Sharp-Dressed Man
Lileks explains, far better than I ever managed, why I still wear button down shirts, even in summer:
Spoken like someone who wore a skinny tie and thrift-store jacket through his twenties. Why? Simple: Made me feel sharp. Not slack, not def, not fresh, not bad, not unHerbert, not whatever word has come along in the last few decades to describe slavish devotion to the mode du jour, but sharp. That suggests a certain amount of crispness, and of course a certain amount amphetamines as well. (Coffee, in my case. And lots of it. I’m still a dawn-to-dusk man with the stuff; just as Churchill could knock back a rejuvinating gin for breakfast, I can drink a quart of hot stern joe at midnight and sleep the sleep of the just.) Sharp was borrowed from the early 60s, or a recycled notion of the era. Sharp came through the New Wave musicians who had narrow-cuffed pants, narrow lapels, inch-wide ties. It was the look of people who were alert, present and accounted for, and well aware that we had best enjoy ourselves before Reagan set off a nuclear war, man. Sharp was a direct reaction to all the blowsy billowy gunny-sack that made up the tail-end of hippiedom; sharp was an unironic thrift-store aesthetic. Sharp was cool and cool was sharp.
Hey, Lileks — I still have my inch-wide black leather tie. Where’s yours?
Ahh – early Joe Jackson. I always liked that look.
New Wave Sharp was cool, but I always thought the Rat Pack, Cold War era Vegas lounge look was much cooler.
Suit and tie never dies. I’m invariably the best-dressed at most occasions simply because I stick to the combination; I’d add a Fedora if it wouldn’t draw stares. Only Drudge can pull that off these days.
Actually, a suit, tie and buffalo leather stetson go really well together, and who cares about stares?
I’m still hanging onto my red knit tie wiith the squared-off bottom.
I think Alex P. Keaton was decades ahead of his time.
Every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp-dressed man.
who cares about stares?
You’ve got a point there, mister.
Every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp-dressed man.
Well, that and Billy Gibbons. Lord, what a band. The one guy without a Rip van Winkle is named Beard. I’ll never get over that.
My thin black-leather tie is in the closet, waiting. Waiting.
I sold the red-leather suitcoat, though. The Romantics aren’t coming back, and it’s time I accepted the fact and moved along.
lileks.. anit reagan?
ugh.. losing respect
it’s all about an excellent suit
but no button downs, please
need to be more formal!
blue suit, clue and white check shirt, and a great red tie…
and yes i’m yuppie/frat scum
I pretty much reserve the button-downs for wear with sport coats. I’m mainly a tab collar guy myself.
I still own a one-inch dark brown leather tie I bought in Germany, and hold on to it because people say it’s cool.
Keep those skinny ties, I thought I read preppy green/pink was coming back. (Or maybe that was last season???) Ties might be next.
Roger Simon seems to do okay with those straw fedoras. But he’s a Californian.
I like the collarless shirt look too. I was sorry that dated so fast.
My favorite necktie is the one with the picture of the dogs playing poker. I don’t get to wear it very often; dress code on my current contract prohibits neckware.
If I’m getting dressed up to go out, I’m more likely to wear a western shirt with black onyx snaps, and the bolo tie with an SGI Geometry Accelerator for a slide.
I had a great black silk tie with small rad stripes, a jacket with pushed up sleeves and a Duran Duran fedora. I was sharp. Oh the 80′s I do miss them.
Lileks..no the Romantics are never coming back, most 80′s music is now Musak. I heard the Style Council yesterday in Pier One, makes you stop and listen amongst all that rattan and remember that girl in the car on that Friday night when your parents were out of town…but I digress
Personally, I rue the day when President Kennedy bucked the trend and changed men’s fashion by foregoing the customary hat. A good hat just makes any suit and tie ensemble… Curse you, former Pres. Kennedy!