(with apologies to Tom Wolfe)
The hideous beauty inherent in the idea of wearing a formal shirt with bow-tie/blazer/chinos/duck shoes has got me a-thinking over morning coffee...
What was the ugliest, most abusive, transgressive riff on the Trad/Preppy/Ivy cannon you ever wore to what you thought was your everlasting shame and embarrassment only to be stunned to see it taken-up by Ralph/Brooks/J. Crew/A&F/ etc. 10-15-20 years later?
Mine must have been Spring '94, the final final of my final 21 hour senior semester - tucked Brooks white OCBD, M1981 woodland BDUs (my sweatpants substitutes), boat shoes (sock-less, natch), and a PRL NAVY BLAZER - utterly disheveled and bathed in Safari.
Hey! I was shivering cold from sleep deprivation and caffeine poisoning when I got to campus and it was the only thing to be found in the car capable of providing any warmth.
At least I had the good sense to pop the collar.
People stared.
Slack-jawed.
Of course, this sort of look has been on the runways, websites, and in the magazines a couple of times since.
Your turn...
Crazy!
Can't top the initial post, I'm afraid, but shit I've worn that I wouldn't wear today (and I should come back to this topic).
Or, shit I've worn that I almost certainly won't be returning to (or if you prefer, to which I won't return):
white bucks
baggy knahkis
woven leather belt (I think purchased from Ralph Lauren in the earlier days)
ski vest - I seem to remember a kelly green and a rust colored one
(probably) anything madras
most ties (I seem to go for the same dozen these days)
detachable color formal shirt (unless with white tie which is very unlikely)
braces (unless with a few suits that require it including dinner jacket)
a bright yellow sailing jacket -- (it was hideous and expensive -- somehow I found the one with these qualities in an otherwise utilitarian item).
an embarrassingly expensive watch I bought when I had more disposable income than sense.
...Bnaggy knahkis.
Glad to see there's at least someone out there who has escaped the Cult of the Expensive Watch
baggy khakis
gold buttoned blazers
RL tennis shirts
chums,
I just heard the ol' saw about how one can't wear the gold buttoned blazer anymore. I wasn't having it. I've got one blazer, I'm not buying another. It's an older Brooks and it works. People are apparently rejecting the shiny shiny for the buttons. But it doesn't bother me.
Maybe I should come 'round on the bagged khakis Stanshall. I'll go reflect.
Yrs in contemplation,