On the 10th Day of Christmas CeJae Wore

A black watch tartan suit and a red pin dot bow tie...

Black watch tartan is my favorite,  it's just enough without being over the top.  The red bow tie brings it all together to make this a true Christmas outfit. That can actually be worth anytime of the year but I'd wear a different bow tie. 

On the 9th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me...

Hardwood Gingerbread Stout

This beer almost lives up to hype. It is strong, malty with a great amount of spice and gingerbread flavor.  This beer really is great especially when it warms up a little.  It might not be quite a 100 like beer advocate days but it is damn good, if you can find it.

On the 8th Day of Christmas CeJae Wore...

An outlandish tartan suit by Corbin. 

We are within 3 weeks from Christmas, that means it's time to breakout the big guns. I've worn this blazer earlier this month but when paired with the pants it's taken to a whole new level.  A suit like this is not for the faint of heart, but for those who dare to try. The risk is with the reward because in my opinion, this suit is awesome!!!  

Just remember when you're wearing a suit like this, it's best to keep everything else VERY simple!

On the Seventh Day of Christmas CeJae Wore...

An American Living Reindeer Christmas Sweater while decorating my tree...

This sweater is from the same collection as yesterday's.  Great quality, awesome design, and for an amazing price.  The dumbest thing that ever happened was when JC Penny discontinued this brand.  It has steadily sled downhill ever since.

The saying is true... Everything goes with dark denim jeans.

On the 6th Day of Christmas CeJae Wore...

A pair of khaki pants and an awesomely "non-ugly" Christmas Sweater.

It's the freakin' weekend and time to cool and relax.  That's why I went simple with this totally non-ugly Christmas sweater. I scored this one by American Living during the brief period of time when JC Penney actually carried really good brands and clothes.   While this sweater may be a little over the top, it's far from ugly.   There is a fine line between tacky/ugly Christmas sweaters and those that are just festive and if you're not able to tell the difference for yourself there is no way that I can teach you...

On the Fifth Day of Christmas CeJae Wore..

Red chino pants, a tartan bow tie, green belt, and red and green arygle socks...

There is just something that I love about colorful pants.  Jackets and ties can be taken off and everyone wears colorful and patterned shirts, so it's loud pants that seperates the men from the boys.

This outfit shows that details count, the subtle tartan bow tie with hints of red to the green belt, colorful socks and even the red watch band.  It's true what they say, the devil is in the details...

Thanks for reading, I hope that my outfits bring you some holiday cheer!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas CeJae Wore...

A green blazer, a red gingham shirt, and a Dress Stuart tartan bow tie...

A green blazer is a hard price of clothing to pull off. There are really only three occasions where you can wear one, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, and when you win the Master's. Even on these three times, it is still s tricky move.  It really takes some confidence or just a devil-may-care attitude. 

Because the jacket is over the top, the rest of the outfit is a bit more simple.  Remember you can mix and match patterns as long as the sizes are different. In this case the gingham is very small but the bow tie tartan is bigger.

Once again, I really love Dress Stuart Tartan. I find it very classy looking. Also don't forget that winter whites are a thing; there here to stay and they're awesome!

On the 3rd Day of Christmas CeJae wore...

Tartan pants, a navy blue blazer, and a red and white striped tie. 

Still easing into the season, I decided to go with light weight tartan pants. The rest of the outfit matched the colors in the pants, a yellow shirt, blue blazer, red striped bow tie, and a gingham pocket square. 

While not " beat you over the head with a Candy cane " Christmas, these pants still get the spirit of the season across.  Don't worry, starting tomorrow things will get turned up even more!

One last tip,  navy blazers and light brown shoes go with practically every outfit!

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading.

  

On the Second Day of Christmas CeJae Wore...

A Red Tartan Corbin Sport Coat and Red and Green striped socks...

It's December 2nd and I'm slowly moving into even more festive attire.  This coat is part of a suit that may make an appearance as we get closer to Christmas.  I found it on EBay as two separate pieces for under $80.   Corbin is a very nice older brand that offered a wide assortment of tartans and plaids.  Because it's still early, I broke the suit up and paired it with simple navy pants and a navy blue knit tie. 

To add a little more flair I added these green and red socks. Paired with black kilted tassle loafers. This outfit is just s precursor of what's to come...

On the First Day of Christmas, CeJae Vtipilson wore..

...A Dress Stuart Tartan Shirt and an Embroidered Santa Claus Tie! 

It may be the first day of December but it's 70 degrees today.  In light of this warmer than usual weather, I left heavy wool tartan pants and jackets in the closet and instead went for a never-fail khaki suit with a Christmas shirt and tie. 

No pattern screams Christmas as much as Stuart Tartan, the red Royal Stuart is the best known but Dress Stuart that I'm wearing here is equally as festive but a little more subtle.  Because it's subtler, I felt that I had to put on a Christmas tie so that noone felt I was slacking on the holiday spirit. 

This tie is made by cape cod  and is embroidered not printed, it's little things like this that make a big difference in my opinion.  If you can't tell in the picture, the tie features Santa behind a ship's wheel. Remember, it's the holiday season, so don't take yourself too seriously!

Thanks for reading and be sure to check me out tomorrow for Day 2 of my 25 Days of Christmas Outfits.   I'm also reviewing 25 Christmas beers on my other blog, The Gastrological Gentleman.

Almost Election Day

It's almost my favorite day of the year, election day. In honor of our most sacred right I have donned my most patriotic and republican clothes.  

I found this republican elephant watch on eBay. I will be wearing it's matching watch tomorrow.

This awesome republican tie with CNU colors on eBay for less than $10.  Fun fact:  I used to be obsessed with republican ties I have done sold off most of them and now only own two. The two classiest ones.

Finally, my vote or die socks. I found these at Target for $3.99.   They really have fallen off in terms of menswear, believe it or not they actually used to sell some pretty decent suits for cheap, but they do have some neat well priced socks every now and again.

Please get out and vote tomorrow. I don't care who you vote for, just VOTE!

Halloween

Halloween, All Hollow's Eve, or The Devil's Day,  not matter what you call it, it's a time for pumpkins, scares, and the color orange.

Because I don't wear the color black, I have a hard time dressing festive for Halloween.  I have to stick with orange, which is fine because it's my 2nd favorite color. 

Here I'm just hanging out with the ghouls.  I'm wearing a pair of Tommy Hilfiger pants that I got on eBay for under $25. The Brooks Brothers shirt was stolen from my brother which I  know he found at the Goodwill.  The jacket is from the Goodwill as well and the pumpkin tie by alynn was purchased from eBay for around $10. 

It's so easy to look tacky during the holidays. The trick is not trying to hard and keeping things simple.  While there are a million novelty ties, but less than 1% of them look good and not corny.   A good rule of thumb is a small repeating pattern that is stitched not printed on.  This pumpkin tie fits the bill perfectly.   

Also, never be afraid of colorful pants.  You can wear them just like any other pants but they show that your don't take life to seriously and know how to dress.

Remember,  dress festively not tackily this season!

Chilly Weather Stylin'

As fall progresses, dressing for the weather gets a bit trickier. The mornings are often very chilly but the days are typically a comfortable 75. This makes things a little tricky.  You're going to want to wear something to keep you warm in the morning but you don't want to lug around a heavy coat all day.  As you will undoubtedly see in my blog soon, you can always go with a light coat over your suit or you can step outside the box and throw on a vest over our even under your jacket.
Other men's magazines and blogs have shown this being done before but now's my turn.  As I've mentioned before, you can never go  wrong with a khaki suit no matter what season it is, you just have to make sure that the rest of the outfit matches the season you're in. In this case, orange and burnt orange round out the dot and make it look quite festive.

The suit is from JC Penny's and was purchased on sale for less than $100. The orange gingham dress shirt was procured at the Goodwill. The brown houndstooth bow tie was made for me by a friend. The shoes are by Mark McNairy  and were found on what for less than half of retail price and the orange gingham socks, which garner a fair share of attention, were $3 from uniqulo.com. 

Overall, nothing in the outfit is too loud and the colors all fall into the autumn palate with just enough umph to make a subtle statement.

Just remember dress for the weather but also wear what makes you happy.

First tweed of the year

Fall is most certainly in the air and this morning was damn cold, like in the 40s cold. I know that in a couple months waking up to 40 degree weather will be down right balmy but I still not used to the chill that's in the air.  Since I woke up cold, I wanted to get warm as soon as possible and that meant not only wearing underwear and an undershirt but also a tweed jacket.  

 

I snagged this herringbone tweed jacket at the goodwill for a little over $7 and it's kept me toasty warm for a few years now and will undoubtedly keep me warm for many more.  As I said in my previous post, olive green can go with just about everything. These pants really add to the autumn feel of this outfit especially when paired with these brown suede monk straps.

 

I received this awesome floral tie from a good friend of mine who recently moved away and mailed me a bunch of ties and this one was my favorite. Even though it's colder outside doesn't mean that you can wear floral prints especially if they are in fall colors.

I hope that you are all getting your wardrobes prepared for fall because the leaves shouldn't be the only things that are changing is the next couple of months.

 

Olive Autumn

Olive Green is one of the most under appreciated suit colors but in my opinion it is one of the best for autumn. It's dark enough to not standout too much but will still differentiate you from the black, blue, and grey suited lemmings. Also, 99% of the time you'll be the only guy in the room in a green suit. 

One awesome thing about olive or dark green is that it tends to go with just about anything.  Dark blue might be the only color that might not go with it but every other color is fair game. I am particularity fond of purple with this suit, which by the way I found at the Goodwill for $20!  

Since it's October, I wore these subtly  Halloweeny socks.  I figure that funky socks is the only thing that can bring attention away from my mustache. LOL!

I hope that this green suit will inspire you to step outside the box and try wearing a suit of a different color other than blue and grey; because hopefully you already know that you shouldn't be wearing black suits to work...

Fall into Autumn

Fall or Autumn is the favorite season of many fashionheads. It's a time for tweeds, darker plaids, and coats and jackets. It's the season made for sport coats, and below is one of my newest ones.  Believe it or not, I bought this one at the Goodwill for $6. It's a loud, GTH jacket but the colors are 100% fall. Paired with a pair of brown pants that are part of a thrift store suit, a light blue shirt, and a burnt orange/red knit tie; you can't get much more seasonal than this.  Even though spring and summer are over doesn't mean that you can't wear fun or colorful clothing, you just need to change the colors up a little bit.

Sunday Funday

I know that I blend into the couch on this post, but I just wanted asto show that you don't have to dress like a bum just because it's the weekend. This is just a simple button-up polka dot shirt with red chinos. Both of which cost under $10, the shirt from Goodwill and the pants from JC Penney. The kicks are from Cole Haan and the suede and regular leather contrast along with the red stitching really make these pop. Not too outlandish, but they stand out.

A style secret; you can never go wrong with red white and blue as long as it's done tastefully and doesn't scream Star Spangled Banner.

Just remember, if more people wore colored pants there would be less wars!

Tweasonal

That strange time in between seasons is one of the hardest times to dress for.  The secret is to wear pieces of clothing that have the best of both sessions.  This coat is a heavier weight than most summer wear but the colors are bright which lends itself well to the end of summer.  Blue, even light blue, is prefect for all seasons. I got this jacket on eBay for $20, and these pants cost me $15 from the Polo outlet store. 

The secret to the tweason, is to mix and match summery and fallish clothes. Just enough bulk to keep you warm but light and colorful enough to keep you from sweating your butt off. But the rule to always live by is to love what you wear

Never Forget

Today is the 13th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It is now known as Patriot Day. In honor of those who died and to give a big middle finger to the terrorist that wish us harm, I decided to wear red white and blue today but do it in a classy way. 

The easiest way to wear red white and blue is with a plain khaki suit. Due to my outrageous wardrobe and the fact that I worked for the House of Representatives, I have ALOT of red white and blue clothes.   I wanted more than just a patriotic tie, so I decided to wear this awesome red, white and blue gingham check shirt.  I got this shirt from a site called Saville Row, a nod to the famous street in London know for its suit makers. At $45, it cost more than i would typically pay now days. As much as I love it, like an idiot I bought it with French cuffs, and I now really hate French cuffs. I really hate the name and I feel that it looks pretentious and Douchy.  I usually roll the sleeves up but when I do wear them long, I don't "kiss" them I use a simple cuff link and use it just like a regular button.  

Since the shirt is loud, I went with a simple red knit tie and a white pocket square with red trim.  But I did go hard with my shoes and socks. As you know I love socks and shoes. These socks came from Marshall's and are by Happy feet. These shoes are Cole Haan and you can't tell by the photo but they are white with a blue saddle and a red tongue and red on the back. They are the shoes that started my Cole Haan Air Colton obsession, so I both love and hate them...

The only time that I typically wear lapel pins other than a real or knit flower is on a holiday  and usually a patriotic one.  I felt that this simple stars and stripes ribbon was subtle, classy, and got the point across. 

Thanks for reading. Stand up, be proud, don't be afraid, and never forget!

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