BELLS AND WHISTLES CAN BE fun, but it’s tough to beat perfectly calibrated simplicity. Case in point: the mac coat. Pared down to just the essentials, the mac—short for mackintosh, the style introduced in the 1820s as a utilitarian raincoat made of r

IT ALL STARTED WITH A HANDSHAKE, OR at least it was supposed to. For as long as anyone can remember, contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers and Detroit’s Big Three have kicked off with a ceremonial handshake between union leaders and t

I WAS 25 YEARS OLD, SITTING CROSS-LEGGED ON A COUCH, UNABLE TO STOP my foot from wagging. My new therapist sat ten feet across from me, his middle-aged girth swallowed up in a high-backed leather chair, masculine: thick wrists, the wide beige band of

BACK IN COLLEGE, JOEL KIM BOOSTER WROTE A one-act play called Layover, about a guy passing through Chicago who gets snowed in after his ex-girlfriend has died by suicide. The guy bunks for a while with the ex’s estranged sister, who is desperate to f

A TRULY GREAT HOTEL CAN’T BE MEASURED SOLELY BY THE FANCY SOAP IN THE MARble bath, the plushness of the bed, or the quality of the chocolate provided with turndown service. We all love these little touches of luxury, of course. But they’ve become sta

THE FASHION WORLD USED TO BE a place where watch hounds would venture with trepidation—if at all. With so much to choose from by specialist watchmakers, designer labels rarely offered collectible appeal. That’s changed in a big way. The past 15 years

IT IS GENERALLY BAD PRACTICE TO TAKE sitcom theme songs at their word. But ever since Cheers debuted, our culture has normalized the idea that sometimes we want to go where everybody knows our name. As a lifelong extrovert in his 50s, I must be clear

For DAVID COGGINS (01), size matters. Fish size, that is. And he journeyed to Patagonia in search of an elusive prize. “I’m setting out to catch a trout worthy of the surroundings,” he writes in an excerpt from his forthcoming book on page 76. The Be

WHERE WERE WINNIFRED AND WILLOW? Last night he came downstairs around bedtime and didn’t see either of them. This alarmed him. He wasn’t worried about Monty—Monty’s an old cat, shows up when he pleases. But the two rescue kittens aren’t as worldly as

A FOUNTAIN PEN IS LIKE A tie these days. It’s not a necessity but an expression of taste—and a chance to snatch a little extra joy from the grip of everyday existence. Given the choice, would you rather scratch out a note with a cheap plastic ballpoi

THE HOMIE KEV WAS KIND, SMILED EASY, AND SPOKE SO soft sometimes I had to lean in to hear him. The homie Kev was cock-diesel and fearless on the football field. The homie Kev took the rap for me without a blink when my grandmother caught me packaging

YOU’RE A MAN OF GREAT DEPTH AND SUBSTANCE—NO ONE is questioning that. You have a preferred brand of gin; you know who Ban Ki-moon is. You’d never say “hone in on” because you know that the phrase is “home in on.” But do us a favor. Put down this maga

IN JANUARY, WHEN PACKING MY BAGS FOR A “READING RETREAT” IN the Dominican Republic, I agonized about which books to bring. A few days later, bellied up to the beachside bar at the all-inclusive Dreams Macao Beach Punta Cana resort (where, in place of

YOU MAY FEEL LIKE YOU’RE THE ONLY one who worries about a swampy butt or sweaty crotch, but trust us—everyone does. Thankfully, an entirely new type of product is hitting shelves this year to address this exact problem: whole-body deodorant. Since th

AS PART OF HIS ELOQUENT—IF EVENTUALLY FUTILE—SUMMATION in defense of the wrongly accused Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, the hero of the film To Kill a Mockingbird, tells the jury to put aside its ingrained cultural and social racism in order to look th

I GOT THESE SHOES IN PARIS ABOUT a decade ago, during my first work trip to Europe. I was part of the team at the New York men’s store Carson Street Clothiers, which is sadly now closed. The two owners loved to shop, and we hit a lot of different sto

AT THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PHENIX CITY, ALABAMA, THE last Sunday of October 2023 was Pastor Appreciation Day. The church was festive, the service well attended. There was strawberry cake, Pastor Copeland’s favorite, and special music in his honor

IT WAS A FRIDAY NIGHT IN EARLY MARCH, AND THE LATE-WINTER air was heavy with an approaching rainstorm. We were inside the Dead Rabbit, an upscale Irish pub in lower Manhattan, next door to where General George Washington once toasted his troops. Two

__ I HAVE BEEN A MUSICIAN since I was old enough to reach the keys on a piano. __ THERE WAS A MOMENT where I realized that what I was meant to be doing was not only reflecting but documenting the human experience. __ IT’S VERY HARD for me to understa

IT JUST FEELS SO WRONG. YOU take a single, gorgeous amaro—which probably has a semisecret recipe perfected and handed down through generations—and shake the absolute hell out of it with ice in a cocktail tin. Isn’t that a sin against the liqueur gods

IF THE LATEST MENSWEAR FROM GIORGIO ARMANI FEELS FAMILIAR TO YOU, THAT’S PROOF of concept. When the Milanese designer introduced his radically reimagined interpretation of traditional tailoring in 1975, he established a design language that was both

LISTEN, I REALLY SHOULDN’T EVEN TELL YOU THIS. It’s not my place to say … fine, okay, OKAY. Can you promise to keep it between us? Is your heart pounding? Do your ears feel hot? At the very least, you’re curious. And if I had to venture, you’ve got t

All fragrances are created with three layers, which are visually represented by a pyramid. It’s a handy tool for understanding not only the notes but how the scent is going to wear and evolve throughout the day. What you smell as soon as you spray. T