A reader question:
Greetings All,
We're a little more than a week away from Thanksgiving. A question for the gentlemen... how many of you will be wearing a coat and tie for Thanksgiving dinner? For the record, we both will—not even up for discussion.
Prost!
No coats or ties...OCBD and a cardigan with khakis at most...the kind with elastic in the waist ; )
ReplyDeleteI’ll throw on an ocbd, khakis, and a Schoffel vest, typically with Dubarry chelsea boots. I’ll be afield the morning of Thanksgiving, so that’ll involve wellies. Also, my newborn son is named Gresham - cheers to you, sir.
DeleteLove it Anonymous...Happy Thanksgiving to all my SWNE'ers!!
DeleteNot I. But my wife & I will be by ourselves, and I am planning to wear a nice sweater.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving dinner is most definitely an OCBD and sweater event in our house. We’re also a shoes/boots off in the mudroom crowd, so spiffy socks are a must.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I forgot about spiffy socks. Khakis and a sweater. No tie or jacket. And NOW, spiffy socks!
DeleteMost likely a sweater polo over a tee with tan cords and fair isle socks for me! We will be on the South Shore of Mass and spending the evening with hosts who dress more casually (quarter zips) on the holiday than they do for work. Don't want to upstage anyone. Though my fiancee always shines in her tartan dresses and long cardigans!
ReplyDeleteocbd with blue fair isle sweater. Khakis or jeans with brown chippewa boots.
ReplyDeleteWe're hosting. Between the oven going and a fire in the fireplace, it's likely to be warm in the house.
DeleteI'll start the morning in an OCBD and shetland sweater, but likely lose the sweater and roll up my sleeves before carving the bird.
I miss those days, but—no. It would be impractical, aside from everything else. But definitely an OCBD and khakis, possibly even a sweater if I can find one lightweight enough.
ReplyDeleteThe children will outnumber the adults this year. Comfortable clothes are key.
ReplyDeleteBut of course!
ReplyDeleteKind Regards,
Heinz-Ulrich
Comfortable and casual enough to go outside after eating and toss the football.
ReplyDeleteCast no aspersions please. We will be spending Turkey Day a Paris. Quelle horreur!. But that’s the way it is. So… in tune with the setting we will step up our sartorial game at dinner hosted by Minnesota born and bred expat friends. The women likely will be dressed in their best black. The men, at least one of them, will wear a tie. More important we will contribute some sort of New England maple product to the feast. Any suggestions? Voila!
ReplyDeleteHaven't worn a coat and tie in so long I'm not sure where they are. They may have become moth-eaten.
ReplyDeleteOf course I will. I'm not a savage.
ReplyDeleteNo coat and tie for me. I have created a little tradition of finding a sweater to wear with an OCBD. The sweater has had something to do with waterfowl or upland birds. I'm only three years in, but the annual hunt for the sweater is worth it.
ReplyDeleteTo the general question about coats and ties, I wear them just about daily for work.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the list of settings where that sort of dress isn't going to make some people around you uncomfortable is pretty short and getting shorter: weddings, funerals, and Sundays at some high church churches; courtrooms; the front of a college classroom and the administration of some private high schools; nice restaurants and private clubs. There might be a few more, but not all that many.
One of the things SWNE does well is depict a style that's put together and elevated, but that won't draw unsolicited looks or comments. Khakis, button downs, and knits with loafers or boat shoes looks good without sticking out.
Well-expressed.
DeleteRather a shame that society has come to the point where one feels contempt for someone else wearing a tie. But it's okay to go to an event in pajama sweatpants...
DeleteFor better or worse, it seems a tie worn with a v-neck sweater seems to take the edge off what most people today see, alas, as an unnecessary formality.
DeleteTartan trousers, OCBD, and Shetland sweater for me.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great question! I live in rural New England and shall endeavor to dress appropriately. :) From bottom to top: rubber sole cordovan bluchers, spiffy socks (as noted above), tan 5-pocket cords or chinos, pale blue or tattersall button down shirt, and hunter green or possibly grey v-neck lambswool sweater. Depending on the weather, I might wear an unstructured wool sport coat and school scarf for the postprandial walk. But that's as close as I will come to a coat and tie.
ReplyDeleteBlazer and tie, with button-down, and khakis or grey flannels. Thanksgiving is a most special family time. Now it is just the wife, kids, and I, after larger events throughout my life, so we go out. Inviting a widow friend to join us this year. I dress because, living in the West, there is less opportunity to do so without appearing ostentatious, but also to teach my teen son how life should be lived. -JDV
ReplyDeleteYes. Going to the club for Thanksgiving, but I suspect many will be wearing coats (required) sans tie. Much different from a couple of decades ago.
ReplyDeleteThe world has changed very much. For better and worse.
DeleteMy club has a notation for the Thanksgiving buffet: "Jacket preferred".
DeleteI took testimony today. Alden shell cordovan loafers, Jack Donnelly khakis, old braided leather Brooks Bros. belt, blue oxford cloth button down shirt with unfused/unlined collar, placket & cuffs, blue Oxxford blazer with golf-themed buttons (I don't play, but my father-in-law was a scratch golfer and obsessed with it), borrowed necktie because I forgot to bring one on this trip.
ReplyDeleteMinus the tie and maybe swapping the blazer for a Shetland, lambswool or cashmere sweater, that's roughly what I expect to wear for Thanksgiving dinner.
My dress for this All-American event is based on the event and the prevailing weather. Here in south-central Pennsylvania the forecast is for cool low 40s which will require my maroon Joseph Turner cords, blue L.L. Bean OCBD, O'Connell' navy Shetland crew sweater and Bass Weejuns, sockless, of course. A navy blazer with UVA buttons in the back seat, just in case.
ReplyDeleteSockless? Did you mean Celsius?
DeleteI'm afraid I'll be wearing a tie to our Thanksgiving to purposely make the gentlemen in attendance uncomfortable. Not because I enjoy seeing people uncomfortable, but because I'm hoping the men will wonder why they feel uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteI'm nowhere near the Atlantic and my family lineage is completely devoid of any class or wealth. But I don't accept that that means the men can lounge around in joggers and hooded sweatshirts. Especially when these men did nothing to help prepare the Thanksgiving meal (blowing some leaves into a pile outside doesn't count). The least these men can do is put effort into their appearance. The least they can do, while they over-eat the food they didn't help make, and splay themselves out across the sofa to watch football so no one else can sit, is not look like a slob.
My shirt will be a cotton button down that I bought fifteen years ago from some dumpy department store. I haven't decided on the color. My trousers will be a pair of department store chinos that are too long because I never bothered to take the time to hem them myself, so I'll be cuffing them up. My shoes will be a pair of kiltie loafers I found for $8.99 at Goodwill. I'm hoping they hold up. I had to glue them back together with Shoe Goo this week. The tie, also from Goodwill, $1.99, will be a wool argyle in blues and browns that came from some place called Los Wigwam Weavers in Denver, Colorado. Judging by its width, it's probably from the 70s. And my jacket is one I've had since high school. It's just an unstructured navy blazer from the Gap.
All of this is to say, it's obtainable now more than ever for a man to look decent by cherry picking at their local thrift store. And if I make a man uneasy for a few hours at Thanksgiving by simply putting on a tie and jacket, it would be worth it just to see them put more effort into what they wear for Christmas.
Best to you and yours,
AJR
Bravo for your plug for thrifting. As to shaming others into dressing better, it has to start somewhere. However, rather than the notion of discomfort, I prefer to think of it as inspiration.
DeleteMe thinks you like to stir the pot! My kindred spirit, Happy Thanksgiving.
DeleteI'm sorry the men in your family are such lameos. Maybe instead of leading by example by wearing a tie, you could show them how to help prepare the meal?
DeleteIt is nice to see some names and "noms de net" that I recognize among the commenters, and note that coats and ties are the norm for at least a couple of them. I generally wear a coat and tie most days, and have always done so on Thanksgiving when hosting; my wife wears an appropriate autumnal dress or skirt. This year, however, we will be visiting someone else's home, and I am afraid that the tie might make them and their other guests feel a bit uncomfortable, so I plan on cords, OCBD, and tweed jacket with cordovan penny loafers, but the tie will likely come off after church and before dinner this year.
ReplyDeleteSome vintage J. Press cords, and a shetland sweater! But spiffy socks shall also be the order of the day! Cheers, and thank you!
ReplyDeleteSaving the tie for the first day of skiing... the Tattersall flannel OCBD, khakis and on top of the "spiffy" socks, a pair of oh, so comfortable Quoddy Grizzley Mocs... yes, dinner by ourselves at home as Thanksgiving must be one of the worst days of the year to eat "out"... Guess the pilgrims cracked open a bottle of Pinot Noir with their turkey, as will I... what do you prefer?
ReplyDeleteWear what you wish, formal or not. But I'll just note that "formal" (for men) no longer means boiled shirts and stiff wing collars. Follow whatever sartorial rules you like, but please realize that their evolution is always toward greater comfort, even among the formal wear.
ReplyDeleteMaybe. Maybe not. Society has, for example, “evolved” to sweatpants. Are droopy, heavy, sweatpants really more comfortable than pants of fine fabric fitted a bit loose and worn with suspenders?
DeleteGentlemen and older boys are required to wear coats and ties at our Westchester County, NY club for Thanksgiving dinner.
ReplyDeleteThis year will be the first my wife and I are alone for Thanksgiving. The rest of the family is split between Connecticut and Lexington, Ky. Fortunately, everyone will be able to gather together in Lexington for Christmas. We will be dining at a lovely historic restaurant, on the Delaware in Bucks County, Pa. I will likely wear an OCBD, tie, old Brooks navy blazer, khakis, tassel loafers. If the weather is foul, swap khakis for jeans, cowboy boots and probably lose the tie.
ReplyDeleteHi All. I am the OP. It is great to read all these responses. Coats and ties or not, lets all take some time all this week to give thanks for all the good fortune, good health, friends and family, and the beauty of the world around us. We can debate the ups and downs and ins and outs of daily life at another time (and preferably on other web sites please!). This year lets take the week to focus on being thankful and reconnecting with gratitude.
ReplyDeleteProst!