Classic Style

  T he result of our egg-coloring efforts -- the Young Master and yours truly that is --  for Easter 2024.  Salted hard-boiled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, and perhaps also some Deviled Eggs will inevitably follow.  My maternal grandfather always colored eggs with my sister and me through our high school years on the Saturday of Easter Weekend.  My mother and I continued the tradition into my 20s whenever I managed to be home.  Happy times indeed! -- Heinz-Ulrich

  A nd be so good as to dress presentably should your Sunday plans include a church service and/or a sit-down Easter Dinner at home, or away. Kind Easter Regards, Heinz Ulrich

T he interview that didn't happen a couple of weeks ago was rescheduled for and took place today.  A very interesting hour plus discussion on how artificial intelligence will reshape post-secondary education.  I was the interviewer and dressed, more or less, as usual.  No surprises there.  A cold day today, so tweed, corduroy, oxford cloth, and wool for the most part augmented by a camel polo coat, long woolen scarf and tweed driving cap. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  T aking the edge off a 6/2 double-breasted suit today with a prawn necktie, purchased many years ago from Land's End.  Haven't worn either in quite some time, so today is the day. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  M y turn to shuttle the Young Master to an appointment late this (Thursday) morning, so I snapped a couple of quick attire shots as I sat alone in the waiting room.   Now, many people don't grasp why one should dress for doctor, dentist, attorney, or other kinds of appointments with "professionals."  The simple reason is -- much like gate agents and cabin crews when traveling by air -- that you are treated better and command a greater degree of respect when you do not look like you have just tumbled off the back of a turnip truck.   How people approach and interact with you most of the time, like it or not, correlates directly with how you present yourself.  And let's face it.  A logo'ed windbreaker, uncollared shirt, and white socks with athletic shoes simply don't have the same effect. -- Heinz-Ulrich

T he snow squall in which I left the house early this Wednesday morning looked like we might get hammered by a big early spring snow.  Alas, it was not to be.   The warm, comfortable ensemble illustrated here provided solace along with a vintage camel polo coat, a 30+ year-old long school scarf, tweed driving cap, and a pair of well-worn leather driving gloves.  In addition, the combo of items featured Orange SWIMS that have been my foul weather footwear protection for a couple of years now since I replaced the previous red ones, which had finally worn out beyond all repair.   I must have been quite a sight and lacked only the goggles plus a 1930s roadster with the top down.  Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright has nothing on me! Otherwise, more of the usual suspects but with the addition of a recently acquired wool sports jacket from J. Press, purchased a couple of weeks ago on season clearance and freshly returned from the tailor following the usual couple of minor alterations. On second thoug

  A cold, blustery day here today, more like January or February that the second half of March.  So, out came the warm, comfortable three-piece number purchased from J. Press back in December for another wearing.   Needless to say, I was overdressed, but that's usually the case almost anywhere one ventures in 2024, so I don't let it bother me anymore.  To the undergrads surrounding me, I'm just that crazy older guy in a suit sitting by himself with his laptop and a large dark roast.   Why in the world would anyone dress up if they don't have to? -- Heinz-Ulrich

  W ell, the guy we were supposed to interview today for a video documentary got held up in some sort of budgetary planning meeting (corroborated by the Grand Duchess of all people), so our planned session didn't happen.  Sigh.   Still, it was nice to be dressed in a slightly more understated way.  And you can't go wrong with navy blues and grays.  A bit less dandy than I've been of late The usual suspects here with a vintage Black Watch repp stripe from Reiss of New Haven that somehow, by hook or by crook, made it to the wilds of Central Illinois where I found it in one of my old thrift/charity shop haunts -- a dozen or so years ago -- before we decamped for greener climes. -- Heinz-Ulrich 

  A bright, sunny late winter day, really more like mid-April, so out came the chocolate suede shoes and belt.  Otherwise, several of the usual suspects rounded up for today's combination.  A bit on the dandy side of things without straying into Sir Watkyn Basset territory.   A very nice collar roll, nevertheless,  if I might be so bold as to say so! The new J. Press purchase arrived Saturday afternoon, and I stopped by the tailor's on the way home for a couple of the usual small alterations.  Should have the jacket back by Friday or Saturday this week just in time for an inaugural wearing next week when it will already be Week 10 of the semester.  Where does the time go? -- Heinz-Ulrich

T he Grand Duchess and I escaped for a few hours of "us" time late this (Saturday) morning, following breakfast, to (re-) visit a favorite haunt in Lansing not too far from campus.  Hooked is a neat locally owned bookstore-cafe-wine bar that provides a nice place to while away a couple of calm hours on a Saturday or Sunday.   Always fun to browse, the Grand Duchess left with a new book while I held off since I already have a couple of titles in progress from our last visit in late January-early February.  But a lovely way to spend some time together talking and enjoying the weekend ambiance.  Meanwhile, the Young Master held down the fort at home with Minecraft, Flight Simulator, or some other digital diversion. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  The above photograph has been "borrowed" from the J. Press website. "I f you see something you want," advised my late mother, "buy it.  It won't be there when you go back later."  A favorite (and wise) adage hers that I still follow whenever possible.   So when this item appeared on clearance at J. Press, I mulled it over for a couple of days, and then clicked the requisite boxes to make the online purchase.  Should be here within the week. Once upon a time, I had a similar jacket by Corbin that I foolishly purged before we left Central Illinois ('Illi-noir' anyone?)  for Michigan almost 10 years ago.  Not sure what I was thinking at the time since I did like the item and wore it routinely.   This one will be a bit nicer and help me make sartorial amends.  At least to myself. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  O ne of the more pleasing recent combinations of "The Usual Suspects" today.  In particular, the necktie, jacket, and pocket square seem to compliment each other very well without screaming.  The bottom half is even more subdued but not unattractively so.  Once in a while. . .   My colleague, with whom I work closely although he is in another department, has started turning up to physical and online meetings in a collared shirt and sports jacket, going so far as to admit that he has fallen under my influence sartorially speaking.  It's all about looking professional he maintains.  As Peggy Lee once intoned, "Yes, it's a good day. . ." -- Heinz-Ulrich

  W ell, not really.  But I did enjoy wearing this poodle necktie from Chipp, which has been in the rotation for five or six years.  When I was a child and adolescent at home, the two kinds of dogs we had were either Poodles, or West Highland White Terriers.  [Three breeds actually.  A pair of black Labrador Retrievers when I was very small].  As a 20-something, I also house-sat my parents' four Poodles for several summers while in graduate school while Mom and Step-Dad traveled the Ring of Fire and Central Asia among other points on the globe.  Two standards, and two toys.  Wonderful dogs, funny, and full of personality without that oily funk that some other breeds suffer from.  You know it when it hits you. Otherwise, the usual suspects for a day that was more like mid-May than early March.  Temperatures in the 70s Fahrenheit, and truthfully the flannel was almost too warm.  This being Michigan, however, I am sure we will have some chilly wet weather before the latter half of Jun