The NYT reports.
I guess we don't need suits very much anymore. How much have we ever needed dress-up clothes or anything more than durable, well-fitting, weather-appropriate apparel? In the pandemic, so much has changed. I see the phrase "in a pared-back fashion" in the article — referring to the way the clothing retailers will operate in the future. But "pared-back fashion" can be used to describe what we the people are wearing in the time of the virus and, perhaps, long into the post-coronavirus culture of the future. Much has changed, and it will take some time to see which of the changes are temporary and what is the way of the future. Gaze forward: Do you see men in suits?
At least the Presidents will continue to wear suits, don't you think? Even the female Presidents, if we ever get to that phase of the future. Which 4 Presidents do you think did not wear Brooks Brothers clothes? I'm going to say Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, because they all left office before 1818, so they couldn't possibly have worn Brooks Brothers clothes.
President #5 was James Monroe. Was the modern men's suit coming into being yet in his day? Here's something he wore:
Strange how men wore ruffles quite routinely back then. I'm remembering a tweet I saw yesterday:
men what's stopping y'all from dressing like this pic.twitter.com/ZsXaQXqK0M
— roxy (@sherloffee) July 6, 2020
Posts
97 comments:
When I look forward I see more men in shorts than men in suits.
I see men in shorts.
I switched to Brooks Brothers after almost 40 years of being a 100% Nordstrom's guy. It was part a declining quality issue at Nordstrom, part their publicly removing Ivanka's line from their stores (early mob appeasement).
I found the clothes at Brooks to be higher quality and lower priced. And the salesguy at my local store was reminiscent of my first Nordstroms sales guy. I'd see him once or twice a year, he'd remember me, and we'd get my clothes picked out and done in 20 minutes.
I'll miss 'em. I may pickup a hundred polo shirts or something during close-out. Good cotton!
-XX
W and Obama were two administrations where we saw the loosening of America’s tie in that they both made many tie-less public appearances and began to make the American public comfortable seeing a president without a tie. I think with the Donald the presidency seems to be reverting back to the tie but it’s only because (no offense) the Donald would look like garbage dressed any other way. I think once the Donald is out we’ll see more presidents start to go back to being tie-less.
What's stopping men from dressing like [this]?
The Renn Feste doesn't run all year.
I guess we don't need suits very much anymore. How much have we ever needed dress-up clothes or anything more than durable, well-fitting, weather-appropriate apparel?
Back in the day, Brooks Bros. suits were durable, well fitting apparel. Businessmen who wore those suits expressed their understanding of quality, reasonable price and disdain for new fashion.
My business wardrobe was probably 75% Brooks Brothers. The shirts never wore out and the suits lasted forever with proper care. In the mid-90's, business casual dress took over and half of BB's business was lost. As business clothing got even more casual, their demise was inevitable.
I still have some 30+ year old Brook Bros. shirts but never wear them anymore.
The Brooks Brothers store in the Encantada Mall in Tucson, a very upscale mall, shrank the past five years and is now gone. Fortunately, my wardrobe will last the rest of my life, including the $400 loafers I bought 30 years ago and are still good.
And all the birds of the deep sea rise up
Over the luxury liners and scream,
“You killed him! You killed him.
In your God damned Brooks Brothers suit,
You son of a bitch.”
Kenneth Rexroth Thou Shalt Not Kill
Great biography came out last month on James Monroe.He was good at being President. Sometimes called the last of the founding fathers. As for Brooks Brothers, they always wanted extra money for their brand.But their clothes were same as everyone else's.
Bought a very nice herring-bone pattern 90/10 wool/silk suit there a long time ago. It is still my best formal attire. Bummer.
This pirate trend... is going to be the new look of the 90s. You're going to be the first pirate.
"But I don't want to be a pirate."
I have a bunch of suit jackets bought in 1959 in my closet.
I'm so old I remember when AA thought fashion was important. More important than other things.
I could go for the button-flap fly. Classier and more secure than the codpiece I use now.
Gaze forward: Do you see men in suits?
One can hope. Dressing well is not only more comfortable, but it's a sign of respect for yourself and those around you.
The ruffles were there to hide a derringer or pocket pistol.
"men what's stopping y'all from dressing like this"
'Cause I don't wanna be a pirate.
I have a strange interest in historical costumers on YouTube. Often they go into detail on how the cut and materials used made a huge difference in the clothes, and how such clothing was often as comfortable as modern wear
I never had much confidence in my fashion sense or innate good taste. I come from a rude background and suffered from status anxiety. I would occasionally but sparingly buy Brooks Brother clothes. They were expensive but gave me reassurance that I didn't look like an obvious impostor. I wonder what clothes line the insecure will now use to mask their anxiety. Ralph Lauren?
How much have we ever needed dress-up clothes or anything more than durable, well-fitting, weather-appropriate apparel?
Now do teenaged girls wearing miniskirts because they saw them in magazines their fathers left out for them to read
Suit and tie has been out of style in corporate America for quite some time. Almost never wear mine unless its a big meeting with the big bosses. today its "Business casual" with "dress down Friday" assuming you're in the office.
Total CV deaths yesterday 994. Total new cases? 55,000. 70% of all deaths related to those over 65. Total other USA deaths? About 7,000.
Saving a few lives for CV-19 is bankrupting the USA.
Ah the pirate shirt. So Seinfeld. There’s a Seinfeld episode for every situation. Gotta love those sailor pants too.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. The last time I wore a suit? I don't remember. I do have one in my closet.
"Total CV deaths yesterday 994. Total new cases? 55,000. 70% of all deaths related to those over 65. Total other USA deaths? About 7,000."
And some percentage of the other 7,000 deaths have to be a side-effect of the lockdown and fear of the Wuhan virus since so many people haven't been seeing their doctors.
There’s not much better than wearing an extremely well made suit.
men what's stopping y'all from dressing like this
My 1974 prom photo!!
men what's stopping y'all from dressing like this
What makes you think that I don't?
I forsee the day when we will wear formal Hawaiian shirts as de rigueur.
With formal pistols in our waistbands.
Working from home - I recall wearing socks only once since the beginning of May when the weather got warm enough for sandals.
These are Chapter 11 filings, hopefully they can reorganize in a way that doesn't just sell-off the "brand" name.
They won’t go away. They will shut most of the too many money losing mall stores and restructure debt. Their quality has gone down but is still better than most competitors. Once noted for traditional style, Ivy League if you will, they sold off to the Brits at one point and lost their vibe. The Brits in turn sold to an Italian.
You certainly can get mule skinner shirts if you want to. The cotton material is pretty heavy, and you may want to substitute a black shoe lace for the leather cord, but nothing's stopping you.
"as the brand buckled under the pressure from the coronavirus pandemic following years of declining sales..."
"as the brand buckled under the pressure from the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic following years of declining sales..."
Let's be clear here where the pressure originated, shall we?
COVID hasn't changed what I wear at all.
I don't do suits anymore though. I used to wear them for weddings & funerals, but I don't even do that anymore. I do wear a tie for funerals.
I ordered a suit in navy glen check fresco in May, because the only summer-appropriate suits I had here in Tokyo were a grey windowpane and a plain olive (both in fresco) and the olive isn't really appropriate for client meetings. (I do like and wear it, though).
In the US, I usually wear (wore?) a sportcoat and wool trousers to the office which is basically just a suit anyhow, so the past few years I've worn suits to the office pretty regularly. In Tokyo I wear suits most days, although I am still mostly avoiding client meetings.
I have one Brooks Brothers suit -- an old cotton suit that used to be my father's. I've worn it once or twice, but it's fully lined, so it doesn't work in the summer. I've only worn it a couple of times. Never really thought about getting a current BB suit. They seem to have gone for the slim fit skinny lapel trend, and I think that would look ridiculous on me.
I'll miss paying $97 for a tie.
Re: Mr. Wibble:
If historical costumers claim historical clothing was as comfortable as modern clothing I have to think they are lying. I mean linen?
Okay -- I love linen too. But other than linen, people used to use incredibly heavy-weight cloth. Their suits were made of cloth like what we would use for overcoats today!
Keith Richards looked good in ruffles but not many men have the confidence or drugs necessary to pull that look off.
men what's stopping y'all from dressing like this
Maybe someone should tell her that we would if she'd agree to dress like this and do it every day during the summer.
Will BB accept if Trump bestows them a ROYAL CHARTER to outfit him?
“Post-Corona Virus culture”? Really. This has Fauci’s filthy fingers all over it. BB is dead because we hastily shut down an economy that many depended on. Companies that were leveraged too much will continue to fail. Debt service was the biggest casualty of WuFlu. Fauci’s continued maniacal ravings (“declining death rate is ‘false narrative’ the pipsqueak says, when in March he said it was ‘the only important’ numerical datum that we need” to track the virus) only further convince me he’s too wacky to have on TV, scaring people about a virus that has virtually died out. It’s over. Even later-better-than-never CDC is downgrading it from pandemic to epidemic to gone. “Excess deaths” per week (remember that term?) are now below the threshold for epidemic status.
A shame; some Brooks Brothers sweaters are the most durable I own, getting regular winter wear for more than a dozen years. Never bought a suit there but had plenty of polos and long sleeve shirts.
uwaya said...
I forsee the day when we will wear formal Hawaiian shirts as de rigueur.
With formal pistols in our waistbands.
What I wear now. Reyn Spooner is the Brooks Brothers of Hawaiian shirts. My son has 50 of them. I only have 20. My Browning 1911 .380 is informal.
Really, they went slim fit?
Last time I tried one on, about more than a decade ago, it was basically a mu-mu for men.
I walked down the street to the Italian tailor and never went back.
In the Bay Area, suits are extremely rare. I own them for NYC and Boston client meetings.
The glory of the Bay Area is that the weather is always appropriate for a sport coat and slacks. And sport coats are useful places for pens, phones, wallets.
Re: the last two outfits, they require a tricorne hat, an eyepatch, a cutlass and a parrot one shoulder to complete the ensemble. Arrrrr, matey!
The analogy of these retailers is eerily similar to the Covit crisis. Businesses and people already seriously ill and on life support are just being brought closer to death because of the Covit pandemic. Realistically, both would've died anyway! Brooks Brothers hasn't been a decent brand for decades - you can only mine your brand for so long. Eventually, the brand bank runs out of money.
I’m mostly wearing Reyn Spooner these days, but my job doesn’t me to deal with customers and I can wear what I want.
A fascinating YouTuber is "prior attire", she makes costume clothing for various eras but is careful to construct the garments as authentically as possible. Her products are meant to be genuine accurate replicas of the period garments, rather than just look similar. It turns out that some of that old fashioned clothing is much more practical and comfortable than it looks. This makes sense, as even the aristocratic classes were fairly physically active back in those days. Also, watching her videos, it becomes apparent that the invention of devices like snaps, zippers, and elastics has contributed a great deal to the generally simpler appearance of modern clothing. It also provides some more understanding of why clothing was orders of magnitude more expensive in past eras, compared to modern products.
They seem to have gone for the slim fit skinny lapel trend, and I think that would look ridiculous on me.
It looks ridiculous on everybody.
As with tattoos and piercings, I'll be glad when it's out of style.
I forsee the day when we will wear formal Hawaiian shirts as de rigueur.
I remember the day I turned up in Hawaii for a week of business meetings dressed in a suit and tie. The bankers all wore beautiful Hawaiian shirts and gave me good-natured grief for my choice of dress. One told me, "The only people who wear a suit and tie in Hawaii are lawyers and those who need them." At lunch they took me to the best men's store in town to upgrade my wardrobe, and I've loved Hawaiian shirts ever since.
Three things human civilization will be poorer for if Brooks Brothers goes away:
The precise color of Brooks Brothers' pink dress shirts.
The precise parabolic curve of Brooks Brothers' button-down collars.
The fuck-you boldness of Brooks Brothers' wide-stripe dress shirts.
"men what's stopping y'all from dressing like this"
Fear of being called Shirley.
But I don't want to be a pirate.
Also...
Pants on the Ground
Classic.
I wonder if suit separates (i.e., buying a suit coat separate from the pants) are seeing an uptick in sales. As meetings (and even court appearances) have moved online, aren't we all dressing more like the stereotypical news anchor (business above the waist, casual below where no one can see)?
Others have pointed this out: I suspect even post-pandemic, more meetings will be virtual, as people realize the technology makes that more convenient than in-person meetings. Some organizations have reported better attendance with online meetings.
Serious question for the room, on the subject of men's fashion:
What store do you recommend for those who could use help with basic fashion sense, including formal, business casual, and perhaps even regular casual? I never learned any of that growing up, and my style sense, color coordination, and general understanding of what "works" is non-existent. (I'm also single, in case you're wondering.) Is there any store that can do the equivalent of "Queer Eye" for a hopeless case?
men what's stopping y'all from dressing like this
Machine tools and changing tires.
Brooks Brothers is too stuffed shirt. I was a fan of Filene's in Boston and Meier & Frank in Portland, back in the Federated Department Stores days. Now it's Macy's if necessary or JoS. A. Bank.
More of those poorly managed companies Ken B the as always on about.
Cvnt that he is.
Back in my college days I had a wonderful Brooks Brothers tweed jacket I bought at a second-hand store. I loved that jacket. Then I dropped a roach on it and burned a hole in the sleeve. Sic transit gloria mundi,
At least the Presidents will continue to wear suits, don't you think? Even the female Presidents,
Yes, presidents and men will continue to wear suits for formal wear. A well fitted suited can make almost anyone look good.
I saw Susan Rice on Meet the Press which was part of her audition for VP. She was wearing a sleeveless, bright yellow dress with loud jewelry. Made a bade impression wearing frivolous attire when attempting to talk about serious issues.. She and other female contenders for POTUS (which is what Biden's VP will likely be) would be best served wearing some sort pants suit.
Down to 3 suits including a BB suit from 2008. Have not worn a dress shirt since covid hit. Thought about participating in the BB 70 per cent off sale the other week but decided did not really need anything. Wear BB tennis and golf shirts regularly.
Hubs has some clothes from BB but recently has started using a bespoke tailor company, Tom James. I don’t know how the prices compare but the quality and fit are very good.
Does Brooks Brothers still supply premium uniforms to the armed forces officers? They used to have the best uniforms, though much higher priced that the officer's stores.
Earnest Prole said...Three things human civilization will be poorer for if Brooks Brothers goes away:
The precise color of Brooks Brothers' pink dress shirts.
The precise parabolic curve of Brooks Brothers' button-down collars.
The fuck-you boldness of Brooks Brothers' wide-stripe dress shirts.
We have a thread winner!
I could not agree more with the first two points. I am so-so on wide stripes.
Earnest Prole
Bankers in Honolulu wore suits and ties every day but Friday when they donned Ryn Spooner shirts. This was up to the mid 80s. This is where casual Friday’s was born. Now everyone looks like the billionaire Zuckerberg.
If historical costumers claim historical clothing was as comfortable as modern clothing I have to think they are lying. I mean linen?
Okay -- I love linen too. But other than linen, people used to use incredibly heavy-weight cloth. Their suits were made of cloth like what we would use for overcoats today!
Nope, they used a variety of weights, including some that aren't around anymore. People weren't stupid, they knew how to adapt to changes in weather and to tailor clothes fit comfortably.
I used to wear a suit and tie every day. Still have at least two dozen of them in the closet downstairs. And I can honestly say I've never purchased a single Brooks Brother item in my life.
The thing that I would buy at BB was their ties. Good silk ties in traditional patterns. Regimental stripes, foulard, paisley, even polka dot and animal prints (got to have some elephant ties for election time), etc. Used to stop at the BB outlet by Castle Rock (CO) at least once a year. I own almost 200 ties (two motorized racks of 72 each, plus smaller racks for oddball ties), and very few can be considered fashionable. Instead, the types of ties that I bought from BB were essentially timeless. Much better in my mind than being caught wearing an obviously 5 year out of date tie.
Never did get around to buying a BB suit. I got spoiled by Nordstrom’s Last Chance in PHX, in particular, where, if you knew what you were doing, could pick up their nicer suits for under $100 (and maybe another $100 for tailoring). I also picked up a couple tuxes, along with formal vests and bow ties. All dirt cheap. Did pick up some navy sports coats, along with maybe a dozen shirts, and at least one pair of shoes From BB. I took after my father, who only wore suits to go to court downtown (Denver). The rest of the time he (and I) wore a sports coat and wool slacks. Despite that, I ended up with almost 20 good dress suits, mostly very conservative. Now, I wear them for a funeral, every couple of years.
I agree with Michael K. re: Reyn Spooner. They are well-made aloha shirts and come in a variety of fabrics, designs and styles. The "Santa's Christmas on the Big Island" shirt from 2019 is one of my favorite shirts ever, and it was perfect for me since I took my first trip to Hawaii (the Big Island) last October. I can hardly wait for the day after Thanksgiving until it can go back into rotation in my wardrobe for a month!
After decades of getting my dress shirts from Kohl's, Macy's, etc., I bought myself four BB white no-iron dress shirts last Christmas. Best dress shirts I've ever owned.
I’m sorry to see the decline of the perfectly useful contraction “y’all.” It used to indicate that the speaker was from the South and speaking I formally. Now it indicates that the tweeter is on the left and expressing scorn and contempt. Moment of silence for a great expression.
It didn't help that some big Tech Wienies chose to appear publicly in t-shirts.
From the time I bought my first interview suit in my senior year of high school, I've had at least one Brooks Brothers suit or jacket in my closet, usually several. I found their classic, basic blue blazer to be very versatile. I'd usually own a couple of them at a time, rotating the stock so there always would be a fairly new one for fancier occasions and one that was a few years old for more casual wear.
Around a decade ago, the quality declined dramatically (but not the price), with much thinner fabric and mediocre construction. It was very noticeable when hanging next to an earlier year's version. I haven't bought anything from them since, aside from a few shirts when someone gave me a gift card. Sorry to see them go, but the simple truth is that for quite a few years now, they've been surviving on their name, not their product.
HoodlumDoodlum: "A shame; some Brooks Brothers sweaters are the most durable I own, getting regular winter wear for more than a dozen years. Never bought a suit there but had plenty of polos and long sleeve shirts."
Brooks Brothers dress slacks are simply the best for travel. They work in any season. They never wear out and I could always pack 3 at a time for business travel in a small carry on and they come out unwrinkled.
I worked in tech my whole career. The last twenty years of that, 'business attire' meant wearing socks and a shirt with buttons. Nobody in Silicon Valley cares what you wear as long as you can code/design apps.
But I did buy BB for the occasional suit (weddings/funerals/graduation) and they are great. The shirts and ties too. Very well made and if you don't get fat they will never go out of style and will last for decades.
First, for people my age, now 60ish, BB used to be for old dudes who liked to pay too much for their unstylish quality suits. They would also drive diesel Mercedes sedans.
Buying expensive suits off a rack is old school. You can now order a made-to-measure suit for equal or less. You can use technology to get custom fitted, instead of some old tailor measuring your inseam.
Second,
Blogger Andrew said...
Serious question for the room, on the subject of men's fashion:
What store do you recommend for those who could use help with basic fashion sense, including formal, business casual, and perhaps even regular casual? I never learned any of that growing up, and my style sense, color coordination, and general understanding of what "works" is non-existent. (I'm also single, in case you're wondering.) Is there any store that can do the equivalent of "Queer Eye" for a hopeless case?
We were required to read "Dress for Success" in school, where I learned short men don't use umbrellas, for example.
Now, your next best training ground is Youtube. If you are not near a high end men's store or even a Nordstrom's, find a men's store in your nearest metropolitan city. Then search them on Youtube. They will have all the tips and tricks, e.g. how to pack a suit in a suit case. They will also have style tips. Browse the brands the top men's stores carry and then go to those brand web sites and observe their style books. Find a style that works for you. Paunchy dad-bods should not choose Canali, one of my preferred brands.
I no longer have a closet, it has become a clothing archive, or maybe a museum of men's fashion.
When I worked I always wore suits, always had at least 10 so I could go 2 weeks without repeating. Since I retired I'm down to a few sport coats and a few suits, which just take up space on the rack. I can't part with my ties either. It's stupid to hang onto them, but I have the rack space so there they are.
After I retired I became an adjunct prof at the local university. At first I wore shirts and ties, but slowly evolved to nothing but Robert Graham shirts. (OK, also pants)
Since I stopped doing that I'm down to T-shirts and jeans.
Bruce Hayden said...
The thing that I would buy at BB was their ties.
I'm trying to remember the California company that made nothing but neckties. It was in the Monterey/Carmel area. I wore bow ties for many years and had a collection. Haven't worn one since I quit teaching. My students have me a few.
Andrew, if you can afford BB and there's a store near you, try them out. Although if you walk in there and immediately think "if I looked this preppy I'd pass out" then it's probably not a good choice. That being said, I have a 17 year old who wouldn't be caught dead in plaid shorts or any remotely preppy casual stuff (he thinks Vineyard Vines is an abomination), but he'd love to be given permission to go wild in the BB suit/sport coat departments.
Re Mr. Wibble:
Sorry to keep contradicting you but I still just don't believe it.
Fresco wasn't invented until the early 20th century, and Palm Beach cloth wasn't invented until the 30's. Even when they were first introduced, they were significantly heavier than they tend to be today, but they seem to have become popular quite quickly -- probably, I would speculate, because they were so much better for summer than what had come before. There has been real, substantial improvement in the technology for manufacturing natural textiles over the past 100 years.
I enjoy looking at the historical clothing displays in museums, and the clothing all looks like heavy stuff, generally tightly woven. Again, linen I put in a different category, but I simply cannot imagine comfortably wearing, e.g., a 14 oz wool worsted suit in London or New York even in the winter (let alone a twill!) other than maybe in the middle of a blizzard. The heaviest suits I wear in winter are only about 12oz, and even those are unlined, with high twist weaves using a mechanical process that didn't exist in the 19th century. And I walk everywhere -- I don't own a car -- so I'm not just jumping from heated car to heated office.
Honestly, I think acclimation has a lot to do with it. Here in Tokyo, the threshold for when people feel chilly enough to start putting on light coats and sweaters is very different from the US. I feel hot all the way down to about 75F, but there are people here who complain about being chilly all the way up to 80F. Heavy use of air conditioning has rendered me less tolerant of heat and humidity. And even so, my own tolerance for full undershirt + dress shirt + suit in humid 95F weather is somewhat higher than a lot of my Western colleagues because I dress that way most of the summer (although with coolbiz we usually can skip the tie, which makes a difference). On the flip side, I'm comfortable without an overcoat in temperatures where Japanese colleagues are bundled head to toe in full hooded winter jackets and scarves. And other Americans are comfortable going around in shorts in weather where I'd be the one in heavy coats and scarves.
Lastly, it's also quite easy for me to imagine historical clothing being quite uncomfortable, since that was frequently the reaction of people from non-Western cultures when they started wearing Western dress in the 19th century. And, well, on the female side corsets obviously seem pretty uncomfortable, but they were pretty normal for the upper classes for hundreds of years. For people who were acclimated to it, I'm sure it was fine. If I were sent back and had to dress like a Victorian in the summer, though, I'd probably die of heatstroke.
I spent many years wearing green scrub suits during the day. Brooks Brothers was for weekends and when I was teaching. Scrubs got so popular as casual wear that some hospitals locked them up in dispensing machines.
I have a Harrods sweater that I have had for forty years. Men's fashions change very slowly. My last sport coat I bought in Broadway in the Cotswalds about 20 years ago. Scottish wool coat and warm in zero conditions. Reyn Spooner in AZ now.
I retired over twenty years ago. I've not had much occasion to wear a suit since then. As I remember the lapels sometimes got wider or narrower but there wasn't much change otherwise. Ties too got skinnier or wider, but there wasn't much change. The good thing about men's clothes is that you could wear them out. I had a good Brooks suit, but the seat of the pants become shiny from too much wear... I couldn't even approximate what passes for stylish or even respectable attire nowadays. Should the collar cover your gang tattoos?....The plus side of coronavirus is that you can skip the weddings and funerals. I've already dodged one wedding. I just hope those older people near to me have the good sense to croak before the vaccine becomes widely available.......T-shirt and shorts in summer are fine, but I prefer a sweatshirt and jeans in winter. A sweatshirt can easily disguise ten extra pounds and makes a convenient, absorbent napkin whilst eating bbq.
@Andrew "What store do you recommend for those who could use help with basic fashion sense, including formal, business casual, and perhaps even regular casual? I never learned any of that growing up, and my style sense, color coordination, and general understanding of what "works" is non-existent. (I'm also single, in case you're wondering.) Is there any store that can do the equivalent of "Queer Eye" for a hopeless case?"
My son, who has a great fashion sense and looks good in anything, had a 'rule' for this. His advice was to go into any Nordstrom's, stroll into the men's department, and look for the gayest salesman there. It's always worked for me.
@lgv and Vonnegan, thank you!
@lgv and Vonnegan, thank you!
Women who make fun of men for the way they dress (because, they think, duh, women are better!) are the female equivalent of creepy guys who are misogynists.
Just saying.
Young women who are afflicted with too much pride in their female DNA almost never understand how lousy it is to feel superior to men. Young men who don't like women because they are misogynists at heart, with too much pride in their male DNA, generally know they are despised by society, but young women who don't like men because they are cold-hearted and proud are encouraged in their beliefs in todays society. They don't know that they are being lousy human beings, no matter how much they might admire their own gender. Because, usually, nobody tells them.
Sort it out yourself. If you want my opinion, we all need to respect each other, and to follow the 10 commandments. There is nothing worse than being arrogant because you feel contempt for people who are not like you, Trust me, that type of arrogance is its own punishment.
Nobody (well, almost nobody) has ever asked me, in real life, why I don't dress better. That is because people respect me, or they stay away from me. You too should demand, if not respect, at least kindness. You are human and you deserve nothing less than kindness, as long as you are decent to others, no matter if you are a male who does not dress the way a woman wants you to, or vice versa.
“Blogger Tyrone Slothrop said...
Back in my college days I had a wonderful Brooks Brothers tweed jacket I bought at a second-hand store. I loved that jacket. Then I dropped a roach on it and burned a hole in the sleeve. Sic transit gloria mundi.”
Pure poetry. Like a Young Fresh Fellows song.
When I lived in Savannah, GA. back in the mid
1980's , I had a friend in Charleston, SC who used to refer to his "Charleston Tuxedo". That outfit consisted of a BB blue blazer, white button-down shirt, dress chino trousers, and a rep tie. All from BB. I still own several BB suits from the same period and I have no doubt that as long as I take care of them I can wear them the remainder of my life.
I just hope those older people near to me have the good sense to croak before the vaccine becomes widely available
You could avoid all those funerals by going first.
According to a BB employee on Twitter: “ Founded in 1818, BB has outfitted 40/45 U.S. presidents.The only 5 excluded are the first 3 (as the brand did not exist yet),Carter (because he’s a lib) and Reagan (because he had his own Hollywood tailors).” FWIW. Twitter BB thread
"Founded in 1818, BB has outfitted 40/45 U.S. presidents.The only 5 excluded are the first 3 (as the brand did not exist yet),Carter (because he’s a lib) and Reagan (because he had his own Hollywood tailors)"
twitter link
I'm trying to remember the California company that made nothing but neckties. It was in the Monterey/Carmel area.
Robert Talbott, RIP. My collection of classic paisleys should last me for the rest of my life, but I'm sad for the next generation.
Bankers in Honolulu wore suits and ties every day but Friday when they donned Ryn Spooner shirts. This was up to the mid 80s.
I guess that means I'm a whippersnapper.
@Michael K
Robert Talbott?
Brooks Brothers invented the 3 2 roll sack suit with soft natural shoulders the basis of Ivy League clothing. The traditional Ivy shops copied this look, places like J. Press at Yale, Andover Shop at Princeton and post WWII in Ivy Shops in almost every large city and college town, Ivy went main stream till around 1968. Ivy was revived in the mid 1970s by Ralph Lauren.
Brooks with the exception of made to measure suits only makes dress shirts, some sports coats and ties in the USA now. Most suits are made in Italy. Some American made sports coats and suits are Southwick and have been for sometime, Brooks bought them a couple of years ago. Brooks shoes are mostly Alden with a Brooks logo on the insole.
Many old customers of Brooks have complained since the mid 1990s Brooks had lost it's way.
I'm Althouse's age, I've never dress any other way since I was 10, but I've bought very few items from Brooks. There are better shops.
FYI, Lincoln was wearing a Brooks Brothers suit when shot at the Ford Theater.
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