10th Wedding Anniversary Madras. . . Style???

As I said to my wife when we were looking over our photographs post-supper last night, "Ignore the ass in the jacket!"

Yesterday, my wife, The Grand Duchess, and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I gave her with a pair of Italian sterling silver earrings, cycling tights along with a high resolution yellow cycling jacket, and an all too rare dinner out on the town sans child, something we have not done by ourselves in almost a year. Our son the Young Master is only borderline ASD, but he can be difficult to handle at times when the routine is interrupted. God bless Mrs. P., his para-professional from school, who came over for a few hours to keep him occupied and prepare him for bedtime.

Anyway, we tried a local eatery -- The River House Inn -- and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The weather was cool for late June with low humidity and a light breeze, so we were able to have our wine, meal, and dessert along the shady banks o the Red Cedar River. The food was good, but it really is the setting that makes this restaurant special. Leafy, green, and fairly quiet last night.

To celebrate our milestone in style (something that is open to debate depending on how you feel about busy plaids), I gave that vintage Corbin Madras jacket it's first wearing along with a pair of khaki dress chinos and plain Allen Edmonds brown loafers. The jacket was very cool and airy, which I hoped for given it's mostly unlined structure. If you don't mind people turning to stare, which they will since Madras jackets are not exactly common, I heartily recommend them for guys who want to kick up their warm weather style a few notches beyond the ubiquitous cargo shorts and flip-flops. Ugh!

Best of all, my jacket got the spousal stamp of approval. To my great surprise, my wife heartily approved of it, something I did not expect. I figured that she would nicely tell me NOT to wear the jacket when I accompany her somewhere and send me back upstairs to put on something else. However, The Grand Duchess, to her credit, apparently liked it and said as much a few times during the evening. Or maybe she was simply being polite? In any case, we had a delightful evening out together and have decided to do it again in a few weeks when Mrs. P. is available once more.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

The Pleasaures of a Well-trained Dog. . .

A few final photographs from my visit to my sister in Washington, D.C. last week. These include one of 'Mr. Beau,' my sister's meticulously trained and truly wonderful Doberman, another of my sister, second cousin, step-father, and yours truly on the steps of the church outside Lexington, North Carolina just after our late mother's interment service, two of me solo at the National Cathedral, and a final one of my sister and me hamming it up during a long evening walk the day before I returned to Michigan. My sister routinely walks to the cathedral, about three blocks from her place, to enjoy the grounds and gardens. The Bishop's Garden, in particular, is a place she likes to sit for quiet contemplation and internal dialogues with our late maternal grandparents and mother, very much in keeping with the Episcopal side of things. Our grandfather, who was raised Methodist, became an Episcopalian when he married our grandmother. Before you ask, I am not sure tha

Almost Mid-June Sunday Style. . .

A fter two months, Blogger has decided to allow me in the door once again, so I can add a long overdue post documenting my take on classic male style. Since we are almost in the throes of summer, let's go with a warm weather theme this morning. Now, the items above will not be to everyone's taste: Deck shoes without socks, shorts, pleats, skinny pale legs, etc. All invite tisk-tisking and debate in certain online fora, but that's ok. I wouldn't wear attire this to campus Monday through Friday, or to church. But for relaxed, comfortable warm weather-wear around the house during the weekends, with maybe a quick trip down the road for a gallon of milk at the super market, this will do nicely, thank you very much. It's certainly preferable to the wrinkled, torn, stained sloppy alternative we see everywhere in 2022. Neither is it at all far removed from how the various men and boys across three generations of my extended family presented themselves during even

Glenda MooreJune 27, 2016 at 9:14 AM
No apologies for a lovely madras ever needed! Anniversary congrats, & best wishes for many more!
WSTKS-FM WorldwideJune 28, 2016 at 8:39 AM
Thank you for your recent comments everyone! Keep 'em coming. Sadly, a cool, gray day today here at Totleigh-in-the-Wold and no more strawberries. But, I've got a reasonably fresh mug of string coffee to my right, so life ain't all bad.

H-U von B.
JeffAugust 3, 2016 at 8:18 AM
Jacket looks great on you, sir. It's not something I feel comfortable in. Please allow me to harp on point in your column, though: spousal stamp of approval. I hear this from time to time, items of apparel banned by a wife or girlfriend. This is unfortunate, in my opinion. One, most woman probably are not the best judge of what a man is comfortable wearing and looks good in--they, for the most part, have preconceived notions of what is right and wrong. This holds for men's opinions of what women wear as well--generally, we're not experts on women's fashion. Men and women need to leave one another alone in this regard. My wife and I wear what we want, and while we occasionally don't like what the other is wearing, we might make a gentle suggestion or request but we never presume that we know better or to proscribe any particular item of clothing. At bottom, it's a waste of energy and time when we should be focused on what is most important--our moments together.

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