The Tuxedo, the Waxed Jacket and the Greyest Sneaker of the Year

Monday night at the American Museum of Natural History, American menswear had its coronation. Ralph Lauren, 87, took home American Menswear Designer of the Year, presented by Matt Damon and Denim Tears founder Tremaine Emory, and the room gave him a standing ovation. It was the least surprising and most deserved win of the night: no living designer has done more to define what American men wear when they want to look like they mean it.

Damon dressed the part, in a double-breasted Ralph Lauren Purple Label tuxedo worn with a black cashmere turtleneck instead of a shirt and bow tie. The turtleneck-under-tailoring move is the takeaway here. It softens black tie without casualising it, and it is far easier to wear than a wing collar and studs. If you own one good tuxedo, a fine black knit is the cheapest way to make it feel new again.

The night's other menswear lesson came from Shaboozey, who wore a cream Ralph Lauren blazer over a white vest and shirt, tucked into jeans, with a turquoise bolo tie and belt buckle. It was cowboy couture without the costume: the blazer did the formal work, the denim and turquoise did the personality. Between Damon's restraint and Shaboozey's ease, the CFDA red carpet sketched the two poles of American menswear right now, and both of them were wearing Ralph Lauren.

If one fabric owns this autumn, it is waxed cotton. The season's smartest move is the trade J.Crew and Barbour just made: each brand reworked the other's signature jacket. J.Crew took Barbour's Beaufort and cut it in a vivid Apple Green with a hunter green corduroy collar, tartan lining and an apple lapel pin. Barbour answered by rendering J.Crew's Barn Jacket, a staple since 1986, in Black Watch plaid waxed cotton with a cognac corduroy collar.

The appeal is not nostalgia alone. Waxed cotton is windproof, rain-resistant, and it ages: the fabric creases and develops a patina that is unique to the wearer, which is exactly the kind of slow-luxury story that lands in a season obsessed with craftsmanship. One UK heritage retailer's sales data tells the same story, with wax cotton up 79% year on year and men's jackets and coats up 174% in revenue.

London doubles down today. Palace and Burberry launch a 10-piece capsule for the opening of Palace's new Soho flagship, led by Burberry's Camden car coat in honey beige with countryside-inspired screen printing, plus House Check caps, shirts, tees, a hooded jacket and a skateboard. It is in-store only, no online release, which makes the queue part of the product. The message from both collaborations is the same: heritage is not a museum piece this season, it is the drop.

Today is the biggest sneaker day of the month. Jordan Brand's Space Jam 30th anniversary collection lands, nine pairs deep, led by the Air Jordan 41 Space Jam at $205: grey Nano Print mesh, a light blue lattice overlay, a glow-in-the-dark blue outsole and a 30th anniversary logo on the insole. It is the only current performance model in a lineup that is otherwise retros, and it is the pair for people who care more about playing in them than framing them.

The week keeps building. Tomorrow, November 6, New Balance launches the Made in USA 990v7 in Kool Gray at $200, the first new 990 generation since 2022. Four years of development went into a softer FuelCell midsole with ENCAP cushioning, and the launch campaign fronts ROSALIA, Josh Allen, Cooper Flagg and IU, which tells you exactly how far the grey dad shoe has travelled from the running track to the front row.

Saturday brings the retro purists their moment: the Air Jordan 6 White Infrared returns for the first time since 2014 at $215, with Nike Air branding back on the heel for the first time since 1991. Note the market signal, though: pre-release resale was already sitting under retail, most sizes around $190. This is a buy-to-wear week, not a flip week, and that is good news for anyone who actually wants the shoes.

While the sneaker world shouts, the watch world is whispering, and the whispers are interesting. The headline is Casio's CMK-100, the first automatic movement in the brand's core catalog: a titanium case, sapphire crystal and a $440 price on the bracelet, $330 on nylon. For a company that built fifty years of reputation almost entirely on quartz, this is a genuine milestone, and at that price it is the most accessible serious automatic of the season.

The dress-watch story belongs to Timex. The WM Brown x Timex Rectangle, designed with menswear figure Matt Hranek, is an Art Deco-inspired 27mm rectangle with a railroad minute track, faceted dauphine hands and both a steel bracelet and a brown leather strap in the $349 gift set. It sold through on Timex US within days of its October 27 announcement, which says plenty about the appetite for small, quiet, well-designed dress watches right now.

The third lane is pure nostalgia, done properly. Timex's Ironman 8-Lap 40th Anniversary reissues the original 1986 watch exactly as it first appeared, 39mm resin case, orange accents, 8-lap memory, at $129. It is the cheapest watch in this week's roundup and arguably the most fun: a piece of running history that still works as a training watch. Between the three, November's watch message is clear: buy the quiet one, not the loud one.