Growing up in New England, I was raised in a family that, stereotypically, cherished thriftiness and a well-worn aesthetic. In a household of five boys, it was both economical and a practical imperative. That top image is a little before I showed up, but rest assured that I wore pretty much all of that gear…
Tag: Personal Style
Classic Style Is Always Green
In honor of Earth Day, I decided to revisit one of my favorite columns on the green aspects of classic style. Now more than ever, it’s important to think about the effects, small and large, that we have on the environment and on our rather tiny planet. Classic style – however you choose to characterize…
Timeless Classic: The A-1 Flight Jacket
In this weekend’s edition of the Wall Street Journal, I read a great piece about Norman Rockwell’s famous painting, “Freedom of Speech”. The iconic image, pictured here, represents one of the four “essential freedoms” set forth in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inauguration speech of January 6, 1941. The painting was made in 1943 as part of…
Personal Style Embodied: My Father
You may have noticed that the span of time between posts has been a little longer recently. Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a family emergency here. My father is quite ill and for a brief period of time, we were not sure if things would go his way. He has recovered a bit…
There Are No Short Sleeved Dress Shirts
I just fielded a question from a good friend regarding the standing of short sleeve dress shirts. As I explained, succinctly I think, there is no such thing as a short sleeve dress shirt. There are dress shirts worn with the sleeves rolled up – usually to indicate intense focus and determination and often accompanied…
Quick Shot: Nantucket Reds on the Potomac
No the clearest of pictures, but this guy is always on the move. I couldn’t get him to stand still long enough for a clear shot. KR is a honest-to-goodness DC lobbyist and a darn good one at that. He’s also a very snappy dresser. A South Carolina native, he passes up the standard suit…
Style Profile: The Obama Effect
President Obama’s sense of style is back on the front burner – at least in DC. The Washington Examiner newspaper recently noted a fashion trend among the influential and political. They want to look like Barrack Obama. More specifically, they want to dress like him. While the classic dark two-button suit is about as de…
Style Guide: Casual is not Sloppy
Way back in the ‘80s getting dressed for the office, assuming you worked at an office, was fairly easy. It was a suit. Not a good suit mind you, but a suit. Boring shirt, forgettable tie and cap toe shoes. More often than not the whole outfit was forgettable because so little personality was evident….
The Brand of You (Part 2)
In Part One of this essay, we discussed some of the recent and dramatic changes that have set the concept and practice of brand loyalty on a dramatically new course. It’s still an ongoing shift, but the edges of the curve of the new pathway are becoming clearer. In plain terms, what is changing, and…
Repurposing Your Wardrobe
Last week an interesting thing happened. As I headed out the door to catch the Metro and head to the office, I realized that my pants were too short. Way too short. Now, I pay fairly close attention to my wardrobe, as you might guess, and I know that all the pants in my closet…