fleece

What Glenn Youngkin's Win Means For Donald Trump: Shopping

November 4, 2021

Left: Glenn Youngkin as quintessential middle-aged toolbag. Right: Sad shopper.

In 2016 we made an unimpeachable case that Donald Trump won the GOP nomination primarily because voters were raging against establishment casual and casting ballots against anyone wearing a zip mock neck sweater.

That Republican Glenn Youngkin won a blue-state gubernatorial race clad in a fleece vest means that L.L. Bean is again a safe space for 2024 GOP hopefuls.

We predict that Donald Trump — ever the follower — will soon appear in meekly-rolled sleeves, a yellow Ashli Babbitt cause bracelet, and zippered fleece of some kind.

Next week: How to pick a vest that doesn't make you look like Glenn Youngkin.

Ask the MB: Best Dressed Republican?

January 8, 2018

Who is the best dressed Republican now?
—Aaron

A: This will take some time to figure out, but our first reaction to your question reminds us of the proverb, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, who looks as uncomfortable as we are seeing this picture.

Meanwhile, it's safe to say anyone attending last weekend's Republican leadership meeting at Camp David is out of the running, especially at the top:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell paired a brass button blue blazer with dad jeans and Hush Puppies.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who's somehow devolved from his losing 2012 look, wore creased wide-legged khakis with fleece, beneath a suit jacket with underweight lapels.

If anyone has suggestions for Best-Dressed GOP please drop us a note and if we use your suggestion on air we'll send you free stuff.

Ask the MB: Shark Jumping

April 5, 2011

Q: As much as despise the phrase "jumping the shark," it appears that MB has done so with the last two posts. How can MB endorse a hoodie? I remember reading past articles that the hoodie was replacing the track jacket and a true MB should avoid this trend....now you have endorsed a fleece Columbia hoodie. Secondly, Sheex sheets. What about your mantra of organic materials only? These sheets are made of polyester. Should I throw out the advice of high thread count sheets and replace with this work out wear bedding? Very confused right now.
—ML

A: ML, both the hoodie and bedsheets posts were in celebration of April Fools' Day.

Gotcha.

As you stated, the 82% microfiber polyester and 18% Lycra Spandex SHEEX grossly violate the MB principle of organic materials. They also violate the MB principle of "Never buy anything 'The Situation' probably owns."

We've previously recommended high thread-count Tencel for the warmer months. They're also good year-round for the warmer-blooded, and of course, for those hot, sweaty chicks you bring back home from the club.

In its inexorable drive towards being Wal Mart, Target has stopped selling the popular, MB-recommended cotton sheets, so we suggest buying as high a thread count you can afford made by Sferra. They're expensive (and don't have the wet spot wicking power of SHEEX) but are well worth the money. You can find them occasionally at Gilt Home. (Drop us an email if you still need an invite.)

As for the Koozie Hoodie, with a built-in bottle opener and two beer bottle holders, well, we think Columbia might be fooling everybody 365 days a year.

MB Endorses: Columbia Men's Utility Hoodie

April 1, 2011

Ninety-nine percent of the time, we favor a senseless lack of utility in the stuff we furnish our lives with, but sometimes you just need a sweatshirt that doubles as a kitchen utensil. As the marketing copy for this windproof, spill-resistant hoodie explains, it's treated with Omni-Shield advanced repellency and perfect for "beer drinking and bro-in' down with your BFFs" because it features "a built-in bottle opener that is always on hand." It also comes with pockets that are "strategically designed" for holding beer bottles.

We're not sure what these are for — when you're in bro-in' down mode, constant contact between your beer and your hand is a given. Other than that, though, we love this thing and think they ought to come in six-packs, so we could have one for every party night of the week. (We take Wednesdays off to catch up on Sons of Guns.)

Tip the MB: Mark Zuckerberg as Toolbag Weapon

October 8, 2010

I read this on The Daily Beast and thought it prudent to advise the MB. Toolbaggery has a deadly weapon in its arsenal: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
--Dino

Over two years ago we added "The Principle of Not Looking Like Mark Zuckerberg" to the MB canon, so we're definitely aware of the threat his fleece, Adidas slides, and non-pedicured toes pose. However, it should be noted that the rise of Microsoft did not lead to widespread adoption of fellow Harvard drop-out Bill Gates' colorblock-sweater-over-floral-woven look.

Ed. note: We are officially madly in love with Rebecca Dana, the author of the Beast piece.

Fleece: Stop the Madness

January 21, 2010

Q: I'm not sure whether this is an "Ask the MB," a "Tip the MB," or just a general MB PSA, but: Can we all agree that wearing anything fleece -- ESPECIALLY a zip-up mock turtleneck -- under your suit or blazer rather than a coat *over* it is a one-way ticket to Toolbagville? It pains me to say that I have seen this with increasing frequency here in NYC (though mainly in the Midtown business-douche districts), and I can only conclude that these guys have finally discovered what exactly NOBODY ever wanted to find: the male equivalent of wearing sneakers with a skirt or pantsuit for the walk in to work. Please, for the love of God, people: Get a proper winter coat. Stop the madness.
--Chris

A: This is a look we'd expect to see in Pulaski, WI, not the Big Apple (though it would be fleece under a Carhartt jacket instead of a suit jacket). We're opposed to fleece because it violates the principal of organic materials (it's made from something called Polyethylene terephthalate), and we avoid wearing anything that sounds like it might give us cancer.