A magical Saturday roadtrip

June 4 was a busy day. Like a driving-across-the-state-of-Missouri kind of day with lots of stops along the way and a little hop over to Kansas. (Map of our gallivanting and peregrinations.)

9 a.m.:
Jeff: Wake up in Columbia from wedding-dancing-coma and shacking at 1613 for the last time. I call my mother because I'm a good son (that, and I'm driving—you always gotta make those check-in phone calls when you've got a good commute). She tells me that she and Bill (step-dad) are going to NASCAR like any good Midwestern, blue-collar family does on a Saturday. They have extra tickets. I say, "Hell yes."
Seth: Wake up in Joplin and ignore Jeff's phone calls and demands. (Editor's note: because he is legitimately busy with reporting on tragedy and devastation.)
Cam: Sleeping.

11 a.m.:
Jeff: Stop by my favorite place in Independence, Cargo Largo. It's the island of misfit toys with sweet finds, like Sperrys, Jack Spade dopp kits and Clarks.
Seth: Car troubles. Turns out his car just needed a little T.L.C. Come on, Seth. Don't go chasing waterfalls.
Cam: Sleeping.

12 a.m.:
Jeff: Go back to my homestead and consume various forms of food that I won't buy for myself.
Seth: Back on the road.
Cam: Still sleeping.

1 p.m.:
Jeff: Hop in Seth's car.
Seth: Let Jeff hop in Seth's car.
Cam: Get up to go pee and then go back to bed.

2 p.m.:
Jeff & Seth: Arrive at Kansas Speedway and drink beer.

My thrifted brown woven and wine fringe leather loafers by Allen Edmonds.

At the end of the race, the winner does a little dance.

4 p.m.:

Drive to Columbia, surprise our friend Kimberly at "the Winery." We sneak out back and romp around in the vineyards.

Straw fedora with chambray trim ($14) by Target; thrifted shirting; khaki shorts by J.Crew ($20); thrifted woven loafers ($4) by Allen Edmonds; thrifted woven leather belt ($1); watch ($18) by Timex.

Shirting ($30) by J.Crew.

5 p.m.:

Eat a pint of Lavender Honey from Sparky's. Lament the fact all the cicada ice cream would be gone. (But not to worry; there would be plenty of cicadas later.)

This is the only ice cream you need to eat. Lavender Honey. It will change your life.

7 p.m.:

Leave Columbia and head to a pool party.

9 p.m.:

Arrive in St. Louis. Hop in the pool.

10 p.m.:

Someone pushes Seth over the edge and he eats a cicada.

11 p.m.:

To Duffy's! Kirkwood's frattest finest.

The early-morning hours of the next day:

@katiestipo and @emlew: "What are you doing, Jeff? Carrying your shorts like a school boy?"

@jeffkies: "Yeah...."

Thrifted shirting ($3); floral board shorts ($40) by EVER; blue lobster shorts (gift); thrifted woven belt ($1); canvas tote by Filson; waxed dopp kit ($50) by Jack Spade.

midweSTYLE: St. Louis (Part Two)

The Midwestyle traveled to wretched great St. Louis for a grand wedding weekend. College friends getting married brought us back to the city for a weekend of thrifting, dancing and getting into trouble—oh, and that wedding we were in. Ain't wedding season just...great...?

(See "Part One" for the rest of the story.)

Cam, Seth, Jeff.

We strolled along Busch Stadium and gave our two cents on what we think of the Cardinals. We walked down the street to another iconic St. Louis monument, The Arch. While Seth and I were doing groomsmen things, Cam visited the gold mine of designer clearance, Nordstrom Rack.

To see some close-ups of our wardrobe, check out our Tumblr for a few details.

Photography by Jarred Donalson

Thrifty Thursday: Rackin' it

Editor's Public Service Announcement: Just in case you didn't see Twitter or Facebook earlier this week, we did (finally) pick winners for the bow-tie challenge. Thanks for the reminders, questions and general cleverness about our tardiness. It would appear the interns really dropped the ball on this one. (We gave them one job—one job...). In any event, the lucky two were:

• Drew Jones Art
• mah5160

Congrats to the winners, and to the rest of you: Be sure and enter next time. We think the interns have learned their lesson. If pulling outhouse duty doesn't teach them, I don't know what will.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming:

There are a few places you're sure to find things cheap. Wal-Mart. McDonald's. On the apparel side of things, you'll get anything you find in a dumpster for free, garage sales almost always guarantee low prices, and thrift stores are nice for weakening the blow to your finances. But then there are times you're itching for something new, something that hasn't been washed and loved on by somebody else, something with price tags still attached—but price tags with small numbers on them. Enter Nordstrom Rack.

You see, there is no Nordstrom Rack in Kansas City (yet), so I had not encountered one until our recent wedding field trip to St. Louis. I'm not much of a planner, and I'm even less of a packer, so when time came to put together a bag to take to the Lou, I threw some underwear and toiletries in my Wanderer and grabbed some hanging shirts out of my closet in an effort to use as little energy as possible. And then I set off, without too many wedding appropriate items in tow. "I'll buy some in St. Louis," I thought. As you may have guessed, I'm also a procrastinator, so at about seven in the evening on the eve of the wedding day, I set out to find some shoes and some neckwear. Nordstrom Rack would have a moderately priced selection of both, I was told.

Granted, Nordstrom stocks a lot of things that I consider unwearable, for whatever reason. But, at the same time, the Rack had a nice array of Clarks, Top-Siders, and Florsheims, all at about half off. The tie collection was just as appealing and twice as cheap. I walked away with a pair of black suede Clarks desert boots for $50 and a $15 Rooster polka dot bow tie. Two items that will get a lot of wear. Two items that I avoided paying full price for. I think this is called winning.

Bow tie (Nordstrom Rack, $15) by Rooster; cotton oxford (thrifted, $3) by Arrow, medium; slim cotton chinos (Urban Outfitters, sale $10) by Dockers, size 31; leather belt (stolen from my father—thanks, dad); suede desert boots (Nordstrom Rack, $50) by Clarks, size 10.

Photography by Jarred Donalson.

midweSTYLE: St. Louis (Part One)

You know that feeling of joy when you are reunited with best friends who always greet with you a warm, bear-like slap on the back followed by a quick rub to diffuse the gentle sting? That's how I feel when the Midwestyle reunites.

We got together in St. Louis for our good man Patrick's wedding. If you're from Missouri or have Missouri friends, you know Kansas City hates St. Louis. And that St. Louis hates Kansas City right back. Or maybe it's just our friends have this thing with their hometown pride.

Either way, Patrick, a Kansas City boy, met Emmy, a St. Louis girl, and forged peace between the Montagues and Capulets of KC-STL—at least for the time being. Naturally, we brought our favorite Kansas City goods with us to this wretched great city!

Actually, we just found all of these belongings in our car. Let's be honest: You need to take some hometown swag with you wherever you go. We chose Boulevard Pale Ale, KC Baldwin hat and a throwback "Wizards" jersey.

But really "St. Louis" people, do you actually live in St. Louis? Nope, you live in Chesterfield, West County or Kirkwood. We, on the other hand, actually have mailing addresses that say "Kansas City" not "Lee's Summit" or "Overland Park." Represent.

The Three Madras Amigos showing our St. Louis denizens how we feel. Everyone loves a meaningless, mildly offensive middle-school gesture.

Noteworthy details: My no-break chinos and "Lexington" wingtips by Florsheim.

Noteworthy detail: Seth's thrifted woven and stitched loafers by Giorgio Brutini.

Noteworthy detail: The "KC" welt and felt hat by Baldwin Denim.

On Cameron: pink, fuchsia and orange madras shirt (thrifted at Wild Man Vintage, $7) by Royal Knight, medium; grey slim-fit trouser shorts (Urban Outfitters, $40) by BDG, size 31; "KC" baseball cap (Standard Style, $42) by Baldwin Denim, size large; well-loved and worn "Authentics" (online, $40) by Vans, size 10; throwaway aviators from Urban Outfitters ($10).

On Jeff: Grey slim-fit "Davis" chino (retail, $50) by Club Monaco, size 28x32; brown leather belt with brass detailing (sale, $4.99) by J.Crew, size 30; blue-and-green large-check madras shirt (sale, $29.99) by J.Crew; "Lexington" wingtips without laces (Nordstrom Rack, $50) by Florsheim, size 11; knock-off "Clubmaster" sunglasses (Seek Vintage, $12).

On Seth: Blue and violet plaid button-down (swiped from Cam); "Corporal" chinos courtesy of J Brand, size 30; woven and stitched tassel loafers (thrifted, $6) by Giorgio Brutini.

Photography by Jarred Donalson.

Cicada Population Control Officer Seth

Seth will do anything once.

Seth will do anything once for money.
Seth will do anything once for money that doesn't land him in jail.

Seth will do anything once for money that involves ingesting something.

After a hours on end of driving my ass around during one of our increasingly frequent Mo.-Kan.-Ill. roadtrips (which he wouldn't have to do if I just learned how to drive a stick), we sought refuge at the Stipo compound in St. Louis. After lounging in the pool to one of the best party playlists ever, it became clear that Missouri has a cicada problem. A wager was mentioned. Seth ate one.

For how much? Emily and Katie threw out $15 and the lie promise of "We'll buy you a meal when we come visit Chicago." Seth accepted the lie offer and slammed a cicada.

TRAVEL: Midwest weddings, shenannigans and reporting

We've been a little busy lately, thus why we've haven't posted as much.

• We all went to our dear friend Patrick's wedding in St. Louis.
• Seth is from Joplin and went down to do some long-term reporting about the tornado, clean up and see family. His family is safe, but the town is reeling—thanks for your prayers and donations.
• Jeff has had weddings each weekend and bachelor parties to plan. Someone has to make sure the Knob Creek is safe for everyone to drink and the dance floor is prepped for krumping, Dougin' and the Bernie.
• Cameron finished finals at Mizzou and has been getting kicked out of medical trials, thus remaining a rejected test dummy for medical studies. But he's doing well sans needles and mysterious pills for the sake of fat cash.

See you after the weekend with plenty of photographs, stories and posts to come. Enjoy your weekend.

But really, what have you been up to this week/end?

Friday Wrap-Up: Spring into sales

Noteworthy Sales in the Midwest:

• Chicago: Haberdash has their sale starting. 20-70% off Gant, Steven Alan and all things worthy to add to your menswear line-up of classic yet modern pieces. Stock up, son.
• Chicago: Bloomingdales has their spring sale with an additional 40% clearance. Seth and I stocked up on some Gant shirting, along with crew necks that are going for around $20 when all is said and done.
• Chicago: Also, while you're at the 900 Shops, stop by the Second Floor and hop into J.Crew. They're having an additional 30% already marked down clearance items. Great basics and shirting for around $10 to $20 a pop. Say hi to Austin, Drew or Raymond. They'll hook you up and find your size.
• Kansas City: Standard Style Boutique is having their Memorial Day Sale with around 30% off and an additional 10% sale items. Stop by if you're around Leawood in the 'burbs or if you're trouncing around the Plaza. Say "hi" to Daniel and Angela when you stop by if you're down in Leawood. Tell them Jeff sent you. And send our love to Aaron and Josh once you've finished your lattes at Latteland around the corner on the Plaza.
• Kansas City: While you're down in Leawood, don't forget to stop by Habitat Shoes across the street by the Apple Store. Please. Someone needs to buy those Rachel Comeys before I have them life-flight those babies to me. Size 11 if you want to do me a favor.
• St. Louis: I'm not sure if there is a sale, but you'd be silly not to stop by the Cherokee Antique Row after our latest finds. Bow ties, top hats and wingtips for you dapper gents over at "Retro 101."
• Everywhere: Our hometown hero, Anna (who goes to Mizzou), just launched her Etsy shop. Right now, she's got some sweet bow ties. But you've seen those already since you entered our giveaway. Wait, you haven't? Well get on it. We're picking a winner soon.

We usually don't do this, but one other quick thing for our New York friends (or anyone else). You may have heard about Joplin, Mo., which just got hit by an EF5 tornado that killed more than 120 people and destroyed about 30 percent of the town. Both Seth and our dear friend Cary Randolph Fuller both grew up in Joplin, and Cary's organizing a benefit in NYC next week. (You can read Seth's newspaper column to find out more about the devastation.)

If you feel so inclined, head to the Lounge at Los Feliz on Wednesday for margaritas, charity and beautiful people. Details below. We have it on good authority that Cary herself will be there. Lucky you.