Classic Style

The Hopkinson, part of Allen Edmonds' Independence Collection, in a photograph borrowed from the AE website. A new pair of Hopkinsons (in black) arrived at our doorstep here at Totleigh-in-the-Wold earlier this afternoon.  In a word, they are absolutely beautiful shoes and will look fantastic when worn with gray, navy, and charcoal suits.  Easily up to Allen Edmonds' usual high standards of design, appearance, and quality.  The pair sent to me are slender, sleek, and elongated (I wear a 9D), definitely not "stubby" as some have complained.  Although mine were advertised as factory seconds (at considerable savings), I cannot tell why exactly save for a small dark smudge on one sole.  Otherwise, they look amazing.  The negative comments some have left about the shoe on the Allen Edmonds website, or in other fora, are puzzling.  My suspicions are that these individuals either are not caring for their shoes like you should with any investme...

Whatever holiday your family celebrates at this time of the year, remember to dress appropriately for the dinner table.  It is, after all, a special occasion. H opefully, you'll have the good graces NOT to show up for Easter or Passover Dinner in anything remotely resembling sweatpants, cargo shorts, the ubiquitous backwards baseball cap, flip-flops, or an untucked cheap flannel shirt.  Shower, shave, and get yourself dressed. Have some respect for yourself and show a little consideration for the occasion.  Unless it's a plate of microwaved Hot Pockets or Pizza Combos served on a TV tray, you can bet that someone has gone to considerable trouble to plan a special event and invite you to it.  The least you could do is to have some respect. . .   Although my suspicions are that I'm preaching to choir already. -- Heinz-Ulrich P.S. Say the Dining Table Mantra with me brothers and sisters, "Table manners, table manners, table manners. . ."  And if y...

Terry Jones and John Cleese in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. H ow, in the name of all that is great, does one deal with rude behavior or habits in adults?  Not simply around the dining table, you understand, but generally speaking? As one reader hotly pointed out to yours truly right here at Classic Style several years ago (2013, or 2014?), it is equally rude to draw attention to someone else's lack of manners.  Fair enough.  But that does very little to solve the problem, rife in 2018.  Neither does that mean the rest of us must suffer this brand of fools gladly.   Call it what you will, but lack of basic, poor, weak, or just bad manners make(s) a person less than desirable company.  We are, of course, talking about more unappetizing behaviors here than the now ubiquitous weak handshake.  Use your imaginations to fill in the blanks.   I handle the problem of crass manners in two ways.  If we are talking about the w...

Chicago commuters, 1949.  Photograph lifted from the Optimo Hats Facebook page. T horoughly enjoying my 'Dearborn' classic fedora from Optimo Hats of Chicago (in Bison a lovely, rich dark brown) two or three days each week.  It never fails to elicit favorable remarks from passersby.  As the tagline suggests, life is better in a good hat. -- Heinz-Ulrich von B.

A firm handshake!  A firm handshake!  My kingdom for a firm handshake!   -- Heinz-Ulrich von B.

W hy do so many educated "professional" adults look so awful now?  A possible, highly probable, answer hit me like a bolt out of the blue as I worked on my laptop early this morning sitting in the cafe that is tucked into a corner of our library here on campus.  It's a popular meeting place for students, faculty, and staff, and certainly somewhat nicer surroundings than my office, so I take every opportunity to spend time there as and when I can.   I was joined in the otherwise empty space at that early point in the morning by a group of  seven or eight library staff, who convened for a small meeting of some kind a short distance from where I sat.  To a person, the mixed group of men and women aged roughly 30-50 , more or less, resembled the sacks of potatoes pictured above.  All with the latest dinging, blinking, chirping, burping gadgetry in hand. A few things occurred to me as I took in the group for a minute or so over the top of my glasses ...

A pleasing mixture of men and women enjoying a drink or two way back when, as depicted by Leslie Saalberg and Laurence Fellows.  I dare say people no longer look so polished or sophisticated in most bars, hotel or otherwise, one might venture into these days. -- Heinz-Ulrich

An old Laurence Fellows illustration that works well with today's discussion.  Keep things cordial but professional in your work life, and avoid the now common TMI Syndrome, the tendency to share far too much personal information in a misguided attempt to bond with supervisors and co-workers. I n a society apparently more concerned with 'keeping it real' than in keeping itself polite and pleasant, false bonhomie has become epidemic in virtually all walks of life.   Collins English Dictionary defines 'bonhomie' as happy, good-natured friendliness.  False bonhomie is, naturally, the opposite.  I understand the term as insincere social interaction, manifesting itself most often in the tendency to behave in an overly familiar way upon meeting people for the very first time, and/or to overshare with people you don't know well.  And maybe even those you would rather not know well.  In a nutshell then, false bonhomie is the habit of behaving and car...