Eric Twardzik

5 days ago | robbreport.com | Eric Twardzik

Only one fabric can claim to have appeared on the cover of The Official Preppy Handbook, and that fabric is madras. And while it was given the honor because of its frequent sightings on preppy summer colonies from Bar Harbor to Bermuda, its place of origin is an entire hemisphere away. The cloth takes its name from the Indian city of Madras—now Chennai—which became a major exporter of fabric during the British colonial period.

2 weeks ago | robbreport.com | Eric Twardzik

They say the journey is half the destination. And if that’s true, you’d best invest in a good bag to get you there. What’s broadly defined as a “weekender” today likely derives from the duffel bag, which was first referenced in print by an English newspaper in 1768. In contrast to the hard, heavy trunks made from wood or leather, duffel bags were made from a dense woolen fabric and had a loose, open shape allowing the soldiers or sailors who often used them to maximize their storage potential.

3 weeks ago | robbreport.com | Eric Twardzik

Few accessories can so instantly and dramatically transform one’s presentation as a pair of sunglasses (if further evidence is needed, just think of Snoopy’s transition to Joe Cool). And the annals of cinema are filled with countless iconic examples, from Cary Grant in North by Northwest to Tom Cruise in Risky Business to Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in Men in Black.

1 month ago | robbreport.com | Eric Twardzik

I pack lightly, a quality that’s proven a virtue as airlines increasingly misplace baggage and prematurely announce that the overhead bins are full. So, when I fly, it’s usually with a soft canvas or leather weekender that I can wedge into the last overhead space, plus a zip top Filson tote that will hold my laptop and a book and qualifies as the carry-on. But on my most recent business trip, a 30-hour jaunt to Dallas, I flew with neither.

1 month ago | robbreport.com | Eric Twardzik

The gap between swimsuit and swim shorts may not strike many as a meaningful sartorial schism. But on one afternoon in the fall of 2005, it was the difference that saw British photographer Adam Brown turned away from lunch at the high-end Indian hotel where he was staying for a friend’s 40th birthday. As Brown retreated to his room to change into non-bathing attire, he had a small epiphany: he wanted a pair of shorts that he could swim in.