A Return to Sporting Dress

The Sport Jacket Returns

Esquire magazine, that men's rag that is at least usable as a fashion guide compare to the over-the-top laughable items professed by GQ, indicates that the sport coat is the new statement of the alpha male when is says a sport coat easily acts as all-purpose outerwear and tells the world that you're not messing around. Not even off-duty. even off-duty.

John Varvatos Gray Sport Jacket

This last fall I bought not one, not two, but three sport coats.  An action that is very unusual given the lack of actually needing a sport coat for work or play.  I still had a great black leather jacket and a couple of cool sport coats from years past and as often as I am required to go upscale in dress even slightly, those could work.  But there was this checked Hugo Boss that was a steal and the John Varatos gray that would go with anything both end of summer wear on the rack, and finally a Michael Kors micro cord brown that just screamed wear me with jeans in the fall and winter.  How did I know I was responding to a fashion trend.

One real issue I have with fashion is cost.  The sport being worn by the alpha male to the left is cashmere and wool and says it cost $3,395.  Hello!  Anyone home in there.  Aren't we still in a recession.  There are starving kids with HIV in Africa how could you be so hedonistic?  I can buy a used car that will work very well for just a few dollars more.

Michael Kors Black Cord Jacket

But cost was not an issue with the Michael Kors.  You can now buy it online for less than I


 paid -- $139.  A real steal.  And now I find it also comes in Black. 

Another alpha male fashion action is to knot up for no reason.  Esquire adeptly says: There is no better way to get people guessing where you're going, or where you're coming from, than to wear a tie when you don't have to. A low-key knit tie, a big-balls patterned tie, whatever: A tie means you have places to be. Even if that place is a barstool. And as you can see from the photo below, I have no problem with knotting up for no reason.  Or even adding a vest.

Finally don't forget the brown shoes.  Black shoes says I am standing quietly in the background, but brown says, hey there is something going on downtown.  Here is a video on dress coats in New York, but look at the shoes.  Be they dark oil skin brown or light brown, brown is what is all about.  Even with a brown Michael Kors sport coat.