Cloth Shoes

New cloth shoes for the summer, in classic navy blue and white:

Two days ago, as a sort of birthday gift, I forced Mrs. G to leave the house alone for a few hours to do whatever she wanted. This of course meant shopping , and in true Mrs. G form, she came back not only with things for herself, but gifts for me and the kids. On Mrs. G.'s birthday, everybody wins!

A brand new pair of Sperry sneakers.I never would have bought these for myself, and she knows this, but I am glad to have them. The price of a new pair of cloth shoes these days is something I find a bit shocking, but fortunately I have a wife to take care of these extravagances for me. They'll be great with no socks, khakis, blazer and repp tie, should the weather ever decide to hold above 40 degrees. (I've been wearing a down vest outside all week....no lie.) Now all I have to do is wash the old natural canvas Chuck Taylors and I'm set.

p.s. when did men start taking blue jeans so damn seriously? The twist people get in these days over their dungarees really makes me laugh. See previous post.

Keep It Simple, part 2

Keeping one's clothes classic and simple is always a good idea with more formal modes of dress, but it's frequently an even better idea in the casual realm. There are a lot of inherently American combinations which have stood the test of time, but I think my favorite is this:White oxford and blue jeans. Can't be beat. Finished off with boat shoes and a surcingle belt. What better outfit is there for the first really nice day of Spring, spent largely outdoors with the wife and kids.

To me, the key to an outfit like this is the shirt. These days it seems to be all the rage to prattle on about these jeans or those, and which are more "authentic". As far as I'm concerned, jeans are from Levi's, and you wash them when they get dirty. No, the shirts the real thing here.

This kind of thing works best with a really old shirt in heavy oxford cloth. It should be one that used to serve as a dress shirt, but its been washed and worn so many times that it has reached an absurd level of comfort. Worn un-ironed of course, it's heavily frayed collar is unbuttoned:the sleeves rolled in an effort to mask the hole worn through one elbow:And yet its still bright white. I think Ralph Lauren made a lot of money selling this very concept in pre-packaged form to the young-uns, which is all well and good, I suppose. But a hole in your clothes only counts if it's your hole.

Keep it simple: wear a white shirt to death, and then keep wearing it. Just make sure your wife doesn't throw it out when you're not looking.

p.s. since when do Baracuta jackets cost $265? When I was a kid, we all got them for school jackets because they would go on sale at Sears for $10. I also remember them being popular with old men on Social Security. What gives?

Keep It Simple

It's a lot of fun to wear clothes that you know are a little bit crazy. Mixing brightly colored argyle, plaid and stripes all in the same outfit takes a lot of skill and practice, but it can be fun once you learn how to pull it off. And though we all like to bemoan people staring at us and having a reaction to our form of dress, I (and my readers) must admit that we secretly love the attention.

But, as with all things, an opposite, a foil, must be present for contrast and meaning. Envelope-pushing style cannot exist without classic simple style. One must be adept at both to pull either off with any degree of aplomb. To that end, today's ensemble:

J. Press 3/2 sack blazer, $7.49; Harvard "Coop" grey slacks, $3.99; pink J.Press oxford shirt, $3.99; Mr. Sid necktie, $0.99. Very Cambridge.

No outfit is a better example of the perfect American style than navy blazer, grey pants, button down shirt and simple, clean tie.Add wing-tipped shoes and argyle socks for a pinch of insouciance.

But don't dare call this get-up boring. Color and pattern are not the only elements of a man's wardrobe that lend visual interest. Don't forget texture and small details:

A drop of scrimshaw doesn't hurt either, though this detail does play better on the East coast. If you don't live in a sea-faring town, at least make sure to tell people that your scrimshaw was purchased on vacation near the beach, preferably in New England.

Spring Basics

Even though Mother Nature has decided to hold Boston in the grip of a windy and wet Spring, with temperatures striving toward a scant 40 degrees, I am looking forward to warmer and sunnier days...and with them a different heap of clothes in the closet.

To that end, a few new pieces have recently gained membership to the Affordable Wardrobe...at the usual impossibly cheap prices.

A tan sack suit in lightweight wool. Note the two button cuff and 3/2 button stance, from none other than:good old (as in good because its old) Brooks Brothers. $9.99. A perfect fit, in need of nothing more than cleaning and pressing. A friend of mine is getting married on in the daytime on Memorial Day weekend. I think I just found a suit to wear.

These old Brooks Bothers suits were the best. The three quarter lining makes them very comfortable, and I find their take on the sack cut jacket to be slightly loose fitting without being frumpy. In fact, I've trained my eye to hone in on the 2 button cuff when sizing up a rack of suits at a thrift store. Too bad they don't make them anymore, but I suppose that's what we have J.Press for. I actually found a J.Press poplin sack (with an incongruous 4 button cuff) in my size at the same store, but it had a big stain on the shoulder, so I took a pass.

I also found a very nice pair of medium grey pants in a lightweight wool, for $3.99.This is something I've actually been hunting down for a while. Thrift shopping is fun because you never know what you might turn up,but it can be frustrating when you actually need something. In menswear, the basics, like these grey pants, are the hardest thing to find. Why? Because most men will wear their stuff until it's trash, and then throw it away (or the wife will), so there's often not much of it in good second hand condition. It's the same reason you see so many suit jackets with the pants missing in these places. A guy goes to work, takes of his jacket, then carries it to the car and drives home. The pants get wrecked and the jacket, like new, gets donated. I never buy the top half of a suit, that's chump stuff.

These pants are from the Harvard Cooperative Society, or "the Coop". (that pronounced the same as in Cooper, not 'co-op').I have some vague memories of the old Coop. The first two floors were the bookstore, a really great place, where all the textbooks for Harvard were sold, in addition to a lot of other cool stuff. Above that was the men's shop, which sold sack suit, striped ties, Harvard scarves and sweaters, penny loafers, the whole nine. In back at the annex, was the music department and all the Harvard souvenir junk, sweatshirts and coffee mugs. Now, the men's department is gone, and the bookstore has become a Barnes & Noble with a Starbuck's in it...yet a sign outside still calls it "The Historic Harvard Coop". Kinda like all those stores called "Filene's Basement" that aren't in basements and don't have 6 floors of Filene's above them. Go figure.

Also acquired, not pictured: a pair of Brooks Brothers 'Hudson' chinos in brown, $5.99; a pair of J.Crew chinos (can't have too many of those), $4.99; and really cool Rooster necktie in real Indian madras, square cut at the bottom, $3.99.

Right now, the thrifts have a lot eighties vintage traditional stuff, if you can find it. I wonder what I'll do ten years from now when they're all full of sweatshop junk from the nineties. Better get me a real job and start forging a relationship with the boys at J.Press and Andover Shop, quick!

p.s. In browsing the Brooks Brothers website to find the link for the Hudson chinos, I came across this photo where the model is wearing both buttons closed on his two button jacket. For shame! Can it be the truth?

Casual Dress (100 years ago)

After reading this recent post on Archival Clothing, I was inspired to strike a decidely 1920's pose today:

My big cable knit, shawl collar sweater, in a weird belnd of silk, linen and cotton, paired with a Brooks Brothers vintage 1950's black bow tie with white dots, black watch slacks, blue oxford, brown longwings, and a tweed cap (not shown)
If only I had a hound, and some countryside in which to walk him.
I realize that I am often prone to complain about the current laxness in adult dress, but it does have its advantages. While its true I enjoy wearing suits and ties, I also like the look of a nice sweater instead sometimes. In the old days such a thing would have been completely unacceptable, but having the freedomto work these kinds of things into my daily attire is refreshing. Besides, even dressed like this I'm still likely to be the most "dressed up" person many of the people I come in contact with will see in a given day.

And truth be told, when the baby's kept you up all night and you're running extremely late, it's comforting to know that you could throw on any damn clothes and leave the house without shaving and no one would care.

But of course I would never do that...

Cheap Commodities, part 2

Argyle socks from (gasp!) Target.

It's true that every time I set foot in Target I loose a little piece of my soul that I will nevr get back. But with two kids in diapers, you gotta do what you gotta do. And these argyle socks for $2.50 a pair are something I can live with.

Plus, ever since they started carrying Ritter Sport dark chocolate with marzipan, the trip always seems a little worth while, because I get a sweet treat for after dinner. When Mrs. G wants to go there and I'm whining like a twelve year old about how much I hate the place, I've been known to end it with "Fine, but only if I get a Ritter Sport". I'm a sucker for the German marzipan. The butter biscuit and hazlenut varieties ain't bad either.

In other news: Boston Red Sox beat (damn) Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 in the season opener at Fenway Park. In a post game interview on the local news, David Ortiz was wearing a killer patch tweed cap. I couldn't find a photo, but it was pretty cool. A big giant Red Sox home run machine, all around nice guy, and for a dude who's really into "bling", he pulls some pretty stylish moves from time to time. What's not to like about the guy?

Gardening Attire

A crummy pair of jeans, covered in soil, worn with an old brown dress belt and a faded pair of navy blue converse from two summers ago, caked in mud.

And a blue mini check dress shirt, heavily frayed at the collar, without a shower or a shave.

The only proper thing for a gent to wear for a morning of digging holes and spreading cow poop over them. Four or five weeks to planting.

p.s. my garden blog is open for the season. mostly photos with minimal pontification. Check it out.