Classic Style

Before and after photographs of my shoes, courtesy of the recrafting people at Allen Edmonds. A n email from the folks at Allen Edmonds was waiting in my inbox this morning.  Although I had been told to expect delays given the installation of a new system at the company's Port Washington, Wisconsin facilities, lo and behold, it seems the shoes I sent them just before mid-June are now finished and on their way back to me via FedEx.  How is that for service? Besides the usual and routine moisturizing, polishing, and brushing down to keep your leather dress shoes looking their best, occasionally shoes need things like resoling, new heels, and a little general tender loving care.  While some consider Allen Edmonds footwear somewhat frumpy and "entry level" when it comes to leather dress shoes, I disagree.  In my experience, the styles, prices, quality, and service are first rate.  Including this latest pair, I have sent half a dozen pairs to the recrafting departme

W hile there are many possibilities for advice and related discussion when it comes to the subject of house guests, let's keep things short and to the point this morning.  Likewise, short and sweet is best when you have been invited to someone's house for drinks, dinner, dessert with coffee, and conversation throughout.  It's far better to leave your hosts wanting to see more, rather than less, of you. So, be aware of the time, show some empathy, and know when to head for home.  Especially during the latter part of the evening.  It's far better to leave people wanting more of your scintillating company and witty ripostes than it is to put your hosts in the excruciating position of wondering when in the hell you might say goodnight.   My experience as an adult, more often than not, has been that people -- even those we actually like -- tend to overstay their welcome when they have been asked to join us for dinner, an open house, a party, or some other kind of gat

The borrowed photograph comes from the Oxford Cloth Button-down blog where you will occasionally see some of the most beautiful examples of traditional repp stripe neckties work with considerable aplomb. "I welcome opportunities to wear a necktie rather than searching for excuses not to wear one." -- Old School Well put.  To borrow a page from the film version of Forrest Gump, that's about all there is to say about that.  Happy Monday everyone. -- Heinz-Ulrich

Written by noted style author David Coggins, who has penned articles for The New York Times among others.. W ell, I feel somewhat vindicated this morning.  It seems that I am not a complete crank, and I am not the only one who has noticed the problem.  This book just hit the market Monday this week, and it strikes me that it might be just the thing for those young men everywhere, who have either just graduated from, or are about to leave behind, high school and college for something that kind of, sort of resembles adulthood.   You know.  Since we cannot depend on many (most?) parents to teach their children much in the way of basic decency and civility anymore from what I observe on campus daily between late August and early May each year, to say nothing of airports, restaurants, and other public spaces.  We might hear a mumbled "please" and/or "thank you" if we're lucky, but God knows few parents seem even to think about passing on skills like table man