It's the Seaplane, Boss!

It's that time of year again…  no, not Christmas… but that year... 1968.   It always happens -  Conservative and understated is kicked aside for wild color and free love.  Not that love has been expensive recently.  Ever date a 25 year old?  Twenty minutes into dinner and she's asking you to bed while taking a selfie and blowing in your ear.  Whatever happened to three dates?

The conservative and understated loved their mad dash of Go-To-Hell color on the golf course and at the resort.  But Seaplane Shirts are pitching a different color to a different customer.  There are shades of the '70s Disco Nik Nik but there's more of the  tasteful aesthetic you see in Findland's Marimekko and the bold block pattern of Souleiado from Provence.

Schuyler Brown's idea was to create colorful shirts for men to wear to work.  If you think about it, we're still in the Dockers, golf shirt and Cole Haan kilties thing with most men who don't have to wear a suit to the office.  That and the the rolled up denim, gingham, Red Wing look that I swear was borne from so many of today's designers watching Jethro Bodine from their play cribs.

Brown could have made the shirts in China and asked a couple hundred bucks but he had an even bigger agenda.  That is, to change how the retail model works.  A lotta people talk about it doing it but once they get a whiff of a 500%, 800% or even 1,000% markup -- Thanks to China -- They always come up with an excuse why they couldn't find a US maker.

By going direct, and buying last fabric remnants, Brown can have a shirt made and sell it, sans the retailer, direct to you while still making a profit.  We're talking $49 to $65 a shirt, and you can buy directly from Schuyler, or go to Amazon.com, who handle his inventory and where his shirts may also be had with free two-day shipping fro Prime customers.

Seaplane Shirts is hitting all my buttons.  Made in the US, tasteful and overboard all while doing business with as few hands in the middle as possible.  Schuyler told me a story of how, in 1917, his maternal grandfather inherited a plowline factory in N.C.  One day he saw a tractor and knew he was in trouble.  So he figured out how to braid rugs with a lot of the same equipment; for nearly 100 years the company has made a substantial contribution to employment in Montgomery County.

I think Seaplane has seen the future as well.   Most men don't realize that's what happens when they buy an Alpha sized shirt for $250…But if they knew how much the mark up was, and most importantly, who was getting most of the money…Well, no man likes to be a chump nowadays --  Especially the guy who takes a girl on three dates.

Seaplane Shirts
Website Here
Amazon Site Here

Mining the Vintage Vein: Part III

I love places like this. They are the rock candy for my inability to focus.


John figures brand is less a consideration than stripe, pattern and details.


Green dress shirts are despised by retailers which must be why I like them so much.


A rag for many but at the stage of patina perfection for me.

Almost voile in weight and looking very '70s whether it is or not.


John and I talked a lot about the origins of clothing. To know why US Army issue khakis were always 8.2 ounces is to understand that military specifications had to be consistent regardless of who made them. Not 7 ounces. Not 11.2 ounces. 8.2 ounces. Otherwise...chaos.



My Norwegian fisherman's sweater goes back to 1986 and it's damned near like the day I bought it. Over a white cotton turtleneck and under a bright red down vest, we ran over sand dunes in South Haven, Michigan and later found ourselves covered in sand and Ladybugs. We didn't realize it then but our good luck had already happened.



I know I look back a lot. I guess it's the age or maybe there's just a lot to look back on. I'm still pissed off I left my swim trunks with the YMCA Shark patch in the pool locker room at Ft Bliss.



I was only six but that long ago regret has never gone away -- A slow shaking of the head as you look down at your feet knowing it's all your fault and there's nothing you can do about it -- The shoes change but the rest feels the same.


I've saved 4o or 50 empty cigar boxes. Each one is a story.

The Four Seasons bar in Chicago. A bunch of us from work and I crack open a cedar box of double coronas. A waiter brings the huge bar humidor over to a table of fellas sitting next to us. "Looks like my box is bigger than your box" says one of the fellas. I sadly look at my little box. After making their selections the waiter takes the humidor away. I lean towards their table and smile, "Looks like you don't have a box."



The Zippo burned a leg more than once. Careless overfilling with lighter fluid resulted in a red chafe-like circle on the thigh from seepage thru the pocket. I still have my grandfather's Zippo, a gift from his son -- But I long for the son's Vietnam Ronson engraved, "Fuck Communism."


Echos of French Souleiado. Hand carved block designs going back over 200 years to the south of France and made famous by Pierre Deux in Greenwich Village.



All the more special since the recent bankruptcy of Pierre Duex and the suburban success of insipid Vera Bradley knock offs.



Quartermaster Laundry starched fatigues cardboard stiff. I remember field stripping a cigarette butt by rolling the hot ash off between thumb and index finger. Butts were deposited in trouser pockets only to be pressed like tiny lumps if you forgot to take them out.

What's With These Sweaters?

What I was hoping for...


At the half off sale.


What was there.


"NOT HOT!"

$750 for the painting -- don't know about the shoes.


I have no idea what this is.




From a reader:
I have no idea what kind of tintin thing you've got going as far as personal stuff, but there was a nice tintin wool crew neck sweater today at the arthritis thrift shop on Third Ave., half price I think.

I checked out the place yesterday at lunch. Already have this Tintin sweater. I'm hoping they have that Tintin Single Malt sweater...for $30. I spent almost two hours in this place looking and no Tintin sweater. Instead, I find a Coogi sweater. I can't stand Coogi sweaters.

Mel Brooks and Bill Cosby wear them and I think they're both amazing but I'm here to tell you...Coogi sweaters are not only ugly ... They speak to a larger problem. The following that is fat men in Chinese restaurants on Sunday night ordering loudly,"NOT HOT!" and, "JUST WATER TO DRINK."

If you're in the hood (3rd Ave bet. 80 and 81st) you may wanna swing by. 50% off all clothing and shoes and purse stuff. Ties are $5. Found a Britches of Georgetown tie I bought more for the label. Such an icon of '80s Washington DC. There's a couple of small Souleiado shirts for $7.50 and a custom blue chalk stripe Domenico Spano suit with a hole in the seat. Like I said, if you're in the hood and you don't like your Chinese spicy.

A Femme d'un Certain Age: How To Give & How Not To Give

Tish Jett of the ultra-sophisticated, A Femme d'un Certain Age, asked me to contribute a post on holiday giving. I am flattered to have been asked. Tish has a wonderful blog chock full of Parisian style, photos and refreshingly "vin sur vin" content where LL Bean and Vera Bradley are MIA. I'm crazy about her and her blog. I think you will be too. Unless you like Vera Bradley...in which case you need to check out two guys named Pierre and don't forget Johnny Hallyday... Merde, he rocks.

Off My Back: Souleiado

Pronounced Silly-ah - doe - - Lets try to be adults.

Men's are sized 1 (smallest) to 4 (largest)

Who knew the French have lockers?

The Souleiado Logo

A year ago the Friday Belt seemed like a good idea. 15 extra pounds later I'm not so sure. I've decided to climb on the wagon. The Friday Belt returns in six weeks. In its place - "Off My Back" A weekly look at shirting old and new. Strange and common. Cheap and expensive. US and UK. We kick it off with something unique, traditional and about 105% French.

I was first introduced to Souleiado patterns by Pierre Deux. Then I found a small shop in Bermuda that carried their men's button down shirts. Called Provincial shirts, they're made of 100% cotton in hand block printed designs over 200 years old and they're as traditional and unconventional as you can get.

They're hard to pin down. Certainly it's rustic. Simple like a young red wine from Provence...Whoops. Can't go there (This is gonna be a long six weeks). But they're so ancient looking and that comes from the patterns that are actually printed onto the shirts using old wooden blocks.

I actually wore this shirt on casual Friday a few jobs back. Show up in a shirt like this - people talk. My boss is standing in front of me in a pair Kenneth Cole squared toe shoes, Dockers and a ten dollar haircut. He asks, "Where in the hell did you dig up a shirt like that?" And I replied, "The south of France. You wouldn't understand." Yes, he eventually fired me but he'll never understand the chemise aller a L'enfer.

It's the kinda shirt you wear without a tie. There's a lot going on here and I'm always afraid someone will mistake me for a professional card player. Best worn in French owned restaurants. At least they understand the origins. Of the shirt - not me.