Classic Style

Unlike the man in this photograph, my expression was deadpan, but inside I cringed.  And then wept inconsolably. M y wife and I had an appointment on Wednesday evening this week with a behavioral specialist (A Ph. D. candidate here at Michigan State University), who will be running a 15-week social group, part of a larger study in which our son will participate, for children on the Autism spectrum.   Everything went fairly well until she casually dropped some extremely rude terms into  the conversation.  Bear in mind, the three us us sat in an office suite, the couple to whom this specialist spoke were two educated, well-spoken, professionally dressed adults, who she had never met before, and my wife and I were not speaking like this.  Typically we don't anyway.   Suddenly, I was back in the non-union stockroom three plus decades ago unloading trucks with a manual pallet jack.  I thought I had left that kind of thing behind years ago.  Guess not.  To paraphrase those

 The upper half yesterday.  Slightly dandy with the purple and pink parrot pocket square, but hey. . . So, how do I entertain myself during twice weekly obligatory office hours to which few if any students ever come?  Why, take selfies of my attire of course.  That and comb article databases for the latest thinking on college-level pedagogy.  Actually turned up some interesting stuff this time! And the more sedate lower half, featuring some olive-gray dress chinos that are about a dozen years old, Merino wool dress socks, and a pair of Allen Edmonds suede half wings that were recrafted two or even three years ago.. T his particular combination of jacket, chinos, shirt, and shoes works really well during the fall months before the snow finally flies in late November or early December.  So much so that the jacket and pants hang together on the same hanger although once cold weather arrives, I sometimes swap in a pair of charcoal or mid-gray wool flannel dress pants. 

  The upper half this morning, featuring one of my workhorse navy blazers worn with a necktie from Bird Dog Bay, a nod to my distant equestrian past. If I recall the Wodehouse stories rightly, Bingo Little once sported a similar item, which almost put  the normally unflappable Jeeves to bed for a few days when he noticed it. S till having fun with the wardrobe this week, an easy one thanks to peer editing of the first student learning team papers and collecting said projects today and tomorrow (Thursday).  Then, the real fun begins once I must sit down to read through everything two or three times and assign grades using the grading rubric for the project.  -- Heinz-Ulrich And the lower half, featuring a recently recrafted pair of Allen Edmonds captoe oxfords and a patterned pair of pants that I have not worn in over two years.  How do I know?  I (re-) discovered my late maternal  grandfather's Buck pocketknife in the right front pocket.  The pocketknife has been mis

  The upper half for Tuesday this week, featuring a 6x2 dark charcoal suit with a subtle maroon stripe woven into the material.  The necktie (red with blue and silver microdots) came from Land's End about 14 or 15 years ago, when I needed to expand my professional wardrobe for that first teaching job after graduate school.  I don't trot it out often, but it never fails to get a compliment or two. D ress more presentably, sure, but have a bit of fun with your attire too. -- Heinz-Ulrich And the bottom half of the same suit during very early morning coffee at the cafe in the main library before my first class of the day.  Also shown are a pair of navy paisley dress socks by Dapper Classics and a pair of shoes by Allen Edmonds that were recrafted a year or two ago.

There are days when I observe the people around me, and how they appear for public consumption at work, in a professional environment mind you, and feel as though I am, in actuality, simply in the midst of a great huge daycare center. T he jettisoning of the tailored wardrobe is merely a part of the larger and ongoing 'democratization' of dress that started to standardize the wardrobe with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and whereby we may all eventually be encased in the same synthetic coverall and molded plastic footwear.  Still others will tell you the degeneration of the trad wardrobe is all part of the “me” generation’s retreat from social consciousness and public style, part and parcel of a general lack of empathy, manners, and responsibility.  More ancient members of the community can often be overheard muttering that we will eventually descend into anarchy, barbarism, and loincloths. -- G. Bruce Boyer Read the entire article by clicking he

A 1934 illustration of a herringbone suit by the great Laurence Fellows. S artorially speaking, y ou know that you have arrived when a person, who you do not know, first compliments your suit, and then remarks that you look relaxed and comfortable in it. -- Heinz-Ulrich

Not my photograph, but it helps underscore the point of today's post nicely. A s my mother and grandmother used to say occasionally during my formative years, "The people you live with are every bit as deserving of the social graces as those you meet in public.  Now, go back upstairs, brush your hair, and wash your face!"  -- Heinz-Ulrich