REAL MEN WEAR BLACK

Not in Nantucket. Here, men wear multi-colored patchwork shorts and Nantucket Red pants, pastel shirts, and belts with nautical flags or whales on them. Boat shoes, the scruffier the better, are a basic part of the uniform. Socks are optional but light colors and Nantucket Red ones are "in." Years ago, someone published "The Preppy Handbook" in which all things preppy were described and there were exemplar photos of a man and a woman wearing the correct ensemble, with each item labeled along with the store of origin...L L Bean, J Crew, Polo, etc. I brought some Robert Graham shirts with me from Florida. If you wear one of these up here, it screams "tourist"and even though they have "colors" they are not the "right colors." Wearing them to a club event would be as bad as wearing the wrong "colors" to a biker bar. Faded pastels of robins egg blue, rose, teal...in T-shirts, Polo shirts, dress shirts, short or long sleeve...very popular among the locals.

In case you think I am being pejorative in my fashion critique, I am not. Even though you could inadvertently be looking through a Ralph Lauren or Bean catalog that was 10 years old without knowing it and wishing you had that cable-knit on page 43, there is a certain freedom in knowing that you can go to your closet, pull out anything of any age, and be well dressed. In Miami, you wear something from 6 weeks ago and you don't get into a hot spot on South Beach. Here, a frayed collar, an impending hole in an elbow, or a pair of Bill's Khakis from the last century, and you are better than fine. In fact, even when you buy new, you try to get something that looks old, and pre-faded. There is lore about the best way to "age" your pants..."drag them behind your lobster boat for a few weeks" etc. Pre-sliced jeans are not fashionable here. Pre-faded Nantucket Red...now you're talkin'.

So as I look in my closet this morning, picking out what I plan to wear, I am letting Robert Graham stay at home, along with anything black, and will be wearing pinks and blues and tan chinos, a nautical flag belt, and my boat shoes. I am ready for anything. Bring it on.