Trench Coats

We’re not sure if anybody else has noticed, but it tends to rain an awful lot here in New Zealand. As cliched as it might sound, Four Seasons in One Day isn't just a pop song, it's a reality for most of us. So what do you do when you're out and about, minding your own business, and you're suddenly caught in an unexpected downpour? Thomas Burberry had the solution in 1901, and 108 years later, Working Style has cottoned on.

The trench coat was designed by Thomas Burberry (yes, that Burberry) as an alternative to the heavy greatcoats worn by soldiers prior to World War One. Originally made in gabardine - the heavy cotton drill also created by Thomas Burberry (he was a clever chap wasn't he?) - the coat was favoured by soldiers as an all weather jacket on the front line, and came into popularity as a fashionable item when veterans wore the coats along with their civvy clothes. Since then it's found its way onto the backs of the natty and notorious alike - from Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca to Dick Tracy and Inspector Gadget.

But here's why it's the perfect all weather coat for the New Zealand man. First off, it's waterproof. Second, it's perfectly tailored to fit over your suit. Third, it has all sorts of romantic notions of well dressed Brits, heroes and soldiers. Fourth, it creates a perfect long line from shoulder to just above the knee, lengthening your body and giving the illusion of height. Our designers at Working Style have worked long and hard to create a trench coat with all the classic tailoring you'd expect, but in a lightweight, advanced, water repellent durable cotton. Get it in New Zealand-esque black and you'll be the envy of all your less sartorially savvy and more rained on associates.

Working Style Trench Coat - $790.

Working Style Shoes

If you know a woman, you'll know that the most commonly uttered female fashion complaint is: "You just can't get good shoes in New Zealand!" Well, gentlemen, those words might be true when it comes to the ladies, but fear not, because we have men's feet covered at Working Style.

In our international travels we made contact with a Spanish shoe manufacturer by the name of Juan. Over some spicy paella we crunched a particularly favourable deal and started a relationship going. We are now extremely excited to present the first ever Working Style footwear collection.

Made up of six styles including a chelsea boot, a desert boot, a loafer, and three types of lace ups, the collection features plenty of suede, lots of brown (including some lovely little details like a burnished effect on the upper), and, of course, beautiful blacks. Being Spanish leather, it's softer than English and less flashy than Italian.

Each shoe is packed in a signature Working Style shoe bag and box, comes with an engraved stamp on the sole and is moderately priced from $449 - $549. It's enough to turn a lady to drink.

Working Style's Best Dressed Businessmen of the Year

Image credit: Norrie Montgomery

New Zealand’s Best Dressed Businessman for 2010: Ben Ford, analyst, corporate finance, PriceWaterHouseCoopers.
Ben Ford really does deserve the title Best Dressed Businessman. He's a guy who lives, breathes and dreams suits. He's been known to spend a fair few hours everyday trawling the internet to look at the latest sartorial creations, but he has a knack for wearing the most traditional suits and making them look young and contemporary. It doesn't hurt that he's only 26 years old. We're proud to say he's our youngest Best Dressed Businessman of the year recipient yet, but it was a unanimous decision among the judges.


Mr Wellington - Dr Allan Freeth, CEO, Telstra Clear.
We don't want to use the phrase 'sartorial tyrant', but... well, Dr Freeth has been known to send a youngster home to polish his shoes if they're dirty. We like his philosophy: "If you want to be successful in business, dress well for business. You can never go wrong with classic lines, and you'll never be taken seriously if you get it wrong."

Mr Christchurch: Ben Williams, senior solicitor, Chapman Tripp.
Coming from Christchurch, we applaud Ben Williams' efforts to step out of the typical swanndri and moleskins and into some well tailored suits (we kid). He also shares Dr Freeth's philosophy when it comes to dressing well for work: "You don't need to spend a fortune to look good, but the reality in business is that you have to look sharp."


Mr Auckland: Dr Parma Nand, cardiothoracic surgeon, MercyAscot, Auckland.
It wasn't just Parma's easy manner in a suit that appealed, his attitude to clothing is what really caught our attention. As a surgeon he reckons that appearances are very important - and he's right. Would you want to get open heart surgery performed on you by a guy in jeans?


The Contemporary Award: Brian Richards, director/strategist, Brian R Richards Brand Strategists.
Despite being one of the more - ahem - mature gentlemen nominated for the awards, we felt that he had one of the most contemporary takes on the business wardrobe. With a leaning towards Japanese designers like Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto, his mantra is simple: comfort, elegance and longevity. He really showed us that a little of each can go a long way.


The Sartorial Award: Mitchell Kornman, senior tax consultant, Ernst & Young.
Mitchell Kornman is one of those young up and comers who really takes pride in his business wardrobe. He's not obliged to wear a suit everyday, but wear a suit everyday is exactly what he does. But it was the combover that swung us. Call it what you want - reinterpreted vintage, lamb dressed as mutton, it's a winner in our books.

And the winner is...

L TO R: Working Style director Chris Dobbs with Ben Ford (analyst, corporate finance, PriceWaterhouseCoopers) - winner of the Best Dressed Businessman of the Year Award for 2010; and Roger Zagorski, Managing Director and Executive General Manager of Mercedes-Benz New Zealand.

Ben Ford is very particular about the suits he wears. So particular, in fact, that we believe he must have been a Florentine tailor in a past life. His rules are as follows: armholes high; fabrics premium quality; jackets not too long or too shrunken and definitely no pinching on the shoulders (which are always roped); colours grey or blue. Shirts narrow but no darts allowed; usually white or blue, sometimes simple checks or stripes. On any given day you'll see him in a three piece Prince of Wales check, a flannel double breasted or a bespoke navy. Quality is paramount and it shows - he always looks perfectly turned out every time he steps out the door.

Congratulations to Ben Ford - Working Style's youngest ever recipient of the Best Dressed Businessman Awards.

Sweaters

Not sure if you've noticed, but it's starting to get a bit bloody chilly out there. The Southerly winds are picking up, the mornings are darker and frostier, and winter is in the air. There's only one thing to be done to combat it - layer on the clothes.

Sweaters are the ideal layering garment. They're lightweight, they're woolen, they look equally great with a shirt, tie and suit or a tee shirt and jacket, and they add a bit of English flair to your whole look.

Wearing a black suit? Throw on a grey vee neck underneath it. A charcoal suit? Try the navy blue. Want to get adventurous? Give teal or purple a go.

Working Style's sweaters are 100% merino, fully knitted, functional and hard-wearing. Warm enough to give you that extra couple of degrees protection against the cold, but light enough to last through to the spring months (way) ahead.

Before we get started with this one, let us just say that we fully advocate owning at least one suit, even if it is just for weddings and funerals. That said, we understand that not everybody can afford to do so, and in that case, the next option is suit loan.

Forget your bad high school formal experiences, or that time you were a groomsman at your cousin (from the wrong side of the family) Joe's wedding. Here at Working Style we've taken a classic approach to suit loan. No brightly coloured vests, no bad double breasted suits in cheap fabrics where stains - literally - slide right off. Instead, we've focussed on simplicity, quality, cut and cloth.

Three styles; Cornwallis, Prince and Greene. Cornwallis is a one button shawl collar jacket with satin lapels and satin striped trousers, much like the tuxedo James Bond would have worn. Prince is a two button satin peak lapel jacket with covered buttons and plain trousers, a little less formal than Cornwallis, but still suitable for weddings. Greene is a one button notch lapel jacket that comes with a matching black waistcoat and plain trousers. All are cut from 100% premium wool. See what we said? Simple.

Wear them with a white shirt and a black, white or silver tie or bow tie (also all available for loan), and you'll be the only one who knows. And that's the way it should be.

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.