Our Style Editor, Janice Ferguson recently wrote an excellent article, Branding 101: The Value of a Great Logo and it got me thinking about my favorite logos. Johnnie-O tops the list. I live in New England, have never surfed and yet I am drawn to their branding and style.
Growing up in Massachusetts during the 1980’s, Ocean Pacific t-shirts and JAMS shorts were the fashion-trend du jour (for the three months out of the year we could wear shorts and t-shirts!). Wearing surf-style clothing allowed us a temporary escape from the parkas, mittens, and hats our parents forced on us, as well as gave us an opportunity to align ourselves with a lifestyle that was significantly cooler than we were.
Over the years I continued to gravitate towards surf styles; brands like Hurley and Quicksilver. Now, as I approach my mid-forties, I’ve realized I need to gentrify of my “surf-wear”. As I have written in the past, I also have a desire to maximize my wardrobe and prefer clothing I can wear to work, out to dinner and on the course. Enter Johnnie-O.
West Coast Prep
Their tagline speaks for itself. Johnnie-O has a preppy feel but not over the top. Definitely more of a laid-back preppy style compared to their competitors. The look is refined, conservative, versatile and most importantly, stylish. The quality and performance are top-notch. Their fit was spot on for me; very traditional, maybe slightly on the slimmer side (I am a slim/athletic build, 6’1″, 195 and the large was perfect).
Prep-Formance
The Johnnie-O Prep-Formance collection was created to meet the demands of a fast-paced lifestyle; from the boardroom to the golf course to everything in between and includes all the technical features you would expect from high-quality golf apparel. Johnnie-O is currently being worn on the PGA Tour by a number of pros, most notably, Kevin Streelman, Aaron Baddeley, and Sean O’Hair.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Game Changer
I love the Johnnie-O Prep-Formance Polos I received and have worn my Lammie 1/4 Zip Prep-Formance Pullover almost non-stop. However, there is one item I recommend you add to your wardrobe IMMEDIATELY (meaning as soon as you are done reading this article and before you re-watch Point Break–the coolest surf movie I can think of), a Prep-Formance Button-Down Shirt. An absolute game changer! It is moisture-resistant, wrinkle-resistant and the fabric is a bamboo/polyester/nylon/spandex blend which gives it the perfect amount of flex. So much so, that I could wear this shirt to golf nine holes after work. Seriously.
Tweener Button: The Right Amount of Wolf
All of the Johnnie-O button-down shirts include the signature Tweener Button. If you are not familiar with the Tweener-Button, get on board, mate, because your life will never be the same.
In the BLUE ROOM section of the Johnnie-O website (check this out for some good reads), John O’Donnell talks about how much skin to show in a button-down shirt and how the Tweener Button solves this age-old fashion dilemma.
“Too buttoned-up feels stuffy, while too unbuttoned feels over-exposed. But what’s even more important than how it makes us feel, is that it’s actually been proven (in a real national survey) that women also have strong opinions (no surprise there) about what our team at Johnnie-O calls, ‘the right amount of wolf’. So what IS the optimal amount of wolf to show when wearing a traditional button-down shirt? It’s the perfect combination of looking classy, yet casual, and there’s no other way to accomplish that than with the Tweener Button.”
The right amount of wolf, John?! So awesome! Reminds me of the ‘wolfpack’ speech in the movie, The Hangover. “You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolfpack…..”
Consider me a card-carrying member of the Johnnie-O wolf-pack. Cheers!
