Note: this shirt was provided at no cost for review.

I am a huge fan of the Bluffworks Meridian Dress Shirt (our review) and think it is easily the best business casual shirt you could travel with. They are also some of my favorite shirts to wear to work even when not traveling — so when the Zenith shirt came out I couldn’t wait to try it.

Surprisingly, this is a very different shirt, so let me dive into it.

Material

The Zenith shirt is a light weight shirt made out of 94% Polyester and 6% Spandex. Bluffworks states: “The fabric in this mens travel shirt is made from a high-performing polyester with wrinkle resistant properties and just the right amount of stretch. Plus, moisture-wicking and odor control keep you feeling fresh throughout the day. And, of course, it’s machine washable and easy to care for.”

I can vouch for the stretch, as it is surprising, given how the shirt drapes, that it has that much stretch. The handfeel is slightly rough with a crispness to the fabric itself. This makes is a complete opposite to the Meridian which has a softer drape and a very soft hand feel. There is no sheen to the material at all.

Fit and Style

Bluffworks offers a range of cuts and sizes, so you should be able to get a shirt that fits you well. The Large Slim Fit is a good fit, but slightly boxier than I would like through the waist.

What really makes this shirt stand apart is the drape and the collar. I think Bluffworks nailed this in their description of the shirt:

“So it’s versatile, styling well with a blazer for more formal occasions, layered under a vest for cooler weather, or worn over a t-shirt for a casual look. This blue dress shirt is our answer to the demand for a solid business shirt — this blue micro check reads as a solid color, perfect for dressing up or down.”

I think that’s an apt description and really nails it. This collar is fantastic, it is like a rotomolded collar that sits exactly where you want. That sounds bad, but truly my only complaint might be that it is too crisp. Which, on a scale of what annoys me more, is at the least annoying side of things.

Performance

There are three aspects to evaluate this shirt on: wrinkle resistance, odor resistance, and breathability. I already mention the shirt has great stretch, so there’s no need to dive into that more: it will move with you and be comfortable.

Breathability: here in hot and humid Houston, I can get a really fast sense for how well a shirt breathes. The Zenith shirt is the best breathing shirt I have as far as synthetic shirts go. Only light merino breathes better in my dress shirts. In fact, when the AC is blowing strongly this shirt can wear a bit cool at times.

Wrinkle Resistance: the Meridian is impressive with wrinkle resistance, you can pull it out of the wash and wear it as soon as it dries, or wad it up in your bag and pull it out and put it on. Sadly that’s not the case with the Zenith. You need to steam the wrinkles out after washing, and you can do so with the dryer. It doesn’t take a lot of work, but wrinkles do happen and take a slight bit of humidity to fall out. Seatbelts will also cause wrinkles. It’s on par with a wrinkle resistant cotton shirt. Not great, but not linen.

Odor resistance: again, this is not an area the Zenith excels at. It is not an odor magnate, you could certainly do an 18 hour day in it without finding odor to be a main issue, but not a fabric you can wear multiple times either.

From a performance stand point I think this makes for a very good business casual shirt, but is beaten out by other offerings for a travel shirt.

Overall

If this shirt had a touch better wrinkle resistance, I would by buying up all the colors of it. As it is, at $98, I think it represents a heck of a value. The closest competitor is the Ministry of Supply Aero Dress Shirt (our review) and I think the performance is slightly better than those shirts, while also being less expensive.

For shirts you wear to the office, and wash every day, the Zenith is certainly among the top ranks. For a travel shirt, I would pick the Meridian over the Zenith for any situation because the wrinkle resistance is far better on the Meridian.

That said, I will be looking to grab another Zenith, because come summer, I am going to be thankful for the light nature of this fabric.

NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.

 Note: These pants were provided by Pistol Lake for review purposes.

We’ve taken a look at many of Pistol Lake’s performance clothing, including their Minimalist Pullover Hoodie last year. They recently released their Minimalist Joggers, made out of the same Eclon fabric.

I’ve been wearing these for a few weeks now, so let’s take a look at how they perform.

Material

The Eclon material is one of Pistol Lake’s custom fabric blends, consisting of 46% nylon, 42% polyester, and 12% spandex.

The fabric is extremely soft and spans the line of having a substantial feeling while still being light. While it doesn’t have any technical sheen to give it away, the high amount of stretch does give it a little different drape.

Fit & Style

These pants are styled in the classic jogger look and are described as having an athletic fit. I think that’s spot on. For me, they have room in the seat/hips, with a close fit through the thigh and calves. They fall above the ankle, as joggers should.

Two nice additions to the classic jogger include a back pocket and an internal snap pocket (inside the right front pocket) to secure your phone or wallet.

Performance

The close fit through the thigh and ankle, along with the stretch of the fabric keep these pants out of your way. The legs don’t seem to ride up when doing exercises like squats, which can get annoying with pants with looser legs.

These pants dry much more quickly than I’d expect for the weight, which seems odd compared to how they perform in practice while exercising. When sweaty, I get almost a clammy feeling — not cold-clammy, but a feeling that the moisture is being trapped between my skin and the pants. Taking both observations into account, maybe the fabric just isn’t great at absorbing moisture at all, helping it to dry quickly, but also causing that sensation when sweaty.

Overall

The Minimalist Joggers are a great athletic cut in an interesting, lightweight synthetic material. If you are looking for a pair of soft pants to lounge in, these work well. Since the fabric doesn’t feel great to me when sweaty, I can’t recommend them 100%, but may be worth a look if you just want them for lounging or have a different feeling about the Eclon fabric.

NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.

When it comes to active insulation layers, The North Face Ventrix Jacket (also available in a hooded version) is one that is quite often mentioned as a top contender. I picked one up at the end of the winter season last year, so I’ve been able to give it a try in a wide range of weather conditions.

Material

The body of the jacket is a 30D X 20D 64 gsm 92% nylon, 8% elastase ripstop blend and the forearms are reinforced with a 50D X 40D 106 gsm fabric. It is all coated with a DWR finish. The jacket is then lined with a lighter weight (57 gsm) version of the body fabric.

A few notes about the fabric here, the two denier numbers indicate the thickness of the threads used to make the fabric differ between sides. The higher denier fabric on the forearms gives some extra durability in a common wear point (I’m guessing for climbing). The biggest difference between the body and forearms is that while you can see the ripstop in both fabrics, it actually gives the forearm fabric a raised texture.

The jacket is insulated with 80 g 100% polyester Ventrix Stretch insulation. This insulation comes in a solid piece (like a piece of fabric), rather than a filament or fill, so it stays in place without any baffles. The magic of the insulation comes from laser cut slits that open and close with movement, allowing more moisture and heat to escape while you are moving (see an article from GearJunkie with some photos and video).

Fit & Style

The jacket is listed as having a slim fit, and that is the experience I had. I ended up having to size up to an XL, because the chest was too tight. This makes the sleeves a touch too long, but it isn’t a dealbreaker. If I were strictly wearing this as a midlayer, a L would have been good, but I wanted to have more flexibility.

When it comes to looks, I think this jacket is a lot better looking than a lot of other active insulation pieces. One thing that always ruins a piece for me is when the face fabric is overly shiny, and that is not the case here. In black, the jacket has a matte look. While it still looks like a technical jacket, it is subdued enough that you won’t stick out wearing it to work or around town.

Performance

This jacket met my expectations from all the hype I’ve seen around it since it won Editors’ Choice in Backpacker in 2017.

I found the Ventrix insulation to do a great job holding heat while at rest and dumping heat when moving. Not only do the perforations in the insulation help, but the lining is perforated on the back and the face fabric is perforated under the arms.

This has become my go-to active insulation layer for all but the coldest weather. My down jacket previously served this purpose, but I find myself getting clammy when active while wearing it. I never get that feeling with this jacket (except for sometimes when wearing a backpack).

I would compare the face fabric to a soft shell jacket, and with the DWR, it does a good job of fending off a decent drizzle. It will of course eventually wet out, but that is a benefit of synthetic insulation vs. down — if the insulation gets wet from the weather or sweat, it doesn’t loose its insulating powers.

Comfort wise, the soft lining makes the jacket feel great against your skin. The stretch isn’t extreme, but it keeps the jacket out of your way.

Now for the pockets — there are two pretty standard zippered hand pockets and one very tall zippered chest pocket. Typically I don’t find chest pockets very useful because they hold things too high, but I love this one. It works great for holding things like your phone or wallet and keeps them out of the way.

Overall

Overall, The North Face Ventrix Jacket lives up to the hype. The insulation really does adapt and change depending on if you are still or in motion, and the face and lining fabrics don’t hinder breathability. While it’s no Western Rise AirLoft (our review) in the looks department, it isn’t your shiny technical jacket fabric.

At a list price of $220, it’s on the cheaper end of the popular active insulation jackets, and it often can be found on deep discount at the end of the season. At full price it is a great jacket, but if you find it for a lower price, it’s a steal.

If you want one active insulation piece to cover almost all situations, this is a great one to take a look at.

NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.

Note: This shirt was provided by Western Rise for review purposes.

It’s winter, so that means it’s time for the flannel to come out. Western Rise has a strong contender on the market, the new TechWool Flannel Shirt. It’s designed to be an elevated flannel that can fit more parts of your life.

I’ve been testing the shirt in Black for over a month now, and I am thoroughly impressed.

Material

The TechWool fabric is a 180 gsm blend of 48% Elasterell Polyester 47%/COOLMAX polyester/5% non-mulesed wool.

The Elasterell (also called T400) is a special multicomponent polyester that has stretch. In this case, it gives the fabric some two way stretch. The COOLMAX fibers are designed to wick moisture while remaining dry to the touch.

Overall the fabric has a very natural look and drape, but in the right light, I do get a little sheen. I think this would be completely hidden in the Cloud (cream) color.

Since it is brushed on both sides, the fabric is very soft, with no scratchiness from the wool, even without an undershirt. Think of your favorite soft classic flannel, but in a much lighter weight.

Fit & Style

The cut of this shirt is described both as “moderately lean” and “active, tailored fit”. I think both describe it well, with enough room if you wanted to put a base layer underneath, but still slim enough to look sharp and put together.

While I wear this type of shirt untucked usually, it works tucked in as well. It certainly comes across as a sharp casual shirt, but some may be able to push it a little further due to the cut, fabric, and hidden collar buttons that help keep the collar looking sharp.

Performance

This shirt is wrinkle and odor resistant, wicking, and is the perfect weight to make it versatile.

I was surprised when I washed the shirt the first time, it came out of the washer with very few wrinkles. After hanging dry, the shirt was wrinkle free and ready to wear.

This pairs nicely with the shirt being odor resistant. While I wore it mostly with an undershirt, I ended up washing the shirt before it had any odor to see how it washed up for this review. Quite impressive with just 5% wool.

As far as wicking goes, since it’s a shirt for the cooler weather I didn’t sweat much while wearing it, but I never felt sweaty or moist.

Finally, the weight of the fabric helped this be a great flannel for the transitional weather from Fall into Winter. I found it to be comfortable in both cool and warm buildings, which isn’t something that can always be said for a classic heavy flannel.

Overall

Overall, the TechWool Flannel Shirt would be a great addition to anyone’s cool weather closet. For those in colder climates, it might serve as a transition piece and for those elsewhere, it could be a great winter shirt.

The upgraded looks and odor and wrinkle resistance take it to the next level and make it a worthy purchase at the full price of $119.

NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.

When I bought the Kinetic pants and blazer (our reviews: pants, blazer) from Ministry of Supply, I did so with the intention of seeing how they work together. My hope was, that like the Bluffworks Gramercy (our review) setup, they would look good enough together. I didn’t anticipate that this would be a thing I would avoid writing, but I have — frankly I can’t make heads or tails of this.

Travel Suit

There’s a huge argument as to whether you need a performance travel suit, over a nice say merino wool actual (née Traditional) suit. Everyone seems split on this, with some (like me) preferring performance materials for ease of care and durability. And others citing that the reason you wear a suit is to wear a suit, so wear a suit.

If you are looking for a performance suit to travel with, this is a good option, but I don’t think the best option. The heads up comparison would be with the Velocity pairings also from Ministry and the Bluffworks Gramercy line.

Either, likely, would be better — to a degree. Here’s how I would break them down — do keep in mind I have not put my hands on the Velocity suit jacket, so I am basing this off my assumptions from the pants alone (our review).

• Velocity: this is going to be the best looking of the bunch. The styling and overall material is fantastic. It has great stretch and is very breathable. The downside is going to be durability. I don’t see it being more durable than a nice wool suit. Certainly easier to clean though.
• Kinetic: this will be the most comfortable, by a wide margin. Also very durable and easy to clean. The downside is that the style is not very formal, and the material doesn’t look very suit like and the patch pockets on the blazer trend casual. It doesn’t have sheen, but it almost needs sheen to look right. More than that, it wrinkles easily.
• Gramercy: this looks better, more suit like, than the Kinetic, and is very durable. I can’t wrinkle any of this material easily, and it cleans up nicely. The big downside is that it isn’t much more comfortable than a good wool suit, and not much more breathable — so you’re really only adding ease of care and durability.

This is the issue with everything, each option has substantial trade offs, so it’s no wonder people advocate a classic wool suit. Where I come from is that the pants on each of these options is better than standard wool suit pants, and thus you could get away with only then needing to pack a jacket. And regardless of which you pack, these jackets are easier to pack than a wool suit jacket. So if you travel light, that’s when these suits make sense.

Style

Back to the Kinetic then, the style itself is lending towards casual. Let’s leave the material out completely, and assume that you accept this will look different. Instead the blazer itself is the key here.

Because this is a blazer, and not a suit jacket, certain detailing is missing — and it is that missing detailing that makes this blazer wear more casual. First, the blazer has no buttons on the cuffs, which I didn’t notice, until I did notice it and then it’s all you see. It’s an odd omission and one that I think is a subtle clue that this is a different beast altogether.

The second, as mentioned above, are the patch pockets. A standard suit jacket has openings for pockets with a flap that goes over the opening — that flap can be tucked into the pocket or not. That’s a suit jacket. This is a blazer and thus it has patch pockets — which is just a piece of material sewn on to the face of the jacket to create a pocket. This is what makes the jacket look less formal.

Here’s the thing though, when it comes to style, you are talking about fashion. And I am going to make the argument that for most people in 2019 you simply do not need anything more formal than this. I wore it to our company management conference and blended in fine. Most of the world now considers business casual dressing up, and this certainly will work just fine there.

If I were a wedding guest, not family, I would wear this without another thought. I care more about being comfortable. If I need a suit for work, I’ll wear this. The only time I would steer away is if I needed to be in court, at a board meeting, or something where a suit-suit is called for. And then I am opting for wool.

Overall

In short: this is the most comfortable suit looking attire I have ever worn, and likely as formal as anyone needs in 2019. I dig it.

NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.

Mack Weldon is a big men’s brand that has been out there for a while. Their SILVERKNIT Polo (our review) is one of my favorite polos, so when I saw the 37.5 Oxford, I decided to give it a try.

Material

The fabric is quite heavy and stiff, and is 60% cotton, 40% 37.5 Polyester. I found the stiffness to soften up with some washes, but the fabric still retains its crisp nature.

The care instructions for the shirt indicate “tumble dry low, do not iron”, which was interesting to me, but the shirt does come out of the dryer wrinkle-free and crisp. I normally hang my shirts to dry and steam or iron as necessary, but this shirt needs the dryer to get out all the wrinkles.

Fit & Style

The shirt is described as having a classic fit, but I would say the fit is more tailored. I found the length to work well both tucked or untucked, but in White, this is a shirt that I would probably only wear tucked in.

The weight of the fabric gives the shirt a nice crisp look. Along with the high cotton content, no one will know that you aren’t wearing a standard cotton oxford button-down (with the exception of the small Mack Weldon logo on the back along the side hem).

Performance

The 37.5 technology makes the claim of removing sweat from your body while it is still in the vapor stage, rather than wicking it once it is a liquid. This is said to help keep your core body temperature at 37.5ºC and the microclimate next to your skin at 37.5% RH. It also claims (not mentioned by Mack Weldon, but by the 37.5 technical information) to trap odors and then release them when washed.

Some of this is hard to say for sure if it’s working or not, but I didn’t ever feel moisture from sweat while wearing the shirt. Even though the underarm sweat guards, which strangely have ventilation holes that look like a drain hole, I didn’t feel warm or wet. I’m not sure why these guards are necessary with the 37.5, but they didn’t seem to hurt the performance of the shirt, other than adding some extra fabric.

As far as the odor resistance, that seems to be claimed by the 37.5 technology, I was able to get a solid two wears out of this shirt before it needed to be washed, so it seems the claims are founded.

I’ve worn this shirt in some warm conditions, but haven’t gotten to try it in the heat and humidity of the summer, so I’ll be interested to see how this technology holds up then.

When it comes to overall comfort, Mack Weldon claims “just enough stretch” which I’m guessing simply comes from how the fabric is woven. The stretch is not very noticeable, but I didn’t find the shirt to be uncomfortable.

Overall

The Mack Weldon 37.5 Oxford is a unique entry into the market. The shirt kept me dry and comfortable and allowed for at least two wears before needing to be washed. It looks crisp and doesn’t give away that it’s a performance shirt.

At the standard price point of $88 or the standard discount of 20% off, I’m on the fence on whether I would purchase it again. It’s a solid oxford shirt with a technology that seems to work, but I think the weight of the fabric could hinder the shirt’s versatility in hot weather.

NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.

Note: These jeans were provided by Revtown for review purposes.

Revtown has been around for almost two years now, but has been hitting the advertising circuit recently. I discovered the company from the Morning Brew newsletter.

Their goal is to make “Jeans that last longer, look great, and are incredibly comfortable.” I’ve been wearing the jeans for a few weeks, and I think they’ve done a great job, especially given the price point.

Material

Revtown has designed their own proprietary Italian denim they call “Decade Denim” (92% cotton, 6% polyester, 2% elastane).

They go a step further and make the denim in a clean way — 100% of waste is recycled back, dying process results in 30% less energy, 50% less water, and 70% less chemicals than typical dying techniques. Additionally, the cotton is BCI-certified, which aims to produce cotton in a cleaner, more sustainable way.

While this all adds up to some nice marketing, the fabric has to perform. In my testing, it does. The stretch of the fabric is apparent in hand, but is really noticeable while wearing the jeans.

Fit & Style

Revtown offers three styles in the Mens Jeans — “Sharp”, an everyday “slim-not-skinny” cut; “Taper”, a slim fit through the knee with a taper from knee to ankle; and “Automatic”, a straight cut with relaxed waist and thighs.

For this review, I gave the Sharp style a try. I found their description to be accurate. It was slim and modern while not being too tight anywhere. Style wise, this is exactly where I want my jeans.

To help with sizing a “Digital Tailor” is available. Taking into account your usual size, height, weight, build, and fit preferences, the tailor recommends a size. For me, that was a 35×32 (I wear 34×34 in Levi 541, and 34 or 35×32 or 34 in all my pants).

Revtown sent me both a 34 and a 35 waist, and it ended up that the 34×32 fit me better — just something to keep in mind if the Digital Tailor recommends something that doesn’t quite make sense (and they do offer free returns and exchanges).

As far as color, I got to check out both the Dark Indigo and the Washed Indigo, with the Washed Indigo being the color in the size I kept. To me, the Dark Indigo is the quintessential dark jean, while the Washed Indigo gives the jeans a slightly more causal but still sharp look (and many other washes/colors are also available).

Performance

The performance in these jeans is all about the stretch in the fabric. While wearing them, they don’t feel like jeans at all. While the stretch isn’t extreme, there is never any feeling of restriction. In the case of a heavier fabric like this, an extreme level of stretch would actually hurt the jeans because heavy, really stretchy fabrics tend to drape in a weird, baggy way.

The level of stretch is also perfect because while there is a little bit of relaxation that happens during the first wear after a wash, I didn’t find the jeans to bag out with multiple wears.

The only negative I found here is the pockets. I found them to be more shallow than many of my other pants. With my iPhone XS in my pocket, there is only about an inch of pocket above the top of the phone. When compared to my Levi 541s, there is about two inches of pocket. However, this wasn’t too much of an issue when just carrying my iPhone, but when I had my work phone in my pocket as well, I noticed some pinching/digging from the phones.

Overall

Revtown has done a great job with their Decade Denim and the Sharp cut. With the ability to choose from three cuts and even and odd waist sizing, everyone should be able to find a great fit (and they even make Women’s jeans as well).

At $79, these will be the jeans that I will recommend and are definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a comfortable and good looking pair of jeans.

NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.

Finding a high performing, well made, and good looking blazer can be a struggle — especially when you then try pairing such a synthetic material with other pants. The Ministry of Supply Kinetic Blazer though proves to be a really interesting option.

Material

Like with the Kinetic Pant (our review), this is a 100% Primeflex® Warp-knit Japanese Polyester garment, which feels substantial in weight, but wears much lighter. As with the pants, it is incredible stretchy and comfortable. The knit look to the fabric has nice dimension to it and very low sheen.

Overall, excellent material.

Performance

Blazers like this can be hard to pull off in a synthetic material. Often they get so heavy that they perform worse than a wool counterpart. In this case though, this is easily the most comfortable blazer I have worn.

The stretch is phenomenal. The breathability is excellent as well. This jacket performs well for two reasons: the material is substantial but wears light and is stretchy, and it is rather minimal in construction.

Like the pants, it is prone to gathering lint and hair on it, but I have found it to be less of an issue on the blazer. It dries extremely fast. The biggest downside for this is the wrinkle resistance. I found that the wrinkles did not fall out as easy as they did with the pants, and I think part of this is that a blazer is much hard to pack smoothly than pants. I needed to quickly steam the jacket with an iron when I traveled to get the wrinkles to drop out of it. From there I had no issues.

Fit & Style

I found the blazer to fit me really well. Ministry notes that they include extra fabric in the sleeves so that you can lengthen them if needed — which is a nice touch. For me the jacket fit really well out of the box.

The style lends itself more casual with patch pockets and no button detailing on the cuffs. At a glance it will pass as a nice blazer, upon closer inspection it will look more casual. I think this lends itself well to being highly versatile. You won’t look like you are coming from court, nor will you look like a professor in this.

My take here, is this looks like a modern blazer made to blend well in the office and business world of today. Things are more casual now, and this jacket fits in that world quite nicely.

Overall

The closest jacket I have to compare this to is the Bluffworks Gramercy Blazer (our review and it is hard to compare. The Kinetic is more versatile and infinitely more comfortable. The fabric has a better and has a lower sheen, and looks more traditional. However the cut and style of the Gramercy leads that jacket to being able to be dressed up better, and the fabric on it is far more wrinkle and lint resistant.

That said, I would easily pick the Kinetic between the two. It’s very comfortable and I think in most settings where you would want to wear it, it will blend in better. I also think it is easier to pair with more pants than the Gramercy is.

NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.