Hugh & Crye Blog

What I Wore Today #WIWT 5/15/2012

thomas — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:21:54 +0000

DC’s Rainy SeasonDistrict residents know that this is the time of year when the weather has a mind of its own. Poke your head out one minute and it’s bright and sunny, the next minute, it’s pouring down rain. This tends to have an unfortunate effect on a Washingtonian’s attire–blues and blacks that are as dreary as the weather is. This is not necessarily without reason, however. If it’s wet out, no one wants to be caught wearing khakis when the Circulator splashes through a puddle right next to you. That said, crummy weather is still no excuse to not have a little bit of color in your outfit.

So for this #WIWT TC shows us how to inject a little color into your wet weather attire with our CP3 shirt. He grounds the look with dark navy pants and Bean boots for a look that is both practical (won’t show stains from walking in puddles) and classic. This dark base lets CP3‘s bright red check pattern really pop. He finishes the look with a vintage tie that matches the dark base tones, and leaves the collar button open for a little “Mother Nature won’t get the best of me” attitude.

Let us know what you think about #WIWT and we’d love to see how you style your Hugh & Crye shirts!

Best,

–Team Hugh & Crye

What I Wore Today #WIWT 5/13/2012

thomas — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:36:09 +0000

Business Casual Done RightIn today’s workplace, the term “Business Casual” is almost an anachronism, or at the very least it has come to mean baggy khakis; clunky, square-toed shoes (with a clunky matching belt!) and sloppy polos or parachute shirts. It just doesn’t have to be this way, and we think there is something to be said for a refined look that looks effortless and Paul Newman cool. For this #WIWT Phil shows us how to pull off a great Summer, business casual look with our Rickey shirt. On a sunny day like today, the Rickey’s bright green and blue check pattern really pops. But Phil keeps it from being too much by going for a subtle, tone-on-tone look with olive colored slim chinos, brown wingtips and a vintage green and blue patterned tie. He finishes off the look with a silver tie bar that coordinates with his watch, and by rolling up his sleeves to keep his look sharp, but not too stuffy.Let us know what you think about #WIWT and we’d love to see how you style your Hugh & Crye shirts!
Best,

–Team Hugh & Crye

What I Wore Today #WIWT 5/9/2012

thomas — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:59:20 +0000

Sport Shirt = Smart CasualThis time for #WIWT we have TC wearing our Senna green sport shirt on his lunch break. Our button-down sport shirts are a great smart casual option for a day in the city. They have the crispness and fit of a dress shirt, but the button-down collar and bright offset check pattern give a fun and relaxed vibe to these shirts.

TC dresses it up with a pair of olive colored chinos and jacket, but a simple cuff flip and blue sport watch keep it from being too stuffy.

Best,

–Team Hugh & Crye

What I Wore Today #WIWT 5/8/2012

thomas — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:32:06 +0000

Real men wear pink.We say this at the risk of sounding douchey AND self-aggrandizing. But there is a truth here. Pink compliments any age and every skin color. Pink instantly communicates a healthy self-comfort, and an assured presence. And of course, next to blue and white, it is the most commonly sought dress shirt staple in a man’s wardrobe. We hear guys say “I don’t do pink” all the time. In our friendliest tone, we say: don’t be that guy. This time for #WIWT we have Pranav and Phil wearing the Lil League Gum Pink OCBD shirt, shot with a trusty iPhone 4S a few blocks from our studio in Georgetown. The shirt is cut from a light two-ply oxford in a soft pink colorway. It has a rounded point contrast button down collar (w/ chalk white buttons), contrast gussets (that little triangle of fabric that connects the front and back panels of the shirt) and our rounded single-button barrel cuffs. Pranav dresses up the shirt with a vintage tie, wool trousers, oxford lace-ups, and a throwback attache. Phil goes untucked and with sleeves rolled up, on khakis and canvas sneakers.

Let us know what you think about #WIWT and we’d love to see how you style your Hugh & Crye shirts!

Hugh & Crye, dress shirts adjusted for inflation

thomas — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:34:30 +0000

Have you ever rummaged through an old trunk of your parent’s clothes, or a vintage clothing store? And have you then ever found that really awesome piece–a jacket maybe, or a dress–and the label says its just your size? And did you try it on only to find that it’s way, way too small? That is what we call size inflation. Just as $5 could fill up a tank of gas in 1960 but can’t even fill you up at lunchtime now, the dress size that Marilyn Monroe wore then is now the size that…well we won’t get into that. But you get the idea.

This trend of increasing clothing size is often called vanity sizing, implying that as we’ve gotten fatter manufacturers are increasing the size of their clothes, but then just telling us it’s the same size so that we don’t feel bad about it. Other people, though, say that it’s not some corporate mind trick. Rather as people have gotten bigger, the clothes and their relative sizing have simply had to keep pace.

This size inflation is readily noticeable in women’s clothes, where the sizing is generally in arbitrary numbers. But even in men’s clothes, which are usually sized in inches, can’t escape rampant size inflation. Studies have shown that the waist size in some men’s pants can be up to 5 inches larger than the labeled size. And we certainly can’t leave dress shirts out. While neck and sleeve measurements may seem pretty hard to mess with, anybody who has tried to buy a dress shirt from a big box brand recently knows that these measurements don’t have anything to do with how the rest of the shirt fits. And judging by all the balloon shirts we see running around DC, it’s safe to say that shirts have definitely been “inflating” as well.

If you’ve been around our blog then you know how much we care about fit. And if you’re a customer then you know that when we say Skinny or Slim or Athletic, we mean it. Our goal from the beginning has been to make shirts that actually fit, rather than just pretend to. Any good investor knows that it’s important to hedge against inflation. And if you’re going to invest in a great quality dress shirt, shouldn’t you do the same?

A proper mirror photo

thomas — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:56:48 +0000

Long time customer and friend Geoff K. stopped by the other day to try on a few of our new shirts. Here he is checking out our Legislative shirt.

You look great Geoff! Thanks for not doing the duck face and peace sign.

Before & After

thomas — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:23:33 +0000

Long time customer Jonathan W., from New York, sent us a couple of pictures recently that we really liked. They’re a great example of the fit problems our shirts solve. Take a look.

As you can see on the left, Jonathan’s old shirt is totally shapeless, and he has some nasty #sleevefat going on. On the right, Jonathan rocks the Senna and you can see the difference that a high armhole and darts can make. Thanks Jonathan!

What I Wore Today #WIWT 4/23/2012

thomas — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:16:50 +0000

The Legislative Shirt

This time for #WIWT we have Phil wearing the Legislative shirt. The Legislative is cut from a light two-ply poplin in a green and navy on white check pattern. It has a cutaway collar (small profile and wide spread, with collar stays), contrast gussets (that little triangle of fabric that connects the front and back panels of the shirt) and our signature convertible cuffs (can be worn buttoned, or dressed up with cuff links).

We think the Legislative shirt makes for an interesting dressed up option in your wardrobe. On a rainy DC day like today, Phil wears his Legislative with a mid-weight wool navy suit, a green knit tie, a stainless-steel link watch, and a leather bracelet he picked up on Etsy.

Not convinced with putting a little green in your shirt rotation? Check out the Executive and the Judicial shirts, same style and pattern as the Legislative but in a plum and a tan colorway, respectively.

Let us know what you think about #WIWT and we’d love to see how you style your Hugh & Crye shirts!

What I Wore Today #WIWT 4/19/2012

thomas — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:36:24 +0000

The Mall and Game Shirts

Today’s #WIWT has TC wearing The Mall shirt. The Mall is cut from a light two-ply poplin in a blue plaid pattern. The Game is its sister (or is it brother?) shirt and comes in an orange plaid.

They both have a cutaway collar (small profile and wide spread, with collar stays), contrast gussets (that little triangle of fabric that connects the front and back panels of the shirt) and our signature convertible cuffs (can be worn buttoned, or dressed up with cuff links). The Mall and The Game are shirts that work great casually, or dressed up a bit, as TC does here with Dockers Alpha khakis, white sneakers from SeaVees, a J Crew Timex watch and his signature nylon Gant Rugger jacket (he wears it way too often).

Let us know what you think about #WIWT and we’d love to see how you style your Hugh & Crye shirts!

Local Competition

Pranav — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:45:23 +0000

Nasty. One of the pimp (used as an apparel category, not an adjective) stores near us in Georgetown is bringing competition to the shirt game.

We saw this and fought the urge to vomit.