Nothing like a good dinner with your well dressed boys, even if it was brief.

If you’re wondering why I didn’t cover the Ring Jacket trunk show at the Bloke a few weekends ago, don’t worry; I had a perfectly valid excuse. I was at work. It’s just an unlucky circumstance as I normally am free for most menswear events, but that was just the hand I was dealt!

Apparently, as I later heard, it was a great event.  Almost a great indication of the growth of the menswear market here in LA.  Kapil (the Ring Jacket USA guy) told me that there was plenty of customers that he barely had a moment to himself! If that’s the case, perhaps we will definitely see a real revival of classic menswear in SoCal and perhaps some new ventures.  Cody Wellema was also in attendence, branding his bespoke hat services, and agreed that it was a better turn out than he expected.  Perhaps LA doesn’t need Ethan coverage after all..

 

Spencer, MJ, and Michael also went to the Ring Jacket x Wellema trunk show and corroborated Kapil and Cody’s story.  Now they offered to take pictures and report back for content on the blog, but I refused. It’s just a small policy of mine, but I tend to want to take my own pictures and experience the products for myself!  You guys will have to wait until the next time Kapil  is here for a trunk show.  James did tell me that a few of the Ring Jacket pieces will be staying at the Bloke, so perhaps I’ll try some one and tell you about it (just without Kapil’s first-hand knowledge).

I’ll probably be able to try on Ring Jacket in stores in Tokyo during my Japan trip, so don’t worry!

Our Attire

Like always, the boys and I were dressed up, representing classic menswear in the city of Pasadena.  I’m actually proud of them, as they don’t have to dress up, but they did it anyway, to get into the Ring Jacket mood! I was already wearing a suit, because I was at work, so I have an excuse.  I’m not sure what the other attendees were wearing, but I heard that it was a mix!

Overall, this blog post functions as an editorial/lookbook rather than event coverage (because I didn’t get to go), so enjoy our attire.

Spencer does the menswear uniform, or as our friend Acute Style calls it, “security guarding”, referring to the classic combination of a navy jacket and grey trousers. His jacket is the MTO hopsack from Proper Cloth and has been his go-to ever since he won it from the Troubadour Goods giveaway. You might remember it worn nearly everyday during our NYC trip. It compliments his polo RL grey trousers (in a light shade) really well.

Under the sportcoat is a faded burgundy OCBD from Drake’s, grabbed during NYC and on final sale. The paisley tie keeps the Drake’s vibes going, but it’s actually a vintage one from Sean Crowley.  The red socks echo the similar hues in the shirt and tie and contrast to his deep burgundy non-cordovan derbies.

MJ gets to benefit from my closet. He’s similar to my size, so he typically ends up grabbing some of the pieces I don’t really wear anymore.  As a result, you may recognize this brown cotton suit!  I sold it to him after I put in a commission with Atelier Fugue after being enamored with the navy one I wore the Drake’s trunk show at the Bloke last month.

Drake’s vibes are very contagious, if you can’t already tell.  That is clear in the burgundy OCBD and knit, but especially in the desert boots.  I do love his personal touch of a vibrant red bandana as a pocket square.  Reminds me of this move by Clark Gable.

Like MJ, Michael has been slowly upgrading his style.  He’s decidedly less bold than the rest of us, but that’s okay. He likes maintaining a professional look that has a bit of character, making it easy to transition from work (budding lawyer) to play.

The combination of grey and brown is one that I love a lot, as it subverts a lot of expectations about menswear attire.  It makes everything more dressed down in comparison to most! The start is definitely the plaid grey 3-roll-2 jacket, tied down by the white shirt and navy knit tie.  The chinos are from Suit Supply and were purchased with a bit of help from yours truly. He’s getting in on that high rise chino life!

Lastly, there’s me going hard into that “old man look”.  It’s like the rugbies and the bucket hats from the Drake’s boys got to me so much that I finally decided to pull it all together.  In all seriousness, I’ve wanted to the rugby with a suit for a while, but hadn’t felt the motivation to try it.  Because it’s an “unconventional” move that might contrast with how dark my suit is (it’s cotton though), I added the bucket hat to make it feel lived in and easy going, which is exactly what that piece accomplishes.

I also saw this post by Tim Booth of Drake’s and convinced myself that I needed to do a bucket hat with a suit already.

More dressed down pieces include the use of an OCBD (instead of my usual spearpoints) and a vintage foulard tie. The light socks also help to make the suit a bit less fussy.

Snappies

I missed out on the Ring Jacket event, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a fun evening!  We took the opportunity to snap our outfits, catch up over the week (including my current favorite TikToks), and try out the Pie N’ Burger, a place that has been heavily recommended to me by Cody. It’s not a 24 hour place nor does it accept credit cards, but we went there anyway. Plus it was nice to get away from the typical Island’s dinners we normally have!

No, I did not get a burger (I got the patty melt), but I did get a slice of pie with ice cream.  It’s more pricey than I’m used to, but that’s okay! Worth a bite once in a while.  It’s definitely an authentic local eatery in Pasadena.

Even though the dinner was brief (everyone had to head home by 9:30), it was nice and definitely cheered me up a bit for my absence at the event. Plus I would’ve just taken dumb pictures there anyway! It’s been a while since I’ve just done an an outfit post that wasn’t from an event or about a specific piece of clothing.

 

 

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Conclusion

Nothing beats an evening with these boys, whether or not there was an offcial menswear event to bring us together. I really couldn’t ask for a better way to end a long week at work!

And for those who wanted my thoughts on Ring Jacket, I apologize; I’ll get to that amazing brand in the near future.  I’m sure my wallet will not like me for it.

Always a pleasure,

Ethan W.

@ethanmwong

Street x Sprezza

Photography by me!