A Fashion Show at Bryant Park

The Excitement (of the unknown)

The Fans (without tickets)

The fans with the, 'Green Pass'

White tickets get chairs

The Photographers

The Audience (with white tickets)

The photographer who looks like I feel

The Bored

When yours truly gets invited to a fashion show at Bryant Park you can pretty much be assured it's over. Still, I can't deny the fantasy of a front row or even third row seat didn't hunker down into my subconscious. I tend to daydream. And you know how a place you've envisioned or an experience you've yet to live is never what you thought it would look like or be? One question. What if it was?

The Perry Ellis PR firm sent me an invite and I could barely believe it. Throw into this mix that it was the last Fashion Week at Bryant Park and I knew it was my lucky day. It was not. The front row seat - - Hell, any seat, was out the door when I realized the green piece of paper they gave me with an "S" on it wasn't the row number.

It meant "Standing" and there was damned little room to do that. When I saw a fire extinguisher knocked over and shoved behind a curtain I thought it best to move close to the exit where I couldn't see the runway without jumping. And I wasn't about to do that...not for Perry Ellis.

But it wasn't all that bad. I was in awe of the photographers as well as the crowd itself. I couldn't help but look where no one else was looking -- not that these pictures are decent evidence of that -- but it was a unique experience. Kind'a like the men's room at a Cub's game an hour and half into a rain delay. Except there wasn't any beer.

Japadog vs Koreadog

Japadog - Popular in Vancouver, BC

Koreadog - Popular in my apartment

Winter Light In New York

Patsy's

Vendome
West 56th
Hearst
Le Veau d'Or
Fire Truck

Late afternoon light in New York City. It looks like a fight will break out with the shadows. Flat and austere it reflects different looks on the same block. It amazes me and there's not a day I'm not grateful for it no matter how cold it gets.

Friday Belt: Green & Orange Sidecar

Hands down my favorite Leather Man tartan belt. The Buchnan pretty much goes with any color because every color is in it. The orange cords are Italian, washable and they'll get you a free coffee at ING Cafe on Friday. The Golf Foxtrot threw them in the dryer and now they're very hi - water. And that's ok. They're perfect for slushing through NY winters in LL Bean Boots.

The other Friday belt is an opportunity to hoist my frugal flag: Brandy. Decaumont has been aged 10 years, it's made in France and can be had for $15 to $20. It's softer than a VSOP cognac at a third of the price. Perfect for mixing. Legend claims the Sidecar cocktail was invented during WW I in Paris by an American army captain who rode in a motorcycle's sidecar to the bar he invented it in . That makes me so proud.

It's classic and like all things classic - it's simple. 2oz of Brandy. 2oz of Cointreau. 1oz of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Tart and sweet with cinnamon undercurrent from the Brandy. It's amazing.

I remember hearing old folks order these at a road house just west of Lake Bluff, IL on 176. That was 1990. Now I'm old folk drinking 'em. In my hi - water orange cords. Life is going by fast and like my father told me...it's just like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end - - the faster it goes.

Live From New York

2.10.10 @ 3:10 PM

David Chu Party - LINCS F/W 2010

Live models not moving - David Chu and Wendell Brown in foreground

What if you have to go?

Nick Sullivan on left - David Chu's hand on right

L to R Nic Screws, Nick Sullivan and Wendell Brown of Esquire Magazine

Back to normal with Mr Mort (L) & Mr Bryan (R)

That Mr Bryan

You can always spot a blogger. The kid with a point and shoot taking pictures of people's shoes or belt buckles.

I caught this party last night at David Chu's townhouse on East 22nd St. God, it's a beautiful building. Inside and out. I was introduced to Mr Chu and we had a nice talk about the '80's and Britches of Georgetown and he told me he liked the Trad and used it for inspiration. I was flattered. I haven't contacted counsel yet.

It was an odd thing seeing men bathed in bright light at the end of a room. It reminded me of boarding a C130 in the middle of the night at Pope AFB but none of these guys looked like anyone I was in the Army with. Actually, none of these guys looked like anyone I've ever known.

Mr Mort was there and brought things back to normal. I met Robert Bryan - no longer with the NY Times but more importantly to me... a man from the M Magazine masthead. I've been to a handful of these fashion events and have never bothered to bring them up here since they're usually pretty horrible. I'm not interested in making fun of them either. That would be too easy. But this event, while unusual for a crude commercial insurance broker such as myself, was better than the rest.

And Chu (of Nautica fame) has some interesting stuff. I was a huge fan of Nautica in the late 80's and early 90's. I still have a pair of Nautica swim trunks from 1988 that came with a floating key chain in the shape of a surf board. I don't know if he's giving key chains away but his stuff deserves a look although I'll feel more comfortable looking at a catalog.

The Covert Coat

I'm not an ascot kinda guy but I never pass them by when I see one under twenty bucks. Polo outlets in Florida are lousy with them. I guess they're not a whole lotta dads vacationing in Orlando who want an ascot. "Hey, Dad! Nice ass-cot."

I like the tight weave of covert cloth plus the tell tale railroad stitching at the sleeve and the hem. It's warm but light. Perfect for travel and you can wear it with damned near anything.

The hacking pockets with ticket pocket scream England but the plain collar (no velvet) tones it down considerably. A tattersal or gun check shirt helps with the horsey origins and this high v neck from Barbera covers up a lot of the ascot which keeps it from banging 12 on the Alpha Hotel meter.

You see covert coats everywhere in London but not so much here in the States and they wear like iron thanks to that weave. They are not cheap and it's getting harder to find ones made in the UK. Here's a tip. Check out eBay U.K. You might be surprised.

Romantic Rogering

Not so recent poster - Photos from Colonial Williamsburg

Recent Snowfall

Williamsburg Hipster

The Golf Foxtrot and I are big fans of the 18th C and all things from it sans consumption and open sewers. I get misty when I sit down to a colonial table with pewter chargers, tankards of ale and rich Welsh Rarebit by candle light. It ain't the food at Grammercy Tavern but it's fine comfort food and it's a fun way to connect with the past.

I've seen a number of print and television ads for Colonial Williamsburg lately and I was reminded of a recent interview. I've been interviewed a lot recently and they're always the same. The journalist has the story written before we talk and they come to me for quotes to support their story. And they all bring up the hipsters in Williamsburg.

"Don't you just hate the whole hipster thing in Williamsburg?" they would ask me. And I kept wondering what the hell they were talking about. All I ever saw in Williamsburg were the reenactors. And bad ones at that. I thought there could be some attraction to the furniture making and pottery but never could I recall seeing a hipster in Williamsburg, VA.

I finally figured it out. But I love Williamsburg (Virginia not Brooklyn) and a few years ago the Golf Foxtrot and I started staying in their colonial houses. Not a hotel. But a private home on site complete with working fireplaces and a built in romantic factor thanks to four poster beds and naughty 18th C literature we brought from home with lots of rogering.

At night, open fires on the street are tended by reenactors who answer questions in and out of character. The wood pops and embers crack in the night sky and your clothes pick up the smell of smoke - - Only to be reminded of the smell later in the night when you pull your sweater off over your head. You have to call for someone to build your own fire but they arrive quickly and are polite and sense you want 'em out fast once the birch takes and ignites the oak above it. "Another tankard of ale m' lord?" the Golf Foxtrot asks.

It's so romantic you don't need Valentine's Day. It could be any day or night and isn't that the best way?

It will be readily evident to all that I never have never - - nor will I ever - - see a dime from the folks at Colonial Williamsburg. Dinner at the hotel is not what it used to be. Chownings went from a charming restaurant to a snack bar. The visitors are more Disney than delft.

Even the pottery barn, a favorite growing up, has been reduced to a tourist trap with South West Indian art and black light paintings. Oh, it breaks the heart and easily depresses. But grab a bottle of cheap port on the way back to your lodgings, have your fire built, hear your floor boards creak as you make your way to the bedroom upstairs with a candle and all the bad goes away very quickly as you reenact a little history of your own.

Another Plug for Wally

Wally Stroby on the right

At the Mysterious Book Shop in NYC

Wally in the back and John Fusco in the middle at the Alligator Farm 1982

Tintin (Left) and Wally (Right) 1982

Wally Stroby had a book reading and signing last night at the Mysterious Book Shop regardless of reports of snow up to one's pipik. It seems like I've been taking pictures of Wally for almost 30 years. Small price to pay for his friendship all these years and his musical taste. I've threatened you with his eclectic taste in songs before but I have to follow through this time with a play list that he claims was his inspiration when writing 'Gone Til November.'

Gone Til November - Wyclef Jean

Everybody Always Leaves - Matthew Ryan

I Still Miss Someone - Johnny Cash

I Miss You - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

Regina - Bunny Sigler

Jane, I Still Feel the Same - Matthew Ryan

Gone For Good - O.V. Wright

Great Expectations - The Gaslight Anthem

Trailer - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Ramblin' Man - Hank Williams

Cure For Pain - Morphine

Nothing Stays the Same Forever - Percy Mayfield

Keep Moving On - Sam Cooke

Streets of Philadelphia - Bettye LaVette

People Get Ready - Blind Boys of Alabama

A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke

(I Won't Be)Leaving - Dave Alvin

Tonight the Golf Foxtrot is reading Wally's book and we have Wally's mix playing. Man, there's a lotta leaving and moving on in this music but Sam Cooke is also singing a change is gonna come. Yes it will. You're may not learn any style tips from Wally but you'll love the haunting sadness of these songs and how they go so well with the characters of his book.

Friday Belts: Flying Turkeys

The Aviation Cocktail - A Turkey that can fly

2 Oz Gin

1/2 Oz Lemon juice

2 teaspoons Maraschino liqueur

1/4 Oz Creme de Violette

Add Ice and Shake - The drink not you

The Turkey Belt - It can't fly

The Aviation Cocktail is a whole lotta effort for a gin and grapefruit juice. At least that's what it tastes like to me. In short, it never takes off depsite a whole lotta buzz.

There's mucho hype, marketing, puffery, sick, cool and tasty on the web -- I never want you to think I'd hesitate to call something out for what it is. And when it's BS like this cocktail - - You're gonna hear about it here.

I now have two bottles of useless liqueurs. Creme de Violette and Luxardo Maraschino are taking up a lot space on a very small bar. The Italian Luxardo comes in straw and has a super cool label with the 1821 Trademark and all kinds of awards. Folks see this on your bar and they're gonna think, "Hey, this guy knows what he's doing." Of course, they would be wrong but the impression will only cost you $30 - That's not bad for an impression.

The Creme de Violette is an ugly bottle with Art Decco pretensions. Rothman & Winter make this Violet liqueur in Austria. Maybe Hitler had this stuff on his bar up there on Eagle's Nest. It would certainly explain why he didn't drink.

It really does taste like a flower and that ain't good. Not for me. I remember eating some flowers on a dare when I was 12 years old and getting very sick. Creme de Violette took me right back to up chucking in the back seat of the family station wagon while my two sisters laughed at me all the way from Columbia, SC to Charlotte, NC.

Cherry and violette will be on my bar 'til I die most likely. I don't see this stuff getting much use and neither will this Turkey belt from Staffords. It does remind me of the WKRP in Cincinnati episode, Turkeys Away, where the radio station manager, Mr Carlson, drops live turkeys from a helicopter over the Pinewood shopping center. Add, "I Thought Turkeys Could Fly" onto this ribbon belt and you could really have something.

I suspect this belt will be worn once a year. On July 4th for the only reason people will ask why I'm wearing a turkey belt on the 4th. And I'll tell them, "Because turkeys can't fly. Wanna cocktail that can?"

Spam & Commies

And it's those ex Commie bastards in Russia and China but Japan is closing in . I've had to put in word confirmation (which I hate) for comments due to amazing amounts of spam. I hope you understand.

The Tassel Shoppe: Sebago

Goes with khakis and white socks

El Salvador or USA? You decide...

Trad Sole

They're out there and they're available

J Crew is getting $140 for a Bass tassel loafer made in El Salvador. I recently saw them in their Columbus Circle store and let loose with a snort of superiority. I found these for $35 on EBay. I have no idea who Mellace's was or is but this is what you can do with a little homework and incentive.

I remember Sebago as a cheaper alternative to the Bass tassel in the 80's - which is why I had a pair (shown here). The profile is slim unlike a better made but bulkier Alden Cape Cod ($240) and that cordovan color is what I really remember. Perfect with high water chinos and white socks. I'm pretty sure I was wearing Sebagos when ME threw my car and dorm room keys down a sewer grate on our way home from Dan Jans one foggy night back in '83. But you probably don't know what I'm talking about.

18th Century Porn

I'm a fan. Found these in Argosy Bookstore over by Bloomingdales on 59th between Lex and Park. $3 a piece. I don't know anything about them but if you do please let me know. There's a charm to them for sure but I also like their unique angles and how they tell a story. I'm always amazed how finds like this seem to be everywhere in NYC. I wonder who owned them and how they ended up where I found them. Always a Sentimental Journey.