Fancy Meeting You

Summer is almost here.  The jacket colors are getting lighter, and the boaters and linen have made their way out of storage.  In New York we have about 3.5 days that are just about perfect before the “wet wool blanket” descends on the city.  The last couple days have been those days.  Everyone’s out and I’ve gotten to meet quite a few new people!

At the Jazz Age Lawn Party on June 14 it was a bit of an International Club.  First I met up with Yoshio Suyama, a barber originally from Japan now based in Toronto.  He told me he is from a small town in Japan, and made his way to London to study to be a barber.  He arrived not knowing any English and learned it (in 2 years!) by watching the movie This is England again and again.  It gave him a great accent, but he had to “unlearn” some rude colloquialisms.  Can you imagine?!

The dapper barbers meet - Yoshio and Mike Haar

Keith Tritto, Yoshio, Simon Westerlund, and Jessica Silversaga

Simon was visiting from Stockholm with his lovely girlfriend Jessica. 

The Enforcers...of fun!  Sorry that was bad...anyways, moving on.

Now, to Jersey City, NJ, my I am Dandy co-author Natty's beloved neighborhood.  On June 12 we had a book signing party, this time hosted by Another Man’s Treasure.  On our way over from the train we ran into Natty's friend and local bespoke tailor DeCarlos, who you see here.  Natty says he's always riding around (on that great bike!) impeccably turned out.


Denny Balmaceda, creator of the vintage menswear blog Look Rich Shop Cheap, in the doorway of Another Man's Treasure.  He's been blogging since 2007 about how to make the most of thrifting and vintage.  People always ask me if the dandies are rich, or if you have to have a lot of money to dress the way they do.  Of course you don't...but you will have to get creative, and it will probably take quite some time to gather.   I can see that Denny fully embraces this sensibility, and, above all, likes the challenge of a good find.    

One of my favorite couples, Bill Webb and Eva Kobus-Webb.  You can tell they have fun.

And finally, I got to meet Philippe Grenade, a director and filmmaker who I had a great time chatting with at the book signing.  Notice the thumbs!

Elegance in an Age of Crisis - Opening Party

Bruce Boyer and Luca Rubinacci

Elegance in an Age of Crisis: Fashions of the 1930s exhibit is now open at the Museum at FIT from Feb 7 - April 19, 2014.  I was lucky enough to be at the opening festivities where I saw many old friends, Dandy Portrait subjects, and some new ones too, like Luca Rubinacci visiting from Milan.  Best of all I got to celebrate with Bruce Boyer and Patricia Mears, both of whom have been working on this darn exhibit and book tirelessly for at least a year now.  Bravo to them, and all the others involved, namely Andrew Yamato who was commissioned to make a film for the show!  It is an inspiring exhibit that should not be missed.

More photos of the party-goes and exhibit can be viewed here.



I had a good time talking with Luca Rubinacci, who lent suits from his grandfather's collection for the exhibit.  He told me what he enjoys about dressing are the sometimes hidden details that are just for himself - the lining, the print on a pocket square (a map of Italy), or this curious chili pepper charm attached to his lapel pin.  It stays tucked away in his pocket, until...

Patricia Mears

Andrew Yamato

David Coggins and Sean Crowley

Robert Bryan and Cator Sparks

Iké Udé

Shannon Hill and Anthony Kirby

Natty Adams and Bruce Boyer

Michelle Coursey and Matthew Karl Gale

Gretchen Fenston (she made that hat!)

Laura Kimsey

Mr. Yamato and his White Linen Suit

Andrew Yamato, Brooklyn, March 2013

You get the feeling right about this time in July that it will never be cold again, never chilly enough to wear tweed.  You almost give up hope (that comes in August).  Everyone just melts.  Well, let this photo be an inspiration!  How can it get better than a vintage white linen suit? 

The funny part was that it was taken on a very cold day in March.  I think there were still snow flurries happening, but I cajoled Andrew to do some shots outside in that beautiful Edward Hopper light streaming down Grand St in Williamsburg.   With my "summer goggles" on now, sitting at one very warm laptop, it looks every bit a man keeping his cool amidst the headiest days of Summer in the City.

Time to go have a cocktail and not move so fast.

PS - Andrew is a great film maker as well.  Check out this video he produced for A Suitable Wardrobe about the RISD Artist/Rebel/Dandy exhibit

The Cary Collection: The Dandy Edit

Thomas Cary of The Cary Collection, NYC, Nov 2012

As a photographer I have to rely on my instincts to guide me in split seconds.  Sometimes I don't even know consciously what I'm looking at.  And upon editing I can finally see what was actually there, what my eye found interesting.  In the case of The Cary Collection you see documented here, the hour or two I spent went by in a flash, and I felt like I barely had a chance to look.  So much to take in!  But now we can look as along as we please, and if you could blow up these photos to full size you would get lost in the details.

Mr. Cary tells me he was a "passionate and precocious" collector from an early age, and attributes his interest in aesthetic things to his late father, who was an avid art collector, and served on the board of The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, where Mr. Cary grew up.  His mother, as well, was a collector of classic English furniture and antiques.  He remembers their lavish cocktail and dinner parties:  "My parents had a fabulous coterie of colourful friends whom I strived to emulate both sartorially as well as how graciously they lived in their glamourous surroundings"

While growing up he became enamored of old Brooks Brother's catalogues and Esquire Magazines, and equally influenced by mod TV shows of the day like The Avengers and The Persuaders.  Young Thomas fashioned his bedroom after John Steed's London bachelor flat, and even considered attending butler school in London to become a private butler in a UK estate household, because he "loved the regal concept".  However,  it seems the dreams of an exciting life as a butler were short-lived…but can you imagine?




I knew partly what to expect, because of articles and great photographs already made by Unabashedly Prep, Fine Young Gentleman, etc. over the last few years.  Still…it was quite an experience to be in the space surrounded with bright saturated wonderful things, but hardly being able to move.  I actually got a light in there, not sure how (?!?).  And then the stories!  I'm a big fan of anecdotes, and Mr. Cary did not disappoint;  he had the history and provenance for all pieces available at an instant, I assume without effort.   He is as delightfully eccentric as his collection.   If you know The Dandy Portraits, you will know this is the real reason I went.

There was no way he was going to miss the opportunity presented by a chance encounter with Sir Sean Connery on the streets of Manhattan.

Cary custom mats and frames most of his artwork to give it his own look.

Thomas Cary has a collection that seems to know no end.  But it is saved from being "hoarding" by being such an incredible wonderland of pinpointed Americana.  It is the America of New England WASP culture and symbolism, sailing, thoroughbreds, Newport estates, Ivy League insignias, prime 20th century New York City nightlife and social diary, bachelor pad cocktail culture, 21 Club artifacts, lawn jockey lamps, all awash in go-to-hell preppy colors.   Mr. Cary has a point of view, a color palette, and it evokes a time and place, creating a powerful nostalgia.

For Mr. Cary, the collection is obviously an obsession (and perhaps his own work of art?), but the collection is also his business.  He sells by appointment, and at select retailers, such as Bergdorf Goodman.  The Cary Collection now encompasses 15,000 rare books, 700 works of art, and 1,200 pieces of vintage objects, many of which are now accessible on their just launched global website:
thecarycollection.com