A Nod to the Past

Today it was cold enough for heavy flannel slacks. Recently, I bought a nice pair with inverted pleats, which I worried about because of the pleats. Generally speaking, I'm a plain front pants kind of guy. But these pants called to me. I realized that if you want to pull off pleats stylishly, one way is to channel the old days. Think 1930's. As with everything in men's clothing, it's all in the details. Here is my attempt:

For one thing, I wore a slightly wider tie with a woven pattern. I was really digging the whole navy/green/blue/pink combo.

And for shoes and belt, I stuck with a buttery orange shade of brown, and split toes instead of wingtips, with light colored socks. Something about grey flannel and orange leather is very British to me.

Chesterfield topcaot from Andover Shop, $9.99 (swear to God)

Top it all off with a Chesterfield topcoat and a floppy cap in Black Watch Tartan.

Voila! The Ivy League style from before the 3/2, button down collar days. I apologize for the gratuitous amount of photos this post, which include my ugly mug, but I was pretty proud of this outfit, and it kept me warm to boot. If only I had attended Yale in 1928, I might not have had to think so hard about this one as I was getting dressed.

Your feedback on what other contexts I might be able to mask those pleats in would be greatly appreciated, dear readers.

Another Great Find

Turned up yesterday at an undisclosed thrift, $7.99:

(my apologies for the poor quality of the last photo. The label reads: Hardwick Clothes for Ben's, Amesbury, Mass.)

This jacket has it all: the perfect all-purpose black and grey herringbone, in the perfect super thick Harris tweed,(with the perfect amount of old wear and tear), from a perfectly unheard-of little store in a perfectly obscure town in Massachusetts. And cheap to boot. What's not to love?

Down to Business

No outfit in the American men's clothing tradition says 'I mean business' better than a navy suit, blue button down and tie with a red ground:

and a tan raincoat for good measure:

Burberry raincoat with zip-out liner, new-with-tags: $9.99

In today's case, 'business' meant attending a job fair in a hotel in the city...and 'job fair' meant a bunch of folding tables in a crappy conference room, which would have been great if I were planning to be a security guard or parking valet, or join the army ( the army is everywhere at these things). The whole endeavour was rather depressing.

I might have known, given that it was hosted by the Boston Herald, the more disreputable of our fine cities two major newspapers. Live and learn.

At least I had an excuse to wear my navy suit, which I kept on for the rest of the day just for the hell of it.

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

Our friend and fellow blogger Thom of San Diego has nailed it right on the head:

It's time--past time, really--to unlearn the "newer is better" mentality so many of us have grown up with. If we're going to learn to do more with less (and we will most certainly have to), we're going to need to turn away from brand-new retail shops and toward our garages, local yard sales, and thrift shops. Just like most of the world already knows, there are a whole bunch of very serviceable old bicycles out there (and everything else) just waiting to be used again.

I agree with everything he says. In fact, if you just swap the word 'bicycles' with 'clothes' you basically have the manifesto for this blog.

Read the whole article here.

My New Hero

is this guy:

photo by Suzanne Todd

I dare you to dispute the reigning position of the Italians for both coolness and national pride. I know of no other people who flaunt their patriotism in such a non-dorky way. Or who have such an innate ability to age gracefully. Of course, these are my people, so I am a bit biased.

But honestly, there is just no messing with aguy like this.

Black and Brown, Grey and Tan

Neutral tones in men's clothing can be the cornerstone of many classic looks, and are often used to balance out some other more colorful element in the outfit. Think grey slacks with a crimson sport coat, or a white tennis shirt with outrageous madras pants. But don't forget that a whole outfit can be made entirely of various neutrals, without being boring or drab.

The trick is texture and fit. Basically this get-up is pretty plain: Brown shoes, tan pants, white shirt, black tie, grey coat. But each element has a little something to give it interest.The jacket is herringbone, with nubby brown leather buttons. The ties pattern is simple, but both the stripes and the anchors are embroidered rather than printed.The pants have a little bit of wrinkle and fray, the shoes are brogued and the socks are striped. In fact, the white shirt, in this particular context, is the only plain element, fulfilling the 'balance' role mentioned previously. I find this sort of idea works best in the colder months, when tweed comes into play, bringing an extra dose of texture to the coat.

Returning readers will note that the jacket, shoes and chinos in this particular combo have made several appearances here. I have a lot of ties, but not all that much of anything else. Let that be a testament to well selected, versatile, time tested classics.

Quiz: Is this tie American or imported? How can you tell?

Never Too Young to Start

Today the boy and I visited a very nice playground at the corner of Clarendon Street and Commonwealth Avenue. For those of you not familiar with Boston, this is a pretty posh neighborhood.

Spotted on the bulletin board there:

Not only am I glad to know that someone was dressing their boy in wellington boots and tweed sport coats, but also that all but one of the rip tags was gone. I find it especially amusing that the fliers seems to be addressed to the boys themselves, and not the parents.