Thanks! #1: Tweed Rides

The First Tweed Run, 2009

My lovely friend Maggie sent me a link to ReadysetDC's post on D.C.'s 2010 Tweed Ride (fair warning, there are some inexplicable near-nudey pictures towards the end, so nsfw, and shield the children's eyes).  I had first heard of a Tweed Ride on RidingPretty's blog during the Essence of Autumn contest, and, you all know I love my tweed so I looked into this Tweed Ride thing.  The very first Tweed Run was held in London in 2009, an organized group bike ride through the city with participants dressed in tweedy cycling attire, specifically from 1920s England.  Since then, Tweed Rides have become something of a minor global explosion with Tweed Rides popping up in cities like Sacramento, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Portland, as well as Toronto, Sydney, New York, and Tokyo to name a few (here is another of Riding Pretty's posts of various Tweed Ride posters).  A few of these rides also overlap with a some pretty sweet Cycling Fashion Shows.

image via dustinj, sfwiggle.com, SF Tweed Ride

image via sftweed.com

Tweed: Professor Hot

Now I know this picture is old, and I know, I know, Brangelina have been photographed so many times do they still have souls?!?! however, my feature of this photo has nothing whatever to do with the individuals in the picture and everything to do with the suit of the gentleman.

A 3 piece tweed-y suit with a knitted scarf?!?!  What about Fight Club?  I scoff at you, Tyler Durden, in favor of this gently-befuddled-about-what-decade-this-is-and-lost-in-the-library-because-he-got-locked-in-again-while-researching look.  And yes, in case you were wondering, my teacher-husband would look dashing in this ensemble.  I totally do have a type.  I am currently and forever searching for elbow be-patched (that's Tweed for be-dazzled) 3 piece suits of wool plaid.

P.S. Photo courtesy of the GoFugYourself Blog which I find incredibly entertaining.

Autumn Staples for Men

And because men need awesome cardigans and arguably look even better in them:

J.Crew's Anchorage Cardigan

J.Crew's Toggle Hooded Henley

J.Crew's Cable Shawl-Collar Cardigan

J.Crew's Wool Toggle Cardigan

And if nothing but the real thing will do for you, here is an Irish online shop: Murphy of Ireland Shop

Autumn Staples

As we get close to Autumn, we have to start digging through our cold weather clothes, and the first thing that comes to my mind is cardigans.  By cardigan I mean the sort of sweater you would see a Canadian lighthouse keeper wear.  Finding this sort of item is like shopping for the perfect pair of leather boots, so I have yet to find one for myself or for Sean.  I did find some that I liked, however.

Ruche's Step in Time Cashmere Cardigan

ModCloth's Research Assistant Cardigan

Anthropologie's Outdoor Cafe Cardigan

Anthropologie's Shawl Collar Sweatercoat

And my favorite:

J.Crew's Abbraccio Cardigan

A Fisherman

Tweed, Cont'd

Behold!  Here is my visualization for that delicious Irish linen that I mentioned earlier.

OK, I did this draping the same day I did that post on the Dolce and Gabanna dress, and I have not gotten any further, but Walter Plunkett bought his fabric and be-laboringly studied it until inspiration overtook him,...so yeah, that is my justification.

Please tell me what you think!  I want opinions!

And, by the way, the belt is from Ruche.  Can you tell I am obsessed with that place?!

Cased Colored Lead Crystal

OK, so almost all of the voters of Friday's poll are like Sean and me: mismatched glasses collected from other households, roommates, and pubs...and one set of wine glasses that was a wedding present.  For our sixth month anniversary, I decided to invest in some heirlooms and bought Sean these cased colored lead crystal wine glasses.  These are gorgeously crafted, a little difficult to find, and definitely an investment.  I have loved this style for ages, but never really thought to track them down to buy until Sean fell in love with them.  He has a friend who has collected these glasses for years.  The gentleman has a gorgeous cabin in the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula that makes my heart happy.  I thought lifestyles of Tweed could only be found in Wodehouse, Waugh, or some crusty English club that had long since lost its vigor and stands more as a bored monument of the past.  But these do still exist for leisure.  The gentleman has created this cabin of  wood paneling, built-in bookshelves, copper pans, and old leather furniture as a monument to civility and hospitality.  In the midst of the untamed wilderness of the UP, this gentleman and his guests eat, drink from these gems, and talk of finer things, then, in the morning, work.  

Anyways, I did some research and these colored glasses are about the best to enjoy with a glass of wine.  If you want to get them, be sure you get the right ones as there are cheaper versions; you want cased colored lead crystal rather than something like cut to clear glass.  Cased colored means the artist hand blows the clear crystal, then hand blows a top layer of colored crystal, and that is cut through to create the design.  Cut to clear glass means a layer is added after the glass has been completed.      

I bought these from an eBay seller  by the name of TheCrystalLady.  She is very helpful and got the glasses to me within 3 days.

Dublin Doors

Dublin Doors, originally uploaded by Mister Rad.

Origins of Tweed, Cont'd.
Does this make you smile or what? You know it does.  These doors say, "Come in, come in!  Relax.  You are far too hurried.  Have a whiskey."  Not directly related to design, but it serves to set the right mood...

The Origins of Tweed

D'you know what things inspire me style-wise?  Tweed, suede elbow patches, Oxford drunks, pipes and pipe smoke, cigarette cases, port, Evelyn Waugh, wood paneling, leather furniture, stone fireplaces, cased colored lead crystal,  argyle, P.G. Wodehouse, square-ish  wool sweaters, wingtip shoes, rainy weather, whiskey, canes, brightly painted doors in an otherwise bland stone exterior.  You can buy these crushable walking hat made of 100% Donegal tweed and these Tweed throws online.    

It might at first seem that my style sensibility is directing me toward the fashion of a 70 year old man after being brainwashed with Brideshead Revisited  Yes, much of these things seem more suited to St. Andrews Links with fuming Scotsmen, but the drizzly charm of this visual genre is not only captivating, it is very versatile.  Look at these tweed! shoes from Ruche.  (I would like a job for which I must purchase and collect these pretty things for the sake of posterity, please.)  Done with a light touch, it can even be sexy.  Behold a creation of Dolce and Gabbana featured in, um, Vogue was it?:

All those unexpected occasions when I had to dress up, rifling grumbling through my closet knowing full well I did not have a dress I actually wanted to wear all evening, this was the dress I wanted and did not know!  Opera, gala, formal, wedding?  Whatever!  

Also, here is a peak at the fabric that inspired my tweed reverie:

It is Irish linen I bought from a fabric warehouse ($5/yd!) and I am hoping to make it into a full length dress.  I cannot accomplish the D&G dress as that looks to be silk, but I will see what I can do.  I will post when I finish...my silence on the subject will mean that it is lying in a wad at the bottom of my closet in a frustrated heap.

P.S. The word tweed is an 1830s misprint of the word "tweele", the Scottish word for twill.