March 17, 2013 0

The Blue Shirt (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hey guys!

Welcome to our 12th post on AlbertMing’s “Suits, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”! Today, we’ve a more versatile shirt for you to check out today: the blue shirt!

The blue shirt is definitely on par, if not arguably better, than the white shirt in terms of versatility. And by blue, we mean light blue, not royal blue or purple-hued blue! The blue shirt goes with practically everything (except with a tuxedo/Black/White Tie attire, that is), and is great for business or casual wear!

Let’s first start off on ties. The great thing about AlbertMing’s blue shirt is that it’s 100% cotton, which is the best versatile fabric for ties. Whether you choose to go with a classic silk repp tie of your university, or if you choose to go with a timeless grenadine, the blue shirt is definitely the shirt for you! What’s also great about the blue shirt is that we’ve put a nice spread collar on it. Spread collars are great for showing off style and elegance! Also, we’ve stuck a nice barrel collar on this shirt, ensuring further versatility (French cuffs are overdoing in in most countries). And voila! The versatile blue shirt goes with practically any tie imaginable: from wool to linen, then to repp and grenadine.

However, just remember not to tie your knot too big! Tie a four-in-hand knot, and not a ridiculous Windsor or Half-Windsor! Here’s a great picture from StyleForum to show you what we’re talking about:

The other great thing about the blue shirt is that it can be worn with blazers, sportcoats, and suits. AlbertMing’s contemporary Navy Start-Up Sportcoat works great with this shirt, as does every other sportcoat in our product line! Even your tweed, herringbone, or guncheck sportcoat will look great with the blue shirt! In addition, our suits also work great with this product! From our pinstriped Blue Knight on the left, to our serious, midnight blue Midnight Wave on the right, the blue shirt will fit all your sportcoat and suit needs!

Well, that’s all for today folks! Keep coming back every couple days to check us out! We’re always working on great ideas to fit your style needs, because at AlbertMing, we want you to feel good about what you’re wearing! Our SSTPC series is still on-going too, so keep clicking on our blog to see that!

 

 

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March 14, 2013 0

The Red Gingham Shirt (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hey everyone! Welcome to our 11th post on AlbertMing’s “Suits, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”! Today, we’ve got our great, original Red Gingham shirt, perfectly in time for our spring and summer seasons!

Gingham-patterned fabric makes a great summer shirt! Here at AlbertMing, we’ve brought you a nice, plain red gingham shirt. With a point collar and barrel cuffs, this shirt is ready to wear with nearly any sportcoat or blazer you can imagine! We’ve even included a nice, solid red pocket, for all your nick-knacks and accessories! As a summer shirt, our Red Gingham shirt should be worn in a more “casual” setting. Wear it by itself with a pair of khakis, or go “smart casual” mode by adding a navy blazer or linen sportcoat. Try not to go overboard on your sportcoat patterns though (so no tweed or other gingham patterns). Wear a solid-colored odd jacket if you really want to, and let the shirt be your “color punch” of your outfit. And remember, pinstriped “blazers” are not odd jackets! Pinstriped jackets are most often always part of a suit, and you will “look funny” and “feel funny” if you go with this combination! Oh and don’t be tempted to wear those bright pants we know are hiding in your closet! Your shirt is bright enough; don’t overdo your outfit with too much color!

For a red gingham shirt, you could go a variety of ways with your tie! Here at AlbertMing, we’re recommending either red/burgundy or navy blue ties! The great thing about the Red Gingham shirt is that you can play around with the fabric of your tie. This will let you add some textural interest in your outfit, without being “too busy”. Some great choices could include grenadine, knit, cotton (owing to the summer tie), or even just plain silk! In fact, the most tie pattern we’d recommend when wearing a red gingham shirt would be small, inconspicuous polka dots.

That concludes our 12th post in AlbertMing’s “Suits, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations” blog series! Hope you choose to pick up one of our awesome Red Gingham shirts, and come around soon, because we’re constantly updating this blog with new content!

 

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March 12, 2013 0

The White Shirt (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hey guys!

Welcome to our 10th post on AlbertMing’s “Suits, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”! Today, let’s talk about the white shirt, available on AlbertMing’s site here in a French Cuff version, and here in a normal barrel cuff style.

The white shirt. Ah, the white shirt. The plain canvas slate where you can wear nearly everything! The great thing about white shirts is that, yes, they do go with everything. From sportcoats to suits, then to tuxedoes and windbreakers, the white shirt encompasses all fields. There are only two things that will keep your white shirt from being 100% versatile: the fabric, and the cuff style.

The great thing about AlbertMing’s white shirts is the fact that it is 100% cotton. AlbertMing has brought you this great shirt in a comfortable 100% cotton, ensuring you will be able to wear this shirt nearly year-round! However, some people do run into problems if their shirt is a heavier material (like flannel), or a super-light, linen-material. A heavy shirt fabric like flannel would be most appropriate with sportcoats, as the “rough” flannel fabric would work well with the textured, most-likely-tweed pattern of a sportcoat. Similarly, a linen shirt would work best with a linen suit. With both flannel and linen shirts, both would look very weird with business suits! Just be sure to be careful with your shirt fabrics when not buying from AlbertMing!

The second thing that could make your all-versatile white shirt look “out of place” with an outfit could be French Cuffs. French cuffs are great, don’t get me wrong. I personally love them, and would have them made on at least 40% of my shirts if possible! The problem is that French cuff shirts work mostly only with suits. French cuffs are often seen as formal wear, especially by Americans, Italians, and even the French! In these countries, most people choose only to wear French cuffs with tuxedos, or with suits to events like fancy dinners or the opera. The British are  notable exception; they were French cuffs as standard business attire. However, it is rare to find French cuffs worn by themselves or with sweaters, as it “just doesn’t look right”. The navy blazer or sportcoat with French cuffs can be done, but for the most part, also “don’t feel right”.

Oh, and as a side note, be sure to wear double-sided cufflinks! Double-sided cufflinks show classical style, and they’re unique in the fact that you just don’t see them anymore! Silk knots are a great alternative too, and they’re pretty inexpensive to boot. However, if you do choose to get metal cufflinks, don’t forget to go for a simple design; leave the gaudiness to the wannabe-fashionistas, haha!

So in conclusion, the white shirt can be worn with practically everything! Keeping in mind shirt fabrics and cuff styles, the white shirt is one of the most, if not the most, versatile shirt out there. Keep coming back for our great updates on our SSTPC blog series!

 

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March 6, 2013 0

The White (and Blue) Stripes Sportcoat (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hey guys!

Welcome to our 9th post on AlbertMing’s original blog series “Suits, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”! Today. we’re proud to present our White (and Blue) Stripes Sportcoat!

At AlbertMing, we’re always thinking about innovative ways to re-invent some of our menswear classics. With our White (and Blue) Stripes sportcoat, we think we’ve done just that! With a shawl lapel, one-button closure, and jetted pockets, this great odd jacket gives a nod to traditional dinner jackets. However, it’s made of a great, light-weight seersucker-style material, bowing a nod to the traditional Southern gentleman. This jacket would be a great, non-traditional jacket for almost every wardrobe!

You may be thinking “What in the world should I wear with this jacket?” Well, here at AlbertMing, we think you should definitely go for a more “formal-inspired” look with this jacket, especially due to the one-button and shawl lapel. We think you could wear a great light-colored shirt with this jacket, either white or blue. Keep it simple, because the jacket is made up of a mind-boggling fabric! You could even wear French Cuffs with this jacket, owing to the dinner jacket influence this sportcoat has!

So now, what pants go with this great jacket? Some of our great choices include some original pants from AlbertMing, like our solid Navy Twill pants or our Blue Nailhead pants. These would be great options for that dinner-jacket feel, but if you’re feeling more conservative, feel free to go with a nice pair of pressed khakis!

Now, for the final touches! When picking a tie, AlbertMing definitely recommends a bow tie! The shawl lapel on this one-button sportcoat will go perfect with a nice, solid, knit bowtie, and would just look really awkward with a conventional long tie. The knit fabric definitely gives the youthful and playful impression on the output, and as we pointed out earlier, the bowtie is a nice complement to the shawl lapel of the jacket. Also, AlbertMing recommends a pair of tan or brown wingtips to go with this outfit. We think that this would be another great nod to this jacket! Let the jacket be the centerpiece of our outfit, and let everything else elevate your entire outfit to another level!

Well, that’s it for now folks! We hope you’ve enjoyed our modern take on a great dinner jacket classic with our White (and Blue) Stripes Sportcoat! This jacket would be a great coat to wear to summer parties, and now with the summer season coming up, it’s definitely the right time to buy! Keep coming back to our blog for more great posts on “Suit, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”!

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March 2, 2013 0

The Dark Nights Sportcoat (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hey everyone!

Welcome to our eighth post on our original blog series, “Suit, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”! Today, we’re going to do preview a brand-new sportcoat, the Dark Nights Sportcoat!

This great sportcoat is an awesome take on a tweed jacket! This jacket resembles tweed, but is still 100% wool! It’s great for those who want to wear tweed-like jackets year round, as this is the perfect material for general wear around the office! Although we normally don’t endorse stripes on odd jackets, the fact that this is a tweed-style material makes it quite okay and just unconventional. However, AlbertMing endorses this great product 100%, and we’re gong to guide you with what works great with it!

Anyways, since this jacket is super-patterned already, we’ll leave the jacket as the focal point, and go plain with the shirts. White and light blue are always great choices, and we’ve given you them in a rougher fabric here, like twill. This makes the rough materials mix well, so it’ll definitely “feel” right when you step out of your door! Check out some great shirts here!

So, we’ve gone plain with the shirts, with the only difference being we’ve chosen a “rougher” shirt fabric. No cotton, just twill, just like the adventurers of the Old West! We’ll also go similarly plain on our neckwear. We’ll go with dark knit, tweed, or wool ties, allowing more texture play between all our sartorial materials.

Nice! So we’ve got our centerpiece jacket, twill shirt, and textured ties. Now let’s go to the pants. Remember, always contrast the color of the pants, so things like stone and khakis can work. However, in this case, dark jeans will also be a great pairing with the Dark Nights Sportcoat.  This is only because that this jacket is a tweed-like sportcoat.

For shoes, we’ll go with anything except black. No black shoes! That’ll make you look like you’re trying too hard, and black will just “feel off” to you. Pick tan for a non-traditional color, but dark brown or burgundy will do just fine!

Well, that’s all for now folks! Thanks for reading, and keep coming back to see some great pairings with our original sportcoats!

 

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February 23, 2013 0

The Start-Up Blazer (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hey guys!

Welcome to our seventh post on our original blog series, “Suit, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”! Today, we’re going to do another throw-back sportcoat, with today’s featured jacket being our original Start-Up Blazer!

This wonderful blazer is a great contemporary take on the classic navy blazer. With peak lapels, patch pockets, and contrasting horn buttons, our blazer will stand out from the sea of other blazers in your office! It works great for business casual, business smart, or just plain casual events!

This great sportcoat also works great with a variety of shirts! If you’re looking for a “color punch”, you can definitely integrate it into your shirt or your tie. That’s what’s great about the Start-Up Blazer! It’s versatile, and nearly 99% of all light colored shirts will work great with this blazer! Just remember, this versatility doesn’t apply to dark-colored shirts AlbertMing does NOT recommend you to wear a dark blue or black shirt with this jacket, because you will definitely feel “off and confused”. Check out some of our great shirt patterns!

The great thing about the Start-Up Blazer is that it also works with a myriad of ties. Unless your tie exactly matches AlbertMing’s original fabric on the Start-Up Blazer, chances are that most ties will look and feel great with this jacket! However, we do especially recommend knit, silk, or grenadine ties with the Start-Up Blazer!

AlbertMing also has some great pants to go with your Start-Up Blazer! Go with a contrasting pair, as the general rule of thumb is for dark sportcoats and light pants, or vice-versa! For these pictures, we’ve decided to feature our very own Houndstooth and Lone Star pants! The Lone Star pants are going quick, so you better snag  pair while you can!

As for shoes, well, nearly anything brown or burgundy goes with a great pair of light-colored pants! From your brown suede wingtip to your burgundy penny loafer, the Start-Up Blazer, a nice contrasting pair of pants, and a “color-punching” shirt or tie will definitely match and feel great!

Keep coming by folks! In our next post, we’re going to unveil some newer products that have just arrived in our office!

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February 20, 2013 0

The Whiskey Sportcoat (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hey guys!

Welcome to post 6 of “Suit, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”! Today, we go back to the heart and soul of AlbertMing’s original product lineup: the Whiskey Sportcoat.Ever wanted to show off some subtle style, without being too flashy? Or do you just want a change-up from the daily navy blazer or tweed sportcoat? Well then, the Whiskey Sportcoat is just for you! This great sportcoat has been covered on our blog before in our “16 Menswear Essentials”, but today, we’re going to show you what looks great with it!

The fabric on our sportcoat is a nanotech wool, and is what distinguishes it from being an “orphan” jacket (a suit jacket without the pants). This great garment is unmistakeably a sportcoat with patch pockets, a single vent, and some great contrasting light horn buttons! As such, AlbertMing recommends putting your “color punch” to your outfit in a shirt! Whether you choose to go with our blue checkered, red gingham, or purple checkered shirts, we will guarantee you that this slight pop of color will feel “just right” with the subdued odd jacket fabric of the Whiskey Sportcoat. Our shirts give you the “individual” vibe you’re looking for, while displaying a great sense of elegance and simplicity!

Now, as a sportcoat, we can definitely get a little more casual on our ties. A great pairing with the Whiskey Sportcoat would be a knit tie! A little on the casual side, yet with a more professional twist, the knit tie brings style into your office! Go a little easier on the tie brightness, as remember, your shirt has the “color punch” you want! The ties we’ve picked for this post support your shirt’s color, but doesn’t overwhelm it! For example, we’d pair the bright red gingham shirt with the burgundy tie, and the blue checkered shirt with the navy tie. Note how the tie complements the shirt in terms of color! This is always a great example to follow when deciding if shirt-and-tie combinations “feel right” or not!

There are lots of great pants to wear with the Whiskey Sportcoat. We can go through a variety of fabrics, from your plain-old khakis, to twill and tweed! The great thing about the Whiskey Sportcoat is that it’ll go with nearly anything! Just reemeber, for pants, always contrast your odd jacket. In this case, since our Whiskey Sportcoat is a dark brown, we’d like to go with a lighter color. The darkest AlbertMing recommends going is a dark gray tweed, as there is still contrast due to the roughness and the wave-pattern of the tweed.

As for shoes, nearly anything will work with the Whiskey Sportcoat. However, if you have it, AlbertMing would definitely recommend a captoe boot. However, a wingtip shoe will work fine, with burgundy or brown being the best colors, of course. Don’t forget to match your belt too!

Well, that’s all for now folks. Keep coming back, for more great suggestions and pairings in AlbertMing’s original blog series “Suit, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”!

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February 16, 2013 0

The Gingham Blue Sportcoat (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

What’s going on fellas?

Check out our 5th post on “Suit, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”! This post is going to be exciting, because AlbertMing has a great, original product here for you today! We have a great Gingham Blue Sportcoat for you guys, and it’s one of a kind! With it’s distinct pattern, gingham will stand out anywhere, giving your look a classical summer-y feel! This jacket is a great Italian-influenced jacket, with a simple notch collar, light shoulder padding, and great patch pockets for that sportcoat look! We’ve even made this jacket half-lined, to ensure breathability in any hot environment! From the humid weather of Hong Kong, to the heat blaring down in San Jose’s Silicon Valley, this jacket is a great look for casual and business casual office wear!

The great thing about this jacket is it’s versatility for summer-like clothes. For example, this sportcoat would look great with a simple white or light blue shirt. Remember, keep your patterns simple as the gingham check in this unique sportcoat will be the centerpiece of your outfit! Some conservative fabric choices would be cotton or twill. However, you can get a little crazy with the shirt fabrics! There’s a great shirt AlbertMing has developed called the Arctic Shirt, which is a great white shirt that ensures breathability in the hot summer months! Chambray is also a great option for those looking to get a little more creative with their shirt choices!

Now that we’ve told you some great shirts to wear with the Gingham Blue Sportcoat, we’ll tell you some ties to match! Gingham is a tie that connotes a summer feel, so stick with light fabrics. You could even go with a bow tie in this case! However, if you do choose to wear a tie with this sportcoat, be sure to pick an extremely simple, solid, and light-colored shirt. If you don’t, the patterns in the shirt, tie, and sportcoat can be overwhelming to people, and you definitely won’t feel “right”. Also remember, if you choose to wear a bright colored tie, don’t wear bright colored pants! Here are some great tie choices to wear with a white/light blue shirt and our gingham blue sportcoat:

Alright, now check out the pants to go with our great gingham blue sportcoat! You can go conservative with the traditional tan or stone colored khakis, or you can get wild with your pants color! Now now, if you already have a colorful tie, do NOT do a pair of colorful pants! This will may you way too wild for your office! So pick one or the other. However, if you choose to go conservative with every part of your outfit except the pants, some great options would be a bright orange, a tan yellow, or even a light pink!

And for shoes, well, you can go with some great burgundy or tan brown loafers! Socks are optional, seeing how this is summer wear and all!

Hope you enjoyed checking out some great combinations with our Gingham Blue Sportcoat! Come back to check out some more posts!

 

 

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February 14, 2013 0

The Vintage Houndstooth Sportcoat (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hey guys!

So how’s it going guys? Cold in the industrial Silicon Valley utopia, or in the chilly woodlands of the Silicon Forrest? Well, AlbertMing has a great solution for you! We’ve just unveiled a great line of sportcoats and blazers that will help you fit into your high-tech office environment! For this post in our blog series “Suit, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”, I’ll be showing off the brand-new, ultra-hip Vintage Houndstooth Sportcoat!

This isn’t your grandfather’s old houndstooth sportcoat! Here at AlbertMing, we’ve taken a classic material and made it into a modern piece of style! With double vents, a notch lapel, and a perfectly suppressed waist, this jacket will definitely make all the other guys in your office jealous!

Some great tips about this jacket is to keep it simple. Let the jacket be the main point of your daily wardrobe ensemble. As such, pick clean, no-frills poplin or cotton shirts to wear with it. AlbertMing has some great options for that on our site, with a wonderful button-down Lavender Oxford and White Shirt (with Blue Accents), available now on our site! These shirts will definitely make your jacket “pop” and stand out!

Now that you’ve kept the shirt simple, make sure to continue this theme with your pants. No crazy tweed or herringbone here! Instead, go with a classic pair of khakis or chinos. Be sure not to match the colors on the houndstooth sportcoat by picking pant black or white pant colors. Instead, choose colors like tan, brown, or even navy to go with our houndstooth sportcoat!

Now for the shoes. The best thing about this jacket is that you can wear almost any pair of shoes with it, and you can look great! From a burgundy captoe boot (on the top right side of the picture), to a tan wingtip (top left), or even a brown Doc-Marten-style boot (bottom), you can have a great outfit, ready for work at the office or at the bar!

Stay tuned gents! We got a lot of new sportcoats and blazers here at AlbertMing, so be sure to check our blog for updates!

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February 7, 2013 0

The Navy Suit with White Pinstipes (SSTPC)

By in AlbertMing

Hi guys!

Welcome to our third post in AlbertMing’s “Suit, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations” series!

So is your favorite suit that navy wool number in your closet with white pinstripes? Well, white pinstripes scream business, so keep that in mind when putting on this great ensemble! For this post, we’re going to take a look at AlbertMing’s BigWig suit, available here!

So anyways, the BigWig suit is about business-like as you can get. and because these are white pinstripes, you can definitely get away with a lot more different things than with a navy suit with colored pinstripes (like from our last post). White pinstripes is definitely versatile, but remember, it is business attire! This suit can definitely work with a large range of business fabrics, from cotton, to poplin, and then twill. Check out some of our cool weaves, in the respective fabrics mentioned, here below!

With a business suit, you definitely have to go conservative with your tie choices. Colors like burgundy and navy are great, and simple patterns (or even solids for that matter), will work great with this suit!

Tie bars are also a great idea for accessorizing! Just remeeber to pick a very simple tie bar (either gold or silver, depending on your watch color), that is smaller than the with of your tie! Also, don’t wear your tie bar too high! The purpose of the tie bar is to keep your tie from flapping around, and being a “fashionista” and wearing your tie bar too high allows your tie to flap around! It’s definitely ideal for guys to wear their tie bars between the third, fourth, or fifth buttons on their shirt (depending on their height).

Well, stay tuned folks, for another post in the original AlbertMing blog series “Suits, Shirts, and Ties – Patterns and Combinations”!

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