383: Style yourself like you're already halfway through the night
And how Dan Climan wears it.
Welcome to Magasin Menswear. In a dedicated bimonthly send, Louis Cheslaw surfaces choice products worth your consideration, explores larger conversations shoppers are—or should be—having, and taps a smart dresser to share how he wears it.
First up…
Loved AFLALO buyer Ana Denton’s recent story triptych (above) about how well fellas have been accessorizing this summer. Go us.
These are the weeks when fall collections are arriving in earnest. Your favorite designers will be releasing their new lines soon (if they haven’t already started), so it’s a good time to visit their IGs and take note of what those launch dates are. Just as an example, items I’ve covered over the past year that are suddenly available include Carter Young’s striped polo sweater, Conkers’ Tavern trouser, the red Colin Meredith sweater I’m wearing here, this MAN-TLE jacket from the same column, Emily Dawn Long’s swan sweater, Ludwig Reiter at C’H’C’M…
Body of Work’s archive sale is well worth a look.
Whispering it for now, but my gut is telling me the Henley is being welcomed back. Auralee and Cecile Tulkens are making them; Harry Tibble, Austin Butler and Jabari Sandifer are looking great in them. (Though those three would admittedly look good in a Shrek costume.)
In other “three’s a trend” observations: I’ve now noticed the thrashed Society Archive cap on Sam Hine’s wishlist, Benito Skinner’s head, and Renatto Balladares’ noggin too.
E.M. Reitz’s latest collection of fine women’s shirts—designed in collaboration with an ex-pattern cutter from The Row—just launched. Yes, they’re expensive, but if you can afford them, know that an incredibly well-dressed former boss of mine—who has had the opportunity to wear every luxury brand under the sun over her decades of Condé Nast magazine editorship—now wears only these shirts. And they’re launching men’s in October, at 180 the Store…
How to wear what you already own, per the top men’s stylists
Styling feels like the next conversation in menswear. Now that it’s become normalized to spend a chunk of your disposable income on clothing, the next frontier is realizing that there are still a ton of decisions to enjoy making once you’ve got those clothes into your home and onto your body. Think about it: When you compare how something looks on you while in front of your bedroom mirror to how it looked on the person who inspired you to buy it, the difference is often the near-intangible ways it was styled. Was that shirt worn over a faded band tee? Was it tucked in or out? How many buttons were left undone?
I first understood what those final touches of styling can do in summer 2024, at Auralee’s SS25 show. That season, stylist Charlotte Collet had tied the designer’s sweaters in a way that almost turned them into single shoulder pads. For the rest of the week, people were having fun wearing their sweaters the “Auralee” way—a conversation had started that wouldn’t have if those sweaters had been worn or tied conventionally. (You’d notice the same outsize power of those kinds of little details during brand visits: Mfpen, for example, always accessorizes its showrooms with little metallic stars across its shelves and hangers. Totally unnecessary, but at the same time, a detail that changes the whole feel for the better.)
Sometimes I worry that it’s just me who’s late to the styling conversation, but at the same time, I’ve been reading menswear publications for 15 years now and can’t remember many of them talking much about the importance of those last-minute details. The focus was typically about buying the right things and always treating the purchase as the final step. (This makes sense when you think about the economic incentives of these publications.)
Regardless, I used these swirling thoughts as an excuse to get in touch with two of the stylists whose work has stood out to me most. The first is Collet herself, who beyond styling all the recent Auralee runways, also styles for Chanel, Proenza Schouler, and T Magazine. The second is Patricia Villirillo, who works as a stylist and consultant for Edward Cuming and Paolo Carzana, has her own collaboration with Carter Young launching this fall, and is also the longtime stylist and creative director for The 1975. (Side note: In March, I wrote about how women are making some of today’s best menswear. Today, it’s also typically women—Taylor McNeill and Felicity Kay are two more examples—who are styling today’s best-dressed men.)
Collet says the details from her Auralee work—that sweater tie, or tucking a knit into jeans, or throwing a leather glasses case over a shirt—is her way of “spicing the collection up,” and adding “a certain wonkyness.” (This tracks with last month’s column.) She says she likes to create “a different harmony, with some clashes,” and a “weird balance” that brings more reality. “Auralee clothes are beautifully made and on the subtle side, not overdesigned,” she says. But in her view, “it’s important to show them on a runway thinking about reality and individuality, and not just color palette and the quiet luxury approach.”
I asked for advice for at-home dressers; her starting point is helpful in its unhelpfulness. “Do whatever you want, without thinking about any trend or rule. Who cares?” That said, she recommends looking around your home for little things you already own that could become unique accessories. “Anything craft, personal, from childhood and kept forever,” she says, “would always be my weakness.”
Villirillo is equally adamant that wearing the shit out of what you have is the quickest route to looking great. “I love when I realize that a man is wearing the T-shirt or sweater he bought ten years ago. That’s the one thing I think every man should be wearing. I keep stealing them from all of my closest boy friends because I want the holes, the fade, the authenticity on a garment. Like the Adidas tracksuit I’ve worn since I was 18 years old.” She then simplified it further: “When you are authentic, you look really cool. When you try to look like someone else, I’m sorry, you’re a big loser.”
With her celebrity clients, she makes an effort to never focus on trends—only “effortless style.”
The reason she says the ‘90s “trend” has lasted so long is that it was actually a moment when fashion wasn’t focused as much on trends, and instead on comfortable, quality fabrics. (I noticed Villirillo’s touch when George Daniel married Charli XCX last month and wore this Armani evening look.)
This isn’t to say Villirillo doesn’t still love beautiful releases. “I’m the first person who loves to have fun with a new pair of shoes, a new bag,” she says, adding that “you can make an effortless look with current season collections if you have a strong sense of style and do not get distracted by trends.” But it has to mix in with your history. “I think that the best formula for creating a very cool look is when [newer] sophistication and elegance meet those authentic pieces. The sexiest silhouette is where everything comes together, where all of these mix.”
On that looking hot note, she has another tip for us: Style yourself like you’re already halfway through your night out. “Think about a man going out for dinner. He arrives, he’s perfect. But then when he warms up, he starts to have nice chats, he starts to really be in his own body. The shirt becomes a bit creased and comes out of his trousers a bit. That’s when you are who you are, and that’s the highest of the hottest that everyone can be. It’s still elegant, but so much better than being all groomed.”
How Dan Climan wears it
Dan Climan doesn’t work in fashion—he’s a brilliant, in-demand painter and the ultimate Montreal insider who also has a hand in the restaurant world. (He co-owns Le Violon, the restaurant where incidentally Trudeau and Perry’s relationship was outed.) That said, I did meet him this past Paris Fashion Week, where he was part of the merry wandering band of taste brothers that includes Keith Henry, Nick Dierl, Maachew Bentley. We got along, and afterwards I became curious: What does someone with great taste, who gets brought along to fashion week without being privy to industry hype, come home thinking is actually good? And what else does he wear?
What item’s been in your wardrobe the longest?
A charcoal gray Hanes Beefy-T. About 20 years ago, my buddy had an indie label, Green Burrito records (they put out Mac DeMarco's first album), and he had a silkscreen set up to put their logo on tees. Today, the print is almost faded, and there’s so many years of sweating in the armpits that they're a weird texture at this point. But I look at photos throughout my life and I'm just always wearing this shirt.
The only other thing is years ago I bought myself a vintage canary-yellow, Sak's Fifth Avenue silk pajama top. One day I was at my mom’s house—she has amazing taste—and it ripped, and she insisted it was too beautiful not to repair. Every single time I wear it, it gets more attention than anything I’ve bought since. And it fits my body so easily now. The flow is there.
What do you buy multiples of?
There's a brand in Montreal called École de Pensée. They make a shirt in a very thin material. I like fancy clothes, but I want things I can wear in the studio too. This is the perfect in-between. I have it in baby blue, beige, cream, yellow… They make it in different colors every season, and I just keep buying it.
What’s a newer discovery?
I'm addicted to these fancy John Smedley T-shirts right now (above). There's a clothing store I go to in Montreal called Michel Brisson, and the woman who works there is so helpful, and was like, "Maybe this!" Trust me to fall in love with the one T-shirt that was $300. But I don't wear jewelry or a watch, so I tell myself that makes it okay. It’s their Sea Island Cotton, and it just feels so different. It’s really thin, really soft, and not boxy, which isn't my aesthetic at all. I think I have maybe four t-shirts and two polos. It's a very elegant T-shirt, down to the detailing on the bottom, and the length is perfect.
If we could buy you anything, what would you pick?
The MAN-TLE down jacket that looks a bit like a mechanic coat, with the cinched waist and collar. I couldn’t believe it when I met Larz and learned that he tests his fabrics for like, 15 months before deciding. I would definitely wear that all fall.
Outside of clothing, what are some finds you've loved?
For scent: Astier de Villatte. When I went to the Bode store in L.A. it just smelled so good. I found out it was this Astier de Villatte scent called Tucson, mixed with the Black Oud candle from Diptyque. I did it for a bit in my studio, but it got too expensive. So now my studio just smells like Tucson. And you always get compliments.
Then I'm a sucker for the furniture brand Kartell. For me right now, my style is going back to a Maximalist look, and things that are a little bit older and less generic. There's something about Kartell products, these old pieces of Italian plastic, that fit into that. I have a lot of Kartell, including three of the bedside tables.
What item means the most to you?
This red Winston cigarette ball cap I’ve had since I was eight. I actually named my dog Winston after it. It’s so old that the strap on the back had to be wrapped in tape, and they don’t even make the kind of Scotch tape I used any more. Then, on the border between Montreal and New York State, there's a place called Dick's Country Store. It only sells four things: guns, gas, groceries, and guitars. I’ve owned three of the hats that say that on them then, because I rip right through them.
What outfit feels the most like you?
Honestly, a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt. But that's because I have a lot of traditional tattoos, and to me, they’re the white T-shirt, blue jeans style of tattoo. They'd also look good in 1940, just like that outfit did.
Do you think about tattoos like you think about your other tastes?
Honestly, it's very similar to fashion in the sense that if you see someone who has beautiful sleeves, and you really care, you can recognize: Oh, that's that artist from Baltimore, that's that artist from New York, that's that artist from London. And when you're traveling, you meet people, and sometimes both have a tattoo from the same guy.
Who are you proudest to have on you?
I love Steve Bolt, who's a tattooer in Los Angeles. And I have a tattoo by this old timer called Mike Wilson in Florida—anytime you meet a tattooer they're like, "Oh, fuck, is that a Mike Wilson?" And I have one from a guy named Tony D’Anessa, who passed away. He tattooed me when he was already 75 or 80. He was one of the most old-school people in New York City, because tattooing was illegal in New York until 1998.
Incredible.
Oh one more thing—I also have multiple of Keith Henry's jeans. I designed the Henry's logo, so I'm in a lucky spot where I now maybe get a pair every year or two. That’s our trade-off. There was never any payment, but when I need pants, I call Keith.
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this fall is all about getting #wonky
Dan is killing it. No small feat to be (gently, subtly) into clothes while maintaining a rich, interesting interior life.