Coming Full Circle.
December 15, 2009
I have to apologize to the faithful readers of this here blog off the bat. Finals week this week and the previous one have had me lurking in the library rather then stroking the buttons of the keyboard. Hopefully this small post will more or less make up for my absence.
My good brother Paul runs a very clean little blog publication over at Components of Enthusiasm where he documents all the little things that light a fire under both himself and the rest of those infatuated with all things classic American style. Going above and beyond the call of duty, Paul recently embarked on throwing together a little compilation of posts entitled "The Favorites Series" where he basically asked a gang of bloggers to write a little bit about their favorite piece of clothing alongside some photo documentation of the item. Well as I stated previously on the Good Times Blog, though my style is little more reminiscent of the characters in the movie Sideout than the style icons that these mens wear blogs love to discuss, I happily joined in on the project and came up with the following.
“I’ll never forget the day I found my father’s varsity jacket in the attic. It was somewhere around sophomore year of highschool and though I was playing varsity sports at the time for my own school, I never felt any desire to wear a wool billboard of my high school on my back to announce to every passing person that I played soccer and lacrosse during the Fall and Winter. All of that seemed to change when I cracked open a cardboard box marked “John Highschool” in mymother’s quick scribble. With the distinct scent of mothballs, dust, and attending an all boys highschool in the 1980’s escaping from the box I found a deep maroon wool varsity jacket the likes of which I had never before seen. Perfectly accented with heather gray stripes on the shoulders and an arched “Girard College” across the back I was holding in my hands the senior jacket my father wore about twenty years earlier as he tormented freshmen in his final year of highschool.
Girard College is a private school on the outskirts of Philadelphia where children from broken families are given a chance to receive a top of the line education. Upon senior year and approaching graduation, the boys are given a senior jacket inscribed with their name and graduating year. In my hands I was holding a small piece of that history. Complete with pockets so well worn in that whatever you put into them get’s lost inside the lining of the jacket, and a collar that almost permanently stays flipped up, my father’s passed down varsity jacket is my choice for this project.
Myself wearing the jacket circa 2009. Shot by the brother Dave. (!!)
When Paul asked me to participate here, I chose my father’s varsity jacket over any other piece I own faster than Tiger Wood’s wife takes to a golf club. Quite simply this is the jacket I throw on when I don’t even want to think about clothing. Top to bottom made in the U.S. by a manufacture who’s tag has been worn away with the years, the color alone is amazing mostly because I’ve yet to find any other clothing line putting out the same deep maroon. Not to mention the fact that the cut is seemingly A.P.C. inspired before that brand even existed. Extremely slim and just short enough to satisfy even the most demanding European designer, yet the jacket is entirely American in it’s appeal and general attitude. Or maybe it’s just my favorite because it’s easy for me to imagine my father involved in all sorts of debauchery in the streets of Philadelphia two decades ago in the very same wool coat. With that sort of legacy and legend woven in it’s very fabric, I’ve no doubt that it is my single most favorite piece of clothing hanging in my closet."
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That's where my story ended, and I'd have to say it was almost entertaining enough to prevent myself from falling asleep while re-reading it, the most interesting part of the story comes after my own father, the original owner of the jacket reads the article and back at home decides to thumb through the pages of a photo album where he came across this:
The jacket being worn on the right circa 1981. Photograph shot by my father.
Let's just pause for a moment and appreciate the life altering style of the photograph above. If there was ever a time to utter a four letter word that starts with "s", ends in "g" and rhymes with "wag" then this was it.
That picture was taken by my father in 1981 in the halls of his school on an ancient Olympus camera that now sits completely dead on my desk as an ornament. As you can see that varsity jacket was not only worn by my father and his peers, but worn with enough style and confidence to put just about every once of us to shame twenty years later as we look at how we dressed when attending class in high school compared to the picture above. Not to mention the military issue M-65 jacket with the school issued uniform on the left? My goodness excuse me for being frank but I do believe these are the sort of pictures that get the whole "A Continous Lean" crowd wet in the netherlands. Anyway, I can appreciate style when it is presented to me, and I'm glad to see that twenty years prior to my own wearing of the same piece, my father and company were wearing it three times better then me all while upholding American traditions of the grandest sort.
Stay Safe-Phil.
(If you get this far and still have strength to comment, you are truly appreciated.)
The picture your father shot is truly awesome. Were those just random students? They pretty much contain the look that fashion labels try to capture with their search for models. The duffel bag really adds to the entire feel. Good post. Read it over on Paul's site as well.