A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood: Please join us on March 20th by wearing a sweater in honor of Mr. Rogers, won’t you? [AP]

Teenage Wasteland: Okay! Enough with the Cory Kennedy already. [Everyone, Everywhere]

Man of Letters: Original preppie king, Goldwater Conservative and trad icon William F. Buckley grabs a wing chair in that great club room in the sky. [Observer]

Theme Song: Remember Rock&Roll? Their new tribute to Milan Fashion week is called, “Coke Freaks and Fashion Whores.” Sounds right to us. [WWD]

“You’ll Never Go Wrong Dressing Plain and Dull”: This only works when running for national office. Otherwise, feel free to dress like a Somali elder. [Chicago Tribune]

The Keith Richards Workout: “For me, doing a Rolling Stones show for two hours a night, that’s enough f*in’ exercise, you know? Then I’ve got to go to bed with the old lady, bonka bonka. You know?” We know, Keef. We know. [Digital Spy]

Simple Statutes: Oh, sorry, did we forget to post Esquire’s New Laws of Casual Style? Here, let’s fix that. [Esquire]

Brooks Brothers is as close as the New World has to a tailoring institution, so we’ve been watching Thom Browne’s contribution to the Black Fleece line particularly closely. And thanks to Selectism, we just got a peek at the latest additions to the line.

Naturally, it’s catnip for trads, but Mr. Browne manages to throw in more than just thin lapels, including his treasured formal shorts, argyle socks, and a two-tone sweater that’s not that far from what Paul Smith’s up to these days. (Minus the bird head, naturally.)

Basement Tapes: The lost Johnny Cash/Bob Dylan album, courtesy of your techno-libertarian friends at BoingBoing. [Boing Boing]

The Master Speaks: A true trad weighs in on the slipper craze. [A Suitable Wardrobe]

Yoo Hoo: An interview with Hyden Yoo, including his take on being the only designer to have eaten bugs to get where he is. [Valet Mag]

Glory Days: Esquire sidles up to the bar, orders a double bourbon, and reminisces about the good old days…by reprinting its seven best stories, including entries from Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, and Gay Talese. [Esquire]

There’s something magical about cars made before the advent of anti-lock brakes, power steering, and rudimentary safety equipment. It may not get you to Ferrari speeds, but the first actor to pull up to the red carpet in a Model A deserves all the attention he can get. At least you know he was clever enough to find one.

Oddly enough, eBay has become the go-to spot for vintage cars, so if you’ve got an empty spot in your garage and ten thousand dollars to blow through, you might want to take a look. This 1931 Model A wouldn’t be a bad place to start for some depression-chic…but we imagine you’ll find an even better place to finish.

With the downturn getting serious, we knew we were going to see fewer big ticket items, but we didn’t expect to run out of places to wear a suit.

Maybe we should have. Desperate to draw in more clientele, the New York institution 21 has relaxed its dress code. In their words, “Ties are still preferred and greatly appreciated, but they are no longer a must.”

We’ve written similar words, but under very different circumstances, and despite it all, we’re sad to see the jacket-and-tie requirement go. The trad life is a noble one, and it’s worth preserving. We’re sure there are other ultra-formal restaurants in the city…but we can’t actually name another. Until now, we’ve never needed to.

At least the market for bejeweled iPhone cases is still going strong.

We’re trads at heart, so we’re always happy to see someone putting a new spin on the staples of tradwear. (That would be the suit and the tuxedo, in that order.)

Viktor & Rolf slipped underneath our radar when they skipped out on the major runway shows, but by the looks of these press pics, we were missing out on quite a lot. The high-cuffed pants are straight out of the Browne playbook, but between the wildly patterned blazers, shimmering socks and boldly mixed high-top sneakers, there’s a lot here that isn’t indebted to anyone.

None of this is quite ready for Barneys, but we wouldn’t be surprised if there was a Uniqlo collaboration in their future.

See the slideshow»

via Street Peeper

Speaking of male accessories, we’d like to point out one of our favorite benefits of wider lapels: space for a few adornments.

This gentleman from Seoul has the right idea, pinning an interesting trinket onto both lapels. Of course, the trad in us prefers the old Victorian buttonhole carnation—a trademark of British gents from Evelyn Waugh to John Steed—but we understand you’d prefer a more modern approach.

Just try not to poke too many holes in your jacket.

What is a “Trad”? Maybe you’ve heard the term referring to those sartorial adventurers who, ah…, hmmm…um… Perhaps some definitions are best left to experts and participants—in this case, Kempt turned an authority of no little esteem, his eminence, Lord Whimsy. Sayith the Lord—

I’ve heard the term “trad” bandied about here and there, but it seems to be a slippery definition. For some it seems merely an aesthetic preference, while for others it is more of an ideology. Although it can be a bit predictable, trad’s ethic of prizing refinement over innovation can yield very subtle, dignified options. The trad sensibility seems more interested in style than fashion, which to many is an appealing alternative.

More from the good Lord »

We’ve been shopping our musings on recession-chic around to a few other bloggers to see what ideas they came up with, and so far the response has been nothing short of intriguing. A Suitable Wardrobe has been one of our favorite trads since we started in the blogging game, so we thought we’d start things off with their response.

Read the response»

If you felt compelled to replicate this gentleman’s vintage blazer…we may have something for you.

This boating blazer from Paul Smith is a good deal more traditional than the punkish pink-on-black, but the overall effect is remarkably similar. In fact, it’s so traddish that Smith forgoes his usual slanted pockets except for the chest slit.

Something tells us it would go well with a straw hat.

This lookbook snap from Belvest came our way courtesy of SwipeLife, and we couldn’t help but weigh in.

The suit follows all the trends of the current moment—a high two-button, thin and tall lapels, and breakless trousers, for instance—but the blue waistcoat is straight out of the trad playbook. Of course, updating old world sartorialism with a trendier set of cuts is hardly a new trick…but it’s still a very good one.

Good Press: Page Six has an extremely persuasive photo editor. [Cover Awards]

The Anti-Trend: Trads make the trend page, despite not being a trend. Does this mean we can start wearing ascots again? [New York Observer]

Medieval Tech: South African internet is slower than a carrier pigeon. We think Mr. DeVaughn said it best… [Reuters]

You Can Never Have Too Many Ties: Seriously. You can’t. [Selectism]

The dandy is a dying breed, and there’s one less today than there was a week ago. This morning’s New York Times brings word that Mr. Richard Merkin—an artist and a bon vivant, has passed away.

Of course, we have great respect for anyone who can pull off the bifecta of the bowler and boutonniere, but there’s plenty behind the outfits too. Merkin pulled off the rare, enviable trick of making a career out of a personal fixation—in his case, the more dapper corners of 20s and 30s style. It’s a subculture that’s still alive and well, and anyone with a trad streak would do well to leaf through Mr. Merkin’s catalog.

As the growing crop of Movember soupcatchers indicates, the yen for creative facial hair is at an all-time high. The only thing working against this particular trend—other than the rising price of mustache wax—is the uncertainty involved in growing one. Why commit three weeks to cultivating a bushy lip if you don’t have a game plan? Fortunately, it’s nothing the internet can’t solve.

This snap comes from a sartorial consultant/timewaster called Lord Likely’s Moustache-o-Rama (via NotCot), who’s currently modeling thirty-six styles of ‘stache, ranging from the bushy Spunkleford to a sharp number known as the Strumpet’s Delight.

Naturally, it’s hard to pick a favorite—but you can’t go wrong with a Chin-Wagger.

This one has been building steam for a while (exhibits A and B), so we’re hesitant to call it a trend, so instead we’ll put it this way: You should think about wearing suspenders.

No, seriously.

Slip a pair on next time you doff a jacket and you might be shocked to find your pants draping a whole lot better, and avoiding the cinch-and-billow look that plagues the belted trouser. You can take off the jacket for a more adventurous look—joining the trads, the Americanists and the tie revivalists all at once—or keep it on and enjoy the benefits in relative secrecy.

It can still be hard to find a good pair, but we recommend these from Alexander Olch, which you might have seen at a shop or two recently, or trying the vintage route. One advantage of picking up the trend on the early side: you’ll have plenty to choose from.

On the Table: Clearly, she is in need of some assistance. [Fashion Copious]

We’re Going With Trad: Esquire gives you the 12 styles of American man. Notably absent: gangster, CPA, and gangster CPA. [Esquire]

Aggy’s Back: Agyness Deyn gets into the movie business, via a 12-minute film noir. [The Moment]

Very Distressed: Burton’s Olympic snowboarding uniforms get the takedown they so richly deserve. [Murketing]

Scanning the catalog of the newly landed Warby Parker Eyewear, we were pleased to come across this tradwear gem: the monocle.

Currently available under the Lewis Carroll-esque name, “Colonel Whisky Tortoise,” it’s one of the few monocles that we’ve seen actually make it onto a line sheet in quite some time. It’s pretty far along in the trad continuum—i.e. on your wishlist, it should go somewhere below your second plaid three-piece suit—but if you need to break something to register comic disbelief, accept no substitutes.

This weekend saw the 2010 incarnation of London’s tweed run, the trad version of critical mass. Naturally there were plenty of curled mustaches and boneshakers on hand, but we were most impressed by the staggering volume of fantastic fabrics on hand. But strangely enough, the gentleman in the red cravat was the only one with the wit to sport an actual biker’s brim.

Don’t Look Now: From the picture, we’re assuming she has super strength. [Fashion Spot]

Hands Down, The Funniest Thing you Will Read All Day: Pac Man hits thirty hard, and comes clean about his long-standing speed addiction. [The Awl]

The Player: A guide to the life and style of a Hollywood power broker. [LA Times]

On the Other Foot: Tres Bien lands a Mark McNairy interview and, somehow, beats us to the “Jack of all Trads” pun. [Tres Bien]

Via AP, see full size image here

The Royal Ascot is the closest Britain gets to a Kentucky Derby, and while it tends to slip by unnoticed for most Americans, for connoisseurs of dandyism it might as well be the Olympics.

Take for example, Mr. Charlie Watts, who in recent years has blossomed into quite the trad. (There were some speed bumps along the way, but nobody’s perfect.) This past Thursday, he broke out a classic morning dress complete with topcoat, top hat and buttonhole carnation. The shades let you know he’s still a rocker, but otherwise he’s dressing the part just about perfectly.

When you’re sharing a stadium with the queen, we’d expect nothing less.