styHow to Buyle
Any tailor worth his
salt can tell you that
a simple equation
determines when you
should purchase your
own tux: If your social
calendar includes
more than three formal
events a year, it’s
time to stop renting.
What that metric
won’t tell you is that
the whole science of
buying a tux can be
broken down simply
to what kind of man
you are, a classicist
or a sartorialist. If you
identify more with the
former archetype, opt
for slim-fitting, flat-front trousers (always
with a ribbon), paired
with a one-button
peak-lapel or shawl-collar jacket. If you’re
the latter, “personalize
your look by switching
up the formal shirt,”
says designer
Michael Bastian.
“Have some fun. Try
pale pink, pale blue,
even pale lavender.”
If you’re obsessed
with how you’ll look
in photographs,
however, your best
bet is another chic
black-tie alternative:
the midnight tuxedo
with black lapels and
dark-navy cloth, as
opposed to a standard
flat-black tux, which
sucks all the light from
a snapshot. For those
looking to splurge,
Bastian’s forthcoming
spring collection has
a decadent “midnight,
midnight, midnight”
mohair/silk number for
$3,500.
+ BEST LIFE
NO-BRAINER
If you’re on a budget
and don’t have time
to shop around
for bargains, hit
up J.Crew. Its new
formal men’s line
features an elegant
black two-button
peak-lapel tuxedo
in refined super
100s Italian wool
for just $645.
Sensible economic behavior is especially important right
now. We Americans spent our way into the current financial
crisis, but—if the experts are to be believed—we’re also going to
have to spend our way out of it. The difference bet ween then and
now is that this time we ought to know what we’re doing. I miss
the days, not so long ago, when I’d hear the UPS truck in the
driveway and think, Oh, goody! I wonder what I bought! But being
a smart shopper is more rewarding, in the long run, than being
a reckless one, and serious bargains can be found if you know
where to look. One way to shop smarter is to consult with my
friend Rex, who uses a spreadsheet to track the life span of each
lightbulb in his house and engages in a form of comparison
shopping that should probably be considered a variant of
obsessive-compulsive disorder. A better way is to focus our
spending on sensible luxuries, on quality items that will earn
back their cost, and more, through years of use. In other words,
by following the sound advice that follows. DAVID OWEN
HOW TO BUY…
The Best Seat in the House
The keys to securing a plum table at an exclusive restaurant or nightclub
are discretion and deference. At a restaurant, don’t confront the maître
d’ at the check-in stand in front of the other customers. Meet him in
the middle of the restaurant after he has seated another table, says
psychologist Mark L. Brenner, PhD, author of Tipping for Success.
Introduce yourself, explain your story (why it’s important that you are
seated), and be sure to close with the universal code: “I’ll be happy to
take care of you in the right way if you can make these arrangements.”
Another option is to call from a cell phone within the restaurant and
make the same pitch out of earshot of others waiting. How much to
tip? Depending on how long the wait is, anywhere from $5 to $15 will
do the trick. “It’s never as much as people think,” says Brenner. Pass
the tip using the one-hand or two-hand shake method once the maître
d’ delivers. To keep the quid pro quo on the down low, fold the bills into
quarter sections and conceal them in your palm. After you shake his
hand in appreciation, he walks away with the gratuity. In a hotel setting,
ask for the reservation manager if you run into an issue. With a doorman
at a nightclub, it’s usually necessary to take a gamble on the advance
tip. Ask to speak with him privately and be sure to have the bills prepared
ahead of time. As you’d expect, the more exclusive the venue, the bigger
the tip should be. There’s a reason the doormen at Las Vegas’s trendiest
clubs are rumored to make as much as half a million a year.
+ BEST LIFE NO-BRAINER
Book a table through primetimetables.com, where a former
St. Regis concierge offers reservations at some of the nation’s
top restaurants, starting at $35 per request. Hard-core foodies
can get annual memberships for $500 to $1,500.
A Road Bike
There’s a saying amongst cyclists: Friends don’t let friends buy bikes
online. It’s not that good deals aren’t to be found there (indeed, from an
absolute price standpoint, just the opposite is true), but rather because
online purchases don’t come with the innumerable (and often unwritten)
fringe benefits that many real-world shops provide, such as a fit service,
free tune-ups, and the all-important test ride. These factors are so
important that they comprise the first step in bike buying: Choose the
right store. Here’s how to find a good shop and select the perfect set of
wheels once you’re there.
BUY LOCAL. Your relationship with the bike shop doesn’t end when
you sign the sales receipt. Odds are, you’ll need those bike experts to
true your wheels, tighten cables, and even swap out worn parts at some
point. Do you really want to drive an hour to get a tune-up? A good shop
will also organize group rides, provide maintenance clinics that teach
