Blog: Carriere Menswear Style - Month: April 2015

Our Favorite Footwear Lines for Spring in Westlake Village

Spring footwear is all about being light and flexible. Comfortable, breezy shoes are a palate-cleanser from the thick-soled winter shoes that began to weigh us down, and a welcome reminder that summer splendor is on its way. The following are our favorite dressy, business casual and carefree shoes for spring (all of which are available here at Carriere Menswear).

Dressy: Magnanni

Magnanni is among Spain’s most fancied shoe lines, known for its slightly burnished, antique, Cary Grant-era aesthetic. All of their shoes are lightweight and the soles are extremely flexible, which makes them ideal footwear for spring and summer. Magnnanis are perfect for both the office and formal, warm-weather event. Pair them with your best spring suit for a pivotal business meeting, or with a tux for a classic black tie look.

Business Casual: Johnston & Murphy and John Varvatos

Johnston & Murphy

Take a plane ride in comfort, drive in style, or perfect casual Friday with the classic slip-ons, loafers and drivers from Johnston & Murphy. Also, don’t be surprised if they make you feel a little presidential; Presidents Fillmore, Lincoln, Grant, Roosevelt (Theodore), Kennedy and Reagan all wore J&Ms.

John Varvatos

John Varvatos reimagines traditionally dressy shoes, like the Oxford, into casual cool footwear that transitions easily from work to play.

Carefree: SWIMS

You may know SWIMS as the makers of the sleek, sophisticated rubber overshoe (or galosh), a legendary invention that allows you to wear your favorite shoes in inclement weather without fear of ruining them. The company also makes loafers, which are what we love. SWIMS overshoes are ideal for wetter locations like New York City or Boston, but their yacht-chic loafers are made for the beaches, docks, and piers of California. Each pair has a strong rubber grip on the bottom, so you can step confidently through any small puddle of water (not to mention that your functional fashion savvy will be the talk of the town).

Check out the company’s video showcasing their loafers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82q7LY5cqJs (will embed the video in the post)

Come into Carriere Menswear in Westlake Village today to sample our wide selection of Magnanni dress shoes and SWIMs footwear. You’ll be the talk—and the walk—of the town.

Find us here.

We look forward to seeing you.

Go on Gents, Show Some Ankle…

A flash of purple here, a flicker of polka dots there…

One of the easiest, and most subtle, ways a man can demonstrate personal style is with statement socks. They communicate personality but not in a clownish way, like a neon paisley suit jacket does.

Wearing statement socks also exhibits a high level of self-care, because it shows you pay attention to detail.

Fine detail is king nowadays, now that a cleaner, dressier aesthetic has permeated all of menswear. “Men aren’t just requesting clean silhouettes and slim suits. They are caring for the lesser-seen details, like socks,” says Bob Carriere, founder and owner of Carriere Menswear in Westlake Village, Calif.

“Men used to think socks didn’t matter because they were covered by your pant leg. But now, with pants being more tailored and pant breaks less severe, there is less coverage on the ankle when you sit or cross your legs,” Bob adds.

Men are using this newly exposed space to convey a bit of personal style without going overboard. “Polka dots may sound peacockish, but in small doses they can make a really sophisticated statement.”

Carriere encourages men who have reservations about the trend to start with a solid colored pair of socks in a semi-traditional but still fun color, like electric blue. Then, ease into patterns and multi-colored hosiery at your own pace.

However, you’d be surprised at how many men have an inner-peacock. Vivek Nagrani, founder and designer of the most popular statement hosiery, told the Daily Beast of an early customer, President George H. W. Bush:

“He’s a huge fan. Just over ten years ago he got a couple of pairs for Christmas. He was so impressed by the socks that he invited me through my client to come and visit him. I got a chance to see this man in his office and present him with these socks. I took all these conservative socks and a handful of wild ones. He grabbed all the wild ones.”

So, come on guys, let loose your wild side a bit. Carriere Menswear has two brands of socks: VK Nagrani and Marcoliani Milano, an Italian line of luxury socks that feel so good you will never again buy a six-pack of itchy, slouchy Hanes.

Stop in and see our full selection of amazing socks at the store, here.

Be Neapolitan Chic in Westlake Village with Eidos Napoli

If you love the nonchalant and sophisticated Neapolitan suit or jacket—and you should, because they are fantastic—then you will love Eidos Napoli, one of the world’s finest Neapolitan-inspired menswear lines. Led by designer Antonio Ciongoli, Eidos Napoli exudes the modern man’s approach to tailoring: refined with a dash of rebellion.

If you don’t already know, Neapolitan tailoring refers to a specific style of tailoring inspired by the fashion of the picturesque Naples, Italy. In sum, Neapolitan tailoring is defined by soft shoulders (no padding) with a pleated sleeve head, minimal lining, patch pockets with a rounded bottom (like the shape of a brandy snifter), boat shaped chest pockets, higher lapel notches, and a trimmer silhouette.

The Parisian Gentleman provides an excellent in-depth explanation (with pictures) of what makes a jacket Neapolitan on his website, so go here to learn more.

Eidos Napoli suits and sport coats feature all of the above, but with a little less polish and little more edge than traditional Neapolitan tailored jackets. Eidos Napol is still high-end, of course, just in a different way. It’s casual cool, and a little rugged, but it’s still Italian chic through and through. It oozes what the Italian’s call sprezzatura, which means “studied carelessness.”

Eidos Napoli suits and sport coats are designed for the contemporary traditional man. It sounds like an oxymoron, we know, but it isn’t. It is merely the magnificence of luxury Italian clothing. It’s at once both classic and new, worldly and on-point, and always effortless. It’s taking a finely milled, luxury fabric and making it coffee shop appropriate.

To see our full selection of Eidos Napoli suits and sport coats, come visit us in Westlake Village. We are located here.

Ciao.