The Bit Slip
Who knew Gucci made a slipper version of its iconic bit loafer? Pair with velvet smoking jacket for relaxing evenings at home. Price $570. — CC
BB ’88: Twilight Of The Golden Fleece
Saturday night I found myself strolling up Sixth Avenue with the melancholy opening melody from Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto stuck in my mind. I’d just heard the piece at one of those sparsely attended church concerts where you can hear classical music for practically free but we live in an era when you can’t even give …
Country Gentlemen: Norman Hilton And Princeton In The Thirties
Nick Hilton is not only a clothier but a great writer who has just lent his prose skills to a tribute of his father Norman, who made some of the finest natural-shoulder clothing during the heyday and who was one of the first to bank his money on a rising new talent named Ralph Lauren. …
Prepare For Descent: The Shoulder Angle Alteration
Earlier this summer I met with Lee Denslow of Emerson Bespoke, a Connecticut-based clotheshorse who’s having a blast running a little side business making custom clothing. Lee was making me a tweed sportcoat (which I’ll share soon), and the measuring and finishing was done by his associates at Alterations Master, located just a few doors …
CC For Gentleman’s Journal On The Art Of The Slow Dance
Update: 12:26 PM EST I’ve just been informed that the story at The Gentleman’s Journal linked below is not loading. My apologies and I’ve informed my editor to investigate the broken link. Update: 12:49 Link should be working. * * * I’ve recently begun writing for The Gentleman’s Journal, a London-based luxury magazine with close …
The Red Sweater
I turned on the debate last night for 30 seconds before switching it off to watch my DVD from Netflix, which, by bizarre coincidence, was “The Fall Of The Roman Empire.” So this morning I awoke to an email from Ivy Style contributor James Kraus. Apparently it doesn’t take much to distinguish oneself sartorially these …
Ivy Chic, Japanese Edition
Does “Ivy chic” live in Japan? It does to my eye, as evidenced in this bold, simple, and elegant look from a Japanese member of Ivy Style’s Facebook group. He said he’s wearing a vintage Brooks Brothers nailhead suit, white Brooks shirt, and black knit tie from Atkinson’s (also note TV fold handkerchief). Wonder what …
Stop Saying “Suiting”
Misuses of language have a way of spreading like viruses. For years now sportscasters have been using the term “reactionary” instead of “reactive.” Reactionary, of course, means politically ultra-conservative, not “characterized by athletic reaction.” The same guys also like to analyze the “enormity” of the situation, when in fact “enormity” means excessive wickedness, not a …
The Button-Down Sound: Jazz Radio Broadcast With CC Tonight At 9PM/6 Pacific
Tonight at 9pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific I’ll be the guest on Jazz Advance, an online radio show hosted by Dublab.com, the oldest Internet radio site. To tune in, simply head here at the appointed time and press play at the top of the page. And if you’re otherwise engaged, the show will be archived and …
The End Of Camelot
Yesterday the first teaser trailer was released for “Jackie,” a biopic chronicling the First Lady in the aftermath of the assassination of JFK. Natalie Portman stars as Jacqueline Kennedy and the film opens in December. Anyone else have a crush on her? DCG prefers Anne Hathaway, to whom I have a violent allergic reaction. — …
Shoulda Been There: A Swellegant, Elegant Party, 1957
This post from 2009 came up in conversation yesterday and is worth revisiting. What an incredible mix of people. I had great fun writing this and imagining the scene. * * * One of the saddest phrases in the English language is “You missed a great party.” Well here’s one we all missed. In 1957 …
Back To School Memories: Bare Feet Squishing On Beer-Soaked Carpets
Back to school 1986-1989 meant the return to the Ohio hamlet of Wooster and the college that shares its name. By its very nature, the start of a school year is cyclic. An upperclassman’s confident return is mirrored by first year students’ fearful leap forward into the unknown. A casual observer would witness that awakened …
Where All The Angry Young Men Go
This story originally published in November, 2009 and is being reposted in honor of National Coffee Day. * * * For the Beat Generation, there were only two places to live: New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco’s North Beach. North Beach has been an old stomping ground of mine since my early twenties. I …
Panel Discussion: The Brooks Brothers Patchwork Cardigan
I spied this in Brooks the other day — you can see why it was hard to miss. The new patchwork cardigan — includes 20 different panels and 15 colors — is made of lambswool and priced at $498. According to Brooks’ website (which also notes the designer spent 30 hours on it), the sweater …
Preppy Sleepwear And Defining “Naked” For A Tribe That Believes In Layers
This morning I woke up well rested but surprised at what I was wearing: a Brooks Brothers dress shirt and Churchill-dot boxer shorts. Seems I conked out in the middle of “Pompeii” for the third night in a row, which probably means it’s time to return the movie to Netflix. As for what trad types …
Neo-Prep Lives At The Harriman Cup
While I was away in Cape Cod last week, my new “nephew” Al Castiel III crashed at my place so he could attend the Harriman Cup polo tournament on Long Island. What he found was that neo-prep lives, with Harriman putting the H in GTH. Here’s his insufferable report. — CC * * * Early …
Premature Unpackulation
Men who are “mad for clothes,” as Charlie of The Andover Shop likes to say, are a funny lot. Wearied from summer and the monotony of donning as few and as thin of layers as possible, they’re simply dying to break out the fall layers. And so they invariably go online the day after Labor …
Vello d’Oro: Brooks Launches New Golden Fleece Collection
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported on a new Golden Fleece collection from Brooks Brothers meant to be modern and casual. I know what you’re thinking: isn’t that what Red Fleece is supposed to be? Apparently, Golden will be kind of like Red’s uncle. Writes Ray A. Smith of the Journal: The 198-year old clothier …
Cole Haan Launches Made In Maine Collection
We’re certainly living in a golden age of oxford-cloth buttondowns, with a dizzying array of choices. But there’s also something of a rennaissance when it comes to made-in-USA footwear, as Cole Haan has just unveiled a limited collection of shoes made in Maine. The downside to the renaissance is that there are only a couple …