Dungarees, Short Pants, and Ball Caps

The family and I are now back from Maine, and settling into the world of noise and technology that we vacated for the last eight days. That means I'll be back to wearing needlessly dressy clothes, and yammering about them here. But don;t be fooled. As much as I may rail against the excessive acceptance of the sort of attire mentioned in the title of this post, I am not above wearing any of that. In fact, I lived in such clothing the last week....because, you know, I was on Summer vacation, not in an office or something.

Levi's 501s, L.L.Bean blucher mocs, modern (gasp!) L.L.Bean pullover windbreaker, and a plain orange ball cap. Perfectly suitable for a chilly evening stroll on Lincolnville Beach with my Girl in tow.

The same pullover and ball cap, with shorts, white tennis shirt, and Quoddy boat shoes at the dock at Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, with the Boy and the Girl. It is in fact possible to be casual and comfortable and not be dressed like a five year \old. Leave the cut-offs and ironic graphic tees behind. Here's to the return of the casual grown up.

It has become tradition for the Boy to insist we all dress for dinner on our last evening. We dine at the Whale's Tooth Pub. Its not fancy in the least. In fact, its the kind of place that an old lady would have considered "fancy" in the 1970s. But the Boy wears a coat and tie to eat his French fries and chicken fingers, and we all dress in kind. How can I discourage his sense of occasion? It makes me proud. 

p.s. Tweed and flannel arriving in the online Shop.

p.p.s live Shop now open every Saturday, 10-2. Extended hours coming soon. 249 Elm Street, Somerville, MA, 02144. So much tweed...

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.

Those Ain't Pants...

Recently I've been without dungarees. The two pair of Wranglers I bought from Shepler's a while back served me well, but eventually shrunk too much to be comfortable. For a while, I was content to live without them, laboring under some false belief that at 36 years old I was too old for jeans. But then I realized that in November and December I was a bit lost without my old uniform of jeans/bean boots/sweater/Barbour, and truthfully, no well dressed American man's wardrobe can ever be complete without some proper jeans. A few weeks back, Levi's had a one day only 40% off sale with free shipping, so I grabbed two pair of good old 501 shrink-to-fit for $56. Not bad.

So I photographed them, and rinsed them, and got ready to write about the vagaries of denim and denim nerds, but before I got a chance, these came along, eclipsing all other trousers in the house:



These ain't pants, they's PANTS. $5.99 at a thrift shop. No tags, but they are really beautifully constructed of some of the softest, most luxurious bits of tweed I've seen, and fully lined in cotton. I suspect Andover Shop, as they were known for patch tweed. Maybe Charlie can confirm this for me after they come back from alterations.

Best of all, they're true patchwork, no repetition of pattern at all to the arrangement of the squares.  These really are made of scraps, as they should be. Too bad I won't have them back in time for Christmas. Not to worry, though. There's always tartan.

I wasn't going to mention Christmas or holidays at all here if I could help it. Frankly, having worked retail as long as I have, I'm downright sour on the whole thing. If it weren't for my children, I'd be completely insufferable this time of year. But I gotta say, Winter go-to-hell pants do help keep me cheery.





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.