Trunk club

Now that we’ve finished our series on the Six Men’s Clothing Essentials, we thought we’d share a few of the non-clothing-related skills that we consider essential for guys to know. First up: how to order wine. 

We recently visited with Shawn Patrick Harris, who works as wine steward at Nellcôte, the much talked-about restaurant on bustling West Randolph Street in Chicago.

Trunk Club is known for investment-level clothing, but it’s possible to invest in your wardrobe without spending a fortune. For a case in point, check out the four warm-weather classics listed below. Not only will these pieces look great for years to come, but each one comes in at $100 or less.

V-Neck Sweater

Last week a Trunk Club member emailed his stylist, asking:

Neckties with oxford shirts: yea or nay?

According to prevailing fashion rules, the answer would most likely be “nay.” Oxford shirts, the thinking goes, are generally considered casual, while neckties fit into the “formal / dress” category. The thing is, we don’t particularly care about fashion rules. (We’re the people who advocate wearing white pants all year round, after all.)

Instead of hard-and-fast rules, we prefer general guidelines for dressing well. Here’s our thinking around oxford shirts and ties: As long as the two items share a similar texture, we vote “yea.”

This post is taken from an email that our V.P. of Product sent to our members earlier today.

From the Desk of J. Smith: Spring Essentials

At Trunk Club headquarters in Chicago, it looks like spring has finally arrived (knock on wood). I can’t wait to start riding my bike to work along the lakefront, and I look forward to taking my year-old son on his first trip to the zoo. Plus, it’s almost time to re-open the Trunk Club roof-deck, which I hope each of our members has the pleasure of visiting at least once.

To share my enthusiasm for the months ahead, I’ve created a list of my current springtime favorites: bold colors, light outerwear, loafers without socks, and adult beverages.

Color

This post wraps up our series on the six men’s clothing essentials. So far we’ve emphasized the importance of versatility when investing in shoes, belts, blazers, sweaters, and shirts. It’s only fitting, then, that we finish up with jeans, one of the most versatile items you’ll ever own.

While summarizing the six essentials for a magazine, our CEO offered this advice about jeans: “Invest in a great pair of high-end denim. Cleaner washes and rinses look better with blazers and dress shirts.”

Jason Smith, our V.P. of Product, prefers oxford shirts and loafers without socks. Michael Barkin, our Director of Sales (who also doubles as the mastermind behind our new custom-suiting service), favors well-appointed neckties, and has never needed a special occasion to break out the monogrammed tuxedo slippers.

Despite their differing styles, Jason and Michael both keep one particular item on heavy rotation: the navy blazer. Below you’ll see examples of how Michael dresses the blazer up, while Jason uses the same classic garment to anchor a more casual look.

“Most guys’ wardrobes are long in blue and white,” Michael says. “Those basic colors then branch out into lavender and pink, and navy looks the best with all of those. So you can easily dress the navy blazer up or down. It’s easy to wear.”

Unless you’re wearing a tuxedo or working as a referee, we suggest avoiding black shoes. Brown provides a much more versatile footwear option because it pairs nicely with every color of clothing except black (navy suits in particular look good with brown or burgundy shoes). And versatility, of course, is the key to each of the six men’s clothing essentials. 

Our Director of Sales, Michael Barkin, shows how to fold a blazer—a skill that’s particularly useful when traveling.

We moved onto blazers after tackling the subject of how to tie a necktie. What other tips would you like to see?

Like all the items on our essentials list, we love the v-neck sweater for its versatility. The distinctive shape of the neckline does an excellent job of framing your shirt collar and face, making the garment ideal for layering over button-ups.

For a more sophisticated presentation, the v-neck can be worn simultaneously over a dress shirt and under a blazer.

During the next several weeks, we’ll feature each of the six clothing items that every guy should have in his wardrobe. As we’ll see, all of the pieces are incredibly versatile, able to be dressed up or down across a range of styles. This is particularly true of the crisp white shirt, which leads off our six-part series on the men’s clothing essentials.

Because it fits every situation from business casual to board meetings, we previously included the white shirt in our post on the office stash. The garment works just as hard off the clock, as the ideal complement to a casual blazer, or even on its own.

To fully understand the white shirt’s power, consider its relationship with two men widely recognized for their style.

At Trunk Club HQ, we have 15 dressing areas, five of which were designed by our vendors. (We previously talked about our Jack Spade space, here.) For a tour of our Billy Reid dressing parlor, we now turn to Justin Couchara.

Justin, who works as a scenic designer for Billy Reid, is the man behind the southern comfort on our seventh floor. 

First things first: What’s the story with the portrait of the gentleman and the baby?

In the beginning there was the Tetris layout. Then came then levitation shot. But nothing compares to the response we’ve received from the above image, which our photo team has dubbed the Sexy Trunk.

Thus far, the Sexy Trunk has exceeded 1,000 Facebook likes, and sparked an incredible response after appearing on Uncrate.com—all while racking up thousands of (sadly) unattributed notes on Tumblr. For an untold number of people, this image has served as their introduction to Trunk Club. We can’t think of a better way to say hello.

To those of you who arrived at this post after entering the term “sexy trunk” into a search engine, we offer our sincerest apologies. Carry on.

Trunk Club members frequently ask their stylists for advice on restaurants, vacation spots, and even interior design. In fact, we’ve received so many questions about how guys should furnish their homes that we turned to a bonafide design maven for some insight.

Kitty Bartholomew was the resident decorator on the Home Show on ABC, starred in Kitty Bartholomew: You’re Home on HGTV, and sat on Oprah’s couch several times—all while writing books.

We recently talked to Kitty about the first steps a guy should take when figuring out how to properly appoint his place. 

Trunk Club: For a guy who doesn’t really know a lot about interior design, what’s a good starting point?