esquire

Tip the MB: Bad Styling Tips from Esquire

June 6, 2012

Tip the MB: Bad Styling Tips from <em>Esquire</em>

Q: Not an ask so much as a heads up. Noted this month's Esquire advises to NEVER roll sleeves above the elbow. It seems to be a sincere attempt at advice, unfortunately.
—Robert

A: Yes we saw that too (right) on page 78 of the June/July issue. Esquire is an odd case. On the one hand, in the Spring 2012 Big Black Book, fashion director Nick Sullivan wrote the most timely and insightful essay on suits we've ever read (not online, unfortunately). On the other hand, Sullivan and his staff hit at about the Mendoza Line when dispensing style advice.

Anyhow, back to sleeve rolling. Take a look at the images below and decide for yourself where to stop the roll.

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Michael Bastian Now Shopping at GAP?

April 19, 2012

About this time last year Esquire ran a terrific little piece on top designer Michael Bastian, and how he couldn't afford his own clothes due to an expensive relationship with launch partner Brunello Cucinelli.

We speculated at the time that Bastian was shopping at J. Crew.

By going out on his own it was thought Bastian could lower his prices by 20%, but in fact it seems prices for his clothes have increased by about that much. Just in at thecorner.com:

* $810 for a Western shirt
* $2,915 for a blazer
* $360 for a pair of shorts
* $225 for a tank top
* $1,800 for a cashmere sweater with a ridiculous logo

That cashmere sweater (pictured) has us interested in the emerging field of Designer Algebra. In the Michael Bastian equation, a grey cashmere v-neck sweater is $300. Suede elbow patches are a buck seventy-five. The felt appliqué is 50¢. Put them together and it adds up to $1,800.

Michael Bastian Forced to Shop at J. Crew?

March 1, 2011

Via this illuminating Esquire profile of one our favorite designers, Michael Bastian, we learned an astonishing fact: "But five years and ten collections into his design career ... and even Bastian found that he often couldn't afford to buy his own clothes."

Please, someone tell the man about eBay.com -- we see his stuff on there all the time at deep discount. Maybe Gilt.com will show him some mercy too -- a designer who can't afford to wear his own clothes is even sadder than a four-star chef who can only afford to eat at Olive Garden.

Hat tip: reader Chris

Earlier: Michael Bastian: A Study in Magnificent Bastard-dom

Earlier: Michael Bastian demonstrating proper shirt-tucking technique while hailing a NYC cab.