LL Bean Essential Web Belt

As the title states, this is an essential belt. It's pretty much perfect for spring to keep up any of your denim or chinos and looking great. The colors available are really nice and compliment the soft brown leather quite well. I actually have something almost just like this and I really like it, nice and casual. I think the navy and khaki in particular are looking pretty good. A belt has to be nice on it's own, but it has to play the background and be sublte enough not to take any attention from the rest of your outfit. Accessories are just that. And these are just good, very affordable belts. Available at LL Bean for $30.

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Crescent Down Works 60/40 Parka

Parkas have definitely been a rather current topic on the blog/style front in the last couple months and I've now found two that are pretty much perfect, both made stateside and available stateside. The first one is this Crescent Down Works 60/40 Parka. The brand was started back in 1974 and is based in Seattle. The light weight, navy blue shell is perfect and very nicely complimented by the tan interior. Although it doesn't have the leather toggles, you could probably find some to put on. It's doubtful you're going to get a slim fit with this coat but again, that's not really the idea with a mountain parka. For $300, this might be one of the best options if you aren't lucky enough of eBay. Available at South Willard.

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The Bedford Coat by Engineered Garments

I tried to vary the title since every other post starts with Engineered Garments these days. Anyways, the bedford coat is probably one of my favorite items season after season by Engineered Garments for plenty of good reasons. It's perfect for the anit-fit look, it has lots of exterior pockets, a great casual collar, comes in a variety of EG's best materials and comes in perfect colors. I was hunting for this coat fairly hard in the last few months with no luck. Then I finally found one in my size for a good price and it was almost the exact some color of grey wool I'd bought a different blazer in a few weeks before, so I couldn't do it. This spring however my sights are set on the 7 oz. twill in either of these two colors. They aren't that cheap at around $400-450 so I am going to be putting in work to get the lowest price I can as I usually do. Good luck to anybody else on the hunt for these. Oh ya, the hats are cool too if you can pull them off.

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Acne Wailer Jacket

This Wailer Man jacket by Acne is definitely one of the more interesting pieces I actually like for the spring collections I've seen. The lightweight toggle coat has a waxed treated outer shell with no shortage of details. Bamboo toggles with nice buttons on all pickets and the sleeves, along with an adjustable hood, throat closure for when the seas get rough and your hot on that whales' tail. I really like the collar of the jacket and Acne's slim fit usually agrees with me quite well. I have never actually owned any of their denim but have been far more into their knitted sweaters and jackets - this is a good reason why.

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Emma Hope Desert Boots

I don't know a whole lot about Emma Hope other than their desert boots look great. We've mentioned several dozen pairs of desert boots on the blog it seems, all are slightly different in their cut, materials and soles it seems, but achieve the same look. I can't really argue that Emma Hope's version is going to do anything different. However, the black suede isn't that easy to come by, and the low profile natural colored sole do look great. From the pictures it does appear to have a leather lining which is pretty much a necessity for me if I'm buying another pair of shoes. All in all, these are better looking than Clarks in my opinion - but are they $200 better looking?

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Don't Wear; Part 2

Well here we go again with some products and pieces you should not be wearing. Again I pulled almost all of these images from good shops and brands, and again, this is personally subjective in opinion. First up is a pretty big one, and one I don't think a lot of you readers have to even think about, UGGs. So its now you're responsibility to also make sure you your girlfriends don't where them either - and no, you or her can't wear them even if they are dressed up with a funky pattern or beads and some colorful pants. Next up is the keffiyah scarf. I actually think they can look dope and have always liked the style, but they need to hit the back burner for about a decade. These are one of the most over worn, played out items on planet earth. I realize they come from the heritage of a culture and that is fine, and if you're apart of that I mean no offence, keep wearing them. But if you are purely wearing them for the look, you will have a hard time looking good as they seem to be popping up with a lot of tattoo/sequin t shirt wearing folks now.  That brings us to the 'bro toque' or snowboard toque, or whatever. A knitted cap with a brim on it is really not a classic, or good look. Don't do it. Finally, this one isn't a specific item but I don't like it when the tie is too thick or big for the shirt's collar. Having it squeezed in there often can ruin the whole look your going for. Things need to fit well, and that goes for your tie and shirt collar as well.

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An Essential: Black Hoody

There are a few things that you should probably have in your closet at all times. Whether you wear hooded sweatshirts often or not, I would recommend not, they are pretty good to have. It's a very casual item that can keep you warm, help layer or be worn to the corner store in you PJs. This might seem obvious but I'm not just recommending your Russel Athletics sweater. It would be a good idea to have at least one well made, well fitted, nice plain colored hoody. Some of the best options I've seen are this version by Rittenhouse, APC's last winter or by Wings+Horns. The simplicity of a cotton sweater is functional and if you have the right one you'll feel comfortable wearing it anywhere - just don't wear it everywhere.

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Uniform Experiment Cotton Blazer

The launch of the Uniform Experiment collection has been blogged pretty thoroughly in the last day but I thought I would highlight my favorite piece from the collection I've seen so far. I am really enjoying casual blazers a lot lately and materials like wool and cotton are a big part of that. This piece by Uniform Experiment is a great two button coat in 100% cotton with a washed texture. I like the light spring colors with white buttons quite a bit surprisingly. I think it would go with a lot of spring stuff and I am always a fan of the external pocketing. Although the collection isn't super cheap or hard to find this is definitely one of the best sport coat/blazers I've seen for spring.

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