SLOW DOWN: You Only Need One
Why Your Favorite Piece of Clothing Made You Buy a Bunch of Crap
Do as I say, not as I do.
I own more than one of everything I’m about to list.
But there’s always one that calls louder than the rest.
It’s usually not the flashiest, the best label, or the most impressive receipt.
It’s the most lived-in, and the one that feels most like me. Usually, it’s also the reason the clutter started: another cuff, another wash, another label, all trying to recreate the magic.
The Suit
Most of us only put on a suit out of necessity now.
Office dress codes disappeared, and company-man quarter-zips replaced fine tailoring. A suit became less of a daily requirement and more cake-eater cosplay.
The fucked up part is, you’ll probably never look better than when you’re in a suit.
They’ll take everything if you let them.
Anyway. You really only need one.
I’ll always recommend navy if you’re only going to have one, even though my go-to right now is a green Sid Mashburn suit I had made a few years back.
Never trust an expert.
When you’re looking for that one suit, lean into luxury. That does not mean buying the most expensive suit you can swipe for. There is more luxury in fit than in a fat price tag and a flashy name.
That could mean Indochino, or going to a brand you’ve been making eyes at and having them make something special just for you.
Word to the wise: you’re going to look great in anything made for you unless a butcher made it.
You still only need one.
Spend your money on strong shirting, sexual ties, and devilish footwear. One suit can turn you into many different men.
The Watch
I love watches. This is not that.
I’ve collected, sold, and traded my way through enough of them to know one thing: I am not a watch guy.
I wear a Datejust every day.
You know why?
It’s never out of place.
The days I spent planning my outfit around the Hulk Sub, the fit usually flopped.
I don’t want to talk about movements or ADs. I want my watch to fall in line.
I’m not telling you to blow a bag on a watch. Find something that works, then wear the fuck out of it.
Let it look worn, not worshiped or, worse, neglected.
The guy with the most to say about his watch rarely has much to say at all.
That said, I can’t wait to buy my next one.
The Double-Knee Pants
This might be a me thing.
I understand these have real utility, and a lot of people genuinely need more than one pair. But for me, they are stolen valor.
So much so that my go-to double-knees aren’t even Carhartt. They’re Ralph Country.
I wear them because they’re fucking cool, and because I wish I could do a little real-world building instead of just the literary kind.
I own multiple pairs because I am sick. In a rare turn of events, my favorite pair was not the first one I bought. I’ve returned three pairs since finding the Ralphs. Each one got further from the magic.
I am, in my truest form, closer to a cake-eater than a carpenter.
Even if you buy them for function, not fashion, I’d still recommend only having one pair. Wear them every day for months, beat them to shit, let them live, then sell them to people like me for five times what you paid.
Some people are really sick.
Swim Trunks?
Hear me out.
Most are still rocking eighth-grade-style boardshorts, or they put absolutely no thought into their swim trunks at all.
Let’s put a little thought into it.
If you put in the work to look good in trunks, why spit on it with a blown-out pair of Billabongs?
One good pair is better than a bunch of throwaway trunks that make you look like an extra on The O.C. or hug you in all the wrong places.
When I’m really looking to get wet, I go for the Montauk Trunk by Todd Snyder.
Nice enough to wear around the resort or beach town without looking like you couldn’t care less or getting lost in a sea of Baggies.
That is the job.
A good pair of swim trunks gets you aquatic, full, burnt, and almost overdressed by sunset.
You’re not going to know you have that one good thing until you take it out into the world with some walking-around money.
Once you do, it’s not always about upgrading it, replacing it, or trying to find the same magic in a different version. There’s no point in reinventing the wheel when it already gets you fitted.
What’s the one item you keep failing to reinvent?
-SP