Commentary: Minnesota men are about to change wardrobes
Sooner or later, our recent run of warm weather will run out. And with late autumn will come the annual changing of the wardrobe for a certain class of Minnesota men.
We're talking bait shop attendants and guys with snowplows on their 4x4s. Small engine repairmen and tow truck drivers. Men who make their living out in the woods.
Guys with nicknames like, "Ole" or "Swede". Guys with vice grips and screwdrivers and stray bolts and oily, machine parts rolling around the foot wells of their trucks.
Not for these guys, the new autumn looks from the fashion runways of Paris. No. Give them that, classic Minnesota male winter look. The one that hasn't changed in half a century.
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It all starts with a long underwear shirt mottled with syrup or snuff stains. This wardrobe essential goes with your favorite pocket t-shirt and sets off that casually-unbuttoned plaid workshirt.
Blue jeans are de rigueur, of course. Especially jeans with that saggy, unwashed, worn-every-day-for-a-week look. Jeans frayed at the knees and along the thighs to give the world a playful glimpse of long underwear.
In Paris or Akeley, shoes make the outfit. For early winter in Minnesota, we suggest a scuffed lace-up work boot worn untied-as if you just stepped into them to go outside and change propane tanks. A bit later in the season, in the big cold of January, you can go with an insulated boot if you like.
Outer wear? The classic Minnesota layered look features a thin quilted vest in maroon or green over a gray, hooded, zip-up sweatshirt. Add a winter jacket from your favorite snowmobile or all terrain vehicle manufacturer and you're ready for a night on the town.
Top it all off with a classic blue stocking cap. Look for something in a synthetic fiber-orlon, say...
Accessorize with a rugged pair of old choppers and two week's worth of beard and voila. You've achieved the Minnesota male winter look. You are ready for any social event Minnesota may throw at you-from breakfast with the guys at the Main Street Diner to a day at the garage or an evening in the fishing shack.
It doesn't get any chicer than this. Are the women of Minnesota lucky or what?