Classic Style

This comfy, old shirt from Land's End (purchased in 2004) is beginning to show signs of wear, but it doesn't look too bad when pressed and tossed under a blazer.  Hard to go wrong with olive, khaki, or tan chinos and loafers. Some years back, I finally concluded that the most versatile dress socks are those in navy and occasionally mid-blue.  If you have a lot going on elsewhere, it's best to keep the socks fairly understated relative to everything else to avoid straying unwittingly into clown territory. T he usual spate of online meetings -- brief, but meetings nonetheless -- at the dining room table today (the light is kinder there than elsewhere in the house), so why not dress it up a bit with my most used navy blazer, olive chinos, penny loafers, and braided belt?  The shirt and necktie have not seen the light of day in more than a year.  The wool and dinosaur pocket square is a recent purchase (on sale) from Ben Silver.  How could I resist a bit of playful irreverence

    The top half for a Friday Zoom marathon.  Whew!  Yet again, the ol' J. Press 3/2 tweed jacket and one of several blue OCBD shirts made dressing for the day of meetings online pretty simple.  Dressing presentably need not take a lot of time, a commonly heard complaint trotted out by too many 'terminal boys' whenever the subject of slovenly male appearance across all levels of society comes up.   A fter yesterday, Friday, I am no longer sure which is more fatiguing mentally.  Meetings face-to-face the old fashioned way?  Or via an online application like Zoom or Microsoft Teams?   Certainly a string of meetings throughout the day is tiring, regardless of how they happen.  Presentable dressing and comfortable attire, however, help with the inevitable tedium.  At least you feel good while trying to keep your eyes focused on whoever might be speaking at the moment.    Sadly, I was the only man sporting a necktie in any of the meetings of which I was part.  However, this part

  The upper half, featuring a navy grenadine necktie.   And the lower half, showing off a pair of dark green (Pine?) wool dress socks and the same pair of shoes that have featured here so many times before during this winter.  My wife was already in an early morning Zoom meeting across the hall in the TV room when I dressed today, so I could not access the rest of my shoes residing in a spare closet there.  Still, not a bad combination of colors and pattern. H aving some fun with a vintage Polo number today, which has a 4/1 button configuration.  The double-breasted suit is a heavy wool flannel number with a decidedly 1930s silhouette.  I don't mind though, and, in normal years, wear the suit a couple of times a month from October through early April. Too much?  To my knowledge, no one has yet complained about my attire during the last couple of decades.  My own view is that one can never be overdressed, and, given the sad depths to which so much of the rest of society has sunk in

  A brown Glen Plaid jacket (three-button with the middle one fastened in this photograph), light blue oxford cloth button-down, and a fun necktie on top.  As close as I will get to so called 'novelty' ties.   Penny loafers, mid-blue over-the-calf cotton dress socks, braided brown belt, and olive chinos on the bottom.  No high shine on these loafers, but occasional moisturizer and a good buffing with one of my grandfather's horse hair shoe brushes in the morning keeps a pleasant sheen on the leather.   I t was actually a bit on the cold side for these lighter garments yesterday.  Since I actually felt a bit chilly at one point while 'Zooming' at the dining room table, I should've gone with tweed and cords, or maybe a flannel suit.  But I did not need to venture outside into the blustery morning that was, so the combination of items chosen worked for the day.  Seasonally jumping the gun as it were.  It's really mid-May before the weather is what you could ca

  The upper half.   The now obligatory wrist shot.   And the lower half.  Not visible are matching belt and navy socks with a medium blue vertical stripes. Decided to go with a full suit for this morning's Zoom meeting and office hours, snapping the pictures when everything was finished but before I headed upstairs to change clothes.  Two cats and an unpredictable child, who makes no secret of his  dislike for school in online form, mean that it is probably best to don some harder wearing items that can be laundered easily should unforeseen difficulties arise that require my attention.  Too bad since it was enjoyable wearing this combination of  items for a few hours this morning. -- Heinz-Ulrich

    Reasonably pleased with this more casual combination of items, though I wish the collar on the denim shirt had a bit more roll to it.  More difficult than you might expect to find a denim shirt with a button-down collar though.   And the lower half with the usual corduroy jeans and chocolate suede camp moccasins sans socks.  I know, I know. . . E xperimenting a bit here today as far as the clothing goes.  I think tan chinos and brown or oxblood penny loafers with nondescript matching leather belt might work equally well for something even dressier without appearing "dressed up" although that is nothing to fear.  Our 11-year old, The Young Master, has begun complimenting my appearance lately, so I think he might be off on the right foot as far as awareness of and appreciation for a more pulled together appearance than is common in 2021.  I might just quietly leave the new J. Press Spring-Summer 2021 catalog, which arrived with today's mail, on the bedside table in his

  S omewhat warmer, spring-like temperatures today, so out came some lighter attire, which included one the two new Mercer shirts that arrived last week.   Not visible in these photographs are some medium blue over-the-calf cotton dress socks and a plain belt that matches the shoes in color and tone.  The gabardine paints are a bit greener than they appear here.   Apparently, we're supposed to have two or three warm days this week before colder temperatures return, so we're not quite out of tweed, flannel, and corduroy territory yet.  And that's fine by me. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  I wish the theory of smiling, engaged undergraduates like these matched reality a little more often.  Still, a guy can dream, right?  This particular photograph comes from a 2011 Faculty Focus piece on the benefits of engaging students.    D uring 25+ years of teaching, students have asked frequently, "What do I need to do to get an 'A' in the course?"  Isn't it obvious after reading the syllabus?  Do the work assigned each week, produce thoughtful projects or papers, hit the books, and perform well on any quizzes or exams!  But I no longer bother with that particular can of worms and have taken a more proactive approach during the 2020-2021 academic year, in which all of my formerly face to face courses have become asynchronous online courses.    At the bottom of all weekly email reminders to students, as well as in the headers of all documents shared with them in the weekly online modules created by yours truly using our institution's particular classroom