The Past Goes Best with a Grain of Salt

photo: Citizen in Downtown Havana, Havana, Cuba, 1933

by Walker Evans

The white linen suit may well be the pinnacle of classic Summer style, but good luck pulling it off. Even if I found one for a pittance at a thrift shop, I'd probably think twice. In a world where something as simple as a navy blazer and khakis is so often seen as overblown and pretentious, a white suit will mark you immediately as an insufferable dandy. Besides this dude in the photograph, our man Toad is the only person I can readily think of who gets a pass. Even ADG might have a hard time with this one.

And in case you're still on the fence about that straw boater hat you've been considering, think twice. This dude may be proof that the boater is not only acceptable but perhaps even bad-ass. But you are not this dude.

Don't get me wrong, I love the past. I understand it in a way that I'll never be able to grasp my present. I surround myself with old things, live with them, wear them, breathe them and learn about them.  I'll even admit to  having what most people may consider a bit too much nostalgia and fondness for the people and things that existed well before my birth. But despite all this, I don't really want to live in the past. I only wish people dressed better and had better manners, really. That,  and I like a good bow tie.

I'm all for playing with the past, but a man has to be careful. No one wants to wear a costume all day.

AAW x NSV...Again

Once again, the unstoppable partnership of An Affordable Wardrobe and Newton Street Vintage makes a live appearance:

An Affordable Wardrobe...

and Newton Street Vintage.

Together again at the Davis Flea, Sunday 29 July, 10am till 4 pm. Be there or be a hippie.

Calling It: Paisley Ties

 Designer Valentino Garavani, stylish Italian guy,

Journalist Vittorio Feltri, stylish Italian guy,

Mr. De Luca, of Newton Street Vintage and recently, the Andover Shop, stylish Italian guy,

A current personal favorite, 1990s Polo,

 and the Brooks Brothers shirt I like to wear with it.

Nostalgia fashion, or the trend of reviving clothing styles from the past, follows the same cycles as current fashion, on a thirty year delay. This is largely because thrift shops tend to be full of things that go back thirty years or so, generally speaking, and the hip, young and iconoclastic like to find beauty and irony in the detritus of the past. In the 1970s, thrift shops were full of clothes from the 1940s, wide legs, striped suits, wide lapels, and dramatic cuts. Current fashions of the times co-opted the basic ideas. In the eighties, when the thrift shops were bursting with the kind of 1950s American clothes that fetch high ticket "antique" prices these days, we had the Stray Cats and Happy Days, and so on and so forth. While it's true that I may have been harping on the impending 1990s fashion nostalgia trend, the 1990s were thirty years ago, and I can see what kind of stuff is flooding the thrift shops these days.

The young and hip will take it to the hilt, embracing not only the trend itself but its very ugliest underbelly, in an effort to be "new". The old will scoff and moan, wail and gnash their teeth, and resist as hard as they can. Those in the middle will take it apace, accept the best of it, like the return of pleated plants and paisley, especially big, saturated, boldly printed paisley, and allow drops of it to infiltrate their wardrobe, thereby adding new life to the old pieces with...new old pieces.

Stylish Italian guys everywhere said so. We called it. Shotgun!



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.

An Affordable Cocktail

More ways to drink brown liquor on a hot night. Meet Rob Roy:

The Rob Roy is a cocktail that could stand to enjoy a revival, so I'm doing my part. Basically, it's the same as a Manhattan, but with Scotch, rather than rye, as its liquor base. Rye whiskey is enjoying a giant surge in popularity these days, which is all well and good. I suppose we have Don Draper to thank for that. And while it's true people still drink plenty of good Scotch, its use as a base ingredient for cocktails, as it was in the High Holy 1930s, remains largely ignored.

Recently, I've discovered Lombard Old Blend Scotch Whisky. $14.99 in the Boston area, if you can find it. It tastes a lot like Johnny Walker Red Label, albeit a bit thinner in texture, but for a full ten dollars less. It's unquestionably better than Dewar's. And it makes a great cocktail.

There are plenty of schmancy vermouth out there these days, chief among them Dolin, Punt e Mes, and Carpano Antico, but for this drink, I think good ole Martini & Rossi will do just fine. Bitters have gotten trendy and gone off the charts too, but I find good ole Angustora does me just fine.

Here's how its done:

Fill a small cocktail shaker with ice. Add 3 parts Scotch and 1 part red 9sweet) vermouth and a few drops of bitters. Stir until chilled. DO NOT SHAKE. This will only make the drink frothy. Strain into a cocktail glass. I like a Champagne saucer, or "cocktail coupe". Martini glasses are acceptable too. Just keep it small. I've told you why before.

Garnish with a real Maraschino cherry. This is the one place where it simply will not to to be cheap.

If you live in or near a major city, do your utmost to seek out Luxardo maraschino cherries. These are actual candied marasca cherries (hence the name) from Italy. Once you've had them you will never accept those awful bright red things again. If you can't find these, garnish with a lemon twist instead.

Named for Scottish folk hero Robert Roy Mac Gregor, the Rob Roy proves that Scotch ain't just for warming you up on a cold damp day. It also proves that despite the recent years of single malt only snobbery we've endured, blended Scotch has it's place in the cabinet too. Great before a big meal of steak and red wine, especially if that steak was cooked outside on a grill.

Priorities

Richie's Super Premium Italian Ice of Everett, Massachusetts. Used to be called Richie's Slush (which we all still call it). A local Summer classic.

Richie's All Natural Italian Ice, the "organic" equivalent. Never had it, ain't interested.

As you know, I am a native son of the Greater Boston area. In fact, I am what the old locals might call a Townie. You may read me in my written voice, but you ought to hear my accent. There's no mistaking it. I've been eating what used to be known as Richie's Slush every Summer my whole life. Lemon is the only flavor for me, because, ya' know, I'm a traditionalist. Townie kids, like my own, tend to prefer watermelon (pink) or the blue varieties (vanilla or raspberry). Every convenience store in Eastern Massachusetts has a freezer chest full of this stuff, especially those located near playgrounds or Little League ballparks.

The following took place last Summer.

In recent years, my home town has seen a fairly dramatic shift in the sort of people who live there. The old timers may bemoan the fact that, as they see it, "the yuppies are taking over", though few of them have a problem with the rising value of their old family homes. I, for one, am happy to see the old town doing ever better, but I will admit that the yuppie/fake hippie/self righteous organic bullsh*t crowd can be more than a little pretentious and out of touch at times. Case in point:

I was at the local playground with my kids on a hot day. Just across the street is a little store that sells slush in the Summer time. It's pretty much a given that if we're going to that park there will be a round of slush afterwards, barring situations of extreme bad behavior, in which case t he suspension of slush privileges is a punishment. I was involved deeply in sand box play with my children. I couldn't help but overhear the conversation of some particularly annoying and self righteous neo-hippie trust fund parents bemoaning the fact that the local shop won't carry the organic slush. They would never let there kids eat the regular slush...and it's so hard, because all the other kids get to have slush...but I won't let my kids eat that junk....(hint:because I'm better than the other parents).

I could feel the fury rising within me as I thought to myself how pointless it is, perhaps even needlessly cruel, to deny a child an occasional treat of brightly colored frozen junk food on a hot Summer afternoon. I want as much as anyone for my kids to eat healthy foods, but Jesus, it's July. And I couldn't help but feel that this conversation was being had loudly over on the benches so that the Townie parents, who were all in the sand box actively playing with their kids, couldn't help but overhear.

I was about ready to blow my stack when an older woman came into the park with a young boy, about four years old. She approached the yuppie group and asked "is he one of your kids?" "yes, he's my son" said the lead obnoxious dad, "who are you?"

"I found him up the street wandering alone", said the older woman. The boy had wandered out of the park a block away to the store that sells the slush. No one had noticed, but at least he wasn't being fed that awful regular slush.

If you have kids, play with them. Or at least look after them at the playground. If you live near Boston, treat them to a slush now and then.

Priorities are still important.

Pitti Uomo 2012

from Judge magazine, 1923

This may look like an old cartoon, but it's actually a drwing of a bunch of third rate mens fashion bloggers chasing after the last train to Pitti Uomo 2012. The Sartorialist, Scott Schuman, is the one seated behind Garance Dore on the back of the train.

p.s. the Shop is full to capacity with plenty of new items. Stop by and browse.