One of my favorite combinations is pink and khaki. On the cusp of spring it lends itself so well to the hope of warmer weather to me. As I’ve said many times, pink is one of the primary three conservative colors but it adds another dimension of color that the other two uber versatile colors (blue and white) don’t. In the mid 20th century a lot of home accent colors utilized pink with brown. With only a few more weeks at best of cooler weather here I wanted to get in another wearing of my favorite tweed, a chocolate Donegal weave, so I coupled it with a pink twill shirt. OOTD •1997 MTM chocolate donegal tweed w shooting action back and sure elbow patches • cotton pink and blue pocket square • CT pink twill french cuffs with french horn links • Brooks Brothers navy w brown bridle motif bow tie • Harold’s double forward pleat khakis • Pantherella OTC socks • 1982 shell cordovan Alden loafer • 1940s Ernest Borel Automatic Watch

At the time I wasn’t too excited about some of the after hour projects Harold Powell had me assist him with. One was the Semi Annual “introduction night” for the incoming freshman Pledge classes every Thursday evening. Today however I appreciate immensely the speech I heard over and over again: •The first item a young man should buy is a blue Oxford button down shirt. • the second item a young man should buy is a blue Oxford button down shirt (for when the first one is being laundered ). This shirt was the foundation worn with anything from shorts to jeans to a three piece suit. (Then Harold would move to the navy blazer, khakis, grey slack and rep tie) Blue shirts are hands down the most versatile color of all shirts. While a white shirt can add a certain crispness to an outfit to which a blue falls short slightly, nothing gives more bang for the buck from a versatility perspective. I’ve spoken many times about the primary three essential colors in Classic Timeless Menswear that works with virtually all ties and coats and trousers: BLUE, WHITE, PINK Any gentleman wise enough to have these three colors in their closet has an almost infinite number of combinations available to him. The secondary colors that are a bit more fringe such as Lavender, Ecru, or Yellow certainly can add impact to an outfit but don’t have nearly the versatility as the big three. Then the tertiary colors such as Mint, or the non traditional dark colors like Navy, Black, and Reds, while certainly impactful, aren’t really traditionally thought of as Classic Timeless Menswear. (Although they still make a very cool statement). Pull up a JPress page on suits and you will inevitably see OCBDs in the primary and secondary colors mentioned above as a foundation on virtually every suit. I am going to bypass the button down versus point color discussion here except to say I am not going to get caught in the fashion noise of preppy, old school, dress shirt versus non dress shirt dullard drivel. Zzzzzzzzz. While I’m not wearing one an OCBD is always CTM.

Robin and I stopped in Ligonier PA and spent the night so we could visit with our friend RuthAnne this morning. RuthAnne is currently taking care of her elderly father and does not get out much so we try to visit when we can. She appreciates me being well dressed when we stop by. So my travel outfit for the day includes a Canyon Guide pearl snap flannel shirt, an Orvis grey tweed waist coat, purple wild rag tied with a four in hand, red corduroy trousers, walnut Chelsea boots and a Caribou Stetson Temple. The picture was taken at the New Stanton Park n’ Eat not long after we left from our visit with RuthAnne.

I know this has nothing to do with style. But my oldest daughter just sworn in the Marine Corps today!! She is fallowing her grandfather and my self! I’m so proud of her and excited to see her get earn the title of a Marine. Sounds like she ships off to bootcamp in September.

How do parents expect kids to listen to them when Cinderella stays out till midnight, Pinocchio likes to lie, Aladdin is a prince of thieves, Batman speeds at 500 miles per hour, Snow White lives with 7 men.