Classic Style

The upper half Thursday morning this week just before walking the Young Master out of the front door to await the school bus. And with the rather subdued cotton pocket square (from Put This On) visible. A hhhh. . .  There is nothing like returning to the house after putting the Young Master on the school bus, closing the door, and being met by the aroma of freshly made coffee in the front hall.  Happy Friday everyone! ------------ The weather has warmed somewhat during the latter half of the week here in Mid-Michigan, and while my thoughts have not reached linen and seersucker suits quite yet, or, in my more casual summer hours at home, madras shirts and khaki shorts with well-worn leather docksider shoes, you could just about get away with dressing less warmly by yesterday (Thursday) morning.  So, I pulled out the vintage London Fog Glen Plaid topcoat from the downstairs front hall closet along with a pair of suede shoes and a matching (more or le...

  The top half a couple of days ago, featuring an Italian wool necktie and silk pocket square that were picked up for a few dollars three or four years ago in the best of the three thrift/charity shops that I used to shop in our old stomping grounds of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. S till nippy here in Mid-Michigan earlier in the week, so it was time to haul out a genuine tweed suit by J. Press for one last wearing before things warm up. . .  maybe.  This is easily the heaviest suit I own, and while I am unsure of the exact weight per ounce of the fabric, this is one item that will be far too warm above 50F/10C for most people.  It's HEAVY.   The coat is 3/2, and the pants are plain front, worn with braces rather than a belt although I still need to have the beltloops removed at some point by my tailor.  A more casual kind of suit, but certainly one that you will not see everyday (if at all) in my area of the world and in my line of wor...

  The upper half, featuring a jacket by J. Press that was purchased at a thrift/charity shop about three years ago for less than US$10 and a Land's E nd 'Hyde Park' ocbd shirt purchased new about the same time.  These are only ones sold by the company these days that are not part of their 'No Iron' nonsense.  How much longer will that last I wonder?  It is getting increasingly difficult to find ready-made dress shirts that are not pre-treated with all kinds of unpleasant chemicals to make them (more or less) 'No Iron'.  Time finally to try ou t shirts made by Mercer et al I guess.   And the bottom half, featuring Italian flannel pants (again purchased in a thrift shop two or three years ago) plus a pair of completely recrafted Allen Edmonds split-toe oxfords.  Not my favorite shoe style, but it's nice to vary the look of one's footwear from time to time.  My late maternal grandfather wore split-toes and long-wings almost exclusively th...

The closest I'll ever get to so called "novelty" neckties.  Not a Tasmanian Devil, Wile E. Coyote, or Pepé Le Pew to be found.  Thank you for helping me with the correct spellings of these characters' names Old School! A ccessories, carefully chosen, allow one to have a bit of fun and express some personality when dressed to the nines.  Among my 90 or so neckties -- I know, I know. -- are a few critter and club ties that make the rounds several times a year between late August and mid-May when I have occasion to leave the house and appear on campus looking pulled together.  W h ile very few men in 2017 actu ally need anywhere near that many neckties, it has always str uck me as sad when I have crossed paths with the occasional grown man at a formal event or job interview, an d that person clearly owns no o ther necktie besides one with a cartoon character on it. If  a man in our overly cas ual age has  just one necktie hanging in his closet, I ...

The new square in action early this morning before the first class of the day. A s mentioned in a previous post or two, 2017 is the Year of Accessories here at Classic Style , and one of my favorite accessories happens to be pocket squares.  I began wearing the silk paisley variety in my jacket and suit pockets back during the fall of 2003 in my first job immediately post-graduate school when I taught for 14 months at a small college just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Oddly, I don't recall specifically what it was that  inspired me besides the vague impression that empty chest pockets struck me as somehow odd.   The rather dandy move, in the minds of many men, was, admittedly, into uncharted territory.  My nearest examples of how professional men ought to dress, my father and maternal grandfather wore suits five, and sometimes six, days a week in their working lives as Philadelphia and Manhattan-based corporate executives.  Only my grandfathe...