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Dr. Sketchy’s is back in session. I missed the first class of the fall, but I caught last night, which also happened to be the birthday of the hostess. Good times…

Also, I should note: I am only two weeks away for the first anniversary of my first official style post. Wow.

The jacket is camel hair, made for the defunct Woolf Bros…
It is in near excellent condition, only showing a bit of wear at the sleeve cuffs and shoulders. No moth holes that I can find. It has the palest of patterns to the weave, like it was trying to mimic herringbone or some such. It feels fantastic.

The necktie is from Jack Henry on the Country Club Plaza here in KCMO. It is a high-end men’s store. The tie’s width and palette suggest vintage, but the store is not that old, I think…

Everything else has been shown in these posts prior, but I enjoy the color paltette of this round. The necktie offers enough brightness with the yellow, but everything else keeps a nice tight range of warm earthy tones; perfect to me for the first cold week of the fall…

The shoes are by Stacy Adams. When I first brought them home, they were pretty well scuffed. They polished up beautifully, although from the photo it would seem one didn’t exactly survive the night at the doctor’s… I love the seam details and the color is freakin’ perfect!

*smooch*

Last night was First Friday and I am still on four day work weeks. What a great combination.

The Pi Gallery was the starting point and the Late Show followed with a genius showing by a local artist of the name Travis Pratt, which almost entirely sold out in one night. Yeah. Incredible stuff.

Afterward was a set of music from some friends at the Midwestern Music Company. Incredible music from some incredible, gorgeous people. The singer and bassist are both stunning to be around…

The weather grew colder from earlier in the week. That means more overcoats. This is my season: the chill, the color palette, the smells… All of it.

I began with the intent of a fall-winter color mix, which is my favorite. But as things go, it fell to bits. This is part of the process. The trousers were too loose to frame my basket well enough for a night out. The replacement trousers didn’t go with the jacket well enough. The new jacket required a different vest. And there you go… The overcoat, the shirt and the necktie are the only thing left of the original intent…

Welcome to my world. *g*

Normally, I am not such a fan of the shirt-darker-than-everything-else option, but in this case, with the tight palette and the similar values, it works for me. And the fact that the shirt and the overcoat are the same exact color…? That makes my bits tingle.

Everything except the overcoat and vest have been around before… The vest, oh! the vest… so tight and heavy and well-made, it fits like a corset, which means I have to struggle for a full breath. Which means I am happy…

There is something to this right here; these pieces as they fit together. I see in it the subtle changes of pieces and colors and how which changes out with what. I have it in my head to explore that. Perhaps a challenge to pack so many pieces and document how many changes I can get out of it in a week… This is a thrilling thing to me.

This is where my geekery lives.

So, last night, I had to run a prescription for my hand up to the twenty-four hour pharmacy after work. I decided to make it an event and grab a beer at the late-night watering hole. (I can now doll up in about half-an-hour if I stay focused and don’t waver on decisions.) It was raining on the drive home.

That means overcoats! Yay! I mean, I may have a few, or seven.

Funny thing I noticed: I worked backwards from the overcoat and filled in the rest of the outfit. Start with the item I have the least amount of options for and work through the rest. Yes, I matched the overcoat. I am, after all, that gay…

I went with color on a whim, it does work for me on occasion. The shirt is greener than the lighting captured, just a bit more anyway. The overcoat is labeled Legacy by Anthony, but a search turned up nothing. The shirt is Croft and Barrow, the store brand of Kohl’s. Broadcloth, which means no ironing! The collar and torso are a great fit on me, but the sleeves are short, so it hangs in the shrug-the-sleeve section of my closet…

The vest and trousers have no markings. I assume they were each part of suits, but come to me as individual pieces… The trousers are made well enough to support my half-size-too-snug habit when going out for the evening… Hey! Whatever gets you laid!

The glasses: I can’t seem to make up my mind about the glasses. I like them, but often such accessories are a complete bother to me. Like hats. (Which are worse simply for my big fat head…) I didn’t wear the glasses out, but tossed them on for the photos to shake things up a bit. I like that they change the overall look into a revisit instead of a throwback… They are greener in reality than the photo supports. This is a big old dark building. Lighting in the evenings can be a problem…

The necktie is Crazy Horse by Liz Claiborne. The palette has my signature scrawled all over it! This is a detail of the Prince Albert knot. I am becoming a fan, especially for shirt collars with a narrow spread. It makes a long cylindrical knot with a quirky assymetry. I love the mass of a full Windsor knot, but this offers a light and whimsical alternative for the fun stuff. Note: this knot makes the well-placed dimple more difficult to produce. Last night was the first time tying it that wasn’t a struggle. Typically, the ends want to roll around to the back instead…

This was a fun moment to make for grabbing a beer after an errand. I am fully digging my process for dressing, even with the added time considerations. As I settle further into the process I manage to streamline a few things. With a bit of luck and some concentrated effort, the organization of my closet will aid further in this…

*smooch*