Hangin' with God Parents at the P Club...

We had a unique opportunity last Friday evening to join my family and our extended family of Godparents for supper at the Petroleum Club, one of the oldest dinner clubs in Houston located high atop the Exxon Building downtown.  Our gracious hosts for the evening were my brother's Godmother Phillis and her main man Gil.   Joining us were my Dad, both my middle brother and his wife and my youngest brother with his significant confidant Amanda. Also in attendance were my wonderful Godmother Cynthia and her husband John.  So now that you've got the table setting, let's chat about the frivolity! 

Houston - 7:00 p.m.

Houston - 9:00 p.m.

Houston - 11:00 p.m.

  

Cade & Amanda

The Table

Jen's Dessert

Yours Truly and my Beautiful Bride

The night got started quickly with cocktails in the foyer and then moved on to the main dining room for another round and some dancing.  The folks at the P Club are serious about their dancing and love the Standards, which fit perfectly for Jen and I.  We took several rounds on the dance floor throughout the evening.

Appetizers were served and I started with a lovely Lobster Bisque while Jen took on her usual Caesar Salad.  Most everyone at the table opted for a nice petite Filet Mignon and healthy doses of Cabernet Sauvignon.  The meal was beautifully capped off with yet another birthday celebration for Jen as the entire room crooned her with another rendition of "Happy Birthday."

A long, fun, wonderful night of laughing, dancing, eating and sharing with family.  A huge thanks to our hosts for inviting us and creating yet another lasting memory.

Guayabera Shirts...a staple in Texas!

So today I thought I would give us all a little history on Guayabera Shirts.  Now, in lots of the blogs I read, Fun Pants or GTH Pants are nicely profiled.  And I'm properly on board as you will have seen in my recent post detailing Jen's Birthday Bash at the Cooking School.  But in Texas, another piece of Funwear is the Guayabera Shirt, that nifty Spanish/Cuban/Mexican Style shirt with the four front pockets, alforas - the fine, tiny pleats running vertically, worn out instead of tucked in and yes, mostly associated with waiters in our Tex-Mex Restuarants. 

First a little history from our Wiki friends:

The origin of the garment is disputed, as various claims for the distinctive style have been made in several Latin America countries as well as the Philippines. However, some Latin Americans believe guayaberas are of Cuban, or at least Caribbean, origin.

Versions of the shirt's origins claim that Mexicans either originated it in the Yucatan Peninsula or were inspired by the design of similar shirts sold at the "El Encanto" store in Cuba. It was during the era of trade routes through the Caribbean that the Mexican shirts got to Cuba, and were taken to the Philippines by the Spaniards, where the evolution of the intricate embroidery started. As is clear, the origin of the Guayabera shirt remains a mystery. There is the fact that a similar prototypical shirt has existed since the 18th century, probably imported from Spain.

The origin of the name is said to be either Mexican or Cuban. Guayabera may come from a Cuban legend that tells of a poor countryside seamstress sewing large pockets into her husband's shirts for carrying guava(guayabas) from the field. Guayabera may also have originated from the word yayabero, the word for a person who lived near the Yayabo River in Cuba

Though commonly called guayabera, in Yucatan, Mexico, it is also known as camisa de Yucatan; the shirt is sometimes called a "Mexican Wedding Shirt" among North Americans.  In 2010, Cuba declared the guayabera shirt to be its official garment.  Click here for more background and design information...there is plenty of it.  Here are some various examples:

That's a lot of history for one shirt!  You probably know about Brooks Brothers and its button down collar...well now you know a lot more about Guayaberas!  My shirt was given to me by my lovely wife on a birthday or Christmas, I forget which, and it's from Penner's in San Antonio which claims to be the largest supplier of "Authentic" Guayaberas in the World.  After a few alterations it was ready for a debut.  I have worn it several times, mainly in the summer months when we are expecting to be outdoors.  This particular shirt is 100% cotton, white, sports short sleeves and since it's worn outside the pants, makes for a much cooler wearing.  And did I mention how fun it is?  Well it is!  Like Fun Pants, not everyone has the gall to don such a garment and will definitely receive some verbal attention from your party friends.  And in Texas you have to be prepared for a few wise cracks about retreiving a margarita or taking a dinner order...just go with it!

So now you're ready for your own Guayabera.  Choose a color, style and details and wear the heck out of it!  Pair it with linen pants or seersucker shorts and a beautiful woman and you're ready to go!

Caricatures in Frame...New Shirts & Ties!

Short post today but lots of activities for the weekend to report on next week.  The Sudduth's actually needed a nice quiet down week after all the birthday and other participated fete's.

So today I want to show you the end result of my Vanity Fair Caricature Project.  I acquired these prints from Germany and they are from the late 1880's.  I decided to go with a simple frame that could be easily replicated should my collection grow - and it probably will since there are several thousand of these available to choose from.  I guess in my old age, continuity is taking over, so I think these will all look best arranged together under similar frame - black wood with a crisp white matt.  For more information about the caricatures themselves, please see my 2/16/11 post.  Herewith is my project completion:

I also wanted to show you some shirts that just arrived for a customer as well as some new ties I just got in for sale.  I had a customer request ties like Hermes or Ferragamo, so I put some in inventory to see how they will do.  I personally have my eye on two or three for the "home" collection.

Lavender/Blue Stripe...Very Nice for both casual and business mode!

From the Top:  Stars/Moons, Ducks, Whales, Hippos & Seals...very fun!

Have a nice weekend!

The best collar stays ever made!

I think I may have come across the perfect Father's Day gift, unless of course you're like me and already have 15 pairs of metal stays in your drawer.  But if you're a man or husband who uses the plastic stays that came with your shirt or worse, don't use any at all, this may be right up your fashionisto alley.

Most multi-tools have more than four functions, but none I’ve seen are as small and unusual as these Titan Multi Tool Collar Stays from Yanko Design. These bad boys are made of 100% titanium, and they are 2.5″ long, 5/16″ wide, and less than 1/8″ thick.  So here's the real edge, these guys not only will keep your collars looking appropriate, they also function as a half-phillips or slot screwdriver, a bottle opener, and a thread cutter.  A pair will run you $30, and two pairs are $50.  This could be one of the coolest Father’s Day gifts ever!

Thanks to my good friend Andy Biggs for sending this over.  Check out Andy's exciting African Photo Safari information and beautiful photographs here - http://www.andybiggs.com/.

The Sudduth's take on Santa Fe.....Texas that is!

That's right!  The Sudduth's were the guests of a very kind invitation to head down South near Galveston to Santa Fe, Texas for a VIP Tour and to sample some product from the Haak Winery and Vineyard.  With over 25,000 sq. ft. of space and 4 acres of grape growing land, Raymond and Gladys Haak started up this family run business in 1969.  Our hosts and drivers, Amber & Tom Caver asked us to join 2 other couples for the trek.

From left:  Stan, Vanessa, Me, Mike the Tour Guide, Jen, Ken, Libby, Amber & Tom

We all met at the Caver Casa, consolidated vehicles and headed out of town.  About an hour later we pulled into the parking lot of this charming old family winery.  Every once in a while, just when I think I've stepped foot on every square inch of this part of Texas, I get an opportunity to visit somewhere new.

We started with a tour of the wine making areas, viewed the vineyard fields filled with grapes and then finished up by visiting their very nice cellar where the finer aged wines were safely locked away.  Of course the best part was after walking in the vineyard with 90+ degree temperatures, the cellar remains a consistent 71 degrees, a heavanesque retreat from the outdoor Texas blaze.  The "VIP" part of the deal allowed us to choose 7 samples from their 16 wine/port products.  Crackers and cheese to cleanse the pallet were presented and we eagerly began.  Our tour guide Mike gave us a thorough background on each wine and we all made our way through the list with lots of agreement on their best offering, which I believe we settled on a Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.  Most wines were priced in the $20-$30/bottle range with some of the ports going for a little more.

The evening concluded with more wine (purchased), a casual supper and much laughter under the covered arena accompanied by some good live country music.   All in all, a great way to spend a beautiful Texas summer Saturday evening with good friends, fine wines and another piece of Texas to brag about. 

A huge thanks to our hosts for including us and to our new friends for allowing us to share a great experience with them.  And for those of you wondering, yes indeed, I paired a white cotton Guayabara Shirt with Orange Seersucker shorts.  When vineyarding, one must dress the part!

Monogram Placement - What's correct?

About a week ago one of my dear readers requested that I do a post on correct shirt monogramming etiquette.  What an interesting question!  I've always known where I prefer my monogram so I perused some of my favorite blogs and even hit the Internet to see what others were thinking.  So here goes...

It seems that most, if not all, say that a monogram serves absolutely no purpose other than to make the wearer feel better about oneself and to show the world that he can afford to pay for additional accoutrement.  Well I say, "Horse Malarkey!"  I think anything we do outside of wearing a burlap sack is about making oneself feel better and that appearance can have a definite affect on one's mood, personality and general disposition as well as influence those around him.  There..that's the rant. 

Now, to work on the question at hand.  Long ago, when men wore mostly white shirts and most shirts looked like every other, the monogram was simply a way for gentlemen to identify their shirts in the laundry.  In those days, a monogram was often placed in the back neck line of the shirt or at the bottom of the shirt's front button placket.  Well, these days, the dry cleaner is still going to take a black sharpie to our shirts for identification, so it's not really necessary to place a monogram in those spots...unless of course you just like spending some extra money and your wife will think it's cool.

So today we place monograms elsewhere because we think it's a nice detail and to show that we have a higher value of our appearance.  The most appropriate places to embroider one's initials is on the pocket (middle or top edge), left cuff or in the English Position on the left front of the shirt about 3 to 5 inches about the waistline.  The English Position is never correct if the shirt sports a pocket.  Another interesting and appropriate placement would be on the left arm sleeve between the elbow and cuff (see the always elegant Mr. Astaire below).  Both the English Position and Arm Sleeve harken back to the days where a monogram would only be in view when the gentleman was not wearing his jacket or waistcoat.  The pocket or cuff placement is designated more for the gentleman who wants his mark to be viewed by others.  Why the left cuff or left sleeve you ask?  Glad you asked!  When a gentleman is not wearing his jacket and goes to shake hands, it is thought to be a tad ostentatious to present and/or flaunt the monogram to your shaking companion.

If Fred can do the arm placement, it's got to be ok!

A collection of embroidery from my friend ADG at Maxminimus blog

My favorite locations are the middle of the pocket or the English Position.  I always have my white shirts and some more formal colors/stripes embroidered.  I tend to not favor a monogram on basic blue and almost all casual shirts.  That's just my tendency.  The truth is that a monogram is very personal...whether to get one and where.  I always ask my customers if they would like a monogram and charge about $10.00/shirt.  And I'll put it anywhere they want unless they've chosen something inappropriate like the collar, right cuff or other odd placement.  Color is also a choice.  I tend to lean towards dark colors matching the general color of the shirt such as lavender shirt - go with dark purple, red stripe shirt - go with dark red.  You get the point.  There are also different font styles to choose from.  The general rule here is to go with something not terribly fancy, legible to the human eye and in a size appropriate to the wearer - about 1/4" in height.

Acceptable Monogram Styles

The English Position

Pocket - Middle

One additional direction I'll mention is that under no circumstance is it proper to don a monogram other than your own!  So that means RL (Ralph Lauren), BB (Brooks Bros), ON (Old Navy) or any other brand name is not ever suitable...unless of course your name is Robert Lee, Bob Baker or Oscar Nelson.  I'd like to thank the dear reader who posed the question.  I hope this helps!  Please feel free to ask questions as I'm always happy to weigh in with some history and opinion.  And Riley hopes everyone has a weekend!

Memorial Day Party...Redneck Pool Style

Since the Sudduth's are a glutton for social punishment, we decided it would be a great idea to follow our already hectic weekend with a Memorial Day pool party at our house.  Now that sounds like we didn't want to have a party and didn't have fun.  It's exactly the opposite!  Life is too short to sit on the bench, so keeping it active is how we roll.  And luckily we have great friends who like to get on board!

So that Pop up Tarp was a huge success!

The Redneck Pool

So Monday, we had lots of friends and lots of kids to our backyard for a pool party.  First let's discuss the redneck side of things.  Since we're too cheap to put in a real pool, we have purchased a very large rubber above ground pool, complete with air filter, cleaning and chemicals required to keep it clean.  It's really large, about 12 ft. across and can hold 4-6 adults comfortably and 10 kids easily.  Now for as much fun as this thing creates, everyone gives it a second look and gives us a little grin that says, "Your pool's a little redneck isn't it?"  Well, they're probably right.  But I don't care, the kids have a great time and Jen and I get to cool off on occasion.  We even have floaty seats with cup holders for our Lone Star Beers...now that's Redneck!

Ms. Kaitlyn

Ms. Olivia

Master Karson

Heavy D and JW

Action Jackson and Heavy D

The adults trying to stay cool...

Tara and her sweet baby

Becky and The Big Boy

Anyway, back to the party.  We had a great time and with very little effort.  For this little fete, we just told everyone to bring snacks and beverages, held the party from 2-6 and avoided the whole lunch or dinner headache.  It worked out great, the Jones' even brought some of their special Louisiana Boudin which I have taken a quite a liking too. 

1/2 of the Host Committee...in Summer Lid!

The Extreme Scotty (aka Ms. Papa) with his precious O

A couple of poolside hotties!

Laney-Bear!

JG Biggs, Esq.

And of course, ole' Riley was enjoying the festivites in a cool spot...away from those crazy kids!

By 6:30, the party was done, the kitchen cleaned and Daniel was in a bath preparing for next week's last days of school.  And from the looks of it, although a bit Rednecky, the pool was a huge hit!  Summer's off to a great start and we're really looking forward to lots more fun in the sun.  As always, a huge thanks to our friends for sharing the Memorial Day Celebration and keeping our over-active social schedule intact.