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 ...

  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 som...

  A t home today (Thursday) recording and producing another episode of my course podcast (Episode #104 thank you very much!) to help the students populating my courses navigate their work more effectively.  So, I'm clad today in the usual corduroy jeans and a Rugby pullover.   But yesterday's campus attire was a bit more interesting in the classic style sense.  Many of the usual suspects as I like to call 'em.  Warm, very comfortable, and, while many in 2023 would consider it somehow overdressed nevertheless. very presentable.  -- Heinz-Ulrich

  A pleasant combination of items for today although the shot of the 6/2 blazer does illustrate why a bristled clothes brush (Yes, I have one.), a lint roller, or a lint brush is sometimes necessary.  Grrrr.  It's what I get for trying to dress quietly in the early morning darkness of the bedroom without waking the Grand Duchess. -- Heinz-Ulrich

O k, a little matchy-matchy perhaps, but overall not an unpleasant combination of a few more of the usual suspects.  A gray plaid wool scarf, charcoal overcoat, and gray fedora -- The real thing.  NOT a trilby, which is often called a fedora by people who know no better. -- topped off the ensemble.  Must've done OK though because not one but TWO students paid their compliments as I entered the library this morning and made my way to the cafe.  It has once again become my main space to wade through email, work, think, plan, meet with colleagues, and occasionally watch the world go by between tasks. -- Heinz-Ulrich  

A number of the usual suspects made up today's attire.  Another not entirely unpleasant, yet extremely warm and comfortable, combination.  A trench coat (with liner zipped in, wool scarf, and Borsalino fedora completed the ensemble on this blustery February day.  -- Heinz-Ulrich

  I made the sojourn into campus this morning to have some coffee and talk shop with a colleague.  We had an enjoyable discussion for an hour in the recently opened library branch of the global abomination that is Starbuck's .  Can someone explain to me. . .  Why on earth do cities like Vienna and Rome even need them? I am of two minds here.  Starbuck's is handy in a lot of instances.  The coffee isn't bad.  Somewhat better than what is sold in the competing, campus owned and run Sparty's .  And the space in the library, occupied by a branch of Sparty's until early last May, is redesigned, bright, airy, and clean with plenty of new tables, chairs, and outlets for  laptop computers, tablets, and recharging phones.  All very convenient.   Yet it is locally owned, non-corporate cafes that have the character and quirkiness that makes them interesting places in which to kill time, work, and people watch.  Why the campus town a...

  S omeone, please!  Make him stop!   M y biggest, boldest, baddest tweed jacket (Southwick) was the choice this morning, to mark the final day of January 2024.  Already?  A not displeasing combination of items here in any case.   And although the vintage jacket lapels are a bit wide, I don't worry about it too much given my penchant for even more prominent double-breasted lapels.  Go big, or go home as the saying goes.   Happy February everyone! -- Heinz-Ulrich

  A fun suit for today.  One of several vintage heavy wool flannel numbers from Polo that has been in the winter rotation for several years now.  Soft, warm, and every bit as comfortable as a pair of pajamas, yet a bit more acceptable in public.    Not shown are the vintage Polo braces work to hold up the trousers, a Borsalino fedora, and a light gray-tan-taupe trench coat (with liner zipped in) along with my usual tan Allen Edmonds attache case, given to me several birthdays ago by the Grand Duchess.   It's either a suit, or a combination of tweed and cords with sweater, and some kind of necktie four or five days per week during the colder months.  When you dress thusly all of the time, you quickly become part of the scenery and don't raise any eyebrows.   Were more men less worried about sticking out, society, in general, would appear more pulled together than it does at present.  Hey, a guy can dream, right?  -- Heinz-U...

  T he weekend XC ski getaway sadly over (I could easily indulge the activity four or five days per week weather and snow permitting), it was back to campus bright and early Monday morning.  Another combination of many of the usual suspects here plus the orange SWIMS overshoes, a vintage camel polo coat, Stetson fedora, and long woolen schoolboy scarf rounded out today's ensemble.  As much as my wife and I enjoy what we do for a living, we're already watching the longer term forecast for another possible lost weekend on skis in a few weeks' time.  Propelling oneself through the woods, up hills, and down long descents during a snowy winter day while the trees creak in the breeze, and the only sound is the quiet schuss-schuss of skis gliding along the trail is addictive.   It's amazing how good physical activity makes you feel.  The Grand Duchess has done some kayaking, and I think I'd like to give it a try with her next summer. -- Heinz-Ulrich

    N ot particularly stylish, but tired, happy, and relaxed after a day of cross-country skiing in the woods and highlands of the Hanson Hills winter recreation area in Northern Michigan.   A wonderful post-ski euphoria you could say -- complete with a thermos of hot chocolate, oranges, cookies, and chocolate -- before we headed back to our weekend rental house for showers, dinner, and hot-buttered rum by the hearth once the Young Master had retired.  I could do this everyday. Up early Sunday to load the car and head to another nearby Nordic center for lessons and a few hours of skiing before heading home mid-afternoon Sunday.  The car was all unloaded and everything stowed by just after 5pm, and we finished the second half of the tuna casserole for dinner an hour or so later following showers.   Again, nothing particularly special about the meal, but it sure hits the spot after physical activity in the winter.   -- Heinz-Ulrich

  E xtremely cold with a mean windchill here in Mid-Michigan today, but warm and toasty in tweed, wood, and corduroy.  Topped off by the usual vintage camel polo coat, long woolen scarf, and a tweed cap given to me by the Grand Duchess for Christmas 2022.   The sweater vest is a recent purchase, having taken advantage of the year end sale at J. Press a couple of weeks back.  Very much Bertie Wooster--Bingo Little--All Creatures Great and Small territory, but it seems to work pretty well beneath the Harris Tweed jacket.   Some days, you just ant something a little more eye-catching than the usual navy or gray crew neck sweater.  Know what I mean? -- Heinz-Ulrich

As above. . . So below. My newly opened "other" office in the main library.  I spend a lot of my time working here each morning.   S omeone give that man a lint brush!  An otherwise nice look spoiled by a linty navy blazer.  Grrrrr.  Otherwise, a pair of overshoes to protect the Allen Edmonds from today's snow and slush although the temperature has dropped appreciably since early morning, and more snow is forecast, so skiing might actually happen this long weekend given Martin Luther King Day next Monday.  By the way, my students always get a kick out of the orange SWIMS, which seem even more popular than the red ones that wore out a winter or two ago. -- Heinz-Ulrich