Outfit Of The Week 10/20/24 – 10/26/24

This week’s edition of “OOTW” is a bit similar to one I wore not too long ago.

I’ve been wearing my Schott Perfecto motorcycle jacket a lot this year, mainly because I didn’t wear it as much as I wanted last year. It’s a really cool piece and the weather has been cooperating enough for me to wear it day after day recently, which I’ve really been enjoying.

I’m also in better shape this year due to a year of chopping and splitting a literal forest over the past twelve months, so I feel like the jacket looks better on me.

The shirt I wore is one of my many Lands’ End Flagship flannel shirts. I think I have five or six of them. For the money, you cannot beat them. I got a few of them a couple years ago for eight dollars each on sale. Yes, I love L.L. Bean’s organic flannels and Woolrich’s Oxbow Bend flannels, but, like I said, you can’t beat the price on the Flagships.

The jeans I wore were my thirty-dollar Dickie’s I bought last year.

One thing I don’t really like about the talk of raw denim is how it fades over time. Um… regular jeans do the exact same thing for a lot less money. I’ve had these jeans for a little over a year and they’re fading in the knees and where I carry my wallet. I don’t really care about that, but it’d worth pointing out that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get jeans that fade over time. They all do that.

The second thing I like about these jeans is the fit. For a while about ten years ago, you couldn’t find jeans with a roomy fit. Thank God those days are gone, although they will undoubtedly return at some point.

These jeans hang really comfortably and I roll them up a little at the bottoms. I usually buy my jeans in a 32 inch length and cuff them because I don’t want to run the risk of buying a 31 inch length, washing them, and having them shrink to be too short. So the 32 inch length ensures that won’t happen. I’ve written before about not getting your jeans tailored and I stand by that (especially on a pair that costs thirty bucks).

The lowlight, I mean highlight, of my outfit was my pair of Red Wing Iron Ranger boots.

You guys have read my complaints about these boots a handful of times before so I won’t go into too much detail about them now. However, I wanted to use them to point out the fact that I really don’t understand the whole “heritage boot” thing.

I get it… heritage boots look really cool. That’s why I continue to wear these Iron Rangers. But lately, I have been on the hunt for a pair of casual boots to replace my brown work boots I got from L.L. Bean some years ago. I want something that functions well as an actual pair of boots, not just as an Instagram prop. So, that means I want it to be waterproof, insulated, and have good cushioning and traction.

Now, tell me a pair of handsome heritage boots that satisfies all those requirements.

I’ll wait.

Heritage boots like my Iron Rangers are hard, stiff, and provide no cushioning when walking. Also, they’re the older model that has zero traction. What exactly are they good for, then?

Oh, right. Looking cool. Well, at least they were expensive!

I feel like the whole “heritage boot” thing is a joke that everyone’s in on except me. I wouldn’t have any problem with them though if they were comfortable and provided some traction. Things that boots should, you know, do.

I’ll probably get a pair of Timberlands at some point. Are they cemented instead of Goodyear welted? Yup. Are they made in the USA? Nope. Will I get fawning appreciation on social media from other menswear accounts? Nope. Are they expensive? Nope.

Will they do everything I need them to? Yup.

That purchase is a long way off, as I’m waiting for my current brown boots to fail before I pull the trigger on anything new, but I thought it was important to point out that when you’re into menswear, you don’t have to follow the herd. You don’t need to buy expensive jeans or expensive boots if those things don’t fit your needs.

Have a wonderful weekend!