Skip to main content

How about a Bit More J. Press Goodness?





A few more photographs, taken by my sister during last week's visit to the Washington, D.C. branch of J. Press not far from Dupont Circle.  

While I really like and enjoy our Michigan home (and how lucky we are to be within easy reach of major cross-country skiing areas in the winter), there is just no arguing that most national capitals have a level of sophistication -- in dress, behavior, interaction, institutional, and cultural outlets -- missing from daily life out in the provinces.  

That's not a moral judgment you understand, but rather a feature that leaps out at you when meeting and observing people on the street, in restaurants, or frankly any other establishment.  My brief visit provided a much needed breath of fresh air.  

How nice it is to dine out in a few places where most men sport either suits, blazers, or sports jackets with neckties and decent looking dress shoes.  The women were dressed correspondingly, the few children present were well-behaved, and people conversed in hushed tones as they enjoyed their evening meals.  Ah, yes.  For a few days at least, I felt like I was back on my home planet.

For many years, almost half of my life at this point, I have called the Upper Midwest home.  There are many great things about the region, and at this point I cannot imagine living too many other places in the world.  Berlin, Hamburg, and Bergen, Norway, for example, are three cities where I could happily relocate and stay forever, if we ignore potential developments in Europe for a moment.

With the notable exception of the Chicago area, however, there is simply no getting away from the fact that the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the U.S. are very different from places like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and now Michigan when it comes to daily life, outlook, and worldview. 

-- Heinz-Ulrich






Comments

  1. One of the pleasures of traveling to Washington, DC regularly from sloppy environs.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All opinions are welcome here. Even those that differ from mine. But let's keep it clean and civil, please.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Popular Posts

The Problem of "Business Casual" Attire. . .

This is how it's done.  Business Casual the RIGHT way, ladies and gentlemen.  Even during the summer months.  A photograph (taken by Studio B Portraits ) which appeared in 425 Business Magazine in May 2017.   T his post on the problem of business casual dress began as a quick postscript to a previous blog entry last week but quickly grew and grew as additional thoughts occurred, were developed in more detail, and revisions made.  So much so, that it seemed, eventually, like a better idea to make the initial P.S. afterthought into its own entry .  Are ya ready, Freddy?  Then, here we go. . .  ------------ U nless you actually plan to sell beach snacks and trinkets on Cozumel, become a serial barista, or greet customers at a fancy nightclub after taking out huge student loans to attend university somewhere for four or five years, plus an MBA afterward, it's really a better idea to err on the side of (somewhat) more formal work attire any time you head into the

The Average Guy's Guide to Classic Style Now on Ebay!!!

Another great old Laurence Fellows illustration of menswear from the classic era, the 1930s. T he Average Guy's Guide to Classic Style is up and running on Ebay.  -- Heinz-Ulrich

Friday Tweeds, Cords, and Coffee. . .

  I made the sojourn into campus this morning to have some coffee and talk shop with a colleague.  We had an enjoyable discussion for an hour in the recently opened library branch of the global abomination that is Starbuck's .  Can someone explain to me. . .  Why on earth do cities like Vienna and Rome even need them? I am of two minds here.  Starbuck's is handy in a lot of instances.  The coffee isn't bad.  Somewhat better than what is sold in the competing, campus owned and run Sparty's .  And the space in the library, occupied by a branch of Sparty's until early last May, is redesigned, bright, airy, and clean with plenty of new tables, chairs, and outlets for  laptop computers, tablets, and recharging phones.  All very convenient.   Yet it is locally owned, non-corporate cafes that have the character and quirkiness that makes them interesting places in which to kill time, work, and people watch.  Why the campus town adjacent to my employer does not have a bette