A Stab at Good Grooming and the Fantastic Sapeurs of the Congo!

I almost forgot about this commercial from the Superbowl (there are so many things I tried to forget....) but this is a good post on it over at dandyism.net. The answer is obvious though. Andre. The other two guys look a bit unsavory. But then again, I love a man in a boater hat. You wish I was kidding.


Ok, maybe not every guy in a boater...

I very much approve of anything that gets a chap's face furniture a little neater, although caution must be used to ensure that it doesn't get too thinned-out. Not many people can pull off a pencil mustache.

Also, this article about Les Sapeurs in the Congo is pretty interesting, although I found the implication that normal dandyism does not emphasize manners to be a bit strange. From revolutionaries like the Chaps to ordinary (but stylish) men like Tim Gunn who don't really consider themselves dandies, manners are a big part of being a proper man. Anyway, the gentlemen in the 7th and (especially) 8th pictures in the article look fantastic. Hooray for dandyism! May it sweep the globe.

Here are more pictures! These guys are awesome, and the photo essay tells a bit about their culture as well. They seem like really nice people, as well as stylish. It will start playing music, but it's very pleasant music.

Coming up: 3 (yes 3!) movie reviews.

Wikipedia is dead to me.....

....and it's quite sad (and probably temporary - what can I say? I'm an addict). I was trying to look up various hats in order to comment on my brother's blog post. I needed to make sure that my instinct about the appropriate hat to wear with tweeds in the country was correct. I thought it was probably a fedora or a trilby but I wasn't sure if a homburg was actually the one I meant (but homburgs are more formal - like a banker or prime minister might wear). This may not seem very important, but there is always the possibility that some chappish troll might challenge my choice of lid, and an ugly incident like this might occur (ridiculous argument in those comments - akubra my foot. It's obviously a fedora).

Anyway, where does wikipedia come into this story? Well, naturally I looked there first. I searched men's hats, as I have done many times in the past, and eventually came to this "list of headgear". Well, it was a start. I found the hats I wanted, read the pitifully short articles, and then found the answers I needed on artofmanliness.com.

The problem is this: Look at the headings for the list of hats. It starts out by showing all the kinds of hats that aren't worn anymore, then a bit of a list of hats, then more hats that aren't worn anymore (which is a trend that needs to stop). Then it goes into specialty hats. But this is not how wikipedia used to handle hats. Before they had, in almost every entry on men's hats, a discussion of how formal they were, giving good, meaningful comparisons across class, era, setting, and time of day. It was very helpful to know that a homburg is between a top hat and a fedora, but top hats are rarely worn during the day except at weddings and Ascot (morning dress occasions). It was helpful to me to know Morning Dress is the equivalent of White Tie, and Stroller is the equivalaent of Black Tie. But what if one is in the country? In the daytime? The evening? What would one go Bunburying off to a country manor in, while driving a Bentley and guzzling Grey Poupon? (It is awesome that it accepts "Bunburying" as a word without underlining it in red)

Wikipedia used to run down every possible combo. It was lovely, as a writer who likes dandyish characters, to be able to pinpoint the exact level of rakishness I needed. Now it's all dumbed down. Lame. The article for Stroller style still has a bit of what I was looking for.

Hmm. It occurs to me that a tweed flat cap might not be amiss...... What would the 11th Doctor wear? No, never mind - that would be a fez.

Chap Hop! Ukuleles! WAR!

This is kind of weird.... so, I've meaning to write a post for a while about ukuleles. No, really. I find it is impossible to feel sad when someone is playing a ukulele, particularly if it is 20s-ish music. For example, this is a delightful song I stumbled across on youtube.

Then I was reading The Chap, one of my favorite magazines of all time (on their website), and they mentioned Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer, who is performing at this year's ball. I remembered him because of the Chap Manifesto, which he set to rap in honor of the publication's tenth birthday. Anyway, here is one of his videos:

I think his banjolele is quite catchy, but apparently there is already a king of chap hop, and he is Professor Elemental. Here is what he has to say:

And the response? I think it's a response....?

Apparently some of the fans are pretty die-hard, but I like them both. Although, Prof. E. does have an album called Indifference Engine, so that gets him brownie points. Anyway, there is one thing we can all agree on:

Some steampunkery I have been making

So, all of you who have been hanging on my every post have probably been wondering, where is this series on my growing steampunk collection I promised way back when? Something about jodhpurs? Well, the jodhpurs article has spiraled out of control, and needs an entire spring break to get it done. This always happens to me. In the meantime, heres some steampunk stuff I've been working on.

I've been working on top hats for a while, making them the right size for ladies, covering them in luxurious fabrics, etc. My friend, who's a belly dancer, commissioned some for her troupe, and they are quite fancy! This is probably my favorite:

They are fun to wear, and I've finally gotten them to stay put perched elegantly on top of the head. (The secret of how they did it in Victorian time??? Hair Extensions! No kidding. Not for everyday wear, necessarily, but the big fancy hair? Yep. Fake.) They look like this when you wear them:

A couple of weeks ago I made a fascinator too. It was really easy, except for getting the feathers to all point the right way....

Currently, I'm working on a totally new type of hat!!! I'll get pics up soon.