Inside KAZOO's Wardrobe (31) NHK E-Tele "SNS Eigojutsu" #MPRRaccoon (aired 2018/12/27)

1.Gray turtleneck sweater by Ralph Lauren

As this was our last episode of the year, I wanted to go out with a bang, wardrobe-wise. So for the very first time in my life, I wore a turtleneck sweater. (I will admit I also wanted something that would be in contrast to my Christmas sweater from last week.)

This sweater is from Ralph Lauren in Shinjuku Isetan Men’s. The merino wool is thin and light but retains heat very well—just a little bit of moving around and you’ll get comfortably toasty. The fabric is also washable, meaning the sweater can easily be laundered at home.

Perhaps the most iconic champion of the turtleneck in recent memory was Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. Technically speaking, he wore what’s called a “mock turtleneck", which is somewhere between a crewneck that ends at the base of the neck and a full turtleneck, which covers most or all of the neck. On a man, a mock turtleneck usually comes up to about the Adam’s apple. If you have a shorter neck, the style will work its magic and give you a more elongated look. Side note, the black mock turtlenecks Steve Jobs used to wear as his “uniform" were designed by Japanese fashion designer Issei Miyake. Apparently, Jobs took a liking to one of the sweaters he bought, and tried to order more. Unfortunately, the product was no longer in production, so he ended up having one custom made, with 100 units delivered to him. Afterwards he would order new batches every so often.

As for me, I wasn’t specifically going for a tech CEO look; if anything, I was trying to evoke the beatniks of the 1950s, or pop art icon Andy Warhol. Basically, an intellectual-slash-artist type.