewart family tartan, our Tartan Flannel Pajama Set makes a stylish choice for… Continue>>
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