Style Guide

The Sweater, Settled: Weights, Necklines and What to Buy First
Every sweater is a neckline, a weight and a stitch. Understand those three and the whole category makes sense. Sweater is a word covering an enormous range of garments, and the range is less confusing than it looks, because every sweater is just three decisions: a neckline, a weight and a stitch. Once you can read those three, you can look at any sweater and know what it is for, how warm it is and what it will go with. The Necklines Crew. A plain round neck sitting at the... Read more...
Track Jackets: From the Touchline to Everywhere Else
A track jacket is the lightest useful layer there is. Here is how to wear one without it looking like half a tracksuit. A track jacket is a lightweight zip-front jacket with a stand collar, usually with ribbed or elasticated cuffs and hem. It came from athletics warm-up kit in the middle of the last century and it has never left ordinary clothing since. It is the lightest layer that still counts as outerwear, which makes it the most useful thing to own for the parts of the year that... Read more...
Joggers or Sweatpants? The Difference, and Which to Buy
Joggers taper and cuff at the ankle. Sweatpants do not. That one difference decides almost everything else. The two words get used interchangeably and they describe two genuinely different garments. A jogger tapers from the thigh toward the ankle and finishes in an elasticated or ribbed cuff. The leg is closed at the bottom. A sweatpant runs straight or wide from the thigh to a plain open hem. The leg is open at the bottom. Both are usually made from the same fleece-backed knitted fabric and both usually have a... Read more...
How to Wear a Hoodie and Still Look Put Together
A hoodie reads as casual by default. The trouser, the shoe and the layer above are what change that. A hoodie is the most casual thing most people own, and it stays that way or does not depending almost entirely on what surrounds it. With a track pant and a sneaker it is loungewear. With a straight leg trouser, a clean shoe and a proper jacket over it, the same hoodie reads as a deliberate outfit. The garment is not the variable. Pullover or Zip? They behave differently and it... Read more...
How to Style a Crewneck Sweatshirt So It Looks Deliberate
A crewneck is a blank shape. What you put with it is the entire difference between casual and considered. A crewneck sweatshirt has no detail. No collar, no hood, no fastening, no pockets. That is what makes it useful and it is also what makes it easy to wear badly. With a track pant and a sneaker, a crewneck is loungewear. With a straight leg trouser and a boot, the exact same garment reads as a considered outfit. Nothing about the sweatshirt changed. So the styling is entirely in what... Read more...
Long Sleeve T-Shirts: The Layer You Reach for Most
The long sleeve tee is the layer that does the most and gets thought about the least. Here is how to buy a good one. The long sleeve tee is the most worn garment in most wardrobes and the one people put the least thought into buying. It is worn alone in spring and fall, under everything in winter, and it is the first layer against you on more days than anything else. Which means it is worth getting right, and getting it right is four things. One: The Weight... Read more...
Brown, Stone and Olive: Color in a Trouser, Done Quietly
Brown, stone and olive are as easy to wear as black once you know what they go with. Here is the short version. Most people own black trousers, gray trousers and blue jeans, and then stop, because anything else feels like a decision. It is not much of a decision. Brown, stone, olive, camel and sand behave like neutrals. They go with nearly everything, they are considerably less common than black, and they make a plain outfit look like it was thought about. Why Earth Tones Are Easier Than They... Read more...
Wide-Leg Jeans: How to Wear the Bigger Leg
A wide leg only works with a high rise and the right length. Get those two right and the rest is straightforward. Wide-leg jeans have been the dominant denim shape for several years now, and they are genuinely easier to wear than a slim leg, as long as two measurements are right. Those two are the rise and the hem length. Almost every wide-leg outfit that does not work has gone wrong on one of them. The Rise Is Not Optional A wide leg needs a high or mid-high rise,... Read more...
What Is a Crewneck? The Sweatshirt That Never Went Away
A crewneck is a round-necked pullover with no hood and no collar. Simple, and the reason it never goes out. A crewneck is any pullover with a plain round neckline that sits close to the base of the neck. No hood, no collar, no buttons, no zipper. The name describes the neckline and nothing else, which is why it covers everything from a heavy sweatshirt to a fine knit. The neckline is the only thing they have in common. It has been made continuously since the 1920s, when it was... Read more...
Black Pants: The Base Layer of Every Outfit You Own
A black trouser does more work than anything else in a wardrobe. Here is how to choose one and how to keep it black. If you own one trouser, own a black one. It goes with everything, it reads smarter than any other color in the same cut, and it is the piece that lets the rest of the wardrobe be interesting. That is the whole argument and it is a strong one. What follows is how to choose the right black trouser and, more usefully, how to stop it... Read more...
Trousers, Explained: The Cuts Worth Knowing
Most trouser confusion comes down to three measurements. Here is what rise, break and taper actually mean, and which cut to buy first. Trousers are described with a lot of words that sound technical and are not. Rise, break, taper, inseam. Each one describes a single measurement, and once you know all four you can read any product listing and know how the trouser will actually sit. This is that explanation, plus which cut to buy first if you are starting from nothing. The Four Measurements Rise. The distance from... Read more...
Cargo Pants: How to Wear Them Without Looking Like You Tried
Cargo pants are a simple trouser with pockets on the leg. Getting them right is mostly about the cut and keeping everything else plain. A cargo pant is a trouser with large patch pockets on the outside of the leg, usually at the thigh. That is the only thing that makes it a cargo. Everything else, the cut, the fabric, the waist, varies as widely as it does on any other trouser. They came from military uniform, moved into workwear, and have been in and out of ordinary clothing ever... Read more...