Bonobos

While I was heading home on the subway one night I looked around the car and thought to myself, why does it look like men are required to wear some combination of blue jeans, khakis, and a blazer? Ok, so in the case of khakis and a blazer it might not be the most professional look to peacock around the office. And jeans are an easy match with that peacock outfit when you head out on the town. But either way, I was ending up feeling bored or like I hadn’t quite finished my college (and post-college) need to shock the town with my wardrobe. Improbably but luckily, this coincided with the first time I bumped into Bonobos proprietor Andy. He and a friend met us at a downtown lounge – Andy in a pair of royal blue cords and Bobby in a pair of neatly tailored white pants with colorful trim – “Pants: Now In Color,” I thought to myself. I was sold.

I picked up three pairs and after a brief run in Manhattan, where I decided I could send the pants out on their own to do the evening’s “work,” it was time to take them on tour. The Shore Club Specials were perfect for New Years Eve in Floripa, where local custom required an all-white ensemble (though the subtle trim on the back pocket gave me a little edge). They were light enough to manage through an oppressively hot South American summer night, but tough enough to endure a Brazilian New Years Eve beach party (I still marvel at what the dry cleaner was able to accomplish). Bonobos’s Mint Juleps attracted just the right amount of attention after a handful of meetings in Las Vegas, without making me look like the hordes of guys pouring out of clubs that probably watched Tyler Durden in Fight Club a few too many times. But my favorites are still the F. Scotts. Maybe because they’re brighter orange than a pumpkin and I start missing Halloween beginning on the first of November. Or maybe because they’re named after the man that penned arguably the best novel ever written. But probably because they feel good and look better.

Thanks, Bonobos, for matching comfort, fit, creativity, and distinction.

- David Levy