Link: Cary Grant on Style

Here's an interview with Cary Grant from the Winter 1967/68 GQ (back when it really was quarterly). The entire thing is well worth reading, but I especially noticed his comments on timeless style, which echo my own:

"I've never, as far as I can compare the efforts of others with my own, gone to any special trouble to acquire clothes that could be regarded as noticeably fashionable or up-to-date. Some of my suits are ten to twenty years old, many of them ready-made and reasonably priced.

"No, it isn't only money that determines how well a man dresses—it's personal taste. Because of the demands of my work, I've purchased dozens of suits over the years and they all have one attribute in common: they are in the middle of fashion. By that I mean they're not self-consciously fashionable or far out, nor are they overly conservative or dated. In other words, the lapels are neither too wide nor too narrow, the trousers neither too tight nor too loose, the coats neither too short nor too long. I've worn clothes of extreme style, but only in order to dress appropriately for the type of character I played in particular films. Otherwise, simplicity, to me, has always been the essence of good taste."

Reader Questions

Q: I had always wanted to buy shoes online, but could never tell what size was the best fit. Is there a way for me to check my size at home and then order online? Thanks for the awesome info on your site.

A: Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying my blog.

The ideal situation, of course, is to buy them in a physical retail store.

But, if you're buying online to save money (say, on eBay, which is where I've bought all of my Allen-Edmonds shoes, each at a minimum of 75% off of retail), if there's a store in your city that sells the brand you're looking for, you should go try some on.

If you can't afford the shoes at retail, I would tell the salesman I'll think about it, and buy something else from him to thank him for his time, like some shoe polish or socks.

However, remember that the same manufacturer uses different "lasts" for different models, so two different models from the same brand may fit slightly differently, even in the same size and width.

So, unless you're able to try on the exact model you're thinking of buying, there's always a gamble involved. But that's part of the price of getting something at 50-90% off of retail.

The good news is, if you buy a quality item on eBay and it doesn't fit, you should be able to re-sell it and recoup your money.

Q: What's high rise? Does it mean the pant goes really high up above my waist/hips area, like near the bellybutton? How about folks like me with a "beer gut?" Will your opinion about high rise change in such a case?

Also, using braces (I'm guessing you are referring to "suspenders") is fine if I am going to wear the suit for an evening. But, what about work suits? I am 30 and can't pull off the braces look because when I get to work, I take my jacket off and all the inner office stuff is then just with my suit pants, shirt, tie combo. It will look too "trying hard" esque if I wear braces everyday. Belts OK in this case?

A: Rise is the distance between the crotch and the top of the waistband. Yes, dress pants should ideally be around your belly button. The less sophisticated may see this as "old-mannish," but so be it. As I wrote in my original post, getting pants of a sufficiently high rise can be difficult if you don't have your clothes custom-made, and extremely difficult if you buy ready-made clothes second-hand. Jos. A. Bank and Lands' End both, as far as I know, still offer different rises, usually expressed as "short, regular, and tall." 

If you have a gut (I do too), my opinion not only doesn't change, but is reinforced -- men with guts need high rise pants more than do men with flat stomachs. 

Also, it's important to buy your pants big enough to fit loosely. If you wear suspenders, they're called that because they're supposed to literally suspend your pants from your shoulders. If you're heavier than you'd like to be, it's easy to lie to yourself about your size, suck it in, and wear pants that are too small. I know, because I did it for years. But tight pants actually make you look fatter, and they're horribly uncomfortable. You'll be amazed at how comfortable a pair of slacks can be when they're made from good quality, breathable cloth, have a high rise, and are loose around the waist. No one but you and the people who supply your pants/your tailor know what size you really wear anyway.

Regarding suspenders/braces (same thing), everyone has to adapt advice for their own taste and situation. If it were me, I would try wearing suspenders; if you get too much guff, you can always stop. In my opinion, suit pants with a waistband extension (the little strip of fabric to the right of the fly that goes across the waistband a couple of inches and fastens with a button) look okay without anything -- suspenders or a belt (unless they're too loose to stay up otherwise). As I stated in my original post, belts are less than ideal with suits. But, if you feel you must wear one instead of suspenders to fit in at work, when in Rome, as they say.

Knowledge: Real Wet Shaving

My parents divorced when I was about five, after which I lived with my mother and spent a lot of time at my paternal grandparents' house when my mom was working, especially in the summer. 

My dad and I still saw each other all the time, and have always gotten along great. But, since I wasn't around him on a daily basis as I got older, I learned to shave by watching my grandpa. 

He shaved the old school way, with a stainless safety razor, a badger brush and shaving soap. He even used boiling water, which I remember him making every morning with a tea kettle on the stove. 

He died when I was 13, after which my mom sold our house and we moved in with my grandma (who just died last October, age 100). 

I started shaving about a year later, using my grandpa's equipment that was still in the medicine cabinet. 

That stuff was lost somehow along the way as I grew up, and I regressed to a Gillette Sensor and aerosol shaving gel. 

For whatever reason (probably from reading about it on other men's style blogs), I started reminiscing last year, and resolved to go back to real, old-fashioned wet shaving.     

Now with Quadruple Vibrating Blades, Separated by Four Gyrating, Lubricated Strips!  

First, a little history is in order. 

Prior to about 1900, men shaved (or, more often, were shaved by a barber) with a straight razor. (I still have my maternal great-grandfather's straight razor in a closet. I think he died in 1957.) 

Apparently many men thought those were too dangerous to use, and they didn't want to walk around looking scruffy between barber shaves, nor did they want to go to the expense or hassle of getting a barber shave every day or two.

I say that because, within a generation of the safety razor's introduction around 1900, men's facial hair virtually disappeared and has never returned. (Past Presidents of the U.S. are probably as good a barometer as any; we haven't had a bearded president since the 19th Century, and we haven't had a president with a mustache in 100 years -- since Taft, who left office in 1913.)

The problem (for the manufacturers) with the original stainless safety razor was that they and the flat, double-edged blades they take are all interchangeable -- you can use any brand of blade in any brand of razor.

So, in the 1970s, Gillette finally figured out how to design a new blade that locked onto the razor via a unique mechanism, which they patented so no one could copy it. That way, anyone with a Gillette razor had to buy Gillette blades.

Ever since, Gillette and Shick have been in a promotional war, each coming up with more gimmicks to one-up each other -- more and more blades, blades that flex or vibrate, etc.

In other words, stainless safety razors gave way to newfangled ones not because the new ones were better for the consumers, but because they were better for the manufacturers. For the most part, none of them work as well as the old metal safety razor, especially given how much more they cost.  

By contrast, I just bought 30 Merkur blades on Amazon for around $20 shipped; changing the blade once a week, that's a nine-month supply. You'd be lucky to get one month's worth of modern blades for that same $20. (You can buy drugstore blades much cheaper, but I've found premium blades to be superior enough to warrant the extra cost.)

Regarding creams, aerosol shaving creams dry your skin because of the propellant. And applying it with your fingers mats your beard down, or raises it unevenly. Shaving soap or cream from a tube hydrates your face, and applying it with a badger brush raises your beard evenly. I got my brush and soap before my razor, and I noticed a massive improvement in the ease, speed, comfort, and results of my shave just from that, even using the same plastic razor. 

My Experience 

Probably the best indication of the old equipment's superiority is a "cold" shave (which I define as a shave not in -- or immediately following -- a shower, when you've had hot water and steam softening your beard for about 10 minutes). 

I avoided cold shaves like the plague with aerosol gel and a modern razor, because my skin would get irritated like crazy. 

As a side note: I used to shave after my shower. But, a few years ago, I started shaving at the end of my shower, while the conditioner is soaking into my hair. This allows me to do two things at once and makes me leave the conditioner in longer, rather than just standing around bored, waiting for the conditioner to work. Then, when I'm done, I can rinse my face at the same time I rinse out the conditioner (again doing two things at once). 

Then I just have to splash some cold water on my face at the vanity to close my pores, splash on some aftershave, and I'm done. 

I immediately began dreading shaving far less than when I shaved after my shower, even when I was still using my inferior equipment. 

I still prefer to shave in the shower. But, when I do a "cold" shave now, I literally get no irritation. In fact, I think the cold shave may be even more pleasurable. 

Equipment

I bought this Merkur razor on Amazon for $30, and this badger brush for about the same price. (Badger is superior to synthetic or boar bristles because it holds water much better. There are varying grades of badger, but I've found this basic one to be more than sufficient.) Add a tube of shaving cream or a puck of shaving soap,  and a bowl or mug (I bought a bowl at Wal-Mart for one dollar), and you're in business. 

You can get pucks of soap in stores cheaper, but I got mine from ClassicShaving.com for about $10 each, shipped; each puck lasts about 2-3 months. The ingredients are probably better, but I especially like the variety of scents they have. I started with Candy Cane, since I got my order at Christmastime; I put it away after New Year's, and will break it back out after Thanksgiving. Then I switched to Fresh Lime, followed by Citrus Spice (which I like better) after the Fresh Lime was gone. 

Using it

Your shaving soap puck can be permanently stored in the bowl. With cream from a tube, just squeeze a dollup into your bowl, like toothpaste onto your toothbrush. 

After getting your badger brush good and wet with the hottest water you can stand, make your lather. With cream, you can do it in the bowl. With a puck of soap, I learned after a couple of shaves that it's best to swirl the brush into the puck for about five seconds, then build the lather on your face instead of in the bowl. This minimizes waste; if you build the lather in the bowl, you'll make too much and wind up rinsing most of it away. 

If you're using a puck, all you have to do afterward is turn the bowl upside-down to drain the excess water, then rinse off the outside of the bowl and dry it off while it's upside-down, then flip it back over and put it in the medicine cabinet. It'll keep exposed to air just as well as a bar of soap would. 

You'll more than make up the up-front cost (less than $100) in future savings, especially in blades.

But, even if it were more expensive, every aspect of an old-fashioned wet shave is so much better that it would be worth it. So, given that it's both better and cheaper, it's a no-brainer. 

Give it a try. Both your face and your wallet will thank you.   

Knowledge: The Seasonal Clothing Changeover

Spring is, of course, one of the two transitional times of the year for the wardrobe. What is one to do in March or April when it's still cold, or in September or October when it's still hot?

Heavy Tweed Jacket just posted a new picture of himself today -- April 2 -- on his Tumblr, wearing a, well, heavy tweed jacket.

It makes more sense to dress for the weather than for the calendar.

For late summer/early fall, I like Will Boehlke's advice: ditch the overt summer items, like straw hats and spectator shoes, but continue to wear summer-weight clothing for as long as the weather requires it, but try to do so in more seasonless or autumnal colors -- such as a linen suit in navy or dark brown, instead of in light blue or tan.

For late winter/early spring, my opinion is to reverse the advise: maybe ditch overtly wintery items like tweed, but continue to wear winter-weight items in spring or seasonless colors, like a navy flannel blazer, as long as necessary. You could also mix them with some springier hues, like a light blue tie. I love HTJ's outfit, but I don't think I personally would wear it in April.

If this seems too confusing, or you don't have an extensive enough wardrobe to do it fully (I don't either), I suppose you can take solace in the fact that only hardcore clothing nerds like us even pay attention to such things; I suspect that the seasonal clothing distinction is lost on most people, who regard all classic clothing as "a suit." Sigh.

Idea: Using a Bathroom Towel Bar for a Tie Rack

It drives me nuts to think about all of the great style blogs that I don't know about. 

Today, Giuseppe over at An Affordable Wardrobe linked to a blog I had never seen called The Suit Room.

I found a picture on it of the closet of someone named Michael Hainey.  

What struck me most about it was that it appears that he uses a bathroom towel bar for a tie rack on the back of his door:

This is one of those times when I see something that's so obvious that I can't believe I never thought of it myself years ago. I like this idea a lot, because it seems sturdier, cheaper, and capable of holding more ties than a typical wall/door tie rack of comparable length.  It would also make the ties easier to remove, especially if you have three ties per peg on all of your tie racks, as I do. 

I have some unused space on the wall of one of my two closets; I had been thinking of buying another tie rack to put there. Now I'm going to try this instead. I'll report back soon.  

Links: Black Clothes

As a follow-up to my previous post, Richard Press (formerly of J. Press) and Paul Winston (formerly of the defunct Chipp) have both opined about black clothes. 

I'm also indebted to Will Boehlke for first calling my conscious attention to the view that black doesn't look as good as navy or charcoal in stark sunlight. 

I remember reading on one of the style blogs (unfortunately I can't find it now) that, in firms that still require business attire, black suits are frequently seen at lower levels, but become more sparse, eventually disappearing, the further up the ladder one goes. John T. Molloy also wrote about this. Everything else being equal, anyone who doesn't ditch the black suits is unlikely to go very far up that ladder.

Other than dinner clothes, black should basically be reserved for shoes; ties; belts, if you must (suspenders are better); and socks, if you must (matching your pants, or using a different color than your pants and your shoes, is better).

Photo: Amjack "Formal"

 

I saw this picture somewhere on the web and had to share it. This seems to be the high school/college age "formal" uniform today:

1. Black shirt. For the life of me, I cannot understand where in the world anyone has gotten the idea that dress shirts are supposed to be black. (Occasionally the shirt will be in some other off-, non-dress shirt color, like red.)

2. Black, long tie. (Sometimes changed for another solid tie, usually in a gaudy color, and with a shiny, satin finish.) This guy's is tied way too long.

3. No jacket. I also can't understand for the life of me where so many guys have gotten the idea that dressing up involves not wearing a jacket. (If there is anything approximating a proper dress jacket, it too will be solid black, with the sleeves down to the knuckles and with all of the buttons closed. Someone who wears such a thing is likely to take it off as soon as he gets indoors. Other, non-dress jackets -- like leather ones, usually also black -- are also sometimes seen.) 

We've left the options; the following are mandatory.   

4. Solid black slacks, with a flat front and too tight in the crotch and thighs. 

5. Cheap, glued, square-toed, Kenneth Cole-type shoes.

I sincerely hope (but am not at all confident) that this is a trend with a limited shelf life, and that someday these guys will look back on this the way men today look back on their baby blue tuxedos from the 1970s. 

I will never understand the appeal of all black or of duck-billed shoes.