The Fashion Police Patrols the 2012 NFL Draft

“Hall of famer Bert Bell spearheaded the idea of a player draft in the 1930’s.

The idea came to fruition with the holding of the NFL’s first ever player draft in 1936. Since that time what has happened in the draft room has set the stage for what happens on the field shaping the destiny of teams for years to come.

More than ten thousand of the best players from the college ranks have been drafted to play pro ball. Some never played a single down, others have managed to have long careers, and a select few went on to greatness.”

-From the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website

Competitive parity, check!  It gives football fans like us warm feelings to read those words…  And that’s nice and all, but you know we are more concerned about clothes(breaking news!), so here is a look at some of the top ten picks of this year’s draft from a more sartorial perspective…

Colts QB Andrew Luck! Well, good Luck to you and get a good clothier. Can't expect grandness looking so, well, safe and plain... C'mon man, at least wear a pocket square. Verdict? Too safe. And you don't advance much in life by being safe.

2nd pick, QB Robert Griffin III for the Redskins. We see sartorial potential in the raw! We love the idea of a lighter color suit and plaid shirt. Hopefully, his contract will bring him, among other things, a full sartorial wardrobe.

3rd pick, RB Trent Richardson. Oh, Trent, all done with college football. On the other hand, your wardrobe is still missing a couple of more classes. One of the lessons you missed is "less is more." In other words, too much trimming. We think just the lapels would have done the trick!

4th pick, OT Matt Kalil. We like what Kalil did. When in doubt, stick to what you know. Well done. A three-piece pinstripe suit is always classic, and a dash of color on the tie? Bravo!

6th pick, CB Morris Claiborne. Hmmm. We are not 100% sure the "bank magnate" is the perfect look for a 22-year-old. Really pushing the envelope far too much. He would have been great in a light fitted suit with a playful shirt and tie combination. Oh well, hang on Morris, there will be plenty more events.

7th pick, S Mark Barron. What happened?! You almost got it, kid. Major points taken off with the oversized gold watch and last minute pocket square. And just two questions: why is the lining of your jacket blue? And, are you wearing white socks?! Because white socks match the white pocket square? Oh nooo...

8th pick, QB Ryan Tannehill. An OK look, overall. We love monograms, so good job, Ryan. Now, who is picking these nonsensical pocket squares?! And we are under the impression the Ryan had on a brown belt with black shoes, can someone pass a note: "huge no-no"?

10th pick, Stephon Gilmore. Here we go, finally! This is what we are talking about: effortless, classic, age appropriate, clean-cut look! Good job, Stephon, hope to see you soon!

Showtime on the Fairway

So many debates on where the sport of golf originated…  Who do we thank for this amazing and challenging sport?  The Chinese Dynasties?  The Song Dynasty (920-1279)?  Or perhaps the Ming Dynasty (1425-1435)?  Was it invented in 17th century Netherlands?  Or besides the gift of drinking Scotch, do we owe the Scottish thanks for a great game, as well!

Our money is on the Dutch. Look at those pantaloons!

Well…  We don’t really know, and we are not here to find out.  Thank you, to whoever it was who invented this wonderful and crazy sport, because we are fans!  What we do know is that ever since it was first played, there have been displays of high fashion and even displays of ostentation (clubs inlaid with jade and gold, suggesting chuíwán, or golf, was just for the wealthy).

From a history of beautiful tailcoats, bow ties, outrageous colors and even more outrageous accessories, golfers represent the crème de la crème of style in the sports world.

Here is the best of the best from the early 1700s until today!

1700s
In the early days of the game in Great Britain, golfers played wearing kilts and animal skins before moving on to knee length-breeches and tailcoats.

A Dutch example, but you get the idea.

Old Tom Morris, wearing an example of the later English style.

Early 1900s
In the early modern era of golf, players often wore long trousers and full morning jackets with ties while golfing.  The golfers dressed formally to match the conservative attitudes of the time and the gentlemanly reputation of the sport.

Harry Vardon, who was a model for aspiring new golfers of his era.

Between the Wars
Golfers abandoned the suit jackets of the pre-war years in favor of sleeved shirts with bow ties.  They still tucked their trousers into their long stockings.  It was at this time that the bow ties became a popular accessory for many golfers.

That's Gene Sarazen on the left, sporting those stylish striped socks!

Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan, pioneers of the between the wars style.

1950s and 1960s
Thanks to golfers like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, golf moved from ultra-conservative fashions to the much looser khaki pants and light polos.

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus rocked the canary yellow!

1970s and 1980s
Golfers around the world such as Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros began sporting exuberant colors, which became popular in sweaters, trousers, socks and polos.  The colors prominently included bright pinks, blues, oranges and yellows.

21st Century
Golfers began to wear clothes produced by sports companies such as Nike, Adidas and Callaway.  Form-fitting polos and mock tee shirts have become popular on many professional tours.  It’s all about fashion fused with high technology for functionality, protection and performance.

Now we've arrived at the era where it's all high tech & très sleek!

For the ultimate golf accessories, look to our favorite: Michael Toschi, Golf G3.  “If golf were a religion, the G3 would be the badge of the highest faith.”

Italian calf upper, kidskin lining, CONTAC red outsole. Made in Italy. Equipped with CIS technology.

Michael Toschi’s outstanding footwear is the only footwear in the world to use the principles of geometry to favor the movements of anatomy.  CIS (Carbonlite insole) interfaces a stable, anatomically neutral foot platform with a suspension matrix outsole to provide technical performance-based comfort.

Fashion of the Future!

To say that styles and senses of fashion changes a lot over time is…  Putting it mildly.  You would be hard pressed to prove to someone who had never seen an American before that both of these groups of people’s clothes were produced by the same culture:

We hear the powdered wig look is IN this year.

Of course, we’re talking about a separation of over two centuries here.  Surely it’s not as dramatic a change over a shorter period of time…

Pictured: 1820?

Well, clearly one’s sartorial sensibilities changes incredibly quickly over the years, even year-to-year!  Some fashionistas pride themselves on guessing what the popular trends will be “next winter,” usually saying something as groundbreaking as, “blacks will be in.”  But what about the winter after that?  Or 10 winters from now?  Or 100?  There’s only one place where guessing the fashions of the future comes into play, and that’s in the world of science fiction.

Futuristic fashion is no new subject.  While the Pre-Industrial world was fairly static, the incredible pace of change the Industrial Revolution brought with it made it painfully obvious that nothing was sacred any longer.  Futurism suddenly became a very popular subject, and speculation started to run rampant.  And it was obvious that what was once considered impossible or improbable or just downright offensive would be perfectly common and acceptable very soon…

A women's swimsuit from the '20s, which would have likely elicited astonished, scandalized shrieks from lookers-on just ten years earlier.

Fashion was clearly going to be a part of this.

The earliest attempts at guessing the sartorial looks of the future were a bit…  Whimsical.

Vanity Fair in 1939, predicting fashions of the 21st Century. ...What? You don't have one of these in your wardrobe?

The world was changing so much and so quickly that it was assumed that we would completely reinvent the fashion wheel every few decades.  However, an examination of fashions of the past show a simple fact: while the aesthetics change a lot, the basic ideas behind the styles do not change quickly at all.  The modern suit has changed in very minor ways over the past 150 years, mostly in the fine details.  We didn’t suddenly stop wearing blazers and put on lamé jumpsuits.  Futurists have a nasty habit of dressing their denizens of the world of tomorrow in one of two ways: absurdly outlandishly or just like they dress now (but with more zippers, for some reason).

Science fiction’s Golden Age (1930s to the 1950s) stuck to the same outlandishness when it came to fashion in the future.  Silver spacesuits and giant shoulder pads were the norm.

"Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" really knew how to wear a... Um, suit?

The ’60s and ’70s went the other direction, for obvious reasons.  People were regularly dressing like they were from another planet in real life, so not much effort was required to make people in the future look unusual…

Quick, which of these is from "Star Trek," and which is from an actual '60s fashion show?

But a funny thing started to happen to science fiction around this time: people began to take it seriously.  Even while “Star Trek” was dressing alien girls in gogo boots, it was exploring the human condition in ways traditional television had never tried before.  Films like “2001” came out, and treated the future with dead seriousness, actually trying to accurately predict what the future would look like.  Some films, like “Logan’s Run,” remained outlandish, but that was usually a deliberate choice, not a misguided effort to guess the future.  The shift has since resulted in a plethora of films and television shows that offer intriguing visions of things we might actually wear in the future.

1982’s “Blade Runner” presented a dark, polluted and overpopulated vision of the near-future, where some Noir sensibilities had creeped back into fashion over the decades.

1986’s sequel to “Alien,” “Aliens,” borrowed from the nefarious Wall Street yuppie of the time to create the smug, besuited company men of the all-controlling Weyland-Yutani Corporation, while otherwise using a stark, cold, colorless and boring style for civilian and military costumes, reflecting a clearly Spartan, technocratic culture.

The ’90s television series “Babylon 5” very cleverly hinted at what was happening to its future version of Earth with sharply-lined, stand-offish, even Fascistic clothing designs, which makes perfect sense when the show’s human government degenerates into a Fascist dictatorship halfway through the series.

One of the more interesting recent examples is “The Fifth Element,” whose entire wardrobe was designed by Jean Paul Gaultier.  It takes place in 2263, and Gaultier designed an ENTIRE cultural fashion sense for this future version of humanity, which seems to portray a decidedly more sexually liberated culture that has become very fond of color over the centuries.

Really, we could go on forever.  Will any of these particular visions come to pass?  Unlikely.  But we’re looking forward to seeing whatever the sartorial future might hold.

We’ll leave you with just one more example, that will be relevant very soon.  The 2015 sequence in “Back to the Future, Part II.”  Anyone think we’ll be dressing like this in just three short years?

Our New Second Hometown

Since Joseph’s Custom Clothiers opened a new location in Naples, Florida, we thought it well past time for us to introduce all of our readers to beautiful Southwest Florida!

In 2009, Naples was ranked as one of 10 pricey cities that was worth its high cost by US News and World Report (along with our other hometown, New York).  It’s easy to see why!  Nestled between the Gulf of Mexico and the Everglades, Naples combines breathtaking natural beauty with relaxed, sophisticated living in one of the world’s most desirable tropical locations.  There are sandy beaches, world-class golf courses and exciting eco-adventures.  And when you are done soaking up the sun, a vast array of businesses and services, including world-class shopping and restaurants, satisfy every need and desire.  A vibrant arts and entertainment scene, together with an extraordinary assortment of community and charity events, brings a cosmopolitan flair to the Naples way of life.

How did it all get started?

When Florida gained its statehood in 1821, most people thought of Southwest Florida as an area of wilderness and swampland.  It was Walter N. Halderman, owner-publisher of the Louisville Courier Journal, and General John S. Williams, a prominent Kentucky politician, who “discovered” Naples in 1885 and promoted the area as a refuge for northerners who would like to escape the bitter cold winters of the Northeast United States.  It is believed the first sunset they saw reminded the two gentlemen of similar sunsets in Naples, Italy, hence the name, “Naples,” came into being.

Many years passed before any major development in what is today prosperous Naples.  Records show that there were only ten families living near Everglades City, and that there were ten businesses in the area.  The first construction in Naples, in 1889, was the building of a 16-room hotel and the 600-foot-long Naples Municipal Pier.  The pier enabled large boats to dock at the end, and it later became a popular spot for fishing and watching the sunset.

Halderman’s family ran the hotel until 1914, when E. W. Crayton purchased the business, setting the foundation for the beautiful and well-planned city we know today.  In the following year, the Naples Hotel was expanded, becoming the center stage for social life.  A single-lane shell road was built between Naples and Ft. Myers, allowing the city to slowly start to grow.  Also around that time, the first golf course was built, and replaced around 1932 with what is still today the Naples Golf and Beach Club.

But it wasn’t until a visionary advertising magnate named Baron Gift Collier came into town that the city finally got the funding to finish the uncompleted Tamiami Trail, which would provide a much-needed link to the east coast of the Florida Peninsula.  Collier’s plan also included the purchase of Useppa Island in his first trip, and many more acres of land within the next years, allowing him to eventually own over a million acres across Southwest Florida.

Collier also presented a plan during a session of the Florida Legislature convened in 1923 for better drainage and transportation, without which Naples was destined to remain a small town.  Many great developments followed, including an airport, streets, homes, beach restorations and mosquito control programs.  The generosity of many families contributed time and money to provide recreational areas such as Cambier Park, Caribbean Gardens, Delnor State Park, Lowdermilk Park and Fleischman Park.  The city opened a fully equipped and accredited hospital.  The elegant Third Street South shopping area was built.

The building activities of this era attracted new businesses, such as banks, restaurants, real estate and retail businesses.  Specialty shops closed from May 15th to October 15th, with the proprietors leaving the area.  The population doubled during the winter months, providing an active social life in the few established private country clubs and private homes, with cocktail parties, dinner parties and fund-raising benefits.  All of this added up to a great foundation for what Naples has become today:

• Beaches.  Naples’ white sand beaches are some of the best in the world.  The Travel Channel rated Naples’ beaches #1 in 2005, and they consistently get on top ten lists of the best beaches in the world.
• Low to No Crime.  Crime is so low, people often move to Naples sight unseen after they Google the Naples crime rate.
• Noncommercial.  Naples homes are not surrounded by tall, buildings that block the sun and skyline.  The local government has strong restrictions on signs, billboards and building height in the city of Naples.
• Dining.  Naples has some of the best dining in the United States, on par with major metropolises like New York, Chicago and San Francisco.
• Pristine.  The word “pristine” comes up often when explaining Naples to an outsider.  It best describes the litterless streets, low crime, small signs, clean beaches, expertly shaped landscaping and conscious efforts of residents to keep it that way.  Neapolitans respect their piece of paradise and work hard to ensure its continued beauty.
• Boating, Fishing, Golf.  Naples has some of the best waterfront in the world.  Fishing and golf are not hobbies here, they are ways of life.
• Sunsets.  Sunsets in Naples are very special, to say the least.  Around the time of the setting sun, if you venture down any of the Olde Naples avenues that end at the Gulf, you are bound to be shoulder-to-shoulder with several others looking west.  When the sun hits the horizon, put your cocktail down and join the clapping, for you have just witnessed one of the most sacred moments on the Gulf: sunset.  And, if you’re lucky, one day, if you don’t blink, you will see the elusive “green flash” at the moment the sun vanishes below the horizon.

All of this and more are the reasons there are no questions to ask about why we are so proud to announce the Grand Opening of our new Showroom down in Naples!  If you’re in the area, visit us at:

The Shops at Naples Bay Resort
1500 5th. Ave. South
Suite A2-102
Naples, FL 34102
(239) 530-0070
Fax: (239)530-0072