24 April 2012

In Real Life....

...I'm a Dad with two small kids who spends a large portion of each day running the beautifully mundane tasks of everyday life. As much as I can get worked into a lather over the people I see at the grocery store in their pyjamas at 11 am, I have to admit that this is not place for coat and tie either.Being well dressed, or even something of a peacock, is one thing; being a fussy overdone twit is another.
A Baracuta jacket, white tennis shirt, jeans and boat shoes will do just fine on a cool day in April. It's no morning coat, but neither is it bed clothes. Just because you're comfortable doesn't mean you have to be a slob. Just mind the arrogance. (For a great word on that topic, see Conor's recent post at Young Man/Old Man. He's a smart kid.)
Being well dressed is as much about being dressed appropriately for the situation as it is about simply wearing nice things and "dressing up." In fact, for the clotheshorse, casual can be even more difficult to do by virtue of its very ubiquity, but it shouldn't be ignored. There's nothing wrong with being comfortably dressed when you're out shuttling the kids to and from school and shopping for groceries, just as long as you let your personal style come through just as much as it does in your suits and ties.

p.s. the Shop has been recently restocked, with silk and linen beginning to filter in. There are some great vintage suits from Brooks Brothers, and some Italian silk and wool tweed. I'll also be offering a knockout 1940s vintage full tails suit (yes, another one of these) for bids through the blog in a few days, so stay tuned.

p.p.s. The line-up for Top Shelf Flea Market V is dangerous. That much good stuff just shouldn't be in one room at the same time, but when it is, you better be prepared.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you look great in this photo: simple, classic, masculine.

I especially like it when a jacket, shirt, or sweater has raglan sleeves. I don't understand why we don't see more raglan sleeves.

Roger v.d. Velde said...

I don't know, even real life calls for maybe a tweed jacket over the shirt and trousers if the task is not actual manual work.
When I was moonlighting as a bathroom fitter during university I went out of the door in the morning looking a bit like the attached photo.

I'll understand if you want to reply to me in four-letter words :-)

Anonymous said...

Great look. Casual and appropriate.

C said...

Thanks for the AAW bump, G. Much appreciated.

You look great, too.

tintin said...

Cuffed jeans? You must be lookin' to take that job at GQ and moving to Brooklyn. Here's a far better post on arrogance and clothes: http://thetrad.blogspot.com/2010/02/off-my-back-primary-colors-attitude.html

Young Fogey said...

"a fussy overdone twit"

You've described me to a "T"!

And you're right: though you do it well, casual is hard. Maybe that's part of why I avoid it. I'm sure another reason is that anybody can, and everyone does, do casual all the time.

I'll be flying again soon (last time was over two years ago). For the first time in decades, I plan to wear a tie when I fly. I hope that I will be treated less poorly as a result.

Sean said...

Today, I received an award on my college mock trial team for being "correctly dressed for trial, overdressed for everything else."

Anonymous said...

What's the denim you are wearing?