Classic Style

For your perusal, entertainment, and perhaps erudition. . .  An old New Year's Eve illustration from purportedly from December 1932. W ell, the Christmas holidays are just about over for another year, but if you are headed out this evening, or perhaps on New Year's Day, there is one more chance to celebrate before we return to life as usual on Monday, January 6th. The Grand Duchess and I, much to my sartorial chagrin, will be dressed much more casually this evening after dinner and following The Young Master's bedtime.  We'll be staying in for a game or two of Scrabble in our pajamas by the fireside with maybe some binging on a TV series or movie via Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon afterwards, interrupted by a glass of wine at Midnight.   Not exactly high society, but understated and calm, which is fine by me.  Happy New Year's a few hours early then. Heinz-Ulrich

N o admonishing reminders this morning, everyone.  Simply a number of cheerful and wondrous old images of Santa Claus/Father Christmas for you to peruse and enjoy.  For an added aural treat, I've also included a link to BBC Radio 4's 2019 broadcast of The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge .  My best wishes to you all for a happy, warm, and joyous season.  Merry Christmas! -- Heinz-Ulrich

Not my photograph, but it makes the point nicely. C old with occasional light snow here in Mid-Michigan this morning.  Since classes for the semester ended last Friday, I am home in the early mornings now and giving The Grand Duchess a break by getting our 10-year old son up and ready for school between now and the first week of January.  A few minutes before the school bus arrived today, The Young Master and I bundled up in our winter coats, scarves, hats, and mittens for the walk down the driveway to the mailbox where we wait a few minutes until the big yellow bus with its blinking red and yellow lights arrives.   Although now at an age where he asserts his independence more and more where food, clothes, shoes, and other things are concerned, he slipped his hand into mine as we made covered the short distance from the front door to the end of the driveway.  I asked him if he remembered when he was younger and held my hand all of the time, to which he replied yes, yes he did. 

  A snowy section of Antietam Creek in Berks County, Pennsylvania (my old home turf) by Joel Styer Fine Art Photography.  The woods surrounding my maternal grandparents' place not far away look exactly like this during the winters. H o, ho, ho. . .  And not the hoochie mama kind, either! Online shopping is such a wonderful thing.  I spent about 60 minutes late this morning taking care of most of my Christmas shopping for the year -- Thank you, Mr. Bezos! -- and all without having to brave a shopping mall.  Online shopping is a wonderful thing for the misanthropes among us.  ---------- Almost finished with final grading for the semester just ended, and naturally my thoughts turn simultaneously ahead to Christmas 2019 and the ghosts of Christmas long past.  Growing up in southeastern Pennsylvania -- District Township in Berks County outside Philadelphia -- in my maternal grandparents' house has left my sister, mother, and I with many happy and amusing memorie

The three shirts I purchased recently from Charles Tyrwhitt.  They come with their own metal collar stays, which keep the points straight and resting, more or less, at your collarbone.  By comparison, Land's End shirts, which used to be very good value for the money spent, are skimpy in the body and collars with inconsistent sizing.  Even their top of the line ironing still required Hyde Park Oxfords have fallen prey to this annoying tendency in recent years.  My suspicion is that the company has cut corners to save money on production costs, resulting over time in skimpier shirts, poor quality control, and (now) substandard product.  Enough said? A ttractive, high quality shirts.  Consistent sizing with a comfortable cut without veering into spinnaker sail territory (I opted for the Traditional Fit), generous cuffs and collars, plus tails that are long enough to stay tucked in all day.  The three shirts I purchased above integrate well with my existing suits, sports j

An interesting old illustration of a bustling tailor's establishment. O n the way home today, I stopped by my tailor to drop off the bottom half of my tweed J. Press suit to have a couple of loose buttons on the inside of the waistband, for fastening braces/suspenders to the pants, secured.  He was very busy, but took the time to check all of the buttons and fix those that were loose all the while chatting happily with me about the news in Vietnamese that he was listening to online in the background.  And all without charging me for his time.   On a similar note, earlier in the week, as I made my way into a classroom building on campus, a colleague of about 55 or 60 stopped me to compliment whatever it was that I was wearing that day.  We chatted for a couple of minutes, and she finished by saying how much she enjoyed seeing men "nicely attired" (her words).  I thanked her and wished her a good day with an added spring to my step. It is the occasional small acts