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SPY Style Finds: 5 Must-Have Pieces of Menswear We’re Shopping in January 2022

A new year, or at the least the first few weeks of a new year, is always a crucial time to take stock of, well, everything in your life — including your menswear rotation. So naturally, this is why we’re all about the best menswear pieces to buy in January 2022. There are several stellar recent and new releases on our radar already, to be sure, including go-to basics, much-loved collaborations and winter style staples that’ll prove just right for cozy, stylish layering.

What to look for when searching for the best new menswear to buy? It’s simple, really, but it comes down to the fact that you’re going to want to find pieces that fit in with your lifestyle and the sort of “vision board” you’ve got laid out for your life in 2022. Perhaps that involves dressing better for the office, dressing with a few more fashion-forward pieces in your wardrobe, or even finding one of the best watches for men. Maybe it involves focusing on the basics, such as finding your best new t-shirt or updating your best white sneakers and then branching out into cool designer collaborations.

And perhaps it involves just looking more put-together, be it upgrading the fit of your chinos or quality of your most comfortable jeans, or lacing up some fresh new boots. It’s been a challenging search to narrow down our favorite menswear of the year to just five of the best new pieces so far, but these are our top picks for style in spades to kick-off 2022. Bundle up for winter, find what works for you and dress with great looks top of mind every single day. It’s easy with these selections, trust us.

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1. Todd Snyder x L.L.Bean Embroidered Sweatshirt

BEST DESIGNER COLLABORATION

There are always designer collaborations to keep an eye on and add to your wish list, but it seems there are a rare few that are actually priced at an accessible level or even available longer than a few days. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the second edition of the Todd Snyder x L.L.Bean collaboration, a return that follows on the heels of the famed fall 2020 partnership between the two.

Although this collaboration has so far proven mighty popular, there are still some fresh pieces up for grabs, including this retro-minded embroidered sweatshirt, one that seamlessly blends the old and the new. It looks great with faded jeans or chinos, it’s a perfect mid-layer beneath an L.L.Bean parka, and it’s a cool sweatshirt that could turn into a collector’s item over the years. Make it yours now to upgrade your casual looks aplenty in 2022.

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Courtesy of Todd Snyder

  

2. Amazon Essentials Long-Sleeve Oxford Shirt

BEST EVERYDAY STYLE UPGRADE

Sometimes, ramping up your style for a new year isn’t all about reaching for designer collaborations, as much as that might seem to be the case. Sometimes, you need to pick up new menswear that works on the daily, pieces that aren’t too flashy but rather prove a backbone for many a look. Take the humble Oxford shirt. Originally a prep and school uniform staple, it’s since graduated to office looks, and even a few fashion-forward streetwear looks over the years.

But when done up by Amazon Essentials, it’s just a straightforward, easy-to-wear, highly affordable pick you can mix and match with blue jeans, slim chinos, even joggers and more. It pairs up with a blazer or a V-neck sweatshirt and can always be worn on its own with the sleeves rolled up to show off your favorite watch. Perhaps one adorned with a new leather watch strap.

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Courtesy of Amazon

  

3. Goodthreads Shawl Collar Cable Knit Cardigan

BEST WINTER SWEATER

If we’ve said it before, we’ve said it hundreds of times (OK, not quite, but you get the picture). The right style upgrades for 2022 and beyond are sometimes all about the basics, those seemingly simple style picks that actually make a world of difference. Take the sweater on your back and in your closet. What if it was both rugged enough to layer up with at your cabin on a winter weekend retreat and yet polished enough to be worn to get a winter Old Fashioned?

That’s what this nicely priced shawl collar cardigan from Amazon’s Goodthreads adds to your wardrobe. It clocks in at under $50, it looks great with slim khakis or burgundy corduroy pants, and it’s but one small style move that makes a big difference. The next time you reach for a winter sweater, make it this one.

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Courtesy of Amazon

  

4. Flint and Tinder Highlands Jacket

 BEST RUGGED WINTER JACKET

The proper layers are the lifeblood, so to speak, of any winter look, especially as temperatures plummet and fluctuate more and more each day. A guy can never go wrong with one of the best men’s winter jackets, is really what we’re trying to say, and Flint and Tinder has long made plenty of the best of ’em when it comes to impossibly rugged, hard-wearing styles.

While its traditional fan-favorite Waxed Trucker Jacket is tough to pass up, the newly launched Highlands Jacket is just as essential and just as exceptionally well-made, featuring a remarkably durable exterior, a water-resistant finish and warm down fill. Think of it like a day-to-night jacket for plenty of winter’s best adventures.

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Courtesy of Huckberry

  

5. Saturdays NYC All-Terrain Anorak

BEST STYLISH ADVENTURE JACKET

We’re biased, but we think each of these picks takes the cake as far as some of the best menswear you can buy in 2022. But we’re not done yet, and neither are the good folks at the always on-trend Saturdays NYC. This fittingly named all-terrain anorak delivers the best adventure-ready style and performance of any jacket we’ve seen in a long time. It should prove apt as a mid-layer beneath a parka, or on its own later this spring and winter as things get all the more breezy. Think of it like a transitional jacket you can wear around the city and then out on the trail and back without missing a beat. It’s just as Saturdays NYC intended. It sounds like another can’t-miss style move in our book.

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Courtesy of Huckberry

  

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Beau Hayhoe

Contributor

Beau is a Brooklyn-based men's lifestyle writer covering fashion, whiskey, craft beer, music and more. He regularly covers menswear for more than a half-dozen prominent outlets, including Maxim and…