The Sartorialist is right on track with this great post from men.style.com You may or may not agree with all of it, but he’s right on track and the looks are anything but the typical.

We’re at the beach for the next week. If I can get a signal, I will post.

N.B. all right, there is a signal on Mrs. E.’s laptop… for some reason my Mac is being obstinent and won’t join the network… so, I’m getting the hang of this thing… Stay tuned for updates as they occur to me.

Conventional wisdom says dark trousers and a light shirt. Hollywood says wear all black.

Turn both on their heads. For a summer evening, try white trousers (hey! it’s summer, you can’t wear these after Labour Day) and a dark shirt.

White, lightweight wool pleated trousers (lined to the knee in muslin — or they’d be see-through), tan calf belt, dark blue shirt with white windowpane overlay by Brooks Brothers (ca. 2000?) Spectator or light brown loafers (although I usually wear black shoes in the evening) continue the evening’s palette. I have seen this work very well with navy Belgian slippers. Finding a blue leather belt can be difficult, however.

Have a swellegant weekend. If you are in the metro D.C. area, don’t forget about the Doc Scantlin Dancin’ under the stars concert at Reston Town Center. Wear your white dinner jacket.

(available through Amazon.com.)

There are those who take trips and those who travel. Jaqueline and Lee Bouvier were a trip when they traveled. One crazy summer abroad is chronicled by the (then) girls in a book handwritten (by Lee) and illustrated (by Jackie) to present to their parents as a thank you upon their return from a different world.

And what a different world it was in 1951 when the twenty-two year old Jackie and her eighteen year old sister took their first trip to Europe together.

From the dust jacket of the Rizzoli edition which would make a perfect hostess gift:

Join Jackie and Lee for a tantalizing glimpse of a lost world: crossing the Atlantic by ocean liner, visits with counts and ambassadors in Paris, art lessons in Venice, and white gloves in the afternoons. Smile at the social agonies all young women suffer in common — how to politely consume an oversized hors d’oeuvre, the horror of slipping undergarments, and the art of fending off unwanted romantic advances.

“One Special Summer” is summer fun, gift-wrapped for us by two sisters who would become very famous indeed.

P.S. speaking of hostess gifts, LucyInStLou has a fantastic post about the best wines to bring along to the party. Read it here.