the man in the white suit

With less than 3 weeks remaining until Derby Day (May 4) gentlemen tired of traditional seersucker yet seeking to leave their sartorial mark on the festivities could do worse than visit J Peterman.

Each spring and summer Peterman's catalog includes an entry  "The man in the linen suit".  Generally, I prefer my clothing without a backstory, but J's write ups are clever and more importantly the story makes you spend more time reading the catalog than you would otherwise.  The man in the linen suit has been a Peterman catalog staple for years however for this year they've changed the color, this season it's Ivory. 

Ivory linen is the perfect for Derby Day accompanied by mint juleps, pretty girls and fast horses, or...

Toad

Progress report

It was lightly snowing yesterday, so while stuck at home I decided to shop at home in my Spring/Summer clothes closet for the coming seasons duds. Inexplicably, a few weeks before the start of each season I usually decide that "X" will be "IT" for this season.  Sometimes its a fabric, sometimes a color.  Whatever my choice, it is always out of step with what "they" choose, and once selected I hardly ever change my mind.

Several years ago for instance I chose 2 DB jackets from J. Peterman's sale bin.  One was screaming yellow, one fire engine red.  My selections are proof positive that the most expensive purchase you ever make is clothing you never wear.  I don't particularly care for red clothing and only care for screaming yellow if it's Gallo fly yellow painted on vintage Italian autos.

The jackets sat in the closet, even after Mr. Clorox and I extensively customized them.  Look up colorfast in the dictionary and a photo of these 2 jackets appear.

  Before

Two years later, they fit much better, but still too outrageous to wear so I gave Mr. Clorox one more attempt, fully expecting to gift them to Goodwill.  This time I let the coats soak in bleach  for 2 days.

 After

I love how the yellow turned out.  It's now a perfectly wearable Spring sport coat that doesn't draw undue attention to itself.

 Before

The red is a work in process, and still damp from the dryer in the after photo.

After

I blame the bleach for dissolving the thread on all the buttons. Every button on both jackets has now been resewn.

Toad

Look at his eyes

I change my computer background photo almost every day, but for the past three weeks this has been in place.  I'm mesmerized by a photo of 3 men taken early in WWII.  The airman on the left is cipher, on the right a Canadian flight sergeant,  it's the squadron leader in his Mae West life preserver, dead center which holds my gaze.  Look at his eyes.

Perhaps all of 25, became squadron leader through attrition and because he attended college, at least for a while, he also fit within the tight confines of a British warplane. Likely as not none of these men survived the war. Look at his eyes and you begin to wonder if dying may have become welcome.  These brave men saved the Empire in spite of their former king.

For a great story of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flights latest Spitfire resurrection follow the link to  Eclectic Ephemera

J Peterman has dropped the hammer on squadron leaders scarf.  It's $50 this weekend, it was $119. Believing they would never drop the price to a level I was willing to pay I purchased an alternative yesterday. Having acted in haste I am now repenting at leisure.

Toad

More spring things

There is a wonderful book of men's clothing, Anderson and Sheppard-A Style is Born edited by Graydon Carter and Cullen Murphy which highlights the 100 year history of the venerable Savile Row tailors, Anderson and Sheppard and their illustrious clients. It has become one of my style favorites.

I stole several ideas, (not including the horizontal striped suit) from them during my recent trip to the alchemist including the Ghurka pants worn by Mr. Fiennes in the photo above. I hate wearing braces in the summer and Ghurka pants seemed just the thing for a lightweight casual suit. This Spring I've noticed that Gurkha's are back!

They never really went completely away, What Price Glory have long carried Ghurka shorts and pants in stock. I've tried the shorts, and liked them, but you must follow their instructions and buy them a size larger than normal.

J. Peterman is showing Ghurka pants and shorts in its Spring catalog (#94)

The best value may be on EBAY. J L Powell is offering their linen, flat front or pleated Ghurka shorts for $69 (US) Buy it Now.

With Daylight Saving Time coming this weekend I'm trying to get a jump on Spring.

Toad

Must be something in the air

J Peterman's holiday catalog (owners manual 91)arrived by post this morning. One of their best catalogs in along time, it included the double breasted tweed jacket below.



Again, a nice tweed, but doesn't change anything.

Toad

It sounded like a good idea at the time

Not long after Christmas, taking advantage of a J Peterman sale, I acquired 2 double breasted cotton twill jackets. One screaming yellow, the other Georgia Bulldog red. At the time they didn't fit well, but they didn't have to in January, besides my investment was minimal.

So now it is June, they do fit, but what was I to do with screaming yellow? It's a tad loud, and not in a good way. There is nothing subtle about this coat.

Double breasted jackets come with rules. Since they are more formal than singles, the shirt is expected to be more formal, hence no button downs, and look better with a tie. DB's must also be kept buttoned. An unbuttoned DB looks sloppy. When in doubt about how to wear DB take a gander at almost any photo of Prince Charles, he usually does it right, except when... I blame the wife.

So I have this formal jacket in an particularly unformal shade, in which I fully intend to break most of the rules while wearing. It's a summer jacket after all! For starters I had to turn the flavor down a few notches. Two days soaking in the pool worked like magic, and provided another opportunity for Mrs. T to counsel about how I took a perfectly good coat and now it looks 10 years old. That's how I knew the color was perfect.

Now the coat needs a bath to get the chlorine out, a good pressing, someone to stand straight while wearing it, and it's ready to go.

I've tried the same pool treatment on the red, it just won't fade. Currently it's hanging outside in the sun. I've no call for a Bulldog red coat, but I can visualize the faded hunting coat red it could be.

I've got time.

Toad

what do you think?

The answers are often obvious once you get the questions right.

I do not know where the photo above is from, I snatched it from Manifest Destiny, who snatched it from...?. It feeds my linen jacket addiction and also inspired what I believe may be a great idea. I'll test it out on you first.

Over the past few summers I've had several linen sport coats made. At the time, I was larger, now very little of my summer wardrobe accommodates the new me. I'm not dismayed by that, nor since I still have a way to go, am I looking forward to shelling out for new duds. These are troubled times.

So it's back to the closet, and on to the tailor, making do with something old, something new. But what to do with the linen jacket collection?

Suppose they became double breasted jackets?

Admittedly, with the jaunty red and yellow numbers from Peterman, my signature summer look would be DB, but I could live with that. Beats letting old friends rot in the wardrobe.

Any thoughts?

Toad

Credit to The Epic

It's minus 12C as I write this but I'm thinking Spring.


Remember the orange jacket fiasco?

During the dog days, based upon the Sartorialist's photo of this dapper gent in his linen jacket, I had an attack of "I need a orange jacket too itis". I was saved only by the photo below of George Schultz looking like the Great Pumpkin. Not having attended Princeton, Auburn, New Jersey State or any other Orange suited university, my need for orange quickly evaporated.



Into a crowded bar steps M. Lane of The Epic with his 2 cents worth. "What about J. Peterman's Amalfi sport blazer?, he says. Comes in yellow and blue too!"



At the time it was getting late in the season and frankly, they wouldn't fit. Now perhaps, 'cept they may be a bit loud for January.

Nearing the end of my capacity to shop my closets, and at less than $50 each, I purchased 2, expecting 1 or both would likely be returned.



I found them surprisingly well made & needing minimal alteration, so I'm keeping both. Even the fire truck red. Many thanks to The Epic. I second his recommendation.



Since I don't know what to wear with screaming yellow, I envision mellowing them a bit. Maybe if they spent the winter outside...

Let the spring catalog shopping commence.

Toad