Well, that was an interesting Father’s Day.
It must have been, Cox, it’s Wednesday and you’re just coming up for air…?!!
Not just that Barrymore, the dog, contracted Old Dog Vestibular Disease, that had him retching, unable to stand or walk, rapidly dehydrating, his eyes rolling wildly and has left him recovering, but listing hard to starboard, stumbling around like a sailor on his first shore leave.
No, not just that. We took the time to visit my grandmother on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She’s 96 and a bit concerned about her thinning hair, the ruptured disc in her upper spine is a minor nuisance. My uncle visited to see me and the kids. It may be the last time that I see him as his cancer has metastasized and the prognosis is not good. He is an interesting guy — a self-made prep — who always looks as if he were about to sail off to Bermuda, which he might be. His summer uniform of flat front khaki shorts, double soled Bean moccasins and B² button down with his round wire framed glasses indicates that he is working in the office instead. The clue is the shoe — Topsiders would mean that he was ready to sail. I also visited my cousin and saw his house and his .50 calibre sniper rifle. He’s in a bit of a land dispute with the neighbours. They have a bulldozer. He has 20/20 vision and no internet — something about the government, or the cost, I couldn’t figure out which.
It wasn’t the gentle let-down of stepping into a parking lot off Eisenhower Ave. after seeing what Woody Allen can do with Paris in the delightful “Midnight in Paris.”
Nope, the really surprising thing about the visit was our stroll through Old Town Alexandria, which has changed much since it was part of my stomping grounds. Really, it was more about the number of times I was stopped because of my shirt. It is a pink gingham number like the one from Ben Silver above. I wore it with a Kelly green knit tie and light grey Incotex trousers cinched with a ribbon belt and white bucks. (It was so warm that I left the blue linen blazer in the car.)
Between the car park and the ice cream store, I received three compliments on the shirt, all were along the lines of:
That’s a wonderful shirt. I’d have to hit my husband/boyfriend over the head with a lead pipe and put it on him while he was unconscious to get him to wear a pink shirt….
Did I reply that it was the Victorians who overturned the notion that pink was too strong a colour for women to wear as it is related to red and red is the colour of Mars, the planet associated with the God of War? Or, more flippantly, that during summer I drink pink, wear pink and think pink? Or that I was secure enough in my masculinity to wear whatever the heck I please?
No, I ignored the dead eyes of their significant others who did their best to disengage from my presence as quickly as possible, and murmured a thanks.
Because I have an awful lot to be thankful for.
Great post! I also have various pink shirts and I get compliments on them too. I follow Frank Sinatra’s dictum when asked about wearing orange
“Colors don’t make you a man. They’re just colors.”
ML
While inspecting a pink tie ona NYC street corner the vendor said, “pink ties are all the rage on Wall st.” I replied I did not work on Wall st and he retorted, “I can tell by your accent.”
I’m still not sure what he meant.
I wear a pink oxford regularly but have yet to feel comfortable ina pink t shirt. feels different somehow.
I did once get steamrolled in a rugby game by a team from France dressed in pink and royal blue stripes.
Hey, great post. Men look so fantastic in pink. Secure in their manhood kind of thing. But we laughed when we read this because we just did a post on pink and didn’t even mention men’s shirts.
Pink shirts and gray suits are a great match. Lots of color without looking cartoonish as one might with orange or very light green. One of my favorite colors for Spring/Summer.
Gingham is one of the best patterns on the planet. Always happy, especially in a great shade like pink! My husband has several crisp gingham check shirts, but not pink yet. I will add it to the list. The kids and I gave him a plug-in cooler for his car, a welcome addition for making car trips more fun! Fathers are wonderful and so underrated. God bless the fathers of America!
Thanks All. My good friend CallMeAl just turned up in a pink shirt today. And he’s a lawyer. Of course, we are in the South….
M.Lane, I don’t know how I missed that one, but it’s perfect.
Funny, I’m about to go for dinner wearing one pink shirt that brings me luck. Another thing, it is a truly clean color for a shirt. Did not like the Allen movie, though.
Greetings from Madrid!
Pink and Peach are my fav colours for summer shirts. However, I only wear them on my version of casual Fridays in the summer. I trade-in the pinstripes,white shirts, and rep ties, for blazers, featherweight gabs and pastel shirts (and a rep tie).
Sorry to hear about Barr. Hope he still has the pose.
I think green is the best color for ties to pair with pink shirts, I’m yet to see another one that work as good, maybe a thick black knit silk tie, but the result isn’t really summer-y..