Fall Is on the Way!

Please excuse the rumpled, unmade bed!  Here's a shot of the attire yours truly selected for and wore yesterday 

(Friday, September  13th).

Ahhhh. . .  That special late, late summer sound of crickets.  That faint, dry aroma before the leaves change color and drop to the ground in October.  The lower angle of the sun in the sky just before the Autumnal Equinox arrives.  Yes, the beastly hot weather in my part of the world has broken, at least for the next several days.  The central air-conditioning has been switched off and the windows opened.  Fall, my favorite season of the year, the time when ol' Heinz-Ulrich feels the most alive, is on the way. 

Best of all, the cooler weather means that one can look pulled together and wear some slightly more substantial clothes without breaking a sweat.  The temperatures yesterday remained just below 70 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 21C.), so you can imagine how thrilled I was to pull out some stuff I haven't worn since last April.  Here are the details of the items pictured above:


* Ralph Lauren Polo cotton oxford cloth shirt in lilac (thrifted)
* Brooks Brothers double-breasted wool blazer (thrifted)
* Corbin wool flannel pants (thrifted)
* Florsheim vintage wingtips (Ebay)
* Huntington necktie (thrifted)
* No name silk pocket square made in Italy (purchased new nine or ten years ago)
* Land's End leather belt in tan (on sale)
* Socks from Target (on sale)

 
While it will be October before I break out the tweeds, flannels, and corduroy in a big way, the cooler weather means that other double-breasted wool jackets in my closet have suddenly become a comfortable possibility once again.  For example, Thursday's attire included just such a jacket, an Alan Flusser in black with a faint mustard yellow windowpane pattern and a lighter weight, loose weave pair of Giorgio Armani pleated wool dress pants in a sage-gray color (both thrifted) along with a pair of black Allen Edmonds wingtips (Ebay).  

The shirt was a vintage Brooks Brothers button-down, featuring an unlined collar (given to me by my wife for our anniversary two summers ago) in white with a smaller faint green windowpane overlay, while the tie was an Italian silk number by Kuppenheimer in pink with smallish mid-blue and golden-yellow paisleys.  Finally, the pocket square that day was an old gold and tan no-name, Italian-made silk number with a small foulard pattern all over it.  I felt like  a million bucks!  It was, needless to say, terrific to walk home from campus comfortably with the double-breasted jacket buttoned up as it should be.

So, for all of my grousing here recently about standards of dress and behavior, the main thing to remember is to dress for yourself once you decide to spruce up your appearance. Have a little fun with it and don't be afraid to stand out from the herd.  You will these days. But in a good way.  And you'll even get the occasional unexpected compliment from time to time, which is always a nice plus. It's those little things that make day-to-day life a bit more pleasant.

Finally, a special "Hello" to the men who are following the Average Guy's Guide to Classic Style blog as well as others, who clearly are dropping by from time to time.  It's nice to know that there are people on a similar wavelength out there.

-- Heinz-Ulrich