Fashion Week

The vagaries of fashion are upon us in mid-town Manhattan this week as Fashion Week usurps literature in Bryant Park (behind the New York Public Library). Even if you don’t enter the vaunted gates of the event—or attend the lavish parties in the evenings—you still get a sense of the happenings by glimpsing 80-pound, six-foot Ukranian 14-year olds teetering down Fifth Avenue in search of some calories. So, this is all about fleeting  fashion. But, what of style? And enduring style? That’s the domain of the high-rise office-dwellers from nearby Madison Avenue  glimpsing those Ukrainian models. The guys wearing the same 3-button,  Brooks Brothers Cambridge Grey worsted wool suit and perennial Alden wing-tips that was worn by their grandfathers.

Real style (think Cary Grant’s) survives generations of fashion fads. And,  most of the styles are rooted  in Anglo-American traditions of sport, hunting and business—the perfect cocktail mixing country and town attire. Clothes with precedents a century—or even two–old. So, as Fashion Week unveils new styles, it might be a good time to get reacquainted with the style that has had genuine staying power. One place to look is Tatra Press’ The Indispensable Guide to Classic Men’s Clothing, still in print after more than a decade. At this rate, this title is approaching becoming a classic in itself. (In case you are attending one of these events, please consider the Tatra Press guide to tying a bow tie—found on this website and on our Facebook page.)