Classic Style

The late Gail Shikles Jr. a.k.a. Craig Stevens, in his Guise as Peter Gunn, the very embodiment of jazzy, cool sophistication on the small screen during the late 1950s-early 1960s. A gentle reminder to readers on this damp, gray Thursday morning at the end of March.  Whether you come from a relatively privileged background, whether you occupy a cubicle and stare at a computer as one of the millions of fleece-clad "analysts" populating the corporate world, whether you work with your hands in a trade or craft, or whether you dig ditches, push a broom, stock shelves, or drive a dump truck, it matters not.   Let's all do our level best to make ourselves more pleasant company, even when at home with the door closed.  Let's move away from the crass, the boorish, and the crude.   I'll leave it to you to fill in the many blanks that I observe across society on a daily basis, but sometimes I feel as though cattle and goats behave better. Being "authentic...

Holding up the bar in the 1930s.  Maybe we don't need to dress to quite this degree in 2019, but it's a damn sight more sophisticated than what society has allowed itself to devolve to -- think cheap black pants, dusty square-toed shoes, and the ubiquitous pilled fleece with a company logo sewn to the chest -- in the last 30 years of so. H ere's what others have to say on the topic of dressing better than what has become the accepted average most places, and why doing so is necessary: The Psychology of Dressing Well The Influence of Clothing on First Impressions Enclothed Cognition The Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn't Just a White Coat Dress, Body, and Self: Research in the Social Psychology of Dress Dressing for Success and the Achievement of Your Dreams What Your Clothes Might Be Saying about You How Clothes Influence Our Performance Wearing a Suit Makes You Think Differently Business Casual...

  The upper half on this chilly Friday afternoon. And the lower half, featuring a pair of well-worn olive corduroy pants and some suede Allen Edmonds brogues.  The unseen suede belt matches the shoes.   A close-up of today's pocket square in use.  Now, the funny thing about this particular pocket square, which gets a lot of use,  is this. . . It's really a small lady's silk scarf (Surprise!), but at about 17" square, it's just the right size to masqerade as a pocket square.  Not really that much difference between the two items when you think about it though.  I stumbled upon it six or eight years ago in a thrift/charity shop for 50 cents or a dollar, and it works nicely in repurposed form. N ormally, I am not on campus most Fridays since most of my courses are of the Monday through Thursday variety.  Occasionally, however, there is reason to make the 15-minute trip into campus for some committee meeting, faculty learni...

  The suit is worn with navy and red paisley braces, Allen Edmonds shoes, and navy with red polka dot Merino wool socks from Dapper Classics. O ur snow is all gone now here in Mid-Michigan, but it's still cold.  Perfect weather today for a wool flannel three-piece suit in charcoal gray beneath a navy double-breasted overcoat.  All ideal attire for coaching student learning teams through peer review of and feedback on working drafts of team papers.  Finalized, 'polished' versions are due at the start of classes on Wednesday and Thursday this week. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  Saturday shuttle style -- or 'Mama Taxi' a Spanish friend of ours used to call it -- above, featuring an OCBD shirt from L.L. Bean, 3/2 tweed jacket from J. Press, and the pocket square from the folks at Put This On, which sadly has made a distinct move into so called dad and/or workwear style during the last couple of years.  PTO seems to have lost sight of its original raison d'etre -- how to dress like a grown-up -- that so resonated with me back in 2009 or '10 when first I stumbled upon it.     And the bottom half, featuring Land's End corduroy jeans and suede camp moccasins by Allen Edmonds.    Not visible is a red and navy surcingle belt from Leatherman, which was a Father's Day gift two or three years ago. T he Grand Duchess has been away at some conference for university administrators since the middle of the week, so ol' yours truly shuttled The Young Master to his Tae Kwon Do and piano lessons midday after we enjoyed a l...

Not my photograph, but it provides a useful illustration for today's post.  If it is yours, and you would rather that I not use it, just leave a (polite) comment, and I'll remove the photo forthwith.   T his last week, which was Spring Break Week, was to have included a jaunt down to Pinehurst, North Carolina to visit good ol' Mom and see the new digs --  just off Pinehurst Three -- that she and Step-Dad purchased late last summer.  Alas, my mother had a rather serious health scare just prior to our convergence at Raleigh-Durham International.   Although we both made it from our respective points on the globe and spent the week together, the general mood was rather less lighthearted than might otherwise have been the case.  Still, things are in hand at the moment, and while I have had to return home for the start of classes on Monday next week, my sister has driven down from Washington, D.C. to help our mother navigate a series of further ...