Outfit Of The Week 10/13/24 – 10/19/24

This week’s edition of “OOTW” is another office outfit.

Now, you guys know by now that I have my pretty rock-solid business casual uniform for the office and I didn’t stray too far from that here.

While the khaki pants and shoes are familiar sights, I’d like to highlight two pieces, specifically my shirt and my sport coat.

The shirt I wore was a blue-and-white striped oxford-cloth-button-down from Lands’ End. It’s one of their classic Hyde Park models. The reason I wanted to highlight this shirt was because it actually doesn’t fit me as well as some of my other shirts.

I bought this shirt when I was a little heavier than I am now, so I opted for a little bit more room in the neck and body. I made this purchase probably ten years ago and my body has changed (for the better) since then.

I still like the shirt, though. It’s incredibly comfortable and still looks good enough to wear. I notice the ill-fit mostly in the shoulders. The shoulder seams extend down my arm a little more than they should. Now, does this mean I have to get rid of the shirt because it doesn’t fit perfectly?

Hardly! It just means I have to stop caring so much about insignificant things!

As you can see, the shirt looks fine under the jacket. But, surprisingly, it even looked good with the jacket off. Honestly, it shows that for all the hand-wringing we do over fit, sometimes it really doesn’t make that much of a difference and it certainly shouldn’t preclude us from wearing clothes we like.

Here’s a news flash for you… nothing is ever going to be perfect! You don’t have to overhaul your wardrobe if you gain or lose a few pounds.

The real highlight of my outfit was my sport coat.

This is a jacket you guys have seen many times in this space. I really don’t own that much stuff, so I wear things over and over again. That’s not a bad thing.

The reason I love this jacket so much is because I bought it when I first got into classic menswear. It was one of the very first “nice” pieces of clothes I ever bought. It was somewhat of an impulse buy. I was perusing a local Brooks Brothers, tried it on, and really liked how it fit. I think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 for it.

Now, as most of you know, when you first get into menswear is the time you buy a ton of crap that you don’t end up keeping for more than a couple years. I certainly went through that stage. But this jacket was different. Even though it was expensive and purchasing it was somewhat of a snap decision, I never had any buyer’s remorse. I immediately knew I would have this jacket for the rest of my life.

Once I bought it, I wore it everywhere, from family dinners to international vacations.

When you look at the hierarchy of classic jackets men should own, the grey, tweed, herringbone sport coat is just below the navy blazer as the most versatile and often-used jacket in a man’s closet. If you’re looking to build a wardrobe on a budget, the only two odd jackets you need are a navy blazer and herringbone tweed.

This jacket is so comfortable, I feel like I could sleep in it. It’s a pretty classic American cut so the shoulders are a bit more relaxed than the sharp English cuts of a couple of my other sport coats. The jacket almost feels like a cardigan.

The heavy weight and full lining made it a perfect piece of outerwear for standing on the train platform when it was about 40 degrees.

To top things off, I wore my grey, wool-and-cashmere cap.

Happily, I got some things back from my tailor recently, so I’m looking forward to featuring them in the coming weeks!

Have a wonderful weekend!