Friday Pocket Square Style. . .

The upper half of today's later Zoom meeting with colleagues and some additional work-from-home activities, featuring a festive pocket square I purchased about 15 or 16 years ago in Chicago at Marshall Fields before Macy's took over. The display of men's pocket squares was something to behold. Rack upon rack and several large tables displayed them in their hundreds. It was a dandy's paradise, but I spared The Grand Duchess, looked around quickly, and purchased just this one since we were on our way somewhere else.

And the lower half, featuring corduroy jeans and my faithful old suede camp moccasins, which are my 'go to' at home shoe during the cooler half of the year. And no socks. Yes, I know. I know.

Still quite chilly here at Totleigh-in-the-Wold, so the oxford cloth, tweed, and cords are still very comfortable. I find that this particular tweed jacket from J. Press, another 'go to' piece, is the most comfortable indoors because it is less heavy than, for example, those by Harris or various Irish makers.

As far as pocket squares go, this one was dug out from the bottom of my pocket square jar this morning to brighten up today's ensemble and celebrate the approaching end of the term. We have a single week of classes left after today. Hallelujah and amen brother!

Now, I understand that some out there do not care for pocket squares, finding them effeminate, affected, of simply louche. I don't know about that. I prefer to take a page from the book of journalist Gay Talese and see them as colorful, festive accessories that help us celebrate life and the simple act of being alive through our attire. Unless one is attending a funeral or memorial service, why not liven up things a wee bit?

In any case, there are guys out there, who might like to venture into pocket square territory, but they worry about how to fold and wear them. In the interest of ease, I suggest that stuffing the square into your coat pocket and simply forgetting about it is the way to go. Unstudied and unfussy, yet just the final touch your sports jacket or blazer pocket needs.

Try it yourself and see.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Mid-June Thursday Style. . .

A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall. I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation. Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario. But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

The Power of Ideas. . .

T he end is nigh! The autumn semester/term approaches. And while we still have almost two months of summer left according to the calendar, "Summer is over and gone," as the crickets sang in Charlotte's Web . At least for those of us who head back to the classroom in less than a month. In advance of a meeting with my program director late Monday morning, I spent about 40 minutes total during the weekend to jot down several ideas about planned workshops and related activities for the coming 2024-2025 academic year. At an opportune moment, I mentioned "I have a few ideas," and opened my leather portfolio. My director was highly receptive to almost everything I suggested, and we had a very productive planning session for just over 90 minutes. Just about everything I sketched out on Sunday aligns with his own ideas. It's nice when meetings go that well, and two related things occur to me in hindsight. One, it pays to exercise...

A Lazy Saturday at the End of June. . .

A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh. Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan. Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt. Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode. However, I was not completely useless yesterday! I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch. The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings, took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific. I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 19...

CharlottesvilleApril 16, 2021 at 12:16 PM
A particularly nice specimen, Heinz-Ulrich. And for a funeral, I would suggest half an inch of a simple white linen or cotton handkerchief peeking out of the breast pocket of one's navy suit, worn in the "TV fold." As I commented recently on Ivy Style, a naked pocket just looks unfinished to me.

Classic Style

Search This Blog