Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Restraint—It Ain’t


Paul in NoVa writes…“It looks like Tin Tin has thrown out some ADG bait on The Trad with a posting of some British writer criticizing fuzziness in tailoring. He apparently would rather have his kidney taken out with a rusty hook than have a ticket pocket. Not sure if beef roll loafers are up to the rusty hook kidney operation level but is there something sartorial that is for you?”
First, Full Fuzziness is my strategy and there really isn’t an ADG sartorial “rusty hook” that I can think of at the moment. I’d even relent to beef rolls before I’d endure the rusty hook metaphor in situ. The record shows that I’m a South Carolina Fuzzy Diced Redneck … Carolina Anglo Cracker. Therefore, if there was an option for triple vents and nine sleeve cuffs with poacher pockets and bi-lateral pleated breast pockets anchored with four throat latches, I’d be all over it. Mark, “Puerto” Rykken is the one who declared years ago that if Fuzzy Dice were an option, I’d request them every time. So…less is never more with me…restraint is an anti-ADD/ADG trait. Case in point…a reader defined my Bobby from Boston bullet proof jacketing above as an ADG Advent Calendar. Bingo.
A ticket pocket? Add that to the bespoke specs and we’re just getting started.
A final word on Fuzzy…I came of age in a decade when Fuzziness was still de rigueur. This new trend of Brazilian smoothness…this Anti-Fuzz epoch is mildly unsettling for a guy who remembers the lush days of Fuzzy in Full. There’s always room for at least trace elements of Fuzzy Dice. Even small ones.

Onward. Fuzzily
ADG II

15 comments:

Owl Tie said...

The Bobby coat. Yeah. GREAT find. The Advent Calendar comment. Funniest description I have ever read on your blog. Period. (Was that Pigtown or Flo or who? I have forgotten.) Anyway. Love all your flappery and flippancy. Now. Another subject. Explain double breasts to me. I don't get it. I really don't. You have to give me a why and a wherefore. I need history and reason. It's been driving me crazy lately. Keeping me up 'til the wee hours of the night.

Anonymous said...

"(Was that Pigtown or Flo or who? I have forgotten.)"

Thank you for remembering, Owl Tie. Can you believe he referred to the author of that gem as "a reader"?

Look to the military for the origins of the double-breasted jacket, that's my guess. You get to lob guesses when you're a reader.

-F

Anonymous said...

To Owl Tie,

Maybe Johnny Mercer splained it best:

WAY OUT WEST WE'RE WILD AND WOOLY
IN ORDER TO EXPLAIN IT FULLY:
WE'RE TALL GROWN, ALL GROWN,
ALL THE MEN ARE HAIRY-CHESTED
AND ALL THE WOMEN DOUBLE BREASTED
WE'RE LADY LIKE UNTIL MOLESTED,
AND THEN WE'RE ON OUR OWN.

I think Ella or Ethel Merman can sing it for you. If that doesn't work, just think about it a little while: DB is simply a wider overlap. Nearly every shirt or jacket has some overlap, otherwise you get what is referred to in the technical literature as GAP-OSIS. While we all enjoy a little gappage now and then, I believe the advantage of DB fronts is in the way fabric can be draped and,to use an ADG word, swathed around the human form. Plus, it just looks spiffy,especially if nobody else is doing it. Didn't you have a Pea coat in high school? Ever see a chef "swap the front" on his jacket when food got spilled? Castor Montrose

Scott Alexander said...

I'm for full-on fuzziness. As I like to say... more is more and less is boring. Were it practical for my budget, I'd have a wardrobe full of loud tweeds with ticket pockets, embroidered cords in every color and the entire Crockett and Jones collection.


One exception - slippers. Not now and not ever a slippers guy.

Young Fogey said...

Didn't Forrest Gump say, "fuzzy is as fuzzy does"?

Double-breasted jackets have military origins. They were all the rage from the 30s through part of the 50s. In one of his interviews, Fred Astaire said something about how bad an idea it was for men to take up their tailors on the latter's offers to convert their double-breasted suit jackets to single.

They look good, and make men look good in them. Is any other reason necessary?

One tip: NEVER wear a belt under a double-breasted jacket. It makes for unsightly lumps. Suspenders or side tabs only, please.

Anonymous said...

-F

Seriously. People get paid to write clever stuff like that. I crack up every time I see jacket flaps...thinking "advent calendar". Pure jealous rage that I hadn't thought of it myself. Damn.

Owl Tie said...

Flo.... Your advent calendar comment...That was back on Dec. 18, 2010. Jeezus. It was a good blog post. I revisited it just now. Reggie thought you were amusing, as well.

Anonymous said...

I know! Reggie even laughed about it over on his own blog that same day. Max is one damn promiscuous [lemmie go check that spelling....alright, it's good] reader material rip off. I need representation. Problem is, I may have peaked; but the strategist in Max knows I carry that fear, so he carries it as an advantage, that's why he's out ahead of me all the time, rippin off my material, callin me "a reader." He's daring me to challenge his sorry a**.

-F

LPC said...

You all addressed the first part of this post. As for the last part? Um.

ilovelimegreen said...

I don't lie awake wondering about double breasted jackets but beefrolls are what I wonder about at night. I just don't get what is the big deal either way.
And Flo, I forgot how much I loved the advent calendar comment.

ilovelimegreen said...

Oh...I display my fuzzy (lime) dice in a similar fashion in my office.

Anonymous said...

Anybody can come up with a funny line now and again, but it's the rare person such as Maxminimus who can deliver side-splitting heartfelt content consistently over time. Here's to you [raises coffee cup] and your body of work, Max. And thank you for organizing said body in the right margin as you have, makes it easy for us groupies to revisit your genius whenever we want.

You went ahead and got the jacket in the first frame, yes?

ADG said...

AnonJacket...haven't popped for the coat yet. But they have two in my size.

LimeGreener...I'm surprised.

LPC...I think everyone either missed that part or decided to deliberately ignore it. Probably the latter. Probably just as well.

FLO...I thought that you'd want anon---whatever.

FogeyYoung...Thanks for the tutorial/treatise. I've never thought about the belt w/DB issue. Mainliest reason is that I don't own a suit that requires a belt.

ScottSlippers...you'll come around.

Gap-Osis...that phenomenon is beer belly centric too ain't it?

OwlTie...I think these boys splained the DB thang quite well.

MAH said...

off topic- http://theivyleaguelook.blogspot.com/2012/07/mr-casual-1960.html

ADG said...

ANON-LATE20's ...I did not, obviously, post your comment since you requested that I not. But I'm glad to hear your point of view. Much has changed since my post marriage re-entry to the world of romance. And that particular one I found to be unappealing...at least to me.

Bean Gal...thanks. Interesting that Bendel ultimately bought the little factory or at least bought an interest in it. And people want Bendel to be some esoteric fop from France or Belgium. He was from Louisiana.