Trad Work

A painting of a Lloyd's of London syndicate. Insurance is a horrible profession made bearable by frequent travel, if one is lucky, to London. The bald man in the middle is the underwriter. His assistant is to his left. The broker to his right "brokes" a risk or pitches an insurance placement. Other brokers que at the "box" and wait their turns.

The Underwriter had this painting commissioned by the artist, Frances Watt. Titled, "Hard Bargaining at Lloyds", it really is a cracking good depiction of how boring insurance can be. The young man in the foreground to your right is the Entry Boy. A charming description that does not translate well to North America.

A Trad Music Video

I love this. I love everything about it. The music. The photography. The place. The clothes. The band. The audience. It gives me goosebumps.

The Duffle Coat

From Gentry Magazine's Winter issue of 1951. A good example of how Trad borrowed from the Brits, made it their own and started screwing up a good thing. Today cheap horn toggles replace the wood toggle and leather strips replace the hemp. The original patch pocket gets a flap and it's usually lined in some ersatz tartan. Some designers have the chutzpah to throw a $1,200 price tag on it.

Trad Ranger

The scaffolding dates this... but the guy in the middle isn't dated. And isn't that the point of Trad? Simple yet loud (that madras is yelling). It is a timeless approach with these basics -- Blue Blazer, white oxford cloth button down, shotgun shell belt, Ray Ban Aviators and Madras trousers. Any of it could have been worn 20 years earlier and any of it can be worn 20 years later.

In the mid 1980's, a contributor to the Statue of Liberty Foundation offered a Manhattan cruise on his yacht to National Park Service employees assigned to the Statue of Liberty. This guy was the only Ranger who dressed properly.

Trad Cologne

Should a Trad have only Old Spice?

The Trad Toilet

It's too cold to go outside. I'm too shy to ask people for a picture. I'm lazy. And I've been asked to post more often. Aside from being flattered, my camera battery is dead and I can't find the charger.

So, with a cell phone camera, here's some Trad stuff from the medicine cabinet. How lazy can you get? From the left:

Taylor of Bond Street (puchased on Jermyn Street) Comb
Euthymol Tooth Paste (a kick you in the pants flavor that many detest but the tube looks cool)
Caswell Masey Greenbriar Cologne (J. Press sells it for $15 more with their logo)
D. R. Harris Hair Cream (they make my favorite lemon shampoo)
Guerlain Vetiver (behind the hair cream) Cologne. The "Gulf Foxtrot" (Girl Friend) is always stealing mine
Berocca. A pretty good hang over cure from the UK
Santa Maria Novella Shaving Foam. The best damned shaving cream in the world.

That was exhausting. Okay, see you next month.