It seems FNB has become merely another 'trad' sub-forum.

David,  You often criticize the trad for wanting to be too much like the old men at the club.  Now you are criticizing because it has nothing to do with the old men at the club.  You will never be pleased.

I have come to think that what you don't like about trad is that it doesn't embrace the rebel aspect of the look quite like British ivy does.  As the look has never, and will never, become the predominant style in the UK, it remains a street style - as that new guy on AAAT recently said.  It is rebellious, a little in your face.  That is why you embraced the style and that is why you love it.

In the US, the style has a long history, of which it's rebel stage was only the initial, brief part.  As you know, it quickly became the establishment look of the late fifties and early sixties - up to The Great Unravelling (apologies to Krugman).  Trad, as insignificant as it is, tends to embrace the style as an establishment look of the past and gives short shrift to its original rebel nature. 

This, I think, is what bugs you so much.

... A long, long time ago when I first started to try to get people to look at "Trad" with a more thinking eye (can eyes think?) I suggested that people read the Trad forum substituting the words "Savile Row Style" for "Trad" just to see how stupid "Trad" was.

What is the most Savile Row style shoe?

What is the most Savile Row style skiing resort?

I won't labour the point this late in the day but do you see what a stupid way to talk this is?

Do you think that Savile Row fans would put up with drivel like that?

No other clothing style is discussed in the same way that Classic American style is on the Net.

We're missing out, lads.

No?

David,  Regarding all the talk of "the tradest this" and "the tradliest that":  I see two aspects, first it is little more than an expression of the enthusiasm of newcomer. Secondly, people, or Americans at least, believe that the things we choose to do have some transformative capability.  Our imagination leads us to do all sorts of things because, subconsciously or not, we believe it will make our lives better.  It's not just the Trad.  It's the home, the furniture, the books, the movies, the food. Pretty much everything.  This may be American.  I haven't gotten around enough to know.  Ultimately, most of these things fail to live up to our imaginings.  In the end, either we like the clothes or/and we move on to something else.

But you seem to be really fixated on all this.  I still believe that your dislike of the trad, in spite of loving the clothes, is that it is so inherently uncool.  As the trad grows, it sucks more and more cool out of the look.  Trad serves to undermines this Brit Ivy thing that you love.  Granted, folks like HLP and Brownshoe do there best to give the look a hip/cool spin - as do Horace and other posters over here - but looking at AAAT as a whole, hip and cool is really not what it's about.

Back to you.