What We’re Wearing: May 2019

Ben and I have been talking about our packing lists, and realize they’ve become quite repetitive. In order to remedy that, we’ve come up with a new idea to replace both our packing lists and guides. We plan to publish this “What We’re Wearing” series about every quarter, to give you an idea of what we are wearing and what we are excited to be trying out for the next couple of months.

Steve

With the crazy weather swings we’ve been having so far this spring, I’ve been moving back and forth between my winter and spring gear. I’m looking forward to getting outside more and here’s what I’ve been wearing.

Business Casual

The Outlier Futureworks (our review) are still my favorite pants for business casual dress, however, the recent price increase to $148 moves them up market some. I’ve recently been finding the Western Rise The Evolution Pant (our review) to suit some of my business casual needs where a 5-pocket style is appropriate. This is especially true as the weather warms as they are the lightest pants I own.

For an even more classic chino look, I’ve just started testing the Wool & Prince Slim Chino (provided for review by Wool & Prince) and no one would ever know they were made from a wool/nylon blend. I’m quite impressed so far, and am interested to see how they perform as the weather continues to warm since the fabric is fairly heavy.

The Mack Weldon SILVERKNIT Polo (our review) is the polo I was searching for last year. The cotton content keeps it looking jut like a traditional polo, and the silver anti-odor treatment gives me multiple wears. For long sleeves, I still go to my Wool & Prince Button-Downs (our review) for their odor-resistance. If I want something less fussy (but only one wear) I go for my Bluffworks Meridian 2.0 Dress Shirt (our review).

Shoe wise, my Allen Edmonds Higgins Mill boots are holding up well and still are my go to, always with Darn Tough socks.

Casual

For casual wear, I’ve been testing a bunch of new T-shirts so I haven’t been wearing just one or two recently. My Pistol Lake One-Bag Henley (our review) is still going strong and works well for spring wear.

I’ve found the Western Rise pants to also work well for my casual wear, and wear those or my Outlier Slim Dungarees (our review). For shorts, my Outlier New Way Longs (our review) are always my favorite (although they haven’t gotten much wear yet this year).

I am still looking for a nicer pair of casual sneakers/shoes that look good with shorts, but I’ve been wearing my Merrell Trail Gloves (our review) and Bedrock Cairn 3D Adventure sandals.

Exercise

I’m still wearing and loving my Y Athletics SilverAir Merino T-shirt (our review) and Long Sleeve for all my exercise needs. They have been holding up well (with minimal abrasion from my GORUCK bags) and give me more wears than I care to take between washes.

My go to shorts are the Myles Apparel Momentum Short 2.0 (our review) and sweats the Momentum Pant (our review). For hiking I’ve been wearing the Outdoor Research Ferrosi Pant.

Shoe wise, I’m also wearing my Trail Gloves (gym) or Altra Lone Peak 4 (rucking/hiking).

Outerwear

Going into the spring, I picked up a The North Face Ventrix Jacket as a light and breathable insulated soft shell. I had been eying the Arc’teryx Proton LT all winter, but it never went on sale. I figured the sale price of the Ventrix jacket made it much easier on the wallet than the Proton LT and it seems to be reviewed favorably. I plan to be writing a review once I give it a good try.

As far as rain wear, I find myself going for my Outdoor Research Helium II (our review) when I want a hood or packability and my Myles Apparel Elements Jacket when I want something nicer looking or just need something to break the wind. I’m debating if I should also try and pick up a light and thin windbreaker for when I don’t need something waterproof.

Travel

I’ve been wearing and packing the above when traveling. Of course, still carrying my trusty GORUCK GR1 26L backpack. The Trail Gloves pack down nicely if I want to bring a pair of exercise shoes.

Formal

I recently was in a wedding and bought a Indochino suit for it. Since I don’t live near a store, I did my initial measurements at a store when I was traveling, but had to do the remake measurements myself at home (the first jacket and pants fit horribly). The suit turned out better than off the rack, but if I were to buy another suit from them, I’d definitely take the one I have into the store to have my measurements further dialed in before ordering. Overall, the process went pretty well and I’m happy with the quality of the suit.

Ben

While the weather has been steadily warming here, I have also been flying back and forth to Houston on a very regular basis. So I have been wearing cool weather clothes, and hot and humid clothes off and on. As it keeps warming everywhere and I prepare to move to Houston, here’s what I have going on:

Business Casual

All of my wardrobe for business casual is happening in Houston where it is substantially warmer than where I live. I have been wearing both Futureworks and Proof Nomad pants to the office — both are pretty great but I still lean towards the Futureworks as I think they look better. As I mentioned I pair them with the Thursday Boots I recently wrote about and a pair of Darn Tough socks as always. I have been using my Slidebelt, but I am starting to think I need to switch to something else as that belt can’t make it through the metal detector at the airport every time.

On the shirt side of things I have been torn between wearing the Bluffworks Meridian, and the Ministry of Supply Aero shirts. I usually wear both, but they both have replaced the Wool & Prince shirts when I am in the office. I prefer wearing them to the wool dress shirts. No one was more surprised by this than me, but the non-wool shirts wear cooler and have more flattering cuts for me.

Casual

At home, whether I am working or hanging out — or for family vacations — I have been testing all sorts of new stuff. My bottoms have remained pretty much the same, with Slim Dungarees most days, Strong Dungarees on cold days and mixing in New Ways if it is hot, or the Bluffworks Departure Jeans when I want to go relax on the Washington coast. All of them are killer and I will mix in the Olivers Passage Pants when the weather warms up more. If I had to pick one pair of these pants, it would be the Strong Dungarees, they are killer.

My tops are where they has been a lot of shuffling recently. I still wear a lot of my merino tees, and the Wool & Prince polo, but I have also been testing the Outlier Ramilust T-Shirt, the Northern Ramie Pivot, a few linen shirts, and a hemp shirt as well. All of them provide all sorts of unique benefits, so there will be a lot to write about there.

Work Out

Nothing much has changed here, where I wear GORUCK Simple Pants, MACV-1s, TAC Hat, and either a Tough T, or my Y Athletics SilverAir Merino shirts. I love them all, and they have been holding up great.

Travel

I have found one area that holds very true, because if you see me in an airport I am most likely wearing Proof Nomad pants and a Wool & Prince button down (you cant beat never stinking with this shirt, no matter the travel delays). For travel, I greatly prefer this setup. The Nomad pants are extremely stretchy, and look sharp while resisting anything which could make them dirty. And the merino wool button down makes sure that I don’t stink, even when the AC stops working on a 4 hour flight as it recently did.

Outerwear

Surprisingly I have only been wearing a few layers:

GORUCK Simple Windbreaker: this is great for travel and for shrugging off a light breeze or some light rain. I could make a case for this being the only jacket I need.

One other surprise for me is how much I wear the GORUCK Full Zip Hoodie in the light fabric they sell. It is a near perfect weight for cool, but not cold, weather.

Triple Aught Design Rogue RS: this is too heavy to travel with, but it is my go to for this warming spring weather, and will be for cool nights as well.

Looking to Get and Test

I am looking to get a couple more polo shirts, as soon as Steve decides which one is the best to get. And I am also eyeing the new Ministry of Supply Labs Dot Air Blazer which is made for warm weather — it looks killer.