You don't even have to wear a bow-tie; just be over fussy about it; something I try to avoid these days.
Or, Jimmy, do I mean 'Trad'?
All I'm saying is, do it more like Ken Lovegrove. It works.
It certainly can be an affectation on both sides of the Atlantic...
And I'd offer that AAAT is far more contrived than anything else worldwide when it comes to this style of ours... Because what is it really based on? I know. Dear Reader, do you?
Japan can look after themselves. They're doing great. And I'm very happy with London & Europe having the counter-intuitively clear vision that we have.
'Zealots' says Chensvold. 'Here, Here', say I. Bring me people who actually CARE about all of this. The rest don't count.
Thought that would have you champing at the bit... To be honest, I think the Japanese are sometimes very 'so', and not just Ivy-wise, dear. They do get terribly enthusiastic and sometimes over egg the pudding. Do they do Paine-Brooks-Levis-Sebago style, too?
It's a fair point... But who has the most SPUNK when it comes to Ivy Style?
Judge by the jets.
Trad is... Well Soft. Just like 'Preppy', it takes the Men's out of Menswear.
I'd love to ******* glass one of 'em!
(Of course I wouldn't)
But I see no point in putting all this work into promoting Ivy online & not letting people know that they still have more work to do.
If you're happy with AAAT & you think Chensvold's blog 'the best' on the subject then maybe it's time to MOVE ON. You'll soon know better if you actually put some WORK into all of this & not just allow yourself to be spoon-fed pablum (sp?).
I shit blood but I still get up at 5am and fucking work. Fact!
... You don't have to do the same, but I'd be oh so very happy if all the sartorial thumb-sucking I see online (but never here) came to an end and more people began to question, enquire, challenge...
Your call.
It depends what you mean by affectation - in a sense, any style of dress is affected - you don't chose clothes by accident (well, some people do, but they tend to either look like shit or are rough sleepers).
I think it's whether the effect looks affected - like you've been dressed by someone else and you're just "carrying the clothes 'round" rather than wearing them - if that makes sense.
Also, I don't believe this has anything to do with being smart or casual - I've seen loads of people trying to dress down and looking distinctly affected and uncomfortable in their clothes. You gotta wear it like you mean it, and look relaxed and "at one" with what you've got on. I for one, often look smart, with a tie and a pocket square - but it feels great to me - natural, like a second skin. My demenour is naturally smart, it's the way I am, so I dress accordingly.
By the same token some of the scruffiest people you see are people trying to look smart..... again they're uncomfortable with what they're in and it comes accross as an affectation, cos they don't know what they're doing.
The trouble is, now everyone in straight world is so dressed down and scruffy most of the time - if you put a tie on except for a wedding, funeral or to work in some shitty office, you're accused of affectation. Well fuck them, I say. In fact, fuck it - I'm playing a gig tonight and I'm going to wear a sports jacket and a tie.