# Dressing like George HW Bush.



## IanAndOut (Oct 31, 2006)

Hello there,

I would like to know what kind of clothing would it take to dress like George HW Bush himself.

From what shoes to where and when to wether pleats/flat fronts.

In my opinion, he has great Ivy league style.

Also, someone once mentioned that he(GHWB) wouldnt want to be seen with button-down collars. Could I know why? Isnt that part of the Ivy league style?

Thank you.


----------



## zignatius (Oct 8, 2004)

I have nothing to back it up, but I've *heard* there's political risk associated with pols wearing button down collars ... they can be percieved as elitist, upper crust, establishment, blue-collar-opposite, etc. -- the death nell for a campaigner looking to appeal to the masses. Point collars are safer. 

Others will have more info, but it's pretty well known that GHW Bush -- as a Yale guy -- has a long history of wearing JPress suits.


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

I'd say for congressmen, anyway, the buttondown collar is the dominant style. And since they're not wearing sack suits, or even faintly Tradly suits, they look like hell.

Which matches their overall performance, come to think of it.

GHWB seems to be a fairly straightforward Eastern establishment dresser - not necessarily Trad, but probably using it as a reference point. His handlers probably told him to cheese the buttondowns years ago.

Funny how the bd is perceived as elitist. I think of it as decidedly less formal than the other collar styles, except maybe Nehru. Or Gandhi. No, that was loincloths. I think a buttondown loincloth would be fairly crucial. Can you tell I'm really tired? Good night.


----------



## 3button Max (Feb 6, 2006)

*hw*

many pics of Bush !st in ocbd and 3 button sack prior to 1980-- don't recollect either after that time.

max


----------



## IanAndOut (Oct 31, 2006)

Patrick06790 said:


> I'd say for congressmen, anyway, the buttondown collar is the dominant style. And since they're not wearing sack suits, or even faintly Tradly suits, they look like hell.
> 
> Which matches their overall performance, come to think of it.


What does this mean if you don't mind me asking? I thought GHWB wears trad suits? If not, then what kind of suits are his called?

And what do you mean by they look like hell?


----------



## vwguy (Jul 23, 2004)

I think Patrick was saying an OCBD w/ a non-Trad styled suit just doesn't look right.

Brian


----------



## crazyquik (Jun 8, 2005)

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?t=47669&page=2&highlight=george+h.w.+bush

Scroll down, lots of GHWB pics in this thread.


----------



## IanAndOut (Oct 31, 2006)

vwguy said:


> I think Patrick was saying an OCBD w/ a non-Trad styled suit just doesn't look right.
> 
> Brian


Whats OCBD?


----------



## Untilted (Mar 30, 2006)

Oxford Cloth Button Down


----------



## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

Hmm, I didn't know shirts came without button down collars. :icon_smile_wink: 

Check out the thread on American Trad men posted above by crazyquik and call J. Press for a catalog. This should give you a good start. 

btw, regardless of whether or not GHWB wears them ocbd's just look better.


----------



## Pgolden (May 13, 2006)

GHWB took plenty of pictures in OCBD. And Washington DC is the sack-suit capital of the world.
Here's an excerpt from newspaper story this summer.

"Our bread and butter is the old three-button sack suit," said Arthur Noble, the manager of J. Press' Washington store. That shapeless, waistless, demure-collared suit's been around since 1902.
Compared with J. Press' other outlets in Manhattan, Cambridge, Mass. (Harvard) and New Haven, Conn. (Yale), Washington takes the sack suit prize, Noble said. "D.C. is a lot dressier than other cities."
Guy Voglino, the merchandise manager for Brooks Brothers' 93 U.S. stores, said the same: Washington is the company's sack suit capital.
By contrast, Brooks' tailored 1818 model sells well in New York but has proved a dog in Washington. "Washington is about dressing up, but not about dressing up in fashionable styles," Voglino said.
Robin Givhan, the Washington Post's fashion critic, has urged the city's men to "let out your inner peacock," but to no visible effect. The buyers of European fashion at the capital's Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue stores tend to be foreign students and visitors, she said.
Surprisingly, conservative garb is also the rule for many of Washington's college men. On Saturday nights, Georgetown's M Street drag and barstools are lined with college guys in sport jackets and ironed oxford cloth shirts. You'll even see a tie sometimes.


----------



## Prepdad (Mar 10, 2005)

Maybe it's just me but I've never been impressed by GHWB's style - all terribly boring. But Barbara - now that's a babe!


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

vwguy said:


> I think Patrick was saying an OCBD w/ a non-Trad styled suit just doesn't look right.
> 
> Brian


Correct.

Every male Conn. pol running for statewide office in this campaign showed up in an blah suit, probably from Macy's or something, and wore a buttondown collar. The net effect was dull in the extreme. Add to that lack of attention to detail (sleeves too long) and crummy shoes and you get either the typical guy in a suit or a deliberate attempt to look like the typical guy in a suit. (And frankly I don't think any of our specimens are clever enough to dope out the latter scenario.)

I really think the bd collar looks right with a sack suit and no other style.

As to the J Press salesman's remarks, if the congressmen are buying sacks, they sure keep it from the folks at home. Far more likely to see them wearing a dress shirt and Dockers, no tie, collar flapping around, and sneakers, as if to say "See? I really am one of you."


----------



## knickerbacker (Jun 27, 2005)

*GHW Bush- the first non trad Bush*

George Herbert Walker Bush was another loyal customer of J.Press. Walk into the DC Press (one hopes this is still there) and there is a framed excerpt from a newspaper in which GHWB opened his suit jacket to answer a reporter's question about his clothes and pointed at the press label in his jacket. If you want to dress like the dapper gent, stick around here. If you want to dress like his son, follow the fickle whims of neo-con fashion to a pair of cowboy boots and an oxxford suit. GHWB - the last trad president.


----------



## Patrick06790 (Apr 10, 2005)

knickerbacker said:


> If you want to dress like his son, follow the *fickle whims of neo-con fashion* to a pair of cowboy boots and an oxxford suit. GHWB - the last trad president.


That's very good.


----------



## mpcsb (Jan 1, 2005)

*Fashion please, talk of politics moves this thread to the Interchange.*
Thanks


----------



## Doctor Damage (Feb 18, 2005)

The old photos of GHWB show him in full sack suit regalia, however once he becomes more prominent politically he switches to "updated American" style to avoid offending (remember, even Reagan considered him a preppie). A couple of photos I posted show him recently with GWB in informal family settings and the old man is back to preppie gear. So the VP and P photos of GHWB seem like his "office attire" donned for the cameras, whereas he's obviously a closet old-school preppie/trad.

See page 9 of the "American Trad Men" thread for the photos I reference above.


----------



## Wayfarer (Mar 19, 2006)

Doctor Damage said:


> The old photos of GHWB show him in full sack suit regalia, however once he becomes more prominent politically he switches to "updated American" style to avoid offending (remember, even Reagan considered him a preppie). A couple of photos I posted show him recently with GWB in informal family settings and the old man is back to preppie gear. So the VP and P photos of GHWB seem like his "office attire" donned for the cameras, whereas he's obviously a closet old-school preppie/trad.
> 
> See page 9 of the "American Trad Men" thread for the photos I reference above.


I think that's a pretty good summation of the history and character of his dress DD. He basically had a DC uniform but in private life reverts back to his roots of Ivy League/Trad.


----------



## IanAndOut (Oct 31, 2006)

I'm sorry to ask this but I'm guessing that sack suits shows that they're a class above the rest of the types of suits?

I'm new at this really.


----------



## A Questionable Gentleman (Jun 16, 2006)

IanAndOut said:


> I'm sorry to ask this but I'm guessing that sack suits shows that they're a class above the rest of the types of suits?
> 
> I'm new at this really.


This is a very trad point of view. You might try looking in at the fashion forum. You'll find a rather different point of view.


----------



## knickerbacker (Jun 27, 2005)

A Questionable Gentleman said:


> This is a very trad point of view. You might try looking in at the fashion forum. You'll find a rather different point of view.


In other words, Yes- sack suits are a cut above the rest.

GHWB wore, as many of us hereabouts do as well, sack suits which have 3 buttons, the top of which is rolled under the lapel and is not functional.
Check out the glossary thread at the top of this forum for meanings of terms and abbreviations here. With complete and utter respect (and not just because it's a fora rule) we on the trad forum may have a very different view then most on the fashion forum when it comes to many things sartorial. 
You might also want to check out the sartorial style of William F Buckley who also dressed very much like George HW Bush.
If you want to dress like GHWB- sack suits,( dartless 3/2 sacks) pleatless trousers with 1.75" cuffs, alden shoes (loafers), and button down 100% cotton shirts are a great place to start.


----------



## IanAndOut (Oct 31, 2006)

knickerbacker said:


> In other words, Yes- sack suits are a cut above the rest.
> 
> GHWB wore, as many of us hereabouts do as well, sack suits which have 3 buttons, the top of which is rolled under the lapel and is not functional.
> Check out the glossary thread at the top of this forum for meanings of terms and abbreviations here. With complete and utter respect (and not just because it's a fora rule) we on the trad forum may have a very different view then most on the fashion forum when it comes to many things sartorial.
> ...


I thought I usually see him with cap-toes on?


----------



## IanAndOut (Oct 31, 2006)

Anyone has the answer for the above question?


Thank you.


----------



## Coolidge24 (Mar 21, 2005)

IanAndOut said:


> Anyone has the answer for the above question?
> 
> Thank you.


You may well see Mr. Bush with captoes or wingtips on.

These are perfectly legitimate shoes, particularly if made by American makers such as Alden or Brooks (often through Peal or Alden).

I think you would be fine with the sack suits, oxford button downs, repp ties, and captoes/wingtips/tassle loafers to exemplify the GHWB look.


----------



## Brooksfan (Jan 25, 2005)

I don't know if it's allowable under AAAC rules but somewhere in my "archives" I've got a brief article about J. Press and it mentions Bush the elder. If anyone can upload it I'll send it to you so other forumites can see it.


----------



## IanAndOut (Oct 31, 2006)

Anyone?


----------



## Coolidge24 (Mar 21, 2005)

IanAndOut said:


> Anyone?


Read above.


----------



## IanAndOut (Oct 31, 2006)

I meant to ask if anyone could help out uploading your article


----------

