My recent NYC purchase - Lacoste Ion sport shoes

I've been meaning to replace my puma running shoes for a while now, and what better an opportunity than a trip to NYC!

After a lengthy search that led me through the shoe halls of Macy's and Lord & Taylor, I finally settled on a pair of Lacoste Ion sneakers (below). Check them out and other sneakers at these stores.



















The lace-ups are a good change from the slip on shoes I've had for a while. I also like the white color with green and red accent.

There's also a huge Lacoste collection online at Zappos.com in case you're interested.

How to have your suits tailored

One doesn't need to spend a lot of money to wear a suit that looks expensive. You can do it by buying a suit off the rack and having it tailored to your fit. Here're how my suits fit me:

Jacket:

1. Shoulders should be snug around yours and should not hang or fall over
2. Button stance should be comfortable (not too high or low). I prefer the classic two button look.
3. Silhouette should be fitted with only a fists worth of space between your chest and the jacket when it's buttoned up
4. Length of the jacket should be long enough so that you are able to cup your hands underneath its sides
5. Arms will need to be slimmed down as well and length shortened so that a quarter an inch of the shirt cuff is showing.
6. Vents can be either center or side, but I prefer the more contemporary side vents.
7. Lapels are hardest bit to pick out, but I prefer slimmer, higher cut notch/peak lapels.

Pants:

1. Slim fit around the legs
2. No pleats
   
3. Worn at the hips and don't have to wear a belt to support them
4. No longer than one break at the feet

Have 8 minutes? Then check out this video from GQ on how to buy and fit a suit.

Tie knot that's classic and looks simple

There's way too many tie knots out there to try so here's a recommendation based on how I tie my ties. The instructions may seem, probably are, complicated but once you get the hang of it you should fly through it.

So here goes:

1. Bring tie over your shoulder with wide end to your right
2. Bring wide end to your left crossing over the narrow end
3. Bring wide end underneath narrow end, through the middle of the loop and to front
4. Bring wide end of the tie to your right, around the back to the front, through the middle of the loop to the back
5. Bring wide end from back to your right loosely around the front to your left, back underneath
6. Bring wide end from the back through middle of loop to front underneath loose front
7. Pull wide end toward bottom to tighten knot at same time create a dimple using your index finger
8. Bottom of the wide end should come at least 2 inches below your belly button

End result should look something like this (note the dimple and length of tie). And BTW - when tied correctly the knot should come undone by pulling on the ends of the tie.