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Thursday, January 31, 2008: I'm excited to announce a new collaboration with (the) Manolo (for the) Men 'blog. I'll keep writing longer pieces for this site, with shorter, snippier bits there. ManoloMen's Izzy will continue his magnificent-ness there, and I will add some sparkle of my own. Thanks to The Manolo!

Classic American style would probably like to believe that it has nothing to do with fashion: button-down collars, cordovan loafers, and gray sack suits were never so much in or out, they just were. Fashion, though, has its way of rearing its disingenuous head anywhere it wants to, which is how it came to be than in 2007 classic American style made by classic American manufacturers is of-the-moment.

The evidence of this love affair with American style, this romancing of the man in the gray flannel suit and his many accoutrements, is easy to spot. Thom Browne may rightfully be credited with reminding people that such a thing as American style existed, since he claimed to be so inspired by it, and more recently the designer Michael Bastian has made no secret of his harking back to Perry Ellis. Brooks Brothers, under the active leadership of Claudio Del Vecchio, is finally making its founders proud with its return to style and quality (and prices to match--you do get what you pay for), J. Crew has extremely successfully returned to strong American style, if definitely, most definitely not American make, and J. Press stood up and dusted itself off, at least for the Madison Avenue flagship and the website. If you're waiting for me to mention Ralph Lauren, fine, here's his mention, but I can hardly say he's coming back when his company's popularity never even faded.

I would like very much to say that this renaissance has no effect on me. I, such a wise one you know, don't pay attention to fashion, and have always appreciated certain bits of American clothing and not others. I never ask if something is in or out, I judge it on its own merits. But I find myself strangely captivated by American-styled and American-made clothing this fall. I lust for a pair of Alden cordovan boots (Alden, by the way, very American, very East Coast, and surely the last truly good, really good, shoemaker in the United States, and the cordovan, by the way, always from Chicago). Is it a coincidence that I have been looking at Filson (Seattle) lately for outdoor wear? Functional, extremely well-made, American. No soft cashmeres there! Just hard-ass scratchy wool and cotton canvas. My absolute favorite new thing is my Filson tool bag, perhaps not used for actual tools, but that's none of your business.

Is it possible that fashion has done us a service here? It came back around and reminded us of a few ideas. It updated them just a bit, in fits, fabrics, and cuts. With all of fashion's attention on American style, it reminds us all that there are quite a few good items worth having. Those of us interested in authenticity rush to the authentic makers: L.L. Bean, Brooks Brothers, Alden, Pendleton, and Filson. Those of us not so interested in authenticity, looking more for a modern interpretation, happily find it for a few years from the newer companies and designers.

So perhaps it's sad to say that this, too, will pass. Yes yes, I know that "classic American" is just that, and it will always be. In 10 years I'll still have my Filson bag, and if I can ever justify the Alden cordovan boots (model AF53, size 9, cigar shell cordovan, please) they'll be with me. But not everyone will be goo-goo gah-gah for it. The designers will be onto something new, or old, or reborn. And classic American style, bow ties and all, will resume its old-man status for another 20 or 30 years.

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Apropos Filson -- I hit the warehouse sale last weekend. Kind of like Tiffany's swapping their space with Filene's Basement for a Saturday and Sunday, only with moose heads and mountain trout. This is all part of my wish to return to natural fibers -- authentic fibers (we have a strong pull toward authenticity lately in our house as you may know). However this brings me to a dilemma -- I depend on my clothes to perform at work and petroluem fabrics (can you even call them fabrics -- what are they, petroleum skins?) are reliable and comfortable. I'm hoping that if I wear Filson long enough my body will acclimate to it, as if some genetic consciousness in my skin will rekindle memories of its caveman days, or like a prodigal polar bear slowly growing back all the fur it had once lost when it moved to a Florida petting zoo. I don't know.

The mackinaw hat with the fur is pretty cool though.

By  georgeolivergo, at 11/2/07 1:44 AM  

I totally understand the privacy of alternative uses for items outside their labels' intents. For example, I'm somewhat partial to my rugged brown Filson dog collar. Even after people learn that I don't actually own a dog, they don't even nag on about why I have one. Maybe they just understand. Or maybe they don't want to know. Or maybe they just want to understand what they think they know. I love it.

By  Anonymous, at 11/2/07 10:25 PM  

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