Educate Yourself

I still don't know what Pinterest is, but it was kind enough to share this helpful little "Collars & Cuffs" primer.

How Often?

No organization here.

About once every week, I take a few minutes to sort my tie racks which have been picked through and scattered about like $5 DVDs in a Walmart bin.  Each morning I put on my shirt and slacks before grabbing a handful of potential ties and playing some sort of elimination game until I'm satisfied with the final selection.  At the end of the day, these ties are draped over the most convenient rack.  It just so happens that this rack generally features my bow tie collection, and thus my daily habit inevitably tends to obscure them.

And this just simply won't do because I've made a conscious decision to wear the bow ties more often.  But having long indulged this desire on the weekends, I hope to begin employing this policy during the workweek.  The only question remaining in my mind is:  how often?

To serve as a reminder of my new
objective, I will keep these in plain view.

I think this question really depends on stature.  Being only a couple years out of college, I cannot claim to be a well-established professional like Winston Churchill or Justice John Paul Stevens who possessed the necessary gravitas to wear it nearly everyday.  Conversely, there is hardly any prohibition against my wearing it frequently.  In the search for a reasonable balance, I have decided to start by sporting the stylish neck ornament about once a month.  I think it will be a modest yet sophisticated approach, which in my mind is the goal.

The Father – An Ideal Teacher

Long before his Ivy League days, JFK learned
to dress from his father.

It is well-established that children are ideally raised by their biological parents as the distinct, yet complementary strengths of a father and mother are best suited to apply unique and positive influences upon a youth in a stable framework throughout his development.  Beyond the more serious disciplinarian measures that prove necessary, parents often impart a variety of beneficial skills, expertise, and wisdom to their children.  A parent can offer insight through the use of accumulated experience that no youth could reasonably possess themselves at such an early age.  And while both parents contribute to the rearing of a child, there are certain subjects that are best communicated between father and son, and mother and daughter.  We can observe a prime example of this sort of relationship as a father teaches his son gentlemanly virtues.

A gentleman is composed of many well-cultivated habits, not the least of which is a commensurate cultivation of stylish apparel.  The father who has acquired the mark of a gentleman can teach his son from a young age how to dress well.  The instruction can manifest itself in any variety of ways, but given his position of authority, a son is likely to trust his father who is far advanced in wisdom and experience.  Through a lifetime of experience, a father has learned good rules of style to follow, and bad practices to avoid.  He will have witnessed changing fashion trends over several decades and can discern the enduring patterns from the whimsical.

Before a young boy is even conscious of deliberate style, a father can shape the habits and wardrobe of his son.  The father exercises the greatest influence over the formation of his son during the critical years leading up to adulthood.  Thus, he is the ideal teacher in the art of sartorial eloquence - a art that indeed communicates a powerful message of discipline, virtue, and tradition.

Reasons to Wear a Tie - Color

 

 

If I could make but one criticism about today's business fashion culture, it would surround the general absence of neck wear.  Its future in the corporate dress code is uncertain, for in the midst of our contemporary cravat-less business casual policy, there has been a significant increase in necktie retail sales.

There are many reasons to encourage the use of neck wear during the work week, so I thought I would post them as they occurred to me (in no particular order).

With the cherry blossoms in bloom and temperatures over 70 degrees (F), spring seems to have arrived here in D.C.  The warm sunshine begs more for abundant use of color, especially colors that are not ideal for shirting or trousers.  Springtime is a season of renewal and refreshment, and a necktie can proclaim it.