Shirts To Stunt On Your Coworkers With
Answering the most pressing reader-asked questions!
A couple of days ago I asked you, the SNL community, to send me your most burning fashion questions—the SNL Q&A is a segment where we dive into the community in order to scope out what they are dealing with in this fast-paced fashion world. In today’s newsletter, we are finding out where to get vintage pants for the low, shirts to flex on your coworkers with, shorts to expose your calves with style, and some other great reader-asked questions!
Before we dive into the Q&A, I have a few general updates to give you about SNL and the newsletter:
SNLetter has an exclusive chat for all subscribers! To further the community discussion I decided to open up the chat so our readers can connect and have even more clothing-related discussions. At this time, paid subscribers are able to create their own custom threads, while free subscribers are able to read and comment on existing topics. Here is how you can get started:
Download the app by clicking this link or the button below.
Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.
That’s it! Jump into any thread and start diving into the fashion discussion. I’d love to see more people having some regular discussions in there!
The SNL Store List has been updated! We’ve finally reached 100 stores all around the globe, now available for viewing in one place for all of our paid subscribers. The list is organized geographically, so there’s going to be a store for everyone.
Leo asks: Where to buy vintage baggy pants?
Personally, if I’m shopping vintage I’m doing it in person. There is no shop that does it the way In Vintage We Trust does, and if you’re ever in Toronto then stopping by their store is an absolute must. For those who are bound to their computer, I have the following stores you should check out for some good baggy pant options that I’ve used myself:
Mask - great priced vintage based out of the USA
194 Local - Maybe one of the best spots to get some proper vintage baggy pants online right now. Stock is low, but they have new stuff all the time so check back often.
Thomas asks: What do you look for when you find pieces that you like/suit your style & aesthetic?
I’m looking for vibes and vibes only. I’ve amassed a variety of clothing throughout the years, and ever since I’ve been hoarding it’s been fun to go back and rediscover pieces in my closet while trying to mix that with new purchases. I love repeating an outfit and when I find a good outfit I just want to run it to the ground until I physically can’t look at the clothes anymore.
Vibes are constantly shifting and that means your personal taste might change suddenly and lead you into a new style you haven’t explored yet. Trying to stay true to myself, I tend not to overthink my personal wardrobe as much anymore, trying to go for pieces that spark a physical emotion when I first see them—maybe it’s a graphic that grabbed my attention, or the specific dye of a garment, or it could be as simple as the way it fits. All of these factors play a huge role in the way I pick my clothes.
Just have fun with it, sometimes I pull out an ugly fit and that’s ok too… it’s all about trial an error these days.
Morgan asks: Shirts! I need something I can flex on my coworkers with and still hit the cookout after.
Say no more. The fellas over at Paratodo just dropped a bunch of shirts that are ready for work and partying all at the same time. Great quality, great patterns, solid all across the board. They are also summer ready because that heat is around the corner and we need shirts that aren’t going to make us sweat within 2 seconds of being outside.
Their most recent drop flew, but they did open up some pre-orders so make sure you don’t miss out on that. Prepare to wait a few weeks for them to arrive, but it will be worth it, I promise.
Check out their selection here.
Battenwear is must if you’re looking for some boxier fitting shirts. There are wild patterns mixed with straight basics, so there’s definitely something for everyone—also the shirts do come in XXL, which is an added bonus for anyone who needs to get a fit off in those larger sizes. Here are a few of my favorite picks that are available on their website right now—
Dan asks: Best blank/basic shorts for summer?
Summer is so close and that means that the time to let those calves breath is just around the corner! The much-needed shorts research has just begun here at SNL, and while we are going to need to remain a little bit patient while new styles start hitting the shelves, I did find a few options to keep us busy until then. First style comes from Norse Projects, a brand I’ve been obsessed with since I was in high-school. They always focused on quality and it’s been really fun watching them get to where they are today.
Having a good light nylon in the rotation is going to be key if you’re trying to survive the hot sun while still trying to get a fit off. While I’m on a strict over the knee type fit, it’s nice to have an above the knee style in the rotation because nobody is trying to do any physical activity with shorts hitting your socks…
Both colors are available via Lost and Found here.
Ok, Carhartt WIP is a bit of a meme right now, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t making stuff that lasts—especially when there are sales involved. Lost and Found is having a pretty good sale on some really nice jorts from Carhartt right now. Those purple ones below are speaking to me, honestly—
A few more simple styles that are worth mentioning come from Reigning Champ, a made in Canada brand focusing on creating premium athletic wear. Designs are always simple, which is perfect for those who aren’t looking to go crazy with their shorts this summer. Terry and Ripstop options have to be my favorite offerings from them right now, but there are plenty of other options to choose from!
Check out their store here and check out some of my favorite options below.
Zach asks: What to wear with linen pants/dressing for the heat?
This question kind of goes with the question asked by Morgan who was looking for some summer ready shirts—so make sure you check that above for some additional recommendations. Believe it or not, in certain regions Canada gets extremely hot in the summer, so not having light tops in your wardrobe isn’t an option really.
Bather is probably my favorite brand when it comes to lightweight shirts that are perfect for those scorching days. Their mixture of cotton and viscose creates an extremely breathable yet sturdy fabric combo. Lot’s of great designs to choose from, some are basic and some are mixed with some great embroidery to give it that extra boost you’ve been looking for.
These are the type of shirts you should be keeping your eyes on when you’re working with linen bottoms—you’re already running on some very thin material, so why not keep that going up top?
Check out their full catalog here.
Ewout asks: What’s your favorite European brand?
At this very moment my heart is with Always Do What You Should Do. Love the graphics, and I’m a skater at heart so I’ll always have a special place in my style for skate brands in general—skating is at my core so it’s just always going to be a style I’ll channel on a regular basis in some way.
I will say this though, ADWYSD uses the best blank tee’s I’ve had the pleasure of wearing—I’m very particular when it comes to the collar stretching, but I’ve been wearing their tee’s nonstop, washed dozens of times, and the neckline hasn’t stretched at all. If anything it has shrunk in the process back to its original state when I first got it.
Sometimes when I’m getting dressed I just want rock some cute graphics and keep it simple overall, mix some good shoes with it, and that’s it. I think this is the perfect brand to do that with, and it’s been really fun wearing this stuff.
The only downside of this brand is that it drops at 4 am ET, making it quite difficult to acquire their stuff. They have a bunch of stockists around the world which you can check out here.
Oliver Asks: Predict the first of the ‘top 5 brands’ to fall off and why?
This might be my favorite question on the newsletter yet. This one can definitely be subjective, and we could spend hours just trying to decide what the ‘top 5 brands’ are. I don’t know if I am actually able to provide what my top 5 is right now, but I think what we can do is discuss 1 or 2 brands that while “at the top” are currently battling to stay there—will these two brands actually fall off though? Well that I’m not really sure, but I know with recent events they could lose some steam which would cause a shift in their popularity.
Adidas and Nike are both going through it right now, and while I think that the whole Kanye timeline really hurt Adidas, this is the perfect opportunity for them to start completely fresh within the lifestyle department—will this yield higher profits for them when comparing it to the YEEZY partnership? That I don’t have the answer to and only time will be able to tell. The European releases have been killer though and I just hope we see this type of love over here in North America.
Nike is also going through it right now, but this also depends on who you ask. To me they haven’t really dropped anything in a while that really got me as excited as some of the stuff Adidas has been putting out. Don’t get me wrong, Nike is tapping into their vintage styles by reissuing a bunch of past ACG models, and that’s great but I definitely want to see new models being brought out from Nike.
Remember this is just my personal opinion, and I believe both brands have some work to do. After all we have brands like New Balance and ASICS creeping up behind them, which will definitely be interesting to watch.
Thanks to everyone who sent their questions in. I will do my best to go through all of the ones I didn’t highlight today via DMs and I’ll see you later this week for Part 2 of The Pants Report™.
Useful thoughts. Thank you🙏🏻
Any recommendation for T-shirt that fits just above the pants, kind of crop T-shirt but not that short