Engage

What is more telling of a true gentleman than with a lady by his side? October 8, 2010 I laid eyes on my lady for the first time and we have been together since. October 8, 2012, was our second anniversary and we made a whole weekend out of it. Saturday we went antiquing, a concert put on by some of my best friends ever, and then we relived our first date at belvedere plantation.

Here is where you can do a corn maze, watch pig races, swing from the rafters in the barn, pick flowers, zip line, eat good food and drink cider and a hay ride to pick pumpkins! We had a blast gathering up a car full of pumpkins for painting and carving. One of mine will be a Washington Nationals pumpkin. Sunday we went to church and watched the Nats game one of the playoffs before going to my financial peace class. Monday, our anniversary day, has been in the works for quite some time, months at that.

It first started when I went golfing with her father. I then asked him for his blessings for her and I to get married. He agreed and then we both later met again to have a more on depth conversation. Men, this is key for the woman in your life. It brings the family together and shows that you care about her.

Before our second meeting however I had picked out and purchased an antique ring with wedding band along with a vintage Art Deco ring box, ready to go with two slots even!

Now how do I propose? When? Where? Apple picking or at Belvedere? None of those things worked out because we had plans to go there at other times and I decided that I wanted to keep it October 8th. As many of you know, I have a vintage bike collection and decided on a vintage bike ride picnic. Problem being she didn't have a vintage bike. So begins my search. 

Finally found a sweet 1961 Shelby AMF women's bike from Richmond. The guy inherited 300 plus vintage bikes from his father who had past and he is tuning them up to sell. These were all garage kept and he only replaced the tires and tubes on them. The bike is in great vintage shape with the patina that you want. It had a fenderlite also, which is desirable. I met him at Bass Pro Shop in Ashland to pick it up and fell in love. The crank even had stars on it. Everything was there on the bike all original. So cool.

The fenderlite needed some work so I tried a few options to get it to work as an all original piece but no luck so I built an LED system in its place. Works awesome and brighter than it would have been anyways.

I collected vintage picnic items that I had, my mom had, and my grandmother had. Found an outfit and hired a friend photographer to capture each moment for me. Also wrote a song to play for my bride to be. But the coolest thing out of this whole plan was the cap.

The Snapple fact cap that is. My sweety is a teacher and we love Snapple Diet Peach tea and she uses a cap each day at her school for the students to put on the board. So I contacted Snapple with the idea of a custom fact cap for the engagement. They loved the idea and made me one for free. It says "She said yes 10/08/12". So awesome!!!!

The day has come. We wake up and get ready, I direct her to get the bike pump out of the middle shed at the house and she completely misses her bicycle surprise. I tell her to go back in and try again. This time she realized the bike and that it was her own.

After the bikes are loaded with our picnicking goodies we pedal to the birthplace, George Washington’s Birthplace. This is a few miles from my house, my usual bike ride to the beach area. When we arrive, we set up in the place I had planned it to be at, luckily no one was there on account of the slight drizzle from above and the chilly air. There was a certain couple there with their adorable child taking pictures nearby…. ;)

The blanket spread and food is out but my nerves get the better of me and I can hardly eat. I notice my photographer has now gotten in position to shoot and I begin my proposal. I sing my song I had written her and play my harmonica over the guitar parts recorded on my iPhone. Such a handy device that iPhone.

“Will you marry me?” and I pull out the ring at the songs finally. Stunned, she drops a tear and says yes! I then present her with the Snapple cap and she can hardly believe that I had actually done that. I think she was more excited about that then the ring…. could have saved some money. Just kidding.

The photographer then takes pictures of our happy moment and we have a sweet engagement photo session with her. Her websites are:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebekah-Beasley-Photographs/118681781502060

http://rebekahbeasleyphotographs.blogspot.com/ 

and 

http://www.rebekahbeasleyphotographs.showitsite.com/. 

She is an awesome friend also. Here are some pictures from our day!

GUM!!

I recently bought a very old gumball machine from a yard sale near Falls Church, VA. It is a 1940s Northwestern 5 cent machine, silver in color. In my web searches I have not seen this color. Needless to say, the chrome was peeling and needed some love to be in working order. I did not want to lose the patina of the machine in fixing it up but cleanliness was important as well. Here are some before and after pictures.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

ALL CLEANED UP! (soaked in baking soda and water for a week or so and dissolved the rust off of the parts touching the gum. 

ENJOY!

Lather Up!

Two in a row on old school shaving! Needless to say that the collection has boomed. My one shaving mug has now exploded into 15 shaving mugs and counting as well as a few brushes and other shaving items. This has turned into a little obsession and is very fun scavenging through antique stores, yard sales, thrift shops, & flea markets. Here are shots of my collection. Among the collection I have many Old Spice mugs, an Apollo tin shaving mirror with a mug built in, a Mohawk mug with a cool pirate ship on it with mountains, "Men Only" mug, "Your father's mustache?", A 1908 Oldsmobile car mug, Train by Avon, and an original vintage mug with men's faces and a reproduction, and a mug with my initial on it that isn't technically a shaving mug but has the correct shape and had to put it in my collection. Some of the OS mugs on first look are the same but upon further inspection they have differences. One has the same look but with two different ships and another has the same on the front but the bottom has different markings.

Also, I have not found any new blades worth buying since my last ones. But... I have since been to the restoration workshop and revamped my Mappin & Webb blade (also polished it up on the buffer). I dismantled it and made my own scales (handle pieces) out of genuine buffalo horn and finished it up with brass pins. Pretty sweet. Check it out!

 

Blade is out and polished. Laid out the blade and traced out a scale design and copied it onto the buffalo horn. Both sides were glued together to have the same size when working with shaping it. Below I am sanding out the design on the horn. Then hand sanded up to 2000 grit to polish it and get the edges round. Then deep polished it with the buffer wheel. 

The final scales polished and then put together with the brass pins. 

Hope you enjoy the post! Leave me comments and share!

Edit May 1, 2012: New mugs, brush and razor!

This is a great razor I got for $8.00! It is a W.R. Case & Sons more commonly known as CASE knives. They used to make shaving razors and are now very collectible and worth lots of money. 

Straight Edged

My fellow gents!

My deepest apologies for being absent recently. I have undertaken a new job and have not have much time to write. But I assure you that my recent endeavors will satisfy. Recently I have been collecting vintage straight razors. As it is a new venture for me, I am getting use to what money to spend on the razors. My first one called "The Artist" by J.R. Torrey out of Massachusetts. The handle was decorated really cool but the blade was tarnished. I figured I can polish it out and sharpen the blade up. Needless to say, sharpening a straight razor is a lot of work. (A friend and I are heading up to a restoration workshop next weekend which will be really fun). I bought all the accessories needed, the strop and paste, shave soap, a hone, a sweet shaving mug from the 50s by Old Spice (just aquired another Old Spice mug as well), and I have about 6 brushes. The Artist however is not in very good shape and spend a little more than I should on it after trying to sharpen it up on the hone and strop. We will see how it turns out at the workshop.

My second and last razor I got was last week in Harrisburg, VA. I will be going back soon to get more from the store. This one is called "Trustworthy" by Mappin & Webb, Royal Cutlery Works, Sheffield, as in Sheffield, England. After some research and finding some fellows on a razor forum, I have learned that this is a high quality top of the line razor. They were contracted by the Royal Family to make razors, utensils, jewelry, etc for them. The blade was in perfect condition, covered in a protective oil to keep from rusting and the handle was made of ivory, not Bakelite. I honed it up a little and stropped it and needless to say the blade is way sharp and you can tell the difference between the two razors. I can't wait to continue my collection and learning the art of shaving like a real man.

In All its Glory: The Beard

Where has the beard gone? It's 2011, so probably down the drain. Commercials tell us we need to be smooth and buy their shaving products. You know the very fast multiple layered sharp object that supposedly won't pull and cut you? Then you have those corporate guys that want a uniformed look and to be presentable. But, when did looking awesome become not presentable? I do enjoy a good shave (which we will discuss in another post later), but I enjoy a great beard way more.

Having a beard is just not what it used to be. To me the beard was a sign of maturity, wisdom, and power. Kings have beards, wizards have beards, Jesus and all your Biblical characters had beards. Today the beard is a sign of letting yourself go, but fear not fellow gents. It's OK to rock the mountain man look. People freak out way to often over the beard, but we are men! Stand tall, let it grow, and let us show the world that we will not terry.

Take a look at our history in beards. 

Moses

Socrates     

Jesus

King Richard the Lionheart

Paul Bunyan

Robert E. Lee

                       

Then the world shaved (they look good, however a nice beard would look awesome)

1900s

1950s

Today

Other than a select few men out there, you don't see a good beard that often. Most of the time, it has to do with the career that we are in, sometimes there is a lady involved, sometimes we just shave and that is not a bad thing. Beards need to be refreshed every so often. Point being is beards are for gentlemen too. 

Tips on Keeping a Gentlemanly and Awesome Beard. 

1. Don't shave. Let that puppy grow! 

2. Trim the edges. You can still have an awesome 

beard, keep it neat and tidy. 

3. Blend it. I like to keep mine blended in with my haircut. 

4. Participate in No Shave November, beard growing contests, 

NHL Playoff Beards, or any other kind of contest or vowel, 

like Samson did. 

5. Respect the beard. 

Appropriately Stylish

Being a gentleman doesn't always mean you have to dress all fancy and look proper all the time. For instance, I am appropriately stylish. I am prepared for every occasion. No matter what I am wearing, I will always look good and I will always be a gentleman. But this blog is about the gentleman's appearance. We all have down time and get dirty, we are men, its what we do. So when you are out on the town with your lady types, you don't want to blend in with the crowd or be that guy everyone is laughing at. You want to stand out from the pack and be the talk of the night! "I want to be that guy!" I am not just an average run of the mill guy, I consider myself to be a leader and a role model and I want to dress that way too. For instance, on October 8, 2011 Richmond was buzzing over my girlfriend and I. It was our one year anniversary and I took her to dinner and to the theater to Wicked and naturally we dressed up. It's in my blood and shes a woman so it for sure is in her blood and we knocked them all out. She was hot in her little black dress and we had 9 groups of people stop, some in cars in the middle of the road, and tell us how great we looked. This was a phenomenon in many ways, but the main reason why is because it isn't common anymore. Nobody dresses up unless its a funeral or a wedding, and how boring is that?! Liven up y'all! Guys get out and start developing your style and stand out, in a good way. Below are shots from the evening. 

Next blog- The beard

Timeless Timepieces

Time...it's been here since the beginning. It is what we live by, what we grow old from, and what will eventually kill us. We can't speed it up, we can't slow it down, but we can work around it. The stars, the sun, the moon, were the only way our ancestors told time. From ancient sundials to 15th century clocks to the invention of wristwatches in the 17th century and digital read outs in the 1970s, we have come a long way to keep our time close to us and to keep us on schedule in these busy times.

Real gentlemen in years past would never think about wearing a wristwatch. Pocket watches were the fad then and in my belief are the bees knees of watches. I am still on a search for the perfect one...which when I acquire such awesomeness I will blog upon its second hand charm. But, gentlemen rejoice when I tell you that the wrist watch is no longer a womanly accessory but a mans asset and ally. I literally feel naked without my watch and never leave home without one, analog or digital.

Here are the 5 key factors of owning a classy wrist watch for the modern day gentleman:

1. It has to be analog. Nothing says classy like an analog watch. Our grandfathers didn't have the luxury of having digital watches or phones or cars with clocks in them. They had a good ol' fashioned analog watch, you know the ones with those moving lines and the numbers in a circle? A classy vintage look comes quick with an analog watch and every gentleman should have one.

If you can't read analog and skipped the 3rd grade, I suggest learning quickly. The ability to tell time on an analog watch is a class act. And don't be the last to give the time to someone when asked either, be quick with your answer. A man's man is never late. Now there is nothing wrong with a digital watch, I own a very nice one that tracks temperature, altitude, has a compass, etc. etc. but we will get to digital in a minute (bottom of blog post)

2. Match your outfit. Fashion 101 for men. Brown and Black don't work (even though it is apparently in style to do that....well not here). Blue and Black also don't work. Black and Tan can work sometimes and Brown and Gray can work sometimes. Silver goes good with Blacks and Grays. Gold goes with Browns but personally I stick with Silver, I am not big on gold because I think it looks tacky.

Timex makes an affordable watch called the Weekender. It features a few different color faces and allows for the band to slip on and off so you can switch out the colors. I own the Off White face with Olive Drab and Red bands. Looking to get a blue and black here soon. This watch helps dress up a casual wardrobe. (see below)

3. It has to tell time. Make sure the watch has the correct time and date (if applicable) before leaving the house. Sometimes watches that are not worn often slow down and need to be winded up. Also, make sure the batteries are replaced as needed. Wearing a non working watch could be costly gents.

4. Spend some money. Sometimes you might find an awesome deal and get an item for a good price or purchase something at a thrift store. This is not against my belief in being a gentleman. I find items at great prices all the time and shop at thrift stores, but my point here is that in acquiring anything, especially a watch, don't skimp out on quality. In my experience, you spend more money on buying more of something that broke than on something that is of high quality in the first place.

5. Build your collection. I didn't buy all of my watches at once and I am not done buying watches either. There are a lot of watches out there that I still want to have and some that I have not discovered yet. Below are pictures of my watch collection so far, minus one.

Ok, so what is up with digital watches you ask? There is absolutely nothing wrong with a digital watch. I use my tech4o all the time when I am camping, hiking, working, or whatever, but when it comes time for looking nice and presentable, I always choose the classic analog watch. 

Introductory Statement

Greetings my fellow man,


This blog aims to portray what I believe to be a gentleman's swagger, style, and sensibility. Over the years I have developed a style that I think fits me the best, vintage & modern. I have been told I have "an old soul". In many ways that is true. I feel like I should have lived in a different era half of the time.


A gentleman encompasses more than just his looks, but the way he acts, the things he says, the person that he is. To learn more, follow my blog and see what it takes to be a modern day gentleman.


-Corey

navy suspenders, wayfaers, weekender watch, vintage checkered button up