Peter peeks into Barney's dressing room: the shocking photos -- and prices!

Wise and frugal readers, you know I'm not much of a shopper.  Yes, I practically grew up in Gimbels and spent more of my adolescence at Bloomingdale's than I care to remember, but now that I sew, I no longer shop for clothes.  (The Salvation Army doesn't count, of course.)

Manscaping - yea or nay?

Good morning, smooth-skinned ladies and rough-stubbled gentlemen!  Today we're discussing --

Cathy Wants Clothes

Friends, it should come as no surprise that I hear from my identical cousin Cathy about as often as I hear from Elaine (The Selfish Seamstress), which is to say, not very often.

Kwik Sew Men's Western Jacket - DONE!

Friends, the jacket is finished!  I'm still a bit bleary-eyed this morning but the jacket is ready to roll.

Men's Western Jacket - THE FINAL FRONTIER

Western jacket, final frontier -- get it?

Good grief, I am still working on this jacket.  Apparently even Kwik Sew patterns are not that kwik but I can definitely see the lite at the end of the tunnel.

Men's Western Jacket - PROGRESS!

Some classic styles shouldn't be tampered with.

Men's Western Jacket - FABRIC, THREAD, ETC.

Guys, I'm starting to get excited -- always a good sign.  Yesterday I managed to find a fabric I like, along with jeans buttons and thread, and I think I'm good to go.  I also dug around my stash and came up with some cool scraps I could add for embellishment/total-pimp-out.

Kwik Sew Men's Western Jacket -- MUSLIN

Yesterday I gave myself permission to put my unfinished cranberry corduroy jacket project away and move on.  One day I'll return to it, but right now I want to sew something quick and fun.  What better choice than my recently acquired vintage Kwik Sew Men's Western Jacket pattern?

Whither the Wig?

What is it about wigs?

Some people love them.  Some people hate them.   But few people think of them as fashion accessories on par with, say, designer sunglasses.  This despite the fact that a wig can totally change a person's look.

Shopping with Mom at Lord & Taylor

Readers, do you like department stores?

I practically grew up in them.  When I was a kid, we generally went to Gimbels -- well known as Macy's closest competitor (remember Miracle on 34th Street?) and now defunct.  Then when I was older, in the mid-Seventies, the place to go was Bloomingdales.  I'd meet friends at Bloomingdales, eat frozen yogurt at Bloomingdales, shoplift at Bloomingdales -- it really was like no other store in the world.  

Spreading the home-sewing meme

Friends, do you ever feel like you spend a disproportionate amount of your day talking/thinking/writing about sewing?

Do you ever catch friends or colleagues, when you mention sewing, rolling their eyes, glancing at their watches, and suddenly having to catch the 5:15 train -- and they drive to work?  Do you yourself retreat daily to the comforting, marshmallow, everybody-sews-here worlds of Pattern Review, BurdaStyle, and Male Pattern Boldness?

Meta-blogging for an October morning

Friends, occasionally I like to perform a little blog housekeeping.  Like a fast-paced summer action movie, plot lines here at Male Pattern Boldness can get convoluted or dropped entirely, characters may appear out of nowhere and then just as suddenly disappear, or key scenes get left on the cutting room floor, leaving audiences disoriented.

Or perhaps you've missed a few days -- the metaphorical trip to get popcorn or use the bathroom -- and you no longer know what's going on.

Taste

Readers, do you have good taste?

Tell the truth; I can keep a secret.

I'm not just a celebrity, I'm a fashion designer!

Madonna.  Sarah Jessica Parker.  Lindsay Lohan.  Jessica Simpson.  Jennifer Lopez.  Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen.  Sean Diddy Combs.  Justin Timberlake.  Beyonce Knowles.  Britney Spears.  The list goes on and on.

Do you realize how many of our most popular young (and not so young) celebrities are also talented clothing designers?

Mom Style

Good morning Gothic Lolita fans and others!  Friends, today I want to talk about another provocative and potentially explosive topic: Mom style.

Fashion, Affluence, and Aspiration

Friends, be honest: when you dress up, do you aspire to look affluent? Do you (ever) take your fashion cues from the rich and famous?

WHAT is up with Japanese fashion????

Friends, you know I don't follow fashion.  I couldn't tell a Don Loper from a Vogue sloper.

I am but a style cipher -- a blank screen onto which my readers project their ideas -- some might say fantasies -- of how a short, middle-aged man should dress.   True, I have a passing interest in Lana Turner's Jean Louis wardrobes from Fifties-era Ross Hunter movies but that is it. 

BUT I do know when something is wrong.  And friends, what is going on in Japan today is very, very wrong.

Beards -- yea or nay?

Friends, how do you feel about beards?

Facial hair is one of those things that go in and out of mainstream and alternative fashion regularly.  (When it's "out" in the former it's usually "in" in the latter. )

All Quiet on the Jacket Front

Readers, the cranberry corduroy suit saga continues.  Slowly.  And look, I'm tailoring -- by hand!  Do you believe it?

The Second Opinion

Friends, when you put an outfit together -- be it for work or for play, using clothing you've sewn yourself or just fished out of the local dumpster -- who do you turn to for an objective (i.e. honest) opinion about how you look?

Sick-Week Synopsis

Readers, I'm stunned.   Yesterday I attempted to plant the seed of prosperity in your lives with some timeless New Age wisdom and you responded with a shopping list worthy of a wedding registry at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Sewing and "The Secret"

Giggle, gasp, or gag, you've probably heard of The Secret.

This is the internationally best-selling book that explains that hidden-for-centuries-and-suddenly-revealed -- Today on Oprah! -- ancient truth, the "law of attraction."  The law of attraction says, in essence, visualize it and it will be yours (or, what you think about is what will come true).

Jeggings

Have you heard about jeggings?

Tattoo, YOU?

OK, guys, I know I'm treading on thin ice here.  But I must ask.  When did tattoos become the new pierced ear?

Requisite Halloween Post

I don't think it's too early, do you?

I recognize Halloween is a subject of relevance only to Americans (or so I believe); my apologies to all others and don't be too smug: you have your embarrassing holidays too!

Sewists of America, what's your take on Halloween?  As the owner of at least one sewing machine, does it have special relevance?

Cathy Get Your Gun!

Friends, thank you so much for the warm -- some might even say excessive -- welcome you gave Michael yesterday.  We definitely will have him back.

Michael responds! "A well-made, but one-dimensional hit piece."

To the misled minions of MPB (Misleading Propagandist Blathering):

As guest blogger, I decided to use as today's title an eerily appropriate phrase from a review of the recent blockbuster,  The Social Network.  

Still reeling from yesterday's inaccurate portrayal of my corduroy jacket purchase, not to mention the slanderous representation of my persona as well as of my domestic relationship with your regular host, I have decided to use this rare opportunity to address you all as a means of setting the record straight.

When Loved Ones Insist on Ready-to-wear

Friends, you know my partner Michael has been, and continues to be, a tremendous support throughout my short but dramatic sewing career.

Peter's Reunion Wrap-up

Gentle readers, I am so very tired this morning and oh, so very hoarse.  But I really had a blast last night at my 30th high school reunion.

How should a man smell?

Wise readers, how do you like your man to smell?  If you are a man or man-identified, how do you like to smell?

Replacing a mens shirt collar -- it CAN be done!

Friends, I've always liked this white shirt I stitched for myself in November 2009 and planned to wear to the dreaded event you know where -- now tomorrow, OMG!