Brian’s Brain My American Classic Timeless Inspiration:

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who WHAT WHERE WHEN how why POST2

WHAT is the American Classic Timeless Menswear style? Well let’s answer that by stating what it is as well as what it isn’t. It is a STYLE that is born out of the melting pot that is America. It isn’t merely personal style and it certainly isn’t fashion. The melting pot that is America is a conglomerate of multiple personal styles. From the ever expanding push of the fiercely independent Ulster Scotts (think Jim Bowie, Davie Crockett, Mark Twain and more modern innovators like, Neil Armstrong, to Elvis Presley to Steve McQueen) individuality has never been an issue in America. From the English, German, Dutch, Hispanic, Native American, African, Asian….ad infinitum, these diverse influencers have formed the American STYLE. America’s conformity has always been NON conformity. It is a stew of diverse ingredients that fluctuates and blends into its own savory serving. To reduce style to merely personal style is well-a boring statement.

I’ve always said fashion is “out of”the second it’s “in” -Whereas “style” is never “out of”. This is the spine of Classic Timeless Menswear yet hard to clearly define when one adds the adjective American. And the reason it is so- or rather the “WHAT” that makes it distinguishable is because certain elements simply have been proven to work over time. Now to give fashion a fair shake, absolutely nothing that is enduring style began without firstly being a “fashion” statement. The most obvious would be the use of a military coat becoming a sport coat. This Fashion statement attributed to Beau Brummel over 200 years ago when he introduced this tailored concept to the Regent court (as well as the concept bathing daily😷) and certainly the lapeled suit or sportcoat has long endured all over the globe. This once “fashion” statement has become the basis of Menswear for a long time. American styled menswear was a fashion statement based on COMFORT, Possibly the biggest event in the past 125 years was the advent of comfortable clothing for men attending college-specifically New England colleges.

This takes us into both the WHERE AND THE WHEN. Let’s start with the

WHEN

Providers of clothing like Brooks Brothers and later J. Press picked up and promoted this clothing change phenomenon: Victorian style frock coats gave way to a shorter coat (known at the time as leisure suits). Students who were required to wear coats and ties to class ironed over the lapels to create a 3/2 roll (top button is merely stylish rather than functional). This is the birth of American Sprezzatura. (Italian word reflecting studied or nonchalant elegance). These changes simply were more comfortable. Several other changes were introduced to make this daily requirement more comfortable: stiff removable starched collars were replaced by a shirt that had soft buttoned down collars (eg the original polo collar so the collar wouldn’t fly up into a polo riders face).

https://www.brooksbrothers.com/125shirts.html?srsltid=AfmBOoo5pISLuZmdNmTpy4ZeucFXiKfWu7iH1LQgCHx5yEwX2IDr_Emc

Stiff shoes gave way to a “fashion” statement - a shoe worn by Norwegian peasants which became know as the Weejun. (The Bass Weejun penny loafer).

https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/article/how-gh-bass-co-turned-the-understated-penny-loafer-into-a-cultural-icon-weejuns/

The American coat fit became more comfortable (the American sack coat style). By the end of WW2 this style of American students clothing, had become the standard style for industrial leaders, US Presidents, US congressmen and movie stars. THIS IS CLASSIC AMERICAN STYLE. It had become the classic America tailored look. With the exception of two wayward periods over the past 125 years( the 1970’s and well -now for about the last 15 years) American style was obvious. It’s important we know that we are in a sort of dark ages akin to the 1970’s- I’ll do another post on the WHY this matters later. But one reason for the current aberration is the internationalization of clothing manufacturing thus creating a throw away mentality.

https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/end-of-quality-menswear/

Simply put, buying quality clothing that is sustainable for many years perhaps even decades was expensive. Today’s throw away clothing perspective has lead to chasing fashion whims becoming a cheap pursuit. Another reason is the change of the East Coast centric style to the West Coast Centric style. Before going to the WHERE, let me return to the WHAT. We have conflated style with fashion. Think this through if Classic American Style has been comprised of well fitting comfortable appropriately designed clothing for 125 years AND this proven style have been the epitome of tasteful outfits for 100 of the past 125 years, why would one reduce it to such small minded explanations such as “preppy” and the latest pejorative du-jure term “ old money”. Surely one can recognize those

as reductive “fashion”terms? The use of neither is…well…. very smart. “Vibe” “stylin” “whims” are merely another chase after the shiny fashion bauble of the day.

While economic changes like the 80% decrease in textile manufacturing that has resulted in a throw away sensibility of clothing has had a major impact, cultural changes have changed the standards as well. We saw this in the late sixties and through out the 1970’s as a retreat from the 1950’s

https://fiftiesweb.com/fashion/1950s-mens-fashion/

Today instead of the hippie culture of the anti establishment movement we seem to be influenced by the counter corporate culture of the tech boom

WHERE:

Twenty to thirty years ago casual Fridays and not wearing a tie to an office was relegated to those guys out in Silicon Valley. There has always been a difference between East Coast (north differed from south). Mid US (north differed from south). And the west coast (basically a difference from everyone else and clearly a location that has been a linchpin for fashion forward ideals). The economic and cultural changes I’ve described have essentially pushed a clothing sensibility from the Boston/NY/ Charleston approach to the California approach. Chicago is caught somewhere in the middle. Uber successful icons like Bezos, Jobs, and Musk are examples of the immense influences that has caused this shift.

Getting back to my comments about the melting pot, many factors have contributed to classic American Style far beyond the foundation of the monumental NE collegiate experience. The return of WWII GIs wearing bomber jackets, and cloth A1 jackets, gaberdine trousers and the Army’s pinks and greens. These guys who accomplished the unaccomplishable returned to build and create the American sports car and motorcycle culture that had as equal of an impact as the NE collegiate clothing paradigm change. The amalgamation of service men and women being put together from all regions of the nation changed culture in so many ways the least of which was certainly in style and fashion. Plus I haven’t even begun on the impact of America and the world being enamored by the American cowboy.…that and America’s other original (the rock and roll star) depicts the absolute ideal for the American experiment’s fiercely independent contribution to the style scene.

OK Brian. So what. Why do I care. Well I’ll have to save that for the WHY😉

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