Military Inspired

Some time ago when visiting an H&M store I noticed an olive M-65 field jacket on a rack, and after a quick look at the price tag and the material (100% cotton) I decided to buy it without trying it on. I have to say, for the price it was a rather good jacket - the fabric feels quite good and the extra zipper in the other chest pocket is the only "styling feature". Something I still could have lived with.

Here we come to a problem often found in all these brands (H&M, Zara..) offering quite stylish and basic items without any visible logos or other unwanted features. Jackets are too short (and trousers too low-rise). So is this one. If it was an inch longer it would be totally alright, but now simply looks off in proportions and length.

Another thing, which sort of fails in this piece is the collar that is too high and without the required structure, leading it to fall all the way to your shoulders in a rather ugly fashion. A shorter collar would stay up without any problems.

Anyway, other items here include a grey cotton jumper, white button-down shirt, brown scarf, brown Aspinal of London messenger bag, some old jeans I've had a million years and my Tricker's Stows.

Apart from the two (big) problems of the jacket, I like the whole outfit quite a lot. It's also something I would say is pretty hard to screw up and that works in a casual setting from a park in Finland to SoHo in New York. An olive M-65, bd shirt and a jumper, denim and derby boots.

Once again, I find myself making the same mistake I still make sometimes. I buy stuff on impulse and against on what I've planned, often leading to something that probably isn't quite right and end up selling it before even using it properly. There was a really good article on Put This On that sided this topic on Monday, which you can find here. A good read for anyone.

SuitSupply's S/S 13 Is Out

..aand it is pretty much as it is every year. A lot of stuff that basically looks cool and good, but almost every item has some overstyled feature that makes it a bit meh. Granted, their "fits" have improved over the last couple of years a lot, less Washington and more options with unstructured or very lightly padded shoulders. However, many of the options still retain those annoying traits, fabrics are still too shiny or with crazy patterns (for normal daily use at least).

Now, I wouldn't have bought all their stuff that I have if it was all bad. Every once in a while there is a good suit, jacket or a shirt with actually plain fabric that is an excellent buy for the price. Should there be more of that this spring and summer, I will probably get something out of this collection as well. Now that they've published a part of the SS13, I thought I'd show my favorite picks from the pre-order items and tell you why I think they rock more than the rest.

All pictures are from SuitSupply's website.

1. Copenhagen with patch pockets in green

This is not a bad combo either, just needs a different shirt.

This is my favorite by far. A fresh green that would work with a variety of colors of fabrics from navy, khaki or grey chinos to denim. The fabric looks alright in the close-ups and Copenhagen is my favorite (and actually the only one I usually even consider nowadays) fit. The new patch pockets are a nice touch for a summer jacket, even though I always liked the normal pockets as a variety from all my patch-pocketed Boglioli and Lubiam jackets.

Very tempted.


2. Soho suit in blue wool

For once they haven't stuffed seven different patterns into one catalogue shot.

This one is one that will probably be a common sight in all the menswear blogs during the summer. A nice chiq blue wool double breasted suit with a soft Italian shoulder. Actually something I have been looking for for a longer time, even if a bit lighter color than I wanted, this one might be on my list in the late spring. Doesn't look too shiny either.


3. Blue summer coat

Wish they gave this guy a pair of chukka boots instead of those for the shoot.

Thirdly, an interesting coat made of a cotton linen blend (with a touch of poly perhaps). Seemingly drawing inspiration from field jackets, it looks like a piece I could imagine myself wearing during those colder summer days that sadly we so often have up here. Something I could think of buying was it priced a bit more reasonably. 259 EUR seems a bit steep for this one.


There. Apart from those three I can't see that much I really like. If I lived in somewhere really warm, a few of those linen suits might tempt me, but at the moment they're not on my list of most needed items. In general, I'm happy to see it looks like they've killed the horrible San Diego fit they had in the current FW12/13 collection, and less happy to see that the Euro prices have clearly gone up a bit. Hopefully they will add more goodies and less Washingtons.

During the spring I will try to write more thoughts on some items, styles, collections or simply about style-related stuff when I have time. Remember to like on FB and add the blog to the list of who are allowed to send you their status updates so you will get them. No spam and only a few messages per week, but ones that all matter.

500 and 1000

Weirdly enough, my blog on Tumblr's side reached two minor milestones on the same day - 500 posts and 1000 followers. Thank you all for your interest, feedback and support in the past months. Should you have any comments, requests or just something style-related on your mind, remember that I can always be reached with an email at contact -at- thenordicfit.com.

Check out post no. 501 here.

A Casual Beige Jacket

Today's pics will demonstrate a simple way to play a casual beige cotton jacket. The colors here are quite simple and failproof, and with the right choosing of materials, textures and the heaviness of the fabrics it can be worn around the year.

The worn items include a heavy unstructured cotton twill jacket from Boglioli, blue houndstooth check spread collar shirt from SuitSupply, dark blue Incotex chinos, espresso suede chukka boots from Loake and a navy peacoat on top. Accessories consist of a navy silk knit tie by Berg & Berg, navy with white borders linen pocket square, Equus Leather bridle leather belt and brown Pantherella socks.

I usually go by a rule of only one pattern per outfit. When more are added it gets increasingly harder to pull what you wear off without making it look like a mess. More on that later. And yes, the shirt works as "the interesting detail" in this look. Where other parts do their part simply with quality materials, colors and how they fit, a subtle pattern in the shirt adds a nice touch to the overall result.

Some might perhaps argue the light colored jacket isn't for the F/W season, but I disagree. At the end of the day, it always comes down to the overall feel of the whole outfit. And I quite like this one.

Friday At Work

Friday's outfit for work. Pretty much as formal as I go at the moment, I wanted to do the green jacket green pants thing again. After wearing this jacket for months now, I must say I think it's my favorite one, at least fit-wise.

So, a Lubiam unstructured moleskin jacket, white spead collar oxford shirt, olive Incotex chinos, chestnut C&J Hallam oxfords. Accessories include a navy donegal wool Berg & Berg knit tie, white cotton pocket square, brown suede belt and navy wool socks. On top a peacoat, brown wool scarf and brown leather gloves.

Green is perhaps a bit less used color, but I think when used in less bright shades like here it works just as well as navy.

The donegal wool ties Berg & Berg had in their FW12/13 collection all had flecks of other colors as the main color. The navy one here actually has quite lot of them, varying from purple to blue and a sort of burgundy.

  

As a smaller detail, a brown Miansai bracelet with a silver "hook" and a camo jasper stone bracelet.

Denim and No Pocket Square

This is from some weeks ago when I had a bit of a hangover. To match the mood I went for a rather casual and comfortable look with a casual navy jacket with a denim shirt. I also opted for no pocket square, probably the first time for a very long time.

The denim shirt is from NN07, the belt from Equus Leather, chinos from Incotex, socks from Falke and shoes from Meermin. The wool hat from Norse Projects and from Nollakolme Tampere.

The denim is quite heavy, and this is by no means a shirt for any warm summer days. I had been looking for a denim shirt without ridicilously small collars for quite some time, and when I spotted this one at Mr Porter's winter sale I decided to go for it. No regrets so far.

The denim, the chunky Equus Leather bridle leather belt and the rough Incotex Red cotton twill. Really like how it all works together.

And my Meermin longwings. They've been in very heavy use and so far have only gained in character.

Prepping For Summer

We're almost in February and spring and summer are starting to knock on the door. Where as in Finland it will still take about 4 more months, a big part of my readers will most likely be enjoying the sun quite soon.

One summer item I was able to find from the winter sales, luckily, was a blogger blue cotton jacket from L.B.M. 1911. I've been looking for one for years, and gladly found one for a very reasonable price (from Yoox) in my size. The real color of this Italian piece of art is somewhere between the first and the second photograph.

The weight is good for summer and spring both, and the fit is Lubiams' unstructured 2-button one, with patch pockets. This is a piece that can be used with a variety of different items, with faded denim or beige chinos jumping into my mind first.

Naturally, it got dark in the few minutes I had to take the pictures, so the last shot is somewhat artificially lit. It does, however, show the shape of the jacket quite well. To give it a touch of summer love for the pics I've hanged a pink linen tie on it. That almost takes you out of the -18° C outside.

Navy and Red Accessories

Today was a good day. I managed to snatch a pair of Stubbs & Wootton velvet slippers for next summer, for almost no cost at all, from Mr Porter's 80% sale. Not sure how they still had my size (tends to be sold out and rarely on sale), but no matter, 400 EUR slippers for a bit over a hundred. A two year hunt for a nice pair has ended.

These shots are from last weekend. I was wearing a navy unstructured wool cotton blend jacket from SuitSupply, a striped button-down shirt with extra long collar points also from SuitSupply, cardinal red Berg & Berg wool tie, red and natural white Berg & Berg wool flannel pocket square, Equus Leather Oak Brown belt, olive Incotex chinos, red Berg & Berg wool socks and split toe derbies from Loding. In addition, I had a peacoat and brown leather gloves.

I got some messages asking me to wear this tie for some live action shots and here it is. Ties a nice knot and works perfectly with navy.

Lastly, the flannel pocket square. The super soft-looking fabric adds a nice touch to this outfit, and just looking at it makes you feel a tiny bit warmer despite all the snow and ice.

Greens

This is from quite a long while ago, last year actually. I had realized my olive pair of Incotex chinos had been long forgotten in my closet, and decided to try out wearing it with my dark green L.B.M. jacket.

The items include a dark green L.B.M. 1911 moleskin jacket, white spread collar shirt, olive pindot tie from Berg & Berg, purple/green silk pocket square, brown suede belt, Incotex olive chinos and split toe derby shoes.

This one from Lubiams fits is pretty much my favorite of all the Italian unstructured jackets I've tried or owned. This one with it's dark green has seen a lot more use than I ever thought, and I have to say I'm quite fond of it.

Berg & Berg silk pindot tie from last year's collection.

 

Nothing spots the odd loose thread like a picture shot in the macro setting. Both the jacket and the pocket square had some quality time with my scissors after I saw this picture.