The Guide: Spring Is In The Air

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for—skirt season is finally here! Get your ass outdoors and enjoy life for the first time in months. The only thing better than fresh air and sunshine is the bounty of awesomeness collected in these pages: the season’s most versatile jacket, America’s greatest sports car, the quintessential spring beer, and more. Think of it as spring training for cool guys. Now step up to the plate and take some cuts.

This feature appears in Complex's April/May 2013 issue.

As spring showers give way to good vibes and sunrays, add a little hippie spirit to your wardrobe. Tie-dye is back, albeit with some new variations: Levi’s Made & Crafted has a blue and white tiger-striped tee, Shades of Grey by Micah Cohen went acid washed with their shorts, and U.S. Alteration’s ombré-dipped sneakers are subtle and unexpected. Just don’t wear them all at once—that didn’t even work in the ’60s.

1. Surface to Air
$110, surfacetoair.com
2. Jungmaven
$72, jungmaven.com
3. Levi’s Made & Crafted
$90, haberdashmen.com
4. Anonymousism
$25, unionmade.com
5. Shades of Grey by Micah Cohen
$96, shadesofgreyclothing.com
6. U.S. Alteration
$88, usalteration.com

Five-panel camp caps are a breathable alternative to the wool hats of autumn and winter. Easily adjustable thanks to a nylon strap in the back, they come in flashy prints as well as versatile solid colors. From streetwear OGs like Stüssy to classic American brands like Carhartt, the hat game is brimming with dope choices.

1. Stüssy
$26, stussy.com
2. Maiden Noir
$60, maidennoir.com
3. Commune
$28, store.thecommune.com
4. HUF
$36, store.hufworldwide.com
5. Carhartt
$25, carhartt-wip.com

Denim jackets are always going to be cool. They’re also some of the most versatile pieces in any guy’s wardrobe. Sure, they look great thrown over a hoodie, but that’s not the only way to wear one well. No need for Canadian tuxedos, either. Here are three foolproof methods for rocking this spring’s go-to jacket.

Denim Jacket
$400, maidennoir.com

CLASS IT UP

Wear it over a shirt and tie, and underneath a cotton trench coat on breezy days. Pair it with some cuffed chinos and brown shoes—sans socks, naturally.

Shirt
$210, cpcompany.com

Tie
$198, alexanderolch.com

Trench Coat
$470, usonline.apc.fr

Pants
$65, dockers.com

Shoes
$455, shop.markmcnairy.com

GO CASUAL

Denim jackets and white tees have been worn together from day one, so why mess up a good thing? Keep it timeless with some khaki pants and crisp, white sneakers.

T-shirt
$108, atmtees.com

Belt
$620, parabellumcollection.com

Pants
$70, lifetimecollective.com

Sneakers
$70, adidas.com

BE CREATIVE

So what if you’re not the star player? The girls at the gym will still be on your jock if you leave the locker room in a heather-gray sweat- suit, with bright kicks and a killer hat. The denim jacket brings everything together.

Hat
$40, undefeated.com

Sweatsuit
$230, reigningchamp.com

Sneakers
$180, gsrnnfillingpieces.com

BEYOND THE BLUE

When it comes to variations on the classic trucker jacket, the sky’s the limit.

You can’t go wrong with dark indigo, the most popular take on the iconic trucker jacket. If you want a more eye-catching color or pattern, try a bright white or bleached jacket. Either works well complementing any pair of jeans.

1. Ralph Lauren Black Label Denim
$395, ralphlauren.com

2. G-Star
$200, g-star.com

3. Levi’s
$78, levis.com

There’s no mistaking a sneaker from the adidas Originals by Jeremy Scott collection. His distinct aesthetic and singular vision have garnered him a reputation as one of fashion’s great minds. He also brings some much-needed comic relief to an often uptight business. “Humor is hands down the most important element in our lives,” says Scott. “It’s exciting to have a familiar part of the design, while the other part is stretching the concept of what the design is.”

He creates shoes that are exaggerated and surreal, and playful in a way other designers wouldn’t dare. The results are humorous, but also offer a fresh look that’s as timeless as it is versatile. If you aren’t sold, just wait. You will be. “I feel like I have a duty to give people what they don’t know they want yet,” explains Scott. He’s right.

Adidas Originals by Jeremy Scott
JS Wings 2.0
$220, adidas.com

When Tinker Hatfield designed the Jordan XX8, he was anticipating the initial public pushback that said the shoe wasn’t wearable off the court. “We expected that,” the don of sneaker designers says. “We’ve failed if we don’t get that criticism. Some people need someone else to validate something for them before they can accept it.” And that’s exactly what happened. Once Russell Westbrook torched the Brooklyn Nets wearing the XX8, the hype started to build.

Stealth is the inspiration behind the XX8’s design. Jordan Brand’s creative director Mark Smith asked Michael Jordan what that word meant to him. “By the time you see us, it’s too late,” replied MJ. Those words stirred Tinker, and became a mantra as he worked out the boot-inspired design. The zip-up shroud can take on any pattern, including that of the AJ VIII, shown above.

“I design as if Michael Jordan was still playing,” Hatfield says. Every element of the XX8 was carefully constructed, down to the upper that folds with the seams perfectly aligned per MJ’s instruction. When Tinker asked Jordan what parts of the sneaker needed to be improved, Jordan said, “Make sure that all the seams are done so it looks finished even when it’s folded over.” Turns out that’s exactly how Westbrook prefers to wear his XX8s.

Jordan XX8
April 6, $250, jumpman23.com

In 1992, the Orlando Magic made one of the easiest No. 1 picks in the history of the NBA Draft. A short time later, the 7-foot-1-inch big man named Shaquille O’Neal teamed up with Reebok. When he made his NBA debut on November 6, he was wearing the Reebok Shaq Attaq, his first signature sneaker.

Among the design features of Shaq’s first signature kicks was the iconic logo depicting O’Neal throwing down one of his monster two-handed dunks, soon to be dubbed the “Dunkman.” The Shaq Attaq debuted in retail stores a few months into O’Neal’s rookie season, and the Shaq logo quickly became one of the most recognizable symbols in the NBA after the Diesel’s overpowering dunks were etched in the memories of fans via two broken backboards and countless shamed NBA bigs.

Twenty years later, Reebok has brought the Shaq Attaq back in retro form. True to its roots, the Shaq Attaq comes complete with the Pump system, carbon fiber detailing throughout the midsole, a leather upper, and the Orlando Magic-inspired colorway that was made iconic by one of the greatest players in NBA history.

Reebok Shaq Attaq
April 19, $160, reebok.com

Long ago in Belgium, farmers brewed spicy, fruity ales called saisons in the colder months, and stored the brew until spring, when it was time to get turnt up. Pretty smart. Now that winter is over, reward yourself with one of these American farmhouse ales, refreshing beers that expand on the Belgian tradition.

Dogfish Head x Victory x Stone
Saison du Buff
Milton, DE

One recipe, three breweries, three different beers. This particular incarnation comes from Dogfish Head, where parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme get freaky together to make this tangy ale.

Stillwater Artisanal Ales
Cellar Door
Baltimore

Gypsy brewer Brian Strumke works in Baltimore, but often makes beer elsewhere. Other brewers respect his work so much, they invite him to use their tanks. His Cellar Door tastes like tangerines, the right complement to a warm day.

The Bruery
Saison Rue
Placentia, CA

The flavor of this bottle-conditioned beer changes the longer you keep it around. As the spicy rye flavors dry out, they give way to deep earthy notes. Let it age, and you’ll have an entirely different beer on your hands.

Goose Island
Sofie
Chicago

Poured up, Sofie looks like Champagne, but with a frothy, stiff head. Fans of French bubbly will appreciate the citrusy effervescence, while beer drinkers will enjoy the rich vanilla note at the finish.

Saint Somewhere Brewing Co.
Pays du Soleil
Tarpon Springs, FL

Brettanomyces is the yeast that gives this saison its barnyard funk. Pop the cork to let the Brett breathe as complex notes of fruit and burnt sugar emerge.

For the true hardball fan, baseball video games have failed to keep up with the hyper-realistic aesthetics of other sports’ titles. Old school Nintendo classics like Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball and Bases Loaded aside, America’s pastime remained on the lower rungs of the sports game evolutionary ladder. At least until Sony’s MLB The Show franchise was created. Seven seasons and seven incarnations of the game later, MLB 13 The Show has arrived with a renewed focus on realism and hardcore immersion into life in the big leagues.

Stunning physics, crystal-clear graphics, and depressingly realistic contract negotiations aside, the centerpiece of MLB 13 is Post Season Mode. Games can now fly past Spring Training, the All-Star Break, and the August dog days, and go straight into the pennant chase. Skipping summer never seemed so fun.

MLB 12’s online Home Run Derby also returns, but with a cross-platform twist. Once limited to console formats, the Derby is now available on the PlayStation Vita for MLB 13. No matter where you are, a long-ball battle is just an Internet connection away.

In a nod to novice gamers, Sony added a beginner’s mode with an artificial intelligence system that adapts to a player’s gaming abilities. As you get better, the game gets more challenging. Aside from a wide array of player modes, MLB 13 also toned down the commentary audio. In years past, commentators would run their yaps throughout the game’s action. Now, they know their place, piping down to replicate the pin-drop moment of dead-air silence before the bat hits the ball.

If that’s not enough to satiate the most hardcore seamheads, then 130 batting stances, 50 new pitching motions, and 250 fielding and running animations should. Throw in the capability to play the same match-ups from the real-life MLB season as it progresses, and you might as well cancel that cable package.

MLB 13 The Show is available now for PlayStation 3 ($60) and PlayStation Vita ($40).

Up until last year, consumer electronics companies—assisted by the Hollywood machine—believed 3D was the wave of the future. They thought the magic pill for their ailing industry was an overload of three-dimensional goodness. And while Tinseltown still plans to gouge moviegoers with $15 tickets, electronics makers, not seeing the kind of sales they anticipated, have moved on to another technology: ultra high definition video, dubbed 4K or Ultra HD.

If you’ve purchased an HDTV or camera capable of displaying or capturing full HD, the resolution maxes out at 1080p. Ultra HD features twice the horizontal and vertical resolution, and four times the number of pixels. That means you’ll be able to get real movie theater–quality video in your crib—in theory at least. Cineplexes around the country have already been outfitted with the equipment needed to screen Ultra HD films. But don’t start buttering the popcorn in your 4K home theater just yet.

As with all new technology, you’re going to pay a grip if you want to be an early adopter. The cheapest Ultra HD TV is made by a former OEM manufacturer from China called Hisense, and will run you around $10,000 when it drops this spring. Models from more mainstream companies are even more expensive. One of the first to make it to market is Sony’s 84" set, which goes for $25,000. LG also has an 84" Ultra HD TV (pictured above). It has 3D capabilities and costs a relatively reasonable $17,000.

The other problem is content. While there are a number of movies available in Ultra HD resolution already, there aren’t enough to justify selling your car for a television. This is due in large part to the size of Ultra HD video. If you were to buy an HD movie from iTunes, the file would be around 2GB. An uncompressed two-hour 4K movie would be in the 55TB range. You probably don’t have that much storage on your MacBook. Streaming is tricky, too—your bandwidth will need to accommodate 1GB per second.

Do you need an Ultra HD TV? No. You don’t need anything over 720p, especially when it’s so expensive. But is 4K really that much better? Yes. No one thought having a smartphone with an HD screen would be such a game changer until Apple dropped its Retina Display. So while your 1080p set will more than suffice for now, just know: Ultra HD is the future. Start saving now.

As the world’s longest-running continuously produced sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette is America’s flagship ride. For 60 years, and through seven generations, it has embodied the finest in American automotive engineering and technology—from fiberglass in 1953 to carbon fiber in 2013. When the first Vette was introduced, legendary GM styling director Harley Earl insisted that an American car could compete in the European-dominated sports car market. That couldn’t be more true today.

The second generation Corvette, launched in 1963, was modeled on—and named after—a concept race car, the Sting Ray (Stingray became one word in 1968). The ’63 Vette is revered as one of the most beautiful designs in automotive history. “One of the reasons I’m in the business is the ’63 Sting Ray,” says Tom Peters, Corvette’s director of exterior design. “There is magic about it. It’s timeless.”

The spirit of the ’63, with its radical split rear window, is in the DNA of the new Vette, dubbed the C7, which was revealed at the North American International Auto Show on January 13, 2013. It’s the first Corvette to take the Stingray name since 1978. The C7 follows the tradition of pushing boundaries while maintaining aesthetic continuity with its forebears. For his groundbreaking creation, Peters recalled the automobile that sparked his imagination as a third grader: “There’s music in that car. There’s race cars, and there’s fighter jets. You combine them in a new way and you get the C7.”

Like the ’63 Vette that inaugurated the Stingray name, the C7—thanks in part to the all-new LT1 engine—truly advances the legendary franchise. Peters notes that fighter jets were his most consistent performance vehicle design influence. That idea is apparent in the interior, too, where the aim was simple. “We wanted a cockpit feel,” says Helen Emsely, director of interior design, “so that when you sit in the car, the interior wraps around you.” The final interior is a result of a unique collaboration between the Corvette team and the factory workers who will actually produce the car at GM’s Bowling Green, KY plant—insurance that the initial idea is carried out to perfection.

The 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray will hit dealers in early fall. Drivers? You’re cleared for takeoff.

Engine: 6.2-L V8 LT1
Output: 450 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque
0-60 mph: Under 4 Seconds