This Look Has Always Fascinated Me
May 31, 2013 5:14 PM Subscribe
Fashion blog Ivy-Style.com posted an article today hypothesizing that four-term Republican North Carolina State Representative Bryan R. Holloway is the anonymous blogger, known as Richard, responsible for the much criticized WASP 101 fashion blog, widely excoriated around the internet for its frequent racist, sexist, and classist overtones (and for having bad fashion sense, too).
Local North Carolina news sites have picked up the story, but Holloway is so far denying the allegations, claiming to have no idea what Ivy Style is talking about, despite additional damning circumstantial evidence which is beginning to surface.
According to Ivy Style, WASP 101 was taken offline immediately after Holloway's office received the initial phone call, but archived posts can still be found thanks to the magic of the internet.
Local North Carolina news sites have picked up the story, but Holloway is so far denying the allegations, claiming to have no idea what Ivy Style is talking about, despite additional damning circumstantial evidence which is beginning to surface.
According to Ivy Style, WASP 101 was taken offline immediately after Holloway's office received the initial phone call, but archived posts can still be found thanks to the magic of the internet.
For those unaware, " trad style" has slowly migrated into a odd zone of usage where you're not sure if the person is being arch or just fog leafing a bunch of racist, classist, and frequently miso gist claptrap.
And as someone with a pair of time worn Nantucket reds who has accidentally performed Bob Benson public cosplay, let me just say.
" It's so nice he had the free time to write all these things, and by himself." * Sips vodka and tonic*
posted by The Whelk at 5:20 PM on May 31, 2013 [17 favorites]
And as someone with a pair of time worn Nantucket reds who has accidentally performed Bob Benson public cosplay, let me just say.
" It's so nice he had the free time to write all these things, and by himself." * Sips vodka and tonic*
posted by The Whelk at 5:20 PM on May 31, 2013 [17 favorites]
( dear god man it takes almost one episode of Archer to re hem pants, why is there all that fabric around your ankles? Are you a Mummy?)
posted by The Whelk at 5:28 PM on May 31, 2013 [14 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 5:28 PM on May 31, 2013 [14 favorites]
I'm sure it's him, but this would be a pretty hilarious way to smear a politician. Cut the head out of some otherwise identifiable photos, start up an incredibly douchey fashion blog, and then delete it when people start sniffing around. I suppose this will be Holloway's line of defense: he's being smeared! No one will believe him, and rightly so. What a great way to smear someone.
posted by painquale at 5:29 PM on May 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by painquale at 5:29 PM on May 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
How could you ever vote for someone who thinks pink and gold are workable color combinations?
Dear lord, as the survivor of many a thrift store anything for a dollar bin let me just say say his jackets are uniformly hideous in a way that can only be deliberate.
posted by The Whelk at 5:31 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
Dear lord, as the survivor of many a thrift store anything for a dollar bin let me just say say his jackets are uniformly hideous in a way that can only be deliberate.
posted by The Whelk at 5:31 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
This is the only thing coming out of the NC General Assembly this session that has made me gleeful.
posted by Stewriffic at 5:33 PM on May 31, 2013 [12 favorites]
posted by Stewriffic at 5:33 PM on May 31, 2013 [12 favorites]
Also, this is going on... I'm going to be out of town or I'd go myself! (Not excited about the "getting arrested" part, though)
posted by Stewriffic at 5:41 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Stewriffic at 5:41 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Wow. It's obviously him. The denial will just make it look way worse. What is he thinking?
Then again, what made him think that a public figure could keep this a secret in the Internet age?
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:44 PM on May 31, 2013
Then again, what made him think that a public figure could keep this a secret in the Internet age?
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:44 PM on May 31, 2013
How could you ever vote for someone who thinks pink and gold are workable color combinations?
Hey, don't you be crapping all over my best prancercize outfit!
posted by yoink at 5:44 PM on May 31, 2013 [31 favorites]
Hey, don't you be crapping all over my best prancercize outfit!
posted by yoink at 5:44 PM on May 31, 2013 [31 favorites]
Just when I thought State Representatives wouldn't bring me any joy today.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 5:45 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 5:45 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
His yearning for the all-male, all-white glee clubs circa the 1940's makes me appreciate Glee a little more. Maybe I should start hate-watching the show again.
posted by fatehunter at 5:48 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by fatehunter at 5:48 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Without the blog entries that highlight the racist, sexist, and classist overtones, all I see is a state rep who shouldn't be allowed to dress himself and his denial of that fact. Well, I guess that's enough.
posted by Foam Pants at 5:50 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Foam Pants at 5:50 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh yes, it is definitely him. He was not very clever about concealing his identity.
I am also mystified why someone would choose Comic Sans as a header font on a fashion blog. I mean, even if he doesn't know better, you think someone would have done him a solid and said, "HeyBryan Richard, I think an endeavor like this calls for a jaunty yet traditional serif."
posted by louche mustachio at 5:50 PM on May 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
I am also mystified why someone would choose Comic Sans as a header font on a fashion blog. I mean, even if he doesn't know better, you think someone would have done him a solid and said, "Hey
posted by louche mustachio at 5:50 PM on May 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
Politicians are always getting caught with their pants down. Bryan R. Holloway — if he is the author of WASP 101 — may be the first caught with simply his pants.
Nicely put. I think this is going to go down as my favorite scandal of the year.
posted by redsparkler at 5:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
Nicely put. I think this is going to go down as my favorite scandal of the year.
posted by redsparkler at 5:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
For those unaware, " trad style" has slowly migrated into a odd zone of usage where you're not sure if the person is being arch or just fog leafing a bunch of racist, classist, and frequently miso gist claptrap.
And as someone with a pair of time worn Nantucket reds who has accidentally performed Bob Benson public cosplay, let me just say.
It can get awkward, yes. I remember I used to subscribe to a Trad blog until the owner went on a rant on the subject of his waitress disrespecting his family... by having tattoos. It's moments like that you realize that maybe you're sending the wrong signal with your 3-roll-2 blazer.
Cf. An Affordable Wardrobe and all the crap he has to put up with, for being Italian-American and daring to wear a tie to work. In 2013.
posted by maledictory at 5:52 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
And as someone with a pair of time worn Nantucket reds who has accidentally performed Bob Benson public cosplay, let me just say.
It can get awkward, yes. I remember I used to subscribe to a Trad blog until the owner went on a rant on the subject of his waitress disrespecting his family... by having tattoos. It's moments like that you realize that maybe you're sending the wrong signal with your 3-roll-2 blazer.
Cf. An Affordable Wardrobe and all the crap he has to put up with, for being Italian-American and daring to wear a tie to work. In 2013.
posted by maledictory at 5:52 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
To be noted as especially classist in the world of trad menswear blogging is a real achievement; I mean the whole point is to dress like you're a white guy at Princeton before the Civil Right's Movement. That said, I love the clothes so I read these blogs often, and consult these fora whenever I acquire a new article of clothing* for advice on how to wear it.
Honestly, I'm just glad that community has a scandal that's not the fact that people in vintage Brooks Brothers ads sometimes wear shoes lighter than their pants.
*That's right, I didn't say "source" a new "piece" because I'm a prole.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:53 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Honestly, I'm just glad that community has a scandal that's not the fact that people in vintage Brooks Brothers ads sometimes wear shoes lighter than their pants.
*That's right, I didn't say "source" a new "piece" because I'm a prole.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:53 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
I wonder where this guy acquired the delusion that he dresses well. Those clothes do not fit. Seriously, it's like the tone-deaf contestants in the first round of American Idol. The salesman and/or tailor who let him out of the store with those things should be ashamed of himself.
posted by Daily Alice at 5:54 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 5:54 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
His unblurred face looks so much like his blurred face that I am just sitting here quietly losing it.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:55 PM on May 31, 2013 [48 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 5:55 PM on May 31, 2013 [48 favorites]
O lol. And his awful house, too, with the faux-tiques and the cheap para-antiques. He would have been better off with good, honest modern styles in decent materials rather than the bits and bobs he has. And the occasional posts about going antiquing and bringing home some godawful bit of late 19th century kitsch. It makes me sad to see someone put so much time and money into such a misguidedly ugly environment, when it would have been so easy to have something pleasant that wouldn't make one blench.
Until the racism started showing up, I actually felt pretty sorry for the guy. He was such a spectacle. I had assumed he was some kind of junior aide living beyond his means - it's hard to believe he was actually elected to anything. Or really, it's easy to believe but depressing to contemplate.
posted by Frowner at 5:57 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
Until the racism started showing up, I actually felt pretty sorry for the guy. He was such a spectacle. I had assumed he was some kind of junior aide living beyond his means - it's hard to believe he was actually elected to anything. Or really, it's easy to believe but depressing to contemplate.
posted by Frowner at 5:57 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
The only person I know who dresses like this is a kind of weird but likable black guy from Long Island.
posted by jonmc at 5:57 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 5:57 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
August 19, 2010
posted by bilabial at 5:58 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I recently found two old pair of loafers. The first pair I found was an old pair of Johnston & Murphy beefroll penny loafers. These shoes were acquired at on shoe store near my home, and the owner refurbished all the shoes to prepare them for sale. The penny loafers are clearly before Johnston & Murphy went down the modern route, and they have a wonderful cherry patina. They remind me of old school Weejuns, and it is difficult to find this cherry patina today.And he shops like we poor people do!
The second pair was an eBay acquirement, and these lovely shoes appear to be mid to early 90s Ralph Lauren....
posted by bilabial at 5:58 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Wait, has anyone seen this guy and Dan Brown in the same room?
posted by jontyjago at 5:59 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by jontyjago at 5:59 PM on May 31, 2013
If networks want to do a quality show about glee clubs, they should do one set in the 1940s on an Ivy League Campus. By displaying some authentic costumes and adding some drama with girls in plaid skirts and knee socks, myself and three others would certainly watch.
I would watch it. Or at least I would plan on watching it and then get around to it a couple of years after it was cancelled.
posted by betweenthebars at 5:59 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
I would watch it. Or at least I would plan on watching it and then get around to it a couple of years after it was cancelled.
posted by betweenthebars at 5:59 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
Today, my extremely wealthy friend who has his own private plane called and asked if I wanted to fly into Georgetown this afternoon for dinner at his favorite spot, Rugby Cafe. Of course, I replied by saying yes, and I decided to ditch the jeans for a while and dress in my full regalia.
How in god's name can this not be a parody
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:02 PM on May 31, 2013 [42 favorites]
How in god's name can this not be a parody
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:02 PM on May 31, 2013 [42 favorites]
The second pair was an eBay acquirement
How do people end up writing like this?
Vis-a-vis style blogs and racism/misogyny/general assholishness: the people I've seen consistently not be racist jerks are the guy at Affordable Wardrobe and the Put This On folks. None of them write creepy things about women, none of them disparage hip-hop or hip-hop-inflected fashion, they don't freak out if someone is ~gasp~ gay...they're not flawless, of course, because who is - but they seem committed to being decent human beings.
posted by Frowner at 6:03 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
How do people end up writing like this?
Vis-a-vis style blogs and racism/misogyny/general assholishness: the people I've seen consistently not be racist jerks are the guy at Affordable Wardrobe and the Put This On folks. None of them write creepy things about women, none of them disparage hip-hop or hip-hop-inflected fashion, they don't freak out if someone is ~gasp~ gay...they're not flawless, of course, because who is - but they seem committed to being decent human beings.
posted by Frowner at 6:03 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
adding some drama with girls in plaid skirts and knee socks
Is he suggesting that girls in plaid skirts and knee socks are inherently dramatic? Or that they're the girls he wants to see on prime time tv? Or both?
Or something else?
posted by bilabial at 6:05 PM on May 31, 2013
Is he suggesting that girls in plaid skirts and knee socks are inherently dramatic? Or that they're the girls he wants to see on prime time tv? Or both?
Or something else?
posted by bilabial at 6:05 PM on May 31, 2013
Ugh. Bass Weejuns are THE WORST.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:05 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:05 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's kind of sad that someone can't have the hobby he wants. Another sacrifice of the political career, a sacrifice he didn't make and is now facing the music over.
At the same time, it's reinforcing my stereotype of today's GOP; that for most, their primary method of making themselves presentable is by concealing (and/or denying) their core values.
posted by anonymisc at 6:08 PM on May 31, 2013
At the same time, it's reinforcing my stereotype of today's GOP; that for most, their primary method of making themselves presentable is by concealing (and/or denying) their core values.
posted by anonymisc at 6:08 PM on May 31, 2013
All I know is when I say "full regalia" there is usually a literal motherfucking crown involved.
I like the shopping newsletter Bureau Of Trade for vintage men's stuff, very good idea for things but it's almost all eBay so it's gone or way too much by the time I read it.
I've been inflicting my outfits on Twitter followers for years, maybe I should start a small thing for people who like the look but don't want to put up with casual classisms, etc
( plus I like historical reproductions and those are fun to write about.)
posted by The Whelk at 6:10 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
I like the shopping newsletter Bureau Of Trade for vintage men's stuff, very good idea for things but it's almost all eBay so it's gone or way too much by the time I read it.
I've been inflicting my outfits on Twitter followers for years, maybe I should start a small thing for people who like the look but don't want to put up with casual classisms, etc
( plus I like historical reproductions and those are fun to write about.)
posted by The Whelk at 6:10 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
The thing is, sometimes I felt sorry for him because he'd have a few really lovely things - a nice pair of belgian shoes, I'd love a pair of belgian shoes - and he'd put everything together so badly, in such a jumble. Again, back before I saw posts with the racism, I used to look at his blog sometimes and think "here is a guy who at least has some urge toward nicely made things, appealing textures, taking pleasure in craft". And I'd feel a bit sad that he was doing it so badly and also I would kind of wish that he'd get it together.
posted by Frowner at 6:11 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 6:11 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Doxxing is revolting no matter what the excuse of the doxxer.
posted by Missiles K. Monster at 6:14 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Missiles K. Monster at 6:14 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
just fog leafing a bunch of racist, classist, and frequently miso gist claptrap.
I'm really saying this seriously and with no disrespect....fog-leafing? frequently miso gist claptrap? I need to know so I can start saying them now.
posted by nevercalm at 6:15 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
I'm really saying this seriously and with no disrespect....fog-leafing? frequently miso gist claptrap? I need to know so I can start saying them now.
posted by nevercalm at 6:15 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
That man does not have the sense / fashion sense that God gave a newborn earwig, bless his little heart.
Please tell me there are style blogs that crossbreed WASP/trad style with punk or Lolita. I will lose my mind with glee.
posted by nicebookrack at 6:15 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Please tell me there are style blogs that crossbreed WASP/trad style with punk or Lolita. I will lose my mind with glee.
posted by nicebookrack at 6:15 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Oh god, you have to look at his campaign blog.
It reads like something written by a fourteen-year-old. I don't understand why he doesn't have a competent staffer who could at least put some gloss on it. And look at this piece of incredible nonsense:
We inherited from the previous majority one of the worst shortfalls in state funds since the Great Depression, which came about from decades of over taxing and spending far faster than population and inflation growth.
He knows that everyone is upset about budget cuts, but he is so desperate to be anti-tax that he actually manages to blame the budget shortfall on collecting too much in taxes.
posted by Frowner at 6:16 PM on May 31, 2013 [30 favorites]
It reads like something written by a fourteen-year-old. I don't understand why he doesn't have a competent staffer who could at least put some gloss on it. And look at this piece of incredible nonsense:
We inherited from the previous majority one of the worst shortfalls in state funds since the Great Depression, which came about from decades of over taxing and spending far faster than population and inflation growth.
He knows that everyone is upset about budget cuts, but he is so desperate to be anti-tax that he actually manages to blame the budget shortfall on collecting too much in taxes.
posted by Frowner at 6:16 PM on May 31, 2013 [30 favorites]
Twitter chimes in with @RepFabulous
posted by Podkayne of Pasadena at 6:22 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Podkayne of Pasadena at 6:22 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh man, looking at the side-by-sides, he is soooo busted.
posted by anonymisc at 6:26 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by anonymisc at 6:26 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I wish I could invest in internet comment futures because "The real scandal here is [fashion SNAP]" is about to take off like a rocket.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:27 PM on May 31, 2013 [10 favorites]
posted by jason_steakums at 6:27 PM on May 31, 2013 [10 favorites]
Here's another good side by side. From his Facebook page (trust me, I'm friends of friends with him--apparently politicians friend each other even if they're on the other side)
And from the blog.
posted by Stewriffic at 6:32 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
And from the blog.
posted by Stewriffic at 6:32 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
.fog-leafing? frequently miso gist claptrap?
These MAY be touchscreen typos but you know what, they really should be real.
posted by The Whelk at 6:32 PM on May 31, 2013 [23 favorites]
These MAY be touchscreen typos but you know what, they really should be real.
posted by The Whelk at 6:32 PM on May 31, 2013 [23 favorites]
frequently miso gist claptrap
Today's tip: in a pinch, you can use vegemite to replace the miso! You'll still get the gist of the claptrap.
posted by yoink at 6:33 PM on May 31, 2013 [36 favorites]
Today's tip: in a pinch, you can use vegemite to replace the miso! You'll still get the gist of the claptrap.
posted by yoink at 6:33 PM on May 31, 2013 [36 favorites]
His shoes tend to be fine, if only cause its hard to get shoes in the wrong size.
posted by The Whelk at 6:35 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 6:35 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm really saying this seriously and with no disrespect....fog-leafing? frequently miso gist claptrap? I need to know so I can start saying them now.
The Whelk's autocorrect is my favorite.
Miso gist sounds like Japanese molecular gastronomy to me.
Speaking of amazing words that should exist, since I am heartbroken I can no longer enjoy the wonder of Wasp 101 myself, I stumbled upon this forum thread which has copious quotes from the blog and also gave unto me the gift of the word "Fauxialite" (a portmanteau of "faux socialite," I love it.)
posted by louche mustachio at 6:39 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
The Whelk's autocorrect is my favorite.
Miso gist sounds like Japanese molecular gastronomy to me.
Speaking of amazing words that should exist, since I am heartbroken I can no longer enjoy the wonder of Wasp 101 myself, I stumbled upon this forum thread which has copious quotes from the blog and also gave unto me the gift of the word "Fauxialite" (a portmanteau of "faux socialite," I love it.)
posted by louche mustachio at 6:39 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
miso gist is like understand the gestalt of japanese soup, right?
posted by jonmc at 6:42 PM on May 31, 2013 [12 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 6:42 PM on May 31, 2013 [12 favorites]
Oh, thank God, The Whelk. I thought you were having a stroke!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:44 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:44 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
these lovely shoes appear to be mid to early 90s Ralph Lauren....
LOL. (I mean, I still knock around in a comfy RL polo I bought ca. 1990, but it isn't "fashion," it's an "old shirt.")
posted by octobersurprise at 6:47 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
LOL. (I mean, I still knock around in a comfy RL polo I bought ca. 1990, but it isn't "fashion," it's an "old shirt.")
posted by octobersurprise at 6:47 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
I'm so shellshocked by the idea of the guy having a fashion blog when he dresses like the assistant manager of a Bank of America branch in an exurban strip mall that I still can't process that he's some racist state representative or whatever.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 6:49 PM on May 31, 2013 [38 favorites]
posted by strangely stunted trees at 6:49 PM on May 31, 2013 [38 favorites]
Doxxing is revolting no matter what the excuse of the doxxer.
Excuse me? This man is an elected official. His constituents have a right to know. Let them have the information and decide if they think he's a racist twatwaffle or not.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 6:49 PM on May 31, 2013 [29 favorites]
Excuse me? This man is an elected official. His constituents have a right to know. Let them have the information and decide if they think he's a racist twatwaffle or not.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 6:49 PM on May 31, 2013 [29 favorites]
I'd like to just like to confirm my WASP fashion bonafides before criticizing his outfits more
posted by The Whelk at 6:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [15 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [15 favorites]
This guy wears a lot of turdy outfits, honestly that makes me more uncomfortable than misogyny. Dude needs a bowflex and some missoni.
posted by Teakettle at 6:51 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by Teakettle at 6:51 PM on May 31, 2013
Or, a tailor.
posted by The Whelk at 6:52 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 6:52 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
It's not clear to me that people will actually criticise him for the racism so much as being into fashion. @RepFabulous? Really?
posted by maledictory at 6:54 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by maledictory at 6:54 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Of course, I replied by saying yes, and I decided to ditch the jeans for a while and dress in my full regalia.
I can see wanting to go to a nice restaurant in your academic regalia, because it really is just that great, but he should know that one normally wears clothes beneath one's regalia. So keep the jeans.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:55 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
I can see wanting to go to a nice restaurant in your academic regalia, because it really is just that great, but he should know that one normally wears clothes beneath one's regalia. So keep the jeans.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:55 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
I'd like to just like to confirm my WASP fashion bonafides before criticizing his outfits more
I have seen The Whelk in person and can attest to his qualifications.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:55 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
I have seen The Whelk in person and can attest to his qualifications.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:55 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
It's not clear to me that people will actually criticise him for the racism so much as being into fashion.
It's more the fact that he has no idea about anything fashion-related, is in fact terribly unfashionable, yet has set himself up as an expert and constantly talks shit about people more knowledgeable and competent than him.
I'm not saying this is in any way metaphorically similar to the current NC Republican Party but, ya know, draw your own conclusions
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:57 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
It's more the fact that he has no idea about anything fashion-related, is in fact terribly unfashionable, yet has set himself up as an expert and constantly talks shit about people more knowledgeable and competent than him.
I'm not saying this is in any way metaphorically similar to the current NC Republican Party but, ya know, draw your own conclusions
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:57 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
Doxxing is revolting no matter what the excuse of the doxxer.
Agreed, and this is a particularly revolting case:
In a different circumstance? If you went to high school with a state rep, and you know he's a racist but he denies it, and he's trying to subtly effect racist policies and you're the only one savvy...? Yeah, okay. This wasn't that. This doesn't appear to have been anything more than, "That guy's anonymous. I'm gonna out him."
posted by cribcage at 6:58 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Agreed, and this is a particularly revolting case:
Let me walk you through this obsession. I’m a traditional New Englander and stumbled upon his website after setting up a Google Reader account. At first I thought that Wasp 101 was satire — sadly it’s not. The more I read, the more I was convinced that I needed to take him down.I'm embarrassed on behalf of New Englanders.
In a different circumstance? If you went to high school with a state rep, and you know he's a racist but he denies it, and he's trying to subtly effect racist policies and you're the only one savvy...? Yeah, okay. This wasn't that. This doesn't appear to have been anything more than, "That guy's anonymous. I'm gonna out him."
posted by cribcage at 6:58 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
All I know is when I say "full regalia" there is usually a literal motherfucking crown involved.
All I get is a peerage medallion and some thigh high boots.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:59 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
All I get is a peerage medallion and some thigh high boots.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:59 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
Just a full on 15th century ruff.
posted by The Whelk at 7:00 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 7:00 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Adoration of the Magi is my GQ.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:02 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:02 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
when I say "full regalia" there is usually a literal motherfucking crown tiara involved.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:03 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 7:03 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Full regalia!
posted by octobersurprise at 7:05 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by octobersurprise at 7:05 PM on May 31, 2013
Is that a different tartan on each leg?
posted by octobersurprise at 7:09 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 7:09 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
yes.
posted by louche mustachio at 7:11 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by louche mustachio at 7:11 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
It's just ... wow, his balls are in trouble if those clans ever start feuding.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:11 PM on May 31, 2013 [57 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 7:11 PM on May 31, 2013 [57 favorites]
Last time I saw pants like that it was on the porters at the Caledonian..
posted by The Whelk at 7:12 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by The Whelk at 7:12 PM on May 31, 2013
I can't believe that image didn't show up when I Googled "racist Scottish court jester".
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:13 PM on May 31, 2013 [22 favorites]
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:13 PM on May 31, 2013 [22 favorites]
Nothing wrong with fun pants... Of course, I would advise toning down the other stuff to compensate. He has the right idea with a blazer, but spoils it with what appears to be an enormous University of London crest?!?
posted by maledictory at 7:14 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by maledictory at 7:14 PM on May 31, 2013
I find it kind of adorable. If a politician's big secret is that he enjoys spending his free time writing a blog about Ivy style I honestly don't see the harm or scandal here? But I only looked at a few posts, I didn't see anything racist. He's just participating in a subculture that's getting a little costumey and precious. But it seems to me, nine times out of ten, thrifted/secondhand clothes look thrifted. Especially suit jackets. And when some trad blogs make frequent proclamations on appropriately ladylike dress and behavior for women it's always struck me as a little sad.
All in all, he seems like a friendly guy who likes to shop.
posted by citron at 7:16 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
All in all, he seems like a friendly guy who likes to shop.
posted by citron at 7:16 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh, I didn't even see the Ascot at first...
posted by maledictory at 7:19 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by maledictory at 7:19 PM on May 31, 2013
If you just keep telling yourself that you may get out of this conversation without having to make a sanity roll.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:21 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 7:21 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
It's just ... wow, his balls are in trouble if those clans ever start feuding.
Based on the fit of his pants I believe his balls may already be in trouble.
posted by katemonster at 7:57 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
Based on the fit of his pants I believe his balls may already be in trouble.
posted by katemonster at 7:57 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
All I know is when I say "full regalia" there is usually a literal motherfucking crown involved.
the last time i heard someone use the phrase "full regalia" was in bette midler's induction speech for laura nyro at the rock and roll hall of fame
posted by pyramid termite at 7:59 PM on May 31, 2013
the last time i heard someone use the phrase "full regalia" was in bette midler's induction speech for laura nyro at the rock and roll hall of fame
posted by pyramid termite at 7:59 PM on May 31, 2013
Who... Fucking... CARES? What the hell did this corny white guy do that's SOOOOO harmful to the human race? Geez.
As a misguided fashion blogger, not so much.
As Bryan Holloway he might be a bit more destructive.
posted by louche mustachio at 8:04 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
(meant to link here- detailed voting record.)
posted by louche mustachio at 8:07 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by louche mustachio at 8:07 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
one normally wears clothes beneath one's regalia. So keep the jeans.
Not if your doing it right.
posted by shothotbot at 8:09 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Not if your doing it right.
posted by shothotbot at 8:09 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I want to find out that Toronto's beleaguered mayor Rob Ford (amid allegations that he smokes crack, six employees have been fired or resigned from his office in the past week) has secretly been authoring some really embarrassing blog. I've got a milestone birthday coming up, after all, and it seems like the least the universe can do for me.
posted by orange swan at 8:13 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by orange swan at 8:13 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I mean, even though I said upthread the people should decide on his racist twatwafflelry, I don't actually see anything racist. I do see plenty that is funny, though.
It's almost a little endearing how hard he tries.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 8:14 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's almost a little endearing how hard he tries.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 8:14 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ascots are so hard to pull off. They require unflinching confidence.
Having looking at ....more pictures then I care to admit, his biggest crime (sartorially speaking, not considering the ..language and content) is naivety. Individual pieces are fine, even flattering, but they're not put together in any coherent way. Big loud accessories are paired together, colors are randomly chosen, nothing looks fitted or flattering (so many baggy, sack-like clothes) or like it's been looked at by a tailor (Seriously suit jackets in particular live on die based on fit, that's why there's almost no such thing as a decent off the rack suit jacket, they're *not finished yet*.) and there is no context for the looks, the style he wants to ape is very very ....rule-bound, more so than most and he's mixing eras, styles, seasons, and doing so without any discretion or seeming judgement. It's tasteless. Like it was put together using a random outfit generations.
Look, guy A) stop blogging B) Maybe resign from politics and work on your communication skills and C) Look at Chris Pine on the red carpet these days, he's rocking the traditional look very well. Copy that.
And hem your pants.
posted by The Whelk at 8:19 PM on May 31, 2013 [12 favorites]
Having looking at ....more pictures then I care to admit, his biggest crime (sartorially speaking, not considering the ..language and content) is naivety. Individual pieces are fine, even flattering, but they're not put together in any coherent way. Big loud accessories are paired together, colors are randomly chosen, nothing looks fitted or flattering (so many baggy, sack-like clothes) or like it's been looked at by a tailor (Seriously suit jackets in particular live on die based on fit, that's why there's almost no such thing as a decent off the rack suit jacket, they're *not finished yet*.) and there is no context for the looks, the style he wants to ape is very very ....rule-bound, more so than most and he's mixing eras, styles, seasons, and doing so without any discretion or seeming judgement. It's tasteless. Like it was put together using a random outfit generations.
Look, guy A) stop blogging B) Maybe resign from politics and work on your communication skills and C) Look at Chris Pine on the red carpet these days, he's rocking the traditional look very well. Copy that.
And hem your pants.
posted by The Whelk at 8:19 PM on May 31, 2013 [12 favorites]
To anyone who wears pants, regardless of demographic or political position: hemming is something you can do and ought to do.
Sincerely,
Sandettie Normal Torso Stumpy Legs
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 8:24 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Sincerely,
Sandettie Normal Torso Stumpy Legs
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 8:24 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I was able to resist the pileon until I got to the plaid pants. 1 pair is color-blocked, but with tartans; the other pair is tartan with some embroidered motif, possibly something Christmas-sy. It scares the dog when I guffaw. For that and oh so many reasons those pants should be illegal, and his constituents should take appropriate action. There needs to be a website for 4 tartans, 1 pair of pants.
posted by theora55 at 8:30 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 8:30 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Doxxing is revolting no matter what the excuse of the doxxer.
I am amazed at the current American mindset that it is not important to know everything about your elected representative (and yes, their sexual orientation imho may well be relevant in the current political climate) and yet are so carefree about the loss of their own personal information such as through Facebook or the NSA.
I am not saying that you in particular, Missiles K. Monster , suffer from this type of cognitive dissonance I just used your comment to illustrate a point.
posted by Podkayne of Pasadena at 8:33 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
I am amazed at the current American mindset that it is not important to know everything about your elected representative (and yes, their sexual orientation imho may well be relevant in the current political climate) and yet are so carefree about the loss of their own personal information such as through Facebook or the NSA.
I am not saying that you in particular, Missiles K. Monster , suffer from this type of cognitive dissonance I just used your comment to illustrate a point.
posted by Podkayne of Pasadena at 8:33 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
If you didn't already assume that your Republican state rep from Rockingham County, NC was a racist, classist, misogynist WASP, you were fooling yourself. I don't see that anyone's political opinion of him will change because of this revelation.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:34 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 8:34 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
Best comment from this page: "Now that you have those pants by the fireplace, THROW THEM IN!!"
posted by filthy light thief at 8:35 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 8:35 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
I will say, here and now, that unless you are a) Italian, b) currently IN ITALY, and c) younger than 30, so-called "Go To Hell" pants are a bad, bad thing. BAD. NO.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 8:36 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 8:36 PM on May 31, 2013
I'm having trouble understanding the obsession with "taking him down." As far as I can tell, he's a not-so-bright wannabe WASP running a fashion blog when he quite clearly doesn't know how to buy clothes that fit, much dress himself properly. Where are the racist and misogynist sins coming in? What sins has he committed beyond having terrible taste and acting like a self-parody?
posted by deanc at 8:37 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by deanc at 8:37 PM on May 31, 2013
I have to admit that to my taste a lot of the guys at "style blogs" look ridiculous. Even when the clothes they are wearing are nice clothes. It often looks just as affected as a hipster with a handlebar moustache, an ironic t-shirt, and jeans that haven't been washed in 6 months.
But this guy is especially egregious because the clothes look both affected and awful, and there is added misogyny and classism.
posted by Justinian at 8:40 PM on May 31, 2013
But this guy is especially egregious because the clothes look both affected and awful, and there is added misogyny and classism.
posted by Justinian at 8:40 PM on May 31, 2013
Where are the racist and misogynist sins coming in?
Apparently in deleted posts in the blog. I can't speak directly to it, having never heard of the blog until this thread, but it seems to have been the widely held opinion.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:42 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Apparently in deleted posts in the blog. I can't speak directly to it, having never heard of the blog until this thread, but it seems to have been the widely held opinion.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:42 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Holloway - you need to fess up to it being your blog, and then explain that the reason you initially denied it was that you didn't want to have to out your work-in-progress as satire before the grand finale. BAM! Suddenly your blog is well written and excellent, you're no-longer in a scandal of ridiculous denials, and you're no-longer a classist sexist douchebag. (Memail me with your billing address, for career-and-ass-saving services rendered.)
posted by anonymisc at 8:45 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by anonymisc at 8:45 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
On one hand, I have no style at all. I can't be bothered to find exactly fitting clothes, and I don't know good fit from bad, anyway. If I were thinner, I'd find more stuff to wear, but, ha, weight loss. Tailors are beyond my budget, at least for anything I would wear regularly.
On the other hand, I don't take pictures of my terrible outfits and brag.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
On the other hand, I don't take pictures of my terrible outfits and brag.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
The Show Glee Bothers Me - by Richard
posted by filthy light thief at 8:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Shows on television like the silly song and dance show Glee really bother me. However, I can not pinpoint the exact reason why! Perhaps, it could be the ultra fake preppy culture the show displays, or it could just be that I hate the silly singing. After watching one episode, I literally threw up a little.Yes, we're thinking about it. We don't like our potential viewers throwing up.
If networks want to do a quality show about glee clubs, they should do one set in the 1940s on an Ivy League Campus. By displaying some authentic costumes and adding some drama with girls in plaid skirts and knee socks, myself and three others would certainly watch. Think about it networks, think about it!
posted by filthy light thief at 8:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Having attended a northeastern private high school and having had a drawer full of rugby and polo shirts, I have to admit that I have been befuddled by the trend of "trad" fashion where people want to dress like that. All I could think of when I went to college was that, without a dress code, I was finally FFRREEEEE and didn't have to wear all my preppy clothes anymore. Grew my hair long and wore a bunch of tshirts and black denim. Exchanged my docksiders for workboots. Good times. Finding out that there's a whole subculture dedicated to aspiring to and pursuing the preppy style is like finding out that there are foustanella style enthusiasts in Iowa.
posted by deanc at 8:54 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by deanc at 8:54 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
Wow .. the comments on that post.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:54 PM on May 31, 2013
- Glee'...some kids are born to be bullied.I realize now that the second comment might be a joke, given that Sue always wears tracksuits, which doesn't strike me as particularly "WASPy" or "preppy."
- The homosexualist agenda reeks strongly on this show, to include the fashion.
What is your opinion on Sue Sylvester's wardrobe?
posted by filthy light thief at 8:54 PM on May 31, 2013
I have to admit that I have been befuddled by the trend of "trad" fashion where people want to dress like that. All I could think of when I went to college was that, without a dress code, I was finally FFRREEEEE and didn't have to wear all my preppy clothes anymore.
I perpetually confuse my SO with my desire to collect ALL THE TIES cause he freaking hates them cause he was forced to wear one at school for YEARS.
posted by The Whelk at 8:56 PM on May 31, 2013
I perpetually confuse my SO with my desire to collect ALL THE TIES cause he freaking hates them cause he was forced to wear one at school for YEARS.
posted by The Whelk at 8:56 PM on May 31, 2013
Today's Kids Have Gone To Hell In A Hand Basket
posted by filthy light thief at 9:03 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
The thought of having a child has always scared me! For the most part, the fear begins and ends with the thought of one signing away their youth to take care of another. And without question, I am not ready for that! However, if I ever have a child, I hope to teach them respect, decorum, and the personal hygiene displayed above.Again, the comments are something else. "...the problem of having kids in the US and UK is that one eventually loses them to the prevailing 'yoof culture' with its MTV-ghetto values." Ooh, and "The US hasn't produced quality people since at least the 1900s." Those aren't comments from "Richard," but they weren't deleted ("Richard" did delete something about "white youth going to hell in a handbasket," apparently).
Unfortunately, upon my annual visit to speak at one of the local high schools, I was reminded of the bleak future for today's children. These kids were covered with tattoos, piercings, and one could only imagine if they have chains connecting the rings. Just to antagonize them, I mentioned the prospect of the school requiring uniforms, and as expected, I was greeted with boos.
To add more fuel to the fire, today's politicians (Democrats & Republicans) are aiding and abetting in the creation of a generation that demands entitlements. Sadly, I think they (today's generation) are all headed for hell in a hand basket
posted by filthy light thief at 9:03 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
The US hasn't produced quality people since at least the 1900s.
And it's getting harder and harder to find reasonably priced ones on eBay.
posted by yoink at 9:06 PM on May 31, 2013 [19 favorites]
And it's getting harder and harder to find reasonably priced ones on eBay.
posted by yoink at 9:06 PM on May 31, 2013 [19 favorites]
Okay, I want those plaid pants, but in exactly the same way I had an overwhelming need to buy a fluorescent green tuxedo vest that I saw downtown. Which I wore with nothing other than a green sarong while playing dirty house music to hippies in a forest, while being kind of sad it was too warm to also wear a green furry monster hood.
Those pants would have made for a perfect evening outfit change.
This seems contrary to the concept of the blog.
posted by flaterik at 9:07 PM on May 31, 2013 [11 favorites]
Those pants would have made for a perfect evening outfit change.
This seems contrary to the concept of the blog.
posted by flaterik at 9:07 PM on May 31, 2013 [11 favorites]
If you didn't already assume that your Republican state rep from Rockingham County, NC was a racist, classist, misogynist WASP, you were fooling yourself. I don't see that anyone's political opinion of him will change because of this revelation.
I'm actually a little surprised he's got pretensions at that sort of WASPiness. I've got family in Reidsville, and I have trouble seeing them voting for someone playing at being a preppy New Englander. I'm not shocked if he's racist, classist, and misogynist, but it's the wrong sort of classism.
I perpetually confuse my SO with my desire to collect ALL THE TIES cause he freaking hates them cause he was forced to wear one at school for YEARS.
At my rehearsal dinner, my best friend from high school, who doesn't run in the kind of circles where people have stopped saying "fag" noticed that I was wearing a Ferragamo tie(a gift) and said "Well, you're just a great big ol' tie fag." (I'm straight) At the time I told her not to use that kind of language, but now that I've been working for a while and occasionally have money to splurge on ties, I think of it as a private badge of honor. "Ah," I think to myself "a chance to add to my collection, for I...am a great big ol' tie fag."
Mostly, it's hard to add any personality to typical men's business attire, and a nice collection of ties helps me do that, but I also really love ties.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:08 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
I'm actually a little surprised he's got pretensions at that sort of WASPiness. I've got family in Reidsville, and I have trouble seeing them voting for someone playing at being a preppy New Englander. I'm not shocked if he's racist, classist, and misogynist, but it's the wrong sort of classism.
I perpetually confuse my SO with my desire to collect ALL THE TIES cause he freaking hates them cause he was forced to wear one at school for YEARS.
At my rehearsal dinner, my best friend from high school, who doesn't run in the kind of circles where people have stopped saying "fag" noticed that I was wearing a Ferragamo tie(a gift) and said "Well, you're just a great big ol' tie fag." (I'm straight) At the time I told her not to use that kind of language, but now that I've been working for a while and occasionally have money to splurge on ties, I think of it as a private badge of honor. "Ah," I think to myself "a chance to add to my collection, for I...am a great big ol' tie fag."
Mostly, it's hard to add any personality to typical men's business attire, and a nice collection of ties helps me do that, but I also really love ties.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 9:08 PM on May 31, 2013 [7 favorites]
(And ohmy I haven't laughed this hard in I don't know when. Those pants. THOSE PANTS.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 9:09 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 9:09 PM on May 31, 2013 [5 favorites]
but I also really love ties.
lets go to a treehouse and admire a wall of old mid-century Liberty silk ties
posted by The Whelk at 9:11 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
lets go to a treehouse and admire a wall of old mid-century Liberty silk ties
posted by The Whelk at 9:11 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
I am amazed at the current American mindset that it is not important to know everything about your elected representative...and yet are so carefree about the loss of their own personal information such as through Facebook or the NSA.
Do you think it's possible to "know everything"? Because once you acknowledge that isn't a realistic goal, then to paraphrase Churchill, we're just haggling over degree. How much disclosure is reasonable to ask? How much privacy do we want to guarantee to everyone on principle, irrespective of public office, and should we worry about discouraging potentially great candidates from running? At what point does demanding disclosures become, in reality, just encouragement to lie?
Most Americans do object to intrusive monitoring by the NSA, which is pretty obviously a different scenario than voluntarily signing up for Facebook with your name, location, and photos because you find Facebook to be valuable and fun. That's an odd comparison.
posted by cribcage at 9:13 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
Do you think it's possible to "know everything"? Because once you acknowledge that isn't a realistic goal, then to paraphrase Churchill, we're just haggling over degree. How much disclosure is reasonable to ask? How much privacy do we want to guarantee to everyone on principle, irrespective of public office, and should we worry about discouraging potentially great candidates from running? At what point does demanding disclosures become, in reality, just encouragement to lie?
Most Americans do object to intrusive monitoring by the NSA, which is pretty obviously a different scenario than voluntarily signing up for Facebook with your name, location, and photos because you find Facebook to be valuable and fun. That's an odd comparison.
posted by cribcage at 9:13 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
St Alia to you I give all my favorites!
posted by Carillon at 9:15 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Carillon at 9:15 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I've got no fashion sense either, but I can tell one thing. In all those photos he is posed stiffly. He's like an actor who doesn't know what to do with his hands.
Some clothes looks good on lots of body shapes, some on only a few, but if you don't feel comfortable wearing something, it will never look good.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:18 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Some clothes looks good on lots of body shapes, some on only a few, but if you don't feel comfortable wearing something, it will never look good.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:18 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
Also no one looks good in a cropped flash photograph with drab lighting and a stiff pose
posted by The Whelk at 9:19 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:19 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
To be fair about the pants, he calls them "holiday pants." I don't think he thinks they're the killer go-anywhere look.
posted by yoink at 9:21 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by yoink at 9:21 PM on May 31, 2013
Maybe because I sort of grew up in Boston and stayed in New England for college, but I feel a disturbing nostalgic fondness for some of his attempts.
posted by rtha at 9:22 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by rtha at 9:22 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's like those awful Summer shirts we're supposed to think are traditional and not a cruel joke. Sigh.
Seriously tho, you're a politician, public image is a part of your job. Chin up, shoulders back, chest first, smiles on!
posted by The Whelk at 9:22 PM on May 31, 2013
Seriously tho, you're a politician, public image is a part of your job. Chin up, shoulders back, chest first, smiles on!
posted by The Whelk at 9:22 PM on May 31, 2013
want the crown, wear the crown, be the crown
posted by The Whelk at 9:23 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:23 PM on May 31, 2013 [8 favorites]
rtha, I went the other way to you — grew up in suburban California, moved to the East Coast. The first time I saw someone wearing a blue blazer I goggled, as I thought they were entirely the invention of Hallmark Thanksgiving Specials.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:29 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by benito.strauss at 9:29 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
lets go to a treehouse and admire a wall of old mid-century Liberty silk ties
TAKE ME WITH YOU
posted by backseatpilot at 9:47 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
TAKE ME WITH YOU
posted by backseatpilot at 9:47 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
Has anyone here actually ever talked to a state representative? They are, by and large, awful.
Just imagine your current Congressional representative. Then imagine a person who is sort of like that representative but dumber in every single way and you have the person who is currently representing you in your state senate.
posted by mcmile at 9:47 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
Just imagine your current Congressional representative. Then imagine a person who is sort of like that representative but dumber in every single way and you have the person who is currently representing you in your state senate.
posted by mcmile at 9:47 PM on May 31, 2013 [6 favorites]
Those pants are a fucking abomination. My god.
posted by elizardbits at 9:47 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by elizardbits at 9:47 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
This is a bizarre post for me as I actually went to the high school (ie, North Wilkes High) that Bryan Holloway used to teach at before his political career. If you had to ask me the one thing that I remember about him, his attention to his personal appearance would probably be it.
posted by nolancaudill at 9:48 PM on May 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by nolancaudill at 9:48 PM on May 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
It's like those awful Summer shirts we're supposed to think are traditional and not a cruel joke. Sigh.
Summer is the cruelest season. Too warm for tweeds, and linen pants get angry stares from the boss at work. I already miss my flannel trousers.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:49 PM on May 31, 2013
Summer is the cruelest season. Too warm for tweeds, and linen pants get angry stares from the boss at work. I already miss my flannel trousers.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:49 PM on May 31, 2013
Linen Pride man. Linen Pride.
(It is never too hot for Tweed, but I may be a hard-liner on this)
posted by The Whelk at 9:52 PM on May 31, 2013
(It is never too hot for Tweed, but I may be a hard-liner on this)
posted by The Whelk at 9:52 PM on May 31, 2013
I actually have a couple of really excellent state senators, one of whom is a pretty snappy dresser. Both of whom are far too busy actually legislating to do this kind of thing.
The pants! The pants! Aaaaahhh!
posted by gingerbeer at 9:52 PM on May 31, 2013
The pants! The pants! Aaaaahhh!
posted by gingerbeer at 9:52 PM on May 31, 2013
I don't know, my general clothes-buying philosophy over the past couple of years has pretty much excluded summer. "Oh, a nice thorn-proof tweed suit? Shame it doesn't weigh ten more pounds. Maybe next time." I prefer cold storage (for me, not the clothes).
posted by backseatpilot at 9:56 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by backseatpilot at 9:56 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
I actually have a couple of really excellent state senators, one of whom is a pretty snappy dresser.
This is true. My last comment may have been a bit too cynical. After all, our president was once a state legislator. Astute state-level legislators do exist.
But the fact remains that the state legislative system is largely a ghastly cesspool of idiots.
posted by mcmile at 10:05 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
This is true. My last comment may have been a bit too cynical. After all, our president was once a state legislator. Astute state-level legislators do exist.
But the fact remains that the state legislative system is largely a ghastly cesspool of idiots.
posted by mcmile at 10:05 PM on May 31, 2013 [2 favorites]
I am in total agreement with your last statement, mcmile!
posted by gingerbeer at 10:21 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by gingerbeer at 10:21 PM on May 31, 2013
My state senator, a fourth-generation legislator (since just after the Civil War, or 20 years after our state was founded), has served since 1956 and has never lost an election. He lives on a street named after his family in what is conspicuously not the boonies; his wife taught Spanish at my high school.
Also, he's 86 years old, so by default he does trad style way better than this loser.
After the apocalypse, the only things left will be cockroaches, Guided By Voices albums and Fred Risser. \m/
posted by Madamina at 10:23 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also, he's 86 years old, so by default he does trad style way better than this loser.
After the apocalypse, the only things left will be cockroaches, Guided By Voices albums and Fred Risser. \m/
posted by Madamina at 10:23 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
The reason people dress like this is because of the halo effect of prepatory clothing and propriety. It's basically just a cargo cult of class and pretension and signifies that the wearer is both highly out if his league and aware of it. A craven soul that is more than willing to look bad to shamfully borrow the ornaments of power from his manly superiors.
And my god those pants.
posted by ishrinkmajeans at 10:26 PM on May 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
And my god those pants.
posted by ishrinkmajeans at 10:26 PM on May 31, 2013 [9 favorites]
I like Weejuns. So shoot me.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:30 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:30 PM on May 31, 2013
I do not see this Look very often in Florida, but oh god, when I do see it, it is hilarious. They begin so starched and pressed and properly creased and then the humidity melts them and everything goes straight to hell.
posted by cmyk at 10:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by cmyk at 10:51 PM on May 31, 2013 [3 favorites]
I like Weejuns. So shoot me.
If I shoot you can I take your shoes?
ONLY IF YOU PROMISE TO BURN THEM
posted by louche mustachio at 11:18 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
If I shoot you can I take your shoes?
ONLY IF YOU PROMISE TO BURN THEM
posted by louche mustachio at 11:18 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Summer is the cruelest season. Too warm for tweeds, and linen pants get angry stares from the boss at work. I already miss my flannel trousers.
Shame seersucker is such a hard look to pull off.
posted by louche mustachio at 11:21 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Shame seersucker is such a hard look to pull off.
posted by louche mustachio at 11:21 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
wait, okay, I wore this to the Ivy Style show at the FIT Museum No clothing sen in said photo was produced after 1960. I said I liked reproduction....
posted by The Whelk at 11:55 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 11:55 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
Funny how Holloway and WASP have the exact same taste in shirts & ties, innit it?!
posted by markkraft at 12:22 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by markkraft at 12:22 AM on June 1, 2013
The Whelk: "wait, okay, I wore this to the Ivy Style show at the FIT Museum No clothing sen in said photo was produced after 1960. I said I liked reproduction...."
Sorry, but that pic was the sexxor. Had to be said.
posted by Samizdata at 1:38 AM on June 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
Sorry, but that pic was the sexxor. Had to be said.
posted by Samizdata at 1:38 AM on June 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
The Whelk: "wait, okay, I wore this to the Ivy Style show at the FIT Museum No clothing sen in said photo was produced after 1960. I said I liked reproduction...."
How's your rewrite on the Negron Complex going?
posted by subbes at 1:54 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
How's your rewrite on the Negron Complex going?
posted by subbes at 1:54 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
maybe it's just because I've been listening to dead kennedys all night, but the pants might be ok if you tailored them nice and tight, added a bunch or random buckles and zippers, and paired them with big black army boots...
wait, no. they're an abomination created in a dark sweatshop where two people carrying piles of cut fabric panels crashed into each other and were unable to properly sort out the results prior to sewing.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:41 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
wait, no. they're an abomination created in a dark sweatshop where two people carrying piles of cut fabric panels crashed into each other and were unable to properly sort out the results prior to sewing.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:41 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I am also mystified why someone would choose Comic Sans as a header font on a fashion blog. I mean, even if he doesn't know better, you think someone would have done him a solid and said, "Hey Bryan Richard, I think an endeavor like this calls for a jaunty yet traditional serif."
Garamond and Century Gothic once more slink away for dejected drinks at the font-bar.
posted by smoke at 3:43 AM on June 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
Garamond and Century Gothic once more slink away for dejected drinks at the font-bar.
posted by smoke at 3:43 AM on June 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
I thought I'd seen those tartan pants before ...
Since dude seems to be such a Brooks Brothers fan, wondering if he ever blogged about wearing their patchwork madras pants.
posted by needled at 5:41 AM on June 1, 2013
Since dude seems to be such a Brooks Brothers fan, wondering if he ever blogged about wearing their patchwork madras pants.
posted by needled at 5:41 AM on June 1, 2013
I'm going to defend the pants. WASPs have more of a sense of humor than they let on. I'm picturing these pants being worn at a semi-ironic alcohol-drenched Christmas party. The sort that Holloway would never get invited to.
The plaid critter pants, however, I can't defend.
posted by deanc at 6:02 AM on June 1, 2013
The plaid critter pants, however, I can't defend.
posted by deanc at 6:02 AM on June 1, 2013
The casual homophobia is hilarious, since there are such excellent queer preppies.
posted by Peevish at 6:24 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by Peevish at 6:24 AM on June 1, 2013
Ralph has seen this man in a seersucker suit. Are we surprised? No. No we are not.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:25 AM on June 1, 2013 [11 favorites]
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:25 AM on June 1, 2013 [11 favorites]
Given the ill-dressed slobs I hang out with, listening to guys have Opinions about fashion is like hearing transmissions from an alien planet.
posted by emjaybee at 6:41 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by emjaybee at 6:41 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I always wondered about how anyone could pull off the patchwork madras pants. Then early one Sunday morning last summer I popped into my local bagel shop, and saw Tim Gunn. He was wearing these pants, a pink button down with the sleeves rolled up, and leather thongs. He totally made it work.
posted by kimdog at 6:42 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by kimdog at 6:42 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
Ok... so leather thongs may be evocative of something other than what I intended. But Tim Gunn would never wear flip flops.
posted by kimdog at 6:51 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by kimdog at 6:51 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
To be noted as especially classist in the world of trad menswear blogging is a real achievement; I mean the whole point is to dress like you're a white guy at Princeton before the Civil Right's Movement.
I don't think it's the way he dresses that has got people accusing him of classism. I've read a lot about the members of Vampire Weekend being obsessed with preppy clothing and Ivy style, and nobody's accusing them of classism as far as I know.
posted by Unified Theory at 7:07 AM on June 1, 2013
I don't think it's the way he dresses that has got people accusing him of classism. I've read a lot about the members of Vampire Weekend being obsessed with preppy clothing and Ivy style, and nobody's accusing them of classism as far as I know.
posted by Unified Theory at 7:07 AM on June 1, 2013
leather thongs? Plural? ok.
Also, The Whelks tiara really suits him.
posted by marienbad at 7:09 AM on June 1, 2013
Also, The Whelks tiara really suits him.
posted by marienbad at 7:09 AM on June 1, 2013
Ralph has seen this man in a seersucker suit. Are we surprised? No. No we are not.
So is seersucker seen as outré these days? That seems a shame, especially with the paucity of "acceptable" wardrobe choices for men in most professions. Growing up in the hot, humid, sticky deep south, I was used to seeing a lot of men wearing seersucker, and it seemed like pretty much the most climate-appropriate businesswear for those who had to wear suits during hot months.
Anyway, the Wasp101 thing seems surreal to me... like an episode of Parks and Recreation brought to life: Scandal rocks Pawnee when state rep is revealed to be anonymous fashion blogger!
posted by taz at 7:32 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
So is seersucker seen as outré these days? That seems a shame, especially with the paucity of "acceptable" wardrobe choices for men in most professions. Growing up in the hot, humid, sticky deep south, I was used to seeing a lot of men wearing seersucker, and it seemed like pretty much the most climate-appropriate businesswear for those who had to wear suits during hot months.
Anyway, the Wasp101 thing seems surreal to me... like an episode of Parks and Recreation brought to life: Scandal rocks Pawnee when state rep is revealed to be anonymous fashion blogger!
posted by taz at 7:32 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
Seersucker is fine. Here in NC, it's not even limited to conservative people.
posted by Stewriffic at 7:37 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Stewriffic at 7:37 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
So, can we send Tim Gunn on a fashion intervention to NC? I'd watch that.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:41 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:41 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I believe it was here on Metafilter I read that the only person allowed to wear a seersucker suit is a lawyer within a 2 block radius of a southern county courthouse. I think that is a pretty good rule to stick to. Wearing seersucker at the Kentucky Derby is also acceptable.
There are plenty of tropical weight wool fabrics, cotton, and even linen that are perfectly acceptable without looking like you're dressing up in a costume.
But even he fails at non-seersucker: His linen suit, if it is not in fact a mismatched jacket and pants, doesn't fit right at all. Like if you're going to try this, (a) buy an actual linen suit, (b) the pants don't have to be that baggy.
It's kind of uncomfortable to read a fashion blog where a person is just randomly buying stuff and looking painfully unfashionable and awkward.
posted by deanc at 7:47 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
There are plenty of tropical weight wool fabrics, cotton, and even linen that are perfectly acceptable without looking like you're dressing up in a costume.
But even he fails at non-seersucker: His linen suit, if it is not in fact a mismatched jacket and pants, doesn't fit right at all. Like if you're going to try this, (a) buy an actual linen suit, (b) the pants don't have to be that baggy.
It's kind of uncomfortable to read a fashion blog where a person is just randomly buying stuff and looking painfully unfashionable and awkward.
posted by deanc at 7:47 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
The reason people dress like this is because of the halo effect of prepatory clothing and propriety. It's basically just a cargo cult of class and pretension and signifies that the wearer is both highly out if his league and aware of it. A craven soul that is more than willing to look bad to shamfully borrow the ornaments of power from his manly superiors.
See, I think this is half true - the zeitgeistyness of "trad" and preppy clothing is pretty clearly related to the recession and to increasing economic polarization. "Vintage"/second hand clothes from as recently as the nineties are for a certain segment of the middle class who haven't got their heads around just how broke they are and how badly they're being screwed; preppy/trad clothes are also a visual declaration of compliance with the ruling order. And of course, all of the blogs by very rich men who talk about their Edward Greens and their bespoke suits and so on - if you're not actually rich and you think you have anything in common with those people (who would throw you to the wolves in a red hot second if it earned them a dollar) just because you both like nice shoes, well...
And yet! I wear fairly preppy clothes myself, for several reasons. They're work appropriate and machine washable. They're never really "in" fashion so they're never really out (although there are certainly variations over time) so I can buy a shirt this year and feel confident that it isn't going to scream 2013 in 2017. They're a style which is both work appropriate and as close to gender-neutral as we have in the US, which is really important to me as a sort of queer/trans/gender-non-conforming person, so I don't have to feel misgendered and horrible by wearing ruffly clingy things at work. And now that I'm in my late thirties, they're clothes in which I don't feel an absolute fool as I would if I "followed fashion".
posted by Frowner at 7:49 AM on June 1, 2013 [9 favorites]
See, I think this is half true - the zeitgeistyness of "trad" and preppy clothing is pretty clearly related to the recession and to increasing economic polarization. "Vintage"/second hand clothes from as recently as the nineties are for a certain segment of the middle class who haven't got their heads around just how broke they are and how badly they're being screwed; preppy/trad clothes are also a visual declaration of compliance with the ruling order. And of course, all of the blogs by very rich men who talk about their Edward Greens and their bespoke suits and so on - if you're not actually rich and you think you have anything in common with those people (who would throw you to the wolves in a red hot second if it earned them a dollar) just because you both like nice shoes, well...
And yet! I wear fairly preppy clothes myself, for several reasons. They're work appropriate and machine washable. They're never really "in" fashion so they're never really out (although there are certainly variations over time) so I can buy a shirt this year and feel confident that it isn't going to scream 2013 in 2017. They're a style which is both work appropriate and as close to gender-neutral as we have in the US, which is really important to me as a sort of queer/trans/gender-non-conforming person, so I don't have to feel misgendered and horrible by wearing ruffly clingy things at work. And now that I'm in my late thirties, they're clothes in which I don't feel an absolute fool as I would if I "followed fashion".
posted by Frowner at 7:49 AM on June 1, 2013 [9 favorites]
This thread has only made me think one thing, and that is that The Whelk is an adorable fashion plate of hotness.
posted by xingcat at 7:55 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by xingcat at 7:55 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
Get a room.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:00 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 8:00 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I believe this post is a preppy conspiracy between Something Something and The Whelk.
posted by vespabelle at 8:01 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by vespabelle at 8:01 AM on June 1, 2013
I think it was a conspiracy to get me to wear my reds today
(while humming this of course)
posted by The Whelk at 8:40 AM on June 1, 2013
(while humming this of course)
posted by The Whelk at 8:40 AM on June 1, 2013
I don't understand the scandalousness of it all. Ok - so maybe he's classist (racist & misogynistic, too), but I can't imagine that's going to lose him an election in NC. Is it because a "real man" shouldn't care enough about fashion to blog about it?
I get why it's funny in that poor sap doesn't have a clue sort of way.
But I don't get why he deleted it. He obviously got enjoyment out of doing this. So it makes me kind of sad, actually. He shouldn't have to hide his ill-fitting suited self in a closet. If I'd been in his office when the call came in, I'd have been all "own it! express yourself!" Now, not only does he not get to do something he enjoys doing, he's going to have to deal with the fact that every political opponent from here on out has a cache of material they know he'd rather hide. And they get to use the fact that he hid it (and lied about it) against him. Bad PR move. Bad.
posted by imbri at 8:44 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
I get why it's funny in that poor sap doesn't have a clue sort of way.
But I don't get why he deleted it. He obviously got enjoyment out of doing this. So it makes me kind of sad, actually. He shouldn't have to hide his ill-fitting suited self in a closet. If I'd been in his office when the call came in, I'd have been all "own it! express yourself!" Now, not only does he not get to do something he enjoys doing, he's going to have to deal with the fact that every political opponent from here on out has a cache of material they know he'd rather hide. And they get to use the fact that he hid it (and lied about it) against him. Bad PR move. Bad.
posted by imbri at 8:44 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
Is it because a "real man" shouldn't care enough about fashion to blog about it?
I think this is definitely part of it. But I think it's also somewhat embarrassing for someone of his position in society to be revealed to have put so much thought into one's preppy apparel ... part of the appeal of the preppy look, for that type of person, is conveying a kind of casual, effortless elegance, an elegance that gives the impression that you were "born into this" and it wouldn't occur to you to dress any other way. For him to be "outed" as the author of this cheesy, navel-gazing blog makes him seem very much a fake, a poser, a pathetic little man with a weird self-conscious obsession, and not the "real prep" that he surely would like to appear to be.
So not only does the blogging not seem masculine according to the norms of his community, he ends up looking pretty ludicrous and silly for putting so much thought and effort into a look that's supposed to be casual and second-nature.
posted by Unified Theory at 9:07 AM on June 1, 2013 [7 favorites]
I think this is definitely part of it. But I think it's also somewhat embarrassing for someone of his position in society to be revealed to have put so much thought into one's preppy apparel ... part of the appeal of the preppy look, for that type of person, is conveying a kind of casual, effortless elegance, an elegance that gives the impression that you were "born into this" and it wouldn't occur to you to dress any other way. For him to be "outed" as the author of this cheesy, navel-gazing blog makes him seem very much a fake, a poser, a pathetic little man with a weird self-conscious obsession, and not the "real prep" that he surely would like to appear to be.
So not only does the blogging not seem masculine according to the norms of his community, he ends up looking pretty ludicrous and silly for putting so much thought and effort into a look that's supposed to be casual and second-nature.
posted by Unified Theory at 9:07 AM on June 1, 2013 [7 favorites]
I love patchwork madras, and have shorts and a dress made from it. I live near Seattle, and have seen someone else in madras maybe once. I felt like I should give him a secret handshake.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:13 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:13 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Garamond and Century Gothic once more slink away for dejected drinks at the font-bar.
I will buy Century G all the drinks. It is my favorite.
I would never want to see it juxtaposed with them trousers.
posted by louche mustachio at 9:15 AM on June 1, 2013
I will buy Century G all the drinks. It is my favorite.
I would never want to see it juxtaposed with them trousers.
posted by louche mustachio at 9:15 AM on June 1, 2013
> I'm picturing these pants being worn at a semi-ironic alcohol-drenched Christmas party
Indeed.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:15 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Indeed.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:15 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
...you're not sure if the person is being arch or just fog leafing...
That fog is as thin as pea soup.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:16 AM on June 1, 2013
That fog is as thin as pea soup.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:16 AM on June 1, 2013
The Whelk: please tell me you have a photo of yourself in jackass pants.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:19 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:19 AM on June 1, 2013
The more I read about this, the more cruel this whole outing seems. (And, by extension, the gleefulness of all of you here on Metafilter who are loving it so much.)
I read this post which quotes the anonymous person whose sleuthing uncovered Ivy 101's identity, and I'm really amazed at this person's decision that the blogger needed to be "taken down." No reason is given. Seems rather cruel, and a lot of time was spent on this cruel task. It's cruel because the person clearly did not want his identity exposed.
Best comment under the blog entry I linked above:
Comment by Bricktop Polford — May 30, 2013 @ 2:33 pm
I guess this locks up the Stalker of the Year award from the Get A Fucking Life Association.
posted by Unified Theory at 9:26 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
I read this post which quotes the anonymous person whose sleuthing uncovered Ivy 101's identity, and I'm really amazed at this person's decision that the blogger needed to be "taken down." No reason is given. Seems rather cruel, and a lot of time was spent on this cruel task. It's cruel because the person clearly did not want his identity exposed.
Best comment under the blog entry I linked above:
Comment by Bricktop Polford — May 30, 2013 @ 2:33 pm
I guess this locks up the Stalker of the Year award from the Get A Fucking Life Association.
posted by Unified Theory at 9:26 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
And I think it's made even sadder by the fact that his prep efforts are really rather crude and uninspired and are not at all aided by his pasty complexion and his doughy-looking body.
It's really as though the Ivy-look enthusiasts banded together in a kind of Lord of the Flies effort to mock and belittle the pathetic kid, which Holloway kind of seems to be.
posted by Unified Theory at 9:31 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
It's really as though the Ivy-look enthusiasts banded together in a kind of Lord of the Flies effort to mock and belittle the pathetic kid, which Holloway kind of seems to be.
posted by Unified Theory at 9:31 AM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
Actually, I suspect that the political kicker for this guy may be his open boasting about wealth - his own ambitions toward it and the endless "when I had lunch with my kazillionaire friend" routine. While I'm sure there are plenty of snob republicans in his constituency, it can't help him that much to be seen so nakedly boasting and bragging about his proximity to the genuine upper class.
I think the toxicity of the blog is lost on a lot of people who did not read it regularly. I did for a while, until the racism put me off. Obviously I don't have links to the racist pages, but if I recall correctly (admittedly, I might be mixing up some of the specifics with a couple of other racist style blogs) it was a regular refrain of dog-whistle stuff about "urban" youth and the hippity-hop and the disrespect and the low-slung pants, etc etc. It was enough that I remember clearly thinking "this blog is too racist, by giving it eyeballs I am endorsing it" and so I stopped looking at it. And he never seemed to check his commenters, who would respond to all the dog-whistling - there would occasionally be some serious klan-level creepiness and he wouldn't delete it or repudiate it.
There was also a regular drone of drunk-seventies-uncle-style creepiness about women's bodies but that was so clueless that it just read as bizarre rather than offensive. It was like something out of a pre-feminist comedy sketch.
He got into a bunch of really stupid and unpleasant tussles with other bloggers, too. Not just disagreements or standard flaming, really unpleasant to read.
This isn't some kind of "you are not good enough sartorially-speaking so we will smash you" routine - it's someone who was gross and offensive and off-putting and behaved really badly to some people. Does that mean that he should be doxxed? I'm on the fence, given that he is a politician. But I assure you that it's not just picking on some victim loser kid because he dressed badly. There are lots of men's style blogs where people dress badly.
Honestly, I do think this blog is relevant politically-speaking - not because of the clothes but because I think it's important for voters to know about his boot-licking attitudes toward the super-rich and his dogwhistles about race. I think it's significant when that kind of stuff becomes outsized and explicit in a politician's private life.
posted by Frowner at 9:47 AM on June 1, 2013 [17 favorites]
I think the toxicity of the blog is lost on a lot of people who did not read it regularly. I did for a while, until the racism put me off. Obviously I don't have links to the racist pages, but if I recall correctly (admittedly, I might be mixing up some of the specifics with a couple of other racist style blogs) it was a regular refrain of dog-whistle stuff about "urban" youth and the hippity-hop and the disrespect and the low-slung pants, etc etc. It was enough that I remember clearly thinking "this blog is too racist, by giving it eyeballs I am endorsing it" and so I stopped looking at it. And he never seemed to check his commenters, who would respond to all the dog-whistling - there would occasionally be some serious klan-level creepiness and he wouldn't delete it or repudiate it.
There was also a regular drone of drunk-seventies-uncle-style creepiness about women's bodies but that was so clueless that it just read as bizarre rather than offensive. It was like something out of a pre-feminist comedy sketch.
He got into a bunch of really stupid and unpleasant tussles with other bloggers, too. Not just disagreements or standard flaming, really unpleasant to read.
This isn't some kind of "you are not good enough sartorially-speaking so we will smash you" routine - it's someone who was gross and offensive and off-putting and behaved really badly to some people. Does that mean that he should be doxxed? I'm on the fence, given that he is a politician. But I assure you that it's not just picking on some victim loser kid because he dressed badly. There are lots of men's style blogs where people dress badly.
Honestly, I do think this blog is relevant politically-speaking - not because of the clothes but because I think it's important for voters to know about his boot-licking attitudes toward the super-rich and his dogwhistles about race. I think it's significant when that kind of stuff becomes outsized and explicit in a politician's private life.
posted by Frowner at 9:47 AM on June 1, 2013 [17 favorites]
How could you ever vote for someone who thinks pink and gold are workable color combinations
Millions of Indians disagree with you.
posted by small_ruminant at 9:47 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
Millions of Indians disagree with you.
posted by small_ruminant at 9:47 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
(actually it wasn't gold it was that awful dark yellow, almost mustard and then combined with black which is just, sigh.)
posted by The Whelk at 10:00 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by The Whelk at 10:00 AM on June 1, 2013
he ends up looking pretty ludicrous and silly for putting so much thought and effort into a look that's supposed to be casual and second-nature.
He basically hangs a giant neon sign around his neck that says TRYING TOO HARD. The clothes wear him, rather than the other way around, and instantly call him out as NOCD. For the particular class he's trying to emulate or access, social climbers are worse than poor people, and he seems to have discovered this the hard way.
posted by rtha at 10:03 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
He basically hangs a giant neon sign around his neck that says TRYING TOO HARD. The clothes wear him, rather than the other way around, and instantly call him out as NOCD. For the particular class he's trying to emulate or access, social climbers are worse than poor people, and he seems to have discovered this the hard way.
posted by rtha at 10:03 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
Reading some archived posts, and oh, MAN:
But, one of the most interesting things in the evening was one of the memories this wedding returned to my mind. The memory that returned to my mind was the first girl that I stole from her male partner she was engaged to. I performed this feat as I was a sophomore in college, and she was a couple years older (senior). She had been with the gentleman for four years, and engaged for a year and a half. They were to marry the summer following her graduation. After some careful prowling and late night phone calls, I realized that her man did not have a firm grip on the situation. Therefore, I slowly but shirley began to discuss her relationship with her until she felt a comfort zone with me. Finally, after several lunches and nights on the phone, I got a call at three o'clock in the morning. It was a distressed and no longer engaged girl calling to tell me she had just dumped her man. And guess what, she went on to tell me that she did this because I made her realize how a man should treat a woman. Now, I admit, I did fall for this girl in my reckless youth and we dated for a while. However, my arch nemesis from high school (TG) (I will explain why in another post) eventually gave me a taste of my own medicine, and he stole my flame away.
Regardless, of the fact that TG stole my love of the moment away, it all worked out. Because if he had not done that, I would not have stolen the heart of the girl that I really love, my wife. Who is in fact much nicer and much more beautiful than my collegiate flame ever thought about being. Plus, I saw her (collegiate flame) the other weekend, and well, she has not aged that well.
-"I realized that her man did not have a firm grip on the situation"
-"I slowly but shirley began to discuss her relationship with her until she felt a comfort zone with me"
-"much more beautiful than my collegiate flame ever thought about being"
I mean, wow. 'Stealing women is a fun game, and I'm the winner! Also, I'm the super winner, because my wife is better, and that other lady got fug!' What a jerk.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 10:15 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
But, one of the most interesting things in the evening was one of the memories this wedding returned to my mind. The memory that returned to my mind was the first girl that I stole from her male partner she was engaged to. I performed this feat as I was a sophomore in college, and she was a couple years older (senior). She had been with the gentleman for four years, and engaged for a year and a half. They were to marry the summer following her graduation. After some careful prowling and late night phone calls, I realized that her man did not have a firm grip on the situation. Therefore, I slowly but shirley began to discuss her relationship with her until she felt a comfort zone with me. Finally, after several lunches and nights on the phone, I got a call at three o'clock in the morning. It was a distressed and no longer engaged girl calling to tell me she had just dumped her man. And guess what, she went on to tell me that she did this because I made her realize how a man should treat a woman. Now, I admit, I did fall for this girl in my reckless youth and we dated for a while. However, my arch nemesis from high school (TG) (I will explain why in another post) eventually gave me a taste of my own medicine, and he stole my flame away.
Regardless, of the fact that TG stole my love of the moment away, it all worked out. Because if he had not done that, I would not have stolen the heart of the girl that I really love, my wife. Who is in fact much nicer and much more beautiful than my collegiate flame ever thought about being. Plus, I saw her (collegiate flame) the other weekend, and well, she has not aged that well.
-"I realized that her man did not have a firm grip on the situation"
-"I slowly but shirley began to discuss her relationship with her until she felt a comfort zone with me"
-"much more beautiful than my collegiate flame ever thought about being"
I mean, wow. 'Stealing women is a fun game, and I'm the winner! Also, I'm the super winner, because my wife is better, and that other lady got fug!' What a jerk.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 10:15 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'll take the prompt shuttering-of-doors at the WASP101 blog as an admission of guilt.
posted by StrangerInAStrainedLand at 10:21 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by StrangerInAStrainedLand at 10:21 AM on June 1, 2013
slowly but shirley
Sounds like an eighties sitcom.
posted by Unified Theory at 10:32 AM on June 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
Sounds like an eighties sitcom.
posted by Unified Theory at 10:32 AM on June 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
AND DON'T CALL ME SHIRLEY!
posted by louche mustachio at 10:35 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by louche mustachio at 10:35 AM on June 1, 2013
Yeah, I'm wearing those linked Madras pants today. But it's Canada, so there are probably even fewer associations than in Seattle.
posted by maledictory at 10:36 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by maledictory at 10:36 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ralph informed me he may be at an event that this gentleman may also be attending next week. If he goes I may be persuaded to report back how it went.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 10:37 AM on June 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 10:37 AM on June 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
Oh, and I am on the Wayback Machine perusing the blog. Which is ruining plaid for me. Darn it.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 10:38 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 10:38 AM on June 1, 2013
Plaid has weathered worse scandals.
posted by mmmbacon at 10:43 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by mmmbacon at 10:43 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
Trad menswear seems to be misdirected on top of bigoted. They're focusing on the wrong decade. Why dress like Andy Bernard when you can dress like Don Draper? Is Mad Men fashion too New York for their delicate sensibilities?
posted by Apocryphon at 10:50 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 10:50 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
My uncle used to wear an ascot on occasion, and wore it well. Once a woman said to him: "Nice ascot."
He said: "Thanks! But my name's not Scott."
posted by Floydd at 10:53 AM on June 1, 2013 [15 favorites]
He said: "Thanks! But my name's not Scott."
posted by Floydd at 10:53 AM on June 1, 2013 [15 favorites]
My uncle used to wear an ascot on occasion, and wore it well. Once a woman said to him: "Nice ascot."
He said: "Thanks! But my name's not Scott."
Reader, she married him.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 10:56 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
He said: "Thanks! But my name's not Scott."
Reader, she married him.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 10:56 AM on June 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
I agree with Unified Theory, not having seen the racist posts, it just seems kind of sad and bullying to pick on the guy... I'm sure his politics are bad enough but I can't deny him a fashion blog.
My own relation to preppy/trad style is complicated - my own style seems to be a combination of hippie/preppy when I'm not thinking about it, but the racism and classism associated with it really bother me.
Then I found Black Ivy (on metafilter a few years ago) and was transported!
posted by maggiemaggie at 10:58 AM on June 1, 2013
My own relation to preppy/trad style is complicated - my own style seems to be a combination of hippie/preppy when I'm not thinking about it, but the racism and classism associated with it really bother me.
Then I found Black Ivy (on metafilter a few years ago) and was transported!
posted by maggiemaggie at 10:58 AM on June 1, 2013
This thread would make Veblen die of joy.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:16 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:16 AM on June 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
Speaking of good advice, I found Black Lapel via Metafilter (Shortly there after I saw a BL suit on the street. It was like spotting a unicorn in the wild - it was so bright and perfect and flawless, the kind of thing where if you saw it in a magazine you'd assume it was heavily altered or staged but no it was just really, really, really pretty.)
posted by The Whelk at 11:50 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 11:50 AM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I am from a different part of rural NC, and consider myself reasonably well-informed. (But it should be said I don't live in NC anymore.) I can't think of anything I know about this guy's district. Like, that part of NC is a big blank on the map to me. Is there anything there? Is he so clueless because he's essentially in a vacuum?
posted by secretseasons at 11:57 AM on June 1, 2013
posted by secretseasons at 11:57 AM on June 1, 2013
I've been perusing past entries of WASP101 on archive.org, and hoo boy, wow ... just wow.
I came out, earlier in this thread, with an expression of sympathy for him, and that sympathy has not entirely evaporated, but the overall picture of this dude is just not very flattering. The guy is just ... so ... pathetic.
I really think it's amusing and sad, just as an example of social climbing, that this graduate of Appalachian State University, this son of a chicken farmer, is fetishizing the accoutrements of a lifestyle one associates with, say, the characters in Louis Auchincloss novels who graduated from Harvard circa 1955. It really breaks my heart a little for him.
What is going on with this guy?
It's crossed my mind that, having managed to be elected to the State Legislature, he has felt that he needs to claw his way into a certain elegance that he associates with landed gentry and the political elite? Perhaps he is terribly misguided about what it takes to move among the wealthy? It is hard to put my finger on this, but think about it this way. As a legislator in North Carolina, he may find himself in contact with a lot of wealthy people who want favors and consideration from him. And he finds himself at a lot of receptions and events with these wealthy people. So he feels he needs to fit in with these people. And he overdid it. Rather than being casual and light hearted about it, he began to associate preppy fashion with his own status in a really weird, literal, cargo-cult kind of way. The blogging is just really, really embarrassing. It reeks of "look at me mom! I'm dressing like an important, wealthy person!" This is a Status Fail of major dimensions.
And when you combine the weird Status Fail with his mean-spiritedness (the "I stole another man's woman -- and ha ha, my wife is hotter than her" stuff) and just general strange world outlook (he pitifully confesses that each new visit to the Ralph Lauren flagship store in NYC is a "great new adventure") the dude just comes across really poorly. The ill-fitting clothes, the dumpy, flabby, wan, out-of-shape look that both he and his wife have, the kind of desperate grasping consumerism that he flaunts in his blog, are the antithesis of a graceful life "to the manner born."
It's just all very sad to have this explode on him like this. This is my fucking nightmare, to have my fantasies and obsessions publicly revealed and pawed over by hordes of laughing, malicious internet commenters and enemies.
posted by Unified Theory at 12:40 PM on June 1, 2013 [22 favorites]
I came out, earlier in this thread, with an expression of sympathy for him, and that sympathy has not entirely evaporated, but the overall picture of this dude is just not very flattering. The guy is just ... so ... pathetic.
I really think it's amusing and sad, just as an example of social climbing, that this graduate of Appalachian State University, this son of a chicken farmer, is fetishizing the accoutrements of a lifestyle one associates with, say, the characters in Louis Auchincloss novels who graduated from Harvard circa 1955. It really breaks my heart a little for him.
What is going on with this guy?
It's crossed my mind that, having managed to be elected to the State Legislature, he has felt that he needs to claw his way into a certain elegance that he associates with landed gentry and the political elite? Perhaps he is terribly misguided about what it takes to move among the wealthy? It is hard to put my finger on this, but think about it this way. As a legislator in North Carolina, he may find himself in contact with a lot of wealthy people who want favors and consideration from him. And he finds himself at a lot of receptions and events with these wealthy people. So he feels he needs to fit in with these people. And he overdid it. Rather than being casual and light hearted about it, he began to associate preppy fashion with his own status in a really weird, literal, cargo-cult kind of way. The blogging is just really, really embarrassing. It reeks of "look at me mom! I'm dressing like an important, wealthy person!" This is a Status Fail of major dimensions.
And when you combine the weird Status Fail with his mean-spiritedness (the "I stole another man's woman -- and ha ha, my wife is hotter than her" stuff) and just general strange world outlook (he pitifully confesses that each new visit to the Ralph Lauren flagship store in NYC is a "great new adventure") the dude just comes across really poorly. The ill-fitting clothes, the dumpy, flabby, wan, out-of-shape look that both he and his wife have, the kind of desperate grasping consumerism that he flaunts in his blog, are the antithesis of a graceful life "to the manner born."
It's just all very sad to have this explode on him like this. This is my fucking nightmare, to have my fantasies and obsessions publicly revealed and pawed over by hordes of laughing, malicious internet commenters and enemies.
posted by Unified Theory at 12:40 PM on June 1, 2013 [22 favorites]
This is my fucking nightmare, to have my fantasies and obsessions publicly revealed and pawed over by hordes of laughing, malicious internet commenters and enemies.
Then I hope you have the good sense to not blog about them.
posted by Daily Alice at 2:31 PM on June 1, 2013 [7 favorites]
Then I hope you have the good sense to not blog about them.
posted by Daily Alice at 2:31 PM on June 1, 2013 [7 favorites]
that this graduate of Appalachian State University, this son of a chicken farmer, is fetishizing the accoutrements of a lifestyle one associates with, say, the characters in Louis Auchincloss novels
I once had a crush on a guy from App State who wore Byronic shirts and riding boots.
Wait. What are you looking at? Don't judge me.
posted by octobersurprise at 3:04 PM on June 1, 2013
I once had a crush on a guy from App State who wore Byronic shirts and riding boots.
Wait. What are you looking at? Don't judge me.
posted by octobersurprise at 3:04 PM on June 1, 2013
I was just laughing at the plaid pants. If Whelk had posted a picture of those pants, I would have laughed almost as hard.
Oh who am I kidding. Whelk would have rocked those pants, ironically or not.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:08 PM on June 1, 2013
Oh who am I kidding. Whelk would have rocked those pants, ironically or not.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:08 PM on June 1, 2013
I am having serious flashbacks to my 1980s prep (day, thank god) school high school. At least, as a liberal school, it didn't have an uniform dress code and the students were mixing prep up with non-American exotica (despite its own cliches, remember Putumayo and Peace Frogs?). There was also an ostentatious punk minority. But a lot of us girls were still wearing those turtlenecks with tiny prints.
I also am flashing back to Britches, a mall store that so very badly wanted to be Ralph Lauren and didn't see anything silly about being called "Britches."
I bet you that most of Richard's thrift shop finds, when he doesn't state the brand, come from Britches and 1980s prep. Fit was very strange in that period.
posted by bad grammar at 4:53 PM on June 1, 2013
I also am flashing back to Britches, a mall store that so very badly wanted to be Ralph Lauren and didn't see anything silly about being called "Britches."
I bet you that most of Richard's thrift shop finds, when he doesn't state the brand, come from Britches and 1980s prep. Fit was very strange in that period.
posted by bad grammar at 4:53 PM on June 1, 2013
I'd like Holloway to consider changing careers and becoming a professional clown. He's already got the pants for it.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:48 PM on June 1, 2013
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:48 PM on June 1, 2013
> This is my fucking nightmare, to have my fantasies and obsessions publicly revealed and pawed over by hordes of laughing, malicious internet commenters and enemies.
Then I hope you have the good sense to not blog about them.
Yeah, not blogging about them is probably the best course of action. Although my wish would be for you to come to not give a single fuck what the laughing, malicious hordes on the internet think or do. God knows I'm not that brave, but we can all hope for life to be more like a John Hughes movie.
posted by benito.strauss at 6:01 PM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Then I hope you have the good sense to not blog about them.
Yeah, not blogging about them is probably the best course of action. Although my wish would be for you to come to not give a single fuck what the laughing, malicious hordes on the internet think or do. God knows I'm not that brave, but we can all hope for life to be more like a John Hughes movie.
posted by benito.strauss at 6:01 PM on June 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
North Carolina Key Votes:
July 3, 2012 HB 819 Prohibits Calculating Sea Level Change Until 2016 yea
What the fucking fuck.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:03 PM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
July 3, 2012 HB 819 Prohibits Calculating Sea Level Change Until 2016 yea
What the fucking fuck.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:03 PM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
Anyone who wears even the smallest amount of break is going to balk when facing up to the looming disaster of damp trouser cuffs.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:58 PM on June 1, 2013
posted by benito.strauss at 9:58 PM on June 1, 2013
I have a seersucker suit. I mostly wear it to weddings.
What confuses me about the whole self conscious hyper cultivated Ivy Style thing is that the actual people I know who come from that background genuinely, perform it with a certain insouciant shabbiness. So, my impression was that you're not supposed to look like you're trying. And I had thought that historically the prep look was often slightly more casual or sporty than was the societal default when it originated (but obviously not today in the t-shirts and track pants era).
It's hard to believe this guy's blog was serious. It's pomposity reads like an offshoot of the hard tea partay ad campaign.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:53 PM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
What confuses me about the whole self conscious hyper cultivated Ivy Style thing is that the actual people I know who come from that background genuinely, perform it with a certain insouciant shabbiness. So, my impression was that you're not supposed to look like you're trying. And I had thought that historically the prep look was often slightly more casual or sporty than was the societal default when it originated (but obviously not today in the t-shirts and track pants era).
It's hard to believe this guy's blog was serious. It's pomposity reads like an offshoot of the hard tea partay ad campaign.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:53 PM on June 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
Chill out about seersucker. People wear seersucker down here because it's fucking hot, not to prove a point or whatever. It's fabric. Get over it y'all.
posted by oceanjesse at 12:20 AM on June 2, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by oceanjesse at 12:20 AM on June 2, 2013 [4 favorites]
Wow, the seersucker situation is more fraught than I imagined. Missouri Senator Proposes Ban On Seersucker Suits.
posted by taz at 6:07 AM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by taz at 6:07 AM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm sad so many people sneer at seersucker. I love it! My Dad, who grew up on the south side of Chicago, wore it to work in NYC in the summer, so I never thought of it as a southern thing.
posted by maggiemaggie at 6:29 AM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by maggiemaggie at 6:29 AM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
cjorgensen: "Get a room."
Prolly would if he didn't live so fragging far away. And he liked chubby greyhaired jeans wearers.
posted by Samizdata at 6:58 AM on June 2, 2013
Prolly would if he didn't live so fragging far away. And he liked chubby greyhaired jeans wearers.
posted by Samizdata at 6:58 AM on June 2, 2013
t's hard to believe this guy's blog was serious. It's pomposity reads like an offshoot of the hard tea partay ad campaign.
Funny vid. But for the record, we can vouch that the esteemed subject of this thread is NOT a Tea Party type whatsoever. Think other end of spectrum.
But prolly most of y'all figured that out already.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:13 AM on June 2, 2013
Funny vid. But for the record, we can vouch that the esteemed subject of this thread is NOT a Tea Party type whatsoever. Think other end of spectrum.
But prolly most of y'all figured that out already.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:13 AM on June 2, 2013
I'm sad so many people sneer at seersucker.
Dr. Suess, so glad to see you're back!
posted by benito.strauss at 9:31 AM on June 2, 2013
Dr. Suess, so glad to see you're back!
posted by benito.strauss at 9:31 AM on June 2, 2013
sneersucker
posted by mangasm at 10:20 AM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mangasm at 10:20 AM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread has caused me to wear non traditional pant colors 2 days in a row so I guess it's a net gain
posted by The Whelk at 10:37 AM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 10:37 AM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
we can vouch that the esteemed subject of this thread is NOT a Tea Party type whatsoever. Think other end of spectrum.
He's a trad style communist? Now you're really blowing my mind.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:23 PM on June 2, 2013
He's a trad style communist? Now you're really blowing my mind.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:23 PM on June 2, 2013
Other end of Republican spectrum, sorry, forgot where I was for a minute. ;-)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 2:07 PM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 2:07 PM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
marienbad: "leather thongs? Plural? ok.
Also, The Whelks tiara really suits him."
A better question is - What does NOT suit the Whelk?
Probable answer - Most EVERYTHING worn by Samizdata.
posted by Samizdata at 4:11 PM on June 2, 2013
Also, The Whelks tiara really suits him."
A better question is - What does NOT suit the Whelk?
Probable answer - Most EVERYTHING worn by Samizdata.
posted by Samizdata at 4:11 PM on June 2, 2013
An online news site in Winston-Salem has posted a detailed dissection of Bryan Holloway's political career, in large part bankrolled by Pope family money (the name should be familiar to NC residents and New Yorker readers), with info like this:
He entered politics in 2004 on the encouragement of his father-in-law Mike Culler and with $16,000.00 in seed money provided by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Pope- the parents of North Carolina’s Republican Party sugar-daddy Art Pope. (Pope money was almost 40% of his initial start up.) Since then he has been an active, if quiet, legislator who has worked hard during the Republican Party’s ascension into a Supermajority in the NC Legislature, and according to Holloway’s campaign filings, kicked money up and out to dozens of other Republican lawmakers. The WASP101 blog has brought the kind of attention and scrutiny that Holloway has worked hard to avoid.
There are some interesting accusations of shady money practices, and a reference to paying strippers, which led me to this gem of a WASP 101 post from July 2011:
What Will You Do For Ten Dollars
Do you remember the first time you placed moleskin trousers on your skin, I do! Oh, they feel so good, and they feel so good that it reminds of another story of things that feel so good, breasts! I will never forget the first pair of fully developed mammary glands that I touched in my teenage youth.
As expected, I always hung with older guys and we went on a beach trip. To make a long story short, we met three lovely young ladies that turned out to be strippers. Being the guy that I am, I asked them to prove it! An hour or so later, we heard a knock at the door, and the young ladies came in to our room and began to lay out the rules. They exclaimed that they could not do the show for free, and they explained that they would charge three dollars a piece to take their tops off and five to take their panties off! My immediate response was, "what will you do for ten dollars". So, my cheapskate friends only pull out a measly three dollars each and they each got a distant view of the young ladies bosoms. When it came my turn, I pulled out a ten dollar bill and immediately the girls swarmed me with milky white breasts and yelled grab'em big boy.......I commenced to grabbing!
Yes, this story isn't very becoming and I did ask for forgiveness, but I freely admit my vice in life has always been women! It only took one lovely pearl girl named Mrs. Richard to settle me down, and thus, I remain settled.
posted by mediareport at 10:11 PM on June 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
He entered politics in 2004 on the encouragement of his father-in-law Mike Culler and with $16,000.00 in seed money provided by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Pope- the parents of North Carolina’s Republican Party sugar-daddy Art Pope. (Pope money was almost 40% of his initial start up.) Since then he has been an active, if quiet, legislator who has worked hard during the Republican Party’s ascension into a Supermajority in the NC Legislature, and according to Holloway’s campaign filings, kicked money up and out to dozens of other Republican lawmakers. The WASP101 blog has brought the kind of attention and scrutiny that Holloway has worked hard to avoid.
There are some interesting accusations of shady money practices, and a reference to paying strippers, which led me to this gem of a WASP 101 post from July 2011:
What Will You Do For Ten Dollars
Do you remember the first time you placed moleskin trousers on your skin, I do! Oh, they feel so good, and they feel so good that it reminds of another story of things that feel so good, breasts! I will never forget the first pair of fully developed mammary glands that I touched in my teenage youth.
As expected, I always hung with older guys and we went on a beach trip. To make a long story short, we met three lovely young ladies that turned out to be strippers. Being the guy that I am, I asked them to prove it! An hour or so later, we heard a knock at the door, and the young ladies came in to our room and began to lay out the rules. They exclaimed that they could not do the show for free, and they explained that they would charge three dollars a piece to take their tops off and five to take their panties off! My immediate response was, "what will you do for ten dollars". So, my cheapskate friends only pull out a measly three dollars each and they each got a distant view of the young ladies bosoms. When it came my turn, I pulled out a ten dollar bill and immediately the girls swarmed me with milky white breasts and yelled grab'em big boy.......I commenced to grabbing!
Yes, this story isn't very becoming and I did ask for forgiveness, but I freely admit my vice in life has always been women! It only took one lovely pearl girl named Mrs. Richard to settle me down, and thus, I remain settled.
posted by mediareport at 10:11 PM on June 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
Goodness, who brags about... giving a slightly larger than normal amount of money to strippers? Plus, from the way he tells that story, it sounds like that was the most out-there sexual experience of his life. Which would be really sad if it was true.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:31 AM on June 4, 2013
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:31 AM on June 4, 2013
Wait...that stripper story is really something he wrote, not a parody? I mean, not only is it self-evidently the case that no single part of the story is true, but it is pretty hard to believe that it would be written by anyone other than someone who had never so much as seen (let alone touched!) a naked breast and desperately wanted to make you believe otherwise. If the goal here was to perfectly capture the voice of a hapless 15 year-old virgin who is either terrified of or sexually uninterested in girls trying to convince both himself and his buddies that he's actually QUITE the ladies' man then, well, bravo.
posted by yoink at 9:21 AM on June 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by yoink at 9:21 AM on June 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
Oh god, that segue from moleskin to boobs - those exclamation points - "I commenced to grabbing" -
whyyyyyyyyy
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:28 AM on June 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
whyyyyyyyyy
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:28 AM on June 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
whyyyyyyyyy
You're telling me you've never felt the sweet, sweet caress of your moleskin trousers and thought "this is exactly like wearing pants made of boobs!"?
Next you'll be telling me you've never had that "difficult" conversation with a sewing machine salesman...
posted by yoink at 9:42 AM on June 4, 2013
You're telling me you've never felt the sweet, sweet caress of your moleskin trousers and thought "this is exactly like wearing pants made of boobs!"?
Next you'll be telling me you've never had that "difficult" conversation with a sewing machine salesman...
posted by yoink at 9:42 AM on June 4, 2013
That story has a weird ring of truth to it.
But I don't believe I'd have told that.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 12:57 PM on June 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
But I don't believe I'd have told that.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 12:57 PM on June 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
immediately the girls swarmed me with milky white breasts and yelled grab'em big boy.......I commenced to grabbing!
There's a Judd Apatow buddy movie in Bryan Holloway and Mark Sanford. Unless Holloway really does think moleskin trousers feel like boobs. In which case, David Lynch.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:59 PM on June 4, 2013
There's a Judd Apatow buddy movie in Bryan Holloway and Mark Sanford. Unless Holloway really does think moleskin trousers feel like boobs. In which case, David Lynch.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:59 PM on June 4, 2013
I also am flashing back to Britches, a mall store that so very badly wanted to be Ralph Lauren and didn't see anything silly about being called "Britches."
It was "Britches of Georgetown," because it cravenly appropriated the patina of the red-bricked, mentioned-in-Hedrick-Smith's-The-Power-Game-style Georgetown Establishment. I finished high school in northern Virginia in the late 80s/early 90s, and I recall the self-appointed "elites" in my class all requiring Britches clothing as their uniform. They referred to themselves as the "Britches Boys" and one even had the store name on his custom license plate.
I came home fuming about them one day and between gales of laughter, my father explained that actual preps wouldn't be behaving like this, because actual preps were at St. Albans or Georgetown Prep up the road.
This blog reminds me of the Britches Boys. The writer wants so badly to have the privilege he associates with old WASP culture, and he has no idea that you can buy the trappings but the real markers of any social group are in the transmitted knowledge and cultural mores. Nor does he ever question whether it's worth legitimizing the privilege of a group he'll never belong to. To me, that's really the sad part, that he's internalized the values of a culture that will never embrace him.
posted by sobell at 2:57 PM on June 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
It was "Britches of Georgetown," because it cravenly appropriated the patina of the red-bricked, mentioned-in-Hedrick-Smith's-The-Power-Game-style Georgetown Establishment. I finished high school in northern Virginia in the late 80s/early 90s, and I recall the self-appointed "elites" in my class all requiring Britches clothing as their uniform. They referred to themselves as the "Britches Boys" and one even had the store name on his custom license plate.
I came home fuming about them one day and between gales of laughter, my father explained that actual preps wouldn't be behaving like this, because actual preps were at St. Albans or Georgetown Prep up the road.
This blog reminds me of the Britches Boys. The writer wants so badly to have the privilege he associates with old WASP culture, and he has no idea that you can buy the trappings but the real markers of any social group are in the transmitted knowledge and cultural mores. Nor does he ever question whether it's worth legitimizing the privilege of a group he'll never belong to. To me, that's really the sad part, that he's internalized the values of a culture that will never embrace him.
posted by sobell at 2:57 PM on June 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Okay, Ralph is going to the event tomorrow and has promised to try to get a picture. He may even get a picture WITH this guy. Can't WAIT to see what he's wearing.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:09 PM on June 7, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:09 PM on June 7, 2013 [7 favorites]
Oh, sadness.....the dude didn't even show up to the conference, according to Ralph's text...at least there's a Comics Con at the same venue where he is for entertainment value. Sorry to disappoint you all, but otoh if I were The Subject of This Thread I would stay home too.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 12:54 PM on June 8, 2013
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 12:54 PM on June 8, 2013
Aw, dang. Thanks for letting us know - I was kinda looking forward to the photo of him with Ralph.
posted by rtha at 2:23 PM on June 8, 2013
posted by rtha at 2:23 PM on June 8, 2013
You and me both....
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 2:50 PM on June 8, 2013
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 2:50 PM on June 8, 2013
« Older Universities insufficiently reporting sexual... | Crystal Meth Origins Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Stewriffic at 5:17 PM on May 31, 2013 [4 favorites]