Halloween Monday Style. . .

A dark, wet Halloween today, so time to break out the flannel three-piece, which is one of my favorites during the cooler/colder months. My sole concession to the day is the orange necktie which is a Brooks Brothers 'Makers' and, in my view, perfect for the fall season given its colors.

The fedora, worn without irony, is a Borsalino 'Noir' model, which works wonderfully well with a trench coat. Hey, everyday is dress-up day in my little corner of the world. Here's a tip. When you dress everyday, and become used to doing so, it ceases to feel like a costume, and you become less self-conscious, eventually forgetting about your clothes all together once they are on your body. Which is what you want.

Of course, it helps if you observe older male family members doing so routinely during your formative years, but that's not entirely necessary when you have the right approach. Take a page from Carol Dweck's book and adopt what she has termed a 'growth mindset' about your daily presentation, and dressing more presentably gets a lot easier, psychologically speaking.

If others have a problem with your self-improvement, and say something snide, don't take the bait. As my late mother used to advise my sister and me when we were adolescents, "Let it roll off your back like water off a duck."

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In other 'news,' I took care of the twice yearly attire swap yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and moved the warm weather gear to the cedar closet in basement off the main room that I use as my den. Naturally, I replaced all of that with the flannel, tweed, and corduroy items that summer in the same space. Nice to see old friends again, many of which one forgets about during the six months or so they are in storage.

Moreover, I replaced the lighter cotton dress socks in the sock drawer with the Merino wool numbers from one of the large plastic tubs beneath our bed on the second floor. Caught sight of my skiing clothes in another storage tub in the process too. Yes!

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I am looking forward, needless to say, to the coming winter season and exploring more Nordic ski centers in Northern Michigan with the Grand Duchess and Young Master. Our son really came into his own on skis last year and navigated black diamond trails (lots of steep climbs and winding descents) like an old hand. Can't wait for us to hit the trails again this year!

But first, gotta get some bindings mounted on a new set of skis, brush, wax, scrape. and polish the bases of some others hanging in the shop area downstairs, plus make sure everything is ready to go before the snow flies. Not that I'm excited by the onset of winter or anything.

-- 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...

Vintage Bowtie Monday. . .

A nd it's September 30th! Week Six of the Fall 2024 semester. Already. To celebrate being alive, today I wore a vintage J. Press bow tie with a shirt from Mercer & Sons, suit by Brooks Bros., and shoes (with matching belt) by Allen Edmonds, the latter resoled in August, 11 years after their last recrafting at the AE factory. This time, I simply wanted the shoes resoled, rather than a full recrafting, so did not send them off. I took them instead to the last apparent cobbler in the Lansing area. But it still took about a month until the work was finished given their backlog of business. No matter, it was still summer. And the crowded shelves behind the counter in the shop were good to see. One of the cobblers is a soft-spoken young guy with long hair (But he knows his shoes!), so hopefully they'll be around for years to come. All items shown already in the rotation for at least the last two or three years....

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

Der Alte FritzOctober 31, 2022 at 8:20 PM
Dressing up isn’t easy for those of us seniors with expanding waistlines, but I do agree with your sentiment.

Classic Style

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