Dickies at Yale Co-Op

In a previous entry I wrote that those who want khakis as hefty as Bills might do just as well to consider work chinos like Dickies, at least for gardening and the like. I was surprised to find this ad from Yale Daily News, 1969, which shows that the Yale Co-Op carried Dickies back then.

Shetland Sweaters

Nothing brings fall to mind for this TNSIL fan better than some nice shetland sweaters. These are Jamieson's for Ben Silver. They've got a few on sale now in odd sizes. What I like are the colors. I especially like the one on top.

As some have pointed out, you can get a MTM shetland sweater from Spirit of Shetland for about the same price as a RTW version from typical TNSIL shops in the US. I, however, prefer the necks on the versions made for the American shops better.

Harris Tweed Labels

I don't know whether or how the cloth has changed, but the Harris Tweed label has evolved over time. The top picture is from a 1950s label; the other is from a contemporary label.

Heavy Tweed Jacket

Just a few days have gone by and I've really missed Heavy Tweed Jacket's blog. If he's out there and listening, I hope he will make contact somehow, perhaps through one of the MBs. All of us have benefited from his labors a great deal.

Essex, CT

Since fall is hot right now on the MBs, I thought I'd post a few more fall photos--not of clothes but of a destination. Essex, CT is located a few miles up the Connecticut river from the Atlantic ocean and is a beautiful, almost eerily so, town. The town brings to mind what F. Scott Fitzgerald said about Princeton--it appears so removed from the modern world and so seemingly perfect (every flower garden looks perfectly manicured, not a building has been left without full restoration) that it somehow seems not quite real. It's an antiques town and that adds to the feeling of the place--to some extent it seems like a colonial artifact that Southby's has dug up and restored to its glory days, and one never gets the sense that any time has passed since James Monroe was in office.

Essex for these reasons is not really my kind of place to live, but it's worth a visit. It has beautiful colonial houses, wooden sailboats and a yacht club, J. McLaughlin and J. Alden Clothiers for men's clothes, and an old hotel, the Griswold Inn, which serves a Sunday brunch that supposedly started during the War of 1812.

Lands End T-Shirts

Since the beginning of the summer I've been struggling to find a suitable white undershirt. I wear these nearly all the time. My biggest complaint was that I thought the necks were too large and stretched too easily. When I would wear a polo or button up shirt with no tie, the neck would fall right at the point that it would bunch up around the collar. I prefer for the neck to fit more snugly; this produces a bit of white t-shirt exposed with a casual shirt, which is fine with me. I disagree with those who say this is not an acceptable look.

I tried everything from Brooks to Jockey to Press only to end up liking Lands' End the best. The necks are much more substantial than on any of the other shirts, I think, especially Brooks and Jockey. The fit is also just right for me. At $19.50 for a 3 pack, they're also a lot cheaper than most alternatives.

Landau of Princeton

My time in Princeton over the last week didn't yield much of interest to TNSIL fans, but it's also true that I didn't spend much time looking around for it.

I did stop into Landau of Princeton, though, which features a large stuffed ram outside. The shop has a nice selection of lambswool and cashmere blankets, throws, and scarves, along with Schneider loden coats and Harris tweed accessories. The scarves and blankets are made by John Hanly of Ireland. Ironically, it was on a smoldering hot day that I visited, but I picked up a brown plaid scarf that I liked. In the winter, I was told, they will have Harris Tweed jackets, but they'll be styled after British country patterns rather than TNSIL.

I also visited Ricchard's shoes. It's a nice shop, but it didn't really live up to the high expectations I had after hearing from some MB posters about the place. Unless it just wasn't out, it didn't seem they had much of a selection.