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My Mom: A Style Role Model

by oxford cloth button down on May 13, 2012 in Lifestyle with No comments

I thought that I would write a little bit about my mom for Mother’s Day. She has helped and influenced me in a countless number of ways. One of the ways that she influenced me is my style. My mom dresses basically how I would describe my own style, more traditional than preppy. I was going to raid her closet for this post, but I don’t think that she would appreciate too much. However, I will let you know that it contains enough sweaters (cardigans and crew neck), dresses, and skirts decorated with stripes, floral prints, and polka dots to satisfy anyone. Not only do her clothes illustrate her trad peppiness, but her collection of LL Bean totes and Vera Bradley is not to be taken scoffed at. As a kid, I would browse the LL Bean, Lands’ End, and other catalogs that she had at the house and I didn’t know it at the time, but I was learning (it didn’t hurt that she picked out and purchased lots of my clothing). The influence that she has had on my style did not stop at clothing either.

What doe a trad mom read? Birds & Bloom, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Living, and Southern Living.

One of her jackets that I love.

Just a sample of her totes.

She also enjoys architecture, interior design and gardening. Her taste in all three tend to lean towards the traditional side. As a kid we used drive to historic neighborhoods simply to admire the homes. I still do this today. This probably has a lot to do with why I live in an apartment in historic building. As I began decorating my new apartment I consulted her many times. I can’t count the number of paint colors that I showed her. I was thrilled when she gave me an embroidered Charles Wysocki picture that she made (as soon as I paint, it is going up). She is also an excellent gardener and I always turn to her when I am trying to pick out plants for my own home. Her style and hobbies have clearly influenced my own.

Cute gardening bucket and Keds.

Stripes and Polka dots

Embroidered Charles Wysocki

My mom has been a style role model to me. The older I get the more I appreciate how well she understands the fundamentals of clothing and how easily she executes them. I am still learning, and I am still learning from her as well. I have included a few pictures in this post to try to illustrate my point, but they do not her justice. I can’t capture the essence of someone who has been teaching me about style for so many years with a few pictures or paragraphs. This post is just a small token of my gratitude, I love you mom, thanks.

Patagonia: Update

by oxford cloth button down on April 28, 2012 in Men's Clothing Reviews with 1 Comment

Well I finally got my Patagonia jacket back! It took a while, but that is 99% my fault (sorry readers!). I wrote the original post (Patagonia: Repair Process) on January 15th, but did not actually send the jacket out until March 14th. I had a few questions in mind when I wrote the original post, such as would I be charged for the repair, if so how much, If it needed to replaced how much would they credit my old jacket, and how long will this process take? I now have a few answers to share.

I sent the jacket out for repair on March 14th using USPS. Using the tracking and confirmation option offered by USPS I it was received by Patagonia on the 17th. On their site they state that they will try to have your items back to you in 20 days, but that they may get backlogged. They did a good job in this area in my opinion as I had the jacket back in my hands in 37 days. The only thing that could have really improved this part of the process was an email letting me know that they had received my jacket and whether or not they would be able to fix it.

To their credit they were able to fix my jacket. They also did not charge me a dime. I was excited because I get easily attached to clothing items and wanted to have this jacket around for a while. It is always better to have a jacket that you can count on than ordering a new one that you hope will be half as good.

The tear.

It is a little hard to notice in this picture, but it is the second panel down from the top right.

The middle panel is new.

There are a few issues with the repair. As you can see the from the picture above it was a pretty nasty rip. After talking with some older Patagonia enthusiast they told me that it was not likely that they would repair it since so much of the tear is not along a seam. They were wrong. Instead of mending the tear they replaced the whole patch which is great. Well it is a great idea…we will see how long it lasts. The fabric colors are not the same, which most people might not like. I actually do like it because it gives the a garment an aged look. Others who saw the jacket did not seem to think this was an adequate repair and would have much preferred a new jacket or at least one that was one solid color.

Overall, I am more than happy with Patagonia. They serviced my jacket quickly and never raised an issue about who was at fault or who should foot the bill. There are a few areas where I think that they could improve this process. It would have been great to get an email stating that they received my jacket and were able to work on it. Also, if they knew that they would be unable to match the exact color or pattern of the jacket it would have been nice to have been at least notified and even better to have been offered an alternative. Even if that alternative required additional funds. Although this experience was not perfect, Patagonia has kept and satisfied another customer.

Wittenberg University 1967

by oxford cloth button down on April 22, 2012 in Historical Fashion with 3 Comments

Wittenberberg University was founded in 1845. It started as a clergy school but overtime became a private four year liberal university. It is located in Springfield, Ohio. It is also a place where trad, ivy and preppy still have a place to call home. Even though you will see students dressed in all styles as at any college today, traditional dress runs deep here. As I was flipping through all an old year book from 1967 there were too may images to keep to myself. This will be the first of many installments that feature images from Wittenberg University. I hope that you enjoy them.

One thing that I always remember from my walks around campus.

Casual Shoes: Update

by oxford cloth button down on April 15, 2012 in Footwear with 5 Comments

I did a post on my need for some casual shoes two weeks ago. The shoe I was looking for needed to be work appropriate, able to handle bad weather, and denim friendly. I also wanted to be able to wear them with shorts in the summer, so they needed to look good sans socks. At the time I was set on getting a pair of blucher camp mocs, but things don’t always turn out as I plan, no matter how much I plan.

I started my hunt by traveling to the nearest outlet mall. I began here, mainly because they have a Sebago store, but also because there are other shoe outlets there as well. I was hoping to find a pair of Campsides, but no luck. However, I ventured into the Bass store (as I always do) and found a pair of blucher camp moc hybrids with a lugged sole (sorry; no box, no name) on the clearance wall for $25. This shoe had almost everything that I was looking for as they can be worn to work, worn on the weekend, and worn in bad weather. What they are not is well suited for is being to worn to work on days when the weather is nice and wearing with shorts.

I have now worn them twice and so far they have been great. For their first wear, I took them out for a stroll to the coffee shop on a misty morning. They were comfortable right from the beginning and did not look out of place among the other weekend shoes at the coffee shop. I have also worn them to work on a rainy day. They served their purpose and then some. Meaning that I did not slip, because they have rubber soles and I picked-up a compliment. However, I am still struggling to find out what socks work and what socks don’t work with the. So far it appears that thicker cotton and wool socks look good, but that thinner cotton patterned sock such as argyles don’t quite work. I think that patterned socks look too fancy when set against the back drop of the worn and rugged leather. I will continue to experiment with different socks and report back any interesting finds.

As I mentioned these shoes filled almost every need on my list. Where they fall short is in that they aren’t quite dressy enough to make an appearance in the office when the weather is nice and they are not quite sleek enough to work with shorts. I still think that a pair of traditional blucher camp mocs would have met all of my criteria, but for $25 I could not pass them up. Another upside to these shoes is that they will also make good winter shoes. With all that being said, I am now in the market for a pair of summer/work shoes. Maybe it is time for me to bite the bullet and purchase a pair of boat shoes. What will it be Sebago’s or Sperry’s?

Spring is Upon Us

by oxford cloth button down on April 8, 2012 in Lifestyle with 7 Comments

Flowers are blooming, trees are getting their leaves, the air around us is stirring with new life, but more importantly people are digging through their closets to get to their madras and seersucker shirts and jackets. While I am trying to hold out on wearing my madras shirts until Memorial day (I doubt that I will make it) spring is here and we have already experienced some gorgeous weather. This long weekend has been no exception and as a result I have been having too much fun enjoying the weather to focus on an in-depth blog post. However, there is no need to worry I have purchased a few items that I will be reviewing shortly. Until then, I leave you with a few pictures that I took last week and this weekend which include pictures from thrifting, a walk through my neighborhood to a historic cemetery, some new decorations for my home and a few other random images. Have a happy holiday everyone!

Out to do a little thrifting.