Classic Style

(In a Pathe Newsreel announcer's voice) Here's Heinz-Ulrich after the first sip of wine.  What a lightweight!  It doesn't take much to put him in the party mood.  More seriously, the salt shaker and pepper mill were my maternal grandmother's and were on her dining table all of my life until she presented them to me in 1994 when I left Pennsylvania to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  They have been on my own dining table ever since.  Oh, and out of sight on the lower half, a pair of balck tasseled loafers and some very subtle dark green and maroon plaid wool pants from Bill's Khakis of Reading, Pennsylvania. . .  My old stomping grounds in Berks County. The Grand Duchess enjoys her meal.  We had only just started with the wine, honest!  She also wore a dark red wool skirt and a pair of dress boots with high heels.     Up and around and into mischief once more, the Young Master models one of his ocbd shirts, a new pair of corduroy pants,

T o all U.S. visitors to Classic Style, I wish you a peaceful Thanksgiving Day wherever in the world you might find yourselves this year.  Regardless of whatever life drops in our laps, we nevertheless have a great deal to be thankful for in the everyday small things that we (probably) take for granted.  If we have the company of loved ones, a solid roof over our heads, enough on the table, gainful employment (maybe even a job we like), with a little extra for a rainy day, a few pleasurable diversions that bring us happiness, plus a life lived in relative safety, then we can count ourselves very fortunate indeed.  Many in the world lack one or more of these things and suffer for it.  We ought to keep that in mind. --Heinz-Ulrich von B.

The upper half today, featuring a wool challis necktie by Rooster.  Italian material hand-stitched in the U.S.A.  It's amazing what people will unwittingly unload on thrift/charity shops. And the lower half, featuring those recently recrafted Allen Edmonds suede  brogues once more and a pair of flying geese Merino wool dress socks by Dapper Classics. D ecidedly nippy here in Mid-Michigan today, so a perfect excuse to trot out this heavy tweed suit by Chipp for its inaugural wearing.  A lined, winter weight garment here kids., so it's got to be below 40 degrees Fahrenheit to wear this one comfortably.  The only alteration necessary was to have the waist of the pants taken in a bit, but otherwise, it fits very well.  A pleasing silhouette with slight waist suppression and side vents, shoulders with almost no padding, not too tight, but not billowing around me either with a medium break in the pants, which I wore with actual braces today.  And it is finally cool en

The upper half today, featuring a thrifted Donegal Tweed jacket (with Gaelic language labels inside) and a thrifted Ancient Madder necktie among other things.   And the lower half, featuring freshly polished and buffed shoes along with a new pair of Merino wool Argyll socks from Dapper Classics. T he weather has at least turned cold here at Totliegh-in-the-Wold, but I'm not complaining.  It is, after all, late November in Michigan! -- Heinz-Ulrich

Every man should have a tie with shrimp on it in his wardrobe. And the bottom half.   I t seems winter weather has finally arrive here in my neck of the woods, so it might be a while before these calfskin monkstrap loafers see the light of day again. -- Heinz-Ulrich

As above. . . So below. D on't fret, ladies and gentlemen!  I tamed that pocket square with a mind of its own and stuffed it back down in my pocket just after snapping these photos early this last Wednesday morning. ------------ W oody Allen remarked in a 1977 New York Ti mes article, "Showing up is 80 percent of life."   ------------ S omeone, anyone, please inform those numerous undergraduate neer'do'wells I have each semester, who, despite having all of this information on the syllabus from Day One -- and keep in mind we talk incessantly about these assignments in my courses in the run up to paper due dates (Shame on me!  It's the way my courses are designed) -- somehow cannot manage to develop , polish, and turn in on time ( if at all ) four 3-4 page, double-spaced papers .   Keep in mind, t here isn't even a research component to these four assignments, due at four-week intervals.  Students must simply formulate carefully focu

The upper half today, another delightfully soft and warm Ralph Lauren wool flannel suit complete with my 'Drones Club' necktie.  The stripes are in the wrong direction on this Brooks Brothers number, but otherwise, said item looks strikingly like the tie worn by club members in the Wodehouse stories. And the lower half. Finally, here is a close-up to showcase the Barney's cufflinks I was given by my younger sister for my recent birthday. O verkill (for a public university campus in the United States at least) was the name of the game this morning, but I felt good, and that's the main thing.   It strikes me that, among the menswear blogeratti at least, there is way too much anxiety about wearing a suit in 2016.  You know the kind of thing I mean.  To wit: When do I wear one?  How do I wear one?  Why should I wear one?  Where do I wear one?  Is it appropriate to wear one?  Am I trying too hard if I wear one?  Will I send the wrong signals if I wear

T he inaugural wearing for this particular suit, which I picked up for a pittance on Ebay late last spring.  I had a few minor alterations done over the summer, and it has been in my closet ever since waiting for cool enough weather to wear it. You can't tell from the photographs, of course, but when I am standing, the silhouette s something to behold.  I look like all of those wonderful old Laurence Fellows illustrations from the 1930s sans a fedora.  Purists will no doubt scoff at the button-down oxford cloth shirt worn with this suit, but it's what leapt into my hand early this morning, and I rolled with it.  The pocket square is a linen number from the folks at Put This On , and the pants were held up by navy and crimson silk braces fastened to buttons on the inside of the waistband.   I am sure that I looked like a complete anachronism walking around campus today (a Bertie Wooster meets Sam Spade hybrid), but I am now on the wrong side of a particular age, and I

 The upper half early today (7:45am-ish) while enjoying a coffee, a piece of Lemon Pound Cake, and reading over a stack of informal student written responses in the cafe before office hours.  The season's first tartan tie along with a Harris Tweed jacket that I picked up for less the US$10 a couple of years ago in one of my old thrifting hunts back in Central Illinois. And the lower half, including some Merino Wool Fair Isle knee-length socks from Dapper Classics.   C ooler here in Mid-Michigan today, obviously, or I would have not been able to stand the warmer tweed and corduroy for long.  Even cooler this weekend apparently.  Can the shaggy dog and Fair Isle sweaters be far behind? -- Heinz-Ulrich.

The upper half this morning, featuring a new handmade Italian necktie from Barney's in New York, courtesy of my younger sister in honor of my recent birthday.  Yes, "that" birthday. And the lower half.   A 50th birthday gift from my wife, the Grand Duchess, who presented me with this delightful briefcase from Allen Edmonds last weekend.  It replaces a similar 13-year old Samsonite briefcase, which has looked a little long in the tooth for the last four or five years.  This one is soft, supple, and the pleasant aroma of leather fills my car and office.  Oh, and the car is an almost new Subaru outback with 4-wheel drive.  Ok, so it's not the 1963 12-cylinder E-Type Jaguar convertible in British Racing Green with tan top and interior that I really wanted, but I suspect that car would not do well in the winter weather we have here in Mid-Michigan.  Call it intuition. Y ou know, when all else fails, I enjoy thinking of my various interests and hobb

  Tuesday's combination of shoes, attire, and accessories. W ith the approach of a "certain birthday" (The 29th, of course!), I've been treating myself to a number of small things that I don't exactly need, but I simply like.  For example, I ordered a couple of dog breed neckties last week from the good folks at Chipp Neckwear, a navy tie featuring West Highland White Terriers, and the red number below with black standard poodles all over it.   At different times in the past, my family has enjoyed both type s of dogs, who were members of the family.  So too was the pair of Labrador Retrievers that my father had many years ago, which was when I learned about how bird dogs are actually trained, not just for hunting, but also so they'll behave in the house AND heel on the leash.   Hmmm.  If I ever actually decide to retire, or I'm made to go, maybe I'll rekindle my interest in this one day an get back into dog training.  It's an interestin