Working Style Denim

Ever since the genius behind James Dean's costumes in Rebel Without a Cause put the angst ridden teenager in a pair, jeans have been a staple of the male wardrobe. But the old denim pants have a history that goes far beyond the 1950s.

They've had many an incarnation - from France to Italy to India, but our favourite story is the one about them being the pants of choice for the Genoese Navy. Whenever they wanted to launder their jeans they'd put them in a giant mesh sack and drag them behind the boat as it went out to sea. Forget stonewashed, that was saltwashed.

Jeans in their modern day form really owe America for their immense popularity. James Dean, Marlon Brando, John Travolta - they've all worn denim like they were born to do it. And let's not forget Springsteen.

Today, there are so many designer jeans and washes and wears and tears that we can hardly keep up. So when we decided to give denim a go, we wanted to do it as simply as possible. Raw denim washed once with pumice to soften it up a bit, and that's it. Two fits - Geezer and Slimster - one relaxed, one tailored. Wear them with a shirt, knitwear and a good pair of leather shoes and you're good to go.

Blue suits

Make your first suit a blue suit.

Here's a revolutionary thought for all you budding capitalists (of the venture variety of course), make your first suit a navy blue suit. We know, we know, it sounds crazy, New Zealand men wear black suits first and ask questions later, but spare a second to hear us out.

In any other country of the world, when a young man starts his first job, he'll buy himself a crisp navy blue suit - navy and grey suits are for the office, black suits are reserved for weddings and funerals. In New Zealand however, due to a historical connection with the colour of our rugby players' uniforms, a fashion industry obsessed with black and a fairly conservative outlook on men's dressing, our young men choose black as the primary colour in their suits.

But listen up gentlemen, here are a couple of facts you might not have known. According to our creative director Eddy von Dadelszen, navy blue is not only easier to wear than black, but it suits 90% of skin complexions as opposed to black's 30%. If you work in a sales role - and let's face it, all of us are selling something - you're more likely to close a deal in a navy suit than when you're wearing any other colour. In fact the ultimate salesman's outfit is reputedly a navy suit, white shirt and red tie. Works everytime.

Navy suits give you more options with accessories too. You can wear them with brown shoes to give your look a bit of punch, or black shoes to tone it all down. Navy suits look immaculate with just about every colour of shirt too, and if you're a paler gent, they even do wonders for your skin tone.

So to close, here's our recommendation for you: make your first suit a navy blue suit. You can thank us later.