For Championship Play

Showplace Antique Center, 40 West 25th Street

J McLaughlin Rated Mature

The Gilt article mentioned the J McLaughlin draw string beach pant ($125 a pair) but didn't include images. I'd like to recitfy that. I've been a fan of J Mac since the early '90s. Sensible men's apparel was always over shadowed by their women's clothing. Still, the men's line, while smaller, was no less powerful and I think made more so by its rarity outside the Northeast.

Quality rings true at J Mac and huge character follows second. However (the six letter, 'but'), I visited the men's shop on the UES and was told the infamous J Mac needlepoint was no more. Instead, there was lots of skull and crossbone stuff. Why would they do that?

The beach pant still rings true although why they didn't do a skull and bone version of that is beyond me. Maybe the designer called in sick because their second set of teeth were coming in. If you're an adult or have aspirations of being one, get a pair or these beach pants while you still can. Designers are getting younger and soon we'll all be wearing Winnie the Pooh.

Gilt Loves Go To Hell

(Gilt photo by Rose Callahan)

Gilt MANual included GTH Pants as one of its Men's Essentials (No. 49 if you're counting). A photo shoot at Alan Flusser's studio was the most fun I've had with my clothes on. Alan changed three times for us while we took over his studio with more lights and tripods than a Bruce Weber shoot. Heady stuff. Great images. Go check 'em out here.

ETROcentricity

Based on my limited knowledge of textiles...which reminds me of wise advice given in the army. "You don't have be brave. You just have to be braver than the guy next to you." Anyway, I don't know much about textiles but I bet I know more than at least one of you. These Etro GTH pants incorporate late 18th and early 19th century prints from European "provincial" traditions.


Like the shirt I'm wearing above, the designs were printed on the fabric using wood blocks. This practice continued until the late 19th century when machines took over. Again, it's the idea of wearing history -- whether that history is 20 years old or 300.

I'm not sure the designers at Etro are aware of the history or even care. A criticism I have against designers today is they rarely know anything about what they're stealing.

But who says you have to know the history of what you're wearing? It does help to have some knowledge but most people are happy going to the mall to get what they wear. And then there are people like Bud Collins.


Bud in his own Etro's and while I'm not sure, that shoe looks like the Italian, R Martegani.


Bud travels the world covering tennis and searching for fabric. This is an Italian fabric.


He brings the fabric back to Charlie Davidson at the Andover Shop in Boston where the goods are transported into...Art. Every pair of Bud's trousers tell a story. The investment of Bud's time and money helped created a sartorial legend. There's no reason why you can't create your own as well. Taking the test below should help you on your way.


M Magazine - September 1988 From, Blessed Are the Cracked by James Fallon

Off The Reservation -- Espadrilles

I've always associated espadrilles with a European who would wear a pencil thin moustache and an ascot. Or, a Frenchman who paired espadrilles with a boat neck, navy stripe shirt and white capri pants. Images of Sonny Crockett's espadrilles with unstructured pastel linen jackets are as hysterical as a cop in Florida with a yacht and a Ferrari. But never say never and like all things sartorial -- the slippery slope, at least for me, almost always starts with an image.


Granted, I wasn't thinking of espadrilles when I first saw this photo of, and taken by, Alice Olive (her blog here). I wasn't thinking of how well the photo was composed or how she nailed the exposure or how she set the shot up. But as the image burned into my brain -- her navy espadrilles must've followed. Still, my issue with espadrilles isn't about women wearing them.

How does a man pull off the espadrille without looking like...Well, what Tom Waits called, "...a spent piece of used jet trash." I think Alice's photo helped soften my aversion and made way for these Souleiado espadrilles I saw yesterday afternoon.

With vintage J McLaughlin GTH pants they certainly make a statement, but it's one of humor, wisdom and experience. This is not the parvue of a 20-something college kid whose idea of cutting edge is Vineyard Vines and Tucker Blair. This is for the grown ups.


The more I look at these the more I'm drawn in. Maybe that's why the older man can pull off brighter "Off TheReservation" colors. The style is very traditional. What Alan Flusser called, "king of the hill party clothes" in Style and the Man. I like my description better. OTR. It has a ring to it. I'll have to call the lawyers.

Anyway, here are some examples of interesting espadrilles. $12 a pair (or less) and available here. Granted, I've never dealt with the company and it is in Argentina (thanks, Charlie G.) but like I said, We're going O.T.R. here.

D.I.Y. G.T.H. Pants

1. Currently in the lead


2. A close second


3. A distant third. Called 'Snotty' by one voter and 'In your face' by another.


4. No votes so far.


5. Batik with no votes.


6. I'm not sure why I liked this.


7. Very 'Marimekko.' A personal favorite.


8. Very '1969.' I think my mother had this in a bell bottom.


9. Not really GTH but more, 'WTF.'


10. My choice to pair with a white dinner jacket.


11. Flowers not Eiffel (although...)


12. Bees might be attracted to this

What two would you choose? Time, place and occasion are important. Drinking on the beach. Eating on the beach. Dancing on the beach. Having sex on the beach. And the all encompassing, Party on the beach.

Update: No one does GTH like Bud Collins. Click here to see 25 of Bud's favorite trousers.

Votes: Three way tie for 1st place between 2, 5 and 10 with 9 votes each. 1 follows with 5. 6 & 7 are tied with 4.

La Bonne Soupe

He sat alone in majestic simplicity on the balcony of La Bonne Soupe (the good life). He wore his hat. It didn't wear him. Somewhere in his 60s though hard to tell -- La Bonne Soupe is somewhere in the 50s between 5th and 6th, and while it has an address (48 W. 55th Street) it's also mysterious.

He was having the French onion soup and salad special which comes with dessert and a glass of wine or beer for $19.50. Very simple in presentation -- much like the man in the hat. His suit was simple. His shirt striped. I looked down to see if he was wearing socks. Of course he was. He was an adult after all.

Some of the charm of the old La Bonne is missing since the fire a few years ago. The mirrored ceiling on the 2nd floor is gone and everything looks a little too new. Still, the 2nd floor balcony is the seat to have despite the close quarters. He looked like a regular - which I hope to be someday. Content with his lunch and his life. No doubt he's had a fire or two himself.

The Friday Belt - Bloody Bloody

A good Bloody is hard to find. There are those who will tell you that using a mix is all wrong. They're wrong. And they sure as hell haven't been drinking as long as I have. A good Bloody is a very personal thing. There are those who like an insipid, characterless, watered down version and the idea is, if they've made it sans mix it's better than a mix. There are also those who turn right when everybody else is turning left.

McClure's is out of Brooklyn. The Bloody mix ($10) and pickles ($9) are not cheap and not for everyone. They have a freshness and soul about them fitting for lazy Sunday brunches of challah French banana toast, lots of bacon, poached eggs with white truffle oil and the Beatles, Rubber Soul, playing in the background (I read Xaviera Hollander's, Happy Hooker when I was 16 while listening to Rubber Soul over and over. Norwegian Wood never fails to put me in a certain mood).


The guy wearing this belt says, 'Bloody' a lot. 'Bloody hell, he's a bloody wanker. Why is he taking a bloody picture of my bloody belt?' My English friends don't understand my blog and that's okay ('...why would he bloody do that?'). I asked Joe for a photo of his belt and he happily obliged. Horse hair from somewhere in South America. I've been looking for one without any luck. If anyone has any leads please email me.

So it's not my belt and it's not my Bloody Mary but they both have real soul. The unusual is always packed with character and courage in that the belt and mix are not made for masses, but for a small and appreciative audience. That's what brave people and companies do. You don't always have to be a prostitute.



Update: It's called a Polo Belt and the source is here. At 30 pounds, it seems a steal and the company, Estribos, is located in Surrey and sells over the internet. Many thanks to the anonymous reader who sent the link. The belt above (Royal Dragoon Guards - 32 Pounds) is a Gaucho belt and available here. Not many sources but, happily, all are skull and crossbone free.

M Magazine's Seaside Vacation - 1984

(click on image to enlarge)

I'd like to make an observation. There's not much up there, 27 years ago, that would look out of place today. In fact, most of it would put you in fairly elegant, if not fashionable, circles. At least that's what I think but be warned, I'm getting on in years as my lack of lips will attest.

'Seaside Vacation' was written by R. Rushton Chatsworth III (a.k.a. John Fairchild), the layout was by M's fashion editor, Robert Bryan, photographed by Thomas Iannaccone and there's not a Red Wing in sight. But I know men who would commit small crimes for that Ghurka carry on and some major ones for the Hermes cashmere tennis cardigan.

Early issues of 'M' nailed classic clothing, and like any art, the choices here have stood the test of time. My God, if you were lucky enough to inherit any of this from a dad or an uncle, you would have a beautiful and honest patina as well.

If you're rolling up your jeans so everybody can see your cordovan work boots. If you're looking for the nerdiest black frame glasses you can find. If you're shaving every 12 days and refuse to part your hair... Understand any photo of you 27 years from now is gonna look dated. And that may not be a bad thing. I know plenty of men who will proudly show you old pictures of their mullets. Forewarned is forearmed.

Fashionanachronism

Not okay when the hair is grey.