Have You Guys Checked WASP 101 Lately

[Duke 202]

I know Richard has received some praise but mostly criticism on this forum, but have you guys checked out WASP 101 lately? He has had some good posts, and I love the houndstooth suit he is sporting.

[Memphis88]

I try my best to stay away from there.

[Kurt N]

I like WASP 101 well enough to keep it on my aggregator. I do think the better men's style blogs manage to go beyond the basic "What Am I Wearing Today" premise and add something more: good writing, or interesting historical info, or outside-the-box style choices, just for instance. Richard isn't quite there yet, or at least not consistently. Seems like he might lately have put a bit more effort into doing some more research for his posts, and I would say those are his better entries.

[Flanderian]

I know Richard has received some praise but mostly criticism on this forum, but have you guys checked out WASP 101 lately? He has had some good posts, and I love the houndstooth suit he is sporting.

Do you know Richard?

[Duke 202]

I don't know the fellow! Kinda glad I don't, but he doesn't seem to be mean to readers unless they press his buttons.

[Bermuda]

I love the site....

[127.72 MHz]

I'm completely unbiased by any opinions or posts here at AAAC or elsewhere as I have not heard of the site until your post, so I went over and took a look.

First impression is that the fellow who owns and writes the site has some great history and information about clothing, clothing companies, (such as Southwick) and traditional American style. He even mentioned Ask Andy although I'm not sure I understood the context.

Has the criticism he's received been exclusively related to the name of the "WASP" name of the site?

[Sir Cingle]

Yeah, I wondered that too, Bill. Like you, I had never seen the Web site before, so I went to check it out. It seemed fine and interesting to me, though I only looked at it for a short time. But I must say that the name of the site is a bit off-putting. Naturally, there's nothing wrong with being a WASP or even celebrating WASP-hood. But that's not really my bag. I enjoy the look of the clothes, not the associations they may have with country clubs and trust funds. So I wondered whether folks didn't like the name, which may seem exclusionary.

[Memphis88]

Richard very often comes off as a condescending pr!ck you believes himself to be better than everyone else.

[Flanderian]

Has the criticism he's received been exclusively related to the name of the "WASP" name of the site?

Oh, most certainly not!

[Pentheos]

Richard very often comes off as a condescending pr!ck you believes himself to be better than everyone else.

That's certainly the sense I got when he described wearing his new J. Press jacket to smoke a pipe in his library. Sheesh.

[Kurt N]

Too often it's just a "Hey, look at me" blog and he doesn't really have anything to say. Who cares that he likes Liv Tyler, for instance? But blogging is by nature a bit of a vanity project, and unless you're able to make the blog part of your professional life it's hard to produce consistently good content. I don't think it's that hard to say "OK, nothing good there today" and skip it.

He is friends, I guess (actually or blogospherically) with Maximinimus, who is sartorially (and also literally) pretty well-traveled and has interacted with the likes of Alan Flusser, Tom Wolfe and the late Richard Merkin. So it's not like Richard is completely bereft of good sources.

[127.72 MHz]

Well I spent about a half hour going through his archives and I can see that he's not short on opinions. And yes he does have some come backs to comments that have been posted that range from mildly in your face to down right rude,...

But I like the site for the images if nothing else.

[Flanderian]

Mediocrity and questionable taste should not serve as a paradigm.

[Kurt N]

^ Agreed. So what are the paradigm blogs, and what are they the paradigm of?

A Suitable Wardrobe is a paradigm blog, I would say, for people with traditional, English-influenced tastes who can afford top-quality goods.

So what else is out there that's really good?

[Memphis88]

Too often it's just a "Hey, look at me" blog and he doesn't really have anything to say. Who cares that he likes Liv Tyler, for instance? But blogging is by nature a bit of a vanity project, and unless you're able to make the blog part of your professional life it's hard to produce consistently good content. I don't think it's that hard to say "OK, nothing good there today" and skip it.

He is friends, I guess (actually or blogospherically) with Maximinimus, who is sartorially (and also literally) pretty well-traveled and has interacted with the likes of Alan Flusser, Tom Wolfe and the late Richard Merkin. So it's not like Richard is completely bereft of good sources.

Now, he is a guy who knows how to blog.

[Memphis88]

^ Agreed. So what are the paradigm blogs, and what are they the paradigm of?

A Suitable Wardrobe is a paradigm blog, I would say, for people with traditional, English-influenced tastes who can afford top-quality goods.

So what else is out there that's really good?

You will find a good one here and also a really good blog roll of other great clothing related blogs.

[Duke 202]

I understand why Richard could be perceived as an unlikable guy, but I do see why he would at times get upset. For example, you guys seem to praise this Maxminimus guy (just checked out his sight) who apparently likes Ralph Lauren. But when Richard posts something about or wears Ralph he is called a cad. Regardless, what do you think about the brown houndstooth suit he is wearing in his latest post. The Maxminimus guy seems to like it!

[Kurt N]

You will find a good one here and also a really good blog roll of other great clothing related blogs.

I've opted not to follow that one regularly, I guess partly because it's too much of this and that and not always clothes.* Today's entry is on tea. My question is not hey, what are some good blogs, but: what are the really tip-top ones and what makes them so special?

I think Richard's blog would be improved simply by disabling comments or moderating them more selectively, so he avoids getting into slapfights. On the other hand, if that's what he wants, then that says something about him.

EDIT: I''m contradicting myself, aren't I? Earlier I said it's not that hard to scan and skip what doesn't interest you. And Heavy Tweed clearly puts more effort into his blog. So Richard, you're off my aggregator to make room for Heavy Tweed. Sorry!

[Pentheos]

I enjoy this blog.

[Memphis88]

I've opted not to follow that one regularly, I guess partly because it's too much of this and that and not always clothes.* Today's entry is on tea. My question is not hey, what are some good blogs, but: what are the really tip-top ones and what makes them so special?

I think Richard's blog would be improved simply by disabling comments or moderating them more selectively, so he avoids getting into slapfights. On the other hand, if that's what he wants, then that says something about him.

EDIT: I''m contradicting myself, aren't I? Earlier I said it's not that hard to scan and skip what doesn't interest you. And Heavy Tweed clearly puts more effort into his blog. So Richard, you're off my aggregator to make room for Heavy Tweed. Sorry!

Yeah there are a lot of things on HTJ-such as tea- that don't really interest me, but he does post some good stuff in terms of clothing, such as scans from old catalogues and he analyzes a lot of it. Maximinimus tells a great story and most if not all of his entries talk about clothing. I could tell you what I think makes a blog great, but you could go to that blog and hate it. I would just take some time and look through the blogs on HTJ's blog roll to see what you like.

[Epaminondas]

WASP 101 seems to be a bit of a characature. He seems to have a kind of fantasy land WASP sense a la Ralph Lauren - which explains why he actually likes and relies on Ralph Lauren so much. He has a rather nasty penchant for crests, shields, and other pseudo-heraldic adornments

He's like those fox hunting pictures that some people like to have to achieve ersatz gentleman status. I'm not convinced he knows good form bad taste, but rather merely apes images that he thinks are upper class or WASPish.

Questionnable posts include:

http://wasp101.blogspot.com/2009/10/...g-rock-nc.html

Nevertheless, the guy does seem to try, he has some amusing posts, and an, apparently, thick skin given some of the comments on his site. I think he needs to mature a bit.

[Kurt N]

^^ I don't need help finding blogs I personally like (if anything, I need help spending less time reading them). I was hoping to get away from bashing WASP101 and generate some discussion of what blogs are considered by consensus to be tip-top, and why--the blogs that represent the paradigm, to use Flanderian's word.

I mean, since guys here seem pretty comfortable with the idea of time-tested standards that transcend what this or that person happens to like today...

[Bermuda]

at least he is not one of the t-shirt and jeans wearing masses

[ksinc]

I had never visited the blog http://wasp101.blogspot.com/ or even heard of it. I also visited because of this thread. I thought that was a nice looking houndstooth sport coat, but I couldn't figure out the matching trousers.

I had to use google to find the blog and also this one popped up http://wasp101sucks.blogspot.com/