Classic Style

The upper half yesterday morning early.  The jacket is by Southwick and was thrifted for between US$5-7 a year or two ago.  On the bottom, a pair of heavy olive green chinos and the usual L.L. Bean duck shoes over ski socks.  I don't think I've gone so many days in a row without wearing leather dress shoes since my first teaching job up in Minnesota back in 2003-2004. W ell, folks.  The weekend has arrived and with it a cold and low fever.  Darn!  I had looked forward to some idle downtime during the next couple of days , engaging in a few hobby things I enjoy given a planned lull in course work and lesson prep.  But when you crummy , even normally fun things just don't seem like, well, much fun.  Sigh.  Ok.  Time for s omething to nibble on, and then back to bed. -- Heinz-Ulrich

IMPORTANT: Google Friend Connect (GFC) & Blogger follower changes I've noticed that on a couple of days, I've suddenly lost a significant amount of followers on Google Friend Connect (GFC). While you do tend to lose a follower here and there, the sudden loss of this many followers seemed strange to me. Another blogger recently googled to see if GFC was experiencing issues (back in 2011 they phased out GFC for non-blogger sites, so wouldn't be the first time). Apparently, starting the week of January 11th, Google has been slowly adding this requirement:  you now MUST have Google account in order to follow blogs through Google Friend Connect. If you follow blogs with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut, or other Open ID providers, you will lose your subscriptions to blogger blogs via GFC.  Fortunately, if you'd like to continue receiving updates from me, you could do as they suggest and sign up for a Google account and re-follow your blogs.  Thanks! Here'

The upper half for today early this morning over coffee and the final 75 pages of The Preacher, by Camilla Lackberg, part of my Scandinavian and Nordic Detective Fiction course this semester.   A chilly, raw day today although much of our snow cover has gone here in the southern part of Lower Michigan.  Still cold enough for tweed and sweaters though.  The Donegal Tweed jacket shown above is one I found for about US$5 in a thrift/charity shop about three years ago.  The label inside is virtually all in Irish Gaelic other than the bit about 100% wool.  After the side and back seams were taken in by my old tailor, Mrs. V. back in Central during Fall 2014, it now fits very nicely over a thin sweater like the Land's End number in the photo.  The dark green wool tie is another thrifted item by Bachrach, and the pocket square is the wool one purchased on sale at the start of the month from Put This On . -- Heinz-Ulrich On the bottom, a pair of navy Land's End dress cord

The upper half this morning.  A thrifted Alan Flusser tweed jacket, sweater and ocbd shirt by L.L. Bean, and a Seiko sim dress watch, which was given to me by good ol' Mom way back on my 36th birthday in the early 2000s.  The necktie was a plain navy wool number. T he new semester has yet to settle down into a dull roar at the start of Week Three, but I had a few moments to sip some fresh dark roast coffee and snap these photographs this morning during office hours before my first class.  The first batch of undergrad papers arrives in just two weeks. . .  Jeeze Louise! -- Heinz-Ulrich An the bottom half, featuring dark green Land's End dress cords, L.L. bean duck shoes, and yet another pair of heavy to-the-knee ski socks.  I'd love to put on a pair of leather dress shoes, really I would, but the snow, slush, and salt has simply been too much.  Fortunately, we already had the requisite bad winter weather footwear before leaving Central Illinois for more northerl

  Here is the view from our driveway down toward the street just before 10:30 this (Friday) morning.  Definitely suburban, but awfully quiet and almost rural.  Works for me. W e're enjoying the winter so far here at Totleigh-in-theWold although there is not yet  quite enough snow for cross-country skiing.  Locals keep remarking to us, though, that this year has been unusual in that there is usually much more snow on the ground by this point.  Still, we've had a few opportunities to fire up the snowblower to clear the driveway before heading in to campus, and we routinely enjoy the fireplace most evenings. This evening, the Grand Duchess and I will play a game or two of Scrabble and enjoy something medicinal by the hearth following the Young Master's bedtime.  I found her a nice bottle of Apricot brandy late this morning for us to sample a bit of, and then perhaps we might follow it with a glass of wine, or some single malt scotch. . .  all of which should help my Sc

The upper half today, minus the heavy dark green duffle coat from Scotland.  The necktie is a recently acquired wool number from Bert Pulitzer, C old and snowy here since the official start of the spring semester last Monday.  That has meant a moratorium on polished leather footwear sadly.  In its place, I have relied on LL Bean boots and the duckshoes show below worn with skiing socks.  Obviously, this would not quite work with a suit, so I have wor n nothing but corduroy pants, tweed jackets, ocbd shirts, and the occasional crewneck sweater of one kind or another on really cold days along with wool neckties.  Brogued "longwings" in brown or dark tan would, admittedly, be better on the ol' feet, but I'm not complaining.  How fortunate that the Grand Duchess and I already had the LL Bean footwear in our respective wardrobes though . -- Heinz-Ulrich  And the lower half.  Dark tan leather belt not seen here .  Not m y office rug, I promise, but a lounge

Two photographs from the New York Times article, showing us how it's done. A very interesting piece on the return of elegance to men and their style in Italy. -- Heinz-Ulrich

A bit of a splurge last week, but I really liked the necktie!  A silk J. Press pheasant tie 'Made in Ireland'. I t's always a nice surprise when you forget that you have things coming in the mail.  Such was the case with these three new items that I purchased last week.  And then immediately forgot about them until they arrived today.  Decadent and disgusting consumerism, yes.  The walking embodiment of a First World problem.   Still, I can't decide whether to wear the tie with a tweed jacket tomorrow when I meet the students in my other two classes this semester, or the blue wool pocket square with a different tie.  The white linen square will be saved for the next time I wear an actual suit.  What a frivolous and vapid popinjay I am! -- Heinz-Ulrich Taking advantage of a clearance sale at Put This On , I picked up this lovely wool pocket square with beautifully hand-rolled edges. And another pocket square on clearance from Put This On, this time i

All suited up and rarin' to go.  The Young Master models his skis and Mom's fleece-lined Minnesota "Vern Hat" as she calls it. W hat do you do on a cold, blustery, and snowy January day in Michigan?  Get out into the open of course atop your cross-country skis!  The Young Master and I skied our back and front yards earlier this afternoon during a pause between these mini-systems that are predicted to blow through with light snow all week long.  Who knows?  We might actually have enough on the ground to ski one of our nearby nature reserves next weekend. -- Heinz-Ulrich And he's off!

The upper half this morning includes a newly acquired L.L. Bean navy crewneck sweater in Shetland wool that was purchased on sale worn over a heavy Bass ocbd that I purchased a year or so ago at one of my old thrift/charity store haunts back in Central Illinois. C old with a bit of snow on the ground here in Lower Michigan lately, which provides a good excuse to don an oxfordcloth shirt and a crewneck sweater along with a pair of corduroy jeans. . .  as if one ever needed an excuse to do so.  These kinds of items are my "at home" uniform from October through mid-April each year, although I often substitute either a rugby shirt, or Norwegian sweater on the top as previous photographs here at Classic Style for the Average Guy will attest. Classes begin for the new semester next Monday, so I have been busily updating old course syllabi this week to make the courses and syllabi I developed in my previous position better fit current requirements here at MSU.  Not difficult,

Not my shaving gear, but I liked the photograph just the same.  Truthfully, straight razors are a bit scary for yours truly (I'll stick to my Gillette Atra razor and blades, thank you).  It must be due to the old Brian De Palma film, starring Sir Michael Caine and Angie Dickenson Dressed to Kill (1980), but I do use a shaving mug and brush quite happily. N othing quite like a shower, shave, clean clothes, and a good, strong side part in your hair.  The final week of our Christmas break, and the new semester begins on Monday the 11th.  Unusually, I have managed to get lots of little things accomplished, and it is just 11:57am.  Not even lunch time.  Amazing what you can accomplish when left alone for a few hours and able to focus your mental energies.  Ahhhhhh.  Even if I accomplish nothing else, it has already been a good day.  Men, let's march into the new year with purpose, drive, and greater elegance and everyday style! -- Heinz-Ulrich

An old ad for Ballantine Beer.  I have only witnessed beer consumption this glamorous once, or maybe twice in my life.  Nothing against the beverage itself, and I enjoy the occasional glass with a good brat and saurkraut, but usually, occasions that include beer do not resemble anything close to this idealized scene from 1954. H ow might we easily and effortlessly introduce more elegance and style into our daily lives in 2016 and beyond?  Here are just a few brief suggestions: 1) Instead of sitting around the house in sweat pants, cargo pants, or pajama bottoms most of the time, how about adding a few pairs of corduroy jeans for the winter and a few pairs of khakis (long, or short depending on the season) for the warmer months?  It's not going to kill us to look a bit nicer even when we are behind closed doors.  Let's keep up appearances even if only for ourselves. 2) I'll bang the ol' drum again since this is clearly such a challenge for so many in the 21st c

A vintage magazine advertisement from the mid-1950s.  Surely, there must still be a few groups of male friends who look and behave in as civilized a way when they gather in 2016? H appy New Year!  Let's make 2016 'The Year of Greater Elegance and Style.'  Let's strive to introduce both to a higher degree into our daily personal appearance, behavior, and living spaces.  Even if we are not born into monetary riches, there is no reason we cannot make an honest effort to spruce up ourselves and our surroundings.  As ol' Mom used to tell my sister and I during our formative years, "Do it for yourself, even if or when you are by yourself."  She had a point, ol' Mom did. -- Heinz-Ulrich von B.