The most natural method of reading any blog is just to start at the most recent post, and work through in reverse chronological order. That may work fine for non-sequential blogs, but our format is a bit different: the installments (that's what we call our posts here) run roughly from the basics to more involved topics, starting at the earliest post. This has spawned several different methods of reading, that will better avail to the reader the information he wants quickly.
Readers that have dropped in through a Google search for a specific topic, (and if you have, welcome,) you can find similar or related topics using keywords in the Indexatron or the Search box, in the column to your right. Also, the end of each installment in a Series links to every other installment in that same Series.
There are a few different methods if you want to read the entire blog in a logical order to get the most out of it. The easiest is simply to read each installment in chronological order, from oldest to newest. This is easily done: for in addition to the intra-series links I just mentioned, I have also linked every installment to its next and prior chronological installment, and back to the very beginning.
Our Year @ A Glance™ sorts every post throughout each year by its Series, in prose form, to give a good outline of everything covered in that year. If you're the sort of person who likes to browse a blog in scattershot style, the Year @ A Glance™ serves as a good checklist to ensure you don't miss anything.
This Table of Contents, though, is our definitive method of organizing the posts. Every single installment in the entire blog is listed and linked "in book order," regardless of its actual posting date. It takes the reader straight through a logical progression of topics from simplest to more complex, building each upon a framework laid down by the previous. Read it in order, and it becomes the ultimate Tutorial for The Average Guy. Every previous post is accounted for, and any new Appendix that is to follow will be inserted into its proper place in the Contents as well, so the Contents will always be up-to-date.
PART A: CLASSIC STYLE
1. The First Great Secret
--The real purpose of clothing.
2. An Army of One
--"Dressing Well for Dummies" with just a sports jacket.
3. How, More Than What
--The importance of balance and insouciance.
4. It Is What It Is
--Sussing the purpose of your clothes by their names.
5. The Path of Least Resistance
--An admonition to "go the extra mile."
6. But What of the Oscars?
--Introduction to the rules of Classic Style.
7. The Science of Style
--Proper proportion must relate to the human form.
8. Throwing Fits
--The use of illusion can improve your form.
PART B: THE GREAT SECRETS
1. Lost in the Eighties, For Instance
--The Second Great Secret.
2. Lost in the Other Eighties
--The Second Great Secret's codicil.
3. Personality, Incorporated
--Blending proper balance with the Second Great Secret.
4. Proving the Rule
--The Second Great Secret, illustrated.
5. The Kentucky Derby: or Why The British Hate Us
--The Third Great Secret.
PART C: TREASURE HUNTING
1. Sock It To Me
--Of socks, and tone-matching to your environment.
2. The Need for Tweed
--The art of tone-matching, explained.
3. Keeping Your Balance
--Find your sartorial center; the basic Continuum Cube concept.
Appendix 2: The Calculus of Dressing
-- The full version of the advanced Continuum Cube.
4. The Measure of a Man
--How to take your own measurements.
5. To Save or Splurge?
--The economies of dressing well.
6. Want. Get. Have.
--Clothes shopping, the manly way.
7. Back to Basics
--A short admonition to "be prepared."
8. The Futurists Lied to You
--Learn to appreciate the economy of time.
1. The Game's A Foot
--A look at proper footwear.
2. Shoe-In
--A diversity of shoes.
1. Da Capo
--The flat cap as transitional headwear.
2. Hatiquette
--The logic behind when to wear a hat, and when not to.
3. The Hats of Summer
--Of warm-weather headgear.
1. Spicy Tie Recipes
--A short introduction to proper neckwear.
2. A Ruff History of Neckwear
--History, from 1500 to 1800.
3. Taking Stock of the Cravat
--History, from 1800 to 2000.
Appendix 1: The Art of Tying the Cravat.
--A closer look at the classic works.
4. Win, Lose or Tie.
--An overview of modern tie options.
5. A Four in Hand is worth Eight in the Bush
--The art of knot tying.
6. Bow Diddley.
--The bow tie and its proportions.
7. You Bet Your Ascot
--The formal ascot: wearing, making, and substituting.
8. Day Cravattitude.
--The casual day cravat: wearing, making, and substituting.
9. It's Hip to Be Square
--Neckerchiefs: variations and history.
10 Scarf it Up, Scarf it Down
--Is the scarf the tie of the future?
1. A Pocketful of Balance
--Balance, accessories, (and a detour to the Mayan calender.)
2. Accessorial Tutorial
--Traditional accessories and their uses.
3. Kitted Out
--Ideas for modern accessories.
1. Spring Break Experimentation!
--Vacation wear.
2. Venial Equinoxious
--Dressing for the Spring.
3. The Shirt Off Your Back
--When to not wear a jacket.
4. Go Out and Play
--Autumnal recreational attire.
1. Time to Put Up Your Toys
--How to pack away your summer shirts.
2. As The Wardrobe Turns
--How to pack away your winter wear.
1. Drastic Measures Required
--A short fable of modern headwear.
2. Aaah! They're Coming This Way!
--A fable on attire when society crumbles.
3. The Fighting Yank is Laid Low
--The fable of a little statue.
4. The Fighting Yank Rises
--The vindication of the little statue.
5. The Fighting Yank 3: Yank's Revenge
--The little statue returns.
1. Yes, Miss, I find your shallowness most diverting.
--The importance of proper social education in youth.
Appendix 3: Mandatory Finishing-School.
-- Put the polish on your own social education today.
2. Former Casual, Formal Causual.
--The development and evolution of what we wear.
3. Downton, Things'll Be Great When You're Downton
--Lessons from historical drama like Downton Abbey.
4. The Political Uniform
--Why the universal black suit is a bad idea.
5. Easter Parading
--The history of the April sartorial tradition.
6. Proper Toppers
--A brief history of the top hat.
7. The Essential Accessory, Pt.1
--The history of tobacco, from antiquity to 1820.
8. The Essential Accessory, Pt. 2
--The history of tobacco, from 1820 to today.
9. The Essential Accessory, Pt. 3
--Correlating smoking to fashion.
10. The Essential Accessory, Pt. 4
--The search for a new essential.
1. The PROMulgation of the PROMise of PROMpt PROMiscuity.
--The Prom as an introduction to Black Tie.
2. The Tony Tygers
--Critique of the 2011 Tony Awards
3. Emmy or Isn't He?
--Critique of the 2011 Emmy Awards
4. Just Feel Those Golden Globes!
--Critique of the 2012 Golden Globe Awards
5. SAG Like A Gansta In The Quarter-Formals, Yo!
--Critique of the 2012 SAG Awards
6. Oscar Grouching
--Critique of the 2012 Oscars (part 1)
7. Who's the Dandy? Oscars Edition
--Off-site critique of the 2012 Oscars (part 2)
8. Correspondents and Spectators
--Critique of the 2012 White House Correspondents Dinner.
9. Generation Degeneration
--Critique of the 2012 Billboard Music Awards.
10. Em & Emmy
--Critique of the 2012 Emmy Awards.
1. The Scariest Thing I've Seen This Year
--A look at White Tie, through the Alfred E. Smith Dinner.
1. The Wedding of the Century, version 2.0 (beta)
--Introduction to morning wear, via Will and Kate.
2. The Wedding of Prince Georg Von Sloppypants
--Morning formal wear, and the perils thereof.
1. Manly Machinery
--Essential equipment.
2. Say Hello To My Little Friend
--How to make your own tailor's form.
3. Who's Got The Button?
--A simple adjustment of your button stance.
4. Going to Waist
--Waistband alterations, quick-and-easy style.
5. Waist Not, Want Not
--Waistband alterations, in-depth style.
6. Presto Change-O Jacket Size-O
--The interrelationship of size, balance, and fit of a jacket.
7. Suit and Suitability
--Choosing a project suit for our purposes.
8. Carving a Turkey
--Disassembly.
9. Wrapper's Delight
--Marking and pinning.
10. Marked Improvements
--Stitch-marking and unpinning.
11. Sliding Into First Baste
--Manipulating and basting.
12. Things Start Coming Together
--Hand-stitching; shoulderwork.
13. Cold Shoulders
--Setting the sleeves.
14. Happy, Sleevey, Doc
--Sewing the sleeves to the armscye.
15. Hemming and Hawing
--Lining and finishing.
16. Liner Notes
--How to simply un-line a jacket for use in the summer.
17. Let's Get Shanked
--Re-visiting button stance, with shanked buttons.
1. I Am Iron Man
--Rebuilding a classic iron: disassembly.
2. Ion Iron
--Derusting via electrolysis, and operating diagnosis.
3. Irons in the Fire
--Repair and refurbishment.
4. Strike While the Iron's Hot
--Cleaning and reassembly.
1. The TT&S Bow Tie Man of the Year (2011)
--The exemplars of the art of the bow tie.
2. The TT&S Razor Square Man of the Year (2011)
--The exemplars of the art of the pocket square.
3. The TT&S Bow Tie Man of the Year (2012)
--The exemplars of the art of the bow tie.
4. The TT&S Razor Square Man of the Year (2012)
--The exemplars of the art of the pocket square.
--A bookend for the blog.
Readers that have dropped in through a Google search for a specific topic, (and if you have, welcome,) you can find similar or related topics using keywords in the Indexatron or the Search box, in the column to your right. Also, the end of each installment in a Series links to every other installment in that same Series.
There are a few different methods if you want to read the entire blog in a logical order to get the most out of it. The easiest is simply to read each installment in chronological order, from oldest to newest. This is easily done: for in addition to the intra-series links I just mentioned, I have also linked every installment to its next and prior chronological installment, and back to the very beginning.
Our Year @ A Glance™ sorts every post throughout each year by its Series, in prose form, to give a good outline of everything covered in that year. If you're the sort of person who likes to browse a blog in scattershot style, the Year @ A Glance™ serves as a good checklist to ensure you don't miss anything.
This Table of Contents, though, is our definitive method of organizing the posts. Every single installment in the entire blog is listed and linked "in book order," regardless of its actual posting date. It takes the reader straight through a logical progression of topics from simplest to more complex, building each upon a framework laid down by the previous. Read it in order, and it becomes the ultimate Tutorial for The Average Guy. Every previous post is accounted for, and any new Appendix that is to follow will be inserted into its proper place in the Contents as well, so the Contents will always be up-to-date.
I: INTRODUCTION
1. Introduction
--Who I am, what the blog is for, and a general welcome to all.
II: DRESSING THE AVERAGE GUY
PART A: CLASSIC STYLE
1. The First Great Secret
--The real purpose of clothing.
2. An Army of One
--"Dressing Well for Dummies" with just a sports jacket.
3. How, More Than What
--The importance of balance and insouciance.
4. It Is What It Is
--Sussing the purpose of your clothes by their names.
5. The Path of Least Resistance
--An admonition to "go the extra mile."
6. But What of the Oscars?
--Introduction to the rules of Classic Style.
7. The Science of Style
--Proper proportion must relate to the human form.
8. Throwing Fits
--The use of illusion can improve your form.
PART B: THE GREAT SECRETS
1. Lost in the Eighties, For Instance
--The Second Great Secret.
2. Lost in the Other Eighties
--The Second Great Secret's codicil.
3. Personality, Incorporated
--Blending proper balance with the Second Great Secret.
4. Proving the Rule
--The Second Great Secret, illustrated.
5. The Kentucky Derby: or Why The British Hate Us
--The Third Great Secret.
PART C: TREASURE HUNTING
1. Sock It To Me
--Of socks, and tone-matching to your environment.
2. The Need for Tweed
--The art of tone-matching, explained.
3. Keeping Your Balance
--Find your sartorial center; the basic Continuum Cube concept.
Appendix 2: The Calculus of Dressing
-- The full version of the advanced Continuum Cube.
4. The Measure of a Man
--How to take your own measurements.
5. To Save or Splurge?
--The economies of dressing well.
6. Want. Get. Have.
--Clothes shopping, the manly way.
7. Back to Basics
--A short admonition to "be prepared."
8. The Futurists Lied to You
--Learn to appreciate the economy of time.
III: FOOTWEAR
1. The Game's A Foot
--A look at proper footwear.
2. Shoe-In
--A diversity of shoes.
IV: HEADWEAR
1. Da Capo
--The flat cap as transitional headwear.
2. Hatiquette
--The logic behind when to wear a hat, and when not to.
3. The Hats of Summer
--Of warm-weather headgear.
V: NECKWEAR
1. Spicy Tie Recipes
--A short introduction to proper neckwear.
2. A Ruff History of Neckwear
--History, from 1500 to 1800.
3. Taking Stock of the Cravat
--History, from 1800 to 2000.
Appendix 1: The Art of Tying the Cravat.
--A closer look at the classic works.
4. Win, Lose or Tie.
--An overview of modern tie options.
5. A Four in Hand is worth Eight in the Bush
--The art of knot tying.
6. Bow Diddley.
--The bow tie and its proportions.
7. You Bet Your Ascot
--The formal ascot: wearing, making, and substituting.
8. Day Cravattitude.
--The casual day cravat: wearing, making, and substituting.
9. It's Hip to Be Square
--Neckerchiefs: variations and history.
10 Scarf it Up, Scarf it Down
--Is the scarf the tie of the future?
VI: ACCESSORIES
1. A Pocketful of Balance
--Balance, accessories, (and a detour to the Mayan calender.)
2. Accessorial Tutorial
--Traditional accessories and their uses.
3. Kitted Out
--Ideas for modern accessories.
VII: SEASONAL VARIATIONS
1. Spring Break Experimentation!
--Vacation wear.
2. Venial Equinoxious
--Dressing for the Spring.
3. The Shirt Off Your Back
--When to not wear a jacket.
4. Go Out and Play
--Autumnal recreational attire.
VIII: PACKING AND STORING
1. Time to Put Up Your Toys
--How to pack away your summer shirts.
2. As The Wardrobe Turns
--How to pack away your winter wear.
IX: FABLES
1. Drastic Measures Required
--A short fable of modern headwear.
2. Aaah! They're Coming This Way!
--A fable on attire when society crumbles.
3. The Fighting Yank is Laid Low
--The fable of a little statue.
4. The Fighting Yank Rises
--The vindication of the little statue.
5. The Fighting Yank 3: Yank's Revenge
--The little statue returns.
X: LESSONS OF HISTORY
1. Yes, Miss, I find your shallowness most diverting.
--The importance of proper social education in youth.
Appendix 3: Mandatory Finishing-School.
-- Put the polish on your own social education today.
2. Former Casual, Formal Causual.
--The development and evolution of what we wear.
3. Downton, Things'll Be Great When You're Downton
--Lessons from historical drama like Downton Abbey.
4. The Political Uniform
--Why the universal black suit is a bad idea.
5. Easter Parading
--The history of the April sartorial tradition.
6. Proper Toppers
--A brief history of the top hat.
7. The Essential Accessory, Pt.1
--The history of tobacco, from antiquity to 1820.
8. The Essential Accessory, Pt. 2
--The history of tobacco, from 1820 to today.
9. The Essential Accessory, Pt. 3
--Correlating smoking to fashion.
10. The Essential Accessory, Pt. 4
--The search for a new essential.
XI: EVENING SEMIFORMAL -- THE DINNER SUIT
1. The PROMulgation of the PROMise of PROMpt PROMiscuity.
--The Prom as an introduction to Black Tie.
2. The Tony Tygers
--Critique of the 2011 Tony Awards
3. Emmy or Isn't He?
--Critique of the 2011 Emmy Awards
4. Just Feel Those Golden Globes!
--Critique of the 2012 Golden Globe Awards
5. SAG Like A Gansta In The Quarter-Formals, Yo!
--Critique of the 2012 SAG Awards
6. Oscar Grouching
--Critique of the 2012 Oscars (part 1)
7. Who's the Dandy? Oscars Edition
--Off-site critique of the 2012 Oscars (part 2)
8. Correspondents and Spectators
--Critique of the 2012 White House Correspondents Dinner.
9. Generation Degeneration
--Critique of the 2012 Billboard Music Awards.
10. Em & Emmy
--Critique of the 2012 Emmy Awards.
XII: NIGHT FORMAL -- THE DRESS SUIT
1. The Scariest Thing I've Seen This Year
--A look at White Tie, through the Alfred E. Smith Dinner.
XIII: DAY FORMAL -- THE MORNING SUIT
1. The Wedding of the Century, version 2.0 (beta)
--Introduction to morning wear, via Will and Kate.
2. The Wedding of Prince Georg Von Sloppypants
--Morning formal wear, and the perils thereof.
XIV: THE ISLAND OF MISFIT CLOTHES
AKA: THE TAILORING SERIES
1. Manly Machinery
--Essential equipment.
2. Say Hello To My Little Friend
--How to make your own tailor's form.
3. Who's Got The Button?
--A simple adjustment of your button stance.
4. Going to Waist
--Waistband alterations, quick-and-easy style.
5. Waist Not, Want Not
--Waistband alterations, in-depth style.
6. Presto Change-O Jacket Size-O
--The interrelationship of size, balance, and fit of a jacket.
7. Suit and Suitability
--Choosing a project suit for our purposes.
8. Carving a Turkey
--Disassembly.
9. Wrapper's Delight
--Marking and pinning.
10. Marked Improvements
--Stitch-marking and unpinning.
11. Sliding Into First Baste
--Manipulating and basting.
12. Things Start Coming Together
--Hand-stitching; shoulderwork.
13. Cold Shoulders
--Setting the sleeves.
14. Happy, Sleevey, Doc
--Sewing the sleeves to the armscye.
15. Hemming and Hawing
--Lining and finishing.
16. Liner Notes
--How to simply un-line a jacket for use in the summer.
17. Let's Get Shanked
--Re-visiting button stance, with shanked buttons.
XV: HARDWARE
1. I Am Iron Man
--Rebuilding a classic iron: disassembly.
2. Ion Iron
--Derusting via electrolysis, and operating diagnosis.
3. Irons in the Fire
--Repair and refurbishment.
4. Strike While the Iron's Hot
--Cleaning and reassembly.
XVI: MEN OF THE YEAR
1. The TT&S Bow Tie Man of the Year (2011)
--The exemplars of the art of the bow tie.
2. The TT&S Razor Square Man of the Year (2011)
--The exemplars of the art of the pocket square.
3. The TT&S Bow Tie Man of the Year (2012)
--The exemplars of the art of the bow tie.
4. The TT&S Razor Square Man of the Year (2012)
--The exemplars of the art of the pocket square.
XVII: EPILOGUE
1. Epilogue--A bookend for the blog.
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