I came across this photograph of John O’Hara the other day and found myself admiring the classic American style embodied in it. Here O’Hara is seen wearing a sport coat (possibly a suit jacket?), button down collar shirt, and a repp striped tie. Just under his ribs is a metal fastening pin, which he’s used to secure his tie to his shirt. I wrote a post once about how I tried to wear something similar years ago, but could never get it to look as charming. It works wonderfully well on O’Hara, I think, because it comes off as utterly natural on him.
Which I suppose makes this one of those instances where it’s good to know when something looks good, but is not for you. Knowing what to pass on is sometimes just as important as knowing what to keep.