#DressLikeAWoman

Okay friends… have you heard that the president wants the women on his staff to “dress like a woman?”

Twitter, as usual, fails to disappoint.  There’s some great tweets out there– join in the celebration of women dressing however the eff we want.

 

 

Personal Shoppers?!

Buzzfeed tried a gender neutral online shopper

Greyscale Goods
Would you do this?  With my current budget situation, I would not be able to afford this service but I think it’s a great idea. I also don’t think it would be as easy to shop for me as I am a fat person who struggles to find good fits in clothes that are designed for men or women.

Thoughts?

Etsy finds

I started cross-stitching many years ago. Mostly I do portraits, but sometimes I do other stuff. I do have an Etsy shop, and I like to use Etsy as a place to find fun and interesting things.  One of the things I appreciate about Etsy is that you can find a lot of unique and handmade gifts, as well as a lot of fun queer and feminist gifts.

Here are a few things you might appreciate. (Click on the image for a link.)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/479273971/butch-is-beautiful-enamel-pin-lgbtq

https://www.etsy.com/listing/488164278/butch-tshirt-black-tomboy-tomboi-lesbian?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=butch.&ref=sr_gallery_2

https://www.etsy.com/listing/169052154/butch-is-a-noun-library-call-number?ref=shop_home_active_3

https://www.etsy.com/listing/224759423/flagging-butch-hankie?ref=shop_home_active_6

https://www.etsy.com/listing/256944054/belt-vintage-1970s-retro-cowboys-name?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=butch&ref=sr_gallery_29

https://www.etsy.com/listing/232179678/butch-mug

https://www.etsy.com/listing/178250624/glasses-tie-bar-custom-tie-clip

https://www.etsy.com/listing/293831737/stud-lesbian-equality-steel-necklace?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=butch&ref=sr_gallery_10

https://www.etsy.com/listing/64390767/gladys-bentley-from-the-series-the-life?ref=shop_home_active_9

Subscription Boxes

Almost a year ago, I got a new job and moved from western Massachusetts, USA to northern California, USA.  This is literally 3000 miles across the United States, and culturally a world away.

I love northern California.  I can’t even imagine living anywhere else right now. I love my job, the city where we live, the amazing adventures we can have in short drives (Tahoe! Yosemite! San Francisco! Marin/Sonoma/Napa Counties)

As a congratulations to myself gift, I chose a subscription to the Sprezzabox. I was super stoked to receive my first box– a neck tie, pocket square, lapel pin… all cool stuff.  I did the Sprezzabox for 4 or 5 months before I decided to cancel because I wasn’t really using the stuff in the box. I don’t wear neck ties– when I wear a tie, I wear a bow tie.  The pocket squares look sharp in my drawer of stuff–but really, I don’t wear them either.  In a few of the boxes, I got lapel pins that I have worn, and a few other neat little accessories like a shoe horn, some fancy man eye cream (which I never used because I am dedicated to my Enchanted), and in one box, a cigar cutter. I do not smoke cigars.

I think these may be the only things I kept from Sprezzabox

So I canceled. I sold the lot of neck ties, pocket squares, a fish hook tie clip, and the cigar cutter on Ebay.  I didn’t get my money’s worth.  In hindsight, I should have just sent the box to Jax. (Sorry buddy.)

I thought I could find a subscription box that would be cheaper and give me what I want– bow ties.  So I found Swag Ties. I received two ties, and then they stopped coming even though I was charged for 4 months of the service in advance.  Then inexplicably, I got a refund.  Their website doesn’t really say anything about what’s going on– so I’m just gonna accept that it isn’t happening.  The two ties I received were decent looking (one had owls, the other was just kind of modernist) and seemed to be well made.  So it goes.

My two Swag Ties are in the front– gray with stripes and cream with owls

So then I found Bespoke Post, which has INCREDIBLY cool stuff.  The set up is cool too– the first of the month, you get an email reminder to log in and choose a box. You don’t have to pick one, but if you don’t opt out, they’ll charge you and send you the box of the month.  The box I got, Concentrate, was amazing. It was a cold press coffee situation, some fancy bitters, and two really cool cement desk accessories. I haven’t ordered another box, but not for lack of attractive options– it’s just not really in my budget right now.

I was an early fan of The Tie Bar.  I am sure they do a bustling business as it is, but they could add a subscription box and I would 100% get on board. They have ties, pocket squares, socks, lapel pins, and more– they could put together themed boxes (preppy, modern, whatever) and make tons more money.  If you haven’t shopped with them, I can’t recommend them enough. They make an excellent product, sell it at a very reasonable price, and ship it to you quickly.  You can set up a wish list which is pretty cool. Free shipping on orders over $50 makes it so that I usually wait until I’m ready to buy 3 ties and then I get them at once.

Now that you’ve heard about my experiences with subscription boxes,  I’m curious what experiences you have had with subscription boxes and if you have any to recommend/avoid.  Also, if you have any ideas for possible boxes, that would be fun to consider as well.

Thanks for reading! I really am truly glad to be back!

-Bee

Saint Harridan

Good afternoon… Bee Listy here to signal boost something important to our community.

I imagine that a great deal of you may have heard about Saint Harridan.   If you haven’t, it’s a clothing company founded by Mary Going to focus on great suiting for people who want to wear suits but have not always had the best experiences shopping for them.  I dream of being able to afford one of their suits someday.  Today, they launched their Kickstarter campaign and I wanted to share that with folks in case you are able to be a backer, or want to publicize the information to other people you know.

I really encourage you to read the blog to get more information about how the company came to be, and what they are about.  Also, check out the info about their PopUp Tour 2013, and you can look at the model search on Facebook.  (Feel free to cast a vote for me.)

Oh. Yeah. This.

Ok. It’s been over a year for anything to show up here. This is so not acceptable but here’s the truth. I’m tired. Life is so amazing, hard, and incredible, but becoming a parent has become the hardest and most rewarding job I’ve ever had. I know that people say that all the time but I think they do because it’s absolutely true.

Additionally, when you’re not a bazillionaire, and you’ve decided with your partner that having a parent at home with your baby until they’re a couple years old, sacrificing some major expenditures from your pre-kid life is a must. On top of that, kids are messy. I find myself choosing easy sweaters/jeans/slip on shoe combinations because it takes so much time to get everyone else ready and out for the day, and then we just get half eaten (insert food here) or milk on us anyway….and you can see the effort to look spit spot is somewhat diminished. I’m working on changing that because I feel better when I’m dapper.

Over the past year I’ve pretty much bought exactly zero clothes for myself. I bought one pair of shoes in May, and am desperately in need of both a new pair of work shoes and some new gym shoes, as well as some new work shirts. I haven’t had a shopping spree since before G was born, and both my wife and I buy stuff on a MUST HAVE basis only, for big needs.

Sadly, the biggest financial/family change is that I’ve traded in my awesome rally car in for a…sensible safe sedan. Not that my wrx wasn’t safe but…it was expensive. It was also mine. SL wouldn’t learn how to drive a standard to be able to drive it and not having both cars work for both of us was becoming annoying, and did I mention the expensive part? We’re saving a ton of money in both car payment and insurance and gas that it was a no-brainer decision. But I’ll admit, I was/am still sad to not see that machine in my driveway. I’d worked really hard to get/keep it and…well, it’s sometimes hard to give up something you love, even if it was just a “thing.”

That said, this coming weekend I have the honor of being ‘best butch team member’ at a dear friend’s wedding, and get to wear a tux for the first time, so – you can expect some commentary from there. We’ve been working with Jos A Bank, and…the experience has been a toss up so far but I’m hopeful that it will all pull together this week.

I’m going to work on writing more, figuring out how to be awesomely dressed on a budget, and continuing my growth as a partner to SB, and a parent to G. I’m hopeful that there is an audience for some of my ramblings and questions, especially as we move into an age where pointing out girl/boy differences are going to start becoming more and more pronounced. I also hope some of you can help:)

So what’s new with you? Parent readers – how do you balance parenting/money/looking awesome?

Tie model contest!

In my first post on this blog, I gushed about my love of bow ties.  My collection continues to expand, mostly due to the Tie Bar.  These folks get a lot of my money, so when I got this ad in my email the other day, I thought “whoa, I should tell folks about this…” and then TWO MINUTES LATER, I got an email from the Sartorial Butch about it.

So here’s a post.  Come on folks, let’s hit them with some awesomesauce butch models.  All those pics above are totally links–to the Tie Bar’s website, and to their Facebook page.  I will gladly tell you how much I have been pleased with their prices, materials, fast shipping, and customer service.

Training the SB

This kid is so darned cute it’s distracted me from writing anything about my own personal style and instead has me focused on hers.

I think I’m doing an ok job:)

 

Indulgence

I’m exhausted in the most incredible way. I am so so in love with my little family. My wife had a little bit of time before G came, and put together the most amazing gift (I can’t believe she got ME a gift) for being G’s parent. She had these made for me, and got G a matching pink infant pair as well.

And here’s me and G, celebrating the end of her first day:

Now? Maybe a few hours of sleep.

The new SB

As in SartorialBaby.

Gracie Ray, born 8/4/11 perfect at 7 pounds, 8 oz, 19.5 inches long.

She’s about 20 minutes old here. And amazing. My wife is incredible and all are doing well.  Definitely more sartorial photos to come. This was just the first of us, so…you know, it’s special.