Issue #37 | Cream After Labor Day is A-OK
Photos from the U.S. Open, Ciele Athletics, a couple reading lists, Matt Bomer and more
Happy Friday and welcome back to Front of Book. It’s a lovely Friday here in New York and I’m finally going on (late) summer vacation tomorrow, so let’s get right to it…
1. Shots From the U.S. Open
A few weeks ago I wrote about approaches to dressing for the U.S. Open. I advocated for two possibilities: The Ralph Lauren Approach, or the 1980s & ‘90s-inspired Andre Agassi Approach. But when Ms. Front of Book and I got tickets to the quarterfinal afternoon session, we decided to go with a third option, which might be called the 1950s Lawn Tennis Approach.
The reason for this decision was two-fold: I wanted to get one more wear this season out of the off-white linen suit I picked up from Suitsupply, and that evening, after tennis, we had tickets to a play (more on that in a minute). So I wanted an outfit that could transition easily from day to night.
The outfit I chose consisted of the suit (although I carried the jacket during the day), a knit linen-silk polo from Drake’s (still my favorite shirt after more than five years of wear), Todd Snyder’s Tuscan Leather Woven Sandal in black, and a 1999 U.S. Open hat I found on eBay. (That year’s winners? Andre and Serena.) The sunglasses are from Monokel Eyewear.
Nikita went with a striped pink shirt and white skirt from Lululemon, a tie she picked up at Alfargo’s Marketplace, black loafers from Sézane, and, tossed over her shoulders, a vintage navy Lacoste cardigan (another eBay find).
An afternoon at Arthur Ashe and several Honey Deuces later, we took the 7 train downtown to watch the Broadway play Job. I highly recommend this show: It’s funny, sharp, timely, superbly acted (with two Succession actors, Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon), and a blissful 90 minutes long.
For the show I simply swapped my Drake’s polo for a navy long sleeve J. Mueser polo and threw on the jacket. A perfect and easy day for night transition. Some might frown upon wearing white after Labor Day, but for them I offer this haiku:
To those who may say No white after labor day: Cream is A-OK
2. I Can’t Stop Thinking About Ciele
I’ve long looked for an athletic brand that speaks to me. Sure, the big boys like Nike, Adidas, New Balance etc. are fine, Lululemon is reliable, Ten Thousand seems alright. But I don’t think I’ve ever found a brand of workout gear that I was excited to wear. I believe I have a contender in Ciele Athletics.
Caveat: I don’t actually own any Ciele gear. But I keep going back to their website and finding things I like. The brand started with hats designed for running but has expanded into apparel and accessories. Reports suggest the pieces are functional and high quality, but I’m a sucker for design and I just really love the brand’s entire aesthetic, from the logo to the color schemes to the cuts. Plus, Ciele is Canadian, based in Montreal. (Ciele means sky in French.) Love to support homegrown brands.
3. Further Reading
There were a lot of buzzy articles this week in the world of style. Let’s take a look.
For GQ, Noah Johnson provided the hottest of hot takes when he said chore coats were actually “bore coats.” He writes, “Too many people rely on the chore coat to represent the entirety of their personal style… A chore coat is for someone who won’t commit to a blazer, but thinks a trucker is too casual. In other words, a coward. They’re twee and unserious, like a guy with a waxed mustache who buys tools at a shoppe.” Wild take.
Permanent Style posted a story about spending a day at the epic vintage store Broadway & Sons in Stockholm. The shop also has an amazing website with vintage clothing soured from around the world.
The Guardian published a photo essay of retro U.S. military outfits from a series of newly declassified images of combat designs through the decades. Somebody better be making this into a coffee table book.
The New York Times’ Vanessa Friedman answered a reader’s question about whether it’s better to be overdressed or undressed at an event, and then went into a long answer about what she calls the “Balenciaga principle,” when, in fact, the correct answer is short and simple: It’s always better, and more fun, to be overdressed.
Finally, The New Yorker has a fun feature about the state of the American flea market
4. More Travel Writing
I got some nice feedback after last week’s post featuring some of my favorite travel articles from earlier in my career. I appreciate everyone who checked out those stories and reached out to me about them.
This week I wanted to share a few stories and books from other writers that inspired me when I was starting out:
“Mississippi Drift” in Harper’s by the late, great Matthew Power, a gifted travel writer and journalist
“The Old Man at Burning Man,” GQ, about Wells Tower and his dad’s trip to Black Rock City
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall’s “Down to This,” about a year spent living in a Toronto shantytown, remains one of my favorite non-fiction books
My all-time favorite book of travel writing is Geoff Dyer’s “Yoga For People Who Can’t Be Bothered To Do It”
I had a copy of Saki Knafo’s story for GQ “Operation Iraqi Vacation” printed out when I was in North Korea doing the film festival piece. I could read this story every few months and not get sick of it.
5. Weekly Inspiration: Matt Bomer in Style Magazine Italia
Look at how handsome this guy is! Holy shit. He needs to be in more movies. This shoot is also a master class in necklace layering and how to wear gorgeous Italian clothing. Also, if anyone can instruct me how to get my hair looking like that I’ll give them fifty bucks in cash.
That’s all for this week. As always, thanks for reading and see you back here soon.
Mitch
Question? Comment? Suggestion? Caught a typo? Email me at mitch.moxley@gmail.com
Over dressed always. And, the chore coat is just so… chore.