Spring Series: Tops

Hoodies are my absolute favorite thing about springtime. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a casual guy. Every chance I get, I seize the opportunity to do casual stylish. And hoodies are a perfect way of doing so. Feeling like wearing a button-up and a tie? Go ahead and layer it under a hoodie with some jeans. Just feeling like a casual tee and some sneakers? Perfect. A hoodie can even stand alone, as it’s own statement piece.

Just make sure you’re buying a quality hoodie. You’ll want to forego the baggy, collegiate hoodie you used to sleepily drag yourself to class in. Stick to ones that are properly slim fitted to the body. As for quality, American Giant‘s hoodies sell out time and time again for a reason. Pick yourself up one or find one of similar build quality.

Popovers are a bit of a sleeper pick. You could say they’re a cousin of both the traditional button up and polos, and typically better suited for warmer weather. There’s no special “how to” on wearing them, you treat it like you’d treat its cousins.

I will say that they look great in chambray (pictured), which might be the perfect fabric for the spring/summer months.

It’s a great alternative shirt when you want to try something different. And an added bonus is that since you don’t see them around terribly often, you’ll look unique.

Polos are an easy and obvious choice to wear for a top in warm weather. We recently talked about polos as being a basic must have in your wardrobe. Many times, they hardly require any thought in terms of what to wear them with, because they go with damn near everything from shorts to dress pants.

While it’s nice to have a handful of solid color polos for quick choices, we also recommend having a few various styles as well: patterned, striped, prints, etc. Esquire compiled a nice list of spring polos from last year (but still in style) to give you a good idea of how to mix up your polo options.

GQ has a great guide on wearing a polo, that’s worth a read.

Did you know that your jacket could do more than just protect you from the elements? Yes, it’s true. The proper jacket can not only keep the wind off your back, but can be used to show off your own personal style as well! A well-fitted, leather motorcycle jacket can bring a little edge to your outfit (or show that you just rode in on your cool motorcycle). Or maybe a casual bomber jacket is more your style. However you want to express yourself, the possibilities are endless.

Standing on their own or as used as part of your layering strategy (for example, the top layer over a button up and tie), a quality spring jacket is a necessary weapon in your style arsenal.

Take a peak at this article if you’re looking for some inspiration on a few popular jacket styles.

You’ve spent the last few months all layered up, and now that the weather is finally turning around to the warm side, it’s time to show some skin. One way to do that is unbuttoning one extra button. Most men only leave the collar button open when wearing a polo, button up, or popover. Next time the weather tells you to, go for two open buttons.

Just because the weather gets hot doesn’t mean you can’t wear long sleeves. Another good way to show some skin is rolling up the sleeves on your button up. Many times this looks better than just going with a short-sleeved shirt. Unfortunately this is done really sloppily more often than not. Here are the 3 ways you should roll your sleeves and keep a clean look.