An Addendum to Dressing the Cary Grant Way. . .

A smiling Archibald Leach (aka Cary Grant) in what looks like a jaunty Gen Plaid jacket, white shirt and subdued wool necktie.

Wise words in the post the other day borrowed from Put This On (via Dandyism.net) in which Burt Bacharach commented on the tasteful, restrained nature of Cary Grant's attire.

The problem, however, is that male standards of dress (and behavior) have sunk so far from Mr. Grant's heyday. In our own era of Slob Post-Post Modern of the early 21st century where anything goes (Braved a WalMart or Sam's Club lately?), a man will stand out in most places and situations by virtue of the fact that he is nicely dressed. Even when he takes pains to clothe himself in the most modest, understated way possible. I must admit that I am unsure how to reconcile those differences other than to suggest the following to those average guys who aspire to kick up their everyday style several notches.

Dress well, with modestly and subtlety, and yet with some quiet panache. Go forth, be clear from the outset that you will attract some attention in most places, and don't worry about it. Accept compliments when they are forthcoming, and ignore occasional thoughtless remarks and questions about your sports jacket and necktie, suit, or leather dress shoes. It's part of that highly sought sprezzatura that is discussed so much at the moment. That nonchalance comes from putting on our clothes in the morning, forgetting about them, and moving effortlessly and with confidence throughout our day without giving one's attire another thought.

As my favorite high school English teacher pointed out to me once, if others' lives are so small and empty that a person's attire becomes the subject of conversation because he or she is well-dressed, that is everyone else's problem. Don't lose any sleep over it. And, whatever you do guys, don't stop your own efforts to dress better and behave more pleasantly just because friends or family might give you hard time about it. You are on the right track after all.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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Up North Style. . .

Bad Dad makes a friend. YMP and Bad Dad on the shores of Lake Michigan. Or was that Crystal Lake? The Grand Duchess takes a selfie in her kayak. How NOT to impress the girls sunning themselves along the river. YMP and Bad Dad kayaking on the Platte River headed toward Loon Lake. J ust back from a week in Northern Michigan in a charming and spacious house on the banks of the Betsie River outside of Thompsonville. A largely pleasant seven days despite some challenging episodes with the Young Master, who has picked up some very questionable habits and language from his friends in the 8th Grade during the school year just ended. But otherwise, we enjoyed ourselves and contemplated remaining for a few days longer since the house was available. In the end, we decided to return home as planned originally since neither my wife, nor I wanted to spend the remaining days chained to our computers in Zoom meetings from our vacation destination. I actually managed to leave the laptop and ip

Mid-June Thursday Style. . .

A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall. I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation. Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario. But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

A Lazy Saturday at the End of June. . .

A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh. Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan. Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt. Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode. However, I was not completely useless yesterday! I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch. The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings, took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific. I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 1970s, aka The Stone Age. As it is, my sister and

Classic Style

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