Happy Halloween

I'm not much for Orange and Black plastic crap made for Halloween. I wonder about adults who go crazy over this day. I assume they have numerous pairs of Crocs as well. All in all, I think it's a pretty cheesey holiday. But this picture takes that all away. A man whose image I can't look at without wondering, "What if?" And who knew he wore velvet monogramed slippers.

"M" The Civilized Man Oct. '85 & '86

Sorry about the lack of cropping on some of these images - - but who really cares? I certainly don't. I spent forever scanning this stuff. The following are some of my favorite images from "M" and while I wonder, where - did - the - time - go...I'm grateful this magazine was around . 1985 was my first year out of college and in NYC. I was poor but had the time of my life. The cover above is 1985 and below is 1986.

22 years later and some things, based on the cover above, just don't change.

Pictures above are from a piece on the social clubs at Harvard. Why can't I get a haircut like these anymore?

Above is "Looking Great Too and an all time favorite of women who wouldn't have given me the time of day then and today.

When I moved to Chicago in 1989, the above boutique was still on the ground floor of Field's. It was a beautiful little corner filled with objects that had real soul. You can still find some items in Chicago from this venture: Sterling silver frames, snuff boxes, collar stays, cricket bats...

I was in love with the Grand Wagoneer. Until I drove one. Still, the design is so beautiful and I always preferred the burgundy.

I love those tassel loafers.

Hard to see-- but that's a yellow stripe oxford. I asked for a custom yellow stripe oxford at Charvet in Paris. They didn't have it. By the way, never go into Charvet after consuming two bottles of wine at lunch with your girlfriend. I'm guessing the bolt of fabric I kocked over toppled over another 12 0r 13 bolts.

Brooks offers a MTM but it's around $150 a shirt. Finally found one at the Rugby Store in NYC. I was never a fan of the cardigan but it looks great here. Still, I think it's banging 12 on the, "get your ass kicked" meter. The Trad assumes no liability for bodily injury should you decide to wear this in public. And please, leave the Dutch bicycle at home.

I recognise the door above anywhere. The Union League Club in Philadelphia. The best Lobster Club sandwich I've ever had, a great art collection and some of the most wonderful employees I've ever had the pleasure to know. They all work in accounting and got to know me well.

I've been looking for this sweater ever since I saw it 22 years ago. There's something about the purple sweater, the blue stripe oxford and the green club tie that nails it for me. I don't think this look would get you beat up...

The Covert Coat

From the New & Lingwood catalog.
He looks like he needs to go the bathroom.

Fall is about the Covert coat. As seen above in the New & Lingwood catalog. Covert is a tightly spun wool that resits snags when charging through the brambles on horse back. Rail road stitching (4 stiched rows) at the hem and cuffs tell all from a distance that this is the real deal. I love these coats for one reason. You rarely see them in the States. They are British. I have one without the velvet collar which was of great importance and economy in the late 19th C when long and greasy hair stained the collar after a few wearings. To cure the grease, the owner simply changed his velvet collar (brown, green or purple) to a new one in order to remedy the oiled mess. My hair is short and so I skipped the velvet. All things in their rightful place.

It's a short coat and clean of line. Hidden buttons in a placket ease down to a bell shaped hem...not too extreme but enough to ride just above the knee and tell all you didn't find this garment at the mall. In the day, a large inside pocket was for game but today it's perfect for a scarf or ten Cuban cigars. While not Trad - - it hails from where Trad was born. Find one. Wear it. And know that in this country - - you will have something very few have. Reason enough to search it out and wear history.

The Turtleneck and Alexander Mundy

I must have been doing my Alexander Mundy impersonation the day this was taken. Despite great effort I never could get my hair to part to the right.

3rd Season opening to "It Takes a Thief." Cool didn't get any cooler.

"Let me get this straight...you want me to steal?" Oh, man...how I wanted to be Alexander Mundy when I was a kid.

I usually kicked off my Robert Wagner impersonation with, "Noah...let me get this straight" to establish with my audience - - usually at the lunch table - - just where this line was coming from. The key was Noah 'cause every kid I knew watched the show and it was darned difficult to cram "Alexander Mundy" into the lead. We're talking six syllables compared to just two. More importantly than the "No-ah" utterance was the turtleneck. It really helped pull off the Al Mundy impersonation. My preference was black. A shoulder holster would've helped enormously but those were difficult to secure even then.

Turtlenecks are still an important part of Autumnal Trad wear. And I've had many that refused to die. I may even have the one I'm wearing in the picture. Maybe it's because they're seasonal and get a rest...I don't really know but they can go on forever. Cotton is great. Merino is cool. But you really graduate when you buy cashmere. Two ply or three will keep the turtleneck from turning into a cowlneck. I can't wear my black cashmere turtleneck without a desire to spin a combination dial and steal my girlfriend's jewelry. I like to wear it with black wool trousers, black tassel loafers and tucked in with a simple black calf strap with sterling monogrammed buckle. Very slimming as well.

Despite all of the years trying - - I never got beyond, "Let me get this straight...you want me to steal?" But after many decades of trying I finally got my hair to part to the right.

The Trad Logo Hunt

Help! I'm ordering business cards for the Trad and I need a logo. I'm lazy and cheap but willing to make an effort and spend some cash. Simple, white and engraved. I've been to Tiffany's ($450), Smythson ($350) and Staples ($22). I must say the lady at Tiffany's was not very nice. She certainly was no John McGiver (above). But I did come up with an idea. An engine turned buckle with, THE TRAD in the monogram box. Whad'ya think?

The salesman at Smythson was nice and very helpful. And also expressed an interest in this blog. That's a guy who knows how to sell. I don't think the lady at Tiffany's could sell a golf ball in a pro shop but that's just me. Anyway, to replicate the engine turned buckle in a silver foil is gonna run me just over a $1,000 for 250 cards at Smythson. Yeah, I did the same thing you just did. I did the math. $4 a card. Staples told me they could do a silver foil for $40. That's better but I have a strange feeling they're not gonna look quite right.

How about the above? Simple. Cheap. I drew it. Hell, it would look neat on a ball cap. Maybe not. But I think it screams Trad. The bow tie. The tassels on the shoes. Staples could do this for $30 in about 4 days. It's not everyday you can save $970 on business cards. I could get a pair of alligator tassels for that kinda coin.

A Trad Investment

Michael Williams of a "A Continous Lean"turns 30 today. I was thinking that my watch and perhaps some of my boxer shorts are older than he is. I bought my Sub, like so many others, while I was in the Army. It was required if you were in Special Forces. The Sub was cheap back then. I would'a sprung for the Explorer but it was on the high side. I think $50 or $75 more. Trad Dad paid $225 for his Explorer in 1967 while serving in Vietnam with 5th Special Forces Group. A few years ago he admitted to getting pissed off with his watch, taking it off his wrist and slinging it out into the middle of the New Mexico desert. So much for my inheritance.

I've owned two Subs. The first one was left in a Hardee's bathroom in Fayettville, NC after helping an Army buddy change a motorcyle chain in the restaurant's parking lot. I took it off to wash my hands and left it in the soap dish. Didn't notice until I got back to my barracks. I had this very odd feeling in my stomach just before I had the desire to kill myself. I lied to Trad Dad and told him I lost it on a night jump over St Mere Eglise Drop Zone at Ft Bragg.

A couple of days ago I was in Bergdorf Goodman and saw a Sub just like mine (model1530) and a Explorer like Dads. The Sub was $10,000 and the Explorer was $12,500 or there abouts. I know my Dad reads this blog from time to time and I can only hope he isn't feeling that stange feeling in his stomach. Jeez, you couldn't do better in stocks or real estate.

PS- The middle photo is a Sub like mine but not mine. I've added a photo of mine and am ashamed to say it's overdue for a servicing. It's had four services in the 33 years I've owned it. The book is "Handmade Shoes for Men" by Laslo Vass. I'm not a fan of what I believe to be a heavy Hungarian style but the book is mindblowing.

Trad Sex, Dinty Moore and Timberlands

The Free & Easy cover for October 2008 (which features the Abercrombie & Fitch coat below) reminded me of something. But what? After dropping $14.50 for the magazine at Kinokuniya, a beautiful Japanese book store in NYC, I walked across the street to Bryant Park and consumed the images in about 10 minutes. Not much to read and even less if you can't read Japanese.

Heading up to midtown it hit me. My boot shot from Ellis Island. Yes, it would appear I've been taking pictures of my shoes for many years. The shot of my Timberland work boot was taken circa 1985 from a window high above the Main Registry building on Ellis looking at the Statue of Liberty. This image could also be titled, "Free & Easy."

As a National Park Ranger assigned to the Statue and Ellis, I made $12,500 a year in 1985. While the work wasn't "Free" - - it was "Easy" as the above pic testifies. The best and lowest paying job I ever had. I was able to stretch out a one and half pound can of Dinty Moore beefstew over a week thanks to a 10 pound bag of Basmati rice. I drank lots of tap water. I ate a can of tuna fish for lunch...every day. I was 150 pounds, a 30" waist and in the best shape of my life. Better than the Army. But I was poor. And NYC is no place to be poor. "Rich girls don't date poor boys, J. Gatsby." No shit.

I remember the occasional complaint to other Rangers about how hard it was to date (ie:get laid) in NYC as a poor park ranger. I am now told by an old Ranger Buddy my complaints were hourly. He's still with the Park Service and mentioned to me the upcoming Park Service documentary by Ken Burns. I suggested a major film star, Martin Sheen, could read my letters as voice over, describing my lonlieness and desire for female companionship (ie: get laid) while assigned to the Statue and Ellis. My Ranger buddy replied, "Don't you mean, Charlie Sheen?"

When the Statue was closed to the public, I was transferred to Ellis Island and worked as a Museum Technician on the artifact removal. That is, everything on Ellis was packed up and moved to a warehouse somewhere in Manhattan. This allowed me to purchase a pair of steel toed boots courtesy of the federal government. God forbid, I drop something on my foot and file a disability claim for that whopping $12,500 job.

I went to a number of shoe stores and was overwhelmed with just how ugly work boots were. Not that they've changed much. It was in one store I saw the Timberland boot. I fell in love with it. But it wasn't steel toed. So, I bought 'em anyway, submitted the receipt to the Park Service and was reimbursed. I suspect I could've bought a pair of wingtips without any questions.

I still have the same Timberlands 23 years later. They've survived 19 Chicago winters as the only boot I ever wore with a suit. Toasty warm with decent traction on the ice sidewalk in front of the Hancock. Great looking with jeans but something of a statement untied with shorts and a untucked button down somewhere on the North Shore. A wonderful boot with soul - - I can't wear them without a strange desire for some Dinty Moore.

Abercrombie & Fitch 1960s

Holy Crud.

I'm not even going to discuss the A&F of today. Not when there's so much to say about this magnificent and unique coat. I don't know if there are any designers who read this blog but if there are...listen up...I would pay a small fortune for a coat like this. And I'm cheap.

There's an echo of the Hudson Bay blanket coat going on but this is so much its own style. A real statement to say the least. Perfect for fall and wide wale corduroys in a tan or corn or blue or red. Hell, this'll go with anything. We talk about Trad and Ivy and Preppy but it's so hard to describe beyond the simplicity of the sack coat, plain front chinos and Weejun mentalities. This coat speaks volumes to me. Rustic. Not American but North American. This is where Ruff Hewn was going in the 80's. It came close but never anything like this.

A note about who I stole this from...Heavy Tweed Jacket is a blogger from the North Shore of Chicago and who now resides in Japan. He's one of the best bloggers I've run across and has a tremendous archives of catalogs and magazines with an Ivy bent. I swiped this image from HTJ's blog and it's from a Japanese magazine. I must admit to being a big fan of Japanese clothing and shoe magazines. They present American classic attire like no one else. Better than anyone in this country could ever do... which isn't really saying much. Seems as if we're falling apart at the seams. Anyway, check out Heavy Tweed Jacket here. http://heavytweed.blogspot.com/ He ain't Heavy - - He's my brother.

It's "POETS" Day

What a week.

The title of this post is a favorite utterance one will hear in London on any Friday. Piss Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday. By now, some guys in London have already done it. Piss off that is. Usually kicked off by lunch at a Pub with office mates where a spilling out onto the street speaks to the crowd between 1PM and 5PM.


The video is my effort to stop my bitching about the Army and enjoy what I loved so much about it. The exit of an airplane in flight...and fright. This version has a Van Halen score sure to move you into the weekend like the rotor wash of a Huey moves a infantryman across a landing zone.


We used to grab the outside of the door on a C130 jump but some things never change. Weak exits. Retainer bags. Combat Equipment. Sicily Drop Zone...I think that's Sicily. Anyway, watch your fourth point of contact and have a great weekend.

The US Army, fashion and... Sears?

Above is the unit insignia for the 1st Infantry Division. Soon to be sold next to Kenmore washing machines, Craftsman tools and Die Hard batteries.

Below is Trad Dad as a young enlisted man drawing a sentiment popular among young enlisted men when they've been in the Army for more than a day.

Samuel Johnson wrote, "Every man thinks more meanly of himself for having never been a soldier."

The US Army and Sears's have taken Johnson to heart and are giving the customer what he wants. Say you're the kinda guy who likes war movies and snappy uniforms but you really don't want to get shot. Now you can run...No, make that, Airborne Shuffle to Sears and with the Army's blessing you can pretend you were in the 1st Infantry Division. That's right, The Big Red One. Shirts, backpacks, outerwear...all with 1st ID's insignia. I suspect very soon you'll be able to buy jump wings, marksmanship badges and a combat infantry badge if this product website is any indication. http://www.armybrand.com/

I have a sense the Army and Sears are dipping their toe in the water of branding. If we all roll over and allow this nonsense to continue without complaint I see some great ideas down the road. How about the Sears brand, "Die Hard" stenciled on tanks? Man, I feel like Don Draper here. Army issued boxers? Joe Boxer of course. Headquarters Intelligence divisions once known as "G-2" will be known as "Craftsmen." I'm actually getting nauseous.

Funny thing. The Army, thanks to me, sent a letter to Polo Ralph Lauren telling them to take product with Army insignia off their shelves immediately. You can get some major fines as well as up to six months in jail. I don't see Ralph in a orange jump suit eating bologna sandwiches but you never know. I'd give my right testicle to work for Polo but I thought, "Screw 'em. This is not right." So I dropped a dime on them.

Now, I feel like a schmuck. Little did I know the Army and DoD were cooking a deal with Sears. Here's an interesting angle... will the Army use its legal counsel to protect Sears products featuring Army insignia? Wow, Sears secures legal services at tax payer expense. Which begs the question...why Sears? Anyone who was ever in the Green Machine knows how incompetent the Army is. But Sears? As my Drill Sergeant might opine, "If you turned Sears brains into gasoline you wouldn't have enough to power a piss ant motorcycle half way 'round a fucking dime."

That gives me a great idea. The Army can include a booklet (tagged to a trouser belt loop with suspension cord) filled with earthy quotes and jargon so customers can complete the illusion of having served. Soon a 13 year old will complain about school being FUBAR and salesmen at B&H Photo will argue over some REMF in their A.O.

To add insult to this injury, Sears has said they are giving the Army the "proceeds" from the sale of product. So, no bitching people. This is for a gosh darn good cause. But some news stories are using the word "Royalty." Hmmm? Anytime you see "Royalty" you can be sure some asshole stands to make a fortune.

When I was in the Army there was a popular expression, "F.T.A." meaning, "Blank the Army." I haven't used it in years. But thanks to this Cluster Blank, I may have to blow the dust off it. Lastly, my apologies to Ralph Lauren for what I did. I feel like I was used by an organization that I used to admire. I guess some things never do change.

Trad Dad's Solution - 1st of a Series

Mom on the Run at http://abnormallynormal2007.blogspot.com/2008/09/dear-neighbor.html had an issue with a rude and thoughtless neighbor. It got me to thinking how Trad Dad resolved a similar issue with a neighbor many years ago. That's me in the picture back in those Madras filled days of 1966. It was on this very spot at Ft Bragg... or was it Ft Bliss. Maybe Ft Sill. Anyway, it's not important. Suffice it to say, we were living on post during the height of the Vietnam War. It was crowded. Quarters were few and far between and even though Trad Dad was a captain we were quartered in senior enlisted housing. One can only hope they have since been torn down. But knowing the Army - - I doubt it.

Early one morning I watched as Trad Dad stuck the first of many little white flags into our front yard. Made from wire coat hangers and a bed sheet these flags, over a week's time, began to fill our postage stamp of a yard so much that it began to look like a putting green. After a couple of weeks Trad Dad invited the next door neighbor over for a late afternoon BBQ. Earlier in the day Trad Dad treated me to a top down drive in the Berkley (a chain driven British sports car that rarely ran) and slot car racing at a hobby track in Fayettville. I remember lusting for a Batmobile slot car but Trad Dad would have none of that. Instead, we raced a blue Ford GT 40 with a Cox hand control. It also rarely ran.

Later in the afternoon the neighbor and Trad Dad are drinking beers on the back yard (4x6) patio when the neighbor laughingly asks, "Hey, what's up with all those flags in your front yard?" Trad Dad slowly turns to him, takes a long drag off his cigarette and replies through exhaled smoke, "That's where your dog shits in my yard." Years later, when I tried to understand "Passive - Aggressive behaviour, I would think back to this story that had turned into a family legend. There you go, Mom on the Run. Sometimes a little Passive-Aggresive is just what a neighbor needs.

Hello Marlboro

Thanks to Le Smoking http://lesmokingimage.blogspot.com/ for this. A wild blog that's fun to sail through - - if you like pictures of people smoking that is. There's not a lot of Trad folks on the blog but above is the Tradest girl I could find. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with kissing an ash tray. Nothing wrong at all.

Goodbye Dark & Stormy

A TRAD Dark & Stormy in a big gulp tumbler. Goslings Black Seal and Barritt's Ginger Beer are required. Do not attempt this libation with any other brand or you're just going to the bathroom up a rope.

Here's another Dark & Stormy at Le Colonial in NYC. This one is nowhere close to my hand made version. Le Colonial gets $14 for theirs. A bottle of Goslings is around $17 and the Barritts will set you back $6 for a six pack. Four limes for $1 plus labor...I figure my version, all in, runs about $2.

But the season for this taste of Bermuda is coming to a close. It really is a Summer drink. All the more reason to savor those last few as Fall approaches and with it my least favorite color combination --black and orange. Anyway, I'll remember you Dark and Stormy until next we meet in May. Until then, I can be proud of my contribution to the increased revenues of Bruce Barritt, the Gosling family and lime growers everywhere.

It is what it is...

Talk about truth in advertising. Here's the Subway Inn Bar at 60th and Lexington. Domestic beer in a bottle is $4.00 and there's only chips and pretzels. I respect its honesty although I was hoping it would look as great on the inside as it does on the outside. In case you can't make out that interior photo - - It does not. It does look like something you'd see in a 1950's crime noir novel. I have been told Julia Roberts slummed here one night. Who knows. Who cares. The place does have soul.

This is what the inside looks like at 2:30PM. The fellow at the end of the bar was sound asleep with a rucksack hanging off one shoulder and with his head on the bar. It is what it is...a place to get hammered...cheaply. Isn't it great when people and things and events are...what they really are? Even if it's just a bar, it is what it is...

Unless it's Brooks Brothers

And then there are these guys...my old employer back in 1985. Sadly, Brooks Brothers has taken their marketing seriously while scrimping on the product. Anyone with a knowledge of this company for more than 15 years knows what it was like. Hefty oxford cloth button downs, rep ties with weight to them as opposed to the tissue paper construction of today. Made in the USA on all the labels versus Made in China or as this catalog proudly announces, "imported" when the product is not made in the US or Europe.



This massive catalog (Vol. 1 no less) sans models, echos the coffee table book published by Brooks some years ago. Covered in a grey, Loro Piana chalk stripe fabric it was crammed full of history with old store pictures and catalog pages. It made for fond memories of a time when Brooks Brothers really meant something. Now they've followed that "fond memory" with a ultra slick 258 page catalog of shameless gushing. Descriptions like, " providing merchandise of the highest quality" and "the mark of true luxury" all while confiding that a wash and wear shirt they've been working on for eight years is as much a tradition as their trademark; the Golden Fleece. The chapter headings started to remind me of a Men's Wearhouse commercial. "You're going to like the way you look. I guarantee it."



I have news about that non-iron shirt...it does not breathe. "...finely woven exclusively for Brooks Brothers by one of the world's premier fabric mills." Uh, that mill is in Malaysia and you can bet your golden fleece that the cost to produce that shirt falls far below the original polo button down. Long story short and my personal experience with the non iron shirting is this: A shirt that does not breathe will make you sweat. A lot. Sweat, unable to escape, starts to smell. When you smell of B.O. no one will give a shit you're wearing a Brooks Brothers shirt. Except Brooks Brothers. And if I might make one Trad observation here. Wrinkles are a clue you're wearing a natural fabric. Cotton and linen wrinkle and that means character. Polyester does not wrinkle but traps human odor. There's character there as well but I associate it with a bowling alley.



I will say this for Brooks. If you don't like it, for whatever reason, they will take it back and refund your money. And that includes those non-iron shirts. I doubt the Subway Inn Bar would reimburse you if didn't like the beer they sold you. Something to keep in mind.

US Open

If I were reading this blog for the first time I would wonder if this is the only pair of shoes this asshole owns. But I love them although... again... I'm not sure why. The tennis was fantastic although Williams and Federer made quick work of Stosur and Gonzalez. Still, what's not to like about a beautiful night with fall like weather and someone else picking up the tab in a luxury box with sushi and cold beer. Now that's Trad. What's not Trad is the marketing head at the Open turning tennis into something that resembles Arena Football. Very Bad. Very Bad indeed.

Trad Flying Attire

Much was discussed in the previous post regarding the wearing of jacket and tie when flying. That people today have no issue with showing up in an airport looking like they rolled out of bed only proves the total disregard of today's traveler. I always wear a jacket and tie when I fly. Always.

This is for "Homer's Odd isn't he?" http://homersoddisnthe.blogspot.com/ Homer commented in the prior post that my shoes were orange. Maybe it's the polish I've been using but he may be right. If so, here's my favorite color combination: Orange and Green.

Planes,

Ever notice how Americans order drinks on a plane? "I wanna a Coke." Or, "Gimme a Coke." Or, sometimes they just grunt, "Coke." Whatever happened to, "May I have...?" Or, "May I please have..." Flying today closely resembles taking a Trailways Bus. I took the bus a lot in the Army and in college. I liked it. You could sit in the back and drink beer and smoke cigarettes. But my shoes were not as nice as these. British Tan Tassel loafers made by Alden for Brooks Brothers. They are fitting for summer cotton suits and hop sack blazers with white trousers. I love 'em though I'm not sure why.

Trains

30th Street Station in Philadelphia. One of my favorite train stations in one of my least favorite towns. And like a lot of things I love - - I'm not sure why. Filled with fast food franchises it's beginning to look like a mall but it still has a charm about it despite a horrible taxi stand.

and Automobiles

No pretensions here. It's a station wagon with over 100,000 miles. The Brits call it an estate. They also call a back yard a garden and a tent a marquis. This wagon is full of crap for the month of August. This is a car that not only sucks up massive amounts of crap in the back but gobbles up highway miles, appears to be invisible to the police and thanks to the hunter green paint job, disappears on the highway at dusk. Still, I love it although I'm not sure why. After dealing with the Planes and the Trains - - it's nice to sit in, as my friend Wally calls it, "quiet elegance" while listening to the Clash on it's amazing Bose stereo.