Welcome to the first edition of The Heat Map: the monthly recap of the mintiest apparel, grooming products, and home decor as picked out by The Adult Man’s brand manager, Matt Gulielmi.
Before I started dishing out my unfiltered opinion here on The Adult Man, I worked in planning and buying for a couple different national retailers.
August is a pivotal month in the art of merchandising. Back-to-school shopping is in full swing, spring/summer collections are marked down in preparation for fall/winter, and Halloween decorations arrive unfashionably early to the party.
But we take a corner in August on a personal level too. We’re fantasizing about the grade-A fall fits that’ll soon hit the streets as we redline the victory lap of swimsuits and sandals.
It’s a man’s summer combine of layering, texture, and insulative performance.
If you’ve already begun scouting talent for the second half of 2024 but haven’t signed anything to your roster, I put together a list of ten products that caught my attention—and perhaps yours too.
Tracksmith Federation Blazer
The Federation Blazer is the hero piece of Tracksmith’s latest summer 2024 drop, and it couldn’t be released at a more appropriate time.
Be it a fraternity pledge induction or a UN assembly, there will be navy blazers. The 2024 Paris Olympics are in full swing, so of course a competition-loving brand like Tracksmith would strike while the iron’s hot.
The single button closure and organic cotton twill fabric makes it such an easy second layer to dress up, dress down, hang it in the closet, or stuff it in your gym bag. Add on an exterior hand loop and gold rabbit pin and it becomes truly a one-of-a-kind blazer from an unexpected brand.
Brain Dead Equipment Tennis Tote
I’ll put it this way: Jeff Goldblum, the man whose personal style is as immortal as his charisma, loves Brain Dead.
The Equipment Tennis Tote is a prime example to demonstrate the brand’s off-beat maximalism to anyone unfamiliar with Brain Dead. Time-tested tennis bag shape? Nope, tote-racquet hybrid. Clean colorway with sporty branding? Let’s embroider a lizard on it instead.
I wouldn’t judge you if you’re a casual pickleball player and nothing more. It’s that cool, and I’d buy it for everyday use too if I didn’t already play tennis.
RRL Paint-Splatter Sateen Work Jacket
I gravitate towards cropped jackets. Anything between waist-length and a bona-fide trench just seems like an awkward purgatory, and cropped jackets free up canvas space so the trousers can make a statement in an outfit.
You could say that RRL’s Paint-Splatter Sateen Work Jacket is literally a canvas in its own right. With consistent wear, the white fabric will continue responding to the wearer’s daily affairs, but the intentional smudges of paint are a head start if, like me, you think pure-white garments look perfect to a fault.
Malin+Goetz Cannabis Eau de Parfum
I’m no fragrance purist, however I’ve always been a proponent of the seasonality of a fragrance.
Spring and summer call for clean, aquatic aromas, whereas notes of leather, musk, and amber are best kept for fall and winter.
Malin+Goetz Cannabis shatters my beliefs in a way. It’s undoubtedly botanical, and while has a cleanliness similar to basil, it carries a heavy punch the way fresh pine does. Cannabis is the only fragrance in my rotation that isn’t a seasonal hire.
And no, you won’t get asked if you blazed up before coming into the office.
Imperfects Courier Pant
Ever since Imperfects popped up on my FYP, I haven’t been able to shake my admiration for it, but their Courier Pants specifically.
As to why, it couldn’t be more simple: the french buckle. Why are the mainstream brands refusing to ignore a detail that not only elevates a pair of pants, but adjusts a loose fit better than any alternative?
Have you ever tightened your belt only for the extra waistline to dip below it? A french buckle tugs from both sides of the pants, avoiding that completely.
The fit, button fly, and heavy-duty canvas are amazing themselves, but they all take a back seat to the coveted French buckle in my eyes.
Piet Hein Eek One Mold Lamp
I’ve become enthralled with illuminating a space with something else besides ordinary lamps. Despite knowing of Piet Hein Eek for less than six months, just one of their impeccable objects for the home illustrates their rejection of all things traditional.
There’s something nostalgic about the One Mold Lamp’s form factor. It’s rudimentary, yet every part of it, the tactile switch, the clear wiring covers, radiate intention. Being able to display it as a tabletop object or mount it to a wall is another selling point as I adhere to a monthly interior rearrangement.
I used to be intrigued by those 90s Sony camping TVs, and this looks like someone tried to recreate a ceramic version from memory. Maybe that’s it.
Ariat Heritage R Toe Western Boot
I never took Ariat seriously as a cowboy boot manufacturer. The logo looks like the biohazard symbol (it’s three horseshoes to symbolize Secretariat’s Triple Crown), and their assortment seems heavily overrepresented by eccentric colorways and graphic boot shafts.
My Dan Post Milwaukee’s are falling apart. Lucceses aren’t in my budget. Tecovas are for cattle wrangler cosplay. Finding a pair of sleek rattlesnake stompers with minimalist stitching, a solid better sole than my previous pair, and an R toe is harder than I thought.
With all of that in mind plus the fact that every man in Texas wears them, I’ve got a bounty out for the Ariat Heritage R Toe Western Boot.
Snow Peak Winter Down Haori Jacket
I’ve got an angel in my left ear and a devil in my right. The first believes in a mature wardrobe of traditional pieces that go with anything. The second encourages me to shoot from the hip on anything I find cool—like the Winter Down Haori Jacket.
Every outdoor brand has their own down jacket, and besides the colorways they’re offering in a season, the only distinguishing factors between them are the features—and rarely do they contribute anything visually.
The Winter Down Haori Jacket might not be a pro’s first choice to summit a snow-capped peak, but that doesn’t take away from the sheer inventiveness of a belted kimono down jacket. I’ve always said that Snow Peak’s apparel is the unsung hero of their equipment lineup. Everything about this jacket–shape, print, quality— justifies that.
Wythe Bedford Cord Ranch Jacket
It doesn’t take an anthropologist to know that Western fashion is having a Texas-sized moment in the current fashion landscape.
Pharrell’s debut collection for Louis Vuitton, Jacques Marie Mage’s Last Frontier collection, and TikTok’s newfound love for flared denim should be enough proof that small and big players alike are clamoring to ride the same wave.
Wythe, New York’s most prominent frontier representative, triggered the seismic unbuckling that sent the swell onto everyone’s IG feed. Just look at the Bedford Cord Ranch Jacket.
Some of the most revered western brands don’t make their stuff in the USA. This jacket is. It’s available in a few different colors, but black is my personal recommendation as the buttons are made from raw copper. The dark fabric highlights the turquoise patina just enough to pick this colorway over the equally easy-to-style white, brown, and olive.
LEGO Land Rover Classic Defender 90
To wrap things up, here’s a 100 mph curveball for you: the Land Rover Defender.
Ever since LEGO debuted the Architecture theme in 2008, the world’s #1 toy company has been out here doing for the young and the young at heart. The Land Rover Defender, even with all of it’s playability, is more of a display piece than a terrain-capable toy to roll down a hill.
LEGO, like they always do, did a top-notch job in recreating my all-time favorite SUV—down to the functional suspension, jerry can accessory, and winch bumper.
Could a 1:16 model bring the same sporty elegance to my bookshelf? Absolutely, but half of what makes LEGO such an awesome product is snapping those modular bricks together page by page.
With so many brands fighting to out-do each other, in August no less, these ten were truly the cream that rose to the top—apparel, fragrance, and products for the home.
Stay tuned for the September issue, and be sure to follow The Adult Man on Instagram for more style, decor, and grooming news.
