Menswear

When I talked about going to the concert to see Ronan Tynan, I only mentioned what Becky and I wore and how we put our look together. Women seem to spend more time thinking about clothes, or what to wear, or how they're going to look. It just seems like guys go to the closet and the right outfit is there, waiting for the time to be placed in action. It wasn't a deliberate act to leave Charlie out of the discussion, especially since he was an integral part of the Christmas decision and the concert. It wouldn't be any fun without him. While Becky and I discussed our clothes and such, he just listened (probably with great amusement). He wore a white buttondown collar shirt with a Spartan tie (think Michigan State), black pants, and a dark gray herringbone sportcoat. Over it, a charcoal gray single-breasted topcoat. I thought, you know what, guys' fashion is timeless and they never have to worry. Then I really started thinking about it, and that's not entirely true.

If I think back to what I remember of men's clothes, it hasn't been static and there have been many changes along the way. I can remember my dad in the '50's in a gorgeous light blue suit, single-breasted, with what I would call "normal" fitting trousers. He always wore bow ties, and they were narrow, straight cut. In the '60's, the pants had a narrower leg and the sportcoats started a little stylin'. By the late '60's, my brother broke out into the less subdued by wearing more color and mixing patterns. The '70's saw Rae in super wide ties (the knots were huge!) and wide lapels. The shirts had to have big collars and long points to accommodate the ties. Double breasted coats became really popular. My dad (Newt) started wearing wide bow ties with shape-they flared at the end. They were pretty wild at the time. There were differences over time, 2 button coats, 3 button coats, buttondown shirts, tie clips, tie tacks, some subtle, some not.

I didn't go into some of the more outrageous styles for a couple of reasons. I was thinking mostly of dress clothes. And Rae and Newt (thank heaven!) never got into polyester, leisure suits, or some of the other trendier styles. No Nehru jackets. Maybe it was where we live, that there is a conservative undercurrent. Maybe it was the staying right on the edge of classic, yet up to date in their own way. So Charlie can put on his dress clothes and look classy and very well put together any time. It's classic and it works. And in this decade, the '00's, it's fashionable to do your own thing and wear what's comfortable and what works for you. Hooray. Rock on!