Sartorial

The reasons why I've always been sartorial (and introspective while I emanate):

1) My grandmother: She was my grandfather's (on my mom's side) concubine #3 of 6. Old school. I don't know since I've never asked whether or not she was educated. But she always had a sense of class, decorum, style, wisedom, and real estate to be monetized. She was/is quite elegant. Not a cat on a hot tin roof or rouged. She reminds me of Queen Elizabeth. Very soft spoken, flawless complexion, classy, rive gauche. I remember that when I was 7, she told me, "We love you. No matter what, just become a good human being." I did't know what she meant then. But I know now... be yourself and treat others the way you want to be treated. The golden rule. How divine and classy is that?! Anway, when I was a kid, a toddler. She always bought me the best clothes. Always high level, jackets, pants, shirts, sweaters, and cardigans and always great colors. Blood red, sometimes Crimson, navy blue, royal blue, or Emperor yellow. I started to learn the noble colors and fit and it has stayed with me to this day (I hope) and I shall stick with it;

2) My girlfriend in college: Her dad was the head of the Asia Bank and she did alot of 'candy' :) (she was a great bad worldy influence) and was always dressed to kill (skirt, stockings (with garters), and heels (perfect ankles)). I had a 1.9 GPA that year and was put on academic probation that year. But after 3 yrs., caught up, and graduated on the Dean's list with 3.6 GPA. But no Phi Beta Kappa. Fck it. Who cares. Ended up doing M&A at Merril. Almost got Goldman. But that's another story). I was the concubine #1 in that relationship. She always (except maybe twice) came back home to me. She made me into her image. Brought me up to date. Bought me a ton of threads so that we would be the most impressive couple this side of the pond and we were;

3) Tom Dineen: My dearest friend. He got me into ascots (Turnbull & Asser of course) and single malt scotch when we got out of college and before he went to study at Oxford. He always had a tweed jacket on for every class and his vocabulary was/is second to none. There were no nuances left unbare. One of the most refined fellow and friend I know. We were roomates for a year and as he saw me blasting Depeche Mode watching TV, he said, "Fred! Why don't you put your brain to use and read a book!" That was supreme advise and I read everything from Emerson to Theosophy and the Occult (an ancient science that was not part of the curicculum at Columbia. It was an enforced additive to my education on top of Homer, Plato, Nietszche, Schopenhauer, Heidegger, etc. that I had (and had to) read in college.);

4) Peacock: I was watching a National Geographic segment on birds once (many several years ago) and saw a peacock. More specifically, a male peacock. The female peacocks had no color. Most of them were either white or grey. But the male peacocks were donned with the most precious colors (in order to attract the females.) Then I thought. Hey, these are just birds. Pretty low down in the food chain. I'm on top of the food chain! and I will not allow these birds out do me in the area of beauty. I decided to be evenmore elegant;

5) The Great Gatsby: I only saw the movie. Never read the book. For shame. But the movie enthralled me. Most specifically, when Daisy Buchanan visits Gatsby in his house (mansion) and goes to his bedroom and Gatsby opens up his armoire and starts displaying his shirts and starts throwing them up in the air until the entire bedroom was covered with his shirts. "My man in London, sends me the swatches every season." Then Daisy grabs one of the shirts in the air and starts to weep and says, "These are the most beautiful shirts that I have ever seen." All the colors of the rainbow and beyond. Sorbet. The very next day, I went to Ascot Chang's where Bush I got his shirts made. Got my self measured and put 7 shirts on order (with detacheable collars). My French blue, Egg yolk (Imperial Mandarin) yellow, salmon pink, mint green, eggshell white, etc. all arrived. But it was hard to find a shop that had collar studs. Went to Bergdorf, Barneys, Saks, Paul Stuart. None of them had a single collar stud. The only place that kept the ancient accessory was... J.Press. J.Press only had 4 locations: Cambridge (Harvard), New Haven (Yale), New York (Columbia), D.C. They skipped Princeton for some reason. I wish that they hadn't.

Anyway, to make the long story short (otherwise, I can pen an entire novella on the topic and bore people to tears), that's the abridged history of my sartorial influence. It's good to trace back the genealogy. It's comforting to know and write down how I got here and whence I derived my aesthetics. It's like a personal archaeological dig. Strata 1,2,3 etc. Move aside Indiana Jones :).

Now. I'm gonna do a little blurb on watches since I'm on the topic of sartorial. "A watch should not only tell time. But who you are." I saw this once in an ad in the British GQ and it stuck with me. My belief was/is as follows... watches per age range: in a gentleman's 20's- a Rolex (to kick things off); then in one's 30's- a Patek Phillipe (a proper marriage watch. The woman gets the 3 carat Tiffany's emerald cut and the gentleman in exchange gets the Patek. Not to mention, the mother of his offspring); 40s-- a Blancpain; 50s- a Vacheron; then 60 til grave- a Breguet.

Sartorial to the end. From cradle to grave. A gentleman.

[P.S. Clothes alone do not make the man (any asshole can buy a Brioni or a D&G :). It only gets him half way there. To be a gentleman, I believe, one must be a Caesar with a heart of Christ. In other words, money alone doest not make a gentleman. But style AND character... a divine native (or cultivated) constitution. Actually, it has alot to do with breeding and upbringing.]