Thinking ahead to Autumn Already. . .

This lovely, and very heavy, Southwick 3/2 suit arrived today.

It pays to be foresighted when assembling an adult male wardrobe. While we haven't even had any hot weather (and only a few warm days) to speak of this spring in my neck of the woods, I already find myself thinking ahead to late fall and next winter. Why? This vintage Southwick beauty by arrived with the mail earlier today. A fairly reasonable 'Or Best Offer' Ebay purchase when you consider that it's a full suit with several quality features.

Made in the U.S. of A., the suit is sized as a 40 Long. The coat fits cleanly across my back, chest, and sides without being too snug or hanging on my still reasonably trim frame. The pants, while far too long currently, are fully lined to the ankles and have brace buttons already on the inside of the waistband, so I'll have the belt loops removed and wear the suit with braces. Best off all, it is very comfortable. Delightfully soft and HEAVY wool flannel with a gray, charcoal, rust, and teal houndstooth pattern. Gorgeous up close, yet still understated. Perfect for those chilly autumn or colder winter days when I want to dress up a bit more than the usual tweed sports jacket with odd flannel or corduroy pants.

Of course, a few minor alterations are necessary (a bit of sleeve shortening and adding cuffs/turn-ups to the pants), but that's not a problem. The coat already has a nice silhouette with a bit of waist suppression, but I might see about having a tiny bit more added later depending on what my tailor Mrs. V. has to say. Far too heavy for summer or early fall, but I can't wait to put it on when we have our first really chilly morning in about five or six months' time. I'm very pleased to add this suit to my wardrobe.

Fine, but so what? Well, the point to take away here is that you need to think long term when adding items to your wardrobe, and don't simply make purchases based on the current season or whatever the legions of menswear I-gent fashionistas out there might deem the current flavor of the month. Think farther afield than that and make your purchases, instead, with the aim of bucking trends. Go for timeless items that you'll break in and enjoy wearing for years.

-- 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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