Refinement

Shoes Redux

2008-10-13T00:15:48Z

I deleted my previous post about my shoes because now I have a picture of them, and so I'm currently wondering if mr_roper 's advice from before still apply. His advice was thus:

If the leather is only superficially damaged I would advise a liberal application of saddlesoap which will moisturise the leather and reduce any cracks.

Find a good polish that matches the colour of the leather, if this isn't possible, use a neutral polish. Kiwi is the best brand that I've encountered and is easy to get hold of. Give them a good going over with the polish, ideally after the saddlesoap treatment is dry. Leave the polish on overnight or at least 8 hours and then buff off with a soft brush followed by a soft cloth.

This should get rid of all but the very worst cracking, scuffs and scratches unless the shoes are patent leather (but I'll assume they're not since you've said they're brown).

Be sure to then clean and polish them, using the saddlesoap ideally once every six months or so to keep the leather waterproof and supple. They should last quite well and look good then.

As my grandfather would say 'Look after your shoes and they'll look after your feet'.

I hope this is of some use.

Since I didn't include a picture of the shoes before, I am not sure if this is still of use or not. Behind the cut is the photo I took of my shoes yesterday, which should clarify my original dilemma. They are a pair of brown Clairborne bilbornes that my mom got for cheap from Kohl's. They're rubber soled, but like I mentioned before, what's concerning me is the leather uppers. I'll admit I have not taken care of them in any real shape or form, so the picture behind the cut may make some of you cringe.

mr_roper , does your advice still apply, now that you can see the damage? These were cheap shoes; so don't be hesitent if your new diagnosis is to just get a new pair. I've had these for three or four years at this point - though they're still really comfortable. Hell, I'm surprised that the soles are still holding together!

refinement @ 2008-10-10T11:46:00

2008-10-10T16:53:32Z

My habitual shirt at my office is a French blue oxford-cloth buttondown. (And we'll discuss the psychology of owning two dozen identical ones later) But I have been looking at some of the striped dress shirts that seem to be making themselves visible this year. They seem to be darker-ground, with slightly wider stripes. Is this a London look returning to the States. In any case--- what are community members' thoughts on striped dress shirts in general, and on darker-ground (i.e., stripes not laid over pale blue or white) shirts in particular?

A Little Jermyn Street in New York

2008-10-06T03:18:34Z

My love and I are travelling to the Caribbean on the Queen Mary 2 in six weeks' time and so I needed to get some new clothes. My normal ensembles from messrs. J Crew and R. Lauren would be entirely inadequate for this trip. Plus, having a little bit of the oof to spare given a recent arrival of some back pay, it's a good time for a wardrobe upgrade. A visit to Paul Stuart netted a peak lapel dinner jacket for the formal evenings aboard ship, but I still needed a shirt or two. There was only one place to go: Turnbull & Asser.

On 57th Street near Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan sits the colonial outpost of Turnbull & Asser, London shirtmakers. Upon entering what seems to be a wood-paneled Victorian-era town house, with a fireplace and a few shirts and ties on display, we were ushered upstairs to discuss things. T&A are undoubtedly the premier bespoke shirtmakers in London, perhaps the world, having clothed everyone from Prince Charles and Winston Churchill to Fred Astaire and Gwyneth Paltrow, along with my personal style icon Stephen Fry. Winston Churchill's purple velvet pyjamas were in a case in the hallway, and patterns from the likes of Ronald Reagan and Tony Bennett hung on the walls.

I was not going to be purchasing bespoke shirts just yet, a little out of my price range. The staff was uniformly friendly and charming - we discussed off the rack shirt and ties at length. T&A are known for their brightly colored and patterned shirts, of which only 30 or so are made of each particular pattern, so your chances of running into someone else wearing your shirt pattern are rather slim. Their ties are in the rich textured silk weaves the English love, in deep colors and patterns ranging from simple dots to swinging-60s style op-art. You can go from very conservative to Austin Powers in moments in this store - it's all up to you and your tastes. With me in my subway-friendly denim and flannel and Barbour coat, I felt a little like a wandering Viking who'd just blundered in to high tea, but the staff paid it no mind whatsoever. Like the best of the truly aristocratic, they were not in the least bit snobby. Snobbiness is a habit for those unsure of their position.

"What do you think of this combination?" I asked one of the gentlemen on staff, holding a solid-green tie up against a purple and grey checked shirt. "Oh, it's very English," he said, to my satisfaction. "They don't really go together, but they kind of do." The best color schemes are found in nature, we agreed, as we discussed dress and comportment habits in an overly casual world. I've made a bit of a study of the London style of dressing - Americans tend to match their shirt colors to something in the tie, and the pocket square to something else - either completely matched, which to the educated eye is a little simplistic, to pickups in pattern or line, matching a secondary color in shirt to primary color in the tie or vice versa. The English tend not to bother with matching anything, considering even somewhat clashing colors to be acceptable, like something one just happened to put on that morning that nonetheless still somehow hangs together (the 'colors found in nature' idea was a very good hint to the general approach). The American staff member on premises steered me towards the domestic-style practice, but the Englishman on staff (who was a trifle older and possibly the manager) and I were more in agreement.

It's important to note that the shirt and tie are the only color expression really allowed the British or North American gentlemen in traditional dress - the suit or jacket (or sweater) should be in a neutral dark color such as navy or charcoal to provide grounding for what can be a quite colorful shirt and tie. The Englishman was traditionally limited in tie choice by school or club membership, that is no longer really the case, but it did evolve into the practice of making the shirt one's means of individual expression, while the tie remained somewhat neutral and darker, and of more subtle pattern. Americans tend towards the tie being the expression on a neutral blue or white shirt, with a brightly patterned or colorful tie being favored.

I am actually Canadian, which is a hybrid of the British and American traditions, usually in modern practice leaning towards the American. However, I don't often wear ties at work and so the brightly colored shirts of Turnbull and Asser are right up my alley. I ended up buying two shirts and a couple of ties - all of which blow away everything else I've got in my closet (but oxford-cloth buttondowns from Uniqlo or Rugby are hardly in the same grade). The shirts are terribly comfortable and of truly gorgeous patterns - bright and cheerful, but not gaudy, I adore them immediately. I of course bought the purple check and the green tie. I'll happily wear them with a navy blazer aboard ship on the more casual evenings.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid I'm now spoiled for shirts anywhere else. Any other clothing store feels, well, inadequate. I'll have to wear these shirts a great deal, until I can afford a couple more in a few year's time.

Tailoring

2008-10-04T12:08:58Z

I have long been a lurker on this community under another name, and while I am generally shy and not given to posting, my curiosity has overcome me. Many years ago, I read the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers, and I did not quite understand what the author meant when she mentioned in one book that Lord Peter's shoulders were "tailored to swooning point."

I wonder if the members might assist me in understanding that turn of phrase.

I'm in my public library and just found...

2008-09-23T17:04:12Z

and flipping through it, it's a feast for the eyes. Unfortunately, there's no Dali for one reason or another, and the ratio of illustrated men to women is incredibly tiny... However, it looks to be very enjoyable nonetheless.

Refined Security

2008-09-23T01:50:10Z

The Bulletproof Pocket Square

When one needs to stop a bullet with panache. A Kevlar pocket square. Useful for men's clothing internet discussion fora.

The 21st century ninja dandy bullet-proof handkerchief made of Kevlar is exclusively sold at Liborius. The store and designer take NO responsibility for schmucks and wooden-heads who feel compelled to test the endurance or resistance of the textile in any way.

Question!

2008-09-17T03:16:17Z

Hello, I've been watching this community for quite some time, but this is my first post.

Could anyone recommend any Opera Art? I'm doing entertainment for my Art theme and I would like to look into the older performances... So there!
Anything that includes Opera Halls, Singers, an audience would be VERY helpful! Thank you!

Brown shoes

2008-09-14T18:41:57Z

I recently came into possession of a lovely pair of classic brown brogues. They are wonderfully comfortable with a delightful patina gained only from many years of polishing and care. They're also my first British made pair of shoes which, for some reason, instills a little more confidence in the build quality than I might get from a pair of Italian shoes (which tend to be softer, more delicate leather better suited to evening wear) or Asian-origin shoes (which tend to be, but are not always, shoddily made in questionable factories).

I was curious as to whether there is any particular etiquette regarding these shoes I should be aware of since I personally have always viewed brown shoes as somewhat less formal than black.

Dante Rossetti and hair

2008-09-07T04:09:57Z

My current haircut is thus:

I've been trying to explain, of late, what kind of hairstyle I want to sport. My hair is too long to do anything with and I'm tired of the constant shaving and maintenance. I've had my fun with the 'mane' and now it's time to try something a little more versatile and mature.

Upon seeking inspiration I found a lot of hairstyles that had ridiculous fringes, lopsided tufty bits and general ugliness and then, entirely by accident, I stumbled across this 19th century image of Dante Rossetti.

It made me realise that this is almost exactly what I want with my hair. It's a good length, suitable for my face (without wishing to appear pretentious, I consider my face to be similar to Rossetti's but with a weaker chin hidden by a French-style goatee which is now longer than in the first picture) and quite versatile for numerous styles.

I wondered what the members here thought.

Sporty refinement

2008-09-05T14:04:00Z

Oh yes please.

Derringer Cycles:

"From the white tires, manufactured without the use of carbon black, to the hand made leather saddles with hammered copper rivets, each Derringer is a beautifully crafted objet d' art. The finished product is a pure vintage racer, reimagined for a concrete jungle."

Based on a 1920s velodrome pace bike, it gets over 100 mpg and looks awesome while doing it. It demands a helmet with goggles and a leather jacket.

Commuting Commuting

2008-09-04T10:16:02Z

Ladies (and gentlemen with an eye for ladies fashion) I need a simple, practical way of dressing for city work without compromising on style. Suggestions?

refinement @ 2008-09-03T14:38:00

2008-09-03T18:38:26Z

SalonCon Presale Tickets End on Friday

salonconvention & salonannounce

Foppery

2008-08-09T07:30:00Z

Not entirely sure if this is appropriate, but it may raise an eyebrow or two.

A while ago I attended an historically themed party where people were to attend in attire from 1300-1930. It was terrific fun.

I put together a very late-Regency/early-Victorian outfit, circa 1835 complete with corsetry, frills and ridiculous make up. It's a shame I couldn't style my hair the way I wanted to, I had to make do with a simple smoothing down and a white lace hair bag (the proper name escapes me) instead.

David Byrne

2008-08-04T23:14:00Z

I was looking for a recent picture of David Byrne to make into an avatar for forums I post on, and instead I found this:

I haven't the foggiest how old this picture is, but I'm captivated by the hat and scarf, so much so that I wanted to share this discovery. Enjoy.

What a Waist

2008-08-03T10:00:41Z

At this years Salon con....

2008-07-28T04:59:37Z

Costume contest for steampunk,mad scientist,dandies Victorian and neo-Victorian.
It will be judged by author G. D. Falksen (http://www.myspace.com/gdfalksen)

Include prizes such as from
*hardback of ESCAPEMENT by Jay Lake (http://us.macmillan.com/escapement)
*Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab(http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/)
*Weird Tales ( http://www.weirdtales.net/),
*The Willows Magazine (http://www.thewillowsmagazine.com/index.htm)
*Death Rock Magazine (http://www.deathrockmagazine.com/)
*Alchemy Gothic (http://www.alchemygothic.com/)
*Lip Service (http://www.lip-service.com/)
* Exotic wears (http://www.exoticindiaart.com)
* Jaborwhalky Productions (http://www.jaborwhalky.com)
* Oldies (http://www.oldies.com)
*midnightsyndicate (http://www.midnightsyndicate.com/)
*manic panic (http://www.manicpanic.com/)
* metropolis records (http://www.metropolis-records.com/)
*Master &Mistress (http://www.mastermistress.com/)
and some more.

Prizes will be given for three categories
* best costume male
* best costume female,
* best costume group.
Come dressed in you best and most imaginative costumes, and prepare to
show off and admire each other's creations.

This will take place some time during the afternoon /evening of

So...whos up for it?

refinement @ 2008-07-23T07:11:00

2008-07-23T15:27:06Z

THE IMPRESSIONISTS' PICNIC DANCE

A Picnic in the Park with PEERS

Type your cut contents here.

Saturday, August 2, 2008
Location: Lincoln Park
1450 High Street, Alameda
(Near the Rose Garden)
Suggested Set-Up Time: 11:00 am (or earlier)
Picnic Luncheon begins: 11:30 am
Formal Dancing: 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Admission: Free!

Le Salon des Refusés invites painters, models, artistic subjects, and interested members of the artistic-minded public to join us for an outdoor picnic, fête, and dance in shady, picturesque Lincoln Park.

Guests are urged to bring a period-looking picnic and plenty of beverages to sustain them through an afternoon of elegant but lively dancing. Since the picnic tables at Lincoln Park are at the opposite end of the park from the Rose Garden, where we shall be gathering, we suggest bringing blankets to spread on the ground for your picnic luncheon, and chairs or tables if you wish them.

Just for clarification: This event is not a potluck. Do bring your own luncheon! Our own chefs and their kitchen staff will be on holiday.

Mid to late 19^th century dress (1860-1900) is admired but not required, and “artistic” costume, Pre-Raphaelite attire, or modern dress is also perfectly acceptable. Given the changeable nature of our lovely ~~Alamedan~~ Parisian weather, you may find it useful as well as ornamental to wear a hat or bonnet and bring both a parasol and a wrap. Above all, please wear sturdy, comfortable shoes you can dance in outdoors.

After the luncheon, Bangers & Mash will play an afternoon of 19^th century waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and French and English country dance music for your dancing pleasure (All pattern dances will be briefly taught or called).

Artists, both professional and amateur, are encouraged to set up their easels and to invite their models. Witty, artistic conversation and elegant flirtation are also encouraged.

This event is a thank you to all of our devoted fans, and we will not be charging a fee for admission. Donations for our brilliant and hard-working musicians will be gratefully accepted, however, both before and during the event.

To make an advance donation, simply click on the PayPal icon:

Return to List of Events.

PEERS Home Page.

refinement @ 2008-07-22T14:15:00

2008-07-23T04:56:41Z

For those who aren't too refined to enjoy trashy television, there is a new MTV show called "From G's to Gents" that may amuse. Featuring Fonzworth Bentley.

Looking for Lulu

2008-07-23T04:56:40Z

I have become infatuated of late and for why I can not say. Infatuated with a woman with a short black hair cut almost in a masculine fashion yet artistically rendered in a way I find most alluring. Infatuated with her eyes (oh those eyes), her legs, her lips, her alabaster white skin, and yet while I am infatuated and really to the point of being in love I do have a problem. One very difficult problem which is impossible to overcome and that being the woman I can't stop thinking of is dead, yes dead. Not a lover I knew in my lifetime, nothing so sad or macabre, but rather someone who was young and beautiful long before I breathed my first breath on this planet. The woman I speak of is the Hollywood actress of the silent era, Louise Brooks. She stared in many American films, but is perhaps best known for her role in a German production of Pandora's Box. Directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst in his New Objectivity period at the height of that wonderfully creative and liberal Weimar Republic, this film is filled with loose sexual mores typical of the Weimar and includes the first screen portrayal of a lesbian. If only today I could find such a woman I would indeed be a happy man. Why don't such women like this exist today *sigh*?

The Chap Olympics.

2008-07-14T09:28:37Z

I've been planning to go to the Chap Olympics for the last few years, and every year I've forgotten or something has come up and I've missed it. It looks great fun; you get to dress up in a dapper way and sit round in a park drinking gin and champers with any number of other like-minded people. What is there not to like? But there's another reason I wanted to go.

There's one of the events, you see. The "Scoundrels Challenge", in which a gentleman has to approach a lady and act in the most caddish manner possible until felled by a ringing slap of outrage. The winner gets to claim to be the rottenest fellow in the world and, really, how could I not enter an event like that?
So this year I made the effort.
The first thing to do was the treasure hunt for tickets. I hadn't had time to do that before so I got up bright and early on Saturday morning and made the rounds of London (including one shop miles from anywhere down the Fulham Road, which resulted in my having a restorative drink and lunch in an incredibly dodgy Fulham pub whilst wearing a trilby and monocle, which is an experience I wouldn't recommend to the faint of heart).
From there it was off to Hampstead Heath and the Olympiad itself, with naught but my haughty demeanor plus a flask of tea and some macaroons to help me survive the mystified (and admiring from the ladies, naturally) glances of my fellow passangers on the tube (although I did make a friend on the way; there was only one place in London on Saturday that a man in plus-fours and spats could possibly be going).

There are a number of events at the Olympiad - the cucumber sandwich discus (hurling a plate of cucumber sandwiches as far as they will go; the winner is determined by the distance of the furthest sandwich), the Hop, Skip and G&T, the moustache wrestling and so on, but I was there for one event only and so spent most of the afternoon drinking, socialising and promenading with a gal on my arm. To my delight, I found that a monocle is a fine conversational icebreaker and had my picture taken several times by admiring passers-by.
The Scoundrels Challenge was the final event and I took my place at the starting line. I'd been practising my leering and groping all afternoon and felt in good form - so much so that, like any good rotter, I elbowed my way to the front and was the first contestant. I strolled with a lascivious smirk to the most buxom lady I could see. "I say", I said. "Let's take a closer look at those!", before leaning over and dropping my monocle neatly into her cleavage.
I had been going to offer to fish it out for her, but she belted me one.
After that, things degenerated into something of a melee as scoundrels wandered up to the ladies and were driven away in a flurry of slaps, handbags and well-placed kicks to the shins. Alas, no winner was announced but I claimed a moral victory on the basis that I was slapped by more ladies than any other man there. In the annals of caddishness, I reckon that counts as a victory.

Not to mention that my leering, cigar-smoking, monocle dropping performance is apparently going to be on Russian television. Huzzah!

Pictures Here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2298514/The-Chap-Olympics.html
None of me directly, although I can be seen in the background (grey trilby behind the lady's umbrella) of picture 5.

In which, Rushwriter offers up the Gentleman's Emporium.

2008-07-11T05:11:02Z

In case anyone is having difficulty choosing or locating their attire in the morning...

http://www.gentlemansemporium.com/index.php?from=topnav

Art thing, possibly of interest to esteemed members.

2008-07-09T23:17:16Z

Untitled, Ink and gold (though unfortunately it seems the gold has not scanned at all well).

Dances of Vice: Shanghai Vice portraits

2008-07-08T07:53:41Z

I wanted to again share a few photos from my previous Dances of Vice party, of guests exhibiting the height of refinement... More images can be found in the Dances of Vice Flickr Pool, or on our Myspace album.

All photos by Steven Rosen Photography.

Joe Versus the Volcano (on clothes)

2008-07-03T18:07:39Z

MARSHALL
You were hinting around about
clothes. It happens that
clothes are very important to
me, Mister..

JOE
Banks.

MARSHALL
Banks. Clothes make the man.
I believe that. You say to me
you wanna go shopping, you
wanna buy clothes, but you
don't know what kind. You
leave that hanging in the air,
like I'm going to fill in the
blank, that to me is like
asking me who you are, and I
don't know who you are, I
don't wanna know. It's taken
me my whole life to find out
who I am and I'm tired now,
you hear what I'm say in'?
What's your name?

A Philosophical Excerpt

2008-07-01T04:38:27Z

Lately I've been working my way through Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life: Not a Novel. I thought members of refinement might find his viewpoint on the seeking of refined company interesting. Because of the expansive nature of his (& Proust's) philosophical ramblings, the set-up for his point is a bit long; I've tried to excerpt it in as short and relevant way as possible:

Such disastrous encounters with aristocrats might encourage us to give up our aspirations for so-called eminent figures, who only turn out to be vulgar drones when we meet them. The snobbish longing to associate with those of superior rank should, it seems be abandoned in favor of a gracious accommodation to our lot.

Yet there may be a different conclusion to be drawn. Rather than ceasing to discriminate between people altogether, we may simply have to become better at doing so. The image of a refined aristocracy is not false, it is merely dangerously uncomplicated. There are of course superior people at large in the world, but it is optimistic to assume that they could be so conveniently located on the basis of their surname. It is this the snob refuses to believe, trusting instead in the existence of watertight classes whose members unfailingly display certain qualities. Though a few aristocrats can match expectations, a great many more will have the winning qualities of the Duc de Guermantes, for the category of "aristocracy" is simply too crude a net to pick up something as unpredictably allocated as virtue or refinement. There may be someone worthy of the expectations that the narrator has harbored of the Duc de Guermantes, but this person might well appear in the unexpected guise of an electrician, cook, or lawyer.

It is this unexpectedness that Proust eventually recognized. Late in life, when a certain Madame Sert wrote and bluntly asked him whether he was a snob, he replied:

If, amongst the very rare friends who out of habit continue to come and ask for news of me, there still passes now and then, a duke or prince, they are largely made up for by other friends, one of whom is a valet and the other a driver. . . . It's hard to choose between them. Valets are more educated than dukes, and speak a nicer French, but they are more fastidious about etiquette and less simple, more susceptible. At the end of the day, one can't choose between them. The driver has more class.

The scenario may have been exaggerated for Madame Sert, but the moral was clear: that qualities like education or an ability to express oneself well did not follow simple paths, and that one could therefore not evaluate people on the basis of conspicuous categories. Just as Chardin had illustrated to the sad young man that beauty did not always lie in obvious places, so too the valet who spoke lovely French served to remind Proust (or perhaps just Madame Sert) that refinement was not conveniently tethered to its image.

You are, of course, invited to not take this as the gospel truth and to disagree with it entirely. Mr. de Botton even wrote the final chapter of How Proust Can Change Your Life as an escape clause: How To Put Books Down (or as I like to refer to it, The If-We-Shadows-Have-Offended Chapter). Clever man.