Dinosaurs and Badgers Thursday. . .

A dinosaur pocket square (a nod to our son's continuing fascination with the beasts) and some socks featuring my Alma Mater's mascot Mr. Bucky Badger. A warm double-breasted navy polo coat, schoolboy scarf (University College, Dublin stripes), and the hat for this week top off today's attire nicely.

I am home once again as I write this, but remain dressed thusly for a 3pm meeting via our old friend Zoom.

Five similar fur fedoras are now in the rotation, in various dark tones though not black, and I wear a different one each week. The mistake a lot of guys make, when I see photos shared in online fora, is in wearing their hats straight across the face, akin to an Amish farmer.

No, no, no. If you're going to wear such a hat, commit to it, and wear your chapeau to one side at a jaunty angle. It also helps if you reshape it carefully with some judicious rolling and careful rumpling to make it yours and impart just the right attitude instead of that 21st century "brand new just out of the box" look.

This is another area where hat guys seem to go wrong. Their head wear always looks as though it is rarely worn and instead resides in a glass case in a museum display somewhere. Sure, I get it. Good hats ain't exactly cheap. But they are meant to be worn and enjoyed after all.

So, how do you pull off a genuine fedora in 2022? Just watch any film noir from the 1940s and early 50s for a tutorial. Think Widmark, Mature, MacMurray, plus a host of other A- and B-list male actors of the era. And then of course there is the master himself. Humphrey Bogart.

There are also lots of period TV series (Netflix, PBS, Hulu, etc.), usually though not always British, where the actors get it right when it comes to classic men's hats. Consider those a valuable secondary source for nailing how to wear a fedora.

Now, I realize that there is a faction out there, which holds the opinion that only "douches" (not my word) wear hats. That may be, but my fedoras never fail to garner positive comments from a wide range of people, from students to 80-somethings. So, I am not sure that I buy into this myopic train of thought.

In short, I enjoy my hats, and if a few others do too, enough to share their appreciation with me now and then, so much the better.

But you've got to own it. Timid anxiety and sneaking around the peripheries of daily life ain't the way. If you're going to dress with intention and leave the house looking more presentable than 99% of the people you will encounter most of the time in our slovenly age, carry yourself well.

Confidence is the unseen part of dressing with panache.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

J. Press Goodness. . .

F resh out of the UPS box, three examples of J. Press goodness on a Friday morning. These shirts are replacements for three recently worn-through, more than 20-year old OCBDs from Land's End (two) and L.L. Bean (one). They were purchased shortly after I took my first teaching position at a now defunct local college outside of Minneapolis, immediately following graduate school, as the fall semester kicked off in September 2003. While some professional gear hung in my closet already, a few additional items were needed at that point to round out the weekly rotation. Said shirts all finally fell prey to small rips showing up in the now very thin, but incredibly comfortable, fabric within six weeks of each other this winter and early spring. So, time for a few replacements. The old friends will find new life as summertime lawncare shirts. Of the three new items above, my favorite shirt is on the right, but one cannot go wrong with a light blue OCBD either, so we're in good

Time for the Ol' Switcheroo?

W ell, here we are approaching mid-April. And it might just be about time to swap the cool and cold weather attire for warmer weather gear this coming weekend. Mid-70s Fahrenheit yesterday, and low 70s today. Cooler after that later in the week, but I can probably stow the heavier wool items and cords in the cedar closet and safely bring out the warm weather suits, odd jackets, and pants until the fall. Still time of one last hurrah today however. Cooler enough this morning for a tan pair of cords paired with that recently arrived J. Press jacket. The latter is light enough, although it is wool, that I might just keep it handy since we can certainly have chilly days in May and June. While classes end on the April 19th this year, I'll still be on campus occasionally into June, so it's not exactly time for khaki shorts, Madras, seersucker and short-sleeved polo shirts just yet. There's also conference coming up in New Orleans at the start of June, so still some oppor

Job Talk #3. . .

C andidate #3 is, for my money, the person for the job. Considerable experience, broad perspective, well-connected throughout the college and university due to an array of collaborative pursuits of one kind or another, coherent and detailed vision laid out for the next three years and beyond. Yes. I am not on the committee that makes the recommendation to the dean, who will make the final decision and send the letter, but, were it up to yours truly, this is the guy. And he wore an actual suit (mid-gray), dress shoes, white shirt, and necktie as an added plus. 20 years or so my junior, but someone gets it. -- Heinz-Ulrich

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