E158: LARP-ing Around & Revisiting Esquire's "The Big Black Book" (F/W 2009 & S/S 2011)

New pod is out! We talk solid ties at a spring wedding, Derby looks for betting on a horse race, and the fantasy forward stylings of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire and making your vintage menswear work for LARPing with swords and Nerf blasters. The biggest discussion is our review of Esquire's Big Black Book Style Manual from F/W 2009 and S/S 2011. With its classic styling and expressive writing, it's quite surprising that this is from that infamous aughts period. Overall, it's quite different from what you can read from the magazine today— and most contemporary menswear media in general! 0:00 - Dressing for the Derby at Santa Anita Racetrack 20:40 - Wedding Stuff 28:16 - Esquire's Big Black Book 1:02:20 - Nerf and Ren Faire Ethan’s Blog: https://alittlebitofrest.com/2026/04/19/larp-ing-around-at-nerf-the-horse-races-the-renaissance-faire/ https://alittlebitofrest.com/2026/04/19/esquires-big-black-book-f-w-2009-s-s-2011-is-suprisingly-okay/ Support us on Patreon and join the Discord: https://www.patreon.com/styleanddirection/ Follow us on Instagram! www.instagram.com/styleanddirection/ Podcast is produced by MJ