For the start of Fashion Week, I thought I would post someone who has been wearing Brooks Brothers & J Press for over 40 years. I photographed William Zinsser in a Brooks Brothers Overcoat, Brooks Brothers oxford shirt, J Press scarf, blazer and tie. He took his glove off to shake my hand. Thats a true gentleman, it was frigid out. He asked what it was that I like about what he was wearing and I told him the classic timelessness of his look. He mentioned he has an oil painting of himself and the artist made the roll in the collar very clear in the painting! No one spots them like I do. I did some research:
William Knowlton Zinsser (born October 7, 1922), a writer, editor, and teacher. His 18 books, which range in subject from music to baseball to American travel, include several widely read books about writing. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction , first published in 1976, has sold almost 1.5 million copies. He began his career as a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune, where he worked as a feature writer, drama editor, film critic, and editorial writer, and has been a longtime contributor to leading magazines. Throughout the 1970s, Zinsser taught writing at Yale where he was master of Branford College. Now teaches at The New School and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Many high school teachers have incorporated Zinsser’s writing into their lesson plans. Some teachers even go as far as to tell their students to “Zinsser” their work (Zinsser used as a verb meaning to take the clutter out of their essays).
as you can probably tell, i like the belts alot. That there is a monkey sitting on a scale, upset (its that last hole.)
Matt Singer and I used to work together b in the d so I was excited and a tiny bit proud to see he finally launched his own line. We got together recently and he showed me some of his work— long sleeve and short sleeve shirts in two-ply cotton oxford oxford cloth, some sturdy cotton canvas bags, and a crazy assortment of accessories—cotton canvas and suede belts, woven bookmarks, glass ashtrays, tie-dye leather lighter covers, and an eyewear project with Selima and the Thing Quarterly. What I like about Matt ‘s work is his mix of storytelling with design. His work has a distinctly American viewpoint but its feels fresh somehow. Whenever I see Matt he’s wearing something from the wrong season, a salmon colored belt in winter, but it works. The quality of the shirts is spot on, made in the U.S.A. The canvas brief has that elegant simplicity you find in old Longchamp bags. His website also has an interesting selection of short films for sale, a collection of vintage watches and there is a book section that he puts together with Idlewild Books. mattsinger.net
As long as Ive known this gentleman he stays killing it. Since the days of New Republic I remember seeing him walking through SoHo always looking dapper. A true modern dandy.
I was excited to be able to visit the archive collection that has just been brought over from Chicago.
It's a hundred years of Hickey Freeman and Hart Schaffner Marx artwork, marketing materials,
memorabilia etc.
Hart Marx owns both Hickey Freeman and Hart Schaffner Marx brands. They bought Hickey Freeman from the heirs in the 1960's and Hart schaffner Marx was one of their original brands. they were three men who started the company. mr. marx. mr schaffner and mr. hart. immigrants – the classic story. the new company is Hart Marx LLC and is based in New York with manufacturing outside of Chicago and in Rochester. The Hart Schaffner Marx stuff was sent to NY from the Chicago office when they consolidated from 3 floors to one floor. The Hickey Freeman archives was sent from the factory in Rochester. Both brands have dressed a long list of politicians such as Eisenhower, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Ronald Reagan – Colin Powell. Obama is the newest to wear Hart Schaffner Marx and VP Joe Biden wore Hickey Freeman at the inauguration this year.
Tyrone is always dressed to the nines. Loves Ralph Lauren and wears it better than alot of folks. A bit much, but he's a hat maker, master sewer and talented dude, so I have no complaints. Besides, Im working on being nicer. Its hard to wear socks with these fancy shoes, but a solid color typically works, this is 1 of 2 shoes i like with a white (dress) sock. The black velvet slipper/shoe from stubbs is killer paired with a white sock. I have an old picture of Rene Ricard in black 501's, black Levi's denim jacket and black hermes men's pumps (blk tie) with white socks. So dope.
