Classic Style

    D elaying close examination (and grading) of the student learning team projects submitted  last Friday by fooling with the Classic Style blog this early Monday morning.  And what better way to do so than uploading photographs of today's ensemble, which is built around a Chipp tweed suit and an oxford cloth button-down collar shirt from Mercer and Sons.  The two items seem made for each other and provide the perfect background for a vintage wool necktie from Revitz that was block printed by hand in the U.K. -- Heinz-Ulrich

    W ife and child are away for a few days visiting grandparents, so yours truly has been left alone to run wild.  In keeping with that theme, I headed out to run a few errands on Saturday midday, including dropping off a couple of warm weather things -- a beige suit and tan sports jacket with brown  windowpane overlay -- at the tailor.  These were left for later last fall.   Well, we have come to later, and warmer weather will eventually reach Michigan, so time to have a few last things seen to as part of The Great Alteration. My other Saturday errand included a visit to the supermarket to pick up a few things.  Most important was a new loaf of cinnamon raisin bread.  Living out there on the bloody edge, I realize, but it is my favorite breakfast food, toasted or right out of the bag, and a couple of pieces go wonderfully with fresh, strong black coffee. Otherwise, the wild abandon the last few days has included binging on various 21st century neo-noirs during the evenings, movies th

  T he attire for this dark, wet, and chilly Thursday.  Warm and comfortable yet not horribly unattractive.  Besides spotting that bit of white thread on my green sock in the above photograph, it has just dawned on me how many university stripe oxford cloth button-down collar shirts hang in the closet where my dress shirts live once laundered and on plastic hangers.   I must have more of these than any other color besides the usual light blue OCBD.  And while I also really enjoy windowpane and tattersall patterns, it is the university stripe that is my all time favorite for this sort of shirt.  I've worn them for 40+ years.  They look equally good with jeans, a sports jacket and odd trousers, or a complete suit with necktie.   It is hard to go wrong with university stripe OCBD shirts.  Unless of course you inadvertently opt for one that is not cotton.   Natural fibers are one of the keys to comfort when it comes to professional clothing.  Proper fit and simply getting used to weari

  A s comfortable and familiar as a pair of flannel pajamas with a robe over top on this cold, wet, and blustery day.  But pressed.   Not seen is a pair of silk navy braces with dark red and silvery gray paisleys plus a white linen pocket square.   I usually save the more colorful wool, silk, and cotton pocket squares for blazers and sports jackets.  Better to keep things a bit more reined in with suits and let the more solemn attire speak for itself. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  T aking care of numerous little things from home yesterday.  Can't recall any of them this morning beyond an interesting Zoom meeting about a possible project, but as with so many of these kinds of things in various occupations, you need to get 'em off your desk before you can proceed with other things.   So, a bit more relaxed with the corduroy jeans and venerable suede camp moccasins sans socks, but still reasonably well pulled together.  No need to look like I've rolled out from beneath a garbage bin somewhere just because I'm at home, right?  In fact, I enjoyed this particular combination of items so much, that I kept it on through dinner, only removing the blazer to read to and tuck in The Young Master at 8:30 yesterday evening.   Pajamas and another mug of coffee followed before continuing with the rest of the evening, which included an enjoyable couple of hours in bed looking at ski equipment online before The Grand Duchess joined my at 10:30 for a new episode

  C ontinuing the status quo here at Classic Style.  Just another obnoxiously overdressed Monday in other words.   Besides the items pictured, attire for the day includes a dark charcoal single-breasted wool overcoat with a herringbone pattern plus my old gray plaid wool scarf.  Still cold in the mornings before sunrise when I leave home, but temperatures are predicted to reach the low 60s Faherenheit by afternoon.  Spring has sprung it seems. Of course, yours truly is still reading books and watching Youtube videos on classic cross-country skiing technique plus working on balance exercises! If I had my druthers, of course I'd still be on the trails skiing, but sadly our season seems over here in Mid-Michigan with no snow left anywhere save for a few small dirty piles here and there.  Amazing how quickly it melts once the weather changes. Those lucky so-and-so's who live in Western Colorado and the mountains in Washington State enjoy skiing seasons that lasts into May I hear. 

    T he "cool" was my corporate bigwig (and she is) sister's word.  We share daily attire snapshots early every morning before the workday really kicks in.  She's a pretty snappy trad dresser too in a trad sense.  I'll have to ask if I might share some of her ensembles here. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  W e may be in the shoulder season with spring just a few days away, according to the calendar, but it's still chilly enough here in Mid-Michigan for tweed and cords with all the trimmings. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  A s the rockin' old tune by Foreigner from the late 1970s goes, it was a blue Monday.  Additional items included the navy Borsalino "Film" fedora, a long double-breasted navy polo overcoat, and an old gray plaid scarf given to me by ol' Mom one Christmas in the mid-1990s.   I'm sure that I stick out like a sore thumb when on campus (or anywhere in public for that matter), but, in one way or another, that has been the case for my entire life.  It's a badge I wear with honor. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  An old, and admittedly idealized, Laurence Fellows illustration from a time when people, in general, were easier to be around when it comes to appearance, personal habits, and general demeanor.  One more instance in which we seem to have lost our way.   W e're on Spring Break Week here, and I just returned from our local Target big box store where I picked up a few things for The Grand Duchess and Young Master.  Oh, the humanity on display. Keeping the self-respect flag flying in my own keep, nevertheless, with dark green corduroy jeans and a pink OCBD shirt beneath an old cream and charcoal L.L. Bean Norwegian fisherman's sweater.  With the ever present chocolate suede camp mocs on the feet.  Sans socks of course. I know.  I know.    -- Heinz-Ulrich  

  A somewhat tamer combination of items today.  Still very dressy even in light of the button-down collar and loafers.  The tie is vintage Orvis and features flies (as in the fishing kind), a nod to my late father's hobby.  Definitely not mine. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  A bit of Watkin Bassett, a dash of Tuppy Glossop, and a pinch of Walter Neff as the world watches harrowing events unfold in Ukraine. -- Heinz-Ulrich