Classic 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      

  A pleasantly sunny and warm, yet comfortable September day working from home.  Perfect weather still for some Madras shorts, leather deck shoes, and a now 20-year old OCBD from Land's End that is finally too worn and frayed in places to wear with a jacket and necktie or suit.  But until a tear develops somewhere, it remains ideal for frumping around the house, albeit tucked in and with a casual belt.  Said shirt is also great for recording, editing, processing, and uploading another episode of my podcast. As I have written here a number of times before today, this particular shirt was one of several 'Original Oxfords' purchased from Land's End when I took my first teaching job outside of Minneapolis, following graduate school, at a small college now long closed due to highly questionable ethical and financial practices. Of that, the less said, the batter.  But I still have and wear several items purchased in 2003-2004 when it became clear that my existing professiona

I t might be after Labor Day, but it was a bright sunny day with warm temperatures here in Mid-Michigan today.  Hence the vintage Madras tie (the real deal) and coral pant along with newly resoled loafers.  And the Panama hat of course.  The ensemble even garnered a compliment as I made my way into the library mid-morning.  Never necessary, but always nice to hear. -- Heinz-Ulrich      

  W e have enjoyed a largely temperate summer here in Mid-Michigan this year.  But like clockwork, the thermometer climbed to 90+ degrees Fahrenheit today, the first day of classes at my institution.  And of course the building in which I teach my classes this semester lacks air-conditioning.  The huge ceiling fans in the classrooms help a bit, but when you cram fifty or more bodies into these rooms, things become less than comfortable PDQ.   Hence the linen suit for today.   It rumples almost as soon as you put it on, but the material of which the suit is made is like the most gossamer of pajamas and allows plenty of air to circulate around a slightly too warm body.  As my late mother used to point out, linen items announce their presence by virtue of the wrinkles.  And anyone in the know will realize what they are looking at. In any case, a bit on the dandy side today with the Italian parrot necktie, bold Mercer shirt, and the pocket square, not to mention the Panama hat, but why not

  O n campus for another kick-off today before classes for Fall 2024 commence in earnest on Monday morning.  A reasonably good combination of items today, including a shirt and necktie from J. Press, but the navy socks don't quite work.  They are simply what I dug out of the sock drawer in a a hurry after showering and shaving.  Should've trekked downstairs to the drying rack in the laundry room for a much lighter pair of cream and light tan Argyll numbers.  But, ah well.  Mistakes are how we learn after all,  One of you asked about my watch a day or two ago.  It's a modest Seiko "slim dress" given to me by my late mother when I turned 36 early in the century.  It works very well for me given my skinny wrists and slim build.  The occasional trip to the jeweler for cleaning and a new strap now and again keep it looking good.   I purchased a round Bulova -- with black leather strap -- about six or seven years back using a gift certificate from my in-laws, but the fa

  T he Young Master began  high school today.  Where has the time gone?  Already about 5'10" (approximately 178cm), I suspect he will be quite tall by the time he finishes growing given the men on both sides of the family well over 6' (two meters) in height.  YMP reported excitedly this afternoon that his Spanish 1 course will be taught entirely in the target language.  Good man!    -- Heinz Ulrich

  O n campus for a few hours this morning for a workshop -- reasonably interesting -- on freedom of expression and inquiry in the college classroom.  Good reason to climb out of bed early, shower, shave, and dress presentably for public consumption. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  B ack on campus for a few hours today to help orient the five new hires to how our program functions, provide some general guidance, and move them toward the start of classes for Fall 2024 next Monday.  Actually, one of the more interesting such events I've attended in a long time.  Otherwise, a partly sunny, cool day, so perfect weather for a beige cotton suit, colorful shirt, navy grenadine necktie, and some reddish tan captoe oxfords.  Plus the Panama hat.  I know, I know. . . -- Heinz-Ulrich        

  T he Grand Duchess is away until tomorrow evening, and the Young Master typically gets to have his dinner with TV or Flight Simulator on Fridays, so yours truly is solo for dinnertime this evening.  Not really in the mood to "fix" something for myself, I decided to enjoy some fresh vegetables from Thursday's CSA haul instead.  A little salt and pepper with a large glass of chilled tonic water, and Bob's your uncle!  Sliced fresh strawberries with pineapple and cantaloupe chunks for dessert I think, followed by the usual fresh dark roast coffee and a brisk walk around the neighborhood following the Young Master's bedtime.  Ahhhh. . . -- Heinz-Ulrich

    W e've got one of those brilliant, sunny, cool, and breezy summer days here in Mid-Michigan today after a couple of days of rain.  Mid-70s (23-24 degrees Celsius) and simply amazing.  Perfect for some brick red chino shorts and a tucked-in poplin short-sleeved sport shirt.  Worn with surcingle belt of course!   Shuttling the Young Master to his math tutoring in a little while and then a fairly easy afternoon with a bit of preparation work for the approaching fall semester.  Otherwise, it's still "summer vacation" for a bit longer.  Ahhhhh. . . -- Heinz-Ulrich

    D uring a day already full of pleasant surprises, these arrived via UPS late this afternoon.  About a month before I expected them.  Yes!  Looking very forward to their inaugural wearings in just a few weeks when we're back on campus. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  T he end is nigh!  The autumn semester/term approaches.  And while we still have almost two months of summer left according to the calendar, "Summer is over and gone," as the crickets sang in Charlotte's Web .  At least for those of us who head back to the classroom in less than a month.   In advance of a meeting with my program director late Monday morning, I spent about 40 minutes total during the weekend to jot down several ideas about planned workshops and related activities for the coming 2024-2025 academic year.  At an opportune moment, I mentioned "I have a few ideas," and opened my leather portfolio.   My director was highly receptive to almost everything I suggested, and we had a very productive planning session for just over 90 minutes.  Just about everything I sketched out on Sunday aligns with his own ideas.  It's nice when meetings go that well, and two related things occur to me in hindsight. One, it pays to exercise forethought, take, and de

I t's getting to be that time in the summer!  Yep, the garden fresh vegetables are starting to come in.  Picked up the first half-share of the Grand Duchess' Summer 2024 community supported agriculture allotment late yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.  Some delicious looking items that will make a nice salad for dinner this evening.  Meanwhile, the Grand Duchess and Young Master are across Lake Michigan in Wisconsin visiting cousins for the next several days and attending a large annual airshow. while yours truly holds down the fort. More of the usual summertime fare in the attire photos featured.  This particular shirt, while it has not appeared here in quite some time, is one of my favorites.  An item that has been in the seasonal rotation for a dozen years or more.  It ironed up nicely before I put it on and tucked it in.  The chino shorts (with a 6" inseam. . .  I know, I know.) are one of many such khaki pairs currently occupying the bottom drawer of my dressed.  Regardl

  A quiet, calm summer so far here at Totleigh-in-the-Wold!  But time and weeds wait for no man!  So, the late morning has been spent weeding flower beds around the house, and I'll tackle the beds in the front and backyards after lunch.  Not a huge task, mind you, but by this point in the summer there are always things that have taken hold in the mulch that need to come out. As usual, pretty typical summer attire for this blissfully comfortable July day.  Nothing new with everything shown at least a few years old although the khaki shorts have been around for a decade or more.  As I suggest so often, even when at home all by oneself, there is no need to resemble a walking, talking hamper of soiled laundry.  It's actually not as hard to look presentable as many apparently think. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh.  Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan.  Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt.  Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode.   However, I was not completely useless yesterday!  I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch.  The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings,  took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific.  I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 1970s, aka The Stone Age.  As it is, my sister and

  A nother couple of quick shots of typical Late June (early summer) attire, illustrating that one need not resemble a walking dirty laundry hamper even when occupying private spaces at home.  Seasonally appropriate, comfortable, and cool.  Just right for working at the desktop PC, shuttling the Young Master to his math tutoring, taking out the kitchen garbage, edging the driveway late in the afternoon, and watering the hanging baskets on the front porch after dinner in the early evening. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  U p and at 'em early this Wednesday morning for an 8am appointment with my ophthalmologist for a routine check-up.  As always, it is better to forego the t-shirt, cargo pants, and grungy athletic shoes and dress for appointments with a bit of polish and sophistication.  People just react to and treat you better when you don't resemble an unmade bed on legs.  The items pictured above consists of the usual suspects, which are very easy to pull from the closet and toss on post-shower and shave without much thought at all.  The ease with which that can be achieved makes null and void the (tired) argument that dressing presentably somehow takes an unreasonable amount of time.  On the contrary!  You're, dressed,  out the door, in the car, and underway before you know it.  Ready for anything and attired like an adult rather than a 21st century version of Dennis the Menace. -- Heinz-Ulrich

Bad Dad makes a friend. YMP and Bad Dad on the shores of Lake Michigan.  Or was that Crystal Lake? The Grand Duchess takes a selfie in her kayak. How NOT to impress the girls sunning themselves along the river. YMP and Bad Dad kayaking on the Platte River headed toward Loon Lake.   J ust back from a week in Northern Michigan in a charming and spacious house on the banks of the Betsie River outside of Thompsonville.  A largely pleasant seven days despite some challenging episodes with the Young Master, who has picked up some very questionable habits and language from his friends in the 8th Grade during the school year just ended.  But otherwise, we enjoyed ourselves and contemplated remaining for a few days longer since the house was available.   In the end, we decided to return home as planned originally since neither my wife, nor I wanted to spend the remaining days chained to our computers in Zoom meetings from our vacation destination.  I actually managed to leave the laptop and ip

    A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall.  I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation.  Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold.   Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario.  But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  I t's "Back to the salt mines!" as my much missed late maternal grandfather (and former paratrooper) David Lewis Stokes used to kid.  In any case, here's one typical variation of the summertime wardrobe for tooling around the house.  Early evening outdoor work in the yard, mowing, and such isn't much different, but I change into older, fraying items for that.   The Young Master dresses similarly, by preference at this point (We've trained him well!), although he is going through a stage in which he eschews shorts for jeans in the summers even when it is quite warm out.  No matter.  I was that way at his age (14.5).  He'll come around.   To his credit, however, he prefers polo, Madras, and poplin shirts during May through September.  Good man! -- Heinz-Ulrich

A nd the final iteration of my approach to conference attire for the trip home yesterday (Sunday).  Overall, one of the best such events I've been to in the quarter century, or so that I have been attending academic conferences.  Along with very pleasant trips on either end the four-day jaunt.  It's good to be home though, and I am tired, but at the same time I'm already thinking ahead to next such event for Spring 2025. -- Heinz-Ulrich