M. Evan Wolkenstein

On the other hand, as long as you gotta wear something (assuming you’re vacationing with family in, say, San Diego, and not at “Sea Mountain Nude Hotsprings”) why not wear something well put together? The trick is this: if you know that you won’t have the headspace to pick out a bunch of vacation outfits as you rush to cram your suitcases, pick them out in advance. Way in advance. In other words, identify a couple of pairs of pants, a few shirts, a pair of shoes, and yes, a c

For those not in the know, just take my word for it; It’s weird and sweet and evocative and sort of grody and, well, forever. Sort of like life. Yesterday, Gabi and I got engaged. She looked beautiful. I was wearing a fantastic suit. There was a lot of crying and laughing and a guest appearance by local San Francisco celebrity weather pattern, Karl The Fog. This engagement was a long time coming. Gabi and I built our bridge towards each other step by step, over a span (no pun

Before David Letterman, there was THE Letterman. My own history with varsity style involves a lot of very un-varsity moments. I would eventually experience great disappointment in discovering that the only part of this movie that applied to my freshman year at college was the nerdiness. First, when I was a little kid, there was varsity-superhero Letter Man, a favorite regular on the PBS show, Electric Company. His sport: ripping the letter from his sweater and applying it to

I didn’t feel at ease, socially, until well into college. I started dating in my 20s. And I started watching Mad Men when the rest of the world was on season four. At that time, I had no place in my life for a TV series, but other things in my life were in already flux. I was in a new relationship. I was approaching the end of my 30s. I was beginning to reinvent my own personal style. And that was the bait and switch. I was told that the show featured great style, and I was h

Today, if a man wears a suit and the sleeves end inches from the wrist, if the pants reveal three inches of shin – if he wears a bow tie and clunky shoes – he’s a disciple of designer Thom Browne. The cropped suit, the checkers, the bow-ties: the look has swept the fashion world from haute couture to suburban mall to First Lady Michelle Obama. 30 years ago, if a man wore a suit and the sleeves end inches from the wrist, if the pants revealed three inches of shin – if he wore 

Yes, you can roll up your blazer sleeves. Just follow these three simple rules. 1. Shoulders NO: Big shoulder pads. YES: “Unstructured,” casual jacket. 2. Material NO: Wool, tweed, “suit material” – essentially, a suit jacket. YES: Casual materials like cotton, jersey (sweatshirt material), or “sweatery” material. 3. Fit NO: Boxy, drapey fits. YES: Slim fit. Got that? Put it on with a casual, knit tie, and roll ’em up! Wanna know more about unstructured blazers? Check out my