Chins Up, Gentleman. Suits in NYT.

[Hemingway Jones]

I saw this little page spread in Sunday's New York Times. These photos were taken 'radomly' from people on the street. Some of these fellows looks quite good, some... not so. One came from Elton John's closet, no pun intended.

Please excuse the poor quality of the pics, but I had to scan them.

What do you think? I think the gentleman on the left really nailed it.-Though his sleeves are too short.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Very nice.

Is the guy on the top left wearing white spats with brown shoes? An unusual combination.

 

[GateXC]

there's an even better picture of that guy at the Sartorialist website , you need to scroll down a bit to get to it. www.thesatorialist.com

 

[magneto]

there's an even better picture of that guy at the Sartorialist website , you need to scroll down a bit to get to it. www.thesatorialist.com

Just a respectful heads-up, the actual URL is: http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

 

[GateXC]

Doh! That's what I get for posting tired with my mind elsewhere. Thanks for the catch.

 

[ArrowCollarMan]

I really like that guy on the left! When I move out of the house I'll dress like that all the time. My parents would never permit me to go out like that

 

[Berlin Buster]

Very nice scouting, Hemmingway! My local paper only shows interesting things such as this when there's some sort of historical bit going on, unfortunately.

The most suits my area sees outside of modern-day business is at church, and I hope to change that by dressing similarly to the gentleman on the bottom left of the first page you posted. Very nice look.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I really like that guy on the left! When I move out of the house I'll dress like that all the time. My parents would never permit me to go out like that

Whaa??

His boutonniere is over the top, and as Marc says the spat/shoe combo is a little odd. He looks pretty good. Something to aim for, i'd say ...

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I give him credit for dressing up, I really do.

I do think that the brown shoes/white spats combo is a bit over the top. I mean, the guy's wearing a summer suit. The oh-so-formal spats look incongruous with it. (Maybe this fellow wanted to achieve the look of a brown/white spectator shoe, but he didn't own a pair. Who knows?)

 

[Hemingway Jones]

(Maybe this fellow wanted to achieve the look of a brown/white spectator shoe, but he didn't own a pair. Who knows?)

That's exactly what I was thinking!
-But think about this, how many people are posted above, and who are we all talking about??? That says something.

-Thanks Berliner!

 

[Senator Jack]

I could be wrong, but it appears to me that the 10 day period was mostly a 1 day period, that day being Easter Sunday. I'd say at least half the pics were snapped at the Easter Parade which routinely draws this sort of dress. (see the woman with the flowery hat?) I, unfortunatley, didn't go myself this year.

I'm sure my fellow gothamites will agree that we never see that many well-dressed me even in a 10 week period much less a 10 day. As usual, the Times stretches their truth again.


Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Feraud]

I'm sure my fellow gothamites will agree that we never see that many well-dressed me even in a 10 week period much less a 10 day. As usual, the Times stretches their truth again.


Regards,

Senator Jack

Agree! I rarely see men that well dressed. They actually look more put together than "on the street". In the words of Billy Zane, "it's a walk off.." lol

 

[Mr. Rover]

When I move out of the house I'll dress like that all the time. My parents would never permit me to go out like that

What????? That's just HORRENDOUS! Why wouldn't they let you leave the house dressed like a million bucks? What would they say?
"Son- you are not leaving this house until you put on your ratty jeans and tennis shoes! And take that boater off- we only wear baseball caps here!"

 

[Wild Root]

lol lol lol Man, the modern parent can be so tough on a young man! When I started to dress vintage every day, my folks didn't really understand it but... they figured it was way better then what every one else was wearing! Now, they love my look and think I'm the best dressed guy in town.

As for Home Boy in the first picture with the boater, brown shoes and spats... The suit is nice, the hat is nice, but, it could fit the man a little better. I do believe that the sun and shadowing does play a part in his wrinkled appearance... Linen does this naturally and when out in the sun, shadows can give a very slovenly appearance. But, those shoes and spats? lol that's just silly!

=WR=

 

[Senator Jack]

You have to understand, these photos were taken at the Easter Parade. For the most part, the suits are meant to be costumes to emulate the look of an Easter Parade circa 1890s - 1920s, and that's all. Apart from the vendors selling a bunch of junk, that's what the parade is about. Thus the guy with the brown shoes and spats.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Marc Chevalier]

So, basically, we're judging a costume.

 

[Senator Jack]

Now you got it. I count at least seven pics that I'd say were taken at the parade. This based on time of day, background, and stance. The only vintage guy that doesn't look like he's at the parade is the pegged leg white suit with the hat. Looks like he's got an appointment.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

I wonder if he accidentally gave his boutonni?®re to his wife and pinned the bouquet on his lapel by mistake. But Marc is right, we have to give them credit for dressing up. I wonder if maybe these aren't the same suits these gentlemen wear to the Easter parade every year. I can imagine the suit being too small for him if he had it tailored 20 years ago.

 

[3PieceSuitGuy]

Gents gents gents....

I don't understand .... The other week there was a post saying that people do not dress up for easter anymore. Then the Times runs a piece showing gents in hats, boaters, suits, bow ties and spats and some people say they are in costume because of the easter parade.

Where is the middle ground? I am happy to see people in these items, and to me they don't look like fancy dress, just a modern take on some vintage fashion. It is nice to see some men actually wearing suits!The fact that these guys possibly have these items in their wardrobe is a great thing!

 

[Senator Jack]

I don't understand .... The other week there was a post saying that people do not dress up for easter anymore.

You have to live in a black community to see people dressing for Easter these days. The women still wear the pastel spring dresses, with the hats, and purses, and flowers, and the men are, as usual keenly dressed. In my neighborhood all we have are the proudful old Greek gentlemen who wear their best every Sunday. But I can't recall the last time I saw and enitre family dressed for Easter Sunday. Junior is usually wearing jeans, and daughter Brittany is falling out of something.

Anyway, to explain this Easter Parade. I'm sure everyone here has seen the movie 'Easter Parade' with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. (You know the song: "On your Easter bonnet, with all the frils upon it...") At the end of the picture you see them in the parade. The parade is not really a parade as we think of it, with marching bands and floats, it's people just parading up and down 5th Avenue. There's no set direction. You walk up 5th, or you come down 5th, or you can zigzag across 5th if you like, the point is, it's not a parade as much as it is people just walking around as though it were a street festival, which, essentially, it has become.

But it seems to me that there are people who look forward to this parade as much as people look forward to the Halloween parade. It gives them an opportunity to dress up, without being thought of as weird. See? Big difference. In my work I'm all over this city every day, in office buildings from Wall St. up to Central Park, and, really, if I see one other vintage type a week who's getting it right, it's a lot. If I see one other guy in a sharp suit, it's a lot.

Just this past Sunday I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Turned out they were having the Cherry Blossom fesitval and the place was mobbed. I think there must have been 80 to a 100,000 people there. Walking around for a couple of hours, sitting on the bench watching people go by, I saw two other guys in suits, and about three vintage-type women pass by. This was on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Nearly everyone else was in shorts and flip-flops. I did see a couple of hipsters in stingy fedoras but of course they were wearing them with their ratty clothes.

Regardless of any newspaper copy, any exaggeration, people are not dressed in this city. In fact, it's such a rarity, that when those of us who are dressed pass each other on the street, we have to give each other a nod as though we were in some sort of secret society.


Regards,

Senator Jack