What’s up Dad Crew! Welcome back to another week of Depop finds. I’m fighting through a bit of a cold this week… lots of ramen noodles and comedy specials here… energy is low but spirits are high!

Now… y’all know the drill. My goal is to get you thinking about the coolest garments out there at reasonable price points. Buying new is wild these days… I want to stomp around in a pair of new Mephistos but I struggle to justify $450 for a pair of sneakers when I’ve got a family to feed! But… if I can find a pair for $50 or even $25, that’s something I can make happen! That is the whole purpose of this series… helping you sweet viewers find the clothing of your dreams without breaking the bank. I try my best to keep these suggestions under $100… but every now and again something sneaks in at $120-150 if it passes a serious vibe check.

This week, we’re all in on outerwear. These are all items that appear often in my search history… avirex bomber jackets, vintage French chore coats, wool pendleton bomber, etc. I’m sure you’ve looked for some of these as well… and if you have, then you’ll probably enjoy the selection below.

I’ve tossed in some louder pieces as well. I was enamored by the ‘minimalist menswear’ thing for a while but now I am itching to rebel against it… I’m not going to start dressing in head to toe “go to hell” wear, but the current state of internet menswear (at least the most trend forward formulaic agenda) can feel very devoid of personality! I tossed in some prints, patterns and embroidery to help you fight back… because who doesn’t love a giant embroidered dragon on the back of their jacket?

*disclaimer: I do not know nor can I personally vouch for any of these sellers, I’m highlighting the clothes because I think they’re great finds. Use your head, check the measurements, check the profile… and have fun!

Now… I’ll shut up and let the clothes do the talking. Enjoy some more curated finds from a style concerned Dad.

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Levi’s type ii denim jacket, L, $40

Vintage French Chore Coat, L, $115

Engineered Garments Cardigan Work Jacket, L, $100

Orslow olive green light weight jacket, L, $135

National Anthem Wool Plaid Coat, L, $91

Manresa Macresa duck canvas type III, M, $80

18 East Hooded Quilted Parka, L, $120

Schott MA-1 Embroidered Dragon Bomber, L, $98

Saks Fifth Avenue Leather Bomber Jacket, L, $120

Pendleton Duck Camo Jacket, XL, $48

Avirex Satin Bomber Jacket, XL, $90

Gramicci Olive Twill Oversized Jacket, M, $75

Peace and love! Thanks for tuning in folks.

Cheers,

Dad Style

Now… y’all know the drill. My goal is to get you thinking about the coolest garments out there at reasonable price points. Buying new is wild these days… I want to stomp around in a pair of new Mephistos but I struggle to justify $450 for a pair of sneakers when I’ve got a family to feed! But… if I can find a pair for $50 or even $25, that’s something I can make happen! That is the whole purpose of this series… helping you sweet viewers find the clothing of your dreams without breaking the bank. I try my best to keep these suggestions under $100… but every now and again something sneaks in at $120-150 if it passes a serious vibe check.

This week, we’ve got a stellar selvedge shirt from a brand whose shirting I’ve been obsessed with lately, a killer type ii denim jacket from an unexpected big name brand, denim fatigues in my favorite cut, the best outdoor clogs in the galaxy and much much more!

When I create these lists, I ask myself: would I cop? If the answer is yes, it makes the cut. Alright… now I’ll shut up and let the clothes do the talking. Enjoy some more curated finds from the mind of a style concerned Dad.

*disclaimer: I do not know nor can I personally vouch for any of these sellers, I’m highlighting the clothes because I think they’re great finds. Use your head, check the measurements, check the profile… and have fun!

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3Sixteen Selvedge Club Collar Shirt, L, $105

Gap Heavyweight Type II Jacket, L, $50

Carhartt Vintage Navy Blue Canvas Vest, L, $85

Big Rock Candy Mountain Tie Dye Canvas Pants, 30, $80

Ralph Lauren Denim & Supply Camo Cardigan, XL, $90

Engineered Garments Workaday Denim Fatigue, M, $150

Lady White Co Grey Hoodie, L, $100

Scarpa Mojito, 45, $59

OrSlow 105 Jeans, 3, $88

Bedrock Mountain Clog Sage Brush, 14, $100

Alex Mill Black Chore Coat, XL, $110

Needles Rebuild Flannel, L, $115

Avirex Leather Bomber, XL, $75

Alright gang! That’s all for this week. Thanks for tuning in, thanks for your support!

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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Dad Style is well on its way to 1,000 subscribers, which is very humbling. If you’re not a subscriber yet, perhaps you’ll consider doing so! What you see is what you’ll get: I love pants, I love cool clothes, and I’m trying to balance being stylish with being practical as a new Dad. This newsletter is full of thoughts on style, thoughts on fatherhood, occasional musings on life, and good pants… if that sounds cool: subscribe away!

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To my paid subscribers: I am especially blown away by your support, thanks for choosing to spend some of your well earned dollars on backing up this newsletter. Extremely cool and generous of y’all. Alright… onto this week’s tabs!

Universal Surplus Styling:

• Universal surplus is an online shop that I frequent, and they’ve recently stepped up their styling game. Previous item photos used to showcase pants or shirts with very plain surroundings, but recently as they’ve started to release their own line of repro military gear their fit pics have been stellar. Lots of layering and lots of cool ideas on how to incorporate vintage military garments into a fit that feels fun, has depth and looks classy! This is awesome inspiration as fall approaches.

• I have been eyeing the German HBT navy blue chore coat for a while… I bought a pair of Austrian Ripstop Cargos from them a few years ago that I love a lot.

Desert Camo Pants:

• I recently spent some time scrolling through Marizio Donaldi’s insta page and stumbled upon a pic of some great patched up desert camo pants paired with Tom Sach’s Nike’s. The pants were worn and mended and perfectly baggy.

• Camo pants can be challenging… I think you could get overly political here and analyze the implications of wearing military gear blah blah but I say relax… they’re just pants and the patterns are fun.

• That said, context is very important here. Set and setting… am I right people? Camo pants carry different implications depending on where you are. I used to wear a pair of real tree Carhartt pants around NYC circa 2019, and was in constant receipt of compliments.. when I moved to Alaska, I just looked like another dude heading somewhere after a day of hunting. Wearing multi-cam in the city could very well be seen as getting off a great fit, but wearing it in the suburban outskirts of a military base will just make you look like an off duty soldier wearing their uniform away from work.

• At the end of the day… a good fit is a good fit, but it’s easy to overthink camo pants. I came across a lot of people asking “how do I wear these?” when sifting through the internet for people publicly pulling off these patterned pants. The answer is: you just wear them. I think it’s appropriate to embrace “wrong pants theory” here. Take a normal plain ol’ fit and swap the pants for some camos and see how it feels! I’ve seen the blue blazer, OCBD, camo pants, loafer fit play out excellently (as seen below). Don’t over think it, just wear the pants and have fun! Here they are being perfectly pulled off by @DadJams.

• Final note: I love camo pants as a dad because they hide stains well. Busy patterns tend to mask the inevitable stainage you’ll get spending the day with toddlers.

Tom Sachs General Purpose Shoe:

• One cool thing leads to another… I’ve never been a huge sneaker head, but I know about the Mars Yard 3.0 and stay slightly tuned into the hype machine… so… as mentioned above I start with desert camo pants and end on a quick google search for “Tom Sach’s Nikes.” This was mostly driven by curiosity to answer: how much do these resell for!? And then I found the General Purpose Shoe: a sneaker designed to be boring. I love it. I especially love the brown soles and the off-white canvas. White sneakers are always too bright and clean for me… these hit that sweet spot of being light but not bright.

• Modern sneakers are intense… bulbous soled, metallic toned, space ships for your feet… fly to the moon with the new lunar bounce technology, unlock your brain with scientifically backed pressure point soles… you know it, you’ve seen it… I appreciate something simple. These General Purpose Shoes are marketed as a shoe to be worn… nothing more! And they sell for $109. What a beautiful thing: simple, practical, and affordable, a Dad’s dream! What an ad campaign… “how about this… shoes… for your feet?” Genius!

Stussy patterned t shirts:

• Man… I love Hawaiian shirts, I love camo, and I love fun patterns. Camos and florals have the tendency to become the loudest part of the outfit. If you’re wearing camo pants, it’s probably best to stick with solids on top. Although, sometimes I do like to go nuts with camo and a Hawaiian shirt (LT Dan vibes).

• I really dig these Stussy floral and camo T-shirts. I think these would be a really fun way to inject some color and pattern into a fit while maintaining an external illusion of simplicity with solid colored outerwear. To the untrained eye, it will appear simple, but if you look closely enough… the hidden print is revealed! Imagine the print peaking out cheekily from underneath a hoodie or slightly exposed through an unbuttoned shirt. If you’re not into wearing loud pieces externally, this could be a nice way to have more fun with your fits but keep things outwardly conservative. If you’re not all in on the desert camo pants, this could be a way to start light!

• Back to desert camo for a minute: plenty of online surplus shops carry desert camo shirts, which are a cheaper Stussy alternative!

Not using my phone in the morning:

• I could probably stand to spend a little less time on my phone. I’m all about self improvement, but most of the advice on the internet calls for a drastic lifestyle change. It’s never incremental, it’s typically not easy, it’s “start 75 hard today and change your life,” “never use your phone again,” “wake up at sunrise to workout and make sure you run another 5-10 miles before bed while eating only raw kale and beef liver.” It’s usually unrealistic. I’m all about seeking balance, and here’s something small that worked for me the other day…

• I binged on phone for 10-15 minutes upon waking up… and then I left it in my bedroom! Sure, I could buy a separate alarm clock and avoid my phone completely, but I appreciate the convenience of my alarm on my phone, so I’m going to keep using it. A few mornings ago, I checked my email, notifications, text messages, sent some quick replies in bed and then put my phone down and left it in my bedroom. This satisfied the itch to know what was going on in the world but allowed me to focus and be present throughout the rest of my morning. If you’re looking to find some balance and healthy separation from the internet, this could be a way to do it.

That’s all for now folks! Oh yeah, a pair of Mars Yard 3.0’s in size 9 resells for ~$850 on StockX. Silly.

Thanks for tuning in!

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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Now… y’all know the drill. My goal is to get you thinking about the coolest garments out there at reasonable price points. Buying new is wild these days… I love Engineered Garments but I struggle to justify $320 for a pair of pants when I’ve got a family to feed! But… if I can find a pair for $100-150, that’s something I can make happen! That is the whole purpose of this series… helping you sweet viewers find the clothing of your dreams without breaking the bank. I try my best to keep these suggestions under $100… but every now and again something sneaks in at $120-150 if it passes a serious vibe check.

This week, we’ve got some hairy clogs, a couple of sold out collabs, some vintage military and even some new military! I’m casting a wide net here…

When I create these lists, I ask myself: would I cop? If the answer is yes, it makes the cut. Alright… now I’ll shut up and let the clothes do the talking. Enjoy some more curated finds from the mind of a style concerned Dad.

Small disclaimer: I don’t know any of these sellers. Use your head, check the source, check the measurements, and have fun!

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Patagonia Rhythm Canvas Shorts: 32, $115

Kaptain Sunshine x Beams Yellow Parka: S, $75

Engineered Garments Khaki Twill Painters Pants: M, $80

Vintage OG-107 Shirt: M, $35

Yuketen Hairy Clogs: 42, $140

RRL denim overshirt: M, $140

Standard Issue Multicam Goretex Jacket: S, $90

Polo Ralph Lauren Americana Denim Jacket: L, $100

Wythe Cream and Red Flannel Shirt: M, $65

Gramicci x Merrell Moab 2 Hikers: 9, $85

Manresa Black Straight Leg Jeans: M, $50

Mephisto Black Rainbow: 11, $150

Danner Suede Hiking Sneakers: 8.5, $21

That’s all for this week folks! Life is busy over here, but I’m doing what I can to keep a regular pace with this posting. More thoughts to come.

Thanks for your support!!

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

Ok… disclaimer: this is not always the “cool drops to tune into this week!” type of newsletter. The strange self imposed FOMO stress of having to sit by the phone and refresh the purchase page to buy the hottest new pair of sneakers that the internet is telling you to buy is just too much to bear. God forbid… waiting in line outside of a store in hopes that they’ll still have your size after the resellers poach everything… It’s too much to keep up with, it creates bad shopping habits, and I think it often drives us to purchase things that we would never otherwise buy. Also, I think if one is only writing about the hot new thing, eventually there is some dilution in the quality of selection in an effort to keep pace with the market.

I try to keep my distance, but I am also trying to write a newsletter about wearing good and cool clothes as a Dad, and part of style is being tuned into what is new, forward leaning and cool… right? Is that part of style or is it just an effort to keep up with the internet zeitgeist? As much as I try to stay separated from the hype machine and spend and save my money wisely, even I am not immune to the magnetic pull of “the perfect collab.” I feel slightly obligated to pay attention, but I am not sure if it’s for me or for the appearance of this newsletter… who am I buying these sneakers for? Is it for the image of a newsletter that I am trying to curate or myself? Am I losing myself to the internet? Am I even making my own style choices anymore? My casual morning musings… maybe I’ve just had too much coffee… I bought one pair of hyped up shoes this week and this is where it’s taken me. I’ll talk about those more below.

In this week’s newsletter we’ve got:

• Earth toned trail runners

• A few perfectly executed shoe collabs

• A nice Dad hat

• The finest cargo shorts in all the land

• Another pair of big summer pants to get you through the rest of this incessant heat!

Alright! Now onto the things that caught my eye this week!

Norda Shoes:

• Running shoes these days come in some seriously whacked out colors. I used to buy my runners with the expressed purpose of well… running in them, but now I seek out more of a dual purpose shoe. Could I wear these on a run, on a hike and then back into town? That was hard to do with my banana yellow speed goat 4’s… but it would be easy to do with the new collection of Norda Shoes. That being said, I think some self reflection is warranted here.. I don’t think I’ll purchase a pair of these because it feels a little blasphemous to wear a pair of “the most technical trail runners ever designed” to the grocery store… a little like the pavement princess epidemic we see of beefed up F-350s sitting in suburban driveways awaiting a short drive to the local Safeway, never to reach their true potential. That said, if you love them go for it! Although, these shoes are probably overkill unless you’re an avid hiker and plan on really putting them to the test outdoors.

Online Ceramics Monsters of God Hat:

• As a kid who grew up obsessed with reptiles and a father who 1) is always sort of looking for the next great Dad hat and 2) hopes to someday soon chase lizards and toads with my sons, this hat speaks to me. I haven’t seen the documentary yet, so I cannot speak to that. All I needed to see was an embroidered crocodile, and it was pretty convincing. I have a favorite Dad hat that I’ve been gatekeeping for a while out of an extreme paranoia and over inflation of the popularity of this newsletter that every reader will seek it out and buy one and they’ll remain sold out forever… like that cookie shop hat that Aaron Levine wore… isn’t that a bit psychotic?! To buy a hat online from a place you’ve never been in an effort to chase some internet version of cool… strange… find one locally! Anyways… this Online Ceramics hat is sick, but there’s probably also a plethora of alligator tour places in Florida where you could find something less hyped, actually get to meet a gator, and LIVE A LITTLE FOR GOD SAKE!

Nepenthes x Aurora Shoe Co:

• Simple leather shoes are where it’s at! I’ve been all about a streamlined leather shoes lately. These ones from Paracia have been poking and prodding the back of my mind… in the pantheon of bare bones leather shoes, I think the Aurora Middle English sits at the top. Yeah, there’s some serious pilgrim vibes but in the world of technical this, foam technology that, it’s nice to wear something pared down to a single piece of shaped leather and a reliable vibram sole. The standard Aurora offerings of brown, burgundy, olive, navy and black leather are great, but I love this tab rough-out suede they’ve come up with in collaboration with the ever reliable Nepenthes. I also think about the Man-Tle collab that they’ve done quite a bit, but don’t have the means to justify well over double to price for a thicker sole and black buckle… maybe someday… Man-Tle aside, the brown sole and gunmetal buckles on this Nepenthes pair perfectly with the tan suede to make a beautifully streamlined earthed out shoe that your feet and mind will appreciate. As they say “Still the only shoe you will ever need.”

Hoka x Beams Zen Garden Bondi 7:

• I’ve been really into weathered concrete lately… there’s a lot of beauty in the moss that grows and the earth tones that emerge over years of exposure to the elements… so these are the aforementioned shoes that I succumbed to this week… the design is beautiful. I love camo, animal print, wild Hawaiian shirts and other prints, and truthfully, I have been looking for some road running shoes for a minute… I’m a reformed college long distance runner and spend most of my “fitness time” focused on hypertrophy these days… but… the road and trails have been calling. As a Dad, I’m a little less focused on fitness extremes “how far, how heavy, blah blah” and more focused on longevity. I think I’ve finally made it over the “but running will make me lose my hard earned muscle” hump and copped these shoes as an effort to be the dude pounding pavement with the sickest shoes. I still very much prefer trails to road running (better for the mind and soul methinks) but in classic gear head fashion, I’m hoping owning another pair of shoes will motivate me to hit the streets and get in some cardio. We will see!

18 East Tac Cargo Shorts:

• They say they make the best cargos I n the biz, and I am inclined to agree! The cargo pant catches a lot of heat for being associated with Dad’s who have given up on style. Picture me with a cellphone holster, t shirt tucked into a pair of Kirkland khaki cargos, in a phat pair of white orthopedic Nike’s, socked pulled all the way up, in my kiss the chef apron, manning the BBQ with unparalleled passion. We’re aiming a little higher here at Dad Style, but… if that’s your vibe and you’re loving it… keep on cooking, chef. These new TAC cargo shorts in a breathable nylon with a screen printed 3M pattern are trending more towards the ‘streetwear’ side for 18 East, and I love it. They’re subtle in the daytime, loud at night and great if you’re a late night dog walker looking for a high viz solution to alert Drivers of your presence. You might become an urban legend! “Have you seen the man with the glowing shorts? He walks a hound in the dead of night… invisible to the naked eye lest you shine a light upon his legs!” Pockets for dipes, wipes, snacks and beyond on these ones.

Earth Studies MP-111:

• I wrote about the MP-111 in charcoal wool / linen last week just in time for the recent release from Earth Studies in a lightweight cotton seersucker. These are the perfect summer pant for reaching peak airflow and achieving the hard to find nexus between a garment practical for the outdoors but wearable even in a formal setting. I think this might be the most versatile pair of pants I’ve ever purchased. The new AerTension technology seems like it’s a step up from the linen and wool in terms of “breathability maxxing” if you will (god forgive me… I hate that I wrote that but I’m going to leave it in…). If you want to go all in, the matching hat and shirt are also inviting. I fancy myself a bit of a summer vampire, always seeking ways to avoid direct sunlight for too long, and I can absolutely see myself wearing the EQ-121 Modular Solar Hat to the beach, shameless wrapped in a towel, protecting myself from ultra violet in style. Hat flaps always make me feel like a floppy eared dog, fun summer golden retriever energy. Anthropomorphic Futuristic beach goth maybe… I don’t have the lacy umbrella to be a Victorian beach goth.

That’s all for this week folks! Thanks for tuning in and thanks for your support!

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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P.S.

If anyone checks in on the 18 East instagram… you might have caught a glimpse of the TAC Cargo in the recently introduced Earth Studies camo!? Again… not the hype newsletter… but I will be keeping an eye out for these…

My criteria for these items is that they’re high quality, well made, cool and unique and $100 or less. You heard it right folks, $100 or less! Every now and then I’ll publish something above the $100 threshold if I think there’s a good chance you could put in an offer and snag it for less than $100.

A lot of people publish lists like this, but none will be quite like mine. I am a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out cool garments on the internet. I’ve gone so far as to hunt down and buy sold out / unavailable clothing through Style Forum DM transactions. If you like the items that I’ve been recommending so far, then you’re going to love this list series.

Small disclaimer: I don’t know any of these sellers. Use your head, check the source, check the measurements, and have fun!

Enjoy this week’s selection!

Gramicci Tribal Canvas EQT Pant Medium, $80

18 East Tac Cargo Shorts Khaki, Large, $125

Carhartt J165 Bomber, Brown Canvas, XL, $80

Sassafras Olive Cargo Pants, Medium, $80

Meals Black Chef Pants, XXL, $120

Vintage M65 Woodland Camo Pants, Medium, $50

Beams x Reebok Black Leather Sneaker, 11US, $80

LL Bean Duck Boots Low, 9.5, $30

3Sixteen Black Zig Zag Liner Jacket, XXL, $95

18 East Olive Green Gorecki Cargo, M, $55

Danner Combat Hikers, 9M, $80

That’s all for now folks! Just been trying to wear what I’ve got and if anything… buy for the season I’m in!

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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Vacation is great. I said it before, but I’ll reiterate that I’m finding myself feeling very grounded and appreciative of my home after several weeks of being away. I’ve also said this before: I love hard wearing pants. I packed my favorite hard wearing pants for my trip up to Northern Europe, which to my dismay ended up slightly backfiring… so today we’re exploring:

• My “vacation pants”

• A few light weight pants options that’ll serve you better in the summertime (perhaps I’ll provide some secondhand summer pants in this week’s Depop finds).

• Stellar hemp sweaters from New Zealand

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I wanted to travel light, so I packed two pairs of heavy pants and one pair of shorts for my two week trip… I was headed to northern Europe and into what I thought would be 50 degree mornings and 65 degree days… but I was wrong. While I didn’t get the full experience of the ‘great paris fashion week heat wave of 2026,’ I did find myself over-clothed for sunny 80 degree afternoons… My one pair of shorts got far more wear than anticipated. My alternative to shorts were a pair of:

• Engineered Garments Double Cloth fatigues: EG just dropped these in navy and olive double cloth for their FW26 collection. They also dropped in a very appealing black denim, navy canvas and brown heavyweight rips top over at Nepenthes America. I’ve lauded the durability and versatility of these pants several times on here, and I’ll keep doing it! I wore my first pair from the woods, to the club, to the mountains and to the pub and they fit and serve well in every setting. If you’re thinking ahead to FW and like a modern take on a classic pant, these are the fatigues to choose.

• Carhartt B01 double knees. The ultimate heavyweight Dad pant in my opinion. Purely utilitarian. Gosh, is it hard to beat the classics. I love my double knees. I decided to put in the work on these in lieu of buying vintage. It has been fun to watch these soften and age and fade with my own use. Put the work in, commit to wearing pants that will feel stiffer than cardboard for a month (or three), and if that’s too much for you… fine… they offer a pre-washed softer version too. Check out dungarees.com or support your local workwear chain.

  • Total bonus is the side leg pocket perfectly fits an iPhone in a case and it might be nerdy but I always feel really slick when I drop my phone into the clandestine side holster.

  • Other bonus tip: chop off the hammer loop! You probably will never use it and it’s just looking floppy and extra.

Other great alternatives to these hard wearing bad boys:

• For the full repro head: Orslow canvas pants

• For those desiring a slimmer fit: Imogene + Willie

• For the climbing types: Gramicci Taos

• For the heritage baller: grease point workwear

• For the cyber punk: Acronym… it has been ten years since my acronym phase. I could afford one pair. I wore one pair… constantly. On some bladerunner drum and bass late night rave shit. If that’s your vibe, it might be worth one pair.

• For the dude w/ beef against Carhartt: dickies sandstone

• For the Nepenthes Fan: Engineered Garments Duck Canvas Fatigue… mentioned before, but I’ll squeeze it in again. They’re great!

So… through rain, shine and sweat I was traipsing about in pants that were once so stiff that they clicked and clacked as I walked about. At one point, my mother in law asked my wife “why are all of his pants made of stone!?” While I had been thinking “boy these have really softened up!” And this is when I started to consider… perhaps I should embrace something softer, lighter and easier to get through the summertime.

Admittedly, I had been excited to wear my heavier pants for a while, since I’ve been working on an island where the average day is 85 degrees with 80% humidity… I spent a long time debating which pants to bring before I finally narrowed it down to the two choices discussed above… but while others were kicking it and cooling off in matching linen sets, I was sweating it out in my dungarees. So the search began… for lightweight pants!

Lighter pants are hard for me to find! I’m not sure why… There’s something about a lighter fabric that tricks my brain into thinking its not durable… that it’s flimsy or cheap perhaps. I might be scarred by a time I bought some J. Crew linen pants online only to find I could see straight through to my underwear! I’ve been working to get over my simple man-brain logic of “thicker heavier fabric mean good quality,” and this weather is certainly pushing me over the edge to find the lightest garments possible.

I was searching for something flowy but with structure and something light but substantial. Here are my top contenders for the coolest summer weight pants:

• Earth Studies MP-111 Pleated Pants: I love these and wish they made the matching top in charcoal like they did with the khaki pair. I would happily complete this set.

  • These finally arrived in the mail, and I can say that I’ve never been so blown away by a pair of pants. Sometimes you slip into a new pair of jawnz and think “alright… this is what I was expecting,” and it’s satisfying, but these earth studies pants are MIND BLOWING. First thing I noticed was the belt.. I’ve worn my fair share of gramicci garments, and this is not a dig on gramicci (as I love their pants) but this earth studies belt compared to a gramicci plastic waist cinch is no comparison at all. This belt is on some serious heavyweight shit. When it says it’s made of airplane grade metals, believe em.

  • I wasn’t sure what the pocket situation would be here, but these sport dual concealed rear pockets with a buttery smooth concealed zipper and a mesh lining and standard side pockets with a hidden mesh coin pocket.

  • The inward pleats are lovely. I went with a size 34 here. I’m 5’9”, typically a 30 inseam and try to get in a solid “leg day” when I can. These fit like a dream. Comfortably loose but not sloppy in the slightest.

  • You’ll need to try them yourself to believe. Natural fabrics collide with futuristic hardware to create some truly beautiful jawnz here.

• Journal Standard Cotton Woven Pants

• 18East Tac Cargo micro-ripstop

• Is-ness balloon pants

• Service Works Poplin baker pants

• Frizmworks Balloon Pants

• OrSlow summer weight fatigues (I think these sold out fast… but you might be able to find them. I grabbed a pair in a crispy lightweight black cotton from Canoe Club… my first ever OrSlow piece, and I am quite happy).

• White Hill Mercantile Mull Trousers

Ok… to wrap things up, I wanted to give shouts out to my new favorite sweater. I have had “black roll neck sweater” on my list of desired garments for a long time… the J. Crew Oarsmen is a fan favorite, LLbean has a nice waffle weave option (that I recommend sizing down on), but I suffer from STS (short torso syndrome) and both of these options are too long for me. Once a sweater covers my bum, I feel like I’m wearing a dress, which I do not like… this ‘dress’ feeling is especially accentuated in an open bottom sweater. These days, cropped garments have become a bit too cropped… While I don’t want to wear a sweater dress, I’m not trying to show the world my belly. I ended up on the Goodlids page by way of another Substack recommendations list that I cannot recall (I’m sorry) (shouting out their wool  x hemp blend thermal shirts, which seemingly sold out instantly) and happened upon a lovely “cropped” mock neck sweater made from a 50/50 hemp / cotton blend. This checked so many boxes for me. While it isn’t quite a roll neck sweater, this was essentially exactly what I was looking for. I was a bit worried about how cropped it would be, but I rolled the dice and couldn’t be happier. The sweater hits nicely just below the waist at the front and the back, has a slightly dropped shoulder but shortened sleeves that hit perfectly at my wrists. The material feels great, incredibly soft yet durable and I love the charcoal color. I followed the sizing advice and sized down to a large! I’m very tempted to double down and get one in red…

That’s all for this week folks!

Thanks for tuning in.

Peace and love,

Dad Style

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Depop is my preferred clothing resale site of choice. I prefer the layout, simplification of listings, and ease of communication. I also think you’ll find better steals on Depop than you will on other secondhand websites. I’ve purchased 18 East Gorecki Cargos for $25, Mephisto Match Sneakers for $60 and Orslow pants for $110.

My criteria for these items is that they’re high quality, well made, cool and unique and $100 or less. You heard it right folks, $100 or less! Every now and then I’ll publish something above the $100 threshold if I think there’s a good chance you could put in an offer and snag it for less than $100.

A lot of people publish lists like this, but none will be quite like mine. I am a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out cool garments on the internet. I’ve gone so far as to hunt down and buy sold out / unavailable clothing through Style Forum DM transactions. If you like the items that I’ve been recommending so far, then you’re going to love this list series.

Small disclaimer: I don’t know any of these sellers. Use your head, check the source, check the measurements, and have fun!

Enjoy this week’s selection:

Manresa Red Windbreaker, Large, $30

Engineered Garments Madras Blazer, Large, $115

Engineered Garments OCBD, Large, $25

Saucony x 3Sixteen Progrid Glide 7, 9.5, $85

18 East Green Linen Shorts, Large, $45

Nnormal Tomir 2 Running Shoes, 10, $70

Red Wing Pecos Boots, 10, $100

Vintage Military Liner Jacket, M, $45

Clark’s Leopard Wallabees, 9, $120

Orslow 105 light wash, Large, $90

Engineered Garments x Hoka, 11, $50

Sunflower Wide Leg Twist Jeans, 31 x 32, $95

Thanks for tuning in. I don’t know why some of these images got washed out but… check the listings!

Sorry for the delay this week… I owe the universe an article about lightweight pants…

As always, thanks for your support.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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• The coolest striped shirts and

• A great book to close out the summer

Thank you to all of those returning here as a subscribers! I have been shocked at how quickly this audience has grown, and I really appreciate your support. If you’re new here, please consider subscribing.

As always, I’m here to provide you unique, hard wearing, approachable, and mostly affordable (when weighed against the quality and coolness) garments, so you can continue to embrace your love of clothing and good style while balancing the demands of life and / or fatherhood. If you’re not a Dad, no worries there’s cool clothes and musings for you too!

If you’re feeling extra generous, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting my personal journey of shifting my life more towards my passions and interests. It’s humbling that I have even one paid subscriber. Your support means the world to me.

Subscribe now

Stoked to be back. Today, we’re talking about great striped t shirts to get you through the rest of summer, and what I’ve been reading.

I’m back from quite a bit of travel, and stoked on the clarity and space that came with it. I tried my best to distance myself from social media, online shopping (which is 99% browsing if we’re being honest) and other distractions, and it worked for the most part save for one ‘two beer buzz’ fueled online order from Earth Studies. After watching ‘the Doom Generation,’ I was on the hunt for a striped t-shirt and could not find one that hit that ‘just right’ sweet spot in any of the thrift stores or clothing boutiques that I visited in my travels… I wanted something with big stripes. Something that called back to the color-blocked coolness of the 90’s. I was looking for a t-shirt that looks like the not so distant relative of a vintage rugby shirt. I found myself inspired after watching ‘the Doom Generation.’

My requirements were a drop shoulder, healthily oversized, somewhat boxy shirt with big bold stripes. Small stripes give me a headache, and I’m not ready to go full vintage sailor mode with a long-sleeve blue and white striped naval shirt. After some time, it turns out I was just looking for the Earth Studies Striped MS-114 Mission Control T Shirt (it’s still in the mail, but I’ll get a review out once I receive it): This shirt is perfect with wide stripes in a tonal green color scheme that is carefully partitioned by thinner dark black stripes. I love everything about this shirt, from the fit to the logo placement to the block printed stripes. The third dark stripe really breaks up the green in a beautiful way and adds a layer of complexity more than most two-toned striped shirts that I found in my striped short sleeve deep dive.

I recently watched Bubble Boy (this is not about to become a movie review blog I swear) and regardless of how you feel about the obscene humor of the early naughts that some still long for (“you just couldn’t make a movie like that today man!”) our hero the Bubble Boy is swagged out in some serious stripes throughout. Doth my eyes deceive me, or is he rocking the Earth Studies striped shirt that I so desired? Sweet Bubble Boy goes so far as to get married in nothing but an olive striped shirt and his underwear. Now that’s some serious striped shirt appreciation.

Striped shirts feel youthful to me, sometimes overly so. They are the unwavering innocence of the Bubble Boy, stuck in perpetual boyhood. I think that’s why I avoided them for a while… I wanted to look “mature,” “dress my age,” blah blah. But big bold stripes harken back to a time when life was simpler and our bubbles, if you will, were smaller. 90’s era big stripes remind me of Saturday morning Digimon cartoons, slime time and goosebumps, and it’s something peaceful to invoke as I age. Stripes are fun, and why get dressed at all if it’s not at least a little fun (also to be in compliance with local laws and societal norms but that’s not the point, the point is that stripes are a bit silly and vibrant, and I think that energy makes the world feel a bit brighter)?

Here are a few other stiped bangers that I like:

Todd Snyder Boxy Rugby T Shirt

Our Legacy Ziggy Striped Shirt

Brain Dead Toni Striped T shirt

Beams Plus Brown Striped T Shirt

Unbleached apparel striped shirt

Moby Dick:

• I’m not done w/ this book yet, but my god Moby Dick is so funny. I always viewed this book as a literal representative of the great leviathan within: unconquerable and untamable, but I have been pleasantly surprised otherwise. While I have not even reached a whale, the chapter ‘Bosom Friends,’ is hilarious and the relationship between our friend Ishmael and his friend Quee-queq is sweet and endearing. I’ve just met ol’ Ahab and am interested to observe the descent into madness. If you’re looking to take your brain out on the high seas this summer, this is a great beach read.

• If you’re a new Dad and you’re up for early mornings w/ a newborn, I highly recommend digesting this as an audiobook. The Lonesome Dove audiobook got me through the hardest mornings of the first three months of my son’s life. Audiobooks are less absorbing than watching something on your phone, demand less attention than reading a book, yet provide just as much fun.

• If you’re looking for more of a western adventure, I can talk to you all day about why every summer should be a Lonesome Dove summer.

That’s all for now folks. Thanks for tuning in!

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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• The best sandals I’ve ever worn

• Great sandals that I’ve considered buying

• How to make your feet presentable for sandals

• and finally… footwear to free your feet while protecting your toes

Thank you to all of those returning here as a subscribers! I have been shocked at how quickly this audience has grown, and I really appreciate your support. If you’re new here, please consider subscribing.

I’m here to provide you unique, hard wearing, approachable, and mostly affordable (when weighed against the quality and coolness) garments, so you can continue to embrace your love of clothing and good style while balancing the demands of life and / or fatherhood. If you’re not a Dad, no worries there’s cool clothes and musings for you too!

If you’re feeling extra generous, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting my personal journey of shifting my life more towards my passions and interests. It’s humbling that I have even one paid subscriber. Your support means the world to me.

---

Subscribe now

I’m a big sandal man. I’ve got home sandals, going out sandals, lounging sandals, etc. I feel unburdened when I’m wearing sandals. My feet feel free. I’ll do just about anything in sandals aside from biking in them. A demonstration with a carrot and bike spokes from my childhood still has me traumatized about losing my toes. Sandals are the perfect dad shoe if you’re spending a day around the house and the yard and need footwear that you can don and doff quickly as you transition a mud covered toddler from the backyard to the shower. Sandals also send a signal to my brain that I am in relaxation mode. No matter where I am, the act of wearing sandals feels like one of defiance where I am bringing the spirit of the beach and the ensuing vacation mentality with me.

My job relocated me to a tropical location this past year, and I’ll be honest I’ve been going through a bit of a style reckoning. Most days, unless I’m going to be inside for the majority of my errands / activities it is too hot for pants and close toed shoes. This has been a problem for me, as I love pants and shoes and rely on them as the foundation for just about everything I wear. Still, I find myself stuck in menswear summer purgatory where it is sometimes even too hot for t shirts…

In an effort to reclaim some agency while I’m stuck in perpetual summer I decided to give quite a few different sandals a try. From outdoorsy to heritage wear (if there is such a sandal), I’m here to give you my first hand recommendations and my adjacent window shopping thoughts with footwear to “let the dogs breathe,” (which is something I have heard people say about their toes but have never actually said out loud to anyone ever…).

If you’ve ever dabbled in trying to improve your toe posture and you’ve considered wearing barefoot shoes to do so, I say forget about it! Sandals are an easy way to do free your feet without becoming a barefoot shoes enthusiast. If you’re afraid of showing the world your toes, don’t worry. I’ve got a creative solution for you as well.

For my city folk tuning in, I know that sandals can be hard to embrace… I would not dare bare my toes on the subway or on any city street. Fear not, I’ve got some recommendations for my city dwellers to free their feet while sparing their toes the danger of what lurks beneath.

• Bedrock Evo Cairn Sandal:

  

  

  • I’ll put my all time favorites first. The Bedrock Evo Cairn has been my go to sandal for the last year. I wear them just about every day. I opted to go with the Evo Cain because I like to be close to the ground in sandals. It feels appropriate to me to have robust ground feel while my toes are exposed. These sandals are durable, have a wide foot base for that toe splaying action and have a secure backstrap so I can go “sport mode,” and chase my son around with ease. If you want to go all in on the barefoot feel, checkout the original bedrock design. If you want more cushion, check out the Evo C! Whenever I am traveling and there’s a chance I can wear sandals, these are in tow. I cannot recommend them enough.

• Waltzing Mathilda Flip Flops

  

  

  

  

  • This is one for my heritage heads out there. Not all sandals have to be gorpy! Waltzing Mathilda makes excellent hand made sandals up in Maine. Their company goal is “To produce unique, handcrafted, limited edition leather sandals and accessories using American made materials with attention to detail and quality.. Providing lasting looks with a unique flair.” They also sport a very familiar sole pattern for you german footwear enthusiasts. These are my home sandals. I typically wear these around the yard, in and out of the house to take out trash, into the garage, etc. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked the foot shape, but they’ve grown on me. They are crafted from a Horween Chromoexcel leather, so I am sure that they will age with grace. They’re stocked over at Heddel’s (who also makes the ultimate MiUSA guide) or directly from WM’s website.

• Piper Sandals

  

  

  • I have recently been very intrigued by Piper Sandals. Piper is a small business that has been hand making sandals since 1971. The business is so intimately small that you can literally call Dave with any of your questions. His phone number is listed on Piper’s website. I love that you can mail in a foot tracing for your perfect fit. I think these are definitely for the next level sandal enthusiast… I love these in theory but am not sure if I would love them in practice… who knows, I might let loose my inner desert nomad and give them a try someday. Embrace the Jerusalem sandal vibes and support this stellar all American family brand.

• Sandal Man

  

  

  • More handmade flops from California with some fun leather and neoprene designs. Made by hand since 1976 and offering more classic silhouettes. I love the simplicity of the 301 Latigo and think that the weave could be dressed up in interesting ways. If you’re looking for a classic leather sandal that will age well, this might be it.

• Bedrock Rockhound Flip Flop

  

  

  • If you haven’t noticed, I’m all in on team Bedrock. I ordered a pair of their recently released Rockhound Flip Flops, but they are still in the mail. “Adjustable all terrain vibram sole flip flops” hit enough buzz words for me to decide to give them a try. Something about a flip flop that defies the limitations set by the typical heel slapping sandal and allows you to move more freely really appealed to me as a Dad. With most footwear, I need to be able to go from 0 to 100 very quickly to catch my tiny escape artist of a son and most flip flops are too limiting. If you don’t want a fully synthetic sandal and are looking for something more refined, they offer these in a beautiful brown Nubuck leather as well.

• Scott’s Flip Flops

  

  • An island classic. It’s hard to go wrong with a pair of Scott’s. Buy local! Your feet will be comfortable and you can play along with the flip flop trend without opting into Haivanas all summer long. Stussy just released a pair of flip flops that are incredibly similar to Scott’s if you want to flash a little Stussy logo for some street cred.
    

• Merrell Cove Leather Slide

  

  • I love Merrell shoes, and I’m sure these are likely the most comfortable sandals of my recommendations (I am basing this off adjacent Merrell experience). I wish they were fully monochrome and would prefer a back strap to increase mobility, but I’m sure they’re comfortable and that the foot arch allows you to lock in a little when you tighten the straps. My Merrell' Moab 3’s of the past went up and down so many Alaskan mountains that I lost count, so I’ll bet these sandals are just as reliable and durable.
    

• Reproduction of Found British Army Sandals

  

  • I have been a long time admirer but a no time purchaser of Reproduction of Found shoes. Someday I will find myself in a store with my desired style in my size, and I might purchase them. For now, I am too scared to gamble on sizing to try them out for the price. That said, the British Army Sandals are one good looking pair of open toed steppers. $350 is absolutely out of my budget for a pair of sandals, but if it is in yours, more power to you! If they’re also out of your budget, see the above Merrell’s. These are quite the luxurious reproduction, and I appreciate the monochrome black, as I’m going through a bit of an ‘all black despite suffering through the sweltering summer heat’ phase.

My Secret Solution to Public Displays of Toes:

• Let me tell you, I don’t think there’s a soul in the world that looks forward to seeing a grown man’s toes. Maybe there’s a few and to them I say good on ya, ya like what ya like. Otherwise… I imagine most consider them to be quite unsightly. My secret solution to letting your toes out in style is to paint your toenails.

• Embrace your whimsy! Paint your toenails! I started doing this back in the COVID era in part because I was bored to tears and also because I was running high miles and my toes looked gruesome. I was tired of looking at my own toes and figured the world might be too… perhaps they would be nice to look at if they were purple or gray or green. I attempted a paint job while watching The Midnight Gospel and have never looked back to my days of bare nails. All in all, I’ve received stellar reviews. Your Dad might give you a strange look but will more than likely never address your colorful keratin toe toppers out loud.

• Now my wife and I hold pedicure nights every month or so where we paint each others toenails. It’s a fun activity to accompany a good movie, and I like sporting matching toes with my wife. 10/10 great couples activity and 10/10 will make your toes look better than they currently look.

Clog it out:

For my city dwellers who need to protect their toes I’ll recommend the following: the Bedrock Mountain Clog.

I wrote a public review of the Bedrock Mountain Clog after an auto generated request where I called them the best clogs in the universe, and I will stand by that. I own two pairs; one in Obsidian Gray and another in Driftwood. The Driftwood ended up taking more brown tones than I anticipated and the Obsidian is nearly black, which is what I really wanted.

These have withstood everything I have thrown at them. They are designed for mountain use, and I have no doubt they could endure all of the footwear trials and tribulations that come with city dwelling. As I mentioned before, I work on a ship and when I am not wearing boots, I am in a pair of my mountain clogs. I also mostly wear them at work because they have been banned from the house by my wife for being too ugly. Regardless of the household controversy, my love for these shoes will never die. If you want the most durable and hard wearing clog on the planet, and you’re in an environment that is too harsh for sandals, this clog will get the job done. Size up in these. I wear a 9.5 in most shoes and an 11 in the mountain clog.

If you’re looking for something more refined, the 3Sixteen Mule in either black calf leather or natural calf leather is a real head turner. I am a long time voyeur and recent first time purchaser from 3Sixteen. I recently picked up one of the boxy heavyweight t shirts, which is without a doubt the best fitting t shirt in my entire wardrobe, and I’m waiting on a canvas work shirt to arrive in the mail next week. If you extrapolate the accolades given to their side zip boots, I am sure these mules will exceed expectations.

That’s all for now folks. Go buy that Dad in your life a pair of sandals or clogs and some nail polish for Father’s Day.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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In today’s newsletter, we’re talking about:

• Why its cooler than ever to listen to the radio

• My favorite radio app

• 10 Tasty Secondhand Selections for under $100

Thank you to all of those returning here as a subscribers! I have been shocked at how quickly this audience has grown, and I really appreciate your support. If you’re new here, please consider subscribing.

As always, I’m here to provide you unique, hard wearing, approachable, and mostly affordable (when weighed against the quality and coolness) garments, so you can continue to embrace your love of clothing and good style while balancing the demands of life and / or fatherhood. If you’re not a Dad, no worries there’s cool clothes and musings for you too!

If you’re feeling extra generous, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting my personal journey of shifting my life more towards my passions and interests. It’s humbling that I have even one paid subscriber. Your support means the world to me.

Subscribe

Before we get into the clothing, I’d like to talk about something that I’ve been enjoying a lot over the last few years: listening to the radio. Growing up, the radio was never something I was fully able to explore. My radio experience was at the mercy of whatever my parents put on in the car, which was usually the country hits of the time or the local family Christian radio station. I started to take charge of my own musical journey around the age of 12 or 13. I got a CD player as a birthday present, bought the Spiderman 2 Soundtrack and a $5 Warped Tour compilation CD. A friend from down the street also burned me a copy of Green Day’s American Idiot and a CKY album, which felt entirely rebellious. I was deep in my wannabe skateboarder years.

Throughout the rest of middle school and high school, I relied on my friends for good music. My iPod Nano grew into a collection of mix CD’s, my friend’s older brother’s iTunes and a handful of free downloads from questionable free music sites. Fast forward to 2012, and I made my first Spotify account. The algorithm took hold, and while I would like to think that I was dictating my own taste, I imagine the “algorithm” was doing a lot of the choosing for me. Until recently, I had all but forgotten the radio.

 A couple of years ago, I bought a 2000 Ford E-350. What I ended up loving most about the auxiliary side of the car was that there was no option to pick my own music. There was no aux cord, there was no Bluetooth, it was just a radio. I had a long commute at the time and began exploring my local radio stations. When I stumbled upon something I liked, I would hold onto it until I was out of range and the static was too much to bear. Then I would continue my search for something else pleasing to my ears.

I love the surprise of the radio. We make so many choices every day: what to eat, what to wear, where to go, what to watch, what to do, how long to work out, to fill the tank or only add a few gallons, to listen to something new, something old, something familiar, something different… In this world of endless choosing, I find a lot of peace in the service of the radio DJ. It is beautiful to relax the brain and embracing the selections of your local radio station. You might find an interesting news segment on why cows are drinking their own pee at alarming rates, some live slam poetry, or a 5am college radio DJ playing black metal blast beats for an entire hour… There’s a lot of goodness out there! The radio is a lot more than the billboard top 100.

Just like anything in life, finding a good local radio station is a road paved with many less good radio stations, but that’s the fun of it. Embrace the journey! Spend a few minutes with classical music, change stations and listen to a song that you didn’t think you would like, switch it up again and find your local dub reggae hour… the possibilities are endless! If your car doesn’t have a radio (I know some don’t now?) or you don’t have a car, I have a cool suggestion for you: download Radio Garden.

I love this website and the app that accompanies. Radio Garden is an app for listening to live radio broadcasts from all over the world. Here are a few of my favorite stations:

• NTS Poolside

• Dr. Dicks Dub Shack

• Rinse FM

• Shonan Beach FM

• KALX Berkeley, CA

• Spinning Seal FM

• Arctic Outpost AM1270

If none of these stations appeal to you, just click around, and you’re bound to find a unique international station that satisfies your flavor of the day. There’s a lot of talk online these days about subverting the hegemonic all seeing algorithm. Listening to the radio is a simple and cool way to do just that.

Alright… now onto the clothes! We are sticking with the top ten delicious Depop digs for under $100, and I’ve got some cool ones to show you today!

We’ve got Earth Studies pants to make you look like an ethereal forager come from the future with good tidings from the great mycelial beyond, a 3Sixteen Patchwork shirt and a pair of matching pants that could make a set for someone who skips leg day or wants an oversized top, a pair of Mephisto Match sneakers in a clean chocolate brown leather, some pre-painted Orslow shorts for fooling the neighbors into thinking you’re remodeling, and many more! Enjoy.

Earth Studies Ecru MP-108 Pant Size 34 - $100

3Sixteen Mismatch Shirt Size Large - $125

3Sixteen Patchwork Fatigue Size 30 - $99

Black Suede Wallabees Size 11 - $56

Brown Leather Mephistos Size 8.5 - $80

18 East Collan Red Quarter Zip Size Small - $90

Orslow Painter Shorts Size 3 - $64

18 East Logo Polo Shirt Size M - $48

Manresa Belted Canvas Climbing Pants Size XL - $50

German Flecktarn Fatigue Pants Size 34 - $35

As always, thanks for your support.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

Welcome back to Dad Style. I’ve been posting a lot of recommendations for new garments since I started this account. I love the idea of new clothing, but truthfully I purchase most of my clothing secondhand. I try to strike a balance between in person thrifting, eBay / Poshmark / Depop sleuthing, and the occasional new purchase.

Depop is my preferred clothing resale site of choice. I prefer the layout, simplification of listings, and ease of communication. I also think you’ll find better steals on Depop than you will on other secondhand websites. I’ve purchased 18 East Gorecki Cargos for $25, Mephisto Match Sneakers for $60 and Orslow pants for $110.

Now you’re probably thinking… it sounds like a lot of work to sift through the river of used garments for a gold flake find, and you’re right… Don’t worry, I am here to help.

Every week, I’ll publish a list of my top ten Depop finds.

Now here’s where it gets really special. My criteria for these items is that they’re high quality, well made, cool and unique and $100 or less. You heard it right folks, $100 or less! Every now and then I’ll publish something above the $100 threshold if I think there’s a good chance you could put in an offer and snag it for less than $100.

A lot of people publish lists like this, but none will be quite like mine. I am a bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out cool garments on the internet. I’ve gone so far as to hunt down and buy sold out / unavailable clothing through Style Forum DM transactions. If you like the items that I’ve been recommending so far, then you’re going to love this list series.

Final note, these items will go fast. While I’m not here to encourage impulse purchases, I recommend striking when you find the good deal to your liking. I’m still kicking myself for not picking up a pair of Orslow Black Regular Fit Fatigues in my size for $100 last week… they sold while my $80 offer was pending.

Disclaimer: I don’t know any of these sellers, nor can I vouch for them and the accuracy of their listings. I am taking these listings at face value. Buying secondhand is always an adventure and can sometimes be a gamble!

Now if you like the sound of all that, consider subscribing for more of the greatest Dad Style finds and recommendations.

As always, thank you for your support.

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Without further ado, here are the Dad Style top ten Depop finds of the week:

Orslow 105 Selvedge Jeans Size 4 - $55

Gramicci Black Gadget Pants Size Small - $70

Freenote Cloth Black Button Up Size M - $100

Engineered Garments x Sebago Loafers 11.5 - $100

Calvin Klein Denim Jacket Size L - $35

Barbour Black International Jacket Size L - $100

RRL Striped Cotton T Shirt Size XL - $80

Frizmworks OG Donny Seersucker Shirt XXL - $38

Sassafras Weeds Digger Western Shirt Size M - $72

3Sixteen Duck Camo Shirt Size XL - $75

That’s all for now folks. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for your support.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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Before we get started, thank you to all of those returning here as a subscribers! I have been shocked at how quickly this audience has grown, and I really appreciate your support. If you’re new here, please consider subscribing.

As always, I’m here to provide you unique, hard wearing, approachable, and mostly affordable (when weighed against the quality and coolness) garments, so you can continue to embrace your love of clothing and good style while balancing the demands of life and fatherhood.

If you’re feeling extra generous, consider becoming a paid subscriber and supporting my personal journey of shifting my life more towards my passions and interests. It’s humbling that I have even one paid subscriber. Your support means the world to me.

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about denim overshirts and shackets. I’ll cover more overshirts soon, but this week I found myself distracted by sets. The sets I found intriguing are matching shirts / shorts / pants or matching jackets / pants. My online searching for sets started when I watched this video by the gang over at Canoe Club that I mentioned in my article on why I cut up a $55 t shirt.

The Best Memorial Day Menswear Sale:

Quick aside before we get into sets (Disclaimer: this post is NOT sponsored by Canoe Club, I just like what they do): my $55 t shirt that I cropped was the Lady White Co “Our T Shirt.” If you’re looking to upgrade your t shirts, this is the weekend to do it. Canoe Club is offering 30% off and they have a sweet “build your own 2 pack” deal on the LWC t shirts. 30% off puts a two pack at $77, which is a killer deal. My favorite colors on their site are Timber, Elm, and Pigment Charcoal. I’m going to refrain from purchasing any this weekend, as I’ve gone through a bit of a recent t shirt overhaul and don’t need anymore… but I might set a calendar reminder for next year and make it an annual tradition to re-up on my favorite shirts every Memorial Day for an excellent price.

Canoe Club also carries a lot of Orslow pants. If you’re looking for something consistent that you can wear into the ground to a variety of occasions (easily dressed up or down), I would highly recommend a pair of these fatigues. These fatigues are up there with Engineered Garments, as my all time favorites. I think these are some of the best fatigues you can buy. If you’re looking for faithful high quality reproductions, here’s a great chance to get some at 30% off.

Ok. Now onto the sets. I’m not formal enough at this phase of my life to wear suits around, and I wear a uniform to work. I don’t live the lifestyle appropriate to dive deep into the world of tailoring… My wardrobe is smartly casual, full of canvas pants, fatigues, OCBD’s and t shirts. In the aforementioned Canoe Club YouTube video, one of the staff members mentioned a set they had from a brand I had never heard of called J. Wu. I gave them a google and was surprised to find a beautiful brown canvas jacket with swoop style pockets in the front AND in the back! While I was wooed by the jacket, I was pleasantly surprised to see a pair of matching pants!? The pants also have swoop style pockets and side pockets, which I have grown to love for fast cellphone holstering. I think these are sold out everywhere… but I’ll be keeping an eye out for a restock.

Even though I don’t wear suits very often, I can appreciate the heck out of a good set. You’ll look instantly put together, and a set takes a lot of the mental calculus out of putting an outfit together: jacket and pants sorted, throw on your favorite shirt and shoes, and you’re good to go.

I continued my deep dive into the coolest sets and stumbled upon this sulfur dyed beauty from Snow Peak. This seems like something a swagged out Yosemite climber would wear. This is a set from a future where Patagonia still makes stand up pants and also decided to make a matching jacket.

Continuing on the gorpy / climbing forward front, Gramicci offers an opportunity to match top to bottom with their Taos jacket and pants. Available in black and olive for the conservative dresser and in this white / tan tree bark pattern for the loud crowd. If you are looking for a workwear leaning canvas set, I think you could also do some good work w/ a pair of Carhartt double knees and the matching jacket or vest. There’s no match for the B01.

Everybody World offers this mega utilitarian slate grey on grey combo. Feels a little Orwellian, but I can get behind it. For the days when you want to move low key but with style. I like the soft curve and the wide pocket on the shirt. I’m good on pants for now… but I might grab this shirt to pair with other black pants in my wardrobe.

Lost and Found, another favorite menswear site of mine just did a collaboration with Norse Projects on a tasty taupe jacket and pants set. This is the highest price point here, but you’re guaranteed to be getting something good with these two names attached to the product. Dusty but clean on this one.

Now onto the holy grail of summertime sets. I don’t own anything from Gardenheir yet, but these sets might change that… some of my happiest adult memories have been in the garden with my family, and dressing like a well put together gardener seems like a great move for summertime. I’m starting to realize that T Shirts are too much dense fabric for the sweltering heat and humidity of the summer. I’ve almost been exclusively wearing Hawaiian shirts and lightweight oxfords, but I am making a shift towards linen this summer, and Gardenheir just released a linen set in four colors and a beautiful seersucker set with both a pants and shorts option.

Ok now you might be thinking… these are all pretty expensive. I agree. The lowest cost on the list is from Everybody World at around $245 and the Norse Projects set clocks in at almost $600. While these are some of the coolest options around, I don’t typically have that much extra fun money laying around for extraneous clothing purchases! If you’re looking to spend less money but want a matching set, I have a solution for you, but you’ll have to get a little bit creative.

I’m typically hard pressed to spend more than $100 for a button up shirt, as they’re so readily available at thrift stores for a lot less. Honestly, I have purchased some new garments recently, but it has been three or four years since I purchased something new. For a long time, all of my fun money was going to Home Depot runs for an endless list of house projects… that’s when I started dyeing my own clothes.

I am all about thrifting here at Dad Style. I love the magic of visiting the thrift store. Sometimes you’ll find something unexpected, sometimes you’ll find a pair of Clark’s Wallabees in the exact color you’ve always wanted for $7. If you’re feeling up to the creative task, you can dye your own set. Visit your local thrift store to find some garments and pick up some RIT dye from your local Michael’s or other craft store. The fun part of this is that the garments do not need to be the same fabric. You can find a style and fit that you want, I recommend plain colors and natural fabrics and you can create a sweet matching set in a color that nobody else is wearing.

With a little bit of effort and experimenting, you’ll create something truly one of a kind! Then when people ask “where’d you get that?!” You can take some pride in answering that you did it yourself. Dyeing your own clothing breaks through the limits imposed by buying ready to wear clothing. You’ll make something that is truly yours in any color you like. You are no longer stuck with what is available, you can make whatever you want.

The steps to dyeing are easy: boil water, add some salt and dish soap, add the dye, dip your garment, wash in the sink until the color stops running, wash in a machine with hot water, detergent and some dye preservative and then enjoy!

I recently dyed some garments black. Some came out quite black and others turned out more of a blue ish grey, which ended up being a happy accident. The two shirts below are now my favorites. I should have taken some ‘before’ photos… The seersucker shirt ($5 thrifted) was white with a plaid pattern, the Patagonia stand up shorts ($35 from Depop) were brown, the OCBD ($3 thrifted) was yellow and the linen shorts ($5 thrifted) were white. I’m very stoked on the results.

Total cost for two pretty cool matching sets: $48. Not bad!

Home dyeing is best done with thrifted garments. I cannot stress enough that it is EXPERIMENTAL. Sometimes you’ll get something you love, other times it won’t be quite right. That’s what makes it fun. All fabrics react differently to being dyed and it’s always somewhat of a surprise. Embrace the Bob Ross mentality of happy accidents on this one and get experimental!

That’s all for now folks.

Until next time.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

New clothing is expensive… I’ve found myself stuck in this strange paradox where I’ll buy a nice garment, meant to be worn and lauded for its durability and quality, but I’ll keep it nice and neat in my closet out of fear of “ruining” something expensive. I’ve always scoffed at sneaker heads who wear shoe covers and are crushed when their shoes crease… they’re shoes and they’re meant to be worn, but now I’ve found myself doing the same… even with t shirts!

I have almost amassed a whole wardrobe of what I refer to as “Dad Clothes.” They’re typically cheaper thrifted garments that fit well but aren’t too precious to worry about staining in some way. The issue is, I’m a Dad all the time! My Dad clothes end up becoming my favorite and most worn garments because that’s what I am wearing. Meanwhile, all my “nice clothes” sit on ice… which leads me to wonder what was the point of buying these in the first place…

I am trying to escape my strange mental prison and get back to simply wearing all my clothes again… I made an attempt at regaining some mental clarity recently with a Lady White Co t shirt and a pair of scissors.

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Alright folks, prepare yourselves to enter my neurotic brain. I think this all stems from when I was a child… when I was five years old, I was obsessed with tucking in everything, and I mean everything. I tucked in t shirts, sweatshirts, rain jackets, you name it. I was unstoppable. No garment was free from my waistband. If I was wearing a t shirt, a sweater, and a jacket, they all got tucked. I’ve reformed a bit and don’t tuck in garments like I used to, but I’m still a little bit neurotic when it comes to t shirt lengths…

I have a shorter torso and recently sought out the LWC Our T Shirt because I like the two packs (it just makes financial sense to get two instead of one, you know!?) and the length of the XL works for me at 28in. Unfortunately, most t shirts get longer as they get wider… at a pretty average height, 30+ inches in length doesn’t work for me.

Now… when I get multiples of something, I approach it with the thought that I’ll use both and or have a backup in case one gets stained or ruined… the problem is, I usually end up picking a favorite… I’ll buy a two pack or two of a kind, and one shirt will get worn daily while the other one, likely because it doesn’t fit quite the same way, will remain on the bench. This sort of happened with my Our T Shirt two pack. The first shirt was a perfect 28” in length and hit in all the right places as advertised. The other shirt was a distressing 29.5 in length.

I know this sounds dramatic, but now I had two problems… I said 30+ inches in length for a t shirt doesn’t work for me, but 29.5 inches pushes the boundaries of my neurosis just enough to be bothersome. My other problem is that these are the nicest t shirts I’ve ever owned, and I’ve admittedly been hesitant to wear them about in fear that they’ll get stained or ruined in some way…

I decided to put it all on the line with a pair of scissors and do exactly what I feared would happen to this great t shirt: “ruin it.” I cut the shirt just above the stitching to see if I would like it a little shorter. This did two things: 1) it shortened the shirt, which was the immediate intent 2) it changed the vibe of the whole shirt. In chopping up a high quality $55 (two pack price) shirt, I made a statement saying “I don’t really care how this wears or what happens to this t shirt.” This shirt was no longer something precious that needed to be preserved. It was christened by a pair of rogue bathroom scissors and ready for life. After my chopping, I realized It was kind of psychotic of me to order a $55 t shirt and then worry constantly about what might happen to it… after all, it’s just a t shirt.

For my Dads out there, you know that worrying about preserving your clothes from life is the most futile state of being, as it’s only a matter of time until your clothing gets stained, stretched or torn. Sauces, oils, milk, bodily fluids abound and no matter how hard you fight it something will end up on your clothes. I have not fully let go on this front, but I have adapted. I don’t wear much white these days… even still, easily stained or not, you have to let go and let life happen to your clothes.

My chopped Lady White Co shirt has now become my daily driver… I’ll wear it to work in the garage, to the park, to the gym and beyond. I’ll wear it all the places I was afraid to wear a $55 t shirt. In casting off my fear of ruining a garment by trashing it myself, I created something much more wearable in everyday life.

There is peace in wearing a garment without worry. In this peace, you’re allowing a garment to be what it is supposed to be, a piece of clothing; meant to be worn in and worn out.

I’ll round this thing out with this great video from the gang over at Canoe Club from whom I bought my LWC two pack about why it’s really cool to just wear your clothes:

HOW IT WEARS: SHOWING OFF OUR MOST WORN GARMENTS

P.S. it is easy to get scissor crazy. I recommend chopping one garment at a time should you so choose. Do not get scissor happy, you’ll regret it… trust me.

P.P.S. The shirt will roll up if it has an unsewn opening, do not crop your garment to the desired length: it will get 1.5-2” shorter. Go longer or you might be sad about the results.

Thanks for reading.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

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Today’s focus is denim shirts as jackets. Use this new technology and sweet recommendations to get through this transitional weather in comfort and without the burden of tying a jacket around your waist, which I’ve never figured out how to do comfortably.

Requirements:

A quick note on what i look for in these garments: I’ll continue to reiterate these requirements as an effort to refine them as they sit in the stone tumbler of my mind… These articles of clothing need to be durable, have longevity, be fashion forward or unique in some way (be it fabric choice, fit, details etc.) but not TOO forward, be relatively affordable and ‘good quality.’ I own across the spectrum of precious and non precious garments, and I would say my recommendations will typically fall somewhere in the middle… these should be garments you will care about preserving and keeping clean, but will age well when worn hard. For my fellow Dads out there, they should also be priced so that you wont be totally devastated when you get an avocado covered hand on them.

I am also a bit wider up top and suffer from short torso problems, so I’m typically also seeking out easy to wear, loose fit options that are made with ease of movement in mind and air on the moderately shorter side.

I will admit, some of these shirts are expensive… I personally have a hard time spending more than $100 on a shirt… I tend to thrift. That said, I’m considering embarking on a quest for 5 perfect shirts that I am willing to pay more money for… some of those highlighted below fall into that idealized “perfect,” category. I love thrifting for the magic, the ideas and the surprise… but currently I feel like I’ve refined my ideas, know what I want and am willing to pay more for something exact.

In today’s ode to the over-shirt, we’re focused on the Heavyweight Champ: the denim overshirt. This is not your type one two or three denim jacket, this is a shirt worn as a jacket… a type IV? Type V?! They’re classic, they’re western, they’re futuristic, there’s truly no limit here… let’s get into it.

Randy’s Garments over shirt:

• I’m on the cusp of ordering my first Randy’s Garments shirt. I’ve been waffling back and forth as I am between the Large and XL… I’ll probably size up. I think that’s typically the best move. In the meantime, I’ve also been eyeing their over shirts. Shorter in length, drop shoulder and wide across the chest, this shirt reads like a dream to me. They have a few available in larger sizes on their site, there’s some at Lost and Found.

Rogue Territory work shirt:

• Back when I was a college runner and could wear a size 28, I had a pair of RGT jeans. I bought them from a store in Los Angeles on a brief visit and wore them for a year without washing them… I wasn’t sure what rules to follow but feared that washing my raw denim would totally ruin them… I now know this isn’t that case. That said, the jeans were great. Hard wearing denim fabric, great for most weather and I think their denim shirts are very much the same. Although they’re no longer for me, as they’re slimmer fit than I prefer, there’s no doubt these will work for many and are a top tier denim shacket choice.

3Sixteen Cross Cut Western Shirt:

• I’ve been going through a bit of a t shirt overhaul which has quickly snowballed into me trying top tier t shirts from different brands… I’ve got one from 3Sixteen in the mail, but I’ll try to give the full report on that when it arrives and receives some wear. While I’m sure the t shirts are great, we all know 3sixteen is famous for the denim. Here’s a unique take on the western sourced from Redcast Heritage in indigo or Self Edge in black; with very unique detailing; crossed back yoke, gunmetal sunburst patterned buttons and those little dangly strings at the hem that I find appealing. I’m not a huge guy, but based on the measurements I’d get a XXL… might be a shirt for my long distance running readers.

Earth Studies MS-120 Shift Jacket:

• If I was trying to go futuristic Dad mode, this is how I would do it. What cooler way than to embrace the future with an incredibly forward leaning shape in a trusted natural fabric. I don’t own anything by earth studies yet, but I would really like to someday. Based on testimonials I’ve read, there’s no doubt this would be worth the investment. Sick piece for the trails, for the streets and everywhere in between. A jacket that leans forward in time without making you look or feel like a techno ninja. I would love to see the wear on this jacket after a few years of use. Fade into the future with this one.

Wrangler classic western snap shirts:

• If most of your money is going to the homestead and house projects, it’s pretty hard to beat Wrangler as a candidate for the denim overshirt. I love these and you can find them for reasonable prices new and secondhand. For my city dwellers… I’m still not sure how I feel about western wear in the city… maybe the same as wearing carhartt when you’ve never done carhartt activities… that said, who cares. Just do what you like. If you like it, embrace the urban cowboy. Need something to do this weekend? Find your local western store! Drive to it, enjoy some country roads and pickup a denim wrangler shirt for the cool mornings ahead. I have one that I picked up from Depop for $15. I like the fabric and the wash, but these shirts definitely run long (33-34in length). I’ve got it in ice until I get it tailored.

Freenote Cloth:

• If you’re looking to shell out a bit more for your workwear and westernwear, Freenote is a high quality candidate. I own the 9oz pocket t shirt and the deck sweatshirt, and I love both. Someday I will seek out the denim, but I’m waiting for the opportunity to try it in person. It still feels too risky to me to order $300 jeans or shirts online. This one also might hurt a bit more if it gets some unwanted messy toddler hands on it at $300… The fits and details range from classic workwear to heavily western. My favorites are the modern western ii shirt, the Calico in 9oz Indigo, and the Western Scout ii in 1900’s denim.

Secondhand options:

• Here’s a smattering of secondhand options for those seeking lower price points and preowned jawnz.

  • J crew selvedge denim overshirt - $45

  • 80’s Wrangler Pearl Snap 18 x 34 - $27

  • Light wash Wrangler Pearl Snap XL - $25

  • Levi’s selvedge denim western XXL - $59

  • Gustin denim overshirt L - $150

  • Full count chambray shirt L - $100

  • Big John Selvedge Denim Shirt XL - $145

  • Okonkwo western denim shirt M - $95

  • VTG 70’s western denim shirt M - $65

  • Levi’s LVC sawtooth denim shirt L - $125

  • RGT selvedge OCBD M - $125

  • Orslow denim button up 3 - $86

  • Orslow sawtooth denim shirt 1 - $120

Ok, that’s all for now folks.

Thanks for tuning in.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

Welcome to this week’s tabs!

First and foremost, thank you to all 300 of you that have subscribed to my newsletter! I am deeply humbled that you’re interested in what I have to say and share and am stoked to connect with you all.

My job requires me to go out to sea quite a bit and often times w/ limited access to internet… so if there are delays in my letters, that’s likely why. The thoughts below are those of a Dad stuck in 8-10 foot seas who may or may not have just thrown up his lunch…

While I am not traveling and working, I am trying to be the best dad and husband that I can be while putting focus into trying to grow this newsletter into something that might eventually lead to some sort of career transition away from the vast ocean and towards my passions of good clothing and other artistic endeavors… Despite my constant movement, my goal is to keep a steady rhythm when it comes to providing you all my best finds and thoughts on the ever-evolving menswear-scape, especially as I embrace the constant changes and excitement of being a dad.

Now, let’s get to it:

Life is a lot to balance sometimes… so before getting into today’s finds, I wanted to wax philosophical a bit on distraction v. connection. We are all dancing around the great wheel of time in body’s that have real limitations… sleep, hunger, thirst, attention spans, emotional bandwidth, etc. All of these come in to play and influence how we present ourselves to life every day. A few mornings ago, this newsletter started to gain some traction, and I was excited. I woke up early with my son and was thinking about what to write about next (looking at my phone) while slowly chipping away at a French press full of coffee. At some point, my son seemed to get upset about something, and I presented him with a known favorite ‘Linkimals’ sloth to ‘keep him busy…’ all so I could look at some pants on my phone. It took a minute for all of this to dawn on me, but at some point a higher part of my brain asked, “what are you doing?” to which I realized, “oh man… what am I doing?!”

I had chosen distraction over connection. I think that choosing to connect or distract is a choice all of us make frequently, whether its with our kids, friends, partners or coworkers. It is easy to choose distraction by way of entertainment over connection through conversation, play or meaningful interaction. Moving forward, I think I’ll try and ask myself “how can I connect right now?” instead of “how can I entertain or distract?”

After I had my morning epiphany, I put my phone to charge out of sight in an adjacent room and grabbed a ball to roll back and forth with my son. We spent the rest of the morning chasing each other around, stacking blocks and dancing to the ‘Linkimal’ sloth’s songs (which by kids toy standards are pretty decent).

I suppose that’s the ‘Dad’ part of this week’s Dad Style article… now…

The clothes:

I’ve been on a big “does it come in black?” kick. I used to ask this question all the time but found myself drawn towards a sea of colors and patterns over the past few years. My love for patterns and colors remains, but now it is time for my return, ‘back to black.’

I love vintage military clothing and am really drawn to Engineered Garments Workaday and other brands focused on high quality / forward leaning reproductions and interpretations of military garments. Thankfully, a lot of these also come in black, are available at the best shops around and will be the focus of today’s tabs… I feel like I’ve already said a lot this week, so I’m just going to let the clothes speak for themselves:

Beams America Black M-65 Jacket:

Engineered garments workaday seabees jacket:

Orslow black stone BDU jacket:

Buzz Rickson black HBT shirt:

Orslow black fatigue shirt:

Orslow black summer weight fatigues:

Engineered garments workaday black cotton ripstop fatigues:

Rothco black M-65 cargo pants:

Frizmworks black pants:

Universal Canadian Cargo Pants:

Vintage moleskin cargo pants:

18 East Roy Baker Pants:

Stan Ray Black Loose Fit Fatigue:

Maharishi Black M65 Pants:

Thanks for tuning in!

Peace and love…

Until next time,

Dad Style

Mister Freedom T Shirts:

• I’ve been in the midst of a t shirt overhaul over the last few months… one t shirt at a time. I’ve slowly committed to the Lady White Co ‘Our T Shirt’ and ‘Municipal T’ and recently picked up a great 9oz pocket t in Tobacco from Freenote. Any menswear hound knows the quest for the perfect t shirt… both the Lady White Co and Freenote have their merits. LWC has a more modern fit, feels like the most well designed t shirt I’ve ever owned and the length hits right where I want it. The freenote has more of a traditional fit but finds balanced in the big ol’ chest pocket w/ its signature contrast orange stitching. Both shirts have a clean cotton look, but the Freenotes above seem to be more slubby and airy. I’ve been trying to limit myself to earth tones, so I’ve been eyeing black and olive.

Randy’s Garments Jackets:

• I’m all about workwear. I crave hard wearing garments. I want jackets that look good enough to wear to the coffee shop but that I don’t have to worry about if I need do real work. I want jackets that are cool enough to wear out on the town but capable enough to chop some wood! Randy’s garments popped on my radar recently, and while I don’t have any firsthand experience with the brand, the concept is definitely intriguing. These are hard wearing work clothes with a more design forward hand, built to last and built to look good. My wardrobe is lacking in light jackets, and I’m thinking one from Randy’s Garments might appropriately fill that void.

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House of Blanks Quarters Zip:

• Ok, I ordered this one. It is in the mail and arrives Thursday. I’m stoked. The dialogue around quarter zips has been weird this past year, but I love them. I’ve been adding more high quality mid-layers to my wardrobe as well with a focus on darker colors and natural fibers. Back to my point on hard wearing clothing, this page describes the cotton used on this sweater as indestructible. I’m very susceptible to this type of language… so here we are, tracking an inbound DHL package. Now I’m just waiting on the sweat shorts to restock.

Freenote Cloth Deck Sweatshirt:

• I own one of these in midnight, but I’m going through a “back to black” moment here… can you tell? will I get a second one? Maybe. I’m trying to temper the temptation, as I don’t really need one right now. I was nervous about the width of the waist band and wrist cuffs, but they give the sweatshirt a classic and vintage feel. That being said, it is hard to roll up the sleeves!! Play it as it lies I guess… Incredible quality on these sweatshirts. If you’re lost in the big blue sea of “XXX-GSM” sweatshirts, give one of these a try instead.

JungMaven Raglan Sleeve Sweatshirt:

• Speaking of classic and vintage vibes, this short sleeve sweatshirt takes the cake. Short in the sleeves and at the length, these hit right at the waistline and will make you feel like an extra in an 80’s movie. This falls into the: clothing I used to own but outgrew category for me. I’ve been strongly considering ordering another. It’s a unique piece that I guarantee everyone will ask about when you wear it.

Universal Surplus Vintage German Pants:

• Go support the team at Universal Surplus! I can’t speak for their in house line, but the reproductions they’ve been making look awesome. Alongside the reproductions, they stock an incredible collection of vintage surplus from American to European military and work clothing. I am always intrigued by their pants selection and spend a lot of time dividing the measurements by 2.54 to see if they’ll fit me. I really like these dark blue HBT pants, which also have a matching jacket available.

  • *also a great place to try the Austrian Cargo Pants, which we love here at Dad Style.

Alright… that’s it for this week. I’m trying to get back on a schedule here and will do a better job of taking my own photos for these write ups. Maybe some fit pics coming soon. Thanks for reading.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style'

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I’m at the age where the priority scale of comfort versus cool is starting to lean more and more towards comfort (while I still won’t be caught dead wearing the white new balance nike Seinfeld 90’s Dad shoe). I recently bought into the world of Mephistos, a fantastical walking shoe with a cult like following. Mephistos walk that thin line between comfort and cool boasting a real, if you know you know type following. They’ve been talked about in the New York Times, collected by fanatics, etc. The brand has also collaborated with some seriously heavy hitters in the cool clothes world: 18 East dropped a collaboration with them a year back that seemingly sold out instantly. I have been eyeing the Body of Work Mephistos collaboration for a while, scared to drop $450 on a pair of sneakers and also scared that my size will soon sell out and I’ll momentarily suffer through the phases of FOMO before probably moving on to something else but still being a little bummed that I didn’t cop. I’ll get to this later, but my fear of spending full price for this collaboration is quickly waning, as I’ve gotten some first hand experience with Body of Work’s brilliance.

I found my first pair of Mephistos used. If you can’t get out to a store to try some on, search the second hand market for some high quality Italian leather steppers. eBay, Depop, Poshmark, you’ll find lots of options across the spectrum of lightly used to fully flambé-d. Just make sure you cross check the UK / EU size number to US sizing… it’s surprisingly easy to accidentally order a pair of women’s shoes…

I found a dark brown pair of Depop and was drawn to them because they look pretty darn similar to the first B.O.W. Mephistos collaboration from last year. They’re a little more branded, and they were missing insoles… but the price was right at $60. I was stoked. After they arrived, I added some insoles from a beloved pair of running shoes. I had a pair of old Hokas that I had beat to death on the trails and executed a surgical insole transplant into my EUC Mephistos. I love these shoes. They have this nostalgia for me in that they remind me of the chunky skate shoes (fallen, DC’s, etc) that I used to love in my teenage years, but my god… they’re all grown up! Above all else, they’re so comfortable. I think I could walk in these for days without fatigue.

Recently, I was going through some nonsense at work and sought refuge in the sweet sweet arms of ordering something neat online (usually shoes… sometimes pants). I had been eyeing the wares of San Antonio Sneakers for a while, and well… they have also collaborated with Body of Work. Unfortunately, the shoe I was truly after was all sold out (as it released two years ago… I’m a little late to the party), but one day, while surfing the internet on my phone at the vet while I waited for an update on my dog’s anal gland situation, I happened to notice that a lone pair of 9.5s had appeared ON SALE in the Body of Work Velcro SAS stompers. I bought them on a whim but in that moment, briefly, was distracted from the troubles that awaited me at the office…

If you wear a size 8 or 13, you’re in luck.

I was hesitant about the velcros… My initial thoughts on Velcro shoes is that they’re acceptably rocked by those between the ages of 0-4 and 70+. It is hard to justify in between… that being said, I think I’ve changed my mind. The quality of the leathers and suedes used on this shoe are off the charts, even the mesh feels better than it does on other sneakers; silkier and more durable. Something about the high quality of the materials elevates the shoe so that the Velcro doesn’t look terribly goofy. I didn’t think a Velcro sneaker could be so beautiful, which brings me to where I am now…

My cart is loaded up with the Mephisto Match from Body of Work, and I am ready to strike when the moment is right, probably when I’m sleepy and have had a weird day and am looking for a quick dopamine rush (albeit a well thought out one) by way of a pair of sneakers. If Body of Work has elevated the quality on the Match, an already premium shoe, to a level even remotely close to their SAS sneakers, I think these shoes are absolutely a no brainer. They sit at a little higher of a price than a pair of new Mephistos, but the colors are much more appealing to me. The final question is… black or thyme…

If you’re not out for some new walking shoes, here are my favorites from a brief perusal of the second hand internet treasure trove:

Light brown leather Mephisto Match size 9

Beautiful light grey suede Match in 10.5

Black leather match in a 9.5

Some sick leather and suede combo Match in dark brown 9

Black leather in a 10 for only $65!!

SAS Journey Mesh in blue and brown 9

SAS light grey Velcro vibes in 11

SAS Black Velcro in 10… TRUST ME.

SAS laced Journey Mesh in 11 for $45!

Thanks for reading, go buy some cool and comfy steppers and get to walkin’.

Peace and Love,

Dad Style

Welcome back to another addition of Tuesday tabs… I missed last week due to a work trip, but I’m back in the saddle to provide a list of jeans that I found interesting to help you add practical, well made, stylish additions to your wardrobe.

This week’s tabs focus on… affordable Indigo (and maybe one or two more expensive jawnz). I’ve been on the hunt for jeans lately, and the hunt for denim via online means is a difficult one for me… I have trouble sizing most selvedge denim because I like to squat. Therefore, I have to think thighs first when purchasing jeans, which means I am usually sizing up and accepting a little room in the waist. Gone are my college running days when I wore a pair of size 29 Rogue Territory Stanton Jeans (which I never washed… gross internet selvedge advice). Also, gone are the days when I used to frown upon anything non-selvedge, which I now realize is a silly thing to do. I used to scoff at any pair of cuffed pants without a little selvedge ID peaking out. At the time, I don’t even think I fully understood what selvedge meant, I just associated it with high quality menswear that I would ‘own for life!’ (another fun way to justify purchasing expensive garments). Over time, I’ve realized that there are plenty of great non-selvedge jeans out there and honestly, I don’t know if I have the patience or want to suffer through the neurosis of pursuing great fades. I just want to wear my pants and let life happen to them.

For the fit, I like something in between a classic fit and a modern fit. I’m not on the hunt for a barrel legged jumbo jenco experience, but I prefer something a little different than the classic 501, which still fit a little tight in the thighs to me. Sometimes I catch myself in this trap where I’ll pick up something too unique and find it beautiful as a standalone piece but generally unrockable… so on the classic to unique spectrum, I’ll try to stay a few clicks towards classic.

I picked up a pair of 18 East Saph jeans from Grailed a while ago, but the wide leg / exaggerated inseam pushes my comfort zone a little too much… I have a great pair of wrangler regular fit cowboy cut jeans that I love, but sometimes they seem a little too classic… That being said, Surf Cowboy is still my Spring Summer 26 character, so maybe I’ll end up rocking them down the board walk w/ a pair of flip flops and a white t shirt. While I’m still on the hunt for my perfect in between pair, I’ve mostly been enjoying my thrifted $5 ll bean jeans and $3 thrifted Kirkland jeans (do not underestimate the power of the Kirkland jean). I picked up a pair of prison blu’s double knees after reading that’s what Mac Demarco wears via Street Night Live, but my god are they rigid and are going to require some serious wearing before they soften up. Sometimes I think about splurging on a pair of Orslow jeans. I’m sure I will someday, but I don’t think I’ll do that until I have the opportunity to try them on in store. For now… here are this week’s tabs.

NEW JAWNZ:

Wrangler Cowboy Cut Jeans:

• With the return of the straight fit upon us, I think we could take things one step further and embrace the cowboy cut. I think everyone looks good in these jeans. Sizing can be tough for the thicker thighed boy (myself included), but you can find these at just about any western store near you. The rigid cuts are the best priced jeans with which you can also experience a cool fading experience. At $30-40 these are the best bang for your buck if you’re looking for a classic jean. Cast off all doubt that you NEED those $298 selvedge cowboy collab jeans, the 13MWZ are where its at. These are guaranteed to make your butt look good. If you’ve got questions, somebody wrote a great guide on Reddit.

Gramicci Denim:

• There’s a wide variety of options on Gramicci’s website when it comes to denim. I purchased a pair of the Meadow’s double knee a while back, and while I love the concept, sometimes they feel too much like Jenco’s… I just watched the Wire for the first time, and that baggy naughties dark wash with the oversized white t shirt is not the look I’m going for. Maybe I need to wear them more to get past that initial deep blue rigid look. I think the denim G-Pant is the perfect in between. Looser in the thighs with a slight taper down to the ankle, gusseted crotch, build in nylon web belt.

Stan Ray Core Classics:

• I’ve never owned Stan Ray Jeans, but I found a pair of corduroy fatigues for $8 that were misplaced in the women’s section of a Goodwill last year. I saw them in the window and knew immediately they were coming home w/ me. The cords were great, and I’m sure the jeans are too. A slightly elevated pant for probably the same price as you’ll find jeans at the mall.

Prison Blu’s Jeans:

• I’ve tried the double knee, and I would like to try the regular loose cut jeans. The rigid fit feels EXTREMELY rigid and the double knee panels are thick. These jeans seem tough as nails, and I find them easy to move around in. They have a loose straight fit without looking sloppy. I think they fit a lot like the Carhartt B01. The price is right on these at $55.

Carhartt Logger Jeans:

• I’m all about the double knee and I love the brass details on the Carhartt Logger. These are a little harder to come by… if you can sift through the Carhartt reseller madness online (is that still holding strong?) you might get lucky and find a pair.

Manresa 207:

• Alright I had a great experience with these and then I RUINED IT on some silly DIY shit. I found a used pair of these on Depop, loved the fit (very classic) but they were too long. I didn’t have the patience or time to wait for a tailor, I had recently cropped a pair of fatigue pants and thought “I’ll do the same to these 207’s.” I busted out my tape measurer, made my cuts, but damn they were about 1.5” too short and were sitting well above my ankles… I was bummed. Dumb mistake, but you live and learn. I donated them to a local consignment and hope they make someone very happy. While the company’s current selvedge denim offerings are off the charts in terms of quality and craftsmanship, the older 207’s can be found at a much cheaper price point secondhand. Try eBay for a set.

Engineered Garments Workaday Fatigue:

• Ok… so my justification here is that affordable means different things to different people? I’ve been wearing EG Fatigues in some form since 2018. I wore my first pair into the ground over five years. I love the EG Workaday fatigue, and I think these are a really unique pair of denim pants. Offering one of my favorite silhouettes in a hard wearing denim seems like the perfect blend of function and form. These are more expensive, but they’re still cheaper than most selvedge items you’ll find out there. Just check out the fit on the model here on Lost and Found.. Classic, loose, sleek, overall amazing.

THRIFTED JAWNS:

When it comes to jeans… unless you’re looking for something raw in a special fabric from Japan or Vidalia, unsanforized, triple stick, hand made, blah blah blah that a pair of regular jeans from the thrift will do so long as they fit your body well. I personally wouldn’t go spending $150 and up on a pair of stone washed denim… there are plenty of good ol’ pre-worn pairs looking for love. My favorite thrifted jeans have been the Calvin Klein Easy Fit (from the 90’s), older LL Bean Natural Fit Jeans, Kirkland Jeans (I have two black pairs), Levi’s 501 (mega classic), 560 / 568 (loose fit), 505 (boot cut), 550 (relaxed fit).

I thought about getting into some ‘GRAIL TIER’ level jawnz at the end here, but honestly, I think that there are plenty of people highlighting these niche grail tier / slow clothes brands (which I love and appreciate), but I don’t want to beat that same drum. I think knowing these options exist is great, and I love deepening my knowledge of good clothing. Although, I sometimes think this knowledge keeps me living in am endless state of want or lack… Someday, I would love to try some Orslow Jeans (the Evan Kinori collaboration looks incredibly), and I really like the Brain Dead 00 jeans (I think they’re the most unique pair out there at the moment) but I’ll have to try these on in person and feel that magic before I buy them… will my life drastically improve if I get that pair of perfect jeans? Maybe… Although, things will likely remain the same. For now, I’m very happy with my LL Bean and Kirkland jeans and recommend you seek out that same happiness at your local thrift!

Until next week… Be kind to each other.

Peace and Love!

Dad Style

I’ve seen a lot of critiques that newsletters on substack have largely become an endless stream of listicle’s, particularly when it comes to fashion / style content. Many of these critques claim that this is ‘internet junk,’ ‘cash grabby,’ or ‘lazy writing,’ While sometimes these are clearly lists of clothing from sponsors, other times they are thoughtfully curated lists for people seeking guidance. I am not a naysayer to the listicle or to providing recommendations to those who don’t have the energy to search themselves. I think it is a beautiful service.

There is a literal ‘strong man’ that I follow on Instagram whose focus is providing fitness plans for the time poor Dad. He explores the question: how can you get your body in shape efficiently and grow stronger without being limited by the impact spending two hours in the gym might have on your family, sleep or other daily tasks? I love his training minimalist training philosophy, as I too am a time poor Dad. I think the same is true for those providing recommendations in the form of eBay lists, sales to shop right now, coolest shoes to buy this spring, etc. There are a lot of ‘time poor’ shoppers that probably appreciate some direction.

Someone out there reading a newsletter may not know about that one niche menswear shop based out of Chicago or Richmond that is having a sale right now (sidenote, Independence Chicago is having a stellar sale right now). Posting a few garments from that sale might 1) open someone’s eyes to a new small business they can support 2) provide someone an opportunity to find a garment that will make them feel good and confident while minimizing the time they spend sifting through the majority of the garbage recommended by search engines.

Sure, the listicle not peak fashion journalism or critique but not everyone is a fashion journalist or critic… some people (myself included) just like great clothes and want to share what they like to help others curate a wardrobe that makes them feel more like themselves. Thoughtful curation is a great thing and a wonderful service to those seeking to expand their knowledge of great garments and well… anything, I suppose.  

 That being said, here are this week’s tabs. Look forward to a “what I’m wearing this spring / summer” later this week.

Wythe Officer Shirt

• My most worn shirt of 2024 was a green cotton Wrangler button up work shirt. When I was country living, I wore this shirt day in and day out. Doing yard work, painting, completing home repairs, going to the grocery store, chopping wood… you name it, this shirt was seeing my through the task. I recently saw a NY mag article featuring Aaron Levine about his “one outfit vacation,” that featured the Wythe Officer shirt and saw the shirt as a potential opportunity to upgrade my wrangler shirt to something more elevated albeit a tad more precious. I’m torn between the green and the black. Mr. Levine’s uniform in this article is quite similar to what I’ve been wearing lately: nylon shorts (bathing suit), oxford and bedrock Evo Cairn sandals, which is an outfit that makes the transition from the store to the beach quite seamless.

Everybody world everyday short

• These are an excellent lounging short. As a tired dad, I find myself reaching for the quickest and easiest garments to throw on in the morning to prevent myself from spending the morning in my boxers. These trash collections shorts are definitely a staple in my dad wardrobe. At this point, they’re open in my tabs, as I’m considering buying another pair. My current pair is thrashed with holes, paint stains, etc.

Patagonia Baggies

• An absolute classic and must have staple in every summer wardrobe. I’ve worn these shorts hiking, surfing, to the gym, to the park, out to dinner and beyond. They come with a liner inside, so no underwear needed which is liberating in the summer heat. Dress them down without a shirt at all, dress them up with an oxford shirt for a real ‘crew team’ Take Ivy vibe. That has been my go to move lately. While $75 might seem like a lot for some nylon shorts, it won’t seem so bad when you’re reaching for these everyday of summer. I used to have two black pairs that I kept on a constant rotation.

Prison Blue’s Double Knee Denim:

• Ok… so I’ve recommended a bunch of easy spring / summer wear and I’m living in a consistent 80 degree climate but I can’t help myself… I am always on the lookout for hard wearing denim, and I’ve heard that these are a staple in the logging community. I’m no logger, but I am a dad who spends a lot of time squatting and kneeling, so a Jean with room in the seat and legs coupled with reinforced knees seems like a no brainer to me. I don’t live anywhere near a place where I can try on selvedge denim in person, and I don’t want to risk ordering the wrong size on a $300 pair of jeans… these seem worth the gamble: check out the 10 year fades on these bad boys.

Bedrock Rockhound Flip Flop

• Man am I bummed that I missed this initial release. I’m living the island life at the moment and I wear my Bedrock Evo Cairn’s nearly everyday (unless I’m going to be inside for long periods of time and have a chance to rock closed to shoes in an air conditioned environment). I love my Bedrock Evo Cairns. They’re light but sturdy, minimal but robust and sleek but strong. It is amazing what beautiful contradiction these sandals embody. I can even run and hike in them. Perfect if you’re looking for a sandal that still allows you to run after your little ones. I find that most flip flops are slippery under foot, don’t fit quite right and aren’t great for quick movement (a must have as a Dad)…  I was looking forward to the Rockhound flip flop as the perfect blend between the flip flop silhouette and the practicality of a hiking sandal… maybe next release!

Checkered Vans

• Man I have mixed feelings on this one, but I always find myself considering the checkered Vans slip on… is it too childish a move for a Dad in his 30’s to wear checkered Vans slip ons? I don’t know… I wrestle with this often. Should I be wearing some hard sole derby? A more refined sneaker? Am I resigned to a life of bunion friendly wide toe box Velcro sneakers forever? I find myself attracted to them by one part nostalgia and one part that when worn sockless they’re a great spring / summer shoe to rock with shorts. I love this shoe but wrestle with the idea of wearing it as an adult… we will see. I’ll probably still give it a try.

RIT Dye:

• I’ll write about this more in depth later… but I love to dye my own clothing. Knowing that I can dye a garment dramatically increases what I might find in a thrift store. Did I find the perfect Oxford but hate the color? No worries, I’ll dye it! It’s super simple. I’ve done it several times, and while there have been some failures, I typically end up with a pleasant surprise. I recently dyed a few garments black, and while the dye lost its potency towards the end, I transformed a boring Easter yellow OCBD into this beautiful blue grey. The color is uneven and sometimes splotchy, which I love for its character and its ability to hide stains. Dye-er beware: make sure you don’t wash these with other items in your closet.