The Trad: Press Only: Styleite Interview

26 June 2010

Press Only: Styleite Interview - Part 2

The caffeinated rant continues.

19 comments:

Laguna Beach Fogey said...: Holy crap, that was an awesome interview, Tintin! I agreed with everything you said. Although, you were rather hard on Richard, IMO.

I don't know what is worse, the mean old guys who look down on the eager young folks, or the new prep kids pretending their people have been wearing these clothes for eons.

The next part is, drill down to determine exactly WHY American culture sucks and why people are drawn to your blog, among others. I think the answers might be too uncomfortable for some and might challenge assumptions and dearly-held beliefs.

The yahoo-ism has been going on for decades. The barbarians were not only at the gate in the 1960s, they were actually invited in, given the keys to the place, and told to make themselves at home. (Anyone who is not ready to address first principles and broach taboo subjects is not really prepared to diagnose the illness, we must admit). The interest in Trad or Prep or whatever is partly a reaction to that, I would argue, but of course it goes much further than mere style.; 26 June, 2010 17:51
TRVS said...: Congratulations on the interview & the mention in Details...maybe you'll be able to quit your day job after all? Then you could just blog & cook fabulous steak!; 26 June, 2010 17:56
Adam said...: I've been a longtime reader and found this interview to be an occasion to offer overdue thanks and appreciation for all you have done to make this blog such an interesting (and possibly important) place.

I also share your distress vis à vis "big ass televisions" and the lack of books.

Thank you so much for the thoughtful and intriguing work you do here.

Adam; 26 June, 2010 18:09
David V said...: After I read the comment about book shelves I looked around the house. There are book shelves in every room except the johns...and they could use some in there too.

What happened to art on the walls too? People are afraid to put anything on the wall.; 26 June, 2010 20:07
Anonymous said...: Your comments about Thom Browne whilst harsh are honest and true,only jove knows what the whiskyed version of your rant would have been.As a European,it is rather true what you have said about the QUALITY OF THOM BROWNE'S line for BB as well as his main line.From the pieces that are on offer at DOVER MARKET one is astounded by the couture quality,then you go to BB on Regent street and notice the difference of the stuff they are trying to sell not that much different than when they were owned by Marks and Spencers.Why have they not concentrated on improving the overall quality is beyond sanity,and the expenditure of opening a BB store in Paris foolish the French just dont get it. As for JPress perhaps they are dreaming the impossiable dream that the good old days will return two words they should heed MORYs,Yalecop; 26 June, 2010 20:36
Anonymous said...: Can you enlighten me as to what the books by Flusser and Boyer are?; 26 June, 2010 20:59
tintin said...: LBT- I think I was hard on a lot of folks. This interview convinces me I'm best at writing and should keep my big mouth shut. If de Tocqueveile saw the problems with American culture in the 18th C, then Yahoo-ism has been around for a very long time. I am trying to figure out why I speak with so many exclamation marks!

Adam- Thanks for commenting. I don't know if this will ever be an important place but I hope it'll stay interesting.

David V - Love bookshelves in a bathroom.

Anon 20:36 - You're so right about the quality of Browne while the standard Brooks blazer is made in China.

Anon- Check out Boyer's, Elegance and Flusser's, Dressing the Man as a sort of basic training. Flusser's, Style and the Man is one of my faves but I get weepy seeing so many retailers in it are gone.; 26 June, 2010 21:21
Charles said...: Well done.; 27 June, 2010 08:32
Anonymous said...: who R the guys who've come late and wiki everything?; 27 June, 2010 15:37
brohammas said...: Hey, my whole goal is to beat the Dos Aquis guy at his own game.
I figure he has me by 30 years so I have time to build up to it.
Great article. I grew up in a place where not only were t shirts and cargos the norm, but you are derided for wearing anything better. There is a truly western atttude of "who do you think you are?" if you as much as look at a tie... unless its Sunday.

Style is regional. We don't study or read style, we watch MTV, and go with whatever everyone else is wearing on Friday nights.

Call me unsophisticated but I still cant wrap my taste around off colored plaid jackets or half the things I see on display at J Press or Brooks. Is it really just me?; 28 June, 2010 05:50
tintin said...: Wing- I prefer medium rare.

Anon- Look for blogs without passion. Ralph Lauren told his first employee, Anthony Edgeworth, "I found my passion. You need to find yours." Edgeworth did in photography. You don't need 20 years of loving khakis to write a blog but you do need to love what you write about. And when you don't-it shows.

brohammas- with you 110%. I went to four high schools and moved 12 times by the time I was 17. What kids wore in Hampton, VA was very different from Colorado Springs which was another world compared to Chapel Hill.

Just being exposed to plaid jackets will start the process of acceptance. There are so many things I would never wear when I was 25 that I wear today. That doesn't include Depends.; 28 June, 2010 07:02
Anonymous said...: then what's the connection between wiki and passion????

how come in the interview you said "they wiki everything" instead of "they don't have passion"

????; 28 June, 2010 11:09
Family Man said...: LBT said,

"...drill down to determine exactly WHY American culture sucks..."

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that you're talking about the current vulgar, base incarnation of American culture, and not the far more refined and restrained (if still flawed) version that gave birth to everything trad (or whatever you wish to call it).

What got us where we are now? Too complex an issue for a simple answer, as there are many factors, but if forced to give a succinct answer, I would have to say "Liberalism." Modern Liberalism is an ideology which explicitly rejects the past; embraces change for change's sake; and, through its political arms of PC, "tolerance," and multiculturalism, enforces lowest common denominator mediocrity on everything.

Various writers will proffer different sources for the modern acceptance of Liberalism; I do not have an answer. But the thing to remember is that if we have traveled socio-politically a huge distance in less than a century, then we can, in a similar amount of time, go back to where we were--or at least someplace similar.*

Dressing properly can be an external manifestation of an internal rejection of the damage that Liberalism has wrought. At the very least, dressing properly usually engenders a change in attitude and behavior that is more in keeping with that which we consider civilized. Even if that is all proper dressing does, it is a welcome, and necessary, change.

In short, great interview. Long may you blog!

*Note to the literal-minded: this is not to be construed as an endorsement of every single aspect of the past. For example, I would hope that in our travels forward, we would get rid of government-sanctioned racism, whether called "Jim Crow" (gone) or "Affirmative Action" (still harming us).; 28 June, 2010 14:53
Young Fogey said...: brohammas,

I find the entire GTH look beyond comprehension as well.

Here on the West Coast, we Just Don't Do GTH. Oh, sure, there are outposts of it here and there, but it simply doesn't have the cachet, or following, it has on the East Coast.

I think I would look like a clown wearing GTH. Still, some folks, like Giuseppe and ADG, love it, and they manage to make it look good--for them. I'll pass.

I can do a madras tie, even madras shorts. But a madras jacket or pants? No way. Embroidered pants or shorts? Yuck. Loud pants? No, thank you. "Fun" shirts? No fun for me.

But, as tintin noted, repeated exposure can be infectious. Be careful.; 28 June, 2010 17:47
tintin said...: anon 11:09 - Wikki bloggers have no passion, much less interest about this subject and tend to suck the internet dry because they're faking it.

They're plenty of folks blogging out there who can write about white bucks - and why you don't wear a white belt with them - All off the top of their heads.

I often meet men who tell me they were in the service. It doesn't take long to figure out if they're telling the truth or if they're fakers. I don't attach the same importance to a blogger faking it but it's helpful to understand what they're made of. And what they're not.

family man- You don't seem to be faking it. Although I disagee with you. Still, you have your opinion and it's welcome here. I have a lot of very good friends (and relatives) who agree with you. I think you all belong in Texas behind a high fence where you can practice your quick draw but that's just me and my opinion.; 28 June, 2010 17:53
Family Man said...: Thank, tintin. Actually, it looks like more and more of us regular Americans have gotten sick and tired of being told we're "racists" and otherwise villified by the left, and the election of a leftist anti-American to the presidency is having the salutary effect of invigorating opposition to the leftists' agenda.

So while I grieve for what we have lost, I remain Reaganesquely optimistic that we can retake our country from those who are working towards its destruction.; 29 June, 2010 16:11
Anonymous said...: Christ, isn't there ONE FUCKING WEB SITE ON THE ENTIRE GOD DAMN INTERNET that can remain free of assholes like Family Man?

Oh, well, I'm gone.

Great blog. But I came here to read about clothes and style, not John Bircher bullshit.; 29 June, 2010 20:31
Easy and Elegant Life said...: "I think 'cool' is dangerous. I think cool has become dangerous."

You've hit the nail on the head. Go, Tintin, GO!; 02 July, 2010 10:20
Anonymous said...: don't most sophisticated people consider passion and enthusiasm to be in bad taste?; 04 July, 2010 16:24