Protect Your Neck: A...

Everybody loves the Fall. Being mid-October, we’re thick in the middle of pumpkin-flavored this and apple-spice that. Personally we can’t get enough of it. A million girls in Uggs and North Face could never trample our enthusiasm for Autumn, and we’re savoring every day of...

How to Buy Jeans

This isn’t really a post on how to buy jeans. You’re a grown man, right? You know how to buy jeans already. At least you should. It’s not that hard; you just go to the store and try them on and pay for them. The only way you can really fuck it up too badly is to just have...

Bright Socks Season Is Finally Here Mar29

Bright Socks Season ...

When the Chop came home and opened up our wardrobe after months abroad wearing mostly work clothes we came to a shocking realization… it’s pretty bland. That’s not to say it’s boring- there’s some pretty nice stuff in our closet, but one thing that’s not in...

John McEnroe: An Obj...

So, for reasons we won’t get into here, the Chop had occasion to search the Google for images of John McEnroe the other day. You would think that would be a simple task; type in a name, click the mouse and get a picture. It took us longer than you might think though. Johnny Mac is a...

Turtleneck Sweaters

If you’ve got a turtleneck in your closet, Autumn is certainly the perfect time of year to break it out. Cool enough for a chill to be in the air, but not quite cold enough for coats and mittens, a turtleneck is practical if nothing else. There may be no single item of clothing in...

Avoiding the Freshma...

First things first… The first thing is that we’re happy to announce that this blog was recognized yesterday by the City Paper in their annual Best of Baltimore issue as being Baltimore’s Best Local Blog. The BoB award carries a lot of weight in this town, and most of your...

Highwaters and Sanda...

The Summer has officially begun in Baltimore. Memorial Day weekend marked its official start, and the holiday brought the stifling Summer heat right along with it. It breaks our Choppy little heart to think that for the next 3 months, most people in our fair city are going to forgo fashion...

The Emperor Has No C...

‘”But the Emperor has nothing at all on!” said a little child.’ Well, that’s not exactly true. It’s not that the Emperor of Cupertino has no clothes. It’s that he’s got just the one outfit. We’re tempted to draw a lot of parallels between...

The Best Summer Flip Flops May06

The Best Summer Flip...

We’re reluctant to admit that we may need to acquire a decent pair of flip flops. Now, we do not recommend sandals of any type for the men of Baltimore. You’re a grown man in a major city after all, not a dirty hippie at Bonnaroo. The only time sandals become acceptable for...

Cheap Sunglasses vs....

We did a basic discussion of the style points of sunglasses back in January. That post was mostly just a visual primer on what to do and what not to do, with no mention of specific brands or models. We’re not going to get too specific today either. But now that Summer is right around the...

Chop Style: The 10 Second Shoeshine Apr23

Chop Style: The 10 S...

Maybe you’re the type that doesn’t dress up a lot. Perhaps you’re a lot more comfortable in a pair of Adidas or Converse than brogues or boots. Style is a matter of taste and lifestyle, and at the end of the day it’s to each his own. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and for a...

The Best Mens Watche...

When the Chop turned 30 recently, we decided it would be thoroughly appropriate to mark the passage of time with the purchase of our first decent watch. There’s no small amount of metaphorical allusion involved in such a purchase, but for the Chop it was as much a practical acquisition...

Katt Williams: The W...

Well, you may think we’re picking at some pretty low-hanging fruit here. We definitely are, but it has to be said. You can Google it for pages and pages and no one in the entire blogosphere has come out and said it yet… Katt Williams is the worst dressed man in America. And we...

A Conditional Approv...

Please understand: we are very wary about endorsing hats as a point of style. Very few people can pull them off in the modern era without affectation, and where you see a fedora or trilby anywhere in the media, you can bet one of America’s biggest douchebags is under it. However, as...

Messenger Bags: The ...

It recently occurred to us than since we now own a laptop, we’re going to be in need of a bag in which to carry it if we want to take it with us next time we go a-traveling. After all, the TSA is good for more than just groping your grandma and stealing your souvenirs… they also...

Wool for Winter Part...

So by now you know all about pea coats and wool bombers, and you’re looking great and feeling like a million bucks. But then comes January. Another Snowpocalypse, maybe. Sleet. Rain. Ice. The fucking bastard wind. What you need is more than a mere coat… you need sartorial...

Wool for Winter Part...

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, it’s getting pretty cold here in Baltimore. It’s getting to be freezing, actually, and you’re going to need some protection against the elements. From now until April you’d be damn foolish to leave the house without a coat or...

Fill Your Boots With...

We told you recently about the best boots you can buy under $200. Whether you’ve already hit the shops and picked them up, or you’re polishing up a pair of old favorites for winter service, you’re going to need the socks to fill them. Those casual, everyday Gold Toes are a...

The Best Men’s Boots Under $200 Nov06

The Best Men’s...

After a few fits and starts, it’s about to turn genuinely cold and gray here in Baltimore. Leaves are falling, rain is falling, and soon enough there may even be snow falling. Add that to the year-round hazards that pedestrians encounter on Charm City’s streets (glass, chicken...

Five Things You Need...

We caught you Baltimore. Red Handed. You’ve just been busted by the fashion police. We caught you slipping, and you’re going to have to step up your game wardrobe-wise, or risk being mocked mercilessly out in public for looking like a complete heel. This weekend was full of...

How to Shop at Targe...

You can ask any woman and they’ll all tell you the same thing… you can find some really great stuff at Target. It’s no accident either. Whereas their main competitor Wal-Mart seems to purposefully sell the most generic, basic and bland sorts of items across the board and...

World Cup Style Tips

Soccer is a lot like gin, swimming, and vegan recipes. It’s something we really like in theory, but frankly never pay any attention to at all. Oh sure… we might happen to cook a vegan meal and drink a Negroni once in a great while, or even get into a pool above our knees; but in...

Men’s Guide to...

If there’s one thing the Chop can not endorse, it’s preppy style. We give thanks every day that we were lucky enough to be born in Baltimore and not in New England or Long Island or some equally pretentious, WASP-y place. We wouldn’t be caught dead in madras, ribbon belts,...

Rick Dempsey is the Worst-Dressed Man in Baltimore Apr29

Rick Dempsey is the ...

Let’s get one thing straight… the Chop loves Rick Dempsey. Not like we love our Dad or Roommate, but more like we love our favorite uncle. You know that favorite uncle… he’s quick with a joke, kind as a saint, a little self-effacing, never wears out his welcome, and has...

Five Good Reasons to...

Yeah Baltimore, we know how it is. A lot of you like to drape that jacket over the back of your chair as soon as you get into the office. Still more of you have one old standby jacket (possibly handed down from dear old Dad) that doesn’t fit well and that you only break out for weddings,...