Digital camo pocket squares have landed

Digi Camo Pocket Square

Mid weight  woven canvas

Red Marrow stitched edges 

Measures 14" 

Produced by hand by local artisans in Chicago
$20

This is a continuation of our collaborative project with the good gentlemen over at the streetwear blog & label DYNST.

True story: Last week, a menswear shop guy spotted the camo pocket square in Isaiah's back pocket of his jeans, and offered to buy it off of him on the spot before it was available to the public #soyouknowitsreal

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.

It's Coming.

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.

Introducing: The Tokyo Tie #PassportLife

The Tokyo Tie is one of those things that feels like a true labor of design love.

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.

Video: #WORKROOM

A great clip of what I'll go ahead and say was the best night that hit Chicago in a very long time, hosted by yours truly at The Style Cooperative workroom along side the most excellent Marcus Troy. The hand selected guest list made for a great time.

Shoutout to Broadway, DJ extraordinaire, for producing this video. +1 bajillion cool points (I can still say that, right?). More pics to come!

Evolution of Street Culture & Jeff Staple

Jeff Staple gets a lot of virtual fist bumps all around the internet. Logical, forward thinking and the kind of guy I wish I wish I went to college with so we could talk about foolishness over 2 hour lunches just because we could. I vote start at 1:55.

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.

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.

The Style Cooperative Featured on ImFlashy

See more at ImFlashy.com

Spring Editorial: Fresher Than Chris

True story: I met Chris of Fresher than Chris after following his work from afar for quite a while. We met up in New York after some prep work, and that same day, he acted as creative director of one of The Co-Op's shoots. Total class act.

Following up with a clear and spot on point of view in menswear, Chris released his spring style editorial. Contemporary, urban, sleek, and fresh for the looming warm weather that is right around the corner.

Click through to see more.

Available Today: Alex Grant for The Style Cooperative

Pre Orders Now Available: Alex Grant for The Co-Op

We are just a week away from the public release of the nautical inspired neckwear designed by voice behind Alex Grant. Made from locally sourced deadstock textiles, and hand cut and sewn by local artisans in Chicago, this limited release won't last for long. If you missed it before, check out the lookbook.

Contrasting panel fabrics

Stripe side: Cotton blend knit

Available in Navy or Chocolate

White side: 100% silk twill

Hand slip stitched closure

Nickel hardware

Hand cut and sewn in Chicago

$50

To reserve your tie before they become available to the rest of the public, send a note to preorders@thestylecooperative.com indicating how many you'd like and in which color. 

Spring is near; it's time for Prep at its Best.

Alex Grant for The Style Cooperative: The Look Book

We here at The Style Cooperative are excited to announce a project that has been brewing with the voice behind one of our favorite menswear blogs, Alex Grant.

The self-proclaimed prepster and New England sailor helped design two ties that are inspired by just that; nautical stripes and all in Navy and Chocolate. Both will be available in early March. Until then, more images from the look book after the jump.

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

Guest Blogger @ Alex Grant

Hey, hi, hello. Just wanted to let you guys know that I'm a guest blogger over at Alex Grant today! Click on over, get comfortable, and stay a while. There's lots of great content to get lost in, so check it out.

The Style Cooperative on Valet Magazine

Hey have you heard? The new Batwing Bow Tie landed us here at The Co-Op on the Daily Report of Valet Magazine thanks to the truly stylish Skip over at Alex Grant. The nice folks over at Valet said something about the Bow Tie being "too good to be true" because of the quality of handmade American craftsmanship and a totally reasonable price. Glad you like.

If you aren't familiar with Valet, it's menswear essential reading. No, really.  If you aren't familiar with Alex Grant, it's quintessential prepster style blog in the best way possible. Gander on over to both and check out our goods and his awesome style kits.

The Girl Version

Maybe it's just me, but lately it seems like guys are having a way better time and doing far more interesting things with clothing.  I've been a long standing fan of the urban prep looks from people and places like The Brooklyn Circus, Street Etiquette, and all those other men's style blogs I spend way too much time on.

via

But here's the thing: I WISH THERE WAS A GIRL VERSION.

via... somewhere. Help me out if you have the source!

So girls like me (and the very awesome Sham!) have to get a little creative in order to incorporate these pieces into our looks. We dress menswear up, down, and contort it into something that looks like it was almost made for the body we possess. So maybe the world's ready for the real(ly cool) girl version of it all.

via

*suspicious grin*

Guest Blogger: Meredith of Fifty First (J) Dates

I met Meredith once upon a time while we were both fashion interns in New York. You know, the really (un)glamorous stuff that makes the beautiful things happen... that was our job. We've stayed in touch and as it turns out, she's the voice of the hilariously honest blog Fifty First (J) Dates.  That's right, she is a proud J-Dater and gives you the play by play along the way. (I made a little appearance on her blog today as well! So hop over to check it out. Pleaseandthankyou.)

As an expert dater and quite the stylish girl as well, Meredith is our go-to for date style and advice.  Here's what she had to say:

How do you decide what to wear for a first date?

You have to consider the slut factor. And you have to choose the top of bottom half. If you're going to show your boobs, wear pants. And if you're going to wear a skirt, wear something that doesn't show cleavage. I always wear heels - but they do dress up/intensify an outfit, so be careful if you're a heels lover too. And consider how tall your date is. But don't ask him, that might be weird. My go-to is usually - wedges, jeans, and a cute silk top by a brand like Joie or Tucker.

What is your ideal autumn date?

Autumn is when leaves turn orange and you get to dress like a floozy for Halloween! And you eat enough candy pumpkins to make you want to hurl. Strolling hand in hand, in an apple orchard, picking apples and tossing them at each others' skulls...or just some pumpkin spice lattes or pumpkin pie at a normal restaurant.

If you could dress a guy for a date, what would he wear?

Oooh! Loafers. I love loafers, I think they are universally flattering. As are mocs/driving shoes. I also kinda dig guys who can pull off converse. But if you can't, don't. Maybe jeans and a button-down. More than anything, tailoring and execution is key. Make sure your shirt isn't too baggy. Look like you care (a little.) A cute or interesting tee and a blazer always looks good too. Just no sneakers. Or adidas bath shoes. Yes, the latter happened. Fortunately, I saw past these little pieces of rubber and offensiveness, and he's now my boyfriend. I just threw out his shoes.