Classic Style

Since we are talking three-piece suits below, this graphic seems apt.  The Monty Python boys in action, circa 1970 . W e are in the midst of the three-day Labor Day Weekend here in the United States, traditionally seen as the end of the summer season and the start of fall, although warm temperatures hang on in many places across North America until at least October, and Autumn does not begin officially until the Equinox 'round about September 21st, give or take a day. Which brings us to clothing and today's thrift/charity shop find.  I've wanted a heavier weight three-piece suit for quite some time -- my father used to have and wear several during his executive days on Wall Street in Manhattan during the 1970s and 80s -- but have had no luck turning up anything locally or online.  And, let's be honest, male academics aren't really in need of a such a garment these days either.  Most of them look as bad as the students they teach.  Nevertheless, you can imagin

  Another view up Bascon Hill, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, toward Bascon Hall and the statue of Abe Lincoln with Van Hise Hall (my old stomping grounds) peeking out just to the right. T oday's post has nothing to do with attire, conduct, or, indeed, style in any sense.  Instead, it has to do with pure nostalgia.  It was exactly 20 years ago that yours truly left Pennsylvania and headed west to Madison, Wisconsin as a transfer student to the mighty UW-Madison to continue my education. Right about now in '94, I was starting a part-time work-study job in the Geography Library (in the beautiful and historic Science Hall below) and settling into the newest chapter in my life by exploring the isthmus downtown and mainlining plenty of caffeine in the various cafes that line State Street, the largely pedestrian thoroughfare that stretches from Library Mall at the edge of campus all the way to Capitol Square right downtown.    An autumn view from Van Hise H

Another great, old Laurence Fellows illustration.  This is how it's done, guys although admittedly the white gloves and walking stick might be a bit, um, twee in 2014. W hether it involves working to kick up your everyday style several notches, doing well in school, advancing your career, or improving some aspect of your private life. . .  Focus Grasshopper!  Ignore and avoid the butterfly tendencies that plague the masses.  You must focus. -- Heinz-Ulrich

A snappy looking 1950s-era businessman.  Bring it on baby!  It's time to put the poorly conceived and invariably badly executed 'business casual' to bed once and for all.  If you look like hell, your attitude and efficiency in the workplace are going to follow suit.  Do you really want someone who resembles an itinerant worker, perhaps better suited to raking leaves in your yard and shoveling snow from your front walk, handling your business and legal affairs, to say nothing of keeping you healthy, running your country, or educating your children? T his was but one of many comments in reply to this question, posed a few days ago, on the Daily Prep blog: Will suits and ties return as a business staple? "A coat & tie, heavy starched OCBD, shined Aldens,white pocket square,shaved, & barbered up represents a standing rebuke to the forces of moral & cultural relativism. It makes the great unwashed uncomfortable. To me, it constitutes an old school gro

A very funny old movie that is worth seeing. T his little tidbit of social info will seem decidedly anachronistic in our current era of extremely informal backyard barbecues and/or beer and all-you-can-eat buffalo wings, chips, and runny salsa for US$3.99 as you hold up the bar in the local sportsbar and stare mindlessly at the flat-screen TV on the wall without actually looking at the people to whom you are speaking, but it's still worth knowing if you aspire to kick up your everyday style several notches.  Sooner, or later, you will be invited to a more formal evening sit-down dinner with tablecloths and place settings.  So, you'll naturally want to come across as polished, urbane, and practiced in how you conduct yourself before and during the evening.  You don't want to embarrass yourself (or anyone else) after all. When you are invited to someone's home for the evening, it is polite to bring some kind of tasteful host/hostess gift.  That should go without sa

At least this professor has his shirt tucked in and wears a belt.  Some of the 30 to 60-something male professors at my small university look as bad as the students! T he following is a reprise of an earlier post from a year or two ago here at The Average Guy's Guide to Classic Style , but it seems like a good idea to revisit it in view of yesterday's post of dressing and behaving better on college and university campuses .  Here we go. How do you succeed in my courses?   Easy.   Here’s how: 1)      Buy the required textbook(s) ASAP and bring it/them to every class.   Don’t show up without it.   Don’t wait three or four weeks to visit the bookstore or order the book(s) online.   Don’t depend on your buddy, teammate, or roommate to borrow his or her copy outside of class.   Buy it now! 2)      Come to class with writing materials (paper, pens, or pencils) for every class period.   You aren’t six, and this ain’t grade school. 3)      Do the assigned rea

Bascom Hall, at the top of (you guessed it) Bascom Hill, on the campus of my alma mater the mighty University of Wisconsin-Madison.  I get nostalgic for my own five years there every August.  It was exactly 20 years ago that I moved to Madison, as a transfer student, to continue my undergraduate education and complete one of my graduate programs. T oday's Average Guy's Guide to Classic Style post is a bit uncomfortable, but it is something that needs saying as we gear up for yet another academic year on college and university campuses here in the United States and elsewhere.  I'm talking about the way far too many average young guys present themselves for public consumption on campus.  Yep.  I'm gonna bell that particular cat. Now, I am hardly suggesting that college men in 2014 should aim to resemble the movie version of those always evil, sadistic, and moneyed prep school kids in various teen films from the 1980s.  Think of young Jimmy Spader's "Blai

H ere's a simple peace (get it?) of advice for average guys who realize the need to kick up their everyday style several notches.  Keep your voice down, and reduce the amount of noise you produce with music, digital effluvia, and the like.  Don't be the loudest, most obtrusive presence in a room or on the street.  Surely, you don't want others to turn around and gawk at you because you are creating such an annoying spectacle?  No.  I didn't think so.  Yes.  Calm and quiet are infinitely preferable.  And when you finally open your mouth to speak, moderate your voice.  It's but one of the many ways you can demonstrate some grooming and sophistication. -- Heinz-Ulrich

The pattern-loving late Duke of Windsor.  While I hardly suggest that you fear wearing patterned garments, it's best to exercise a bit of forethought, care, and restraint here.  A little goes a long way in other words. T ime to get back to clothing and accessories methinks!  As usual, I've been observing the world, both the physical and the virtual, during the last few days as well as taking stock of what's in my own wardrobe since the coming academic year now looms threateningly on the horizon.  Several things have occurred to me that might be good to share with other average guys who either want to, or are in the midst of kicking up their everyday style several notches.  So, here we go! 1) Be Careful with Patterns. And I say that as  guy who is extremely fond of bold windowpane checks, houndstooth, Glen Plaids, and the like.  However, exercise some healthy restraint here.  While you shouldn't shy away from these patterns totally, neither do you want to stick

A s I've gone through life the past few days or so, a few things have occurred to me while observing people and overhearing their interactions.  These admittedly rough ideas might be useful for average guys working to kick up their everyday style several notches.  Here goes:  1) Just because you are paying for something (or, if you are under 22 or 23, your parents or the government via student loans) -- on campus, in a restaurant, at the supermarket, while traveling, or in a place as tacky and awful as Las Vegas has become -- you do not have the right to abandon polite social convention and behave like an obnoxious and entitled moron.  Lose the unsavory the-customer-is-always-right attitude, and do it now!  It's definitely NOT the way to win friends or influence people. 2) Learn to enjoy the company of women.  Ignore this rule to your detriment.  By and large, women are more interesting personalities than most of us men, and they are better able to discuss a wide array