This has always been one of my favourite looks. I love a double-breasted blazer, although this is the first I’ve had made with gold buttons. The shirt is blue with a charcoal tattersall pattern. The tie is ancient B-Squared. I’m wearing gabardine charcoal brown trousers by Uomo Homme (with two and a half pleats, but they are very nicely cut and drape beautifully.) Brown plain toe oxfords.

I guess that before I knew who Alan Flusser is, this was the look that had the most dramatic impact on my developing sartorial senses.

Then, of course, there was this guy…

I’ve written about Mr. Merkin before….

And Osbert Lancaster.

All masters of mixing colour, pattern and texture. All very well dressed. They also have one more thing in common: call it “flash” for lack of a better term. Done right, this look is very sophisticated. Edward, Duke of Windsor, could (and often did!) mix five patterns into his daily dress.

But I’m changing a bit in my tastes. I’m becoming more catholic, I guess. Maybe it’s the change in the weather (they’ll be a change in me… as the song goes.) Or maybe it is my advancing years. Maybe I’m being too careful with my “public image” in a small town and not playing enough. Maybe it’s the state of the economy that makes me want to dress more soberly, but in very well-made clothing.

Because here’s where I want to go.

Grant as Roger Thornhill via urbanite.com

(via A Suitable Wardrobe. This photo now sits on my desk.)

I’m off to work on my tan. That and the simple suit and tie combinations may be as close as a man can get.

I’ll have to admit to being more than a little harried this Christmas. The kids took notice of the holiday for the first time and despite repeated commentary about the “reason for the season,” the presents took over. Especially when the grandparents got into the act. Our home is awash in noisy, plastic, branded merchandise. They’re loving it.

So how does this fit into my normal posts about leading an easy and elegant life? My Christmas wish for next year is a little quiet time, especially with the kids. Maybe singing a few carols on Christmas Eve — my Mom plays the piano and can work her way around my keyboard with ease.

In the meantime, I’ll have to content myself with the repeated viewings of holiday favourites on the enormous TV. (Black and white films sample up very nicely on HD, by the way.)

Today’s recommendation is “Holiday Inn” starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire with music by Irving Berlin. To paraphrase the “review” the Inn gets: “Don’t ask why, just go watch. And God Bless America.” Yes, there are a couple of cringe inducing moments (Lincoln’s Birthday in blackface…..) but on the whole it’s a wonderful piece of filmmaking and costuming (if Mr. Astaire’s elegance can be so classified. He looks modern when many of his co-stars would stand out today.) So treat yourself to a little luxury after the madness.

“Come To Holiday Inn”
(Lyrics from SoundtrackLyrics.net)

If you’re burdened down with trouble
If your nerves are wearing thin
Pack your load down the road
And come to Holiday Inn

If the traffic noise affects you
Like a squeaky violin
Kick your cares down the stairs
And come to Holiday Inn

If you can’t find someone who
Will set your heart a whirl
Take your car and motor to
The home of boy meets girl

If you’re laid-up with a breakdown
Throw away your vitamin
Don’t get worse, grab your nurse
And come to Holiday Inn

Hmmm, last night the old-fashioned Mrs. E and I sat down to view “Roberta” (Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Irene Dunne…) As usual the clothing was… well, “swellegant.” Sure it’s a light and breezy 90 minutes or so, but that’s OK with us. Our taste for heavy drama and most foreign fare came and went during the sturm und drang of our early adulthood. At any rate, it got me thinking about elegance in general. (Which probably isn’t a surprise to those of you who stop by my blog.) So often my icons of elegance are of another era — specifically the time “between the wars.” Astaire, Grant, Powell, Loy, Russell, Loren, Kelly and the whole pantheon of elegance. I favor Art Deco in furnishings (the intellectual Mrs. E also swoons over Art Nouveau.) I’m not sure that I’ve loved automobile design since about 1965. If ever I win the lottery, you’ll recognize me immediately — I’ll be the John Steed like character pottering around town in an XK120, or Bentley 6 1/2 Liter, or something with a strap over the bonnet, hat firmly in place, tie neatly dimpled. “That’s the ticket” as he would say.

But what of today — at the dawn of this 21st century? Where are the icons of elegance and style? Who, in that movie that runs in our heads, would we seek to emulate? I can’t think of anyone. Even Mr. Clooney is hit and miss off-camera. And the Prius, for all its wonderfulness, looks like a stretched AMC Pacer to me.

I can’t claim that the world has become far too casual. In reading “The Man Who Was Clever” by Leslie Charteris, Simon Templar is the perfect 1930s jazz baby playboy or clubman. He speaks in slang that few can understand, and is considerably a “cool customer.” But he is also a beautiful dresser (with money comes privilege.) He wears a dinner jacket (informal attire then) “as if he had been an ambassador paying a state visit in full regalia.” And Fred Astaire wore his tails like pyjamas. Not such a far step to jeans and a blazer, really. Or is it?

So weigh in, clever and astute readers of mine. Let’s start the list of those things elegant, be they Bright Young Things or beautifully built things, or elegantly put things.

To quote the Eagles: “I know my life would be alright if I could see it on the silver screen.”