I’ve been having a fun time running around New York City in the summertime heat. These are the (sweaty) moments when proper hot weather clothing is a necessity, and I’ve been prepared (for once) wearing a very breathable sport coat, cotton pants, and some new ACL madras. It’s all styled after one of my all-time favorite films, Jazz on a Summer’s Day. Directed by Bert Stern and shot at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, this is the quintessential American summer-weather wardrobe inspo doc. It’s basically the film parallel to Take Ivy, only with Anita O’Day and America’s Cup boats racing off Newport.
With Jazz on a Summer’s Day as inspiration, I made two new limited-run Indian Madras shirts from Original Madras Trading Co. These are part of my ongoing series of hand-loomed shirts for summer, which sold out immediately last August.
It took me 10 years to re-release my madras shirts last year, and once I did, I realized just how much I enjoy these shirts. Living in California has allowed me to wear madras year-round, which has been a true pleasure. They are light, breathable, and versatile. Any shirt that works with a jacket or shorts is a good one in my book. It might be obvious, but these are great shirts for right now or for Newport in 1958.
We did two versions in the same cloth. One that is the exact fit as last year’s shirt in long sleeves. Below, we also created a short-sleeved popover version, which I wore yesterday in the city with a sport coat, and it was perfect.
That documentary has an immaculate aesthetic. A great reminder that classic sportswear is for doing stuff in. My favorite part by far though is the man looking at 12:42 through incredibly tiny binoculars.
Michael, any chance of a restock or any leftover size large shirts?