Civil Wear.

Have any of you noticed this recent enthusiasm for the late 1800s? So many artistic people are referencing this time period as of late and I thought I should bring it into the light.

by Robert James

Robert James is a man after my own heart. He looks to the 1860s and the 1960s for inspiration with his menswear line on the Lower East Side. James' primary inspiration comes from Jessie James and Ringo Starr (as intentionally unconventional as that sounds) and he has certainly made a big impact on those that hate carpet bags and love their leather ones.

Langhorn Slim

Sure, this guy might look like any other Williamsburg hipster, but the fact is that he is in a band that has a twangy rugged version of folk music fit for a western. I heard them open for a concert last night and their music sounds like it would be perfectly set in a movie's modern interpretation of a saloon scene. With their live music I definitely got that vibe and the lead singer gave that impression as well with his vest, pocket watch, and carefully placed bowler hat.

True Grit

Well, duh. This movie is set in the 1870s and would make Ralph Lauren proud with how perfectly layered and earth toned the cast was. I love the oversized coat that Hailee wore throughout the film even if her character meant for it to be purely functional.

Seven up.

I've been watching this documentary today and it is positively fascinating. It's a project that has been going on for over 40 years documenting the lives of 14 British children since 1964. The project began when they were 7 and the documenters have conducted updates on their lives every 7 years since. Now the children are 54 and I love seeing what turns their lives have taken. I found the images from the children's youth to be very inspirational, particularly from when they were 7 and when they were 21 at their universities. Here is my favorite little boy (pictured to the left in the top photo) who is now a barrister and married to the daughter of an ambassador. (And the guy pictured in green below looks like he would fit in perfectly in a J. CREW men's catalogue today.)

The Process of My Vigor.

I will start learning about something I find interesting or I begin to contemplate the vastness of a subject I initially knew nothing about. Today it was the names for all kinds of men’s shoes and hats. So I begin researching what the differences are.

That gets me riled up. I realize I want to make a book about it. Then soon after the fire is stirred I am for some reason forced to embrace the comatose air of an economics classroom. In this case I am being forced to sit still and think slowly.

This will make me antsy. I quickly find that I am wasting my time on something that is very easy to understand and I would rather spend my time learning about how to start a company. I start writing notes about my company on my hand. My knees begin to shake. I shift constantly in my chair.

“suppppply. demmmmand. suppppply. demmmmand. suppppply goes uppp. demmmand goes downnnnnn.”

ANTSY. Ready to learn. Ready to start my real life doing the things I LOVE. Ready to see all of my dreams come true RIGHT AWAY!!!

Then I leave the classroom, reveal my new ideas about being a CEO to my friend Deborah, I jump up and down a few times, and I leave her to g0 back to my room and learn.

Once I sit down I have a million thoughts a minute and the tabs on my safari are flying all over my computer. One of two things happen: One. my computer can not handle my enthusiasm so it shuts down or Two. as I reach a peak of wanting to know about all of these things, I realize I have no means of accessing all of the books that I want to read. I see that each costs $30 on Amazon and I am not willing to pay that amount for multiple books.

So my excitement whittles down to a one-dimensional emotion of fervor and then I take a nap.

Photo

The Inimitable Nature of Menswear.

I am on overload for all things menswear and fall and handsome. There are so many incredible sites that showcase the various dimensions of my aesthetic and I simply must share them with you. Although many people say that menswear is boring, I must beg to disagree with them. On the surface, a jacket might just look like any other jacket, but a skilled menswear designer pays attention to the details of their garments so that their customers will subtly stand out among other men. These details can range from the intricate staining of a brogue to the creation of a perfectly wrinkled J-shaped pant (see Geoffrey Young). All of these little design choices come together to form what we all know and love as menswear. I hope you enjoy looking at the work of these designers as much as I have. xx

Brooklyn Circus. A menswear company that mixes the staples of a classic gentleman's wardrobe with the freshness of Brooklyn street style. The store's founder, Ouigi also known as "the Bearded Man" is the epitome of what his store stands for and he endeavors to stick to a slow and steady "100 year plan" for his store.

Geoffrey Young Design. The man is a sartorial genius. He doesn't wear color but every piece of clothing that he wears is so well made that it doesn't matter. He casts his own belt buckles and hand picks his leathers for the bags and belts in his collection. Give his collection a looksy and get a peek into his phenomenal closet.

Geoffrey's perfectly worn shoe collection.

Morris. I can barely contain my enthusiasm for this brand based out of Stockholm. It is comprised of well designed preppy staples and their fall look book takes you to another world of Monegasque glory. It's definitely worth dreaming about and I highly suggest you pour over this site.

Florsheim. An American footwear brand that prides itself on extreme quality and great design. The shoes below are Duckie Brown by Florsheim which were designed by Daniel Silver and Steven Cox. Might I saw they are doing a phenomenal job. Take a look.

A Gentleman's Ten Commandments.

This manifesto, which was posted on the Chap magazine website, I find as hilarious and tongue-in-cheek as Diana Vreeland's "Why Don't You?" column. The editor of Chap, Gustav Temple, does an impeccable job of applying the mentality of these rules to his every day life and he is quite the gent because of it. Give the list a look, be enlightened, and be amused.

1 THOU SHALT ALWAYS WEAR TWEED. No other fabric says so defiantly: I am a man of panache, savoir-faire and devil-may-care, and I will not be served Continental lager beer under any circumstances.

2 THOU SHALT NEVER NOT SMOKE. Health and Safety "executives" and jobsworth medical practitioners keep trying to convince us that smoking is bad for the lungs/heart/skin/eyebrows, but we all know that smoking a bent apple billiard full of rich Cavendish tobacco raises one's general sense of well-being to levels unimaginable by the aforementioned spoilsports.

3 THOU SHALT ALWAYS BE COURTEOUS TO THE LADIES. A gentleman is never truly seated on an omnibus or railway carriage: he is merely keeping the seat warm for when a lady might need it. Those who take offence at being offered a seat are not really Ladies.

4 THOU SHALT NEVER, EVER, WEAR PANTALOONS DE NIMES. When you have progressed beyond fondling girls in the back seats of cinemas, you can stop wearing jeans. Wear fabrics appropriate to your age, and, who knows, you might even get a quick fumble in your box at the opera.

5 THOU SHALT ALWAYS DOFF ONE'S HAT. Alright, so you own a couple of trilbies. Good for you - but it's hardly going to change the world. Once you start actually lifting them off your head when greeting, departing or simply saluting passers-by, then the revolution will really begin.

6 THOU SHALT NEVER FASTEN THE LOWEST BUTTON ON THY WESKIT. Look, we don't make the rules, we simply try to keep them going. This one dates back to Edward VII, sufficient reason in itself to observe it.

7 THOU SHALT ALWAYS SPEAK PROPERLY. It's quite simple really. Instead of saying "Yo, wassup?", say "How do you do?"

8 THOU SHALT NEVER WEAR PLIMSOLLS WHEN NOT DOING SPORT. Nor even when doing sport. Which you shouldn't be doing anyway. Except cricket.

9 THOU SHALT ALWAYS WORSHIP AT THE TROUSER PRESS. At the end of each day, your trousers should be placed in one of Mr. Corby's magical contraptions, and by the next morning your creases will be so sharp that they will start a riot on the high street.

10 THOU SHALT ALWAYS CULTIVATE INTERESTING FACIAL HAIR. By interesting we mean moustaches, not beards.

Need I say more?

Gentlemen and magazines.

I've been learning a bit about gentlemen and magazines recently and I dare say, in modern day the latter does not seem to be helping out the former one single bit. There are countless articles that are pure garbage, and very few magazines are feeding the mind and soul with intelligent thought. Back in the day, men's magazines would feature the writing of great men like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway that were thought provoking and were beneficial for the day. It just doesn't make sense to me. We raise our standards constantly with each passing year. Baseball records are beaten and health regulations are increased. What about the bar set for a gentleman? Shouldn’t the standards continually rise proving that men are becoming better learners, better educators, and are improving what it means to be a man?

I feel like it is not too much to ask that men are given material that is beneficial and not so consumerist driven. That's all.

The Burberry of Savile.

Sometimes, womenswear is too transitional and it gets irritating that one can never really keep up with what is current and fashionable. That is why it is absolutely necessary to observe what will always be in style, what is always well made and what is always flattering. That of course is bespoke menswear. Now, for those of you who don't know what bespoke suits are or where they originated, I will inform you.

In 1803, a man by the name of Beau Brummell, who was a leader in style of England's Regency Era and the first to wear a tie with a suit, began going to the tailors on Savile Row for his attire. The tailors that made his suits are no longer on Savile Row, but ones like Henry Poole & Co. which moved to Savile in 1846, still remain there to this day. In the words of the BBC Documentary of Savile Row, "They have dressed royalty and film stars, prime ministers and potentates. Valentino came here for riding breeches; Churchill for pinstripe; Fred Astaire his white tie and tails. They even funded a French Revolution to put Napoleon III on the throne so he could pay his tailoring bills." This Row consists of 11+ tailors that specialize in custom-made clothing to make a man look his absolute best. The men have their choice of any type of burberry, or fabric, to suit every occasion, whether it be a light grey wool to make high waisted pants for a renowned journalist or an all-weather cloth for an expeditious colonel. Every detail is agreed upon between the tailor and the customer, and a relationship is formed between them that will last as long as the suit itself, a lifetime.

Patrick Grant, the current owner of Norton & Sons Tailors on Savile Row.

And this is for your musical enjoyment in reference to the title of this post.

Sources 1, 2

Dreamland Man.

So, I have found a dream man. His name is Michael Arenella and he is in a band, a hot jazz big band that is. To fit the part, he wears clothes that harken back to the 20s and 30s, including his custom-made and vintage suits with "oxford bags", spectator shoes, and new L.L. Bean boots that look just as they did back in WWI. He is the leader of the Dreamland band which plays practically every night of the week in Brooklyn. Songs like "Red lips kiss my blues away" are revived from old discarded records from the era. Plus Arenella has a great love for the history of New York and its railroad system which he will explore on occasion. He is a lovely man with excellent taste in music and style and I hope to meet him one day. View him at style like u.

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ThomThom directs the highway of menswear.

I really love a label that incorporates the timeless and the ridiculous, but seems to pull the two together to form the effortlessly cool. That is what Thom Browne does. He has held 4 very distinct, striking runway shows in the past 2 years and has stirred up innovation in menswear. His unconventional style choices have made me want to experiment in the androgynous side of fashion which I had never thought to do before. Like roll my pants above my ankles and paint my toms to look like loafers. It has also caused me to look back on other shows from the past that exude that same look of "poor little rich boy". Dsquared^2 did a show in fall 2006 for example that incorporated similar elements of a classic gentleman (or lady) with a modern twist. Mr. Browne, thank you so much for all the insight and for helping me officially become a thom-girl.

my toned down rendition with a vintage Brooks Brothers belt and J. Crew button up

my painted-on-loafer Toms

good work Dan and Dean, this is my favorite collection of yours of all time

Sources 1, 2