Harrison Blake Apparel: December Unboxing

I dressed up nicely for a wicked witch a few days ago. She was green.

The occasion was a performance of the Broadway play Wicked at the Kennedy Center in Washington. The tickets were our Christmas gift to each other, and we picked a show date well in the future from when we bought them, and somehow ended up with front row seats.

I wore the second set of accessories that I had received from Harrison Blake Apparel.

This one, their December set, was based on golds and browns — a brown tie with white polka dots, gold and blue striped socks and a coordinating pocket square. The set also included a tasteful boutonniere, which worked well with the rest, and a bracelet made of wooden beads.

That last item seemed out of place. It’s wrong for any kind of business or formal occasion, and wrong for almost any man who isn’t also wearing Vans and carrying a surfboard.

So, I left the bracelet out of my ensemble, but used all the other items with my charcoal grey pinstripe suit.

Just as with the November box, all the items are well made and coordinate perfectly.

Against a neutral shirt further set off with light grey suspenders, they added splashes of contrast and created visual interest. We attended the play in high style and felt very much a part of the Kennedy Center set.

Having received two sets from Harrison Blake, I can say their items are consistently quality, and appropriate for any business or semi—formal occasion.

Just be prepared to have an occasional oddity that doesn’t really fit.  My wife snagged the bracelet, so it all worked out fine.

The show was spectacular, with surreal sets, effective special effects and marvelous performances from all of the actors and the orchestra.

It was our first experience at the Kennedy Center, but will not be our last.  Wicked has now moved on from DC to tour around the country.  If you have the opportunity to catch it this year, you should.

As noted in my previous review, the Harrison Blake Apparel Subscription Box is available for $25 per month, and each box includes a tie along with a coordinated collection of other items, providing the well dressed man with an easy way to build up an interesting collection of accessories to round out his wardrobe.

Harrison Blake is offering $10 off the first two months of a subscription for RCH readers. Use code RCH when ordering. 

http://www.harrisonblakeapparel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Harrison-Blake-Apparel-267679153414360/
https://www.instagram.com/wearlapelpins/
https://twitter.com/WearLapelPins
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZsIU2hAUrUIfoY6gzQHHag

Review: Harrison Blake Apparel Subscription

Everybody has heard the saying “clothes make the man.” It’s certainly true — any man looks nicer in a tailored suit than in worn out jeans and a t-shirt — but there’s more to it than that. Clothes make the man, but accessories make the clothes. Take that tailored suit and add a colorful tie, a coordinated pocket square and an eye-catching tie clip to it and the effect increases even more.

For the professional man especially, looking well put together is important every day. But even those of us who have less frequent occasions to dress up have the occasional business meeting, semi-formal dinner or other special occasion that calls for a suit.

However, accessorizing doesn’t come naturally for everyone. Coordinating the necessary of elements takes a certain understanding of complementary colors and the willingness to take some time selecting the items.

Harrison Blake Apparel’s monthly subscription box can help. For $25 a month you get one necktie and four other accessories. The two collections I received (November and December)  each contained a tie, pocket square and socks, along with two other items.

Unlike many subscription services, my Harrison Blake items arrived well packed in padded envelopes, but without a box; the presentation is therefore nothing noteworthy, which detracts a little from the overall experience.

Should you purchase a subscription as a gift, just be aware it does not come in the typical subscription box packaging.

The said, each month's collection is made up of good quality, well-coordinated accessories.

I used the items from the first collection, which Harrison Blake subscribers received in November,  to take my wife out for a Christmas Eve dinner.

I dressed in my navy blue suit and a white button-down shirt. The Harrison Blake items I wore were burgundy-striped socks, a knit tie, a microfiber pocket square and a tie clip shaped like a car.

(I will be reviewing the December collection separately in about a week.)

I haven’t had a knit tie in a long time, and had to retie it a few times to get it to the proper length and to lay flat. It looked nice with the suit, though, once I got it right. (Very tall men might want to think twice, however: for now, Harrison Blake offers only standard length ties.)

The pocket square is reversible, with a similar color palette but a different pattern on each side. It set off the jacket with a splash of color nicely.

The socks fit comfortably on my size 12 feet, which is not always a given.

The tie clip wasn’t one I would have picked (I have no special fondness for or interest in cars), but it held the tie in place securely while providing another eye-drawing bit of flash.

The fifth item in the November collection was a shoe bag for travel. I haven't actually used it yet, but it is sturdy, and I will use it to keep my dress shoes safe when I next travel.

According to the card included with the collection, the 'average retail cost' of the items bought separately would be $84. However, I checked the prices of each item on the Harrison Blake website, and the total cost of the five items if ordered directly from HB would only be $48, or you can currently purchase the November collection for $40. 

This means the $25 subscription price is still a bargain, but not as much of a difference as the prices listed on the card would suggest.  

I liked that each month provides a coordinated look, and would recommend Harrison Blake Apparel as a cost and time effective way to pull together a well groomed appearance, whether you dress up often, or only now and then.

Harrison Blake is offering $10 off the first two months of a subscription for RCH readers. Use code RCH when ordering. 

Also, check out their social media to get lots of other special deals:

http://harrisonblakeapparel.com/

http://www.facebook.com/Harrison-Blake-Apparel-267679153414360/

http://twitter.com/WearLapelPins

https://www.instagram.com/wearlapelpins/

Review: Clockwork Synergy

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by timepieces. Not digital clocks or watches, which are a dime a dozen, but the unusual, the unique, the innovatively designed.

So, before I tell you about Clockwork Synergy, let me tell you about the watch that led me to discovering them:

The first time I saw an ad for the one-handed Slo Watch, I was immediately drawn to it, and eventually, I got one as a gift from my mother. I began wearing it every day, because it is elegant and, for those who notice the single hand, eye-catching. 

There was only one problem with it — the band was just barely long enough to fit my larger-than-average wrist, so wearing the watch for a full day would leave deep impressions that would take a while to fade. Their company offers other bands, but they are all the same length as the original one, so there was no help there. (Note to watch companies - your customers are not all one size!)

I had resigned myself to only wearing my favorite timepiece occasionally, when I was given the opportunity to review Clockwork Synergy, which offers a wide variety of watch bands and straps in various sizes, designed to be easily attachable to a wide variety of watch brands. 

The company first sent me a leather band that was well-made and attractive, but still too short.

However, they allowed me to swap it for a nylon NATO strap, which is just what I needed.  All through this review process, I found my two points of contact at the company to be responsive and available. Good customer service is one way in which a business sets itself apart from competitors, so that is a strong point in their favor, and is the sort of thing that will make me a loyal, repeat customer.

The band arrived in a sharply-designed box with the company’s logo printed on it, silver letters on the black box. The impression is refined and stylish.

Changing the band turned out to be easy, even without included instructions.

The company provided the tool needed to remove my watch’s spring pins and detach the original band.

The NATO strap simply threads through the pins, snaking along the back of the watch.

The NATO Straps are inexpensive (the one I received sells for $14.95 at their website) and available in a wide variety of colors and patterns — I might need to pick up a couple more so I can color-coordinate my wardrobe and my watch bands.

Once on, the strap fits comfortably around my wrist, and buckles with an ample length of strap to thread through the keepers. It seems well-made, with stitching that is not likely to unravel anytime soon. I can now go back to wearing my Slo watch daily, without any uncomfortable wrist constriction.

Significant difference in length!

As a side note, Gear Patrol has an interesting article about the origins ofthe NATO strap. As the name implies, it began as a military issue item, but it has grown far beyond its genesis.

Based in Ellicott City, Maryland, Clockwork Synergy began in 2005, selling its wares through eBay, according to the company website. Eventually, the sales channels have expanded to include Amazon, and then Best Buy, along with the company’s own site.

Clockwork Synergy carries a wide variety of watch bands, in every material you could expect, natural and synthetic. Most of their choices are under $20, though a few are more, and the styles range from casual and fun to formal and elegant.

They also offer straps specifically made for Apple Watch, the Pebble Steel watch and several varieties of Android watches. Another section of the website provides bands for some premium brands of watch, such as Tag Heuer and Philip Stein. As with everything else here, they are available in a variety of colors and materials.

Finally, the company sells spring bars (starting at five pairs for $4.95) and spring bar removal tools (as low as $3.95) so you can change your own bands whenever you want without a trip to a jeweler. 

Clockwork Synergy offers a broad selection of choices, good customer service and reasonable prices. For people who need to replace a band or just want to add some variety to their accessories, their website is worth a look, and I highly recommend the company.

Clockwork Synergy is offering a 10 percent discount for RCH readers through March 31. Use code rch10 at checkout.

http://www.clockworksynergy.com/

https://www.facebook.com/clockworksynergy

https://twitter.com/cwsynergy

https://www.pinterest.com/cwsynergy/

https://www.instagram.com/clockworksynergy/

Review: Outlaw Soaps

Have you ever wanted to know what it’s like to be a cowboy; hunting by day, cooking the day’s catch over an open camp fire by night? The smell of dirt, leather, whiskey, and gunpowder fill the air around you. The light odor of the pine forest on the hill to your west tickles your nose as the occasional breeze blows through. The campfire sizzles, crackles and pops as it throws a display of sparks and hot ash into the night sky which is back-lit only by the moon and stars high above above.

For many of us this is the life that we dream about. This is what it means to truly be free. To explore lands never before seen and may not be seen again for decades to come. To live off the land and truly be one with nature.

For most of us, it must remain only a dream, but this is the atmosphere that Outlaw Soaps sets for you every morning when you step into the shower. Who wouldn’t love to start their day off like that?

With scents like Blazing Saddles, Fire in the Hole, Hair of the Dog, and Pine Mountain you can have that experience too!  I recently had the opportunity to try each of these, and I want to share my experience with you now.

Blazing Saddles is said to be the sexiest scent ever created. Here is what Outlaw Soaps has to say about it:

“What does an Outlaw smell like? An Outlaw smells like the sexiest goddamn thing you can imagine, and then about 12 times sexier than that. This soap could be used by the kind of cowboys that other cowboys sing about. This is the kind of soap that makes married men late for work. This soap will turn your shower into a slow-mo celebration of every damn reason you woke up this morning: because you have Things to Do. But you don’t have to do them too fast. 

Finish your sexy, sexy shower first.”

I have to say that is definitely a great scent. With a combination of leather, sandalwood, gunpowder, sage, two kinds of campfire (the nighttime campfire and the daybreak campfire), and a little dirt you really get the full experience.

This soap is silky smooth, handmade, and leaves you smelling like a million bucks (not the paper kind).

The one thing I will say about each of these soaps is that you don’t want to leave them sitting on the shelf in the shower between trips to the frontier. I noticed that they tend to dissolve rather quickly even without applying friction to lather up a wash cloth. So be careful of that. You are going to want to hang on to these little bricks of heaven for as long as possible.

Or order them often because who wants to smell like some off the shelf “pirate” who claims to be spicy but has no idea what spice actually is while you wait for the postman to track you down on his feeble steed.

The next scent I got to try out was Fire in the Hole.

“Fire in the Hole officially smells like gunpowder, campfire, whiskey, bacon, sage, and dirt. It unofficially smells like insanity, excitement, and overwhelming joy. It looks like fire. It is, in my estimation, the most awesome soap ever in the history of ever. Use this soap and change your life.”

This soap was everything that blazing saddles was: silky smooth, handcrafted wonderfulness.

In fact, almost too much like the first soap. The scent is still great but there are only very slight differences in the two and almost impossible to tell them apart if you aren’t smelling them side by side.

There are minor differences, but the two are almost interchangeable.  If you love one, you'll love the other, but if you're trying to select which of Outlaw's Soaps to order, you probably don't need both of these on the same order.

The first two were the full sized bars I received in my box. In addition, I was also sent 2 sample size bars along with a wood coin and a mini chicken figurine.

The 2 samples I received were Hair of the Dog and Pine Mountain. And OH MY GOD!!

Pine Mountain was a wonderful scent. I am usually not particularly fond of pine even though I tend to use pine scented cleaners such as pine oil floor cleaner, but this one didn't smell like cleaner.


Here is what Outlaw has to say about Pine Mountain:

“This soap smells like Summer in Yosemite. It’s pine with just a whiff of campfire smoke. 

We engineered the scent to recreate your favorite summer camp memories. 

Wouldn’t you like to get back to the trail?”

And this… This was my absolute favorite. Drumroll please!

The Hair of the Dog Whiskey Soap is absolutely perfect.

It smells exactly as you would expect whiskey to smell without the bite of the alcohol content and a bit on the sweeter side.

More of an un-fermented whiskey mash than the whiskey straight from the bottle.

‘OH HELL YES!’ you say to yourself first thing in the morning. You walk past a couple BB guns on your way to the kitchen for a cup of Hair of the Dog… Whiskey and coffee is the perfect way to start this Saturday. Who needs bloody mary? You need caffeine. You need Whiskey.

Still in your bathrobe and slippers you step out on to the front porch, a cup of warm elixir in one hand and a BB rifle in the other. You squint out at the targets you and your friends set up last night… cans of PBR glinting in the sun. You sit down on your rocking chair with the old-as-hell cushion and yes, this just might be the best weekend ever. And it’s only Saturday morning. Oh Hell Yes indeed. And right after this coffee you’re going to shower.”

Outlaw Soaps offers a huge variety of handmade artisan soaps for men. None of that fufu women’s crap. Some serious man-scents. With scent notes like gunpowder, dirt, leather, whiskey, coffee, and pine wood you can smell like a man every day. 

They sell each 4.5oz (or so) bar for $9.00. You can pick up a 1oz sample of any of their scents for $4.00. 

They also offer gift sets, colognes, candles, lip balms, shaving soaps and shave kits, stick-lotions, and many more items, all of which are inspired by the cowboy/frontier/outdoors theme. They even offer a couple subscription services if you end up liking the soaps as much as I did, ranging from an $8 Soap of the Month club to a full subscription box full of goodies every other month for $25 each delivery or $180 for an annual subscription box.  Hint from me: this would make an excellent gift for your guy!

For more information check out Outlaw Soaps at the links below. Happy Trails!

www.outlawtradingco.com/

www.facebook.com/OutlawSoaps/

www.twitter.com/outlawsoaps

www.instagram.com/outlawsoaps/

Review: Dapper Box Subscription for Men

Clothes make the man, but it’s the fine touches that make the clothes work. Any man can wear a suit, but to look truly put-together, pay attention to the details.

Dapper Box is for men who want to dress well. It is a monthly subscription box that brings you ties, socks, cologne and other detail items to upscale your suit or dress casual wear. The items are worth up to $96, according to the company. 

For this review, Dapper Box sent me the Frozen Tundra box, their current one at the time. It included a pair of socks, a tie, Frozen Tundra aftershave, metal collar stays and a pocket circle.

In summary, I can say that the quality of all of the items was good.

However, whether Dapper Box is right for you depends on two things: Your style aesthetic, and your size.

Size? It’s true that accessories such as boutonnieres, pocket circles and cologne are not size-dependent. Socks and ties, however, are. If you are big or tall (I am both) you might not be able to wear them.

For me, the socks were too small for my size 13 feet, and the tie was too short for my six-foot height. (My wife, however, can and will use both. Hubba.)

It took her about two seconds to claim these socks for her own.

Sense of style is another consideration. The socks in the Frozen Tundra box are colorful and dotted. They are cute, maybe, but they are not what I would call “dapper.” Even if they had fit, they are not socks I could wear in any kind of a business setting. Other past boxes as shown on their website featured argyle and more dots. The argyles I would wear, but I would also like to see some more conservative patterns — greys, blacks and navy blues.

This is, however, purely a matter of personal taste. The socks are well-made and durable, so if you have smaller feet and like the colorful patterns, you’ll enjoy getting a new pair every month.

The tie is also very nice, and in this case, quite attractive. It is pure silk and would probably cost more than the entire box if purchased in a men’s wear department or store. 

However, it is not a tall size and is too short on me. Someone three or four inches shorter would look very nice with it.

Also, the tie was folded up in the box, creating some visible rumples. Ideally, ties packed for travel or shipping should be rolled.  This is a small adjustment I hope they make, to ensure that their subscribers receive everything in good shape.

The Dapper Box website has no options for alternate sizes, so again, men with big feet and/or above-average height may find the monthly collections only partly useful at this time.

Even at that, I will be happily using the remaining items in the box I received.

The pocket circle puzzled me at first, as I had never seen one and the box does not include any kind of explanatory material (most boxes I’ve received have a card that at least identifies the makers of the products collected). However, I was able to figure it out and found a couple of different methods of folding it online. Here is a simple one, while this one is more elaborate.

Once figured out, the accessory added a nice touch to the overall look, with a fringe of blue that matches the tie. It’s these details that can bring an outfit together. I like having a simple way to upscale my suit without it being fussy.

The aftershave is made by Stirling, which describes the scent as a “blend of nine essential oils and menthol meant to recreate the scent and feel of earth in winter.” The menthol is very noticeable, and it has a nice mild sting of witch hazel on freshly shaved skin.

The collar stays are a functional accessory rather than a visual one, used to keep a shirt collar’s shape in place. Most dress shirts come with plastic stays; these metal ones are less flexible, keep the shape more rigidly secure.  Any man that wears collared shirts needs to keep a few of these on hand.

For men who like the aesthetics of the Dapper Box selections and are of the right size to wear them, it is a great deal. You can subscribe month by month for $29 per month; for three months at $27 per month; six months for $25 per month; or a full year for $23 per month.

Dapper Box also offers custom ties and accessories in large quantities for companies, fraternities or other organizations.

If you'd like to try Dapper Box for yourself, they are generously offering $10 off your first month's box - use the code "RCH" to take advantage of this great bargain! 
Good until Dec. 31st - wouldn't these make a great holiday gift?

https://www.mydapperbox.com/

https://www.facebook.com/mydapperbox

Review/Giveaway: Button Up A Month Subscription

I am admittedly a very relaxed type of guy. My wife would argue that I am bum. My everyday attire when I am not in uniform usually consists of a pair of basketball shorts, a t-shirt, a pair of flip flops, and hoodie on the occasional windy day. On multiple occasions my wife has expressed to me that she wished I would dress better, or that I would at least put a little more thought into it.

When she and I first got together I wore button-ups quite often. I was still very relaxed in my style, but I put a little more effort into it. I have certainly let myself go a little. So, when the opportunity came up to introduce our readers to Button up aMonth, I jumped at it. 

Radrick

I thought this would be a great way to give a little more of what she was asking for. And I was not at all disappointed.

Button up a Month offers a service similar to that of renting DVDs from Netflix (except you're not renting the shirts, you're buying them). 

When you create your account on their website you go through their inventory and add shirts to your queue. Then they send you one shirt a month. Each month that they send you a shirt, you are billed $16.99 (with free shipping) and they send you the next shirt in your queue.  If there's no shirt in your queue, you're not billed. I thought the idea was genius. It’s a great way to build your wardrobe little by little, and the price is unbeatable.

I have to admit I was a little worried at first. I have always been very picky with my clothing. I have a very specific style and a very specific way I like my clothes to fit (just because I'm a bum doesn't mean I don't have strong preferences!). If it’s not perfect, I won’t spend a dime on it. 

It’s hard enough for me to find clothing that fits me in the store where I can try it on. Now I am expected to just order a shirt and hope it works out? After reading over their FAQ, I was a little more at ease about order clothing online. They allow you to return your shirts within 30 days of the ship date for sizing changes or a full refund. 

I spent hours debating over what shirts to try out. After I narrowed my list down I showed my wife which ones I was interested in and got some input from her. I ended up choosing the JP Pattern and the Radrick. I added the shirts to my que and waited. Within a few days the first shirt had shipped. 

I was quite impressed with both of them and especially liked the JP Pattern. The material is very lightweight and breathable. I even spent an evening drinking with some friends and never once felt like I needed to down grade to just my undershirt because I was too hot. 

I was very pleased with the fit as well. All of their smaller sizes (medium and large) come in an athletic fit meaning they are a semi-slim fitting shirt. Exactly the way I like my clothing to fit. The fabric fits well over my chest and falls nicely off over my stomach. 

Make sure you look over their Size Chart and don't just go by the size letters (Med-Athletic, Lg-Athletic, Lg-Reg, XL-Reg).  At a glance, you might think they can't accomodate larger men, but their XL measures out to what most brands would call XXL.

Button Up A Month is still a fairly new company and hasn't yet established a social media presence to help get the word out - hopefully, that will change, but meanwhile, go check out their website and give them a try - for $16.99 and a 30 day return policy, you really can't go wrong! 

https://www.buttonupamonth.com/

Button Up a Month is letting us host a really generous Giveaway! 5 winners in the US will each receive a 3 month subscription (1 shirt a month for 3 months)!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Rafflecopter, then leave the name you commented under and your email in the box in the Rafflecopter entry. (This allows us to contact you if you win!)  This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS ONLY
and will end just before midnight ET on 5/7-15. 

The winner will be notified by email within 24 hours after the end of the giveaway.  In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Wet Shave Club (2nd Box)

My bearded face has been a memory for a few months now. As some of you may recall, it was my first experience with the Wet Shave Club that inspired me to take the beard off after having had it for several years. I have shaved almost every day since then, and was delighted to receive another box from Wet Shave Club in March.

Every item in this box was different from the brands I got before — soap, aftershave and blades, and this time a few packets of “Dude Wipes,” wet wipes with some BroCode language on the wrapper.

Unlike the first box, this one did not include a razor and brush, so the box was considerably smaller. Kudos to Wet Shave Club for reducing potential waste by not overdoing the packaging.

I’ve now had a few weeks with all of the items, and I can say that on the whole I like the products and I especially like the opportunity to sample different brands.

Here’s the breakdown.

Crown brand stainless blades (a box of 10). These blades are made in Egypt, unlike the Gillette blades I prefer, which come from Russia. The Crown box looks like it was last redesigned about the time Don Draper was in high school, with a website address added to the fine print.

The blades themselves are a bit more harsh than I prefer. They are effective, doing a good job with just one pass, but they don’t do it comfortably. They leave my face with a sting that the Gillette Silver Blue never does.

All Soaps on Deck Spiced Rum Shave Soap. This is my first experience with this brand of shave soap, and I have found it to be a good one. The spiced rum scent is subtle but present, and the lather is pretty robust. I find that I like the brush a little wetter with this brand than with others, to make the lather as rich an foamy as I want it to be.

Soap Commander USA Aftershave Balm. Now this is a nice one. A blend of oils, shea butter and a dash of menthol, this aftershave goes on tingly and cool and undoes the sting of the Crown blades. The scent is pleasingly masculine and the tactile qualities are just what you need after a shave — silky and smooth. I’ve used this almost every day since I got it, but I also made time to try out …

Whoos the Man Soap Viper Cologne Oil. This is a blend of coconut oil and fragrance in a small bottle with a roll-on applicator. The cologne smells nice, with earthy undertones, and a small amount is plenty.

Local Gent Shaving Co. Pre-shave oil. This is a blend of castor oil, olive oil, unspecified essential oils and tea tree oil. Dab a little on your beard and spread it out before applying the lather and it will make the shave a little smoother and a little closer. This is an efficient way to improve the quality of the shave, and just a small amount will do the job.

Dude Wipes. These individually-wrapped wipes are good quality, and you can use them to soothe a just-shaved face. The Dude-specific messaging is entertaining, but there really is nothing here that is any different than any other unscented wet wipes.

So those are the individual products. As for Wet Shave Club itself, well, I remain impressed. A monthly subscriber would get a box like this — about a month’s worth of blades and after shaves, and more than a month's worth of soap, as shaving soap lasts a long time. While it might work against forming a brand loyalty, the monthly surprise assortment will certainly expose you to range of options.

The club offers a single box option ($29) and three subscription choices: three months for $26 a month, six months for $24 a month, or a year for $22 a month. You can also buy many products individually from their online store.

If you’re a man with a face, you’ll be interested in what Wet Shave Club has to offer.

Wet Shave Club Website
Wet Shave Club on Facebook

Our 1st Wet Shave Club Review