Easy and Elegant Life

The Search for Everyday Elegance and the Art of Living Well.

For Your Approval: B-Squared

Brooks Brothers Spring 2008

Huh…. Brooks Brothers, bastion of the No.1 sack suit looks… different. And very good, in my opinion.

I’m wearing one of their classic, blue oxford cloth button-down shirts this morning as I was in need of extreme comfort. When my daughter was born, I did two days and nights in the hospital in one. Recommended for rough mornings, if a bit “square.”

My shirt is of a different generation, more 1950’s than 1930’s or Naughty Oughties. The Spring 2008 catalogue shows looks that might feel at home in Old Hollywood. The Travel in Style look is one that I hope many men take to heart. The women fare equally well on all fronts, casual and less so. If fashion is cyclical, we may be in for a more elegant season.

Not a moment too soon.

Head over to their on-line catalogue and flip through the pages of Volumes 1 and 2. It’s well worth your while. Even if everything you want is already sold out or unavailable.

6 thoughts on “For Your Approval: B-Squared

  1. Bringing elegant back is a wise call – Building a wardrobe around several classics has always been easy and elegant in my book. Good post and hope they have what I want! Easter is after all right around the corner!

  2. After having worked in fashion and being a bit of a clothes horse, I returned happily to B² for my shirts (though I also like Robert Kirk in SF, for the tab collar). I must admit it was like meeting an old friend. From the ages of 7 to 17 we made biannual trips there for me to be kitted out. Holly Golightly had Tiffany, and I have B². Nothing bad can happen there.

  3. HOBAC, this year I had the privilege of taking my godson to Brooks Bros. to buy him his first blue blazer, grey flannels, guards stripe tie and button down. While I was there in teh dressing room waiting for the tailor, an older gentleman asked if this was his first time. I replied it was. He nodded and said “I remember it, too. It was the first time that I was going to be in long pants.”

    Now, I can’t wait to take my son as my father took me.

  4. Today, I fit in with both this post and your previous post: I am wearing a white BB cotton shirt with french cuffs (paired with an old black leather jacket from BB and an hermes scarf).

    Which reminds me:
    Elegantologist, I wanted to let you know, perhaps for a future post, what my husband and I bought our oldest son for his 22nd birthday (he is a Valentine baby). He’s graduating from college this year, and is increasingly interested in dressing well (but of course on a budget). For Christmas he wanted a couple of French-cuff shirts, but since then he’s been forced to wear either the ‘button’ cuff links that came with the shirt or borrow my husband’s. Last weekend my husband and I were antiquing and we came across a shop that had about ten trays of old cufflinks, priced from $3 to $20 a pair. We had fun selecting three pair out of the hundreds presented. No, they’re not Tiffany but they’re distinctive and he was very pleased.

  5. fairfax, Mrs. E. is in the same boat. One day soon, we’ll find a good resource!

    CL, a great idea! Distinctive is what it’s all about. Especially since he’ll be one of the very few well-dressed folks out there. I’m always trolling the antique stores looking for a good pair that actually link and don’t have the toggle bar. Another easy idea is to stock up on silk knots. Inexpensive and colorful.

    Your outfit sounds great! I’ve always like Hermes scarves. (And black leather jackets.)

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