Cool Weather Wardrobe Essentials [0:00:00]
[Music] The first item on my list of cold weather
wardrobe essentials, the double-breasted knit blazer. Now, double-breasted jackets, raise
your hand if you own one. Bueller? Yeah, out of the thousands of people watching this video,
I saw four of you raise your hands. I get it, a double-breasted suit or blazer
not really practical, unless you own ten-plus suits. But, here's the thing, a double-breasted
sweater jacket, that is going to be much more casual. And a color gray like this, it’s
going to match pretty much anything in your wardrobe.
Seriously, gents, this one item could level up your style and hope you stand apart from
all the other guys out there. Now, the rules on wearing a double-breasted
sweater jacket, very similar to a sports jacket or a blazer, basically when you stand, you
want to button the jacket. That right there is going to create a more uniform look.
Right here, you’ll notice I've got the the Y look and that's I've got two sets of buttons,
and then another set that kind of goes out. You want to make sure you find a jacket if
you're going to go with double-breasted, always go with the Y, avoid the V, that's a bad design.
Now, the shirts. You want to make sure you wear something with a collar. I prefer a dress
shirt, you can go with a polo, or even a button-down. In this case, you see I’m actually going
with a sweater that builds up the neck and has a bit of a collar to it.
The overall design, you're going to see we've got a breast pocket here, two patch pockets,
we have no vents in the back and we have no button right here. So, when it comes to levels
of formality, I would put this below the sports jacket.
And, again, that's its strength. It's casual, yet it has a little bit more of a formal design.
It's going to stand out from what most the other guys are wearing during the holidays
during this winter. What I really love is you can layer with this and it's just a great
looking piece that, again, is going to help you stand out from the crowd.
The second item on my list, the classic turtleneck sweater. Now, I know some of you guys are
saying, “Antonio, turtlenecks are not my thing.” And, guys that say this usually
have two reasons why they don't like turtlenecks. Number one, they just don't like the look,
they don't feel it's manly enough or it's not comfortable.
First up, let's address the look, let's address the manliness of the turtleneck sweater. Guys,
if you don't know the history, this goes back to the working class man that spent a lot
of time out on the water. We're talking sailors. This was something that was sewn for them.
And they had that right here around the neck, not only to keep in the heat, but also, hey,
if you get water thrown on you – you probably know about wool. Wool, 40 to 50% of its weight
it can absorb in water and still feel dry. That's why the turtleneck was just such a
great piece for sailors. Fast forward to World War II, we see the turtleneck
continuing to serve men as standard issue especially in the silent service. I'm talking
submarines. You saw this as standard issue because it worked.
And, whenever you're on a submarine, you're deep down there, you want to keep it quiet,
the heater is not going to be on for a while, you wear a turtleneck to stay warm. Whenever
you're up on the surface trying t, you know, get some speed going and you're up there on
top, you get water splashed on you, guess what? You're wearing your turtleneck, it's
going to do a great job serving you in a variety of situations.
All right. So, at this point you're convinced it's manly, but how to wear a turtleneck and
make it look good? Well, let's go check out Steve McQueen in
the movie, Bullitt. Look at this right here, he's wearing that turtleneck just making it
look amazing, matching it up with sports jackets. So, does this mean you always have to layer
it always have to wear with a sports jacket? Of course not. You can wear it by itself.
In fact, look at James Bond in the movie, Spectre, just a really nice look. Come on,
Daniel Craig pulling this off. Guys, you can too.
Now, let's address the issue with comfort. You want to make sure you go with a sweater
that's made from a quality merino wool. Pay attention to the material because if you get
something cheap, that's when it's going to start itching around the neck. Basically,
the barbs at the end of the wool fiber are going to go into the neck and it just irritates,
and that's what you want to avoid. Now, that navy turtleneck, I absolutely love
it. I love the classic color. But, this one right here is made from cashmere. And in case
you don't know what the difference is, cashmere comes from goats. It's going to be finer,
it's going to be a bit thinner, and it's going to feel even softer. I mean, that merino wool
is nice, but this is, yeah, just amazing. Now, guys, at this point I want to let you
know, all the clothing you're seeing in today's video is brought to you by John Henric. Now,
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on the buttons. Then, I looked at their sweaters. I put on
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they've got all these really cool designs. I don't know who is their designer, but I
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got a lot of style, more style than I've got. So, they sent me all these pieces. That double-breasted
blazer I showed you at the very beginning, that is an amazing piece. And, yeah, I didn't
have anything like that and so, I got it, I'm just like this thing is going to start
the video off. I went through and just looked at all the
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the quality is top notch. [0:05:08]
Now, the next item on my list is going to be the shirt jacket. Notice how this works
really well with that cashmere turtleneck. You've got that textured material underneath.
You got the turtleneck right in here. You got that green color mixing it with the blue
not much contrast, but this is a really smart nice look. And what I like about this is,
again, it's casual. So, the shirt jacket, if you're not familiar,
this is going to be made in a jacket style, but from a shirt material. This one using
a plain basket weave. And that's why I love John Henric, they take something so simple,
but they make it look really nice. And I love how all their items work together, so it's
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down in the description. Next up on the list, twilled chinos in deep
rich colors. So, I said a few things there, first up, twilled chinos. So, you're going
to see chinos out there made for summer and they're going to usually have a weave that's
going to be a little bit more breathable. Twill, this is one of the tightest weaves
out there. And so, whenever you touch twill, this is going to be thicker, heavier. It's
also going to be something that isn't going to be as breathable, which is great for the
cooler time of the year because a lot of people think chinos and think, “Oh, it's only a
summer pant.” Not exactly. There are certain chinos, again, out there
not only the weave, but also the color, and that's why I said deep rich hues. Hues are
actually where they take a color and they add basically a little bit of black a little
bit of gray to it. It makes the color a bit darker.
So, for me, you want to go with that darker richer maroon, so like a red there. Right
here, I've got this beautiful green, doesn’t it look good? Maybe go for that dark navy.
This is a great time of the year for it. You can go with the khaki, but go with that darker
richer khaki if you're going to go for it. Another thing to look for a chino is they
have a bit of a napped surface. And so, a nap surface is after they treat the material,
feels soft. What's nice about nap surfaces is they trap air and they do a better job
of insulation and keeping you warm. Oh! And when looking for quality chinos, you
want to make sure you go for at least a two- button front. Why? Because it's going to better
distribute the weight, it's going to be much more comfortable than a single button where
all the weight and all the tension is going to be. They're just much more comfortable.
Trust me on this one. The next winter wardrobe essential, the right
bag. And I'm going to make the case for the tote. A lot of you guys say, “Antonio, come
on. I would never use a tote. That's a woman's bag.” No, it isn't if you know the history
on the tote. This was basically just a catch-all. And that's what I love about this bag is it's
so functional. It's going to be deeper than a lot of other bags out there, so it can fit
a wide range of different things. What I like is I can just drop my laptop into this. I
can easily carry books, just things I want to throw in there.
And in fact, it was in the Marine Corps when I had a pilot's bag, that was actually the
same size and actually were many totes where the idea originates is being able to hold
something that would basically fit into the square. So, it was a very functional bag and
it got picked up on the women's side. So many guys, never even have a tote. So,
if you're looking for a gift, you want to try a different style bag, something that's
going to fit your laptop and all your books, go out there and look at the different totes.
Now, if you're going to choose one for winter especially this time of the year, I like to
go with something with a dark color, maybe like a nylon or a material that isn't going
to take stains easily. So, a very functional and, yeah, a great thing to have during the
winter. Now, let's talk about bold patterns, bold
patterns for your shirts. Right here, you see an awning stripe, a little bit thicker
a little bit heavier than the bangle stripe. Bangle stripes about a quarter of an inch
and that's pretty strong as well. But, the awning stripe, this is about one-third of
an inch to sometimes half an inch. This is a very bold pattern and I'm not going
to recommend that you just wear the shirt with a pair of trousers. I would recommend
that you layer. And it's the time of the year that you're going to layer. And that's what's
great about this is that we're going to cover up a bit of the shirt in general when we're
wearing pieces, but this combination this bold look is great for the cooler weather.
The next bold pattern on my list, paisley, and shout out to my friends over in India,
you know where this comes from. So, paisley, this has been in menswear for a long time.
Most of the time we see it in accessories; pocket squares sometimes in neckties, but
I do think you can pull it off in a shirt. Again, when you're going to be layering, when
this isn't going to be something you can wear with just the trousers. Although, if you want
to go for that look, you can, but when you go for a really bold shirt like this, I think
it looks best when you bring in other pieces with it and go with the layered look.
That being said, there are exceptions to the rule. Note this paisley right here, really
nice because it's muted and I could actually wear this just as a shirt and trousers. But,
because it's winter because it's getting cool, I want to make sure and layer it and that's
where this is really going to shine. People from a distance will think it's a solid,
but when they get up close and they see that pattern and it's going to pop. In fact, let's
see what that's going to look like. Hmm, beautiful, right? I love this combination. You got that
brown with green. Green, one of my favorite colors.
And that takes us to the next item on this list, the v-neck sweater. Now, nothing against
crewneck sweaters. I think they're great they're awesome, but v-necks, they work so nice with
layering. Again, you wear a shirt like this, you're able to show more of the collar. It’s
a natural overall look and, yeah, it just is beautiful.
[0:10:06] Now, looking at this combination right here,
I'm wondering could I bring in a necktie? And that's the next item on the list, a wool
knitted necktie. So, if you've never tried one of these casual,
this isn't going to be like a silk necktie that you want to wear with the suit. But,
for a casual combination like this, yeah, you could pull it off. Go with the brown,
got that paisley, the nice basically very simple pattern here mixed in with the green.
The other thing I may be I probably want to wear a canvas or a jacket over this to bring
because I've almost got too much napped surface right here with the sweater and then with
this. But, I don't know, what do you think? Let me know in the comments. Do you think
this combination could work? Next up on the list, corduroy. I've talked
about corduroy trousers, but let's talk about corduroy jackets. This jacket right here is
shirt jacket. So, I've talked about this style earlier in the video, but let's talk in particular
about the corduroy fabric. So, what's nice about this is it gives a textured
look, an overall textured feel, but corduroy for the most part is going to be made from
cotton, so it's very durable. Right here, we've got this shirt with a sheen on it, very
nice beautiful pattern you got that paisley. And then, you've got this rugged kind of corduroy
on top. Even though there's not a whole lot of contrast in the color, because there's
a contrast in the texture of the material, it just feels right and it's a nice combination.
And here's another look with a navy sweater jacket. This one similar to the one at the
start except this one is single-breasted. So, if that whole double-breasted thing is
too much for you, then look at a single-breasted sweater jacket. And this is a sweater jacket,
not a cardigan. And the difference being, this one has that breast patch pocket right
here. In addition, I've got the two pockets down
at the bottom and it's also got the fold over with the lapels right in here and so that's
the small difference. But, I really like them, I mean cardigans are cool, but, yeah, these
jacket, yeah, these sweater jackets really unique.
And, of course, let's not forget the sweater polo. Now, the sweater polo gets its name
because of the collar design similar to a polo. It's usually going to have about three
buttons on the front although there are many designs out there with no buttons.
Point being is we've got that nice soft collar. We're going to have usually longer sleeve,
although there are shorter sleeve ones for the summer. Point being is that this is a
classic that every man should have in his winter wardrobe.
Okay. So at this point if you're like, “Antonio, come on. You got to give me more. You didn't
even talk about leather bags.” You're exactly right, so guess what? I cover more in this
video right here 21 wardrobe essentials that every young man needs to own. Now, if you're
not so young, it's still going to apply to you. And this is more of a full year wardrobe.
And, by the way, this leather bag, found over at John Henric, amazing bags over there, guys.
So, make sure to use that link down in the description and go check out John Henric.
[0:12:36] End of audio