My friend Mikey is a seasoned mens wear blogger. Guess what, he is working in the fassion industry and yes, he won’t let you down. If its meeting up for a sunday roast in a pub, a few beers in the park or having a BBQ, Mikey will look the part. If I would sum this guy up in one word, I would call him: “dapper”.

Now here is my dilemma: I would love to dress as well as him. However spending a lot of money on a garment that wouldn’t survive my bicycle commute into work is not agreeable with me. Neither is investing my hard earned cash in functional clothing that, in the best case scenario, make me look like a Power Ranger or worse just like your typical German tourist.

If you browse the web, you will find more than just a few articles complaining about the very same problem and these articles are several years old. Little has changed when I walk into outdoor, cycling or motorcycle stores. To be fair, I am still quite new to this whole motrocycle world but my observation is that you got 3 choices in the looks department:

1. The Racer: covered in colourfull stickers advertising for petrolium or energy drinks and plastic armour like a mondern day knight.
2. Sensible Dad: when he turned 50 and decided its time to swap his racer and modern day armour for the comfort of a BMW and touring gear.
3. The Rocker: ditching decades of advances in safety equipment for that pure leather look. Why not add some rivets? Everyone loves a good old rivet, right?

Now, its done. I had my mourn. Lets build a resource for brands that have achieved true greatness by simply copying designs that look good and use modern materials:

Outdoor

Bluffworks – http://shop.bluffworks.com/ – Just ordered to pairs of trousers in the sale. I will post the link to my review once they arrive.

Patagonia, not great but better than the rest of the pack

Nau – http://www.nau.com/

Outlier – http://shop.outlier.cc – rather expesive

https://www.ministryofsupply.com/

https://www.outerboro.cc/

https://huckberry.com/

http://uk.complex.com/style/2013/10/the-best-outdoor-brands-right-now/nau

Bicycle

vulpine

swrve

rapha

Motorbike

http://craveforride.com

http://www.saint.cc

https://www.dragginjeans.net/

www.hoodjeans.co.uk

www.roadskin.co.uk