Review: The Knottery silk knit ties, pocket squares & shoelaces

For a while, I’ve been featuring items from The Knottery here on the blog. Their goal of providing affordable menswear accessories is laudable. I placed an order with them a while back and wanted to give a review to put to end some of the questions I’ve received about them.

I’ve seen the question asked quite frequently — with skepticism — about the quality of The Knottery’s silk knit neckties, which are made in China. There’s some obvious hesitation from some — even at the affordable pricetag — about if these stack up to more expensive silk knits made in either Italy or England. 

Let’s just skip to the point: The Knottery has the best value when it comes to silk knit ties. 

Ranging for $25 to $30, these ties stack up to the quality of silk knits that cost up to three times as much. In fact, they’re so so good, I can’t tell their quality or construction apart from some I have that were manufactured in England. 

I picked up the breton stripe inspired tie, The Port, and I’m extremely pleased with it.

How do I know this? I own two silk knit ties from J.Press: one is a solid silk knit in navy, another is a navy and red striped tie on an ecru ground. Both are made in England and sold for about $90 at retail. The striped tie is different in construction than the solid tie. I have no idea if they’re both manufactured in the same place or not, but the striped one has a slightly more “open” weave, whereas the solid one has is more “dense” and less see-through. 

The Knottery’s silk knit is more like the striped J.Press silk knit. The weave is somewhat open and when you examine the knits up close, you’d swear they were made by the same machine. 

Look below. If I didn’t tell you which tie was made in England and which one was made in China, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Even by feeling them you can’t tell the difference. Both are soft to the touch and the fibers feel the same. Both of the back seams are the same stitching them together. Both of the neck bands are the same. 

(J.Press is on the left, The Knottery on the right.)

Below, I’ve compared The Knottery (center) with a silk knit from Lands’ End (left, made in Italy) and my solid-navy J.Press (right, England). You’ll notice the knit weave is more open from Lands’ End and the Italian tie is a bit more “crunchy” and rougher in texture. It’s a significantly different weave pattern and construction. 

The J.Press solid silk knit is similar in softness (but not the same), but the knits are closer together and it’s virtually opaque in comparison to The Knottery’s weave. The seam stitching the tie together is different, too. 

While these solid knits are obviously different than The Knottery’s attributes, I think The Knottery can easily say their silk knit doesn’t suffer in quality in any way and especially isn’t inferior. If anything, The Knottery’s supplier in China is able to match the quality of a silk knit tie from England at a third of the retail price.

Bottom line: The Knottery’s silk knit ties are a steal.

I also picked up a pocket square from The Knottery. I won’t give you some sort of song and dance about a pocket square, but it’s pretty much what I expected. I liked the semi-minimal design on an off-white ground. 

For $12, I’m satisfied to add another pocket square to my collection that goes with my blue-heavy theme. Are there cheaper pocket squares out there? Sure. Are there more expensive ones? Sure. But I was more about getting this pattern than what the price was.

I also picked up a pair of shoelaces from The Knottery. The ones that I’d been using on a pair of chocolate suede Allen Edmonds I picked up on eBay had gotten toward the end of their life. 

While The Knottery offers a great deal of colorful options, I went with their “Vanilla Creme” option. Personally, there’s something a bit too dandy for me about super-bright laces in other colors, but I liked the way the white laces offset the darker brown. Plus, the concept of “vanilla and chocolate” seemed to amuse me. 

For kicks, I thought I’d put together a simple summer look with all these elements. White OCBD, white denim, blue unconstructed cotton sportcoat, plus a chocolate suede belt from The Knottery as well (reviewed previously here). You can never go wrong with blue, brown and white. 

While a lot of people use accessories that draw attention to themselves (insert “pop of color” joke here) that nukes the cohesiveness of outfit they’re wearing, I’m beginning to prefer accessories that help solidify a color palette. 

A year or two ago, I might’ve gone for adding more patterns or colors. Now, I find myself subtracting colors from my wardrobe. I’m becoming a greater fan of solids and minimally adding stripes or polka dots in neckwear. And while I love my collection of beautiful printed silk squares, I often reach for a TV-folded linen. 

So, my recent purchases from The Knottery reflect the current direction my style is moving toward: matching a theme of playful simplicity in my own color story.

Review: Vanda Fine Clothing unlined 6-fold garza fina grenadine

I’ve been admiring the neckties in recent months coming out from Vanda Fine Clothing, but the pricepoint always made me hesitate and hold off. While I don’t necessarily mind paying for high-quality, hand-crafted neckwear from a small business, the product I buy has to be an absolute “must-have” for me that I feel is completely unavailable elsewhere. 

Enter Vanda’s untipped, unlined, 6-fold garza fina navy grenadine necktie, first seen at La Casuarina, who received two prototypes from Vanda. I was immediately reminded of La Casuarina’s vintage Hermes 7-fold garza fina grenadine and how much I wished I could find a similar necktie. 

Given my addiction for navy neckties and the irresistibility of a multi-fold grenadine, I quickly shot off an email to Vanda, asking if they would take a pre-order for a similar necktie. Gerald was kind enough to write me back and let me know that it was still in prototype stages, but could still be purchased. He even offered to let me send it back for a lining if I felt the unlined construction didn’t work. 

I placed an order and waited. And it was completely worth the wait and price. 

The most obvious first thing you notice is how sheer the necktie is without a lining or tipping. It feels lighter than a silk pocket square or linen shirt, yet the texture feels actually durable despite the very open weave. 

The 6-fold construction actually gives the tie some much needed heft and thickness when you tie it. It cinches up well and drapes nicely in an arch around the knot. You don’t really have to try to tie a good knot — it’s almost if it naturally forms itself. 

But the real amazing stuff is found in the details. You can’t help but love the hand-rolled edges and the sewing at the tip. It’s all exposed and you almost can’t believe it’s done by hand. The meticulousness of the stitching is astounding when you examine it up close and feel the edges with your hand. 

What I really love though about the necktie though is how it’s reduced to its bare-bones. No blade keeper. No labels. Just an absolutely well-crafted piece of neckwear. 

How does this necktie stack up to others I own? Frankly, it doesn’t — because I own no other neckties like this one and it sits alone as a unique piece in my collection that I’m glad to have and wear.

Review: Santi Leather laptop sleeve

I’ve been looking for a protective sleeve for my MacBook Pro for a long time and just never found the right one. 

Being a picky sort, I had quite a list of requirements, which made it incredibly difficult to find something readily available, within my budget and looked nice. 

For materials, i wanted to stay away from synthetic materials entirely. Most sleeves are lined with or entirely constructed with neoprene, which traps heat. If you own a MacBook Pro, then you know how hot these get. Immediately putting away your laptop into a sleeve will result in the heat being contained inside the sleeve and potentially overheating your computer — even though it’s technically “off”. 

For this reason, I wanted a natural material that wouldn’t overheat the contents like a synthetic might. Also, there’s the added bonus of getting a much more aesthetically-pleasing look from leather or even fabrics like Harris Tweed, wool or canvas. 

Additionally, I still wanted to know that I could place this sleeve inside a briefcase without a padded laptop compartment. Again, most padded laptop compartments in briefcases are synthetic. Also, they’re bulky. I preferred that I could stick this laptop in its sleeve inside either a canvas briefcase like a Filson or unpadded leather briefcase and not worry that the shock of setting the briefcase down on its base would cause damage to the bottom edge of the laptop facing the floor. 

This made me look for sleeves that had sufficient padding in its design along the base edge to act as a shock absorber. This is surprisingly hard — if not impossible — to find in most leather sleeves. If you look at most sleeves out on the market, they just offer a thin layer of leather along the base of the sleeve as the only form of protection. While it may protect from surface scratches, you’re not going to get any shock protection when the laptop is upright in an unpadded briefcase and hits the floor. So, this detail mattered a lot to me.

Furthermore, I wanted some added functionality in the sleeve that didn’t look superfluous. Some extra pockets would be nice and the closure system had to securely keep the laptop inside and not allow any accidental liquids inside if something was poured on top of it. Lots of sleeves have open tops, or zipper tops, which was a no-go for me. 

In the end, I knew I had to seek out someone to custom make me a laptop sleeve that looked great, was made from quality materials and could incorporate all my features I wanted. 

After looking at several leatherworkers on Etsy, I found Santi Leather, who operates out of Spain, who handmakes each item at their home studio and sources their leathers locally. 

I decided to base my modifications off of their 13” MacBook Pro leather sleeve design. It already had many great features that I wanted: a full flap over the top with secure snap closures; an extra pocket in the front to store a pen, phone and small notepad; and a felted interior to give protection against surface scratches on the laptop’s aluminum unibody enclosure. 

Fortunately, Santi Leather is completely open to design modifications. I asked if an open back pocket could be sewn on, to allow me to store some papers, magazine or notepad.

Additionally, I asked to have extra stitching along the bottom base of the sleeve to create a thick portion of leather to ask as a shock absorber. 

These design modifications added another $25 to the final price, which brought the final price with shipping to ~$146. Twenty days later I received the sleeve and I’m absolutely thrilled with it. 

Santi Leather has a whole range of sleeves for every single Apple device, from iPads, to iPhones to MacBooks (Pro and Air). They’ve even introduced a messenger bag. 

If you’re looking for a similar solution, then I recommend giving Santi Leather a serious look. Working with them was a great experience and they’re totally open to design modifications and ideas. I think their pricing is reasonable given that it’s handmade and the turn-around time (with shipping) is rather impressive. 

Review: Howard Yount lambswool sweaters

If you live in a place that has a “real” winter, then I think that owning several sweaters for layering is a fairly essential wardrobe consideration, especially so if you’re wearing blazers or sport coats.

Of course, I was woefully neglectful of having them in my wardrobe for quite some time. I spent most of the fall looking at options and debating how much I wanted to spend and from whom I wanted to buy them from. I teetered back and forth between fabric types (merino wool, lambswool, cashmere, cashmere-wool blends, etc.).

But I always came back to one option and finally got around to buying two v-neck lambswool sweaters from Howard Yount.

The verdict: I shouldn’t have waited so long — and neither should you if they fit your budget and wardrobe needs. The price of $99 is extremely fair.

The fabric quality feels substantial. I don’t feel like it’s something I have to treat with gloved hands like cashmere, but I don’t feel like it’s lacking in superb softness either.

The fit is trim to the body (I’m a 38”-chest and ordered a size small) and hugs the chest nicely if you want to layer it under a jacket.

And, yes, they’re warm. I bought the burgundy and heather grey sweaters — and I really want to buy several more.

So, how do I plan on wearing them? Here’s two examples.

The burgundy looks great against a navy blazer and grey trousers. I’ve put it over a ecru OCBD and a wool-knit tie from The Knottery. This is a nice, conservative color scheme that can go just about anywhere.

For my grey sweater, I put it over a blue university stripe OCBD and with a polka-dot blue tie. White denim? Sure, why not? And a mossy green cashmere sport coat on top. It almost feels a bit monochrome and a bit out of season until you get a closer look at the textures. I think of it as a lighter, brighter contrast to all the super dark, black and grey colors you see worn in winter (seriously, does everyone have to have a black wool or nylon coat?) that is slightly more casual.

Review: Charles Tyrwhitt military captoe boots

Back in July, I bought these military captoe boots from Charles Tyrwhitt on super deep discount ($160), but hadn’t really gotten a chance to break them in and use them enough to feel comfortable reviewing them.

After a series of rainy days a couple of weeks back, I used them quite often and I’d say they’re definitely getting the job done and for the price I have no regrets about the purchase.

The facts on these boots are pretty straightforward: Goodyear welt, Dainite rubber soles, pebble full-grain leather and made in England. Finding shoes for $160 that fit that description isn’t usually easy to do, let alone a pair of boots.

In terms of comfort, it did take quite a few wears to fully break them in. The first time I tried lacing them up all the way to the top and tied them tight around my ankles. Well, my ankles could not bend at all which made walking painful and pretty much impossible. So, I loosened up my lacing at the top and now over time the leather’s broken in to allow for tighter lacing.

The walnut color is definitely a favorite of mine at the moment (currently own five shoes in that color), but the currently available pair is in a much darker brown. It depends on your preference, obviously, but I think either works well with most trousers and jeans.

I have noticed that over time the pebble grain has smoothed a bit along the toes. I’m not sure what this means in terms of the quality of the leather, but it’s something you should know. Also, I’ve yet to give these a polish and see how it reacts with some conditioner, but the leather from the beginning did feel quite stiff and now has begun to wear much easier.

Initially, I’d recommend some slightly thicker socks. I did wear some cotton socks, wool socks and some thick socks with them at various times, and can definitely say thick socks felt better. I have some mildly skinnier feet than the traditional medium “D” widths, but not quite enough to be a “C”, so thicker socks helped in the first few wears before it was broken in. Now, it’s gotten easy enough to wear with thinner socks, but there’s certainly room in the boot for thick wool socks come winter.

My primary reason for purchasing these boots was to deal with the slicker surfaces. They’ve held up well enough in rain and I imagine they’ll do well enough in the winter on ice. While I wouldn’t call them “rugged” in comparison to a pair of L.L.Bean boots, they’re probably going to be just fine for a mild snow, which is fine for my work commute.

In terms of pricing, obviously $160 is a good deal, but right now they’re selling for £179, which is about $280. Sub-$300, I think they’re a pretty good deal, but Charles Tyrwhitt does have a history of reducing prices throughout the season. Frankly, it’s up to you and how badly you need a pair — or if you want to take your chances and see if they have your size once they start hitting clearance prices. Just remember to buy from the U.K. site — not the U.S. site — because the prices are cheaper. Also, you should use the U.K. site and size down a full size from your U.S. size to get the U.K. size that fits. I’m a 10.5D US and got a 9.5F UK. For some dumb reason, their size charts only tell you to size down a half size, which to me seems way off.

For comparison’s sake, I stopped yesterday into the Allen Edmonds store located in downtown Chicago to see how the two’s boots compared. The AEs seemed to have a mildly better leather quality just based on my limited touch and handling of them. I wasn’t so much a fan of the lug sole on the Bayfield boot in comparison to the Dainite sole on the CTs — the profile just seemed off and too rugged.

Bottom line: Definitely get a pair if you can wait until they’re on sale. What price you think they’re worth is going to be fairly subjective, but I’d probably pay upward of $250 for these — especially if you’re looking for a Dainite sole over a leather sole.

+++

badscene replied:

What are your thoughts on the toe-box? It looks a little squared off in the picture.

From above, they don’t strike me as squared off, nor do they feel that way when I wear them.

Review: Fratelli Rossetti double monks

These Fratelli Rossetti double monks on Yoox arrived yesterday and while I think they’re a decent deal for the money and would like to keep them, I’m sending them back.

As I suspected, these definitely run a bit large. I’m typically a size 10.5D in most Allen Edmonds shoes (like the Strand), but ordered these in a size UK 9/US 10. To me, they fit more like a US 11. While they sort of fit, they’re a bit wide and my heel slips about a quarter-of-an-inch when walking in them. I think this is due to the elongated toe.

I do like the look of them a lot. The elongated, plain toe looks pretty sleek. The leather quality feels pretty smooth, however, I didn’t think it felt “tough” like the Allen Edmonds shoes I own. Definitely no breaking-in period would be necessary.

For those looking for a tight fit who have kinda-sorta skinny feet, I don’t think you’ll find it with these shoes. You can’t get the buckles past the second hole. While walking in them, it didn’t cut into my foot at all, which was nice, but it also didn’t feel secure on my feet. If you’re a guy with slightly wider feet, they might fit OK.

I’m no expert on stitching or construction, but I felt like it was below that of the Allen Edmonds Mora I used to own. The stitches around the vamp and straps felt kind of rough. Not terrible, mind you, but nothing super-refined either.

I believe the shoes are Blake stitched (not sure if it’s “rapid” or not). The interior was pretty comfortable, even to wear barefooted. If that’s important to you, then this shoe provides a comfy interior for bare skin.

My takeaway: If you have slightly wider feet, then these will work out for you. In terms of length, you definite want to size down 0.5 size, if not a full size. The $250 price tag isn’t bad and feels like a fair retail price for these, although I’d probably consider other shoes (non-double monks) instead before purchasing these myself. In comparison to other double monks, I definitely like the Moras better. But I doubt you’d find a comparable double monk for the same price.

Some would suggest you save up an additional $100-$150 and get something of a higher quality. If that’s an acceptable alternative for you, then I’d agree. I was pretty close to keeping these up until the heel slip while walking, fortunately that’s not a decision I have to make.

So, these are back off to Yoox.

(ADDING: Sorry for the poor photography. I’m shooting this at my office on my cellphone.)

Review: Biased Cut dress shirt

After a bit of an ordeal, my first custom-made dress shirt arrived from Biased Cut. In short, I’m pleased with it and would definitely order from Biased Cut again in the future. For this review, I wore the shirt pretty much the entire weekend, sweated in it, got caught in a rainstorm in it and spilled nachos on it. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t like wearing it.

Still, my praise is not without criticisms, none of which are what I’d call deal-breakers and they’re all easily resolved. The one thing I give Biased Cut enormous credit for is their customer service and willingness to take on additional customizations not listed on their site (more on this later).

The shirt fits me well. I should note that I took measurements off of another well-fitting shirt (one made by MyTailor.com) to use as a baseline for this shirt. If you don’t have a well-fitting shirt, then you’ll be forced to use the option of measuring yourself or using a few questions and basic neck/sleeve measurements to get a shirt. I can’t comment on the rest of these options because it’s not the route I chose to take.

Wearing the shirt, it’s comfortable and doesn’t feel too tight or restrictive. They have options for “slim” or “normal” fit, and I chose the “slim” option. The “normal” option will give you more room in the torso, bicep and armhole. If you’re used to the Brooks Brothers Extra Slim Fit line, then go with the “slim” option, because I feel they’re similar in some respects.

In regards to the back of the shirt, Biased Cut does two things — one of which actually alters the fit of the shirt. The first is to add darts on the back, which is something none of my other shirts have. You can request that they not add darts by emailing customer service after you place your order. I decided to give it a shot since it is a part of their idea of how the shirt should fit.

The darts definitely do reduce the blousing effect on the shirt’s back and waist area when tucked in. I’m overall not sold on darting my shirts just yet, but I can see the appeal. In terms of aesthetics, I’m just not sure if I like how it looks and as my tailor once commented, it can definitely remind one of a women’s shirt.

I will say that the darting doesn’t strike me as too visible or noticeable on this particular fabric (I chose the “Everton”, a light-blue steel chambray), but would probably make any sort of patterned shirt look odd when the pattern doesn’t line up along those seams.

The second signature of the Biased Cut shirt’s back is the full-length back pleat. As you probably know from all of your other shirts, this is really unusual and I’ve never seen this done elsewhere. Visually, it adds a line on your torso that creates some sort of vertical line down your back. Functionally, it does nothing. The pleat is non-functional and is just extra fabric that’s purely decorative. So, unlike a traditional back pleat that actually adds real bulk to a shirt’s back (usually to allow for extra movement), this is just there for looks.

I like the look of the full-length back pleat, however, one obvious downside to it came about when I had to iron my shirt after washing it. The pleat’s folds came undone and needed to be re-pressed. This was a bit frustrating to deal with and a bit of a hassle I hadn’t anticipated. For future orders, I will definitely ask that my shirts not have a full-length back pleat.

The shirt’s quality seems pretty good. The stitching looks much better than off-the-rack shirts I’ve bought before (Nordstrom, Brooks Brothers) and definitely better than any of my MTM shirts from Modern Tailor. I’d put the quality on par with MyTailor.

The buttons are mother of pearl and are securely sewn on. Unlike the Modern Tailor cuffs, these cuffs are soft and comfortable on the wrists, yet still have enough rigid structure to them to hold up. Oh, and they include a button on the sleeve plackets, which is nice.

One detail that I really enjoyed was how the top button of the shirt on the collar was actually smaller than the rest of the buttons on the placket. I assume this is for when you’re wearing a necktie that it doesn’t get in the way of the knot and add bulk. Not a big detail and definitely subtle, but still shows some extra thought went into that detail.

The collar itself was also pretty good. It felt stiff enough to stay up, but not like a cardboard box around your neck. I chose the standard spread collar and the length on it worked well enough with all my jackets. One thing I cannot stand is the trend toward shorter collars, which increases the likelihood of the dreaded collar gap — plus, thicker bladed neckties tend to stick out from under the collar, too. No worries about that here.

As I mentioned earlier, there are some more customizations you can do to your order that are worth knowing about. I think the approach Biased Cut gives its customers through its online user interface is one of simplicity. Pick a shirt, enter measurements, pick a few limited details and order it. Unlike a lot of other online MTM dress shirt sites, they have a lot less visible choices for customization. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get extra details and additions done or make special requests.

For instance, some shirts don’t come with a pocket. But you can request a pocket be added (I did for this shirt, and I find pockets are very essential functional elements for my EDC because they carry my calendar and pen).

You can also add a club collar or contrast collar (or both!) to any shirt. You can also have a non-contrast or non-club collar and have a “normal” collar using the same shirt fabric on any contrast or club-collared shirt. So, that’s worth noting and means you could get the Basso in a spread, bengal-striped collar.

As previously mentioned, you can ask that the full-length back pleat and darts not be included as well. And I don’t know this for a fact, but I’m sure you could ask that your button-cuffed shirt either have a mitred or rounded edge. As for any other customized details, I’d just ask them by sending an email before you order to see what’s possible.

Where do I place Biased Cut in comparison to other MTM online shirtmakers? I think Modern Tailor has a huge selection and quick turnaround time, but suffers from quality control issues that’s pretty much made me hesitate to use them again, even at sale prices. MyTailor is great for their optional, in-person service to take your measurements and let you consult fabric books. Their quality is also very good and their selection is huge. The downside, however, is the turnaround time of 6 to 8 weeks and their prices tend to be a little bit higher than Biased Cut.

So, I think Biased Cut hits a good compromise. They have the quality, they have a reasonable turnaround time of 3 to 4 weeks and the pricepoint sits lower than MyTailor. Their largest weakness is that they don’t offer a large amount of fabrics nor a lot of the crazy customization options you might see on other sites. Still, don’t let this distract you from the fact that if you have a well-fitting shirt to base your measurements off of and they have a fabric that is appealing to you (they certainly do stock the basics), then they’re a good deal.

I plan to use them again in the future (along with MyTailor) and will be keeping an eye out for the fabrics they’re stocking from season to season.

Review: Cerbero suede tassel loafers

I’ve been looking for a pair of suede tassel loafers for a while now. I wanted a more sleek design, however, wasn’t really looking to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair that I’d probably only wear through the summer. While some designs were really enticing, like Alden’s tassel moccasin, it just wasn’t in the cards for me. 

Enter Yoox and the Cerbero shoe brand.

I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical on the idea of shoes around the $100 price point from a brand whose website doesn’t offer very many details. From what their website says, they’ve been around since 1955 and do all their work in Italy (if anyone else has any other intel, please do share). Previously, L.A.S. had written about Cerbero double-monk shoes at Sartorially Inclined, but there’s not much solid information or reviews out there for this brand of shoes.

But I had a coupon code and Yoox had free shipping (plus it’s only $6 to do return shipping), so I figured I’d grab a pair in two different styles and see what they’re like. I got the ones shown above and also this pair (which I sent back: they felt tighter on my foot and the leather lining felt stiffer, plus the footbed’s stitching felt much more rough to wear barefoot).

For the pair I kept, I really liked them. They were comfortable to wear sockless and felt rather flexible. They have leather soles and I believe they’re “Blake” stitched (if someone can tell by the photos, please let me know if I’m right/wrong). While not unlined, the leather lining on these feels nice.

The moccasin toe stitching can’t be felt by my feet, which is nice. While not as comfortable as my Topsider boat shoes, they’re definitely getting there. I’ve worn them twice and walked around downtown Chicago on them for several blocks just to break them in a bit and they’ve yet to give me any blisters.

For the price ($125 on sale right now), I think they’re a decent deal. The model I got is in dark brown (chocolate) suede, but they also have grey, black and dark (midnight or navy) blue. There’s also several other non-tassel loafers and suede closed-toe captoes with or without semi-broguing.

You’ll probably want to avoid their regular leather shoes though, as they all look to be “corrected” grain leather, which the copywriters have spun as “polished” leather (if you’re not familiar with the terms, Put This On has a primer you should read). I’m not a suede expert, so I can’t comment on the quality of their suede, but it doesn’t strike me as any better or worse than my Clarks desert boots or vintage Polo bucks.

In terms of sizing, I’d size down at least a half size. I happen to be a 10.5D and sized down to a 10 after reading their shoes run a bit long (plus, I was planning on wearing them sockless).

Would I call these a steal? Probably not — more like a fair shoe for the price. I’d put in the realm of getting a pair of boat shoes from Sperry, a desert boot from Clarks or bucks from G.H. Bass. I wouldn’t call them an “investment” shoe, but a nice shoe at an alternative price.

Review: SWIMS overshoes

This spring has been especially rainy and had me rethinking a lot of my wardrobe in terms of how to best address the puddles and downpours we’ve had in the Land of Lincoln.

My winter solution for snow was to wear L.L.Bean boots to commute and change into a pair of dress shoes at work. For a spring/summer/fall solution to the rain, I decided to finally look into buying a pair of overshoes.

I ended up buying a pair of navy-colored SWIMS from Brooks Brothers during their Friends & Family sale. I’ve had the chance to wear them a couple of times and can say they’ve worked out just fine.

What sets SWIMS apart from other overshoes (aside from the cost)? The company likes to boast the velvet interior that “polishes your shoes” while you walk, but I’m just really partial to the fact they have colors available other than the standard black. I picked navy because it would fit in with my wardrobe and would look nice over either black or brown shoes.

They fit over my Allen Edmonds shoes quite nicely, however, don’t expect to use these to cover your suede bucks. If you have a really thick, chunky rubber sole on your shoes, these probably won’t fit (also, why are you wearing suede in the rain?), so be aware of that. But for any leather-soled shoe, these work just fine.

How well do they keep the water out? Pretty damned well, I’d say. I wore them in a downpour in downtown Chicago around Navy Pier and at the end of the night the leather was fairly dry — even the exposed part of the upper.

In terms of sizing, since I planned to wear them mostly over my Allen Edmonds shoes, I took their sizing recommendations (Medium: 8.5-9, Large: 9.5-10, X-Large: 10.5-11, XX-Large: 11.5-12). Brooks Brothers gives another sizing guideline, but I chose to ignore it. If you find yourself on the lower end of that measurement — like me, I’m a 10.5 — you could consider sizing down. Mine’s a slight bit loose while walking, but not terribly so. I considered swapping it for a size smaller, however, I was slightly worried that a smaller overshoe that would be stretched more might prematurely tear from the stress over time. So, it’s your call on that.

As far as pricing goes, they’re definitely one of the more expensive overshoes on the market, retailing around $100. Brooks Brothers sells them for $98 (black, blue and orange). Allen Edmonds sells them for $95 (black, brown and blue). But the best deal right now on SWIMS comes from Orvis, which has them on sale for $74 (black, brown, orange).

The one minor gripe I have is their excessive branding. It’s all over the sole, on the heel and most discretely on the upper (pictured above). It’s not terrible by any imagination, but I just don’t feel that the branding adds anything.

Regardless, if you’re in an area that rains frequently and you wear dress shoes often enough that you want to protect them on the commute in a mildly stylish way, SWIMS might be for you. Whether or not you think they’re worth $50-80 more than a pair of Tingley’s overshoes is a call you’ll have to make.

Review: Florsheim Veblen longwing brogues

A few days ago I wrote about what makes a good dress shoe so expensive, and it’s generally hard to find a quality pair at an “entry-level” price in comparison to lots of other lower-quality shoes out there. 

Finding a dress shoe that’s under $200, Goodyear welted and that looks just really sharp seems almost white whale territory. And then there’s these Florsheim Veblens, which got a lot of people excited and some rave reviews from those who have had hands on with them.

And you know what? I get the hype. I want a pair — in “wine” if that matters — after seeing my roommate’s longwings.

We’re not the same size foot, so you’ll have to take his word for the comfort level, which he describes as “very” good. And yet these things are beasts! The oak wood heel and thick sole give the shoe enough heft and weight to be used as a club to beat back rabid dogs and home invaders.

And they look really nice, too. The leather is soft and comes with a great shine to it. The brogue detailing is simple but still has a bit of ornateness to it. I’m not an expert on shoe stitching, but they didn’t strike me as more or less better constructed than the few pairs of Allen Edmonds I own (if someone knows how to compare this and needs specific photographic details to do so, then let me know and I’ll try to snap a few pictures).

So, I really like these. I’m highly considering getting one as I could use a pair of burgundy longwings. I don’t consider myself a shoe expert by any means, but from my limited knowledge of seeing other Florsheim products, this seems a heckuva lot nicer and better.

When you consider you could get your basic black and brown brogue dress shoes bought for the same price as getting one pair of Allen Edmonds, then this seems like a good deal.

My roommate’s happy with them. I’m impressed with them. It certainly could be up your alley, too.

If you’re thinking about getting a pair, then now might be a good time to spring for them. Florsheim is offering 15% off if you use coupon code VER1015 and free shipping on orders over $100. This knocks the price down to $136 a pair, which is ridiculously reasonable.

You should also be aware that Florsheim will be adding a navy/cream spectator colorway this fall. You can see photos of that shoe and other shoes in the Florsheim Limited line at Alexander Grant’s blog.

As for the rest of the Florsheim Limited line, I’m not sure that all the shoes are Goodyear welted, at least based on their copywriting. Certainly, the Veblen has the higher pricepoint, which may very well be because of the Goodyear welt. If anyone else has details on the particulars of this line as a whole, please let me know.

Review: TheTieBar.com neckties

Read enough menswear blogs and the question always comes up from someone about where one can find cheap — but good! — neckties. And almost always the answer that’s given is TheTieBar.com.

This is the response I gave my roommate who asked where he could find skinny ties and I pointed him to TheTieBar.com’s wide selection. I’d had a good experience with their bowties and knew that others had come to the same, relatively positive, experience with the site’s offerings in the past.

He bought three of them, one knit, two regular silk ties. For $15 a pop, plus $6 flat shipping, I think this is a pretty good deal if you’re not the kind of person who can justify spending a lot of money to choke your neck and collar.

The knit tie was of particular interest to me. Skinnier silk knits are obviously having more of a trendy moment right now and not everyone can afford Drakes, J.Press, etc. How do these stack up? They are extremely thin and lack that hand-made feel that you get from a higher-quality tie. Certainly, they look better than some of the polyester/silk blend knit ties out there, but they don’t have that heft and thickness that I prefer. In the past, I’ve caught the Lands’ End silk knits on sale for $13-$25 and the LE ties are a much better deal in terms of quality construction, even at their full retail price.

The look of the ties, however, for that price is just fine. They don’t look bad at all, even up close and if you’re going to build a wardrobe on the cheap of a few colors of them, then this is an alternative. It’s your call if you think $15 is a fair price to have several of them, or if you want to just spend $70-$150 for just one super nice quality silk knit (and this goes with all the ties here). Certainly, I think the silk knits will be the ones that put most people on the fence about TheTieBar.com’s quality and value.

For TheTieBar.com’s regular silk ties, I think it’s a very different story. I think they have a good thickness and hand to them for the price. Again, don’t go expecting a super-high quality construction and feel of those Italian or English-made neckties you have, but for this price point in comparison to other retailers that sell neckwear for 2-4 times the price, I think these stack up.

I think the easiest comparison to how these feel being tied and in hand would be Tommy Hilfiger’s neckties. For ties in that price range, I like TH’s ties for how they knot and have one I wear quite frequently. TheTieBar.com’s silk ties feel almost exactly the same minus the retail markup.

Again, I feel like these ties are good for when you want to build up the basics in your closet quickly and at a low cost. If you’re the kind of person who thinks neckties in the $30-60 range at full retail is what you are willing to pay, then just use TheTieBar.com instead. Honestly, if you’re buying made-in-China ties with branded names on the back, then you’re overpaying and could be getting the same thing for much less.

My final verdict on TheTieBar.com would be to use them if you’re not willing to pay the full prices for Italian and English-made neckwear and are paying for the made-in-China range branded neckwear. You’ll save a lot of money and have a huge selection.

I’m not blown away by these ties, but I do think they charge an extremely reasonable and unbeatable price for the quality you’re getting.

I will add the caveat that you could find much nicer neckwear at greatly discounted prices if you spent the time thrifting and on eBay, but I do understand not everyone has that kind of time. If you’re just trying to get the basics and be done with it, then TheTieBar.com will do the job quite well. And it’ll make you really rethink all those retail prices.