Dress Up/Down

...or, Turtlenecks, part 2

It can be hard enough to wear a jacket and tie these days, without appearing to be needlessly over dressed. Even the most laid back version of such an outfit, rendered in the softest tweeds, corduroy, and flannel, can be to formal for 98% of normal life. Wearing a suit in these circumstances can be damn near impossible. Enter once again the recently acquired turtle neck sweaters ($4.99), this time in tan.

The suit in the photo is a vintage 1960s flannel striped one from Brooks Brothers. Indeed, the very quintessence of business clothing, meant for the kind of business I will likely never conduct. But its heavy and warm and actually quite comfortable. If you closely enough, the stripes are not quite white, and I've found that of I play to that, it is possible to wear this suit in a Sunday semi-formal kind of way. 

On the feet, a pair of recently acquired monk strap shoes in brown suede ($9.99 less 50%= $4.99) continue the laid back feel. Cozy on a cold day, topped with a polo coat, big scarf and tweed cap, I'd almost call the look rakish, if almost anyone other than me were wearing it.

The combination of suit and turtleneck isn't for every situation, but then again a suit itself is lately appropriate for less and less situations everyday. I wore mine to work on a casual Sunday, but it works for a dinner in a good but comfortable restaurant, and can be quite dashing at a Christmas party if you're not a tartan pants kind of guy.

Two Shirts

This blog, like so many others these days, is still ostensibly about clothing. I would like to get back on the subject. We frequently see writing on the men's blogs centered around some manner of dress clothing, but a post about good honest casual clothing for a rainy spent working around the house and performing other mundane tasks can add a healthy bit of perspective. No one lives in a suit 24/7, after all.

Lately I've been toying around with the old preppy two collar look. Though admittedly something of an affectation, dare I say tres Muffy Aldrich, I find it comes into it's own late Spring/early Summer. I find it handy on warmish days of variable temperature, where the outer shirt can act as more of a light jacket over the tennis shirt. I generally stick to solid, light colored tennis shirts under soft old dress shirts. In this case, a well worn pink tennis shirt from Lands' End (bought new four Summers ago, see here) and an old Brooks Brothers oxford with an unlined collar (thrift shop, $5.49). Remember, this is about dressing comfortably, not like a slob. There is a difference.

I know this may cause a bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth among the hard-liners, but I think it works best with the top shirt untucked, jeans, and a ball cap. Like I said, this way the top shirt is more of a light jacket. Shorts or khakis work as well. (I hope nobody out there is zooming in on this picture and keeping a detailed journal of the books on my shelf, what time the clock reads, and the presumed provenance of my furniture ...snark,snark,snark. Sorry).

It can work dressed up a little too. Here, a white tennis shirt and university striped oxford are worn tucked into khakis with a navy blazer and surcingle belt for a parade on Memorial Day weekend. The flag was given to me by an old lady in the VFW women's auxiliary.

In either case, bare ankles and moccasins are de rigeur. Camp mocs with the jeans, penny loafers with the blazer. Of course boat shoes work as well.

I must admit to having some trepidation not long ago about my, or anyone's, ability to pull off the two shirt thing. It always seemed to smack of some mean spirited spoiled character from some bad movie from the 80s. But I've grown to enjoy it, and I've found that the trick to wearing it is, as with so many other sartorial "moves", confidence. It's kind of like jumping in cold water at the beach: once you just go in and dunk, it gets easier. It helps not to have to much concern what others think of you. 

Of course, to be fair, I do live in a liberal place full of arty college kids of every stripe, so most likely I'm just perceived as a Dad whose becoming more and more of a fuddy duddy the older he gets.

p.s. lots of great new Summer stuff in the Shop.

Back to Basics

Recently, I unearthed what was once an old favorite sweater. It had been languishing in the closet since getting stained last Winter. Nothing a trip to the dry cleaners, and overcoming laziness about it, couldn't fix. It's the simplest piece of clothing, but having it back these last few weeks reminds of the importance of getting back to basics.

You see, it's nothing exciting, just a tan v-neck sweater. But it goes well with any shirt I own, and makes me feel more "dressed" than I would wearing only a shirt and pants. It's a handy piece for this time of year, as we transition out of Winter.

Lucky for me, it happens to be a particularly nice one, a thrift store find had for only $5.99 from the House of Tweed, made in Scotland of New Lambswool. Looking back through old posts to find this photo, it seems I wore this sweater quite a lot in the last few years.

Worn with simple grey flannel slacks, practically any shirt, and tassel loafers, it is the perfect thing when casual but not sloppy is the order of the day. This saw me through a surprise few hours at work on my day off today. Last Sunday, with a navy striped shirt and penny loafers, I hosted my daughters fourth birthday party in it. With jeans, it makes me feel just a little more "grown up".

Red socks punch things up a bit. Argyles would have been jam as well.

I suppose I took this item for granted before, and I didn't think I missed it when it was gone. However, having it back only two weeks, I've worn it a half dozen times. Fortunately, such a thing can be had by almost any guy anywhere. You can get a good one at a good store, you can get a good one at a thrift store, you can get a reasonable one at a place like J. Crew, or even the Gap, or you can get a placeholder at Walmart. In any case, any man wishing to dress in a classic way with neat, basic pieces should have something like this. Few things work as well as getting back to basics.

p.s. new stuff in the Shop.

The Old Casual

It really is amazing to think about how the definition of the word "casual" as it applies to our modes of dress has changed so drastically in so little time. I'm not going to complain that things are generally more comfortable for people these days, because I'm glad to wear jeans and sweaters to drop the kids off at school and go to the supermarket. Nor am I going to wax rhapsodic about some bygone era that I know of only through movies and books and pine for a time that was done before my birth. But I will trot out what used to be considered casual dress on a Saturday afternoon  now and then.

Dark shirts are not something to be used lightly with a jacket and tie, but it can be done. I've written on this before. I usually wear this shirt alone with khakis or jeans, but given its color scheme in navy, hunter green, and gold, it can take a tie sometimes. I think the trick is to remember what casual used to mean, and stick with tweeds and other textured, soft fabrics. I'm sure that the combination pictured above will garner wailing and gnashing of teeth from the purists for both the use of a dark shirt and the overt four pattern combination, but so be it. I find it to be a nice change of pace now and then from the standard light colored shirt. And as much as we lament the loss of stricter codes of dress, not having one gives me the freedom to wear this if I want to, and that's not all bad. Besides, it is Saturday.



Charcoal grey whipcord trousers with deep forward pleats from the Andover Shop held up with braces complete things. On the feet, argyle socks and cordovan longwings, outside a tan cashmere coat, brown corduroy cap and brown leather gloves.

The old casual lives somewhere between the new super-casual and dress clothing, so tread lightly. It's not for everyone, and even if you can pull this off I suggest using this trick sparingly. But it is fun when it comes off well. 

Casual, not Sloppy

The word "casual" gets bandied about in reference to clothing or the situations in which we wear clothing so much that it's definition tends to get blurred. For a guy like me who actually enjoys clothing and dressing to suit the occasion, it's all but become a dirty word. It shouldn't be. I may have a habit of being what many consider "overdressed" much of the time, but I'm not such a stiff that I don't know how to wear casual clothing in casual situations.

The outfit above is something I consider to be casual, but adult. A striped button down shirt, favorite vintage wool crew neck sweater and soft flannel pants. In it, I am comfortable and warm, but I also feel like a grown man to be taken seriously. A younger fellow, or someone more fashion conscious, might try the same thing with dark jeans and come off just fine. Topped with a Barbour jacket and tweed cap, this outfit saw me through taking a small child to a doctors appointment, lunch and ice cream to follow, a trip to a thrift shop, after school pick up, playground time, and a night shift at work. I was comfortable and appropriately dressed for each of these situations.

I'm not about to go on some silly rant about how "casual" means a tweed jacket and tie with cords and loafers. There was a time when this was true, but we simply do not live in that time anymore. Ranting about things like men who wear brown shoes in the city and the fact that we no longer wear black tie to dinner at home is not only pointless, it marks one as an out of touch curmudgeon with little better to do than complain about what everybody else is or isn't doing. However, it's not a bad idea to remind ourselves that casual doesn't necessarily mean sloppy. You won't see me out of the house in my pyjamas, and the older I get the less likely it is you'll see me even in jeans. For men who care about clothing, it can be challenging these days to dress in a manner they consider appropriate while not looking like a stiff. As unfortunate as this may be to some of us, it helps to remember that you can be casual and well dressed simultaneously, despite what the world at large may be telling you.

This is my kind of casual:

p.s. If only Ralph Gleason would get off the stage. It's embarrassing.