How He Wore It: Holiday Hov

Meet Larry. Or as I call him, Larry Hova.

I somehow talked him into shooting a spread on personal style with me, and in the mix slipped in the Woolen Holiday tie from the Co-Op.

I dig how he not only does pattern on pattern, but texture on texture.

And then even more texture with corduroy pants (!!!!)

How He Wore It: Vince

A few weeks ago, I made a quick but mighty trip to NY to get in a bit of work and play. While there, I spent a lot of time hanging in the East Village, and convinced a friend and supporter of The Co-Op to hang out in the sticky city heat (in a suit, on his day off) to shoot a spread.

Meet Vince. He's a Bronx native, and one of those New Yorkers that knows everything about the city, and feels a certain way when the word Westchester gets brought up in casual conversation.

#typical

We started snapping shots as he explained to me that the crazy silver rooftops are some weird Bloomberg initiative. The idea: silver doesn't absorb heat into the buildings like the black tar found on most roofs, thus keeping the buildings cooler.

Ok, sure.

From the new fall product lineup, he picked out the Dobby Corduroy tie in Olive ($50). With a well cut navy suit and chestnut colored brogues, it's got character, but conservative enough for his finance gig.

This is the part when we learn how one dance move translates to any Sean Paul song.

Oh, wave hi to Jess!

You can pick up an Olive Dobby tie on the site, and also now (woohoo!) at skate and lifestyle shop Seams in Long Beach, CA.

Introducing: Digital Camo

True story: We've never had so many people asking about a product before even posting about it like we have with this whole Digital Camo situation. Ever.

It's finally here.

Today, we're introducing the Digital Camo to The Co-Op's autumn mix, with a bit of design and creative know how from our buds over at DNSTY. 

The finer details:

Cotton/Canvas midweight blend,

2.5" at widest

 Horween leather keeper on back

 Sourced and produced in Chicago

$50

The finer print: It's a limited run that hit the DNSTY site yesterday, starts to ship on Monday 10/24 in the order we receive requests. Snap Back Bow Ties ($45), and pocket squares ($20) available beginning that day as well.

How He Wore It: Album Art Confessions

Meet Marcus: One half of Dynastee, art director, and album art designer for some of your favorite mixtapes and LPs.  He's pretty prettttty good.

I met up with Marcus in New York last week to talk projects, try out some of our new products, and catch up in his work space one evening.

He's into the new Dobby Corduroy tie from The Co-Op in a color we're calling Almost Maroon. What's dobby corduroy you ask? Nope, we didn't make it up.

 It's a more modular (in contrast to linear) pattern made from the style of weaving in the textile creation phase.

All that really means is that you see patterns instead of lines, but still great corduroy autumn feeling to the touch. Yep, dobby.

So that's it. Dobby, music, design, and some great new talent. All in all, an evening well spent. Check him out where he tumbls, and get the goods.

The Co-Op hits Japan

 

Lookie what I found on the internets. Sir & Madame and The Co-Op, style in Japan.

All good things.

How He Wore It: Gen of Bucketfeet

I met Gen at Daley Plaza this summer when we were both sweating out the hottest days of the summer outside in the name of indie label brands. It turns out, we had a lot to talk about.

How He Wore It: Making Heat Waves

A handful of weeks back, Cameron Forbes joined us to shoot two How He Wore It spreads. Word on the street is sometimes I subject people to wearing ridiculous things like leather jackets in the summer heat. Survey says: it's true.

How (S)he Wore It: Defining Tabitha

A little over 6 months ago, I met Tabitha at a meet-up for the lady style blogger variety at a cute little nail salon here in Chicago. It was a fantastic mix of fashion and geekery; these women understood me.  Ever since, we've stayed in contact with our mutual love for technology, menswear, and the windiest city that we call home.

How He Wore It: Kenji of the Passport Project

Meet Kenji: the mind behind Passport Project, a lifestyle not-for-profit that aims to build "'The Coalition”, a network of Millennial global travelers and citizens across various industries and “Passport Life Grants”, a fund that helps young non-passport owners in subsidizing passport application fees and facilitating travel abroad experiences." If you've ever seen #PassportLife on twitter, this is the guy behind it. With the help of a collection of pretty heavy hitting media and lifestyle types, there are big things on the horizon for the project.

How He Wore It: Cameron Forbes

You've met Cameron Forbes here on the blog before.

He's one of the most intensely talented songwriter/artists I've come to know, and is one of those forces that is quietly but quickly making waves when it comes to his craft.  We made a pact about 5 years ago late night on a Brooklyn-bound F train to chase the dream with full force one day. It's that day every day, and it has been for some time now.

How He Wore It: Oceanside Alex

I have this theory that if you're born and bred in California, you never leave. And if you do, it's for college, then you just go back. Because it's California.

I just can't hate it.

How (S)he Wore It: Adlin

Fact: There is nothing quite like summer in Chicago. Not New York, not Martha's Vineyard, not Southern California. None of those compare. We've got our checklist to kick it off this coming weekend.

How He Wore It: Isaiah of Dynastee Inc

True story: I've never personally met a non-industry guy with a consistently well-curated wardrobe than Isaiah of Dynastee, Inc. Ever.

Indigo on Indigo on Indigo

Indigo on indigo on indigo.  All day. Errday.

How He Wore It: Zach of ImFlashy (Giveaway!)

Men in suits, on bikes, in the city.   I'm sold.

You may have seen some of his lens and pixel work around the interwebs, covering his interviews with countless rising stars in music and lifestyle brands. But I'd bet you've seen Zach Walker of ImFlashy like this.

How He Wore It: Fred (dot)

Something For Your Girl

Social Study: Guys, Girls, and Style

Background: People often ask about my experience as a woman working in and designing menswear. I get a good amount of questions from guys asking my opinion about style, and of course the standard "Um, can you take a look at my shirt? I think I (insert a variety of damaging behavior from daytime fails and nighttime blunders)."

But at the end of the day, I wonder if guys in general  feel open to or are even seeking the opinion or approval from women in their sartorial experience.

Method: In this so very scientific study, I tweeted to the masses (and some more pointed folks* to balance out the group among style guys, married/commited guys, proudly non-commited guys, manly man guys, etc.) asking if women were a major influencer in their style decisions. This is just part of some of what you taught me:

Personal favorite response: "the right girl"

Conclusions: As it turns out, responses were pretty split down the middle. Some guys do it all for the ladies, while others just lean on your own personal style and attention of the female variety is a nice bonus. But a lot of agreement came around the idea of confidence being what women recognize, more so than any article of clothing. So is there some confidence soap you guys are scrubbing up with in the morning?

What do you think? Is it women, guy friends, blogs, or just your taste that influences how you leave the house? 

*People with protected tweets have names withheld to protect the innocent