When did you start wearing tweed and flannel on a consistent basis this year? About a generation or two ago, these two robust fabrics would have made their first appearance after Labor Day, which marked the natural end of summer fashion. After all, that was the spirit behind the saying “no white after Labor Day,” a rule so sacred among etiquette hardliners that Patty Hearst’s character was murdered for it as punishment in the 1994 movie Serial Mom. But this year, my autumnal clothes have been dashing in-and-out of my wardrobe, with summer pieces continuing to be useful as late as November. Last month, thirteen US federal agencies released a stunning report saying climate change has already had devastating impacts on our health and economy. On a more superficial level, I can’t help but wonder if it’s also affected our wardrobes – and menswear retailing. 

Every year, the traditional concept of four seasons seems increasingly outdated. Scientists have found that, as the planet warms up, the tropics have been expanding 0.1 to 0.2 degrees latitude every decade, so that places that once had four seasons are now shifting to having just two. Vox had an article this week about how global warming could change US cities by the year 2050 (“In some cities, it’ll be like moving two states south”). “You can see that Scranton, Pennsylvania, will have a climate that resembles that of Round Hill, Virginia, today,” they wrote. “That’s a distance of about 220 miles as the crow flies, but it means that Scranton will face average summer peaks that are 4.8°F higher and winter temperature lows that are 5.5°F higher.” 

This is happening all over the place, not just in Scranton. In parts of New England, winters have warmed at an average rate of more than 1°F per decade since 1970 — that’s more than 4°F total. Last year, some eastern US cities were beset with summerlike temperatures as early as February. And across the US, winters feel shorter and generally milder, with the transition from cold winter weather to warmer spring temps happening earlier. Alexander Stine, an Assistant Professor of Earth & Climate Sciences at Harvard, says: “Once we account for the fact that the average temperature for any given year is increasing, we find that some months have been warming more than others. Most of the difference is the result of this shift in the timing of the seasons, and a decrease in the difference between summer and winter temperatures.”

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Even when it’s online and you can shop from the comfort of your own home, Black Friday still feels like a mad dash to find the best deals. Over at Put This On, we’re rounding up the best of Black Friday promotions. The list is massive, with the number of sales going into the hundreds, and we’ll be adding to the list over the weekend as we learn of new promotions. For those who want something more manageable, I’ve pulled together some of my favorites in these two posts. Combine those with the ten sales listed below and you have what I think are the nineteen best Black Friday sections this year. 

Unionmade: 20% Off Orders Over $250, Code BLACKFRIDAY

Unionmade is a great shop for workwear, heritage brands, and hard-to-find Japanese imports. They carry everything from the sort of slim-straight jeans a guy can wear with sport coats, to more experimental lines such as Kapital. And in the last year, they’ve branched out to more contemporary labels such as Studio Nicholson and Deveaux. 

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Mr. Porter’s massive selection puts them in everyone’s orbit. Whether you favor classic tailored clothing, Japanese workwear, or oversized, minimalist contemporary garb, Mr. Porter likely carries more than a handful of brands for you.

Today, Mr. Porter started their Black Friday promotion, where you can take up to 30% off select items. Inis Meain’s sweaters are expensive, even with the discount, but absolutely exquisite and a joy to wear. Engineered Garments, Blue Blue Japan, and Kapital are personal favorites for workwear; SNS Herning is great textured knitwear you can layer under heavy coats (be sure to size up). I’m also pleasantly surprised to see how many footwear brands are included in the promotion – RM Williams, Common Projects, John Lobb, George Cleverley, Yuketen, and Visvim among them. 

Given the scope and size of their inventory, your best bet is to filter by sizing and brands to see what you like. That said, here are ten items that I think are worth highlighting. 

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Black Friday sales are upon us. Every year, I roundup some of my favorites both here and at Put This On (we’ll have a comprehensive list of every worthwhile sale later this week, on Friday). Some stores, however, are getting a jump on things. Many have already started their Black Friday promotions, with discounts going as deep as 50% off. There’s even a topcoat below for just $150. From affordable workwear to contemporary casualwear, here are nine really good early-bird specials. 

J. Crew: 50% Off, Code TGIF

J. Crew’s never-ending sales have become a running joke on Twitter, but I also think their Wallace & Barnes line is one of the best values in menswear right now. Their clothes have a more boutique feel than J. Crew’s mainline, are made from better materials, and are inspired by the company’s vintage design archive. Wallace & Barnes is great even at full retail, but with the current promotion, it almost feels like you’re shopping in 2009 again, before fashion prices were launched into outer space. This indigo moleskin chore coat, for example, is just $130. Their autumnal Fair Isle sweaters are $74; terrycloth sweatshirt $40; heavyweight flannel and hearty herringbone work shirt less than $50. This olive green, cotton-hemp shirt is kind of basic, but also just $27. 

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Men’s style has never been more factionalized. Whereas men once agreed on what they thought were The Good Clothes, today’s landscape is such that the ascendency of one look doesn’t necessarily displace another. Ten years ago, men rallied around Americana and denim, then prep and Italian tailoring. Now with a million style tribes, it’s hard to coalesce excitement around any one thing. There’s streetwear and techwear, tailoring and normcore, the brutalist avant-garde and Japanese folk. Nothing is fully in or out. 

There is, however, one small sliver of overlap: the classical overcoat, loose and slightly oversized, which has somehow managed to cut across style genres. Preps pair polo coats with tweeds and flannels. Streetwear aficionados have worn camelhair topcoats ever since Kanye sported his with suede Chelsea boots. Contemporary menswear guys, those of both maximalist and minimalist stripe, like theirs with sleek jeans and textured sweaters. Even workwear lines such as RRL offer the occasional belted duster or tweed.

These are not just superficial overlappings, either. As men’s style has started loosening up, both fashion forward guys and classic menswear enthusiasts have found common ground on how they think a coat should fit. Whereas traditional overcoats once seemed out-of-touch, shoulder-hugging coats now look out-of-date. Classic overcoats right now are the one thing we can all agree on. 

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When it comes to outerwear, few styles come pre-loaded with as much meaning as a shearling. Not too long ago, the mere mention of it evoked images of the Marlboro Man. Those long, bulky, no-nonsense coats that have patchwork seams running up-and-down the back, and tufts of wool peeking out from beneath the cuffs. The silhouettes are blocky; the leathers often dry and cracked. They make their wearers look like King Kong. 

There have been times, however, when shearlings were considerably more luxurious – even if questionable in taste. In the early 1930s, catalog retailers advertised shearling coats alongside suede leather jackets and horsehide outerwear, seemingly unaware of the Great Depression. The material came roaring back in the ‘70s with the Peacock Revolution. Swanky men wore them with chunky turtlenecks and velvet bellbottoms, presumably to their eternal regret years later. They’ve also been part of some important rebel uniforms, including the better side of skinheads (e.g. the non-racist kind) and French zazous (who were an anti-establishment, punk version of French dandies). 

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Winter style is often presented as sled riding through some New England forest, or enjoying a hearth redolent of roasting Indian corn, but reality is often less romantic. This time of year is flu season, which means for many people, winter at some point will be about Robitussin, hot tea, blankets, and cough drops. I’ve been holed up at home for the past few days trying to fight off a stubborn cold, stay warm, and sleep through the night despite fits of coughing. 

Nothing will cure a cold except time, but there are things you can do to make yourself feel better. The Chinese have an herbal remedy called Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, which does wonders for a sore throat, even if it tastes awful (I drink hot water mixed with a scoop of honey instead). Nasal sprays can help manage congestion, although you don’t want to use them for more than three days in a row. And wearing good loungewear feels so much better than laying around in sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

Years ago, Jacob Gallagher at The Wall Street Journal wrote a piece exploring whether men still wear pajamas. There aren’t many, and among those who do, some are apparently trying to sell others a set (Andy Spade, one of the founders behind Sleepy Jones, was quoted). The reasons given for PJs were predictable – they confer a better sense of self-respect when you’re at home (I have none to begin with, so that matters little), and they allow you to look presentable should an unexpected guest drop by (I have no social life, so that matters even less). 

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In some parts of the world, you can get by without a wallet, as cash and credit cards are totally unnecessary. These aren’t remote rural villages either, but rather metropolises such as Shenzhen, China, an urban hub for technological innovation that’s located just north of Hong Kong.

In an episode of The Wall Street Journal’s Moving Upstream, Jason Bellini shows how this Guangdong city operates as an almost-cashless society. Residents pay for everything from food to transport to consumer goods using only their smartphones, either by scanning QR codes or sending money via apps. Alibaba’s new grocery chain, Hemna, for example, looks like any other neighborhood supermarket. Except, shoppers can scan bar codes to look up more information about items, then pay at self-checkout stands by holding up their phone (some stores will even just scan your face). Three-quarters of the city’s fast food purchases are made using mobile devices, and taxi drivers prefer to take payment via WeChat. In 2016, Chinese citizens send a staggering $9 trillion through their mobile devices, and the number is only growing. 

We don’t think much of it, but wallet designs in the last five hundred years have tracked the changes in our political economy. And as society becomes ever more reliant on digital technologies, it’s hard not to think that we’re on the cusp of some new designs.

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