I have always been a fan of Esquire.
As a child I hoarded copies under the bed as a portal to a more glamorous and exciting world. Everything I hoped for was in those pages, from James Bond sophistication to stories of adventure and intrigue.
But then things began to change.
The magazine shifted from an aspirational gentlemanly fantasy to the drab reality of the upper middle class urban male professional. The clothing became more utilitarian, more plain, the travel advice less exciting. Overall the roguish spirit was squashed in favor of corporate conformity.
I’m not sure where along the line this happened, but it did. Jay Fielden, the previous editor, did a great job trying to keep the older tradition going, but with his departure the direction seems cemented in stone.
Michael Sebastians, the new editor, comes from the world of digital efficiency, not two Martini Lunches. His salary reflects the lowered station of the magazine editor. Like a lot of change I don’t like, I tried to remain positive, but then I read his recent letter from the editor.
Please if you will, let me dissect
THE GREAT RESET
“IN EARLY MAY, AFTER RECEIVING my second dose of the Covid vaccine, I ventured into the world for the first time in forever. I started going into the office regularly; I took in-person meetings; I met friends for drinks at actual bars; I went on dates with my wife. It was fantastic.”
We begin with the most cliche activity of the 21st Century man, virtue signaling. Everyone gets it, you’re afraid of COVID like CNN told you to be and you were a good little boy waiting for your jabs to leave the house.
Now that he’s liberated, what does he do? First and foremost he went to the OFFICE and took MEETINGS! What a rebel! In an almost confessional tone he admits to having a drink inside.
He is also going on dates with his wife. Long term relationships can feel like work sometimes, but he writes like they are a chore. Love is something to be scheduled, fit in between soy lattes and editorial meetings. These concessions to the cult of modern busyness makes my soul hurt, a little too much reality for an afternoon of casual reading.
Anyway, my guess is all this is bullshit, like most of us he has probably been living his life for months.
“What didn’t feel good was my wardrobe. Now that life had begun anew, I needed to look put together, or at least not like a schlub. While I was grateful to wear something more refined than my quarantine outfit—jeans, T-shirt, a pair of well-worn Vans—I was unmoved by my options. Clothes I’d once loved now reminded me of the fifteen months I’d spent not wearing them. Getting dressed was a chore. The whole thing left me feeling uneasy. And if I didn’t feel confident, so my socially isolated brain thought, how could I be confident?”
After virtue signaling, the second most annoying 21st century trait is the humble brag. What a schlub, wearing jeans and stylish vintage shoes. Maybe you can relate when I tell you I spent the last year and a half in worn out high school basketball shorts and stained car show T shirts.
Next we get to connect with him personally, even the high and mighty editor might not feel confident. I feel like this is the humble before the brag where he tells us all the cool clothing he regularly wears. I just hope he can complete the hero’s journey to actually put his pants on.
“Then I found a brand-new suit in my closet.
(You’re probably thinking, How big is that closet? Not that big!)
In January of last year, I got the suit, a navy-blue linen two-piece by Brunello Cucinelli, and promptly placed it in a garment bag. Then the pandemic hit, and in August my family moved from an apartment in New York to a house in New Jersey; the garment bag ended up tucked away in the back of my closet. Rediscovering it this past spring felt like stumbling upon El Dorado.”
This is the meat of the humble brag, he has a fantastically expensive suit in his closet that he forgot about. Brucello Cucinelli is a master of Italian tailoring, and in linen this suit sounds like an expert level fashion choice. The brag is just obscure enough to not be as gauche as Gucci, but most readers are likely to know what’s up.
It took a rereading but I noticed a major red flag, New Jersey. While there is nothing wrong with the dirty Jers, why does a major fashion editor live there? His primary job is to feel seismic shifts in trends and bring the latest and greatest fashion ideas to his readers. How is this possible from Tony Soprano Land?
There is no fantasy in New Jersey. I bet he made the decision because it was practical, and the ethos of a magazine like this should be anything but practical. I cannot take seriously a suburbanite telling me what’s cool. The inability to hang with the City makes me question his commitment to the lifestyle his publication promotes.
“I don’t want to oversell the redemptive power of clothes, but damn, when I put that thing on for the first time, it was as if I’d just donned (very soft, very breathable) armor. I felt . . . better. Renewed. So the next day, I pulled out another unworn item, a light-brown double-breasted blazer from Suitsupply I’d bought at a virtual supersale during the depths of the pandemic. Same feeling—confidence, maybe with a dash of peacock. Be prepared: You will turn heads in a suit or blazer—where is that guy going?—precisely because few people have to dress up right now. That’s all it took to set me on a path toward overhauling my closet.”
As a lover of clothing, I feel like passion for dressing comes from self expression. Armor is protective, it is a strong false facade to deflect from the real you. Somehow I doubt Gianni Agneli had this painfully self conscious attitude when he suited up in exquisitely tailored linen for a night out on the Riviera.
We’ve heard the brag, now Iccarus is flying back down to earth before his wings melt. The author has mentioned a famously expensive brand, now he has to mention a more approachable brand, Suitsupply.
First off, Suitsupply was cool like 6 years ago, why do I need a copy of Esquire to learn about it? Second, you are very far from being a peacock if you have to work up your confidence to wear a suit you got at the mall.
Now we get back to the heart of fakery and projection. He is not dressing for himself but for what others will think. Perhaps he wants the casual passerby to think he is going someplace a little more glamorous than New Jersey.
“Build back better, as they say. Welcome to the Great Reset.”
Great, So he is a Democrat who hated four years under Trump. I could NEVER guess an East Coast Media exec likes Biden. Awkward timing since this is coming out right after the Afghanistan catastrophe. What exactly is being built back better?
“Maybe you’re heading to your first post pandemic wedding, or you really want to show off the gains you made from a quarantine spent on a Peloton. As we return to real life, there’s no better time to reconsider what’s in your closet. That’s one of the driving forces behind the fashion stories in this issue: what to wear as you reengage with the world. You’ll see a lot of fall-friendly suits—“Rebel Rebel . . .” has several—and even a few ties. I’m not suggesting your own reset must involve a suit—in “Just Right for Right Now” Esquire style director Jonathan Evans endorses 18 East, a deeply casual brand he believes is perfect for the moment—but I can say from experience that there’s something fortifying about slipping into perfectly fitted pants and a jacket.”
We have talked about Suit Supply, now he exhibits a further shibboleth that he’s middle class adjacent. Most guys today buy suits to wear at other people’s weddings. Nothing wrong with this, but it’s not exactly like they are Parisian rakes.
Socioeconomically we get slightly more haute bourgeois with the Peloton reference. Clearly he is too busy, virtuous, and affluent to go to his local gym. If he did decide to risk death by COVID and slum in the local weight room, he might learn no one is getting serious gains spinning like a housewife whose Xanax prescription ran out.
If he was at all tied into fitness trends real men are Vibing on these days, he would be talking about compound lifts and JuJitsu. The only Peloton bros I have met middle aged men trying, and usually not succeeded, to escape various sedentary lifestyle afflictions. Probably crushing your nuts on a small seat and watching another screen wont solve those problems.
Now we keep our class ascent going up to hipsterdom. He signifies group membership by reeling off a list of brands only New York cognizati are aware of. I get it, you live in NYC (but not really), how does this help your vast readership in the unwashed in flyover states?
“I’m not alone. It’s boom times for bespoke menswear brands. Kirsten and Zach Uttich, owners of the six-year-old custom-clothing shop BLVDier, in Chicago, said they had their busiest day yet over the summer. On a sweltering afternoon in July, fifteen guys came into the store clamoring for something tailored: tuxedos, sport coats, pants, and, of course, suits. “The materials and styles have changed,” Zach explained to me in between back-to-back appointments, “but suits are still a part of the conversation—maybe more so now than ever.” I’m told that Brooklyn Tailors, another shop founded by a married couple, Brenna and Daniel Lewis, is jammed up into the fall. As Zach said, men “want to get rid of the clothes they’ve been staring at for the last year.” Amen.”
I guess he feels justified by people voting with their feet and buying suits. To be honest I have not seen anyone in a suit in at least 18 months, but I will take his word for it.
Let’s ask a question, why is this a good thing? Nostalgia for 2019 is all well and good, but we have now truly entered the 21st century and should act like it. Do all these trends need to look backwards? Is there nothing exciting about what we have gotten sartorially from Covid. Maybe, as editor, he should look for a new vision for his readership.
A POTENTIAL NEW VISION IN FLORIDA
Many of the New York Based men’s magazines feel stale, like they are desperately clinging to a long gone 20th century. Everything is retro, designed for the office. The aesthetic is more Revolutionary Road than revolutionary.
In Miami there is a new style emerging. Athliesure and beachwear are fusing to create tropical lifestyle chic. The clothes are loose and relaxed for the heat and chillvibes. A broader range of colors look great in front of palm fronds, no one is going to an office and there is no pressure to fit in.
What I want is a vision that breaks free from the stultifying conformity of the mad men midtown office life. Guys work from home now and can wear what they damn well please. A lot of men I meet in Florida don’t work (at least legitimately) at all.
Let’s take the end of the pandemic as a sign life is short and should be enjoyed. No more Pelatons, Suited Facades, and striver culture. Let’s build inner strength, wear what expresses who we truly are, and take a beat to enjoy life. The new luxury is not things but time, where can I find a publication that reflects that. Certainly not in an Esquire still obsessed with looking good on the 6 train to Grand Central