Recent content by Choeki

I've only had that comment once, but I responded: "No time for love Dr. Jones!" in my best Short Round impression (which got a few good laughs and an opening for a conversation). I have to admit though that I didn't wear a hat for a couple of months after I returned to the US. Partially...

I've been wondering about this sort of thing as well. The local antique shop I frequent has a number of very well made antique Masonic cuff links, tie bars and other accessories for very reasonable prices. However, I get the feeling that no matter how nice they are it would be a bad idea to...

I wear one to my current job (and I am the only one in the whole branch), but it makes little difference since the company's been downsizing all non-salaried staff. On the other hand, it may be one of the reasons why I survived the last three blanket layoffs. [huh] I had to go into Chicago...

When I was a college student I asked my internship mentor professor if it was possible to join his lodge, and his response at the time was that it was "just a gathering of old men who drank booze into the night" so I was better off not bothering. However, when I was on Sand Hill at Fort Benning...

My handwriting used to be just godawful - so bad that people used to jest that I ought to be a doctor. So I stopped writing in cursive and exclusively wrote in block letters (sometimes in upper and lower case capital letters) for a number of years until I became a professional teacher in Japan...

I've been reading an English translation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Demons for the past couple of months during my lunch hour at work. I'm more than halfway through, but I have to admit that I'm losing interest since I'm distracted by a few antique books I picked up for sale at the public library...

I only send my dress shirts in, and I only wear white 100% cotton dress shirts now that I'm not the one pressing them. lol I do notice that I have to do a little pre-treating myself with a hard laundry soap rubbing on the collar and cuffs as the cleaners seem to have some trouble with the...

When I was in Japan, it was required for my line of work but not explicitly stated in a dress code. Since I've returned to the US I managed to secure a position at a Japanese company, but the official dress code is "no jeans or sandals" for the week, with the exception being "casual Friday."...

Well, now that I've been back in the US for eight months I seem to be getting over my reverse culture shock and settling back into a few habits I started in Japan - one of those being dressing vintage once more. I have noticed though that time seems to be quite a bit more compressed in the US...

I've been off a while due to work constraints (mainly due to being laid off with the rest of the foreigners at the end of the school year in March), but things have settled down now that I plan on returning to the US. Nevertheless, regarding shirt cuffs the plan was to simply remove the barrel...

Suit alteration study Part 13 So now, the jacket is ready to wear in public: I decided that it was best to wear it with only the two center buttons fastened so that I could show the odd vest underneath. Total time taken up to this point is about 32 hours. I suppose I'll have to practice...

Suit alteration study Part 12 I decided to forgo the creation of pocket flaps due to the fact that the dimensions seemed to be off on their location for the current length of the jacket. After studying other 4-button suit jackets as well as the input of a friend of mine, apparently most front...

Thanks for the compliment! As I mentioned before I do all my work by hand because I don't know how to use a machine (nor can I afford one... that works at least). Yes, a large number of the things I have to do requiring detail work are done better by hand. However, having a machine would cut...

Very true. My method is closer to what cadets do at the Boedai (Japanese National Defense Academy) than to what a Japanese housewife would do. The only men I have met in Japan that do their own laundry, iron and sew on a regular basis are current or past members of the Jieitai (Japanese...

Thanks for all the positive comments everyone. :o I forgot to mention that I don't wear 100% cotton shirts because inexpensive cotton shirts are terribly hard to iron and feel very uncomfortable (usually scratchy due to a coarse weave in the material). I don't have the finances to buy nice...