The [Late] Summer Rotation (Part 2)
What I'm wearing RIGHT NOW. Literally, I'm wearing one of these fits at this very moment.
Hello dear readers, old and new. The gods of fortune have blessed me with a few endorsements in the form of recommendations from other amazing newsletters, and this dinky little personal newsletter has broken 1k readers, which is, frankly, super fucking sick. I’m glad so many of you are at least mildly curious about what I might have to say—that or you didn’t notice you had to uncheck a little box to avoid also subscribing to this when you subscribed to Perfectly Imperfect.
I have a lot of philosophizing and theorizing I could do on the state of fashion and the reasons I’m into what I’m into, but I’d rather just show off what I’m soft-pitching as the late summer/early fall look: long sleeves and shorts. All with loafers, naturally—unless you need something more practical, in which case, go big with some statement boots.
Look 1 is a riff on an old pic of my buddy Rob. I’ve more than a little Talented Mr. Ripley’d myself into his aesthetic, so the first nod goes to him with an ERDL Vietnam-era jungle jacket I got at Rose Bowl and some vintage private-purchase-circa-WW2-era British Army shorts. Finished with my favorite water buffalo Grecian loafers I grabbed off eBay last year.
This is a more office-appropriate version of the above. Subbing in Baudoin & Lange Stride loafers for all-day comfort and a denim western from Bryceland’s with enough structure for a neater appearance and a little temperature regulation as a shield from those offices that love to blast the A/C.
This is that coffee downtown or happy hour with the boys sort of look. Literally zero thought needs to be put into it, it’s just tonal and easy, cleaned up yet casual, and pretty damn-near effortless. It’s an older Uniqlo U summer sweater (Buck Mason sells a few of their own) paired with old Boy Scout shorts from like the 50s or 60s and some beat-up old Belgians in brown calf.
Guys, I fucking love Navy Seal UDT shorts. They have the short-shorts look everyone is going after, but few are brave enough to venture this short. I can’t really wear them most places because they are shorter than any undergarments I own, but as a stand-in for swim trunks, they sort of work. Mostly, I lounge around at home in them and use them for tanning outside. Balanced with an oversized Buck Mason thermal henley, they’re pretty sexy if you’re bold enough to take the dip.
I’m not really on TikTok, but if I were, I’d probably be influenced to wear a lot more grungy shit like this and shop exclusively at thrift stores just because it feels more like the 2004 version of me blasting Taking Back Sunday speeding on the turnpike to a basement show in the suburbs. This is my go-to when I don’t care, a simple, slightly oversized top and these cut-off Swiss Army prisoner pants I got from my boy Will. I wish I didn’t care about fashion.
Last look! Earlier this summer, my Wrangler cowboy cuts were starting to fall apart at the knees, so I chopped them into the first real pair of jean shorts I’ve ever owned. Paired with my Danner Mountain Lights and a Rudie L/S (she’s dropping more in new color splits real soon!), this is a perfect mix of a couple of my earliest influences in one look - a little 70s hikerdelia, a little 90s grunge.
I wanted to do a buttoned shirt other than a western, but I’ve outgrown pretty much all of mine, or I’d have added a vintage oxford and maybe a flannel in the mix. What’s everyone else rocking right now? ☮