Preppy with a Twist

...or something. The kids and I dressed for a "cook out" at a friends house. Being able to wear a bow tie with shorts is a positive side effect of the "neo-prep" revival. I'll take it.

All in The Details: The Right Seersucker

I've wanted a seersucker suit for as long as I've know what one was, maybe for about 25 years now. Just this past week, patience and persistence were rewarded in the form of a classic old one by Brooks Brothers, had via ebay for $62. Given the limited time and occasion for wearing seersucker, I guess it's ironic that I paid more for this than I do for most of my other harder wearing, more useful clothes. But if we take an average, I'm still doing alright.

Seersucker is one of the most difficult things to buy vintage or used. Simply put, the cloth is just too lightweight to last. Finding one in this good shape, complete, is a real treat. But whether you're buying your seersucker new or vintage, it's important to know the details and be sure you're getting the good stuff. Not all seersucker is created equal. The first rule is of course to make sure you're getting all cotton. This is easier with new clothes as poly blend seersucker has pretty much fallen out of common use, but many old garments from the 60s and 70s were made of blended fabrics. Besides the fact that polyester is gross 90% of the time, using it in seersucker is downright antithetical to the point of the garment. Cotton wrinkles and breaths well, which is exactly what you want in a suit that you wear on a hot day.

Construction is important too. A seersucker suit should never be fully lined, again because that antithetical to the point. Reasonable suits will only have partial lining. The best kind, like the one I was lucky enough to grab, are partially "buggy" lined in their own fabric rather than a synthetic liner. Again, this adds to the breathability of the jacket and keeps it lightweight. This one has 1/8 lining at the shoulders and unlined sleeves. The shoulders are unpadded, and there is no canvas or other structural material in the coat, so it's like wearing a shirt. Yet for all that, it's well made enough that it still has the shape of a suit jacket. As you might guess, that's harder to do than just reproducing a stock jacket pattern and just using seersucker cloth, but it makes the suit what it is even more that the fabric itself.

Patch pockets are a must. Internal pockets will require additional structural material inside, and we already decided that's not what we want here.

Trousers can be either flat front or pleated depending on your own taste, but make sure they're a little roomy in the legs. This pair is relatively conservative but on the loose side. Remember, it's hot outside and you're already wearing a suit, probably by choice. Do yourself a favor and don't wear a tight one.

Accessories should be laid back here to. A surcingle or ribbon belt is a cardinal sin with any other suit, with the exception maybe of Summer poplin, but it's right at home with seersucker's laid back vibe.

Same goes for penny loafers: never with a suit, except seersucker. White bucks are of course a standard, but can be a bit much, even for me. Southerners pull it off with aplomb, but in all honesty on a Northerner and combined with a bow tie, I saw Pee Wee Herman looking back from the mirror. Brown shoes it is. And don't forget your socks. You do have suit on after all, and I don't care what magazines you've been reading, suits need socks. I thought these yellow ones did the job nicely, but argyle in bright colors, another general sin with a suit, work well too.

I can't say it enough, but dressing well is all in the details. Even if most people don't think they notice, they do. Others may not know what it is about your clothes that makes them look just a bit better than the average guy, but you'll know and they'll sense it. Pay attention to the small stuff.

p.s. Before one of you reminds me of that time I broke every rule and concept I just laid down here, allow me to beat you to it. We live and we learn, don't we.

Reader Questions

Reader Mike writes:

Given our unseasonably cool spring in Boston thus far, and given that our annual Kentucky Derby party is right around the corner, I've been wondering: is it acceptable to pair a sweater with a seersucker suit?  Now, I'm not talking about a wool fisherman's sweater or the like; rather, I mean something more along the lines of a light-weight cotton cardigan or V-neck in a suitably cheerful color.  Does that work, or is it just the stuff of Brooks Brothers catalogs?  Is seersucker so inherently spring-y/summer-y that a sweater is contrary to the very theory of seersucker?

Pictured above is the very outfit I had on when I received this email. A suit in pale blue silk and linen may not be seersucker, but it's about as Spring/Summer as it gets. Given our unseasonably cool Spring, I may indeed have been jumping the gun in the first place with this suit, but I do get bored with the blazer and chinos combination that I tend to rely on in these in-between times. The day was bright and sunny, with temps just at the low 60s, just barely warm enough. Knowing I'd be returning home in it later at night in a much cooler temperature, I opted to add a lightweight cashmere vest by Pringle of Scotland in a suitably cheerful color. Perhaps a bit unorthodox, but I think it works.

Seersucker is going to be more of a stretch, but maybe not impossible. The fabric in the suit above has heft to it, despite its being a Summer cloth. Seersucker is much lighter to begin with, and as such will clash with the weight of most sweaters. However, if you keep the sweater light in both color and fabric, and avoid sleeves, you might make it work. A cotton or light cashmere sleeveless v-neck pullover in pale yellow, baby pink or mint green might be pretty damn sharp with seersucker and a bow tie. Might be a bit much for everyday, but could be spot-on for Derby Day.

Whiffs of Spring (and a giveaway)

Celery soda is weird and even kind of gross. It smells like celery, but it's sweet. Almost like ginger ale, except it's celery. While I'm sure there are those out there who like this stuff on its own, or at least claim to, I'm not one of them. However, I have recently discovered that combined in a tall glass of ice with an old fashioned light gin, such as Bombay or Beefeater, a big squeeze of lemon, and maybe a dash of ginger liqueur, it makes a damn good Spring/Summer cocktail, the kind of thing you drink poolside in Lily Pulitzer pants or a pink sports coat. Only thing I can't settle on is a name.

I'll give you guys until Midnight Easter Sunday to come up with a name for it. Leave your suggestions in the comments. Best answer will receive this vintage India madras "Victorian Bow" tie by J. Press from my own private collection.

1 April 2012 : The contest is now closed to new entries. Thanks to all who contributed. I'll review the entries along with the two fellows who originally sampled the drink with me, and a winner will be announced by mid-week. 

5 April 2012: We have a winner! Honorable mentions go to Jon for "Gin Ray" and Unknown for "Garden Party", but in the end the prize goes to AEV for "Cellmate", though I'm going to amend the spelling to "Cel-Mate". Congratulations, AEV. Email me and we'll send you the tie right away.

Halfsies

Last year, I acquired this glen check suit with light blue overcheck in a soft wool and cashmere blend by Hickey Freeman through one of my by now notorious trades with the venerable Mr. De Luca of Newton Street Vintage:

I'd wanted a good glen check suit for some time, and this one had a nice scale to it. Large enough to be prominent, small enough to appear as pale grey flannel from a distance of ten feet. I like glen checks best with an overcheck. In the old days I was certain only red would do, but blue is much more understated and workable. Brings the possibility of navy ties into the picture, despite the general black and with nature of the suit.

A suit like this is what I might call an "extra suit" in that it should really only find its place in a man's wardrobe well after he's acquired suits in navy, charcoal, and perhaps the same with some sort of stripes. For someone like me who never really needs so mach as a tie, let alone a suit, it could be better called an unnecessary frivolity. But so be it.  Oddly, in its way it's more useful to me than a navy or grey suit. Given its more casual connotations, it reads less like a business suit and as such feels more comfortable when worn for its own sake. Besides, dare I say it, it actually works as well as (gasp) two separate pieces as it does a suit. I wouldn't give such grotesquely incorrect advice lightly, so please allow me to explain.

For starters, we can see that the suit works quite well in its complete form. It is well constructed with a soft three button stance, darted front, moderate shoulders and side vents, with forward pleated trousers. This gives it just the level of formality that a suit should have.Sharp enough to be worn "in town" (as though that mattered anymore) but not so stiff as to be bound only for business meetings. In this photo, the camera is set about ten feet back, and the glen check pattern so obvious in the first photo is muted from this distance. True, the right sleeve could be a whiff longer, but let's not pick nits.

The trousers work just as well on their own with a vintage varsity cardigan in a big cut with shawl collar. A navy or black jacket would go just as well for a slightly dressier look, while a heavy black turtleneck sweater would be more casual. True, these trousers are half a suit, but glen check trousers are frequently seen alone as a single garment in their own right. As a side note, for men who actually work in businesses that require suits this look works quite well in the privacy on the office. Wear the suit on the commute, with clients, and at board meetings, keep the cardigan in the office for greater comfort while working behind closed doors.

No problem wearing a solo glen check jacket either, especially with dark grey flannels, aka "the pants that go with everything". Like the trousers, glen check jackets exist alone too, and a light grey jacket is something unexpected these days, though still quite correct. Even my nemesis agrees. A younger man could wear this jacket quite well with dark jeans and a crisp shirt, sans tie. Navy pants, never a favorite of mine, would work too. Just don't pair it with black pants. In fact, unless you're in a tux, don't wear black pants...ever.

This approach doesn't work for most suits, as the separate pieces will always look like just that, pieces separate from their counterparts. Stripes are the most glaring example, but I find a separate navy or charcoal jacket just as orphaned looking. Glen checks, being more about pattern and texture, get a pass, if you're careful and you can pull it off. Go halfsies with a suit like this, and you might get three outfits in one.





The Man From Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers isn't what it used to be. There was a time when you could tell a guy was wearing Brooks Brothers from half a block down the street. A certain combination of subtle but distinct details in cut, styling and fit was a clear signal. These days, its hard to know what that means, or meant, especially for younger guys who never saw it first hand. But when you see it all together, it still makes sense.

The high buttoning 3/2 roll...the undarted front...the natural barely padded shoulders. Combined with flat front, slightly high waisted pants with a conservative cut through the legs and cuffed hems. Behold the now iconic #1 sack suit. Acquired in trade some months ago from Newton Street Vintage, I've been waiting for a nice chilly day to wear it. On the feet, double soled shell cordovan longwings by Allen Edmonds. What else?

Given this suits late 1950s/early 1960s provenance, a narrow repp striped bow tie of similar vintage seemed the perfect choice. A soft rolling unlined button collar was also a given. Now usually I'm not one to go full blast vintage, preferring instead to mix older pieces with well made modern things, but in this case the combination picked itself.

All of it vintage,all of it made in USA, all of it Brooks Brothers. It's hard to argue with that.

p.s. there are some photos of what to expect from Eddigan's, a furniture consignment shop and Top Shelf rookie, over at the TSFM blog. Check it out.

Check Twice

Wool houndstooth bow tie, generous gift of Mrs. Ellie La Veer Stager, cream colored, spread collar shirt with tattersall check in black, hunter green and rust in soft cotton flannel by Ralphie ($3.99), lambswool sweater vest, made in England for Brooks Brothers, $4.49.  On top, a Barbour jacket and brown tweed cap with embroidered pheasants; rainy, dreary Autumn day.

All that's missing are some Irish setters, a long flask of single malt, and a couple hundred acres of damp British countryside.

p.s. new ties in the Shop. Go see.

Simple as That

We around the nerdy corners of the whacked out phenomenon that is menswear snobbery can get awfully tied up in outrageous minutiae. It can be easy to forget that simplicity, while always a good starting point, is often a refreshing reminder that all those rules, tricks, and tips you've been reading about (my own included) are to some degree so much hooey.

Few things bring it all back down to Earth like a blue oxford shirt and a crisp pair of khakis. True, I will always advise that quality should take precedence, but.....In the world of thrift shopping, few things are constant. The availability of khakis and blue oxfords is, for now, one of those constants. Good stuff does turn up, but for less than ten bucks each, there's no end of serviceable options out there. Ralphie and J. Crew do me just fine with this stuff.

Together, they provide the nucleus of comfortable casual for any man whose wardrobe is in any way classic. Here, with a navy surcingle belt and penny loafers, the effect is casual but smart. Swap the loafers for boat shoes, blucher mocs, or even canvas sneakers, and we're comfier still. Wear it all all un-ironed and we're downright slouchy. But for all that, you can be as laid back as the guy in the flip flops and children's t-shirt....albeit infinitely better appointed and taken ever more seriously by fellow grown-ups everywhere. The garden gnome agrees.

Add a classic blue blazer and repp striped bow tie and you're , ya know, like, all dressed up, or something. Foulards and knit ties, cotton or silk, work just as well.

It's as simple as that.

p.s. we're on vacation. I'll be up North with the wife and children all week, in a place that looks like this:

I'll do my best to write a post or two...or maybe I'll just drink beer on the deck of the cottage in the evening. We'll see.





Sea Foam Surprise

Two good old friends will get a nice chuckle out of the title of this post (private joke, not telling). For the rest of you, I offer this version of the sea foam surprise:

A suit in glen check of a subtle scale may not be anything shocking, in black and white, looking like pale grey. If it's zesty, it will have an overcheck in blue or red. But a glen check suit in pale green with an overcheck in...dare I say it...sea foam??? Filthy, degenerate...brilliant. (caveat: the photos simply do not do the color of this thing justice)

Bearing what appear to be actual horn buttons...

In some unheard-of fabric composed of 79% wool/21% linen. Lightweight but sturdy, comfortable on a hot day, crinkles just enough (but not too much) to look like Summer...

Off-the-rack  number from Paul Stuart, fits me like a glove...

Not bad with a Brooks Brothers USA made pinpoint button down shirt and an Italian made Polo bow tie.

I am in no way one to advocate the separation of suits, but I think this one wil work as well as two pices as it does as one. The pants will jam with a white tennis shirt and navy blazer...the jacket will work with tan, navy, charcoal, or cream slacks.

$14.99 (plus $12 dry cleaning) well spent, no?

p.s. remember that teaser photo of a tote bag bursting with ties a while back? The first batch of the went up on the shop today, with more to come next week. Check it.

The Business of No Business

On a really hot day, when only the most die hard among us would be wearing a suit in the first place, I like a yellow tie. A grey striped suit and white shirt, a business dress combination second in staidness only to navy blue with white, gets placed firmly in July with the simple addition of a yellow tie in a small neat pattern.

I've said it before, so forgive me if I'm beating a dead horse. Yellow ties are a tough nut, but they're great when you hit it right. Grey suits and navy blazers work perfectly, but keep them away from navy suits at all costs. An inexplicable but deep rooted unreasonable bias leads to me to find the navy suit/yellow tie combination unforgivably amateur. We've discussed this before.

True, a yellow tie, even more so a yellow bow tie, is not appropriate for many situations in which a grey striped suit is de riguer. Keep it out of the boardroom, unless you own the company. Keep it out of lower jobs, unless your father owns the company.

But if you're wearing the suit for your own pleasure, and not from requirement, go for it. I wore this simply to visit the city for lunch with a friend before working a night shift at the wine shop. The fact that my job, or any other part of my life, requires merely  that I be clothed in anything at all means I did it for my own pleasure. The fact that it was over 90 degrees with near 100% humidity proves that I am clearly disturbed, and you'd do well not to take my advice anyway.

Giveaway! Carolina Cotton Bow Ties

I'm pleased to announce a little giveaway contest! The prize is this handmade in the USA cotton bow tie in blue gingham check, perfect for Summer,courtesy of Carolina Cotton Bow Ties:

There's a lot of folks getting into the bow tie business these days, but thats not a complaint. I applaude the ingenuity, and I'm glad to see that of all things bow ties are profitable enough for more and more people to get into it. Carolina Cotton Bow Ties is a mother and son outfit. Ethan and his mom CJ buy all the fabrics and produce all the ties by hand themselves. Not a bad deal at $35 retail.

So here's how to enter: tell me as briefly and as eloquently as possible why you think it's better to give $35 to a guy and his mom working together from home than even an old American company like Brooks Brothers or J.Press. Leave your entries in the comments to this post. The most concise and least political entry will win. Contest is open until Sunday morning. Good luck! I look forward to hearing from you.

update 1 July: thank you all for your submissions. A winner will be announced tonight.

and the winner is:

This was not an easy decision, believe me. That's why the verdict is coming in a full day late. However, after careful deliberation I've decided to award the tie to Claude, who said:

Because we express our freedom via our choices, and in doing so we construct our worlds. It's better because we know that how we present ourselves, authentically, has nothing to do with brand names, and everything to do with our choices. Even in the most dire of human circumstances, we have choices, however limited. We all know that penury is no excuse, but we are also aware of the consequences of our actions. When we know where our dollars will be landing, in home businesses or charity thrift stores, we can make more informed decisions about value, and even afford a conscience.

He managed not only to offer as good a reason as any why to buy this bow tie, but also gave a concise statement about the very nucleus of my intentions in writing this blog these past few years. Well done, Claude. Wear your bow tie in good health.

The Abominable Plaid Dress Shirt, part II

After some initial trepidation, I find that the Abominable Plaid Dress Shirt is fast become a favorite wardrobe curve ball. Like any curve ball, it works best if kept in reserve and used by surprise, but I find myself opting for it far more often than I expected.

Seen here with a grey flannel bow tie by Miss Ellie LaVeer, and a favorite big fat shawl collar cardigan, the look is relatively subdues for what it is. I like to think of it as the spirit of the over-the-top look of a Polo ad, turned down to a reasonable (and actually wearable) volume. Below, pleated grey flannels and cordovan wing tips.

It all lies in finding the right plaid and the right cut. This shirt is in Dress Gordon tartan, which features navy,gold, white and hunter green, a palette of colors that works easily with many classic wardrobe staples. This shirt is also a properly sized USA made Brooks Brothers, with a classic unlined rolling button down collar, a cut that evokes the old school, even if the combination doesn't.

The plaid dress shirt may be more than a bit difficult, but it need not be abominable.

Happy Holy Saturday

Pink, green and a soft yellowy cream. A muted pastel pallette for a grey and dreary Holy Saturday. Charcoal wortsed slacks, argyle socks and tassel loafers compete this casual look. Who ever said dressing like Easter eggs needed to be silly?