Conference Travel II. . .

 

I decided to skip the final half-day of the conference and spend Sunday with my sister instead.  Following a late breakfast, we spent the day together talking family, taking a couple of wonderfully long walks around the Cathedral District, followed by dinner and later coffee with popsicles (iced lollies?) up on the roof of her building, one of many spectacular refurbished apartment buildings in the area, which were built during the 1920s and 30s.  Fear not, I packed a couple of pairs of chino shorts, a casual belt, leather boat shoes, and a few short-sleeved sport shirts for our late afternoons and evenings at home.

Monday (yesterday), it was up and at 'em early for the flights home to Michigan and the fourth version of the preferred travel-conference 'kit.'  Once again, the attire for the day included a third broadcloth shirt from J. Press as well as the same blazer pictured in previous 2025 conference trip posts.  

Back to the olive green chinos, which I find hold up best for the actual air travel on either end.  Because this particular pair of pants/trousers is a bit darker in color, minor scuffs and blemishes from airline seats and anything else one might brush against show up less than on lighter khakis or tans.  

The pair shown is 15 or more years old, but still looks reasonably good when cleaned and pressed professionally.  They make a regular appearance on campus during the spring and early fall months too, typically with a navy blazer and one or another oxford cloth button-down collar shirt (surprise, surprise).  And, as stated, they are my go-to pair for any sort of air travel.  Certainly more comfortable than jeans and more pulled together than any type of synthetic travel pants like a pair from Travel Smith that I tried once in the 1990s and quickly gave away or donated because they just didn't look that good in any surroundings, airline or otherwise.

As a last hurrah before boarding the first plain home yesterday morning, I treated myself to a professional shoeshine along one of the main concourses at Reagan-National.  While I moisturized my loafers with Saphir Renovateur, and buffed 'em to a nice sheen before leaving home last week, and I travel with a small horse hair brush with which to give my shoes a quick once-over each morning while on the road, I think you'll agree that the airport shoeshine spruced them up a bit more.  Pleased with the results, I tipped the guy well since it looked like he'd had no previous business that morning. 

Sigh.

While you'll spot more than the odd well-dressed men coming and going at places like both National and Dulles, few of them seem to patronize any remaining shoeshine stands. For most, it seems, shoecare has become an afterthought at best in our era of  casual-to-the-point-of-careless, lack of attention to any detail beyond updating one's Instagram or TikTok feed.  A shame since there is nothing quite like a freshly shined pair of leather dress shoes.

-- Heinz-Ulrich