Value of Vision

Recently we've been asking ourselves - exactly how worth it would it be to get LASIK? Obviously there are many points you must consider - price, risk, potential upside. Are contacts really that irritating? Isn't it a bit of a relief being able to wake up in the morning and not immediately see what kind of mistake you made the night before? This is a serious life decision.

However, in the meantime, if you're still looking for facial accessories (the non-piercing type) - or if you still get LASIK and want to just throw on a pair of blanks - definitely have a look at the ones below. While they might most often be viewed as sunglasses, consider them with some clear lenses too.

Benjamin Eyewear

Han Eyewear

At first look, these may seem a little bold. Especially for the workplace. But consider what was popular in the more "conservative" 1950s:


If you are, in all seriousness, considering LASIK, don't skimp on the research. A functional pair of eyes is priceless. But a pair of near perfect eyes, as revealed through a 30-second search, runs about $1,500-$2,500 per eye.

Hibernation time for the uber skinny?

One of the most visible trends in men's fashion over the last few years, both in the workplace and the hipster lounge, is the shrinking width of ties. David Beckham, Justin Timberlake, Daniel Faraday - they're everywhere. Which is great. We like(d) the trend. But it's become so over-saturated that even the Wall St. Journal wrote about it - in 2007!!


Now, that doesn't mean everyone should pack up their skinny ties in mothballs for the next fifteen years until the trend reemerges. It's a nice accessory to an otherwise ordinary outfit - when used in moderation. For example, some of these ties from Margaret Howell add an extra touch with the knitted cotton and pastel colors:


Of course, there are different levels of skinniness. The (now-defunct) Portfolio magazine broke it down for us way back in 2007. If you're wearing it to work, keep it around the 3"-3.25" width - unless you're Julian Casablancas.

Uber skinny ties? We may soon have to bid thee adieu. But we refuse to give up our skinny jeans just yet.

Biased Cut

Eventually, many of us reach a point in our lives where we realize that staying on top of fashion trends is an exhaustive, self-perpetuating chore. We want to spot the best and brightest trends before anyone else, but we can't spend hours a day following new runway collections or collecting dozens of RSS feeds from fashion blogs in our Google Reader. We want to know how to masterfully express ourselves through the slightest of accessories, but not put more than five minutes of thought into our outfit each morning. We want to be respected for our individual style in an otherwise uniform workplace, but not so unique as to risk ostracism.

It is, without a doubt, a difficult compromise. And it shouldn't be rewarded only to those creative types with an innate ability for style - you know, the people that always just seem to look good, whether they're fly-fishing in the Rockies or crashing a young Latina girl's Quinceañera at a Miami steakhouse on New Year's Eve (true story). To us, it requires a combination of three simple things:

1) an understanding of basic fashion rules (yes, the basics: black belt + brown shoes = tongue lashing from the girlfriend, OR pinstripe suit + plaid shirt + gingham tie = bar mitzvah hypnotist)

2) recognizing simple trends over the course of the year (skinny ties popular in 2008, but probably on downward slope now)

3) understanding how to express one's self through their clothing (you're a gym rat and need custom fitted shirts for your slim waist and tree stump neck; you probably shouldn't wear white the day after you fell asleep for 5 hours at the beach sweating SPF 4).

The goal here is to help on all three of these accounts. There are, admittedly, many blogs in existence today that do some serious informed teaching and rock-uncovering of each of these, and kudos to them. We'll probably even link to them. A lot. But we want this to be a more casual forum for those in the workplace today, seeking a splash of style to their otherwise busy corporate lives. Emphasis is on clothing, but everything is fair game - nightlife, restaurants, music, everything.

We buy clothes for work, and then often use them for play. Why not reverse that? Let's push the boundaries a bit, eh?