As I was packing for our recent trip to LA, it occurred to me that this might be the smallest suitcase I’ve ever brought on a business trip.
There were many of usto see familiar brands and vintage storesand even launching our magazine at Buck Mason wouldn’t really be smart. by nature they are a common symbol, and it is always good to dress people and place so that the suit and tie are appropriate.
So, in the end, I took only one tailored jacket and pants. And given my slight obsession with getting the most out of the least amount of clothing, both of those had to go with other things.
The coat I chose was minedouble-breasted linen from Ciardiunusual to go with the blue and black jeans, and the tailored trousers that I took,dark brown upper twists from the Trunk.
That’s a jacket with blue jeans over it. The jacket was only worn with brown tailored trousers once, but I styled it with a cream silk shirt, black shoes and a black belt. With those accessories and a high contrast palette it sounded smart enough for a Sunset Tower cocktail (picking an example at random…).
The trousers were a smart choice, but they still worked happily with something like PS’s cream linen shirt (above).
Like the tailored dress I mentioned, I’ve deliberately been smart enough to complement the trousers – so the top is a knit t-shirt rather than the usual, and the black loafers are just a bit casual.
But let’s go back to the beginning. As I usually do when planning this trip, I started with the pants. After deciding that these would be blue jeans, black jeans and brown high-twist, I then turned to jackets. A cream linen jacket went with all three, as did a cream linen top.
Next up was my ever-trusty bush jacket, which went with both pairs of jeans and was a trusty travel piece – lots of pockets, and a great fit yet still looks great with just a t-shirt.
That is the structure of the lower bed. You can imagine I put the pants down in the middle, and put other pants next to them.
At the top of this article you can see how I would wear a bush jacket one day – with black jeans and a black knitted t-shirt (Rubato).The light-colored sunglasses on that outfit are a great example of using an accessory to make an otherwise pretty outfit more attractive (from Jacque Marie Mage, Zephirin model).
Having a few things like this on the go is really handy – scarves and hats fall into the same category.Sunglasses on some guns are not that common (from EB Meyrowitz). They are still good, but not the first thing that gets your attention.
I will review Jacques Marie Mage later along the way. We hope it’s interesting considering how much they are growing right now, and indeed how popular sunglasses are as a whole as a men’s fashion accessory.
At the last minute, I added the PS Linen Harrington to this packing list, as it’s lightweight and didn’t take up much space. I was hesitant to pick it up, as it’s not the best color with blue jeans and it wouldn’t look good with tailored pants either.
But it was very nice to wear – as you can see from the dress above, one evening in Redondo Beach before we had dinner with.Yuki Matsuda. The tobacco-suede overshirt isn’t featured in any of these outfits, but it was very useful, it’s a great smart/casual piece, goes with all the pants, andas mentioned laterit’s really a piece of LA.
Shoes are also late. At first I had black aldens with full straps, Superga tennis shoes, and PS boat shoes, which felt like a good range and were very versatile. But when I got to the end of the pack I found I had room, plus some black City-Mocs.
They were added primarily for comfort – as a backup if other shoes give me trouble. It’s a good thing if, for example, you’ve been out all day, your feet hurt, and you want to change into something different to go down to dinner.
Shirts and t-shirts were mostly neutrals – white, black, and the universally useful blue denim. Those are the black and white knit t-shirts shown under the jungle jacket and suede top shirt, with regular versions stacked down below.
Knits were like tonal, beige shorts and cigarette swim shorts. The only other pieces not shown here are a couple of caps, some PS chinos and a denim top – basically an oversized chambray.
Big, lightweight shirts like these are really useful for summer trips, because they can work as regular jackets (especially with a few chest pockets) and can be worn on their own when going to the beach or pool.
In the line above I’m wearing one (from Jack Fort, small size!) and it feels like a very LA look – more denim, more structured, but also a little trendy because of the matching.
The last outfit photo I have is the one above, with beige PS chinos and a black Finest Polo. It’s interesting how much more dressed up chinos are when you wear them in black.
I think that’s it. Any questions please let me know, but most of the clothes should be connected or familiar to most people. I hope that gives you some inspiration during your summer jaunt.
Photos: Kentaro Minato, or PS