Reason to Celebrate

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Michael Haar at the Breuckelen Tweed Ride, Prospect Park, Dec 2012

Their are so many reasons to celebrate this last year and heartily welcome the new one.  A big thank you to all my readers, new and old!  I have had such a good time making these images, and to have so many of you enjoy them is a dream come true.

2013 looks to be a huge year for The Dandy Portraits - I will be included in the exhibition at RISD in April,  and more big news that I have to keep hush hush for the time being.  

So have some fun and raise a glass - or your hat - to the coming year!

PS - remember you can keep up with me on instagram for snapshots around town, and tumblr for dandy images I find inspiring, and facebook page for updates to blog, news, and more.

Cleverley Bespoke: Dandy Enablers

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The George Glasgows, father and son,  NYC,  Oct 2012

Cleverley bespoke shoes are works of art.  Like little sculptures I can be enjoy for the sheer beauty of it...because I (probably) will never wear them, or own a pair.  They don't make ladies shoes.  I asked, of course, when I met the father and son team at the helm of the legendary bespoke shoemakers of London on their most recent visit to New York.  They smiled at the question.  But a lady can appreciate, can't she?  

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I was charmed by the stories of George the elder.  Not surprising - he is known to be a colorful storyteller.  It helps so I can be quiet and watch.  But I naturally like to hear stories.  When he starts to talk he gets a little smile on his face and his hand rests itself  on his chest just under his lapel.  It could be Napoleonic, but instead it's very relaxed.

Glasgow told me how he started out long ago apprenticing George J Cleverley, and eventually came to own the company, and about how a lot of young people are interested in bespoke shoes now, but sometimes want them as quickly as they want everything else.  The old timers, though, the lords and royalty who have always been customers, never mention anything as pedestrian as time, or, god forbid, money.  A simple note is passed to announce the shoes are ready for pick up, and that is all.

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Much love and mending.  Made in July 1980, this pair shows wear, but I'll bet they feel great!

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The signature "suspiciously square toe" styling.

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It might seem odd - that this customer is smelling the shoe, but not if you knew why...

They are made from the famed Russian reindeer leather that has been rescued from the cargo of a 1786 shipwreck.  How utterly romantic, how rarefied.  Even though this exclusive material has been mentioned by many blogs and magazines, it really does still have an air about it.  And the smell…in person…I loved it.  It should be a cologne, if that's even possible.  It's incredibly masculine and smells of smoky leather and metal.

They made a hefty travel bag from it as well.   I wouldn't mind this for my guy, not at all.


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Alex Rodriguez came by for the fitting on his first pair of shoes.   Hopefully this marks the end of trainers?

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Cleverley, as you can imagine, has been enabling dandies for decades: current bon vivants Tom Wolfe and Ed Hayes, Andre Churchwell, as well as those legends from the past like Bunny Rogers (he liked those difficult button up boots that require a contraption to get into them), and "aristocratic aesthete" Baron De Rede.

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All the while I was hearing the stories from the elder, George Jr was talking with clients, checking in with his phone, arranging fittings, and fluttering back and forth between all the rooms of the presidential suite getting orders ready for customers.  He's the new generation, and quite business minded and tech savvy.  That's a great compliment to the legend of Cleverley - and I wish the Georges all the best!


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Well Dressed Jazz



You'll find Dandy Wellington and His Band playing downtown, uptown - and classing up the joints all over town.  Even though people haven't been smoking in bars for years now, when the band plays, it almost feels like there's a bit more haze in the air, a bit more swing in the steps of passersby.   And the band, including trumpeter Mike Davis, are quite the dapper bunch.  The whole experience - this is what Wellington likes to call well dressed jazz.

This short was commissioned by Dandy Wellington and produced by Rarebit Productions (me and Kelly Desmond Bray)

If you are in NYC definitely check them out - it's a real good time!


Autumn in New York...Churchwell Style

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Dr. Andre Churchwell in Central Park, Oct 20, 2012

Well look who came to visit right before the big storm - before all the leaves were blown away? Why it was Dr. Churchwell, of course!  He could be called the flaneur of Central Park here.  

Autumn in New York, why does it seem so inviting?  The song by Vernon Duke performed by Ella Fitzgerald is our soundtrack today....

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What I most enjoy about Dr. Churchwell's well developed style is that he's bold with color and comes up with the most wonderful combinations...and he has so much fun with it.  It takes a creative eye to see color this way.

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Clothing notes:

Hat:  custom made pinch crown pork pie styled after Fred Aistaire
Suit:  bespoke maroon window pane by Len Logsdail, in a hacking style with turn back cuffs and slanted pockets
Shirt:  custom shirt from Turnbull & Asser
Tie:  Drake's from FM Allen in Nashville
Pocket Square:  Drake's for Alan Flusser
Vest:  with lapels in suede
Shoes:  Northampton by Stephen Kempson
Glasses:  Ralph Lauren


Fine and Dandy Shop is Open in NYC!

Congrats @fineanddandyshop The shop looks amazing! Enrique & Matt in front of 445 W49th btw 9-10 #menswear cc@finendandyshop
Enrique and Matt, the proud shopkeepers, in front of Fine and Dandy at 445 West 49th Street, NYC

My good friends at Fine and Dandy Shop have been cultivating a great menswear accessories business online for years now, and they recently set up a "brick and mortar" shop in Hell's Kitchen!  I visited them last weekend and I thought the store looked fantastic.  Their pieces are mixed with all their antique displays and budding collection of vintage photographs of men, and it felt like the perfect place to hang out.   

The headline could read:  "From Online to On Your Block: The Future of Retail Today"  right?   I wish them all the best!

Photos are snapped on my iphone using instagram.  You can follow me there @rcallahanphoto

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And the Tie Selector has a home, too!

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Dandy International Press Alert!

Some international press happening recently.  First, S MODA, a prominent Spanish newspaper, quoted me in a feature "The New Dandies", along with my friends Dandy Wellington, Massimiliano Mocchia di Coggiola, and Steven Hitchcock (photo by Anne Hugus):


Then Dandy Magazine in Paris asked me to send another set of portraits - this time to celebrate fall!  
Now I am getting together a selection of winter dandies... 

Dr. Keith Churchwell at Len Logsdail's in NYC 

Mickael Loir in Paris

Raymond Chu on Doyers Street, NYC 

Winston Chesterfield near his home in Westminster, London.



Dandy Wellington - Film Teaser



At last week's Dandy Talk we played this one minute teaser for the second short film for The Dandy Portraits produced by Rarebit Productions, my film company with Kelly Desmond Bray.  What a surprising treat it was to see it projected in front of an audience!

This time get a peek into the life and philosophy of Dandy Wellington, a man of many talents, and may bow ties.  We follow him from his home in Harlem, thru the streets of Manhattan, to the downtown speakeasies he frequently plays at with his vintage jazz band.

The first in the series on Sean Crowley can be viewed here.

Dandy Talk - My View

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My view from the stage at the Dandy Talk on Oct 5, 2012

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A hearty "thank you" to everyone who came out to the Dandy Talk event last Friday a the National Arts Club!  It was an overwhelming turn out, and everywhere I looked I saw smiles of friends, colleagues and curious strangers.  When I think back to when I started The Dandy Portraits, I could not have imagined that I would be at such fulfilling evening - with so many people interested in a subject that has fascinated me for years.

Special thanks to David Zyla for envisioning the evening, my fellow panelists, my very good friend Naomi White for photographing, and of course Dandy Wellington and His Band and Hendrick's Gin for keeping the party going.

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Did I mention the super smart crowd?  They asked some great, thought provoking questions - about how things like ethnicity, sexuality, and class come into play with dandyism, what the connection might between vintage enthusiasts and dandies, and if there can be female dandies?

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One of the great delights for me was getting big prints made for the first time!  I printed eight images 20x30 inches, and I think they can go even bigger - BIGGER!   I can see the exhibition now, can't you?

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We screened the short film on Sean Crowley I made with Kelly for Rarebit Productions, and a trailer for our new short on Dandy Wellington.

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Bruce Boyer (center) spinning a good yarn with Shannon Hill (far left) and tailor Len Logsdail and his wife.

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Adorable Matt Fox before we went on stage.  

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Patrick MacDonald, always a pleasure to see you!  Sorry I took such a bad shot...

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I was happy to finally meet the designer Ignacio Quiles.

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The men who inspired me to start The Dandy Portraits - Allen Crawford, AKA Lord Whimsy, and my guy, Kelly Desmond Bray

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The Doyle Mueser connection:  Natty, Amber Doyle, Mike Davis, Jake Mueser, Dandy Wellington

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And why not a little portrait session in a forgotten corner of the beautiful Tilden Mansion?  Keith Tritto and Jamesy were happy to oblige.

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Do I look happy or what?!

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