Novelty coffee and tea mugs, however, are perfectly all right. . .

Here's one of my "novelty mugs," featuring a likeness of Prussia's Frederick II, aka Frederick the Great. This afternoon, it holds some sugary North German tea, purchased during June 2009 when my wife and I were last in Bremen, Germany.

For all of my railing against novelty clothing and accessories in the previous post, coffee and tea mugs are one area where it's safe to indulge in this kind of lunacy, advertising one's affiliation with various institutions and support of favorite teams. My novelty mugs include the one featured above plus a red and white one from the University of Wisconsin and a mustard yellow one, that my wife mostly uses these days, from the University of Minnesota, where, coincidentally, we met as graduate students right about 13 years ago.

Unless you're attending the big Homecoming game and showing your team spirit, however, I still maintain that it's best to leave the novelty neckwear buried deeply at the back of your closet. But, a few less public items of memorabilia to enliven one's workspace or office at home are just fine.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Comments

Let's start dressing like grown men again. . .

This guy is dressed just fine. . . if he's at the park on a Saturday afternoon with his kids, or mowing the backyard. Welcome to The Average Guy's Guide to Style! This blog will be all about how average guys -- guys who aren't swimming in money, guys who don't necessarily look like models or movie stars, guys who aren't interested in jumping on the latest men's fashion trend bandwagon, and yet still want to look good -- can pull their 'look' together by assembling a modest, versatile wardrobe that is based on classic men's style***. Jerry asking George to consider what he signals to the rest of the world by appearing in public dressed in sweatpants. Now, there are already hundreds, if not thousands of related style blogs and websites out there in cyberspace telling you how to do this or that. And while some of those present useful information on dressing well, many others somehow fall short for a variety of reasons. Some blo...

Mid-November Monday. . .

A few minutes between classes this morning, so I snapped pictures of today's attire and accessories. The first wearing this season of the Optimo 'Dearborn' fedora, and the tie is a vintage number from Orvis, a nod to my late father's fly-fishing and fly-tying hobbies. It's been two or three years since this particular necktie's last appearance, so high time to pull it out and knot it carefully around the ol' neck. Managed to nail it on the first attempt too. Could this be the start of a trend? -- Heinz-Ulrich

My Preferred Oxford Cloth Button-Down Shirts. . .

One of several light blue cotton oxford cloth button-down collar shirts in my rotation, worn here with a wool flannel navy blazer and a vintage Italian silk necktie once sold under the Rooster label. An orange-brown with silvery paisleys, ideal for the autumn. T he other day, a regular visitor to Classic Style for the Average Guy left a comment in which he asked for information and my recommendations on the classic oxford cloth button-down shirt, commonly abbreviated to 'ocbd.' "Me? Are you tawkin' to me?" Oblique Robert DeNiro references aside, let's talk oxford cloth button-down shirts. This particular type of shirt is one of the bedrock items every man should have a few of hanging in his closet, especially when he wishes to present himself to the world in a way better -- yes, I said better -- than what has become the sad accepted average among so much of the male populace. First things first though. Lots of people automatically...

Classic Style

Search This Blog