Skip to main content

A Linen Suit on September 1st?

Here's the top half of today's gear.  Very cool and even breezy.  But what's with that uncooperative shirt collar?

The Labor Day weekend has yet to commence here in the United States, but the number of days left during which linen and seersucker are acceptable, if we go by traditional sartorial guidelines, are few in number.  You can understand, then, my eagerness to try out a Polo Ralph Lauren blue label linen suit that I splurged on last spring.  

Following a few minor alterations, it has been hanging in my wardrobe waiting for an inaugural wearing since mid-June.  The verdict?  Very light, breezy, and comfortable in today's 70-degree, partly sunny, breezy weather. However, my lower back still became a bit moist this morning, despite minimal lining in the jacket, while walking 15 minutes across campus from the building where my office is to another where my Tuesday-Thursday class meets.  Anyway, the suit pictured above was worn with a plain brown leather dress belt, brown Allen Edmonds "shortwings," and some fairly subtle brown and white striped socks if you can imagine such a thing.  

But it gets much worse, ladies and gentlemen.  Since it is supposed to become somewhat warmer and more humid by the time classes resume next Tuesday, after a three-day holiday weekend, I plan to pull out the vintage blue and white seersucker suit (oh, yes) one day next week and maybe also the madras sports jacket with some dress chinos another day.  Yes.  I know.  It's now September 1st.  How very gauche of me to wear warm weather attire into the start of the fall seasonI'm so ashamed.  Clearly, a crass parvenu of the first order here.   But it's not quite time for the heavy wool flannel double-breasted numbers or tweed and corduroy yet either, and one might as well be comfortable.  Gosh, with that attitude, can sweatpants and flip-flops worn on a daily basis with a ratty backwards baseball cap be far off? 

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Comments

  1. Was it Picasso who said: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”?

    Mark

    ReplyDelete
  2. Artist? Hmmm. . . I don't know. But it is fun trying to present oneself nicely to the rest of the world depending on the weather.

    Best Regards,

    Heinz-Ulrich von B.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All opinions are welcome here. Even those that differ from mine. But let's keep it clean and civil, please.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Popular Posts

J. Press Goodness. . .

    F resh out of the UPS box, three examples of J. Press goodness on a Friday morning.  These shirts are replacements for three recently worn-through, more than 20-year old OCBDs from Land's End (two) and L.L. Bean (one).  They were purchased shortly after I took my first teaching position at a now defunct local college outside of Minneapolis, immediately following graduate school, as the fall semester kicked off in September 2003. While some professional gear hung in my closet already, a few additional items were needed at that point to round out the weekly rotation. Said shirts all finally fell prey to small rips showing up in the now very thin, but incredibly comfortable, fabric within six weeks of each other this winter and early spring.  So, time for a few replacements.  The old friends will find new life as summertime lawncare shirts.  Of the three new items above, my favorite shirt is on the right, but one cannot go wrong with a light blue OCBD either, so we're in good

Time for the Ol' Switcheroo?

  W ell, here we are approaching mid-April.  And it might just be about time to swap the cool and cold weather attire for warmer weather gear this coming weekend.  Mid-70s Fahrenheit yesterday, and low 70s today.  Cooler after that later in the week, but I can probably stow the heavier wool items and cords in the cedar closet and safely bring out the warm weather suits, odd jackets, and pants until the fall. Still time of one last hurrah today however.  Cooler enough this morning for a tan pair of cords paired with that recently arrived J. Press jacket.  The latter is light enough, although it is wool, that I might just keep it handy since we can certainly have chilly days in May and June. While classes end on the April 19th this year, I'll still be on campus occasionally into June, so it's not exactly time for khaki shorts, Madras, seersucker and short-sleeved polo shirts just yet.  There's also  conference coming up in New Orleans at the start of June, so still some oppor

Job Talk #3. . .

  C andidate #3 is, for my money, the person for the job.  Considerable experience, broad perspective, well-connected throughout the college and university due to an array of collaborative pursuits of one kind or another, coherent and detailed vision laid out for the next three years and beyond.  Yes.  I am not on the committee that makes the recommendation to the dean, who will make the final decision and send the letter, but, were it up to yours truly, this is the guy.  And he wore an actual suit (mid-gray), dress shoes, white shirt, and necktie as an added plus.  20 years or so my junior, but someone gets it. -- Heinz-Ulrich