Trad Tretorns

Tretorns. How much can a shoe say? This one says a lot.

1980s. Tennis shorts that were short and made out of cotton. Fred Perry shirts. The Prince just starting to shove wood Jack Kramers off the courts. Long legged girls in tennis skirts with sweaty bangs on their forehead and a two handed backhand. Losing to a girl. Drinking cold Gins and Tonic later. She lights a cigarette. I arch an eyebrow. She crosses her legs and her tennis skirt hikes up another inch and a half. I lean to her and whisper, "How can I get back at you for beating me on the court?" She smiles and answers...

Anyway, these Tretorns were bloody hard to find. Zappos had zippo when it came to my size. These are made out of sail canvas. I love them. And the memories they bring me.

Not Trad Shoes

Despite the Pink and Green - - these are not Trad. In fact, I don't think they're shoes. I have friends and family who I love and they wear these. I also have friends who do the "tie tuck" at lunch, wear ventless suits with tone on tone shirts and pick their nose. Actually, I think picking your nose is a step above wearing crocs. But that's me.

The Trad Car Graveyard

What is it about these cars? There's a timeless beauty to them and always the questions. Who owned them? What action did the back seat see? Where did they travel to? How did they end up here? A love of history may have something to do with my attraction to them. That they look so grand in this state speaks to my love of Trad. Objects that never were in fashion - - never grow out of fashion.

The Trad Dog Show

There are people who are nuts about dogs. I'm not one of them. But I do like them. While living in a suburb on the north shore of Chicago I had a Wire Fox Terrier. I loved that dog and have fallen in love with the breed. They rate somewhere in the 400s on the list of 500 dogs by popularity. Good news if you think Golden Retrievers and Labradors are boring.

I bought my Fox from a breeder I met at Westminster 15 years ago. I went back yesterday for the first time since then and noticed two things. People who attend Westminster have the oddest way of dressing and I love dogs more than ever.

One last thing about this great show. It got crowded. In 1992 (when a Wire Fox won Best of Show) I walked the floor and stood inches from the ring for Best of Breed competition. Yesterday, I couldn't get closer than three rows back. The Bench area was worse. Impossible to move through the crush. So, like everything else Trad, it's not as good as it was - - but it's better than it will be.

The Trad Model in Lacoste

Is she cute or what? I saw a bumper stinker in London which read, "Warning! I brake for Blondes but back up for Red Heads." Exactly.

Anyway, Lacoste opened their show Saturday with enough grey to paint the fleet in Norfolk (as an army brat across the bridge in Hampton we liked to call it Norfuck). A big fan of Lacoste for years, they, like everyone else, started making their stuff in countries you may never have heard of. While the label says, "Designed in France" it sure as hell ain't made there anymore. Too bad. But the line looks great for the Fall. It reminded me of the Talbot's Catalog from the mid 70s. It might help if Talbots looked at their own catalogs.

The Trad Approach to NYC

What makes this horrible flight worth it? My favorite approach to LGA. It never fails to make me feel like a 12 year old on my first trip to NY. It is jaw dropping.

Trad Air Travel

.
AKA cheap air travel. From the southeast to the northeast there's only one way to go cheap...Delta. Usually 40 seats or so for $150 bucks or so. For an hour and a half you feel like you're sitting on a toilet. In fact, there's only one place to get any relief and spread out...in the toilet.