on the street: the bowtie

It may be a function of spending more time in Cambridge than in Boston, but it’s not at all uncommon to see a bowtie around here, whether it’s a traditional or a personalized take. I pretty much enjoy them every time, but especially as a light formal touch on a mature man (where by mature I mean 40+, or maybe younger if they happen to have graying hair*). Maybe because it evokes that rumpled-yet-formal academic look I tend to like?

*which can be so elegant, to my eye.

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There’s no reason bowties can’t be worn in this easy way, no reason they have to feel outdated or theatrical. This gentleman is a great example of how effective adding a small, modest element like this can be. The absence of a vest or blazer and the simple white buttoned shirt, the slightly rolled sleeves, make it so wearable, so casual to me. Take away the bowtie and he blends into the sea of pedestrians. With it, though, I pause to appreciate. Chapeau to the wearers of bowties.

p.s. The next few posts will seem late as I have decamped to another time zone! San Francisco is beautiful, and I’ve got to go buy a towel. I’ll send you a post card.

on the street: the gent

                 Style is not something applied. It is something inherent, something that permeates.

                 It is of the nature of that in which it is found, whether the poem, the manner of a god,

                  the bearing of a man. It is not a dress.

                                               – Wallace Stevens, Two or Three Ideas. 1951

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This ultra-civilized tableau stopped me in my tracks. The hat, the coffee, the satchel, the book…the comfortably crossed legs and arms, the slightly open button-down. I am immediately ready to put my faith in this man’s aesthetic sensibilities. He was so absorbed that he didn’t notice me at first. When he did he asked good-naturedly (and with the faintest of what I’m guessing was a Scandinavian accent, which would explain everything) if the picture had turned out. “Not half bad!” I told him, smiling to give away that I liked it very well indeed.

Readers, here is a lesson in how to spot a gentleman.

In other news, autumn is shaping up here in Boston.

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