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It is a grim feature of modern life that we treat downtime as a pit stop between bursts of usefulness. In the United States, where the Protestant work ethic took the deepest root, even Sabbath observance was shaped by the belief that unproductive time required moral justification. Writing in the early 1930s, Bertrand Russell warned that “immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous.” By 1948, the German philosopher Josef Pieper offered a more forceful philosophical defense of leisure. His book Leisure: The Basis of Culture, published in the wake of one of the largest labor strike waves in US history, pushed back against what he called the tyranny of “total work,” a condition in which the modern human is reduced to their measurable productivity.

If leisure needs any justification at all, it can be found in the breakthroughs it enables: Darwin doing his deepest thinking during long walks at Down House, Beethoven composing "Symphony No. 6" in the countryside, Newton developing the foundations of calculus while on a two-year leave from Cambridge. But framing leisure in terms of output, or even as a way to rejuvenate us for labor, still reduces it to an instrument of the state or market. Instead, Pieper argues that leisure is a necessary condition for the soul. The Greek word for leisure, scholē, is the root of our word school—not a site of vocational training, but a space for contemplative stillness. Leisure ensures that “the human being does not disappear into the parceled-out world of his limited work-a-day function, but instead remains capable of taking in the world as a whole, and thereby to realize himself as a being who is oriented toward the whole of existence.”

In the last few years, I’ve been doing a series called “Excited to Wear.” It’s my way of sidestepping the pointless exercise of defining menswear “essentials,” a concept that flattens the richness of style into generic shopping lists. Instead, I prefer to discuss clothes that excite me as the seasons shift. This spring, I’m drawn to clothes that reflect work and leisure—not as polar opposites but as parallel expressions of human wholeness. After all, spring and summer are the seasons for idleness, marked by bikes that creak out of garages and folding chairs that live in trunks. This list is about the clothes I like to wear for light work on warm afternoons and dawdling on cool evenings. It’s clothes for gardening, brunch, and listening to rediscovered LPs. Hopefully, you can find something here that inspires you for your wardrobe.

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In 2008, a StyleForum member shared photos of a bespoke shirt they had made by the renowned Neapolitan shirtmaker Anna Matuozzo. Though the images have since been lost to time, they showed a blue-and-white Bengal-striped dress shirt made from Carlo Riva cotton, featuring a semi-spread collar and some extraordinary details. The buttons were firmly shanked, the sleevehead and yoke showcased delicate shirring, and fine, nubby topstitching traced the seam running along the shoulder—all hallmarks of careful hand tailoring. At the time, the price for such a shirt—bespoke, cut from an adjusted block pattern, and crafted with the highest degree of handwork—was 350 Euros. The price was considered so stratospheric at the time that it sent several forum members reeling. One distinguished member with decades of bespoke experience questioned the rationale behind spending so much on a dress shirt. "If an errant meatball rolls down your body, it's done," he cautioned.

I was reminded of this painful lesson last year while getting dressed. A decade of dipped garlic naan and Vietnamese spring rolls rolling down my gullet has nudged me up a size. Unlike jackets, shirts don't have seam allowances, so I've had to rebuild my shirt wardrobe. A few weeks ago, I published a post about which shirts I find useful in a tailored wardrobe; this one is about casualwear.

Like my "Excited to Wear" posts, this series is full of personal prejudice. Over the years, I've found that dry, generic lists of "wardrobe essentials" are rarely useful or interesting. What I enjoy reading most are people's unapologetic opinions on clothing. That said, casualwear presents a unique challenge. Unlike traditional men's tailoring, which follows a relatively narrow set of conventions, casual dress is vast and varied. Much of what I'll cover here will only resonate if you, like me, enjoy dressing like Bob the Builder. Still, I hope you find one or two things worth considering.

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I believe it was in an old blog post on A Suitable Wardrobe where I came across a Bruce Boyer quote—and I paraphrase—that a well-curated wardrobe is the best incentive to stay in shape. By "stay in shape," he meant staying the same size, of course. If you've invested a considerable amount into clothes that hang without a pull or a ripple, you probably don't want to gain or lose too much weight, either way.

That quote recently came to mind as I started rebuilding my shirt wardrobe. I had a moment of realization last year, much like when Daisy buried her face into Gatsby's collection of sheer linen and fine flannel shirts, sobbing, "They're such beautiful shirts." Except, mine weren't so beautiful—they were so slim. Things I bought fifteen years ago no longer fit, as I've gone up a size. Unlike tailored jackets, button-ups don't come with inlays, so I've been slowly rebuilding my shirt collection, piece by piece.

This process has made me reflect on what constitutes a genuinely useful shirt wardrobe. The tattersalls I thought would go nicely under rustic tweed jackets—while technically true—barely saw any use over the past fifteen years. The discounted Margiela shirt I bought as an experiment looked more like a bad Kickstarter project than thoughtful avant-garde, as I never really had the right pieces—or personality—to make it work. So here's what I think should be in a basic shirt wardrobe. Like my "Excited to Wear" posts, this is filled with personal prejudice and bias—it's simply about what I think should be in my wardrobe. But hopefully, you find this more interesting than generic guides about how every man should dress. This guide will be broken into two parts: shirts for tailoring and shirts for casualwear.

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Even when it's online, and you can shop from the comfort of your home, Black Friday always feels like a mad dash to find the best days. To simplify the landscape, I round up the best menswear-related promotions every year and post them here, along with a selection of notable picks at each store. These guides are designed to cover almost every budget—from relatively affordable basics to designer items—so there's something for everyone. This year, I've organized the list to move from "general and affordable" to "specialized boutiques with higher prices," along with a smattering of shoe deals, underwear sales, and grooming products at the end. 

J. CREW: UP TO 50% OFF; PRICES AS MARKED

I've always felt that J. Crew is one of the better one-stop shops for men just starting to build a better wardrobe. The prices are accessible, the designs are classic, and the quality is reasonable. However, it helps to know what to buy. 

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About eighteen years ago, Monty Don, the British horticulturist and human Peter Rabbit, penned an article for The Guardian titled “Dirty Dressing.” It was about how to dress for the dirty task of gardening. “Never wear tight trousers,” he advised. “Always buy trousers at least one waist size too big, make sure that the pockets are big enough to comfortably hold penknife, hanky, string, phone, pencil, labels, and perhaps a mint or two. […] If you are not familiar with their joys, high-rise trousers are fantastically comfortable and keep your lower back warm. My children still squirm with embarrassment every time they see me in them (which is most days) but that is probably some kind of seal of approval.”

I remember being charmed by his intransigent views; each proclamation was stated matter-of-factly without the need for justification or even elaboration. “Do this, that, and the other thing.” Sometimes, it feels like writers are unwilling to criticize anything nowadays or put their foot down on something they know. This admittedly includes me, a menswear writer who feels it’s impossible to responsibly dole out generalizable menswear advice because people have different needs, personalities, and lifestyles.

So, in the last few years, I’ve been doing this series called “Excited to Wear,” which isn’t about things everyone should buy—no one can recommend those—but simply the things I’m most excited to wear for the new season. These posts allow me to get a bit Monty Don-ish, with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek and with the recognition that I’m only speaking about my personal views. Here are ten things I’m excited to wear as the weather gets cooler. There's also a fall/ winter playlist at the end for you.

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It’s often said that America has not been this divided since the Civil War, but even these tumultuous times pale in comparison to the social unrest of the 1960s, when post-war America’s cleavages along race, gender, and sexuality threatened to rip the nation apart. Within ten short years, the United States saw the unfolding of the civil rights movement and the outbreak of countless race riots; the publishing of Betty Friedan’s 1963 book The Feminine Mystique, which sparked second-wave feminism; the Vietnam War and anti-war protests; countless acts of state violence, such as the My Lai Massacre and police brutality at the 1968 DNC; and three major political assassinations (JFK in '63, Malcolm X in '65, and Martin Luther King Jr. in '68). The one bright spot came at the end of this dark decade, when the world finally saw a brighter facet of the American spirit. 

In the summer of 1969, an estimated three hundred million people—a fifth of the world’s population—turned on their television screens to witness a technological miracle. They watched Apollo 11 trace a path through the sky, pierce the darkness of space, and hurtle toward the lunar surface. When the American spacecraft finally descended onto the celestial body, Neil Armstrong gingerly stepped down a ladder and planted his foot on the moon’s dusty regolith. Shortly after, his voice crackled through the void: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” 

Back home, CBS was one of the many news outlets doing live coverage for millions of viewers. When the module touched down, and Armstrong announced that "the Eagle has landed," CBS' cameras cut back to their anchors, Wally Schirra and Walter Cronkite. At that moment, viewers saw an emotional Schirra wiping away a tear while the usually composed Cronkite bowed his head, momentarily speechless. Although the newsroom was silent, it felt as though the whole cosmos had just cheered. More than fifty years later, this moment is still one of this nation's proudest achievements. 

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According to superstition, good luck comes to those who wear at least one new article of clothing on Easter Sunday, the official start of spring (style-wise). For years, I wrote spring style guides for various publications, including Put This On, but as menswear has become balkanized into tiny little communities, I've found it better to simply talk about what I'm excited to wear in the new season. These "Excited to Wear" posts aren't meant to be prescriptive—find whatever works for you—but perhaps you will find some inspiration here. Here are ten things I'm excited to wear this spring, along with some miscellanea, including a Spotify playlist at the end to go along with the photos. 

Hey, Nice Pants!

Five years ago, John Mayer presented his "theory on pants" in a dimly lit room while playing Qari's "Pants from Japan" in the background. The gist: while pants are often neglected and considered to play second fiddle to jackets, they’re actually important cultural markers. From the bellbottoms of the 1970s to the baggy jeans of the 1990s to the bone-hugging slim-fits of the early aughts, how we cover our lower limbs reflects the spirit of the times. In this sense, Mayer feels we should respect the power of pantaloons and dress from the bottom up. “I’m saying we pick our pants first,” he explained, “and we pick our pants wisely. By making better decisions in pants—and making pant decisions first—we send the circulation of good taste through the rest of our body. The pants we choose will affect what shoes we wear and, systematically, what we wear on top. Good pants make good outfits.”

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You used to have to muscle your way into stores and stand in long lines to take advantage of Black Friday promotions. Nowadays, everything is online, so you can shop from the comfort of your own home. The difficulty, of course, is that you're then swamped with possibilities, making it impossible to know what to buy. To make the landscape a little easier to navigate, I round up some of my favorite Black Friday promotions every year and post them here, along with a selection of notable picks at each store. These guides are designed to cover almost every budget—from relatively affordable basics to designer items—so there's something for everyone. Here's this year's list organized by increasing order of price with a smattering of miscellanea at the end. 

J. CREW: 50% OFF EVERYTHING; NO CODE NEEDED

In 2020, when J. Crew filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, I wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post about how this preppy brand plays an important role in the menswear market. For many guys, J. Crew is their entry point into building a better wardrobe. The company's prices are relatively affordable, and the designs are fairly classic. The company sells things such as chambray work shirts, field jackets, and flat-front chinos—things that look good on almost everyone. However, the departures of Jenna Lyons and Frank Muytjens in 2017 casted a shadow of uncertainty. Speculation surfaced about plans to transform J. Crew into a version of The Gap, potentially distributed through Amazon. So it was a relief when the company ousted the old management and design team, replacing them with Brendon Babenzien, the new Creative Director, who has steered the company clear of such a fate, injecting renewed vitality into this iconic label.

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For the past few years, at the start of every season, I've made it a tradition to publish a post about things I'm excited to wear. These posts are a deliberate shift away from the conventional notion of "wardrobe essentials," a concept that has, in many ways, lost its relevance as people lead different lifestyles. They also allow me to just talk about things I'm excited about. I think that emotional connection—rather than a coldly calculated and rational approach about supposed "essentials"—is a much better way to build a wardrobe, as it makes you think about what you'll love wearing ten years from now. I've been encouraged by readers who tell me they find these posts useful in helping them build a wardrobe. So here are ten things I'm excited to break out this season, along with a Spotify playlist at the end that will hopefully set the mood.

THE POLO COAT

Like many things, the game of polo is an international phenomenon with cultural origins now long forgotten. The modern version of the game was first played in Manipur, India, where locals called the fist-sized wooden ball pulu, a Tibetic term later anglicized to polo. In the mid-19th century, British cavalry officers picked up the sport in India, imported it to England, and then spread it around the world during the height of empire. It’s through this intoxicating mix of sport and nobility that polo has become such fertile ground for menswear. The game has given us the button-down collar, jodhpur and chukka boots, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso, and the most recognizable menswear logo. It has also given us the polo coat—the most American of dress outerwear styles.

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I envy people who aren't interested in clothes. Just the sight of a chunky cream sweater or camp collar shirt is enough to send me into a daydreaming tailspin, where I waste hours of my day poring over online images and reading about the product's construction. Then I imagine the new and exciting life I would lead if I only had that outfit, temporarily forgetting that I'm actually sitting on my couch with my laptop, cat, and Pendleton blanket on my lap, having not moved for hours and with no intention of doing so. I recently found myself doing this, as many of the best online stores are having their end-of-season promotions, each product page ripe with the hope of possibility—the opportunity to dress up for a friendly lunch, a celebratory dinner, or a walk to the market to buy flowers for one's self. So here is a roundup of some of the sales I've been admiring online, peppered with ideas of when and where you can wear such items. 

SSENSE: UP TO 60% OFF; NO CODE

Maybe it's because I recently watched the Lemaire SS24 show, but I've been once again daydreaming about the artsy, cultivated life I assume I would live if I just owned a few more pieces from this French designer. Lemaire's clothes fit loose, giving you comfort and room to hide an aging dad bod, but they're rendered in fabrics and details that allow you to pretend you're a sophisticated Belgian artist excited about the coming relaunch of the beloved book-lit mag Bookforum. I really like the company's summer pants, which come with self-belts, twisted side seams, and topstitching in unusual places. They move and swish when you walk and lend an attractive silhouette to plain summer outfits. I've been wearing the company's taupe twisted pants with a cream-colored, silk camp collar shirt I bought from The Post Romantic last year, modeled after this Umit Benan design (the shirt isn't on Post Romantic's site, but is available if you just email them). 

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