Is the game afoot?
(Sorry for the stock shot, finding a group photo of smartly dressed people isn’t as easy as it sounds. Click here for more Sartorialist inspiration but try and ignore the obviously inelegant.)
And if three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin’ a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out? They may think it’s an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day? I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and
walking out. And friends they may think it’s a movement.
(Lyrics from “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” by Arlo Guthrie)
I’ve been reading about Allan Krapow (1927-2006) and his “happenings” of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Greatly influenced by Jackson Pollack’s gestural painting, the act of which he considered more important than the art it produced, Krapow aimed to blur the line between art and life. His happenings were the precursors to performance art. The pieces were concepted and set into motion, but they were unrehearsed. Art imitating life? Or life imitating art? Whatever you decide, his influence was far reaching. It can be argued that everything from Woodstock to the Flash Crowds and Smart Mobs of the early 2000’s are direct results of his philosophy.
And now, the Easy and Elegant Life International Smartly Dressed Scene.
June 7th, 2008 will mark the 230th anniversary of Beau Brummell’s birth. I propose that the 4,000 – 6,000 readers I have mark the event with a day of celebration of personal style. Our mis-en-scene will be the world at large.
Make it a point to gather several well-dressed friends (the more the merrier) and head for a local watering hole, museum, theatre or other public venue. Dress better than you have to. En mass, a statement will be made. Beauty will be in the eyes of the beholders and maybe, just maybe, someone will think it’s a movement. The news media will pick up on the sudden reëmergence of elegance. Strangers will be compelled to rethink the day’s shabby wardrobe choices. Long dormant manners will see the light of day. Heads will turn and polite smiles will be exchanged.
June 7th, 2008. The First Annual Easy and Elegant Life International Smartly Dressed Scene.
Please remember to take pictures and send them my way. I’ll publish any that you give me the right to display.
Not that size matters, but 4000 – 6000? You are the man. June 7th I will be at a neighborhood block party; we’ll see how it goes. I’ll do my best.
Represent Mrs. B! I have faith in you.
On June 7th, I will be celebrating the retirement of my college’s Master; there will be a rather athletic treasure hunt-style event, in which most (if not all) members of the College will be participating, including myself. This might involve ploughing through nettles, vaulting fences, swimming rivers etc.
Regretfully, I will have to wear trainers and athletic wear in order to participate; can you suggest an easily elegant way to sport the sporting gear, as it were?
BPF
Hello BPF, what a novel send off, it sounds like something my team would do at SEAL Team PT! I have yet to find elegant sporting wear, but I can recommend all technical fabric which does wonders to keep one cool in the heat of battle. Now after the event… well, what better way to feel better immediately than to towel off, change into a white Lacoste or Fred Perry tennis shirt, white shorts or seersucker trousers, and/or a terry cloth sportcoat (and fresh trainers of the white canvas kind)…. think what we think of when we think Wimbledon, 1930’s. I used to carry a bottle of West Indies Lime in the trunk of the convertible for post climb refreshing. Douse liberally.
Sounds good, although Fred Perry has unfortunately picked up some unpleasant connotations of hooliganism on this side of the pond; certain bars and pubs even refuse admission to those sporting Fred Perry, especially on match nights.
Just a bit of fascinating cultural detail. Many thanks for the outfit otherwise; I can hardly think of a better way to be dressed for Pimm’s outside the boathouse.
I am taking one of my use-or-lose days tomorrow, but will wear something elegant and refined in your honour!
Did you all get storms yesterday?
When the summertime arrives, one must adopt the crepuscular lifestyle. So to honor The Beau, I hit the streets of Richmond at 8 AM on this steamy hot Saturday morning attired in my white bucks, fancy socks, blue blazer, beige trousers and ascot. The post office was not exactly a ‘happening scene’ so I moved on. The early morning at the Cary Court shopping center was uninspiring to say the least, but I dressed better than I had to and ramped up the style quotient at Jean-Jacques Bakery and Can-Can brasserie.
No other celebrants in view.
This evening I move on to the country, as is my habit, hoping for a more celebratory sartorial scene this evening.
Boulevardier, Had I seen you this morning, I would have bought you a morning espresso. Well done and very brave given the heat! Enjoy a delightful weekend in the country.