Inside My Mid-Life Crisis

After 40, most of us start to panic about what we have (or haven’t) accomplished. [View in Browser]( [Esquire Sunday Reads]( [Inside My Mid-Life Crisis]( Inside My Mid-Life Crisis I'd seen the word on social media. Mid. The show was mid. The song was mid. The rapper was mid. So many shows, songs, rappers, and more are unknown to me, trees in the now-bewildering wilderness of pop culture that the young navigate effortlessly. But I rapidly deduced that mid is not good. Mid is mediocre. Middle of the road. Meh. And then I realized—I am mid. The pandemic made my midness unavoidable. Until then, I could convince myself that I looked ten years younger than I was, and looking good is halfway to feeling good. But in the Age of the Mask, my face of denial was shrouded. Suddenly all I saw were eyes. Nothing I did to my visage or hair could perform a trompe l’oeil and camouflage how my age was now inscribed in the lines and wrinkles around my eyes, underlined emphatically by a duo of bags that got heavier every year. [Read the Full Story]( [MORE FROM ESQUIRE]( [Pharrell's Bold Take on the Iconic Louis Vuitton Speedy Bag Has Finally Arrived]( Pharrell's Bold Take on the Iconic Louis Vuitton Speedy Bag Has Finally Arrived Apologies to the purists, but sometimes the remix is better. That’s how I felt when I saw Pharrell Williams’ rework of the iconic Louis Vuitton Speedy bag, which just released online this week. If you’re not familiar with Pharrell, I applaud your ability to live this long under a rock. But here’s the short version: he’s an inimitable producer and performer, wildly influential fashion trailblazer, and the person currently charged with leading the design efforts of one of the most influential and successful fashion houses in the world, Louis Vuitton. 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And he can karaoke and twerk with the best of them, often simultaneously. “I’m a normal guy,” he said, “but I guess I have a weird life.” [Read the Full Story]( [Five Fits With: NY Giants Tight End Darren Waller]( Five Fits With: NY Giants Tight End Darren Waller Darren Waller, tight end for the New York Giants, discovered his interest in fashion and dressing himself more stylishly relatively recently. Like the L.A. Clippers' Terance Mann, it helps he’s got the look and funds to support it, and a new city to gather inspiration from. Waller has known many ups and downs, having been drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2015 and finding himself suspended in both 2016 and 2017 for violating the NFL substance-abuse policy. After rehab and a humble job working at a farmers market, he was reinstated in 2018 and ranked in the NFL’s Top 100 Players in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Coming off a lucrative contract extension in 2022, he was traded to the New York Giants this year and is currently battling his way back from a hamstring injury. I always hope this column can be educational. An interest in clothing has taken me so much further than one would think pieces of fabric could. I wanted to get Darren’s perspective on adversity and share how we should handle it. Below, we discuss his interest in football and his path to the NFL, what football has taught him about life, how moving to New York changed his outlook on getting dressed, and plenty more. [Read the Full Story]( [My Favorite Cashmere Sweater Is Less Than $100]( My Favorite Cashmere Sweater Is Less Than $100 If there’s one thing you need in your cold-weather wardrobe, one must-have that you’ll wear year after year, layer with, and reach for time and time again, it's a cashmere sweater. The cashmere sweater is a staple, regardless of whatever else you have in your closet. 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This, according to the American tennis pro, is his dream of winning his first major championship. "I want to do it not just for me, but for my family, my partners, and for all the people who think they don’t have the chance," he says. "I’m not going to lie to you and make it sound fly. It’s just one goal." The 25-year-old has already achieved some massive victories. He defeated tennis legend Rafael Nadal in a stunning upset at the 2022 U.S. Open. Then, he battled for five hours with eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in an explosive semifinal that signaled the arrival of the sport's next generation of stars. Tiafoe will have another career-changing opportunity on January 14 at the Australian Open, which he'll enter as one the top 20 men’s tennis players in the world. 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