Tabla de contenidos para November 2018 en Esquire

Nostalgia for the ’80s and ’90s has swallowed most of our movies and TV shows, so why not fashion, too? The best styles from the days of MJ and mixtapes are back—think fewer mullets and less neon everything and more bold, timeless clothes, such as striped suits and turtlenecks. To show off the outfits, we photographed models of that era, like legendary supermodel Tyson Beckford (below). You might not even have to go shopping—just check the back of your closet (but leave the shoulder pads at home).…

Until recently, most years’ horror-movie slates belonged in the cringiest corner of a Blockbuster. (Another Saw?) These days, the things that keep us up at night are much different—there’s less anxiety over a Final Destination-esque death by tanning bed and more concern over a government order legalizing mass murder for a night. But our fears have always been cerebral enough for awards season. The original Nosferatu was an allegory of xenophobia, The Mummy of colonialism—not to mention classics like The Silence of the Lambs. It took Get Out—a Trump-era masterpiece ready-made for thinkpieces and Twitter theses—to remind us why horror is the perfect genre for our increasingly terrifying reality. For the superhero-level volume of scary movies out there, we present this guide to help you distinguish a Babadook from a…

“I actually started to lose my mind,” Ori Menashe tells me. Menashe, the chef at Bavel in downtown Los Angeles, is talking about hummus—and how his quest to replicate the velvety ideal of his childhood in Israel nearly turned him into the chickpea equivalent of Jack Nicholson in The Shining. He went gonzo with garbanzos, nibbling on varieties from all over the world and finally settling on small, creamy ones from Andalusia. He went loony with tahini, fixating on finding a version that didn’t carry the residual bitterness of sesame hulls. When he located the right one for the broadly Middle Eastern menu at Bavel, he Norma Desmond-ishly proclaimed, “I can’t open this restaurant without this tahini!” Except that it wasn’t available in the United States. So he badgered a…

Like many stylistic hallmarks of the brasher-isbetter ’80s (pleats, anyone?), yellow-gold watches have made a comeback in recent years, proving guys are once again warming up to a timepiece with some flash. Now something with even more chutzpah is swaggering onto the scene: the two-tone watch, which combines sporty steel and upscale gold. Tudor launched its first steel-and-gold model last year with a more sedate jet-black dial. This time it’s gone all-in with a champagne-colored anodized-steel dial designed to complement the central gold links. What makes it work to our minds is that the brand embraced the mixed-metals combo in the manliest of its manly watches, namely the Black Bay, balancing the refined implications of gold with the tough, no-nonsense details (riveted links, an oversize crown) of its most iconic…

Pulling off a killer look isn’t just about the clothes: It’s about how you put them together. If you’re seeking a master class, look to Sacai. This season, designer Chitose Abe turned out a collection that remixed far-flung elements like Nordic knits, English checks, Hawaiian prints, and Buffalo plaid. That’s a lot to process, but Abe had no trouble fusing those components into richly layered mash-ups. “It has always been important for me to create something new while being true to my identity,” she says. “This season, I was exploring new takes on hybridization, focusing on unraveling and deconstructing shapes.” It’s that hybrid element that makes this stuff so sexy: the clash of fringe against camo, or a technical poncho over an old-school tweed. Remember that next time you’re standing…

There’s one designer you can thank for the popularity of everything from fishtail parkas to tricked-out athleisure. And you’ve probably never heard his name. In the late ’70s, graphic-artist-turned-clothing-manufacturer Massimo Osti created a fashion subgenre still rippling through the design world. While high-end Italian labels pushed luxury on the catwalk, Osti’s brands—C. P. Company and Stone Island—ignored the runway and focused instead on experimentation. Inspired by a vast personal archive of vintage military and civilian clothing, Osti approached fashion as if it were industrial science. It was imperative that his clothes “worked,” functioned, did stuff. Sometimes they just did something clever, like change color with your body temperature or provide wired-in central heating. Sometimes the materials were dyed, coated, weathered, or generally futzed with in a hundred different ways. The…

THE KITCHEN Gear Up with TOOLS You Love BECAUSE THEY’RE MORE THAN TOOLS The saying goes: The most important tool in the kitchen is a sharp knife. True. But it doesn’t hurt if that knife is also a beautiful one. Because when it comes to home kitchens, the pots, the pans, even the lowly measuring cups should bring you pleasure even when you’re not using them. They won’t necessarily make you a better cook, but they will get you to cook more—it’s hard to resist anything that feels like an extension of your hand. Retail therapy is a dangerous thing, but if the purchase of a new copper pot causes you to skip Seamless for the night and finally invite over those friends you’ve been meaning to invite over forever,…

What if uninvited guests show up? That one you just roll with. You just hope there’s enough wine. What if people are arguing over politics? I think a little arguing is healthy. The goal at any party should be to put people at ease, so I think there’s a real difference between fun, spirited debate and something that makes people uncomfortable. But if it gets really heated, bring out more booze. What if the electricity goes out? Ideally, you’ll have most of the food cooked anyway, so I think a power outage would be kind of fun. That would be a bonding thing. That little disaster would be the best thing that could happen to a party. What if the AC goes out? I give people ice cubes to put…

He was a Bronx-born son of immigrants who grew up prizing a certain idea of America, then sold it right back to us. Eventually his name would be dropped in rap songs and sitcoms, becoming synonymous with a lifestyle of ease and plenty. But in 1967, all he had was a line of neckties, which he sold from a drawer in the Empire State Building. Greg Lauren (fashion designer and nephew): “He was growing up in the Bronx, and it was a time when heroes really meant something. Between movies and sports, those heroes drove his inspiration and his passion to create.” David Lauren (executive vice-president, Ralph Lauren, and son): “Ralph Lauren started with a tie. My mom and my grandmother used to help sew the labels into them, and…

STORE INFORMATION For the items featured in Esquire, please consult the website or call the phone number provided. This Way In, p. 13: Dolce & Gabbana coat and shirt, dolcegabbana.it. Michael Kors trousers, michaelkors.com. Tod’s loafers, tods.com. Falke socks, falke.com. The Code, p. 37: Tudor watch, tudorwatch.com. P. 40: Tommy Bahama & Pendleton poncho and shirt, tommybahama.com. Nick Fouquet hat, nickfouquet.com. P. 46: Hermès cologne, hermes.com. P. 48: Versace sneakers, versace.com. Yeezy sneakers, yeezysupply.com. CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC sneakers, calvinklein.com. Nike x UNDERCOVER sneakers, 212-226-5433. P. 49: Adidas by Raf Simons sneakers, adidasx.com. Balenciaga sneakers, 310-854-0557. Nike x Virgil Abloh: The Ten sneakers, nike.com. P. 50: Rag & Bone jacket, trousers, and sneakers, rag-bone.com. P. 52: CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC jacket, calvinklein.com. P. 53: Adidas Originals by C. P. Company sneakers and…

A BRIEF MONTHLY EXPANSION ON A TOPIC EXPLORED IN THE ISSUE Thanksgiving is the annual national holiday in which we celebrate the few parts of the harvest that we can actually eat because of our many food allergies and dietary restrictions. The holiday was created by the Pilgrims, many of whom were religious Puritans who left England to avoid persecution for their ridiculous buckle fetish. They settled in Massachusetts, where they were the first people known to live in America except for the many people who were already here. Records show that in the 1600s, the first Thanksgiving celebrations were loosely scheduled for the period just after Witch Burning Man but before Shame on You for Even Thinking About a Valentine’s Day. Today, Thanksgiving always occurs on the fourth Thursday…

Can we just return to the days when two men greeted each other with a handshake and did not feel the need to exchange some kind of awkward and ultimately false intimate moment? Ronald Reagan greeting Mikhail Gorbachev? No bro-hug. I ask you, What the hell does the bro-hug mean in a world where you see creepy, bad-date mash-ups of it on every NFL draft day, at every Group of Twenty summit, at every country-music awards show? It’s like a 1970s grandfather, eager to seem “with it,” saying, “Slap me five, soul brother!”—stiff, white palm extended like a tollbooth attendant. The bros of 2018, even when they are bro-hugging hellos in their Venmo-friendly local artisanal brew pub, deploy facial expressions of faux-grave intensity, like they are greeting mourners at Biggie’s…

Put it in neutral: I don’t wear a lot of color. It’s generally just black and white or gray, because it blends. And I wear a lot of things that my friends have made. So Ronnie Fieg from Kith, who I think is really redefining American style. Or Teddy Santis, who has a brand called Aimé Leon Dore, which for me is a mixture of ’90s hip-hop and, like, a Greek fisherman. Leica new: Six years ago, I bought a Leica M6. Cameras have been an obsession of mine since junior high school, but Leica is a different level. It was always this coveted, unattainable thing. It feels like a luxury object, but it’s so functional and so well designed that there’s a practical nature and purpose behind it. Futuristic…

You know how people say, “It’s not the heat; it’s the humidity”? Well, it’s not the cold that gets you this time of year. It’s the bone-dry air, indoors and out. Since most guys are better-equipped to winterize their cars than themselves, we’ve assembled a head-to-heels guide for surviving the big chill. The key concept here? Hydration. HAIR Your scalp is bound to get itchy in the colder months. (Blame it on all those hats.) Scale back your shampoo regimen to two or three times a week so you don’t strip away hydrating natural oils, and seal in nutrients with a conditioner (or a doubly nourishing leave-in conditioner). FACE Unless you’re wearing a ski mask (in which case we salute you, you risk-taker), your face is in for a lot…

On a late August evening in Cassadaga, Florida, which is often billed as the psychic capital of the world, I went to see Raven Star, a psychic witch. It was thundering when I knocked on the door of her low-slung house. Raven opened up and took me inside. Her walls were painted dive-bar black. The floors were dirty. There were dragon statuettes and half cans of off-brand soda on the dinner table. There was an electric guitar on the floor. It was as if a Danzig tribute band had been rehearsing there. I’d made the pilgrimage to Cassadaga, which is between Orlando and Daytona Beach, because I had pressing questions. I’d been feeling off, and I’d begun to wonder: Is there a new flaw in my alloy, or some weird…

A dance party is a cross between a sun shower and a seven-layer poussecafé. This phenomenon requires specific conditions and a little legerdemain, but it elicits pure joy. Start with a smaller, darker space. No one genuinely abhors dancing; people just hate looking/feeling stupid. Get a disco ball: It’s as much a telltale sign of what’s to come as a striped pole outside a barber shop. Nix the mini Bluetooth speaker and blast it. Plants (not the leafy kind): Cue up those pals with enough chutzpah and MJ literacy to moonwalk on demand and kick things off. Plants (the leafy kind): Whether via edibles, smokables, or vape, sativa is the surefire cut-a-rug shortcut. Secret sauce: For an ironclad dance party, invest a few hundred bucks in a silent-disco rental. Perks…

CRAFTY Few Spirits American Whiskey $50, 46.5% ABV A new grain-to-glass offering from a newish Illinois distillery—a wonderful blend of bourbon, rye, and malt whiskey that’s been smoked. Breaking & Entering American Whiskey $40, 43% ABV This is a mix of malt whiskey from the brilliant, California-based St. George Spirits, plus rye and bourbon from Kentucky and Tennessee. Jammy, spicy, all-American goodness. Stranahan’s Sherry Cask Single Malt Whiskey $80, 47% ABV A four-year-old whiskey finished in forty-year-old Oloroso sherry casks. Lively yet refined. A prime example of what a U. S. single malt can be. CLASSIC Knob Creek Cask Strength Rye Whiskey $80, 59.8% ABV A big, bold, limited-release rye that’s easy to drink despite the big proof. The Macallan Edition No. 4 $100, 48.4% ABV Think a classic Macallan…

Devin Nunes has a secret. Nunes is the California Republican and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who has become famous in the Trump era for using his position as a battering ram to discredit the Russia investigation and protect Donald Trump at all costs, even if it means shredding his own reputation and the independence of the historically nonpartisan committee in the process. First elected to Congress in 2002, Nunes wasn’t always like this. At one time he was known for his independent streak. When a new class of radical House Republicans pushed its leadership to shut down the government in 2013, Nunes attacked them as “lemmings with suicide vests.” In 2015, during another tumultuous period of House GOP infighting, I interviewed a broad cross section of the chamber’s…

In 1967, two years before I was born, a twenty-eight-year-old from the Bronx had a dream that began with a line of ties. By 1985, the year I turned sixteen and started to notice such things, that vision had become an empire, with outposts as far-flung as San Antonio, my hometown, and it was in a Polo Shop—one of the first standalone stores in the country—that encountered the drunk rush of Ralph Lauren’s all-embracing sense of style, from cologne to key fobs, socks to sunglasses, wool flannels to wallpaper. I had been spending Sunday afternoons poring over the lavish ten-page Polo advertising spreads in The New York Times Magazine and had finally convinced my mother to drive me across town to see the store. It was, as I expected, an…

Kanye West once said, “Listen to the kids, bro.” And until recently, I listened to Kanye West. So it was with great anticipation that I sat down to stream “XO Tour Llif3,” by Lil Uzi Vert, a rising star of “SoundCloud rap”—a genre that, depending on whom you ask, represents either the future of hip-hop or the downfall of Western civilization. Uzi and his peers are mostly very young men with monikers like Ski Mask the Slump God and Wifisfuneral, multiple face tattoos, and haircuts rarely seen outside of anime. They rap, chant, mumble, and whine. Hooks are repeated ad nauseam. The bass is so distorted you’ll wonder if your laptop is broken. An acoustic guitar is sometimes thrown in to denote sensitivity. A surprising amount of it sounds like…

Philips Hue Smart Lightbulbs, $50 Sorry, black leather couch, the bachelor-pad aesthetic is out. One element worth saving? Magically dimming lights. Imagine sitting down to dinner and channeling candlelit ambience with a swipe of your phone screen. All you need is a couple of smart bulbs like the Philips Hue, which work in any standard light fixture and quickly sync to an app on your phone. With them, you can manually adjust the brightness and warmth of a room, set timers, and program gradual adjustments. You know how every restaurant suddenly shifts to “sexy” lighting at 7:00 p.m.? Your party will be like that, but a whole lot smoother. —J. R. ChefSteps Joule Sous Vide, $199 There’s the hard way to impress your guests with perfectly tender pork loins and…

I will tell you up front (at the risk of making you turn the page, but honesty and humility are in part the subject matter here): This may be the least sexy movie-star profile you will ever read. Because you know that thing where you meet a movie star and right off you bond over taking your high-school-aged kids on college tours? No, I don’t know that thing, either. But it’s what happened when I met Steve Carell this past summer. He had spent much of the year with his seventeen-year-old daughter, visiting prospective schools around the country. I recently went through that process with my own two children. So, as is often the case with middle-aged parents in coastal enclaves, we began lamenting the professionalization of the admissions process,…