THE EDGE

THE REVIEW: SPRING 2011

BAND OF OUTSIDERS

It's looking like summer camp all over again only this time, the boys are getting dressier and even more experimental.

Band of Outsiders has always been about that mark between grand daddy prep to new kid cool and it's amazing how Scott Sternberg manages to keep it that way for a good number of seasons. If he continues to do this job and also make sure he keeps it up to date, then there'd be no problems for team Band of Outsiders.

What's not to appreciate about a short but sweet collection of options ranging from nerdy basics to rebellious style essentials? For people like me who---at times---get that genius streak of mixing it up and changing it up a bit, this Spring 2011 collection is a highly covetable lookbook of near future purchases. There's the cotton color-blocked sweaters and shirts tucked in creased and cuffed shorts, the suede-looking baseball jacket, the newly minted, all-season leather jacket, the summery plaid button downs pressed under single-buttoned jackets, navy swim shorts and rolled-up khakis and of course, those mighty immortal boat shoes.

To me, this reminds me of going to high school and summing up the individual styles of every classmate: the creative art junkie with his vintage sweaters, the lean jock cool in his varsity jacket, the quiet popular kid channeling Lennon and Dean, the misfit who insists on wearing just his super neat belted Band of Outsiders boots. It feels and looks young and shows how the different styles and childish temperaments actually make a cohesive, inspired collection. Pairing lemon boat shoes with a black trim leather jacket has always been a frustrating idea, but with Band of Outsiders, it's been done. That's the subtle magic of Sternberg, he gently pushes the notions of dressing to new, relevant boundaries and they actually work.

If there is one thing that has to take top priority in this collection it'd have to be the shoes: yellow boat shoes and those garrison-belted leather boots. Well, every boy had them at least once right? I guess just not this awesome. Men might find themselves aching at the sight of memories flashing back, but when clothes look this fresh and free-spirited, sometimes dressing up like we're young again makes sense. Just don't overdo it.

source: GQ

-Gerard