Looking around at the closeout page at Brooks Brothers I found a couple of things.

I found this pair of silk pajamas on closeout (now gone, in fact I’m pretty sure I got the last pair…)

Being silk, they wear cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  Being pinstriped, they allow me to keep my reputation as the Most Serious Man in the World intact.

Ditto this robe (dressing gown, if one wishes to be proper,) also on closeout.  It’s wool, but the wool has a very soft hand, and it’s lined in the sleeves and around the torso.  It’s not the least bit itchy, and I’m finding it very comfortable to wear.  There are two problems with this ensemble.  One, upon further reflection, the colors are just a bit too subdued even for me.  Even as The Most Serious Man in the World, one is permitted to indulge his inner Noel Coward whilst at home.  I’d be so much happier with the robe if it had some kind of flamboyant paisley lapel or something. Preferably quilted.  And it would be better in silk, but wool is fine.

More importantly… none of this really fits the way I’d like for it to.  As usual, when I buy something off the rack, to get sleeves that come even close to being long enough I have to buy an extra large, the problem being that I am not extra large.  I am large with extra large arms, which means that I’m swimming in all of this.  And the sleeves STILL aren’t nearly long enough.  I know this, it always happens and I went ahead and did it anyway.

I know for a fact that my shirtmaker makes some very fine linen pajamas, and I’ve confirmed with Mr. Hemrajani that they would also be happy to make a dressing gown for me as well, but I’m waiting to get some photos of one before I commit to something like that.  If I’m going to have something made it’s going to have to be precisely what I want and nothing less.

Normal men with normal arms don’t have to be concerned with these issues and can buy with confidence, but I know that to be satisfied I’m eventually going to have to have things made.   And that’s annoying, but I’ve reminded myself why I so rarely buy off the rack.

Do it. You know you want to.

I ordered them on 7/4, and I received them today, 7/7.

From Australia.

As I said, I’ve never heard of anyone getting better service from one of the American Akubra retailers.  I can’t recommend either Hats Direct or Everything Australian highly enough for your Akubras.

More to the point, I have a rather large gap in my hat collection, namely a dark gray fedora.  I have a light gray that I had my friend Art Fawcett make up for me a couple of years ago, and a couple of brown ones, but nothing in a darker, more formal gray.

Akubra Capricorn in Grey

Akubra Stylemaster in Carbon Grey

I like my Akubra Stylemaster in fawn quite a lot, in a size 59 it fits perfectly and I think it’s just about the perfect size and shape for my head, so I’ve ordered a stablemate for it in Akubra’s “Carbon Grey” color.  Hopefully it’s not too dark, but we’ll find out in a couple of weeks when I get a box from Hats Direct in Katoomba, Australia.  Sounds like a long way to go for a hat, but Hats Direct is one of the outstanding internet retailers, I’ve had really good luck with them, as I also have with Everything Australian.  There are a few American retailers, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting an Akubra any faster from them than from the Australian sellers.  While I was at it and paying for the shipping from Down Under, I also picked up a grey Akubra Capricorn to go with my tan.  They’re inexpensive and bulletproof substitutes for a proper Panama.

Akubra is an inexpensive and outstanding everyday hat, highly recommended, as are either of the retailers I mentioned.

Seersucker

Sartorially, it is also the day the rules allow us to begin to break out our summer clothing, in particular the seersuckers, the white or dirty bucks and our warm weather hats.

I’m wearing a Haspel seersucker suit, a pink linen shirt from Hemrajani Brothers, a pink and blue Ben Silver linen tie, a linen pocket square from Kent Wang, and although you can’t see them, pink Marcoliani socks and a limited edition calf and suede Alden spectator shoe.  The hat is an Akubra Capricorn.

It’s a bit more of a Southern gentleman look than one normally sees in Indiana, but since men’s warm weather wear in Indiana typically consists of t-shirts, shorts and flip flops with a baseball cap, I’ll take the Southern gentleman look any day of the week.

I believe there are two issues at work.  One is that men, particularly younger men, are becoming more interested in classic style.  A recent New York Times piece says the same thing.

“The older generation, say 45-plus, look upon success as being able to dress down,” said Marshal Cohen, the chief analyst at NPD Group, which tracks retail sales. “They think being able to wear jeans is the epitome of achievement.

“But the younger generation is looking at getting dressed up and making their mark,” Mr. Cohen continued. “It’s a real generation gap here. I teach at three different colleges, and I am amazed how dressed up some of the students are. Girls still come in their hoodies and pajamas, but boys come in their suits.”

I’m a little annoyed with Cohen’s use of “45-plus” as the beginning of “the older generation,” but even a hard truth is still truth, and in this case I am gratified to see it.

The second issue is something that has always been true, that there are men who will pay for excellence, who will sacrifice for something better, something above the ordinary and average experience.  As the younger generations assert themselves more completely, I hope for great things.

With that, please enjoy Mr. Alden’s video and Happy Holidays to you.

Men’s style: A visit with John Hitchcock from Michael Alden on Vimeo.

My friends at Bookster have a few new bullets in their gun.  They’ve got several new fabrics on their site, but the ones I find the most interesting are some Porter & Harding Thornproof Donegals.  Donegal is a relatively soft tweed with multicolored slubs.  I just asked them to send me a few samples.  I probably have just about enough brown tweed, but the blue, green and stone look rather interesting.

I’ll let you know what I do with it, probably an odd jacket.  Or two.

You can see the spots that identify it as either carpincho or peccary very well in this photo.

Chester Jefferies does good work.  If you’re in the market for some gloves made just for you, I can give them a great recommendation.

It’s a very dark, nearly black, herringbone Harris tweed, single breasted, peak lapels, velvet collar, fly front (four buttons, owing to my height), with a very vivid red lining.  In addition to the normal inside breast pockets, I had them sew in a “poaching pocket,” it’s a large internal pocket where the cell phone/cigarette pocket is in a normal jacket, sized to accommodate a cashmere scarf.  I think it’s going to work.

Now for the Wooster suit…