It is, however, still April. If it were June, I could pull all manner of madras and seersucker craziness, but how does one remain appropriate and stylish in the heat a full month before Memorial Day? The answer (as usual) is : keep it simple.
A white tennis shirt,
Some khakis and a surcingle belt,
boat shoes without socks.
I chose to top it off with vintage glass-lens Ray-Bans and a Red Sox cap.
Let the anti-baseball cap comments roll, fellas! Just remember, I'm from Boston and the Yankees are in Fenway Park tonight. Say what you will, but if wearing a Red Sox cap and listening to ball games on am radio isn't American traditional, then I don't know what is. As for keeping it simple, I will only wear a navy cap with a red 'B' on it...no t shirts, no bumper stickers, no team logos on my atm card...just a proper fitted official cap...on Saturday at the beach, or for a trip to the supermarket, or at the playground with the kids., or
for a picnic of fried whole-belly New England clams, served on a cardboard beer tray, from Woodman's of Essex. No trip to the seaside is complete without fried clams for lunch. I am truly a man obsessed when it comes to this. This stuff will destroy your heart and arteries, but it's one of the most compelling arguments for living in Boston. Today I looked at my seven week old daughter and said to her "One day when you're my age, I hope you tell a story that begins 'I f my Dad didn't get his fried clams every time we went to the beach...' "
So remember, keep it simple: put on some clean clothes, take your kids to the beach, gorge yourself on fried food, develop a mild sun burn, and finish it off by drinking wine on the front porch with the wife. What else is there?
"Keep it simple" in my book means there are only two acceptable colors for a tennis/polo shirt: navy or white:
ReplyDeleteNavy:
http://longwing.tumblr.com/post/99845678
White:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6PtPxOqUtjQ/SfPgg5xzSAI/AAAAAAAABSI/O7IeEXCI6FI/s400/IMG_8557.JPG
A sign of the times that we have to tell people:
ReplyDelete"put on some clean clothes"...
Love the lunch! I used to live in Ipswich, and have been to Woodman's a couple of times. The only thing better than fried clams is steamers, with a 1 1/4 lobster on the side.
ReplyDeletereally good post. Let's go Nats!
ReplyDeleteKeep It Simple Rule # 4: Wash your own clothes, nobody wants to spend $2000 a year on washing shirts alone! Then again, that amount of money is rather small.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteI proudly wore my red cap today as well!
Oh man! What I wouldn't give for some whole belly clams!!!!!! They look so good. Glad you had a warm weekend.
ReplyDeleteAs a daily wearer of fedoras, I am not a fan of baseball caps, yet even I recognize they have their place. This is one of them. Great outfit.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of boonie-type hats for wearing in the sun, especially at the beach. They are more efficient than baseball caps at keeping the sun off, but--can it be?--not as stylish (well, not as stylish as some baseball caps).
Of course, the sine qua non of summer hats is the Panama. Forget the zillion-dollar Montecristis and buy something made in America. My current Bailey straw hat was made here, and Dobbs hats are also made in the USA. Just take off the silly manufacturer's logo, if your hat comes with on the bow, and you're set.
What a meal! (and what a series! I'm so glad they had saturday and sundays game on the teevee here in VA)
ReplyDelete