With fall rapidly (and thankfully) approaching, Esquire realize there are issues of style — substantive ones or not — that many of you need solved.
I recently purchased a couple pairs of nice jeans that are too long. How should I get them adjusted?
It's almost impossible to remake a bottom hem that has been rolled and stitched before (usually) being washed and abraded to give it that worn-in look. What you need is what is called a European hem — a good alterations tailor removes cloth from each leg and then reattaches the original finished hem so the join is barely visible. As for a tailor, get some local recommendations; a good test is to ask the tailor how he would tackle it. Ensure he knows that you want the original hem put back on.
I'm going to a job interview. Is white the only acceptable shirt color?
It's the default setting, of course, but I don' really know why men are so nervous about diverging from white. Light blue is hardly going to kill them. That said, keep your interview shirts plan or minimally striped, as interviewers want people who are impressed with their future job, not with themselves. (Read: no jazzy checks or bold stripes.) And no matter what you decide, make sure your shirt is pressed, clean, and relatively new.
What pants go with chambray shirts? Should I even wear these shirts?
Sure you should. Chambray is part of that great American workingman look — it's what gave us the term blue-collar — and it's become very popular in the renaissance of American gear that is going on right now. A chambray shirt goes well with just about anything simple and manly, especially khakis, cords, and even denim, so long as the colors are not identical. A bit John Denver, that.
