Outfit Of The Week 10/22/23 – 10/28/23
With this week’s edition of OOTW, we return to a more conventionally work-appropriate, business-casual ensemble.
“Work” and “business” even though I work remotely.
Yeah, I know it’s not the norm to put on a jacket when you’re sitting home alone, but I think this outfit shows how to do that without it being an affectation.
I don’t think I’m alone in liking the idea of dressing up a bit even when I’m not in the office. Not only is it a mental trigger to enter “work mode”, but I just like using my nice things.
The centerpiece of this week’s outfit is a tweed jacket from Aran Sweater Market. I am going to be doing a product review of this jacket fairly soon, so I won’t go into crazy details right now.
I like this jacket a great deal for a handful of reasons but what I find most interesting is that this jacket is not from a company I would normally buy a sport coat from. A cable knit sweater? Absolutely. But a sport coat? I would have been much more likely to purchase a tweed jacket from the likes of Brooks Brothers or Charles Tyrwhitt. You know, companies that are more solidly in the “menswear” lane.
The lesson here is to not sleep on products that fall somewhat outside a company’s wheelhouse. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Ok, so what pleases me, specifically, about this jacket? Well, I find it is a very good “wearing around the house” jacket.
The pattern can best be described as a marled Donegal barleycorn. The flecks of different colors and the contrast of light and dark threads make this jacket virtually impervious to stains due to the visual complexity. This is great for when I need to fry up burgers for the boys or get the fire started in the fireplace.
The material is also quite thick and feels very durable.
The point is that I don’t feel like I need to be precious about this jacket. I can toss it on and wear it around the house and not feel I need to worry about getting it dirty or damaged.
Adding a rough and tumble jacket like this to your wardrobe is a great way to ease into dressing better even at home. If you’re the kind of guy who wants to start elevating his “at-home” or “around the kids” attire, then this kind of jacket is an excellent first step.
Also, notice that I didn’t bother with a pocket square. Like in my article about casual sport coats, when I am wearing a sport coat in a more utilitarian way, like in this instance, I usually opt to forego the pocket square.
Under the jacket was my trusty “travel sweater” which is a wool blend from J. Crew that I wrote about some time ago. Since I wear it so much it’s starting to pill a little. I actually don’t mind this at all, since it gives a nice worn-in look and feel.
Under the sweater was one of the first OCBDs I ever bought. I purchased this white one and my beloved blue one at the same time many years ago from Lands’ End. It was one of my first ventures into more classic menswear. These shirts have been trucking along ever since. I know it’s a cliché, but OCBDs really do get better with wear and age. This one is so worn and soft that it practically feels like clay. This might sound weird, but it also smells like me in a way that none of my other shirts do.
It’s a shirt that pretty much always gets packed in my bag regardless of where or when I am traveling.
Moving on down, my pants were a pair of Lands’ End 5-pocket Knockabout Chinos. I’ve mentioned before how I prefer 5-pocket pants while around the kids since it keeps my EDC well-secured.
I would prefer these pants to be 100% cotton and not have any stretch. It’s quite difficult to find pure cotton, 5-pocket pants with a sufficient number of belt loops. If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.
As for footwear, since I was home for the majority of the day, I mostly stuck with my trusty Ugg slippers. The only time I am ever barefoot is when I am in bed. I have some sort of footwear on during almost every waking second. And that footwear is usually my pair of Ugg slippers. I wear these even in the summer.
I blame my wife for this. She bought me my first pair of fur-lined slippers many years ago when we were living in upstate New York and I have never looked back. I wear through a pair of slippers every two years on average.
If you’re not a “slippers guy” I encourage you to take the plunge!
As for accessories, my watch was my 38mm Timex field watch.
My belt was a mid-brown leather belt from Men’s Wearhouse, which has actually held up for way longer than I originally thought it would. I actually have two belts from them (a black one in addition to this brown one) and they are very good quality for the money.
All in all, this was an excellent outfit for keeping warm in my chilly home office and bumming around the house with the kids after work, while still looking professional and put-together.
Have a wonderful weekend!
