My Shipton & Heneage Shoes Arrived

My Shipton & Heneage bit loafers arrived today. I am pleased with their quality, and they are very comfortable. I ordered them in black suede, and I think they will add a little flavor to my black shoe collection. Personally, I don't like black shoes, and I seldom wear my black cap-toes. However, the black suede adds an interesting element that will encourage me to reach for them at appropriate times. I give Shipton & Heneage a thumbs up!

My Lucky Jacket Let Me Down

I have been trying to hire a secretary for two weeks now, and I found the perfect candidate today. At first, I thought it was fitting since I was wearing my lucky jacket. The jacket in reference is a custom Brooks Brothers Golden Fleece, and I paired it with a oxford cloth button down, repp tie, flannels, and my new crocodile loafers. Typically, I am not superstitious, but good things seem to happen while wearing my lucky sport coat. Anyway, I found the perfect candidate. She is smart, pretty, WASPy, and very qualified. I offered her the job, and she said she really wanted it and would get back to me tonight. She did not take it :( So the search continues..............

Pearl Gray Suit

This evening, I had to attend a reception nearby my home. I have been struggling with my allergies of late, and I decided to lift my spirits by bringing out my H. Freeman pearl gray suit. I purchased this made-to-measure suit last summer, and I experimented with the low button fastening double breasted jacket. I enjoy having a low fastening jacket in my wardrobe, but I will refrain from purchasing similar functioning jackets in the future.

One of my history professors in college turned me on to double breasted suits. He wore them often, and most of the jackets were tweed. He paired them with tattersall shirts, woolen ties, and tassel loafers. Also adding to his appeal was the fact that he smoked a pipe, and amazingly, he packed the pipe with his thumb (he had a large callous on his thumb). In his honor, I am considering a Ralph Lauren double breasted suit in donegal tweed, and I hope to order it soon.

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren is a designer that we all know, and he takes pride in providing timeless fashion to the world. However, the question among some is Ralph Lauren's Polo truly traditional, or is it a modern spin-off? I personally like Ralph's clothes, and I find them to be classic designs. However, the fit of his suits and sport coats are anything but the traditional sack style. I am also guilty of varying from the traditional sack style set forth by Ivy League students and staff. I prefer my waist to be taken in a little. Still yet, Polo is a great source for tweeds, classic shoes, ties, etc. I can't say I would wear all of the brands items, but I give Polo a thumbs up. What do you think, I am interested to know.

A Great Find

After having lunch with a friend today, I stopped by the local menswear store. After looking at some swatches, I noticed a box of Zelli shoes with a 50% off sticker. The sticker made me curious, and I walked over to inspect further. To my delight, I found a pair of Palm Beach crocs in my size. I have wanted a pair for while, but I did not want to spend $700.00 on shoes that I would not wear often. However, the opportunity to get them half off is beyond my ability to resist. This has definitely been a week of shoe additions.

Reader's Photos

For all the morning readers, I am sorry I did not have my usual post ready. I have been struggling with allergies of late, and I went to bed early last night. I intended to get back up to post, but it did not happen. I will do Friday's post now, and I will do a post for Saturday later tonight. Anyway, enough of that! Today, we have a young gentleman who recently sent in his photo. His name is M. Striker, and he is giving us his youthful take on classic fashion. I applaud his conservative style, and I approve of his clothing. I especially like his horse-bit loafers! The only addition I would make is to add a little linen in his pocket, and perhaps cuffs (I can't tell if his pants are cuffed). Say hello to M. Striker.

Great Mixes

I found these wonderful examples of pattern mixing while glancing at a blog called Project Beltway. The entire post was great, but these two photos caught my eye in particular. I love how this chap is wearing a plaid tie with a plaid suit, and he throws in another check with the shirt. In my opinion, the ability to harmonize patterns is true sartorial talent. The monogram on the sleeve is nice as well.

This is another picture from the same post, and again, I like the mix. The knit tie is wonderful, but my favorite item is the pocket square. It matches nothing, but it seems to fit.

The entire post can be seen at www.projectbeltway.com/

My New Kicks

After a long day of work it is nice to come home and find a surprise from the mailman. Okay, I know I paid for them, but it is still a nice surprise. The shoes pictured are my latest edition, and they are Brooks Brothers chocolate suede tassel loafers (darker than pictured). Tassel loafers are one of my favorite shoe models, and I plan to wear the shoes with a variety of suits (navy, gray, charcoal, medium brown, etc). I also recently ordered a pair of black suede bit loafers from Shipton & Heneage. I am a bit nervous about the bit loafers because I have never ordered shoes from Shipton before. I will let you know how they work out when I receive them.

Thomas Mahon

Thomas Mahon is a bespoke Savile Row tailor who left the Row to start his own company called English Cut. In addition, he runs a very informative and interesting site called English Cut. His latest entry is truly fascinating, and I recommend watching it. I have his site listed in my links column, or you can click here: www.englishcut.com/

A Pretty Nice Little Saturday

Over the weekend, my wife and I went to our congressional district political meeting. I will let you guess which one????? Afterwards, we stopped by my parent's house and changed clothes before heading to a small town about an hour away. We were going antique shopping, but we were not looking for anything in particular. The town we were visiting is an old town with preserved traditionalism and numerous antique shops, plus my favorite ice cream shop. I always have a cone of rum raisin when we visit. We did not purchase any antiques, but we did purchase two new oil paintings. For the day, I decided to wear my navy blazer, light weight flannels, madras shirt, ascot, bit loafers and blue square. All in all it was a pretty nice little Saturday!

Late Night Dreaming

Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real? Well, last night after a casual dinner, I slipped into my viyella robe and nappa slippers. I have not had a smoke in weeks, so I fired up my pipe for a change. After reading and smoking for a while, I fell asleep in my leather club chair. As my mind began to wander, I was in a larger than life house and I was sitting in a beautiful library. I was dressed in a dark blue smoking jacket, ascot, white shirt, and black tuxedo trousers. As I walked out of my library, I entered a gorgeous billiard room with a moose head on the wall.

This is how I imagined the library. Town & Country preview of Ralph Lauren's new book.

I began to set the table, and in walks my competition. It is Ann Hathaway, and she says, "care for a game handsome." I have no clue why Ann Hathaway was in my dream. After the game (I don't know who won), she said, "your car is out front waiting on you." As I walked out of the house, I encountered the car of my dreams. It was a 1964 Aston Martin DB5. I sat down and started the car................then I woke up. I have tried to figure out what my dream meant, but I have decided it was a little bit of wishful thinking. I have a nice house and library, but certainly not a mansion or a library as lavish as Ralph Lauren's. And I definitely don't own a DB5, but maybe someday.

Ann Hathaway

More Ann

I must have one :)

The Duke's Brother

Undoubtedly, the English influenced the style we know today as WASP. Ivy League students copied the style set forth by a young and glamorous Prince Edward VIII (Duke of Windsor). But what about his brother, King George VI?

George was thrown into the role of King when his brother abdicated the thrown to marry Wallis Simpson. Classic men's clothing enthusiast all adore and praise the Duke for his style contributions, but very little is mentioned about George. Was he a slouch? Actually, I think he was a rather well dressed individual. I have observed numerous photos of George, and I have yet to find one with him inappropriately dressed. He did not experiment with clothing like his brother the Duke, but he always wore well tailored apparel. He was very conservative, but he dressed well. The photo above is of George as a young man, and he is wearing a high two button jacket with both buttons fastened. His brother and JFK were also fans of this model.

Looking Ahead

As I look forward to dinner with friends on Friday, I began to plan my outfit for the evening. Eventually, I decided to put the shoes and jacket I discussed the last couple days into action. The dinner will be a casual dinner at our home, and such occasions provide a great opportunity to wear Belgian Loafers or slippers. In the photos, I am wearing a blue dress shirt, blue ascot with small print, and a pink pocket square with my Belgians and summer tweed jacket. The menu will include filet mignon, wonderful desserts, and likely a lot of discussion about politics.

My pocket square matches my mood sometimes. Today, I feel reckless :)

A New Find

As I have mentioned many times before, I love tweed sport coats and suits. I bought this beautiful warm weather tweed last summer at the end of the season, but I forgot about it. Therefore, I was surprised to see this colorful jacket in my closet when I was changing my wardrobe out for the new season. The jacket is a silk and wool blend, and I plan to wear it with a pink shirt, light-weight gray flannels, and an Argyle Sutherland bow tie. In the future, I hope I open my closet to find more unexpected beautiful clothing :)

Belgian Loafers

Belgian loafers may be the most comfortable shoes on the face of the earth. I purchased this pair of bottle green loafers about two years ago, and I have enjoyed them immensely. I wear them around home, and on occasion I wear them in casual settings. Belgians come in either a soft sole or leather version. In addition, the shoes come with a bow like tassel, or you can replace the bow with a crest. Also, my experience ordering the shoes was a pleasant experience. The store insisted on mailing me the shoes to try on before sewing on the crest. After all checked out, I mailed them back for completion and I only had to pay for shipping once (if I recall correctly). Perhaps, I will demonstrate them in action a little later on.

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!

Thinking Derby

Horse racing provides a great opportunity to wear clothing in very distinct colors. Particularly, it is a good opportunity to wear pastels and other bright colors not suitable for the office. There are many great races around the country, but the main attraction is of course the Kentucky Derby. I have attended some smaller races such as the Carolina Cup, but I have never actually been to the Kentucky Derby. However, I always attend a local derby party hosted by one of my good friends, and all the proceeds go to charity. Everyone comes dressed in their derby apparel, and they have mint juleps for those who want to partake. I have been preparing for this event for a while, and I bought a red seersucker suit at the end of last summer for this particular event. It is not a suit that will be in my regular rotation, but for one day, it will reign dominant.

Plaid links and an old Timex watch that belonged to dad.

Of course, a derby party would not be complete without the perfect date. If you are married, of course you take your wife. If not, the perfect fantasy date would be..............

My vote is a young Princess Margaret. I hear she knew how to have fun at a party!

Plus, don't forget to buy your lady the perfect hat. If I wear one, it will definitely be a boater.