These three men have been ideal participants simply by possessing a Y chromosome which means they will wear practically anything that I bring home as long as they don’t have to go to the mall to shop for it. Being of the conservative persuasion has also made this easier. Growing up my boys would never wear anything with a ‘poser’ label. No Tony Hawk. No skull and cross bones sprouting wings making them look like a biker gang had infiltrated the lunch line. At times it was challenging, this dark and gloomy junk is everywhere. At times they might not have been dressed uber cool and trendy but they always seemed to know who they were and there was comfort in that.
After years of tutelage in classic styling where I believe good taste resides my glorious plan of preppy world domination through one pair of madras shorts at a time has unfolded. Son1 has been wearing a polo shirt to class every day of his college years and son2 even donned a polo shirt and his madras shorts to make his first impression on his campus a few weeks ago. His favorite shorts are those from Murray’s on Nantucket.
The boys are lookin’ good.
All this brings me to tell you about a blog that I look forward to reading every week. It is called The Trad. John is an eloquent writer and male fashionisto (is that a word? I have tried to make it masculine) of the traditional style of menswear. You will never find the word ‘preppy’ in his text but you will know the look. Tin Tin, as his moniker read before he came out of the J. Press closet with his identity, faithfully writes an article every Friday called The Friday Belt. He pairs two of his favorite belts, one from his vast collection and the other, 150 proof, another vast collection I am starting to gather. However, it is very clever tie in. I had no idea so many belts existed – of both varieties. The Trad can be a knowledgeable source of men’s traditional clothing history and always just plain entertaining. The photography is exceptional. Like the liquid belt he romances with such polish his posts can have a bite at first but ultimately go down smoothly and leave you with a warm glow and satisfying after taste.
It was last week’s post that gave me the inspiration to needlepoint a belt for each son. John called them folk art and I agree. Since this post is already long I will save that and the resources I found for later this week.
In the meantime my morning belt awaits ~ that of 8 oz. of pure mountain spring water and a heaping tablespoon of psyillum husks. One woman’s poison…
my boyf’s family owns Murray’s — isn’t it the best! xoxo KAG
Ahhh. The true signs of successful parenting. They dress the way we want. hehe – {tongue in cheek a little ;-)}
When AS got his first internship with Arthur Andersen – remember them? ;-), he said “Mom, I am dressing every single day exactly how you have always wanted me to.” hehe – In college he usually wore t-shirts to class. Of course – very cool tees. Never that horrible dark, depressing look. UT is very casual for class, but he has always made me PROUD no matter what. I mean his first suit came from Brooks Brothers. Bring them up right and they never waiver- hehe. Love this post. I’ll be checking this out for sure.
Sorry this is so long. xoxo
Oooh! I’m hopping over to his blog now! 😉 I love that classic style, and it’ll be fun to read his perspective!
My Hubby is in your neck of the woods on business often. He was there recently & went to an Angels game. I was asking him all about it & he was wondering how I knew all about it. I had to credit your blog. Now I want to go to a game! Hopefully someday!
I also love the classic look, and on my long list of things to do is needlepoint a belt. I hope it will be sooner than later!
Have a great week!
XOXO
Many thanks to you for sending such charming and sophisticated ladies over to The Trad. I am further in debt to you for your kind words here. Am behind on answering comments due to a baby sitting gig but did want to let you know I appreciate your thoughts. John
KAG ~ I love Murray’s. For my son’s latest shorts I sent a photo of his old ones and got a phone call from someone there to talk about them and we ended up just shooting the breeze. Their customer service is the best! 🙂
P101 ~ Oh yes the first suit. And you definitely understand all the rest. What a wonderful mom you are! 🙂
TheLuckiestMrs ~ I think you’ll like The Trad. I have gone back and read every single one of the posts. 🙂
Posh ~ Was Angel Stadium everything I said it was? I’m so glad hubby had a great time. But when you come out you must give me a ringy-dingy. 🙂
Ronda ~ I’d make one for Mr. PM but I wanted to start smaller! 😉
TinTin ~ A gentleman and a scholar. Wow! 🙂