Tan Loafer and Belt Thursday. . .

A sunny, cool autumn day here in Mid-Michigan today, so out came the light tan loafers and belt to wear with a sports jacket from Hickey-Freeman, navy grenadine tie from Chipp, a white OCBD-collar shirt, and some wonderfully soft wool flannel pants from Luciano Barbera.

The latter have been hanging in the overflow closet in the TV room across the hall from our bedroom for about a year, but I only managed to get them to the tailor in May. So, this is their first outing. The pants are more taupe than they appear in the photograph.

The monkstrap loafers, from Allen Edmonds, are a recent acquisition to replace a similar previous pair that were always too stubby looking on my narrow feet. The last on which these were made has a more pleasing, elongated appearance in my view. The matching leather belt (Ben Silver) was a birthday gift last year from The Grand Duchess by the way.

Now, some visitors might tsk-tsk my choice of light tan shoe for today, or suggest a more expensive brand like Alden. First, I would most likely never wear light tan shoes with a dark suit, but possibly a light beige summer cotton number, or a light tan linen model. Hmmm, I'll file that idea away for next summer since we are definitely now beyond cotton/linen/Madras/seersucker suit weather in my neck of the woods.

Second, I will indeed treat myself to a pair or two of Aldens the next time I purchase a pair of leather dress shoes. The trouble is, I don't really need anything at this point, and I am pretty easy on shoes anyway beyond the occasional resoling and related recrafting of the internal footbed, which the folks at Allen Edmonds do very nicely. And for a pretty reasonable price, thank you very much.

Make do and mend as it were. Leather dress shoes are, after all, not something to throw away like a pair of smelly, old athletic shoes. A decent pair that is occasionally moisturized and polished up, lives with cedar shoe trees inside when not on your feet, and is maintained by a cobbler when needed, simply gets better with time as shine and/or patina develop and deepen. Nevertheless, some of the Alden models of dress shoe are lovely to behold.

Ok, enough of this sartorial frivolity! Time to get some actual work done for the day now.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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 at...

Friday on Campus Style. . .

S omewhat atypically, I was on campus for several hours today helping with an interview that is part of a larger documentary project on which a colleague and I are working. Although I am behind the camera (I'm the audio guy in fact), what better reason does one need to dress presentably? Exactly. Everything worn, barring the recently purchased University of Wisconsin socks, a gift from the Grand Duchess, has been in the rotation for a while now. And, of course, there was the Panama hat, which I'll wear until we pass October 1st when the felt fedoras reappear. -- Heinz-Ulrich

Tan Suit Tuesday. . .

W hile it's now after Labor Day here in the U.S,. we still have almost three weeks left of summer according to the calendar. And since today was bright, sunny, and pleasantly warm (though far from hot), it seemed like a perfect opportunity to trot out my tan cotton suit and tan loafers/belt. Slightly disheveled, yes. And the shoes need some Renovateur to moisten 'em up But not a bad overall look if I might be so bold. -- Heinz-Ulrich

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