WASP Christmas Visit: Biltmore Estate

If you have a weekend free from office parties or family obligations, I highly suggest making a trip to Asheville, NC to the Biltmore Estate. The estate is the largest privately owned home in the United States, and it is breathtaking to behold at Christmas time.

The home was built by a WASPy guy named George Washington Vanderbilt II around 1889 to 1895. The home contains at least 250 rooms, and it is still owned by a descendant of the Vanderbilt family. In addition, there are rumors that the estate is haunted by the Vanderbilt's and some of their staff. Personally, I have not had such an encounter on my visits to the home, but who knows. Regardless, check it out and you will not be disappointed.





Library



Banquet Hall



Mr. Vanderbilt's Bedroom

Mixing Tweed With Tartan Plaid

Photo Credit: Polo Ralph Lauren

As I mentioned earlier, I intend to do several posts pertaining to the Christmas Season and today's post goes along with this intention. In the last post, I mentioned that Christmas Parties are an opportunity to wear either tartan trousers are a plaid jacket. In most cases, one will reach for their navy blazer to pair with the trousers, or gray flannels to pair with a plaid jacket. And yes, this is a correct look, but the Polo Ad above demonstrates how one can incorporate a simple herringbone tweed, and look just as elegant. Yes, the herringbone bares a pattern, but it is simple enough to wear with tartan plaid in my opinion, and yes, you will look WASPy.

Running Behind !

I am running behind today, and I may have to skip posting! We will see! I will definitely post tomorrow.

The Casual Christmas Party Kit

The Christmas Season provides us with numerous opportunities to sport plaid trousers, sportcoats, and wear boisterous holiday sweaters (more to come on this topic). One does not have to be festive to be a WASP, but these are some appropriate plaid items that I selected to demonstrate what one should wear if you choose to do so. However, if you wear a plaid jacket, keep the trousers and the tie simple. The same for wearing plaid trousers......keep the jacket, shirt and tie(optional) simple. More to come!





Photo Credits: J Press



Photo Credit: Ask Andy Trad Forum



Photo Credit: Orvis

Let The Christmas Season Begin!!

Photo Credit: My Photo - My Dog :)

Well, I survived Black Friday, and I am posting again for Sunday but this is to make up for the missed Saturday post. I truly am exhausted, but Mrs. Richard and I have completed our shopping ventures. Truly, Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and I will be doing posts on many Christmas related items during the next few weeks. So till then, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and be safe while out shopping and traveling.

PS - If anybody is thinking of buying ol Richard a gift......J Press has this exact Brownwatch Plaid blazer and I would like it. A 40 or 41 R will work :)



Photo Credit: Ask Andy Trad Forum

Let The Holidays Begin !

First, Let me say Happy Thanksgiving, and let you know that I will not be posting on Black Friday (The Day After). I will be back on Saturday!

Second, I want to take an opportunity to talk about how a WASP might do Thanksgiving. Their is not an exact science to this but here are a few options:

1) Go to the country club - If you do this, dress appropriately by wearing a blazer and tie with your chinos. No need for a suit!

2) Go to grandmas - If you are fortunate to have grandparents in good health take time to spend the day with them if possible. Be sure to please granny by wearing casual but nice clothing. An example of this would be a Shetland sweater, chinos, and viyella shirt, neck tie. If you go the sport coat route, lose the tie unless the dinner has a formal tone. Typically, I find that most WASP Thanksgivings have a casual tone.

3)Family Dinner Followed by The Big Hunt - Many feel the need to kill animal flesh on the day for giving thanks, and if you go this route bring your Barbour Coat.

4) Family Dinner Followed by Endless Staring At The Tube Watching Football - Dress like you might for grannies, but you may be able to get away with just a sweater, button down shirt and chinos.

In addition, Thanksgiving is potentially a day that one may have to deal with pesky cousins and aunts and uncles. They are all loaded with questions, and you have to appease their little hearts with answers. If you want to shun yourself of this burden, then show up with a girl like Megan Fox. They will talk quietly in the corner about you rather than ask questions. Trust me, I have done it before.....oops, well before I got married but if my wife reads this I am so sleeping in the guest room. Happy Thanksgiving!



Giving Thanks At The Club



Brooke Astor's Dining Room



The Girl That Will Definitely Cause Side Conversations



Photo Credit: GQ for Ralph Lauren



Going Hunting

Photo Credit: Ask Andy Trad Forum



Grandma Will Love It

Photo Credit: Ask Andy Trad Forum

Wear Camel Hair And You Will Get Girls Like Lacey Chabert

Photo Credits: AskMen.Com

No, you really won't get a girl like Lacey if you wear Camel Hair, but in the spirit of commercialism it is fun to think you could. I always laugh at beer commercials that portray if you drink this beer you will be like The Most Interesting Man In The World. Ha!

The Camel Hair Blazer/Sport Coat is not an essential WASP item to own, but it certainly is a worth while one to purchase. The camel jacket is almost like a navy blazer due to its versatility. It looks great with stone or cream trouser, gray flannels, blackwatch trousers, jeans, etc. A myriad of ties can be worn with the jacket, and does the fabric ever feel so soft. Camel Hair Sport Coats come in a variety of colors, but the basic color is a camel/tan color and this is the color I recommend. Red and Olive varieties are fine, and in addition, plaid versions are acceptable as well.

So grab you a camel jacket and you just never know, Lacey could show up! Have a great Thanksgiving!



Photo Credit: Brooks Brothers



Photo Credit: Ask Andy Trad Forum

The 1980s Prep

When trying to achieve WASP style, it is sometimes helpful to think of the decade that is influencing your look the most. Sure, you can mix decades, and for those who don't have a clue as to what I am talking about, I will explain. The Ivy League Style as we know it today probably emerged in the late 1920's early 1930s. This look of wearing flannel trousers, tweed jackets, and regimental ties carried through until after WWII, and then the chinos were thrown on the scene. The earliest of days style and the new chino craze continued through the 1960s, and then a decline in desire to look Ivy began to occur. It wasn't until the 1980s that we saw a revolution of the Ivy Style, but this time bright colors were prominent, critters were on your pants, and so called preppies wore sweaters around their necks like scarves. I also think it is fair to say that resort wear and GTH items were predominant in the 80s as well. Then somewhere along the line, Nirvana (the rock band) came along and the style known as grunch dominated the 1990s with flannel and beat up jeans dominating the scene. But finally, around the 2000s Ivy rose again from the ashes, but if you are like me.....you never changed and your pursued the look as long as you could buy your own clothes. And again, the point of all this is you need to understand what part of the Ivy Look you want to resemble. Above is a photo of me all prepped out with a yellow OCBD, bow tie, plaid wool trousers and a pink sweater tied around my neck. Any guesses as to which decade inspired me....yep, the 1980s.

A Quiet Evening At Home: A Revisitation of My Favorite Post

As much as I like to dine out, I sometimes enjoy a quiet evening at home (don't worry, this is not another story about how I get the girl). This evening my wife and I decided to prepare dinner for her 82 year old grandpa. I find men of his generation fascinating, and their wealth of knowledge and experience is abundant. His stories about politics, clothing, and growing up are so captivating. He reminisced about shopping at the gentleman's store where he grew up, and he repeatedly pointed out that nobody makes a good suit anymore. "Everything is mass produced," he exclaimed. I comforted him by assuring him that I would take him to buy a quality suit. He replied, "A guy has to look good you know, even at 82." As we moved from the sitting room to the dining room, we all sat down to a beautiful table prepared by my wife. I am wearing a linen and silk blend fair isle sweater, cream wool trouser, candy stripe oxford, and canvas spectator shoes. I sorely wanted a picture of my wife and her grandfather, but they were skeptical about being on the internet. He constantly reminded me that it would destroy the world :) Regardless, he was wearing a red plaid shirt, brown corduroy blazer, olive chinos, and brown wing-tips (all from Brooks Brothers).

Dinner was fabulous, and the conversation continued. We all enjoyed the lamb chops, green salad, baked potatos, and rolls. We finished the meal with peach ice cream and peach cobler. After dinner, her grandpa wanted to sit on the deck and have a smoke. "Come smoke with me, Richard", he said. "It will clear your lungs and mind." :) It had become quiet brisk outside, so I ventured into my closet and grabbed my camel hair blazer and tweed cap. I usually don't wear a hat, but he brought his, and he told me I needed to get mine. "You must never let your head get cold!" he exclaimed. I did not argue! As he fired up his pipe, I began to puff on my Macanudo Maduro. The conversation continued, and he continued to school me about great suits and occasionally tobacco. He encouraged me to smoke a pipe. "You will love it," he said. I explained to him that I did have a pipe, but I seldom use it. As the evening came to a close, I realized how much I could learn from this man. I thoroughly enjoyed my quiet evening at home!

A Look From Behind

Close Look

The Shoes

WASP 101 Girl Of The Moment: Blair (Leighton Meester)

Yes, I love looking at photos of Leighton Meester (Blair from Gossip Girl), and though I dethroned her briefly for Georgina, I have since realized my mistake. I usually do not do a post for Sunday, but today I will make an exception and encourage you to sit back and enjoy the new music video by Leighton. Sure, the video has zero WASP qualities, but as I have stated before the Girl of The Moment need not have any of these qualities to wear the crown. WASP/Preppy men are notorious for finding women outside the fold attractive, though Leighton's character on Gossip Girl is at the top of the latter on the upper-east side. And for those curious as to why I have truly started or resumed teaching WASP lessons, these are the series I plan to focus on:

-WASP Lessons
-WASP 101 Girl Of The Moment
-What Am I Wearing Today, occasionally accompanied by a story or lesson
-Sunday Handlin' - An extension of what I am wearing accompanied by funny church stories
-Random what ever I want to do :)