Such a great quote…
And we’ve got to give credit to Mickey Drexler and J.Crew for all the great stuff they’ve been doing lately. (Found at The Choosy Beggar)
Ok, now Father’s day is literally right around the corner.
Our primary gift suggestion is a Hallmark card that plays “Hammer Time” when it is opened.
That commercial dad sure looks happy.
Our secondary gift suggestion is the Proper Cloth Custom Dress Shirt Gift Kit.
If your dad wears dress shirts this is a no-brainer. It’s basically a dress shirt in a tiny box. Except, unlike normal dress shirts, this dress shirt is guaranteed to fit and be in the exact color dad likes.
Our custom dress shirt gift box includes:
(1) Tailors measuring tape
(5) Samples of popular fabrics
(1) Sweet looking black box
(1) Cute little red hand stamped note that you can write something on
(1) Beautiful red bow that says you care
We also accommodate special requests – like what you want us to write on the note or a specific color of fabrics or hand delivery by Brazilian super model or anything like that. Just let us know.
Stay Proper.
“He had a face that belonged in a depression era breadline”…
Awesome.
“Seek love foolishly my boy, even if it kills you.”
Found this video on United Style.
He went out. He got two numbers in the same night. He drank cocktails…
Consider this your advanced notice that Father’s day is coming up (June 20th this year). Which means if you order pops a custom shirt in the next week or so, we’ll have it ready in plenty of time.
Otherwise, we suggest our custom dress shirt startup kit and gift pack. Of course.
DAMN RIGHT YOUR DAD DRANK IT
Stay Proper.
It’s that time of year again.
The last week of January.
When you know it’s coming. And. Yet. Somehow. You are not ready.
That’s right. Valentines day.
The guys out there are probably thinking…
What’s the best way to prepare for valentines day?
The answer is, like Jeremy Renner says in Hurt Locker,
“The way you don’t die, sir.” (click for clip)
Yeah, so, good luck with that.
As for you ladies, wondering what to get your boyfriend for Valentines day. Here’s a slightly more actionable suggestion.
Call it what you like – “The Gift that Fits”, “The Custom Dress Shirt Startup Kit with Gift Box”, or “Your Valentines Day Solution”. Regardless, it comes with a range of fabric samples, measuring tape, and a gift card in the amount of your choosing.
This gift gives the two of you everything you need to create the perfect dress shirt for him. Get a sense for what fabrics he likes (the ones you like), take his body measurements and you are good to go. He’ll be looking sharp and you’ll be girlfriend of the year.
Order your gift box now (free with gift certificate over $100).
Last Thursday, I found myself at the Hudson Terrace on West 46th and 12th.
When you know you need a drink, but can’t stand the claustrophobic feeling of an underground pub, this is a good place to go. You can hang out at the bar or get your own bottle/table – it’s laid out so that both options work nicely. This is one of just a few nice roof top lounges in Manhattan that I’m aware of (btw – why aren’t there lounges on every rooftop?). Drinks weren’t cheap, but you don’t expect them to be. I got there around sunset and only expected to stay a few hours, but somehow the party lasted till 2 in the morning… funny how Jameson shots, Ketel One, and attractive women make that happen. Had a great time. Polite conversation became dancing on tables and strangers became couples friends.
Go there and stay proper.
On a whim, I picked up the book Heat by Bill Buford. 
And then I read it twice. If you like cooking or personalities, you’ll like this book. It’s full of detailed descriptions of fancy food and the colorful characters that prepare it.
Part of the book covers Mario Batali and his famous Manhattan restaurant Babbo. Buford gives a behind-the-scenes look at Battali’s flamboyant drink-all-night personality and how his restaurants are run. The second half of the book covers Buford’s experience working under Dario Cecchini, a famous Tuscan butcher (in Italy).
What I love about this story is that Buford, who had a respectable job as the fiction editor for The New Yorker, quit his job to join Babbo’s kitchen and work his way up from the bottom. And the bottom was not comfortable. Working 14 hour plus days sweating in a hot kitchen, slicing his fingers regularly, burning his hands and arms regularly, getting yelled at regularly… The kitchen of a high end restaurant does not sound like a particularly fun place to be.
It’s common advice that you should do what you love with your life and that it’s never too late to change careers. Unfortunately, most people don’t take this seriously and end up in jobs that merely pay the bills. Buford is an inspiration and example of figuring out where you want your life to go and then doing whatever it takes to get there. We should all follow his example.
Had the chance to check out GoldBar on Broome Street last night.
First, from a designer standpoint, the venue is pure ostentatious excess. The walls are covered in gold painted skulls, the ceiling has huge chandeliers and the tables are made to look like giant gold bracelets. There are also these spooky looking paintings on the walls – what you’d expect to see in a castle, but with a modern twist to them. All in all, I really liked the design of this place. Someone had an innovative vision and executed it nicely.
The main room is a good size. Not too big. A bit intimate. The music was the same hiphop/house mix you’d get in any lounge and the volume was right. Bit of dancing, bit of conversation.
The crowd was nice. A mix of euro-trash (and I mean that in the nicest way), young professionals and pretty girls. Everyone seemed friendly and in the mood for celebrating, although this impression is likely the result of our own enthusiasm mixed with lots of redbull and vodka. I think everyone in the main room was getting bottle service. There’s a bar area in the front as well.
Definitely calling this a proper spot. Go there.
I’ve always been pretty quick to join online social networks. Back in 2003, I had the custom styled MySpace page with my carefully selected “Top 8 Friends”, a music player that played either 50 Cent “In Da Club” or Britney Spears “Hit Me Baby One More Time” and dozens of photos: mostly drunk at a club, half naked at the beach, or the classic self portrait cell-phone shot into the bathroom mirror. Hours went into browsing pages of the opposite sex, writing comments and friend requesting. It was better than TV.
But not everyone felt the same way. Maybe they were intimidated by the technology. Maybe they “didn’t get it”. Maybe they were afraid of “identity theft” or had “privacy concerns”. Maybe they had jobs that wouldn’t let them waste several hours per day goofing off. Or maybe they realized it was just a huge meat-market of people trying to get laid and they didn’t want to have anything to do with it.
But recently, something about Facebook has made social networking practically unavoidable and even the reluctant have been creating accounts. So for those of you relatively new to this thing called the “internet”, this is what you need to know.
Extremely embarrassing photos of you WILL be uploaded. They could be from high school. They could be from undergrad. You might be doing a keg stand. You might be sporting a mullet. You might even be dancing in a speedo. These photos will be tagged with your name and associated with your profile. Everything you thought was forgotten past will be available for your friends to comment on.
Eventually you will be connected to all your ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends. Really: ALL of them – from middle school to last week. One of you will be feeling confident and curious and a “friend request” will be made. Most likely you or they will accept said request (to avoid seeming rude or jealous or not over each other or whatever). Once this connection is made, you’ll get to see all of each others embarrassing photos and ex-relationships. You’ll know when they’re “Single” or “In a Relationship” or the totally ambiguous “It’s Complicated”.
It may start out just you and your old fraternity buddies, but soon enough you’ll get other so-called “friends”. Like your boss. Or your mom. Or somebody that you don’t even recognize but is friends with 25 0f your other friends and you think you have a rough idea of who they are.
Introducing the Facebook “status”. You can write what you’re thinking, what you’re doing, or whatever you want and it is broadcast to all your friends. A lot of people find this strangely addictive. It’s like a little soap-box where you can let people know what you’re doing at the moment, share an interesting news article or vent to the world about your latest problems. Be careful with status updates like: “Seph is tired of dealing with a room full of idiots”, or “Seph is extremely hungover from too much Jagermeister last night”. Unless of course you revel in embarrassing yourself and offending others like we do.
If your anxiety levels are rising – take a deep breath. None of this is as bad as it sounds – for one simple reason: It’s happening to everyone. If you’re worried your boss will find that picture of you making out with a blow-up doll you can relax. First of all, he probably has more to hide than you. Second of all, he doesn’t have time (or care) to browse back to page 13 of your photos. Note that if you censor every photo/comment on your page, you’ll probably only create more suspicion about what you’re hiding. So, our advice – just be yourself.
Proper Cloth has always been about technology so, for better or worse, we’re embracing this social phenomenon. Today, we’re excited to be announcing further integration , when you design a custom dress shirt and add it to the Shirt Gallery, you can post comments on it for others to see. Other shoppers and custom shirt designers can also post comments, and (if you choose) this will all be connected with your Facebook profile. Check it out. And while you’re at it, become a fan of Proper Cloth and leave us a note on our wall 
Stay Proper.
Having trouble dating? Dr. Alex Benzer breaks it down with the top reasons why “smart people” can’t maintain committed relationships.
Read the whole article here, but also consider our theory that smart people are just enlightened to the benefits of staying single.
Stay Proper.