In Praise of Business Casual

[dieworkwear]

This reminds me of the Beams aesthetic and I find it really appealing. Are there any articles or guides around, or have you written anything on the look?

I've never written anything about the look, but Beams used to maintain an "outfit of the day" photostream on Flickr.

BEAMS STYLE

Explore BEAMS STYLE’s 146,598 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

I believe, but am not sure, that those are all Beams employees or sales associates. Supposedly, Beams has an internal styling division where Kenjiro Wada and Mika Maruyama give sales associates ideas on how they can dress for work. The idea is to push the edges of style a little.

Fashion police - Issue 80 - Magazine

Japanese clothing retailer Beams has its very own ‘internal affairs’ styling department, dedicated to helping shop staff find their personal look and inspire…

monocle.com

If I can track down those people, maybe it'll make for a fun interview.

If you go to the Alden of Madison's Instagram account and click "Tagged," you'll also see a bunch of Beams employees.

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[TexasToast]

All of this talk about BC makes me wonder about the Japanese and the Brits I dont think that they are embracing BC as much as Americans have. Today I was l looking at CT website and saw nothing but BC photos so much I had to go to a different website. I guess whatever makes you money is on the front page huh?

 

[FlyingHorker]

I've never written anything about the look, but Beams used to maintain an "outfit of the day" photostream on Flickr.

BEAMS STYLE

Explore BEAMS STYLE’s 146,598 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

I believe, but am not sure, that those are all Beams employees or sales associates. Supposedly, Beams has an internal styling division where Kenjiro Wada and Mika Maruyama give sales associates ideas on how they can dress for work. The idea is to push the edges of style a little.

Fashion police - Issue 80 - Magazine

Japanese clothing retailer Beams has its very own ‘internal affairs’ styling department, dedicated to helping shop staff find their personal look and inspire…

monocle.com

If I can track down those people, maybe it'll make for a fun interview.

If you go to the Alden of Madison's Instagram account and click "Tagged," you'll also see a bunch of Beams employees.

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

I ended up being more interested in the women's silhouettes from this page, it won't let me embed the pictures though.

Baggy, drapey fatigue pants seem a lot more fun than the tapered menswear-ish ones.

 

[mak1277]

I ended up being more interested in the women's silhouettes from this page, it won't let me embed the pictures though.

Baggy, drapey fatigue pants seem a lot more fun than the tapered menswear-ish ones.

Not fatigues, but close. I like this look, but I still wouldn't wear it to the office (with or without the tie).

 

[smittycl]

View attachment 1692466

Not fatigues, but close. I like this look, but I still wouldn't wear it to the office (with or without the tie).

Yeah, that's not BC to me. Baggy fatigue pants and tailoring do not really go together. Better off with a chore coat or thick overshirt with this look. Some OD chinos would work better than the fatigue pants.

I have some intel that wifey is getting me a Fox Bros flannel Teba jacket for Christmas. Should work into a BC outfit rather nicely.

 

[mak1277]

Yeah, that's not BC to me. Baggy fatigue pants and tailoring do not really go together. Better off with a chore coat or thick overshirt with this look. Some OD chinos would work better than the fatigue pants.

I have some intel that wifey is getting me a Fox Bros flannel Teba jacket for Christmas. Should work into a BC outfit rather nicely.

I agree it's not BC, but I think it's far more interesting than BC. I wouldn't wear those pants to the office even if it was with a chore coat or overshirt. That said, If I was going "out" I'd much rather wear this than boring normal chinos. I like the high/low look. But I also like chambray and denim shirts with sports coats and even suits, which I know you hate.

 

[smittycl]

I agree it's not BC, but I think it's far more interesting than BC. I wouldn't wear those pants to the office even if it was with a chore coat or overshirt. That said, If I was going "out" I'd much rather wear this than boring normal chinos. I like the high/low look. But I also like chambray and denim shirts with sports coats and even suits, which I know you hate.

Yeah, too casual for me. I'm kind of boring in that I don't like to mix tailoring with casual stuff. I like that chore coats and my soon-to-be-acquired Teba are available to layer casual clothes rather than sport coats.

 

[mak1277]

Yeah, too casual for me. I'm kind of boring in that I don't like to mix tailoring with casual stuff. I like that chore coats and my soon-to-be-acquired Teba are available to layer casual clothes rather than sport coats.

A Teba only looks casual to a clothing nerd though. Normal people are just going to think you have a sport coat on.

 

[smittycl]

A Teba only looks casual to a clothing nerd though. Normal people are just going to think you have a sport coat on.

I suppose that is how it will work!

 

[FlyingHorker]

View attachment 1692466

Not fatigues, but close. I like this look, but I still wouldn't wear it to the office (with or without the tie).

Yeah I dug that look too.

I would definitely wear that outfit pretty much anywhere. Office, friend's house, grabbing dinner, etc.

I might try it myself. I have a navy cotton blazer to match the rumpliness of cotton fatigues, and a pair of chunky red wing boots.

I love normal "boring" chinos as well. I don't know why those are seemingly catching flack lately on the board. Boring chinos are boring in that they're extremely versatile and be worked in a variety of BC and CM outfits. It's like knocking dark wash jeans or 5 pocket corduroys.

They're boring in the same sense that a pair of dark brown suede chukkas or chelseas are boring. AKA, one of the most useful things in today's CM.

 

[mak1277]

Yeah I dug that look too.

I would definitely wear that outfit pretty much anywhere. Office, friend's house, grabbing dinner, etc.

I might try it myself. I have a navy cotton blazer to match the rumpliness of cotton fatigues, and a pair of chunky red wing boots.

I love normal "boring" chinos as well. I don't know why those are seemingly catching flack lately on the board. Boring chinos are boring in that they're extremely versatile and be worked in a variety of BC and CM outfits. It's like knocking dark wash jeans or 5 pocket corduroys.

They're boring in the same sense that a pair of dark brown suede chukkas or chelseas are boring. AKA, one of the most useful things in today's CM.

For me, half the appeal is the mismatch between the top half and the bottom half, and it might look more coherent, but (to me) less good with a rumply sport coat or chore coat. I'd probably wear that outfit with penny loafers instead of the boots too.

I have no issue with chinos, I just am on a fatigues kick and think they're much more interesting.

 

[dieworkwear]

Have a buddy who's a sportsman who wears stuff like that (denim shirts with suits; fatigues with sport coats). I think he's super stylish. He runs his own business so he wears whatever he wants. Many of his outfits are kinda fashion-y but fit him, his lifestyle, and personality. Has been dressing that way for close to 30 years now.

 

[FlyingHorker]

For me, half the appeal is the mismatch between the top half and the bottom half, and it might look more coherent, but (to me) less good with a rumply sport coat or chore coat. I'd probably wear that outfit with penny loafers instead of the boots too.

I have no issue with chinos, I just am on a fatigues kick and think they're much more interesting.

Ah, I see what you're saying now in terms of finding the "High/low" contrasts more interesting vs. me finding the potential coherence more interesting.

Yep, I can see penny loafers working. The outfit seems to have some heft to it, so my first thoughts were chunky footwear, but that's again me looking for coherence.

The biggest reason why I like that outfit is because a lot of the items people already have stashed somewhere in their wardrobe, or it's very accessible to buy and put together. It isn't something I commonly see, despite the individual pieces being relatively basic.

Agreed on fatigues being more interesting than chinos, we're on the same page.

 

[FlyingHorker]

Have a buddy who's a sportsman who wears stuff like that (denim shirts with suits; fatigues with sport coats). I think he's super stylish. He runs his own business so he wears whatever he wants. Many of his outfits are kinda fashion-y but fit him, his lifestyle, and personality. Has been dressing that way for close to 30 years now.

A bit unrelated, but in terms of "fashiony", I definitely want to jack LabelKing's aesthetic.

He seems to dress with a lot of the principals of CM, that were talked about ad nauseum the past 6 months, but instead uses black and monochrome very effectively. His frames tie it all together.

 

[smittycl]

Have a buddy who's a sportsman who wears stuff like that (denim shirts with suits; fatigues with sport coats). I think he's super stylish. He runs his own business so he wears whatever he wants. Many of his outfits are kinda fashion-y but fit him, his lifestyle, and personality. Has been dressing that way for close to 30 years now.

Screws with my ideal of a silhouette. Schlubby bottoms and tailored tops just have that "I was hung over AND dressed in the dark" look to me.