A Little Inspiration From Brooks

Brooks Brothers Ad

I was happy to find a new Brooks Brothers catalog in the mail this past Saturday, and it ended up providing a little inspiration. The Brooks ads were based on a safari theme, and I was compelled to wear my tan linen suit this weekend after viewing the catalog. In addition, I was so motivated that I packed up all the cold weather attire for storage, and I moved all the warm weather attire into the regular rotation.



Later that evening, my wife and I went to our favorite restaurant in the middle of this quaint historic village. We had a great meal, and after dinner I decided to visit the local menswear shop next to the restaurant. I have walked by this old shop a thousand times, and for some reason I never went inside. I walked in to complete amazement. The store was straight out of a 1930s advertisement, and the decor was very clubby. I was greeted by a well-dressed man in a tan linen sport coat, cream trousers, blue oxford cloth button down, and blue ascot with red polka dots. He showed me around the store, and insisted that I look at some swatches. He sold H.Freeman, Hickey Freeman, Southwick, Samuelson, Coppley, and Ralph Lauren. I was impressed.


As I looked through the swatches, I was somehow drawn to a box that he had put to the side. It was Ralph Lauren swatches from last fall/winter. Just as I am getting ready for warm weather, I abandon the linen and seersucker swatches to gaze at beautiful tweeds, camel hair, and cords. The fabrics had an old money appeal, and I fell in love with a brown donegal tweed. After drooling for a few minutes, I decided to have a three piece suit made. The kind gentleman is going to call and see if I can still get it out of season, but if not, I am sure Ralph will have in next years line-up. Leave it to me to get ready for warm weather by pulling out the linen, and quickly reverting back to the trusty heavy tweeds that I love so much. I can't wait for the bone chilling cold to come back to town :)

I realized that I forgot my pocket square after I took the pictures :) It was still laying on the dresser.

I love this little guy!