Wall Street

This vidcap from the film Wall Street makes me imagine a scene that was left on the cutting room floor, where Gordon Gekko calls Alan Flusser, who did the wardrobe for the movie.

"Yeah Alan the cuffs are fine but the collar doesn't fit. Get somebody down here and fix it!"

Around San Francisco: Bye Bye Bay Meadows

Bay Meadows race track outside San Francisco ended its season the other day. The place where Seabiscuit raced into the history books seventy years ago is being replaced with condominiums and office buildings.

The decline of horse racing in the United States has put the race track suit on the endangered species list. Loud tweeds, checked shirts and suede shoes are in their element around day time horse racing in the same way that a dinner jacket seems natural in the front row at a boxing match. And, lacking a venue, they also disappear.

That's progress.

Sheen

A bit of sheen adds to a look in the bright light of spring. Mohair and wool suit with a silver-blue necktie and a matte pocket square. The shoes are tan.

Sorry for the delayed post today - the photos were stuck in my camera.

Now That is a Knot!

Known for his oversized neckties, Prince Michael of Kent outdoes himself. It's out of proportion and I don't recommend it but I do need to give credit for the largest knot I have seen this century. The matching jacket and cloth cap are a sign of bespoke tailoring.

Timeless

Adolphe Menjou, Hollywood's best dressed man in the years before Astaire and Grant took his place, looking remarkably timeless. Change the button stance on the jacket and I'd be happy wearing those clothes today.

Lifestyle: Share Your Ride

Exotic automobiles are beautiful machines. They are also expensive, challenging to drive, and sometimes troublesome to operate. As a Ferrari-owning executive at Ford Motor Company, Torbin Fuller, now the CEO of Club Sportiva, reasoned that the growth of time sharing for yachts, vacation homes and aircraft meant that there would be a market for automobile time sharing as well. After all, according to Fuller, the typical exotic automobile is driven just fourteen days a year. And four years ago he left Ford to turn his vision into reality in the San Francisco Bay area - one of the world's most beautiful places to drive.


Today, Club Sportiva members share a dozen very interesting vehicles, including a Lotus Elise, Maserati Spyder, two Ferraris and an Aston Martin DB9 Volante. Each is available by the day for a predetermined number of points, which are earned from membership fees that start at $3,500 annually. The entry fee provides twelve days a year access to vehicles that cost less than $125,000. Fees for the most popular membership levels range from $7,500 to $25,000 annually, accommodating more useage and more expensive vehicles.

Those fees buy a high caliber user experience that may be better than exotic car ownership. The club is aimed at people (20% of the members are women) who appreciate cars rather than hard-core car geeks. So, as you might expect, the cars are impeccably maintained and supported with around the clock roadside service. Most of them are replaced every nine months, so the available experiences are always changing. And there are car fleets for travelling members in locations such as Las Vegas and Munich.

The Club Sportiva clubhouse is a garage full of original artworks, with lounges, a small dining area and conference facilities and when the members are not actually driving they enjoy weekly social activities ranging from poker nights and winemaker dinners to road rallies and charitable events. But, first and foremost, the club is about the cars. Torbin and I shared that DB9 while we talked, with the top open and the exhaust rumbling in the sunshine.

Where do I sign?

Silk And Wool

I've always been hesitant to wear silk pocket squares in the city, preferring the greater discretion of linen. But lately I've been experimenting with squares whose background color is similar to that of my jacket.

In the photo, which we had to shoot several times as yesterday's intense light kept washing out the colors, a navy square provides a bit of sheen against the matte of a navy suit. Not quite as discreet as white linen but not loud either.

Worn with a lavender shirt and a gray grenadine necktie.