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| Photos by Salt Water New England |
What could be better that a slightly oversized Barbour Beaufort in a vibrant pink wool? Enter Noah X Barbour.
It is the result of a highly anticipated collaboration between Barbour and Noah, released to the public on Thursday which sold out in minutes. Here is a review of one of the pieces in that collaboration that Noah sent to me.
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| Photos by Salt Water New England |
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
You are heading out the door. It is a bit chilly so you reach for a sweater. You have to make a split second choice between your favorite sweater or something less precious. Which do you take?
Far too many of us far too often reach for the lesser item. We want to save the best examples.
This is, most of the time, wrong.
Wearing an item is a great way of testing it. You think you like something? See if you are right. You may find that you don’t like it as much as you thought. Some items we love in theory, even how other people wear them, but they just don’t work on us. It is also a way of evolving your tastes. You want to learn from experience to make your next purchase more intelligently.
And clothes are not always like fine wines or a great scotch. If you are not wearing an item, it seldom gets better with age.
The items we love and don’t wear today end up clogging up the closet within a few years. Pretty soon we can’t give them away. In other words, the rule of thumb that you should get rid of clothes you haven’t worn in one to three years is true. (Society is more interested in listening to thoughts on cleaning than on clothes but the message here is the same.)
I do have a few exceptions. When I find clothes I really like, I tend to do some gentle stockpiling, especially if they go on sale. I have backups, and backups of backups, of various shirts and trousers that I currently wear.
And I do have a handknit Aran clan sweater still in its box, but even now I am thinking I should just wear it.
The truth is that we change. Our tastes evolve. We find better or alternative examples. We more comprehensively understand what works well with what we want to do. We move. Our hobbies change. Our bodies change, even if they don’t get thicker. Our skin tone and hair color changes.
So wear what you love. Take pleasure in getting every stitch of value from it, not in archiving it. It will improve your world in more ways than you think.
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
Here are five reader questions about blazers.
Hello Muffy,
I have a question for your readers: Has anyone tried the new (yet allegedly old) Brooks Brothers OCBDs? The initial reviews appear promising, and if true, would indicate a step (albeit small) in the right direction for Brooks.
- Original Polo® Button-Down Striped Oxford Shirt - Brooks Brothers <https://www.brooksbrothers.com/Original-Polo%C2%AE-Button-Down-Striped-Oxford-Shirt/MG03902_____BLUE_XL_______,default,pd.html>
Thanks.
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| Photo by Salt Water New England |
It is accepted that some people love food. And some people love music. Other people love architecture. Or technology. Or sports. Or watching films.
For each of these, we can read reviews, listen to podcasts, and engage in easy conversations with strangers. Ranking and other comparisons ("top five films about artificial intelligence", "ten best Beethoven sonatas) are the staple of cottage industries.
But to love clothes is more often seen as problematic. One is seen as too vain, or class conscious, or wasteful. More to the point, perhaps, to love clothes out in the open. Few myths are as apocryphal as the person who doesn't care about clothes.
Spending a generous birthday chit on a big dinner garners nods of appreciations, but on a sought after coat brings out everyone's inner Spartan. It might as well be January third and everyone just wants to get back to work. Perhaps the only socially forgivable largesse in clothing expenditures is for something extravagantly "fun" or "for style" and done on a lark.
Attempting serious conversations about clothes also chills any mood. Many who are otherwise doing their bit for the environment and supporting living wages often have blind spots when buying clothes made in sweat shops. To them, Patagonia is a role model, despite their off-shoring and synthetics.
The cost of this attitude has been high. Many clothing companies, certainly in the U.S., have enjoyed our social discomfort by relentlessly lowering standards and raising prices. Few companies here strive for greatness beyond marketing.
I wonder how much it is a U.S. thing. It has been said that American actors work from the heart out, while British actors work from the clothes in. Laurence Olivier once said he understood a role when he could figure out what shoes the character would wear.
Having said that, I do have hope. The truth is that it is great to love clothes. I would rather savor a good tweed than a good bottle of wine. Every walk, at least now that summer is over, begins with the decision of which wonderful outer garment to wear. My temperament is such that short bursts of vacation feels unsatisfying, like trying to hold onto sand, while something that endures gives me pleasure in getting it, in wearing it, and finally in passing it on.
And more people are finally catching on to the nasty business that we call fashion.
So perhaps someday more people will, among friends, casually debate top five light jackets, or favorite materials for commuter coats, or best new clothes of a given year.
Until then, it remains a more quiet love, and perhaps more pure as a result.
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| Photos by Salt Water New England |
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| Photos by Salt Water New England |
TICONDEROGA OF GREENWICH
A reader question:
Greetings Muffy,
I have a question for the community.
The number of people who experienced the preppy life before it was named and turned into a mass market was always small, and getting smaller. However I think a fair amount of them are on your site. My question is simple. For those people who were annoyed by how much TOPH got wrong, and obviously by the derivative examples since on social media, what are things that people today think are preppy but are not?
What are things that were never really preppy (such as Jeep Waggoneers, too cheaply made), what are things that are no longer preppy (such as penny loafers, too ugly), and what are tells (terms such as "OCBD", "Trad", "popped collar") that make you realize instantly the person is not of the world.
I suspect some people will say that talking about preppy is not preppy, which is absurd. If we don't talk about it, the only people that will talk about are the people who don't understand it, who are exactly the people who say that.
Thank you.
Reader Question:
Muffy, serious question... do you have and wear 'knocking around' clothes for doing outdoor work?
Answer:
My 'knock around' clothes are older versions of what I wear most of the time. After they get too ratty for outdoor work, they tend to get relegated to painting or muckier work.
There was an interesting article today in the Washington Post: "A flood of unknown products is making online shopping impossible." Here are some highlights:
These days, navigating Amazon, Walmart and Google’s maze of third-party sellers or judging hip-looking social media ads requires the same kinds of skills as identifying misinformation and conspiracy theories.
So a shopper also has to look for subtle signs such as too many reviews that are overly positive or use repetitive language. Search for the origin of a product photo to make sure it’s not stolen or provided to multiple sellers by a factory.
I can confirm this last point. I have had plenty of photographs from this site used without my permission or knowledge by criminals sites. (I know, ipso facto.) This is true of both social media sites as well as counterfeit sites.
Also:
Tech companies are vocal about their efforts to crack down on obvious counterfeit products...[but t]here may be no incentive for companies to crack down on this gray area.
The situation is as frustrating for companies making legitimate products as it is for shoppers.
Read the article here:
