RECTOVERSO: Dressing the Neck-LFG Style

Dressing the neck is always going to be tricky business. The issue has been well covered by Will over at A Suitable Wardrobe, Chris over at Easy and Elegant Life as well as Chris at Off the Cuff. I think it was Chris Cuff who recently posited on the issue of neck dressing in warm weather. That’s an easy matter for me to reconcile…it’s too freakin’ hot and humid here in my neck of the woods to worry with encasing my goozle from now till Halloween.

I’ll not offer too much beyond what I and others have already said on the ascot/kerchief/neck subject-I’m gonna turn it over to LFG in a moment. But there's just nothing trickier than pulling off the neckerchief look. My first rule is consistent with the standard rule I have for all my sartorial contrivances…you’ve gotta not care too much what others think or you’ll end up humiliating yourself. You just flat out have to not give a shitake.

Let me also touch on what I call the Thurston Howell, III phenomenon. I don’t care how grungy, casual or aloof your outfit might be—add an ascot and the affectation is over the top. More so than anything delivered by wearing slippers. The foppish effeminacy manifest in an ascot makes Belgian shoes look like steel toe Red Wings. I wear dime store cotton cowboy handkerchiefs and the impact is the same. So why do I wear them from time to time in colder moments? Simple—I like them and I don’t like having an open neck in the winter.

You haven’t asked for advice on the matter but I’ll offer it gratuitously. Don’t dare touch this accessory unless you can run the gantlet of stares, ridicule and tisk tisking. You already know that if I don’t get some of that, I feel like I haven’t executed my sartorial rigging properly.

Even if only a hint of your neck accoutrement shows... it's enough. Enough to scream...I'm a poseur. No problem where I'm concerned. I AM a poseur.

Solid brown silk shantung was my choice for one of my recent days in London.

Never have I seen Lord Flusser without something adorning the neck.

A five dollar cotton handkerchief and you've achieved...Geezer Chic.

So LFG and I are walking to La Madeleine last Sunday. It was time to celebrate the completion of our final book project. More on the book project in a moment. LFG dressed for our lunch date and I didn’t take much notice of what she had on…it was fairly typical. The above shot is not what she wore to lunch last Sunday...this is from a previous post that she and I did on winter scarves. I just like the picture.

Then I noticed that her t-shirt seemed bunched up around her neck. Upon further inspection, I realized that she had on a scarf. I so was impressed with her little touch of panache-élan-style that I asked her to show me how she tied it. By the way…her scarf came from Gap.

Step One: Show daddy just how much scarf you have to work with!

Step Two: Once around the neck with authority.

Step Three: Knot the ends.

Final Step: Tie it once again and tuck it in. Then enjoy quiche and Orangina at La Madeleine.

Our final book report and presentation for the year. By the way, LFG made all As on every segment of the report she did on The Elephant Book. Homeless Bird was a bit more challenging than a picture book about elephants. It's a story about a young girl and the journey through an arranged marriage, widowhood almost immediately thereafter and betrayal by those close to her. It's also about empowerment, perseverance and the fruits of hard work and faith. Heavy stuff for a nine year old to process but she did a great job. Her visual aid this time was a bookstore poster. I think she'll do great on this one as well.