26 April 2010

A Lil' Somethin' to Tide You Over...

With the Top Shelf Flea Market gaining fast, I'll be finding myself awfully damn busy this week. So here's a distilled version of a weeks worth of posts:

Remember those shirts I had made? Well, I only just busted out the blue and white stripe number yesterday. Seen here with the by now ubiquitous probably 1990s vintage J.Press blazer ($7.49), a silk knit tie ($1.99), and a collar pin ($0.50). Finished with trim cut 1960s vintage grey slacks, with just a touch of shark skin sheen.

Forgive the odd angle of this shot. It was the only one I had that gave an honest representation of the colors and textures, key elements in this ensemble.

There was a fair amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth back when I got these shirts, especially over the construction of the collar, but with a knit tie and pin, I think they strike a distinctly George Harrison 1965 kind of vibe. Not something you see too often these days...I'll take it, thank you.
I used to be a strictly 'John' guy, but the older I get, the more of a 'George' guy I am.

To wit, the rig above was worn to my little bands performance in a brand new concert hall in Rockport, Massachusetts. 325 people in the audience, seated. A ceiling at least 30 feet high. A brand new Steinway grand piano. A set full of Chet Atkins numbers. George would have dug it. Nerve racking? Certainly. Fun? Hell yes. After all those years of sticky floors and cigarette smoke, I felt a bit like maybe I had finally "arrived".

Dig this shot, courtesy of Mrs. G. Looks like we're performing on Ed Sullivan. Gotta love it, no?

In other news...

A button up shirt over a tennis shirt is an old (gag) 'Preppy' convention. I gave it a whirl today:

Don't worry, it ain't likely to happen again. Way to affected and silly...totally out of context these days. Let's leave it to old guys and the eighties. But...

This is what I had on today for lunch with ADG. Our man found himself in Boston for business, so the wee ones and I took him to the the North End for lunch, at none other than the legendary Galleria Umberto.

2 slices of pizza, 2 arancini, 2 panini, two paper cups of cold red wine (Carlo Rossi) and a Sprite (for the boy)= $18. Unbeatable. Followed by a round of gelato and Lavazza across the street at the Caffe Vittoria. The internet can be a real time-wasting-pain-in-the-ass most of the time, but when you get a new buddy like ADG out of it, it all comes out in the wash.

Our man recently wrote a veritable tome on madras just t'other day. Read it. Here's my two cents on that:

O'Connell's of Buffalo has a downright insane pile of new-old-stock vegetable dyed madras pants. The selection will make you cry. But still, they are $90, and I'm not only a cheapskate, but also a poor b*stard.

But I've got these:

I'm thinking they must be the real deal. Probably 1970s vintage L.L.Bean, judging by the label.

I plan to soak em in the sink tomorrow and see what 'bleeds' of of them. Wish me luck.

And while I was poking around the O'Connell's website, I spied these:




Holy Mama, unlined pennies with a boat shoe sole from Quoddy? Seriously? That's really the living end. Please come to the Top Shelf Flea and spend $195 at my table so I can own these.

And with that, I bid you all Adieu until next Monday. I've got a million things to do in preparation for the Flea next Sunday. I hope to meet a bunch of you there.

Until next week,

-gt

18 comments:

K.S.Anthony said...

Looking good: the blazer is a classic and I'm glad you were able to decide from the VAST array of soon-to-be-gone madras from O'Connells...

We'll have to agree to disagree on the layers, though. ;)

Laguna Beach Fogey said...

Outstanding outfit, G.

Did you get a photo of ADG???

Unknown said...

I've been lusting after those "boat-pennies" for a while now. I look at the site, get myself all in a frenzy, then step back and remember that I don't have 195 for a pair of shoes. Oh well, maybe someday...

The Cordial Churchman said...

That's a classic post, G. Awesome picture of the Rockport performance. Just plain awesome.

Pigtown*Design said...

Such fun to spend time in real life with ADG! He's a wonderful man and so much fun.

(LBT... we didn't get pix of him either!)

Trailer Trad said...

Great picture of the band. -Might make a nice album cover!

Monsieur Legume

Anonymous said...

The shoes ARE amazing. You have to own them. FYI, I liked the polo under the dress shirt.
<3 R

Young Fogey said...

I can see taking those madras pants and turning them into shorts, then using the leftover material to get Ellie LaVeer Stager to make a bow tie with, but the pants as is? Not for me.

It must be something in the water on the East Coast that makes youse guys like that crazy stuff. De gustibus non disputandum est.

Young Fogey said...

P.S.: Great outfit for the performance--I hope it went well. You all looked great.

P.P.S.: Good luck with the Flea!

heavy tweed jacket said...

Those LL Bean madras trousers are the real deal. Probably as good as anything at O'Connell's. Good luck at the flea market, 'cause the Quoddys do look good.

Anonymous said...

I think I nearly bought those pants at the Davis Square Goodwill about 3 weeks ago.

Jho78 said...

I agree about the polo under the button-up, but what about the (nearly) opposite of that, the rugby shirt OVER the button-up? It seems like I've seen that a few times lately.

The Red Velvet Shoe said...

Yes, it does look like an Ed Sullivan broadcast. Great shot, Mrs. G! I heart Cafe Vittoria, haven't been in a very long time. Maybe Sunday night.
See you @ TSF!

Anonymous said...

Mr. G. ,
I am fond of your blogs mission and your desire to raise your son as a young gentleman is most impressive in this world dominated by disorder and decay. However, as I feel your constant sporting of a baseball cap goes against all this, please kindly remove for a photograph unless you are in fact SPORTING.

Best,
H.

Russ said...

I need those pennies but i dont see them on the website? How can I get them (from Toronto)?

Julian Patterson said...

brilliant. I love the layering.

Anonymous said...

So did you make enough at your event to pick a pair of these up?

Giuseppe said...

I did, but just you wait. I found something even better, to be featured in a post next week when they arrive.