Club Chair Bulletin #2
Sportswear, Socks, Chairs, and Walking Tutorials
Welcome back to the Club Chair Bulletin, my fortnightly round up of scrappy bits and pieces relating to navigating the world. This week, I have some more acquisitions and recommendations to share. Why not grab a mid-week drink and join me.
What’s he been up to?
So, in the past couple weeks I’ve done a couple of interesting things. Firstly, I was fortunate enough to join Cas, AKA @mxn_boots_boy, for a somewhat-longer-than-anticipated chat, live on Instagram. Head to the above handle, or mine @callumgilesme, to hear our thoughts on sustainability, affordability, the rules of cool, and gym socks with loafers, all with an Ivy flavour.
Secondly, I developed some of the thoughts I shared in the livestream, into last week’s meeting, exploring Ivy and the environment. Exploring the manner in which the collegiate styles can constitute slow fashion has really caught my attention, especially when considering attitudes towards wear and tear on garments. Give it a read if you’ve not yet done so.
Pickups
Two examples of sporting wear
These were meant to be the feature of my previous bulletin, with particular relevance to the meeting which it followed. Unfortunately a rookie mistake on my part meant that one of the pieces wasn’t here in time, but they’re both here now, so I can tell you about them together.
What I have here are two varsity-adjacent pieces, resplendent in dark blues. Which make for rather interesting comparison.
Vintage “G” letter sweater
If, dear reader, you are able to cast your mind back to the ancient time of last month, you might recall that I dedicated rather too many words to my developing obsession with vintage varsity knit jumpers. As luck would have it, during my research for that meeting I was able to come across one which suited both my size, and, just about, my budget. This is the one which was delayed in its arrival, don’t request signed-for parcels to be sent to a pickup point where you don’t actually live, kids. It’s here now though, and my word was it worth the wait. It has no label inside, other than the original owner’s name, if anyone knows a George Sharpe who had a big “G” branded sweater, please put me in touch. It’s a wide crew neck, constructed by folding the panel over itself and securing it with a finer knit band inside the garment. This neck construction is quite common on these old knits, such that it probably has a name, but I can’t for the life of me find what they are called. Besides that, it’s pretty much everything I described in the article, it fits beautifully, and looks iconically Ivy, especially paired with a sportcoat and khakis.
Empire Sporting Goods Union Made Sailor-Style Baseball Jacket
I’ve heard the name “Empire” tossed around, but have found limited information about who they were online. That wasn't a huge deal to me so much as the fit was, like a glove. This one has a name on it too, Ellwood, as a fan of Blues Brothers, it just adds another level of cool to this piece for me, though it probably refers to Ellwood City in Pennsylvania. Fitting it into my wardrobe has been a challenge, I’ve been wearing it with an Oxford or a turtleneck, looking for that high-low thing; what it has become though is the jacket I reach for when I need to run to the shop around the corner, with its quilted lining making it warm enough to fill that role year round, I reckon. I love that the lining is olive green too, paired with the royal blue, and the secret purple under the sailor’s collar. On the note of the collar, I like to wear it with the top snap undone, giving a sort of camp collar appearance. I have no idea what it’s made out of, though it has the characteristic of being the most statically active garment I’ve ever owned, it crackles each time I put it on. My gut says wool, but I could be wrong.
Looking at the two of them, I find it rather fascinating to see how quickly sportswear developed in its complexity, in fact, I have no idea which was made first. Becoming the custodian of garments like these, which are quite possibly older than my parents, if my guesses are correct, reminds me why I love vintage so much, especially vintage clothing. As much as it has been flung into the mainstream, I cannot help but feel as though it remains a frontier, let these acquisitions be a sign that there’s pieces still out there to be found.
Three Recommendations
Rajiv Surendra - I am forever at odds with my YouTube recommendation algorithm, which seems determined to constantly throw up the loudest, fastest paced content that it can find relating vaguely to my interests. Fortunately, it did manage to put me on to an antidote to this, the calm, beautiful world of Rajiv Surendra. If one is seeking to run away from the attention span nightmare corners of the internet, and find some self-improvement along the way, this is your guy. I love the ethos of taking everyday pursuits, and engaging with them with such care that they become joyful out of excellence. Before this, did you ever think you needed to watch a video on how to do your dishes? How about walk in the city? When the cinematography is that good, and the insight is that valuable, yes, yes you do.
The Ikea Tobias - Interior design is something which I am restricted in engaging with, as a student, but let me tell you, if I did have a say in how my flat was furnished beyond lamps and wall art, I’d be hopping on EBay and picking up a set of secondhand Tobias chairs. I have a love for eclecticism, especially with interiors, and when I look at these, I see them paired with just about anything. Put a set around a Georgian table, or one with a mahogany bureau, and bask in the glorious mismatch, do it for me, because I can’t.
Ivy Ellis Socks - I managed to generate a spot of attention recently for wearing Ellesse gym socks with my loafers, if you’d like to hear me out, you can find it in the aforementioned live show, at about 3/4 of the way through our chat. If however, you’d like to wear gym socks with your loafers, with a touch more of a vintage look, might I tempt you with Ivy Ellis. They’re stocked in HIP and END. now, and from a design perspective they’re exactly what one wants for an Ivy appropriate sock. I wish they were a higher proportion of natural fibres is all, for the price point that they sit at. If you’d like to rep club colours, why not opt for their Namath ;).
On the Radar
Prep Club Goes Short Form
I upload most of my share-worthy outfits to TikTok, and solely through that format I’ve managed to garner a non-zero amount of interest. I’m looking within the next month though to start making some short-form content which aligns more with what I create here, teaching about the styles which I like to discuss. Keep an eye out: @callumgilesme
The Turntable
Finishing off with a record recommendation, I’m going for Untrue by Burial. A seminal work, no doubt, making for ideal late-night drive music.
