At the year’s end, one last 2019 travel adventure

Once upon a time, the beloved and respected American actor Alan Alda suggested that you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. “What you’ll discover,” he said “will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.”

As we begin the New Year, 2020, no matter where we may be or reside in the world, it’s worth a moment of our time to consider the meaning of Alda’s words.

Last Sunday, my wife and I returned from a brief but eventful five-day holiday visit to New York City, our fourth trip there during 2019. Each time we go – and it’s only a 3 1/2-hour trip via the Amtrak Northeast Regional – we try to see a different part of what is arguably one of the greatest cities in the world. Our post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s visit rewarded us with a wonderful opportunity to discover new things – and, this time, from a Lower East Side perspective. It was worth it.

Our visit began with theater – we saw the much anticipated “David Byrne’s American Utopia” at the intimate Hudson Theatre (once home to NBC’s “Tonight Show” back in the early 1950s Steve Allen era), featuring a tour de force performance by the Talking Heads superstar that was part TED talk, part rock concert, and very much a bare-footed dance spectacle. There were crowd-favorite hits newly arranged by Byrne like “Once in a Lifetime” and “Burning Down the House,” that complemented songs covering the 67-year-old’s post-Heads solo career. All together, they wove a narrative in which Byrne tried to help his audience find a sense of happiness in these troubled times we all live in.

Our visit included shopping, from loading up on mouth-watering Lindt chocolates to finding new fashion at Uniqlo’s expansive Fifth Avenue headquarters near the Museum of Modern Art just above Rockefeller Plaza, where there was plenty of activity centering around its colorful, larger-than-life Christmas tree and popular skating rink.

We enjoyed a satisfying, educational day visiting two of the city’s finest museums – the newly re-opened MOMA, where we braved the crowds hovering around Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” and Monet’s “Water Lillies,” and a hidden gem in the Tenement Museum, located at the corner of Orchard and Delaney streets in the Lower East Side, about a five-minute walk from the Hotel Indigo, where we lodged during our stay.

All along our journey in New York City, which the cast of Hamilton describes it as “the greatest city in the world,” there was plenty of wonderful food awaiting us, from the delicious dim sum at Nom Wah Tea Parlor in Chinatown on Christmas Evening (very much worth the 75-minute wait just to get a table); to a pre fixe epicurean delight at Butter in Midtown; to late night posh doughnuts at the Donut Pub in Chelsea; and, finally, deli delights at Russ & Daughters Appetizers (bagels with cream cheese) and Katz’s (cheese blintzes).

New York City is a place in which I could never see myself getting bored. There’s always plenty of interesting things to explore and admire – and to be curious about – any time of the day or night.

As I learned once again, it’s easy to get caught up in the city’s history. I was reminded of this when I learned about late 19th/early 20th-century shop life at 97 Orchard Street while visiting the Tenement Museum. I was reminded of this through the art I saw at MOMA; as well as in the Puerto Rican-infused jazz music I heard at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Also, in the theater I enjoyed on Broadway with “David Byrne’s American Utopia,” and from the tremendous choice of food – where, if you think about it, there’s every imaginable ethnic cuisine to be discovered and eaten.

There’s plenty to explore in New York City. I know I’ll be back, again, soon.

In the meantime, I look forward to 2020 and the New Year that awaits. Hopefully, it will be a year full of new discoveries and new travel adventures. It is truly my hope that yours will be filled with new discoveries and new travel adventures, too.

Safe travels and Happy New Year!

Photographs: Michael Dickens, © 2020.

A Tuesday Night Memo: Thoughts on turning nine

My blog, “A Tuesday Night Memo,” turns nine later this month.

People who know me well know that I've been interested in writing, reporting and storytelling for a long time. So, it's only natural that I turned to blog writing because it gave me an opportunity to hone my writing skills and provided a forum for writing about things that truly interested me that I wanted to share with others.

Here’s a little history about my blog:

I started writing “A Tuesday Night Memo” on January 26, 2010, as a means for sharing musings about my life filled with music, sport, and urban travel, and to foster community with my friends, family and Facebook acquaintances. More recently, I added a Twitter profile, which has allowed me to reach a wider audience across the country and the world.

People who read my blog know that I'm passionate about music, sport, and urban travel. Additionally, I have used “A Tuesday Night Memo” as a vehicle for writing about art, food, fashion, religion and gardening – and, in the age of Trump, about politics. Before we moved to the east coast, sharing news and photos about our former Oakland, Calif., flower gardens at home always seem to generate great interest and enthusiasm. Maybe, it was the pretty shapes and colors of our flowers that others found appealing, especially since we could maintain a garden all year long.

Up to now, I have "blogged" 439 entries for “A Tuesday Night Memo,” which collectively have received more than 161,700 page views. Among many subjects I have written about, some of my favorites have been: my appreciation of tennis champion Roger Federer; how the city of Seattle fosters community through international cinema; a history of the world as seen through 100 objects; classical music conductor Gustavo Dudamel; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr; my music love affairs with Pink Martini and Elvis Costello; validating our travel through our photographs; and Jerry Seinfeld's Internet comedy Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Among my recent posts, I have written about the Golden Globe-winning film “Roma”; the humanitarian work of Washington, D.C. chef José Andrés; and recent books written by American historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham. Also, I have shared my interest in digital photography since beginning my blog, which has enabled me to illustrate many if not all of my posts with colorful visuals to match the words I've written.

The feedback I have received not only is very much appreciated, but I also find it very useful. Much of it has been positive, but sometimes it's also been critical. Whether good or bad, I've found the feedback readers provide to be a valuable learning tool. Occasionally, I like to sneak a look at my blog's statistics, which are the key indicators that show how many total "hits" my blog has received, which stories have been read the most, and what countries comprise the blog's readership. The numbers are modest but nevertheless interesting.

Here are a few fun facts about “A Tuesday Night Memo” I thought you might enjoy:

• Since my blog's debut, it has been read in dozens of countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Hong Kong – even Brazil, India, Vietnam, and Australia. The top five countries reading my blog include the U.S, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany and France. I hope Russia's interest in my blog has nothing to do with their wanting to hack me because of my occasional blog posts about President Donald Trump.

Looking ahead, two years since he was inaugurated, the Trump presidency continues to garner my interest and attention from time to time. How could it not? However, there's so much more to write about. Among things that I look forward to learning about include my continuing interest in exploring museums – and what we can learn from them. Also, I would like to explore the effect digital music and media have in connecting our world.

In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoy sharing my writing week in and week out, and I look forward to contributing more of my words and thoughts in what is shaping up to be another exciting year awaiting all of us.

Stay tuned! 

On art and fashion: Contemporary Muslim Fashions

Thanks to social media, I have become Facebook friends with several Tunisian women, all whom are Muslim. Some of them cover their heads in colorful headscarves, known as hijabs; most do not. Each have become individuals of style within and beyond their communities in this North African country bordered by Algeria, Libya and the Mediterranean Sea, as I’ve learned firsthand through many thoughtful online conversations. While the nature of the Muslim dress code worldwide is a complex and diverse one, like it or not, Muslim fashion has become part of the mass-media’s attention drawn to contemporary Muslim life.

Currently, the deYoung Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco is examining Contemporary Muslim Fashions by “spotlighting places, garments, and styles from around the world,” in a show that began in late September and continues through January 6, 2019.

Contemporary Muslim Fashions is the first major museum exhibition to explore “the complex, diverse nature of Muslim dress codes worldwide” by bringing together different religious interpretations and cultures of Islam. The creativity and diversity – and politics – of modest dressing is celebrated.

I’ve learned that this exhibition considers “how Muslims define themselves – and are defined – by their dress and how these sartorial choices can reflect the multifaceted nature of their identities.”

Contemporary Muslim Fashions crosses through many different religious interpretations and cultures, featuring spectacular creations from a dynamic fashion scene by designers from both the Middle East and Southeast Asia – think Malaysia and Indonesia. From street wear to couture, the exhibition includes “high-end fashions, such as those by Malaysia-based Blancheur; street wear, such as modest designs from London-based Sarah Elenany; sportswear, such as the burkini; and commissioned garments from both emerging and established designers.”

The exhibition also includes the use of social media as a primary material – an agent of change. Muslim voices and personal narratives are framed by using runway footage of fashion shows and news clips as well as documentary and fashion photography.

As visitors to Contemporary Muslim Fashions will learn, while Islam is a multicultural faith, the dress of its followers is “shaped not only by religious principles but also by local customs and traditions and global fashion trends.” Thus, a woman from Tunisia is more likely to be contemporary in her fashion attire than a woman living in Saudi Arabia.

In her review of Contemporary Muslim Fashions for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Celine Semaan wrote, “Because of the current political climate from which it is rising, the show carries a message of hope and acceptance. The act itself of organizing this exhibition is nothing if not a peaceful demonstration of the American values written in the First Amendment: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion.”

Laird Borrelli-Persson of Vogue, in reviewing Contemporary Muslim Fashions, quotes curator Jill D’Alessandro, who believes, “Fashion can be an agent for positive change, for understanding, and breaking down barriers; they (fashion designers) want to exhibit in the United States and in Europe because they want their cultures to be understood.”

One thing’s for sure: There’s a diversity in Muslim fashion that is strikingly beautiful, both for its modern aesthetic and for its street-style appeal.

Photos: Cover – Mary Katrantzou skirt and shirt (silk and polyester), and Malone Souliers shoes.  Bottom – Flight jacket with U.S. Constitution written in Arabic on the back and First Amendment written in English inside, by Slow Factory (Courtesy of deYoung Museum and Google Images). Video: Courtesy of YouTube.com.

On couture fashion: YSL and the perfection of style

Yves Saint Laurent / One of the greatest names
in couture fashion history.

The late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) is regarded as one of the greatest names in couture fashion history. On the day after New Year's Day, my wife and I had the pleasure of seeing "Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style" at the Seattle Art Museum. It was the climax of our recent holiday visit to the Emerald City.

In this stunning exhibition showcasing highlights from the legendary couture designer's 44-year career, YSL's fashion featured loads of color and alchemy – and some gender-bending styles, too – and I found it to be plenty of enjoyable, escapist fun. It's no wonder that in 1985 the fashion historian Caroline Rennolds Milbank wrote of YSL: "The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture's rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable." Indeed, YSL adapted his style to accommodate changes in fashion.

Love Me Forever /
Multicolored silk velvet
coat with appliqué.

In "Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style," over 100 haute couture and Saint Laurent rive gauche garments and accessories, photographs, drawings, films and other elements drawn from the collection of the Foundation Pierre Bergé were displayed. Those who were able to score a coveted timed-ticket over the holiday weekend, a week before it closed its three-month run, were treated to a journey through YSL's life, his creative process and his brilliant career.

Presented in a chronological fashion that began with the prodigy's Paper Doll Couture House that YSL created as a teenager (and seen in the U.S. for the first time), the colorful retrospective chronicled the designer's first days at Christian Dior in 1955, followed by his radical designs of the 1960s and '70s, and continued with the splendor of the final two decades of his career. Finally, the exhibition concluded with a collection of YSL's spectacular evening gowns that were arranged in an order from darkness to an explosion of color.

Throughout, there were daytime ensembles and dresses and evening ensembles and gowns. YSL dabbled in African art, Mondrian and Pop art, and a coat worn by Catherine Deneuve in Luis Buñuel's 1967 movie Belle de jour was displayed.

Cocktail dresses / Homage to Pop Art from Autumn-Winter 1966
haute couture collection.

Through a variety of photographs, drawings and production documents, exhibition-goers were treated to a rare behind-the-scenes look into YSL's creative process of his couture fashion house as well as his private life.

Individual shapes as wearable art /
This cocktail dress from Autumn-Winter 1965
was an homage to Piet Mondrian.

One of YSL's most popular dresses – and one which I took great time to study and photograph – was constructed from individual shapes sewn together to mimic the simplicity of a painting. This "wearable art" was inspired by the modern artist Piet Mondrian.

As I walked through the exhibition – where taking non-flash photographs were encouraged! – it became evident to me that, to paraphrase the famous Henry Miller quote, YSL developed an interest in a life of fashion as he saw it, as well as in people. He realized the world was so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people.

Note: The multifaceted exhibition was organized by the Seattle Art Museum in partnership with the Foundation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, Paris. It was curated by Florence Müller, guest curator for the exhibition, and the Avenir Foundation Curator of Textile Art, Curator of Fashion at the Denver Art Museum in collaboration with Chiyo Ishikawa, SAM's Deputy Director of Art and Curator of European Painting & Sculpture. 

Fashion photos: By Michael Dickens © 2017.

Projecting an identity through fashion in flight

Everyday is a fashion show and the world is your runway. – Coco Chanel

Qantas c. 1986 /
Design by YSL

During a recent visit to the International Terminal at San Francisco International Airport, everywhere I looked there were colorful displays showcasing a history of airline uniforms worn by airline passenger-service and safety professionals – once called stewardesses and hostesses, and more recently flight attendants. This distinct type of fashionable attire – from haute couture to comfortable mix and match – has become a part of our popular culture. As I looked over the uniforms and learned more about them, I realized that not only have I been flying as an airline passenger for many years, but it made me nostalgic for travel when flying from destination to destination was fun and exciting instead of a stressful exercise in navigating from Point A to Point B.

Pan American c. 1975
Design by Edith Head

In Fashion in Flight: A History of Airline Uniform Design, on display in SFO's International Terminal Main Hall and the Aviation Museum & Library through January 2017, the seventy uniforms that comprise the exhibition date from 1930 to 2016 and include the work of a veritable who's who of more than thirty designers, including: Bill Blass, Piere Cardin, Oleg Cassini, Halston, Edith Head, Ralph Lauren, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent. The long list of their clients includes past and present U.S. airlines such as American, Braniff, Continental, Delta, TWA and United, as well as international carriers Aeroméxico, Air France, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic.

The vibrant and colorful outfits and accessories in Fashion in Flight are designed to not only "signify a distinct role in the workplace," but they also project a sense of identity for each airline – and they reflect prevailing fashions of the times, too. Through the years as airline fashion evolves and hemlines lift up and touch down, the passenger cabin has become a different kind of fashion runway.

Fashion statement /
United Airlines c. 1968 by Jean Louis.

If style is primarily a matter of instinct, as the American fashion designer Bill Blass suggests, then decade by decade, one notices a transformation from the tailored-suit look of the late 1930s to WWII's military influence, from postwar Paris haute couture to stylish New York designs – even interstellar chic as the 60s space age takes off. With the age of jet travel booming, bringing with it highly expressive uniforms, flight attendant fashion takes center stage. By the late 1970s, I learned, "pluralism and neo-traditionalism are seen emerging" and continuing into the '90s.

Finally, the business-like look of uniforms we see today – especially on U.S.-based carriers such as American, Delta and United – "have allowed greater contrast and noticeability for airlines that continue to engage celebrated designers in order to present contemporary fashion as an important part of the air travel experience."

Cover photo: Braniff International Airways hostess in uniform by Emilio Pucci c. 1965.
Cover photo and United Airlines photo: Courtesy of San Francisco Airport Commission, www.flysfo.com
Qantas and Pan American photos by Michael Dickens © 2016.

Oscar de la Renta: Celebrating a global fashion icon

Oscar de la Renta / The Dominican-born
American designer celebrated the best in us.

"Beauty, optimism, confidence." Three words that define how Dominican-born American designer Oscar de la Renta celebrated the best in us through his remarkable and colorful fashion. De la Renta (1932-2014) dressed women for modern life, and he was one of the most beloved and influential fashion icons whose career spanned both the 20th and 21st centuries. 

De la Renta's knowledge of literature, art, music and social history influenced his fashion design, and "his work was admired for its contemporary sensibility, romantic artistry, and traditional workmanship." 

His fashion has been worn by distinguished women and celebrities, including First Ladies Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, and singer Rihanna.

Oscar de la Renta / He was deeply
influenced by the people, history and
customs of Spain.

Last week, I had the opportunity to see a world-premiere retrospective of de la Renta's designs with my wife that opened less than two weeks ago at the de Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. "This is the first major survey to celebrate the life and career of one of fashion's most influential designers, examining his craft and technique, the historical and cultural influences on his work, and the clients who wore his designs," according to Fine Arts magazine.

The colorful exhibition included more than 130 ensembles spanning de la Renta's remarkable career, beginning in Spain where he first gained his initial commissions to his formative years that were spent in some of the world's most famous and iconic European fashion houses, and finally to his role as a designer for many influential and celebrated personalities. 

Oscar de la Renta for Pierre Balmain
Evening ensemble; coat and pants,
Spring/summer, 2000.

"Today, people – clothes – are international. Frontiers are non-existent," de la Renta once said. He broke a barrier in becoming the first American designer to head a French couture house when he joined Pierre Balmain.

André Leon Talley, former American Vogue editor-at-large and the exhibition's curator, said of the iconic designer: "Oscar carried with him the warmth of paradise, surely drawn from the sheer happiness of his childhood, growing up in a tropical environment in a huge family, surrounded by love." 

Throughout the 1970s, Oscar de la Renta's
collections included his hallmark sophisticated
take on daywear.

Further, Talley said: "Throughout his life, there was always love and laughter and it infused everything he took to task, be it the designing a simple cashmere coat, a suit, or a gorgeous evening dress; preparing a lovely dinner party; or tending to his gardens. Oscar loved life, and the light from within him beamed out to his world."

It became clear to me as I walked through the exhibit rooms that de la Renta's designs were full of beauty and color, and filled with elegance. It is evident that he had a true desire to make all of his women look and feel beautiful.

The special exhibition celebrating the fashion of Oscar de la Renta continues through May 30 in the Herbst Exhibition Galleries at the de Young. 

If your travels bring you to the San Francisco Bay Area between now and the end of May, I highly recommend you treat yourself and see this enjoyable exhibition – and bring your camera along to take photographs as non-flash photography is allowed in this exhibition.

Learn more about the Oscar de la Renta exhibition:
http://deyoung.famsf.org/exhibitions/oscar-de-la-renta-retrospective

Photos: Oscar de la Renta courtesy of Fine Arts magazine and FAMSF. Exhibition photographs by Michael Dickens, © 2016.

High Style: Going window shopping through time

The manipulation of cloth: Charles James / "Tree" ball gown, 1955.

The masterworks of fashion have come together in "High Style: The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection" at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. Walking through each exhibit room, gazing at each display, it's a bit like going window shopping through time.

"High Style" showcases women's fashions worn in America from 1910 to 1980 and it celebrates the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection, one of America's earliest and --arguably -- most distinguished holdings of fashion design.

Colorful designs by Elsa Schiaparelli.

I had the opportunity to see this highly colorful exhibition, which debuted last month, on Easter Sunday. It features a variety of representative pieces: approximately 60 garments, ranging from ball gowns to sportswear; 30 costume accessories, such as shoes and hats, and related fashion sketches, by some of the 20th century's most important and influential American and European designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Charles James, Coco Chanel and Christian Dior.

Among the highlights of the exhibition is the display of 25 pieces, including garments, muslins and sketches by fashion designer Charles James. In an interview with Fine Arts magazine, Jan Glier Reeder, the curator of "High Style" said of James: "Rather than merely a dressmaker, James was an artist and sculptor who chose the manipulation of cloth as his primary medium of expression.

"Conceiving his designs in the round, James masterfully translated two-dimensional cloth into dazzling three-dimensional shapes never before seen in the history of fashion. He developed an idiosyncratic process using architectural, mathematical, and engineering principles alongside an in-depth knowledge of the female form to build and mold his garments."

"High Style" runs through July 19 -- and, if you live in the Bay Area or will be visiting soon, I highly recommend you see it.

Photographs: By Michael Dickens © 2015.

On pop culture: A great design that's always making a fashion statement

The Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneaker

In recent years, the colorful, unisex appeal of Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers has become quite noticeable, especially among teens and young, college-aged adults.

After all, great design never goes out of style. Sometimes, it just gets a little edgy and interactive.

I learned this first hand last week while perusing a Converse Store during a walk along Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, which houses the largest collection of Converse footwear (which includes Chuck Taylor All-Star and their companion sneaker Jack Purcell) and apparel in the world.

Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers have come a long way since their basic black and white styles were once the elite footwear of choice for generations of basketball-playing Americans. Their popularity predates Adidas and Nike. In the 1970s, the iconic American punk rock band The Ramones gave the Converse brand a worldwide counterculture status. Other notables who've worn the Chuck Taylor All-Star brand include Kurt Cobain of grunge rock Nirvana fame and British actor David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor, in the BBC television science fiction series Dr. Who.

Today, thanks to their casual appearance and variety of bright and vivid colors, the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers are a "must-have" for a new generation of sneaker wearers. While they are now known more for their vintage fashion appeal than their athletic use, there is still a "wow" factor and a casual sense of coolness attached to them.

At Converse's Third Street Promenade flagship store, you can even design your own creative, one-of-a-kind pair of All-Star kicks in what is billed as Converse Customization. Through the use of iPad technology and over 150 customization graphics, including collaborations with local Santa Monica artists, customers can channel their inner Jackson Pollack or Andy Warhol in expressing their own personal and artistic style -- from abstract expressionist to modern pop art.

The Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers remain a great design, always making a fashion statement.

Photograph of Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers by Michael Dickens, copyright 2013.

It's all about the shoes, isn't it?

Fashions fade, style is eternal.
~ Yves St. Laurent

Let's face it:  Casual shoes make fashion statements. And, maybe, they reveal something about the personality of the wearer.  It's all about the shoes, isn't it?

An iconic style:
Chuck Taylor All*Star,
Navy (2009).
It used to only
come in black and white.

Marvelous or boring, in basic black or white, even in pink, most of us like our shoes to be stylish as well as being comfortable.  Today, casual shoes come in all designs, sizes, colors and brand names:  Nike, Adidas, Converse Chuck Taylor All*Star, Doc Martens.  Casual can extend to classic wing tips, all-weather Mocs and leather boots, too. The more stylish our shoes are ~ and colorful ~ the better.

Of course, too, casual and stylish sometimes carries a hefty price tag.

Sometimes, we opt for a traditional and recognizable brand just so we fit in.  Yet, a pair of iconic Chuck Taylor All*Star are just a tad more expensive today than a generation, or two, ago.

And just a little more colorful, too.

The colorful Chuck Taylor All*Star
seemed to be the shoe of choice
of Millennials and Gen Xers
at this year's Bumbershoot,
Seattle's music and art festival.

While attending last month's Bumbershoot, Seattle's music and art festival, an event that drew hundreds of thousands of Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers to the Seattle Center to see the latest in cutting-edge, indie music ~ and involved a lot of sitting and standing around on grassy lawns and among crowds ~ casual, fashionable footwear was ever-present and, often, attention-getting. Believe me, it was never drab or boring.

Designed for comfort
but far from boring:
Sneakers for him,
suede boots for her,
and blue jeans for both.

Whether lounging with friends at the Broad Street Stage listening to Montreal's Plants and Animals, enjoying a glass of wine near the Fisher Green Stage while watching the Budos Band, or catching an early evening set by Jenny and Johnny on Labor Day in front of the Starbucks Mural Stage, I became fascinated by the lively and very fashionable casual footwear statements being made by Bumbershoot festival-goers of all generations.

We're all young at heart, right?

Here's a small but fairly representative sample of the casual shoes and sneakers I encountered at this year's Bumbershoot:

Classic Dr. Martens:
Recognized around the world for their
uncompromisingly good looks and colors.

Casual yet simple ~ and no baggy pants:
Deck sneakers (left) and Chuck Taylor All*Star (right)

Mod, black and eye-catching:
Black Chuck Taylor All*Star (left)
 and black leather boots (right).

They do go with blue jeans, don't they?:
Classic wing tips (left) and calf-length boots (right).

By the way, I wore a pair of classic (and comfortable) Adidas Stan Smith white leather sneakers to Bumbershoot, a brand and style that I have been wearing on and off since the '70s. For me, they represent a simple, yet classic style ~ and they're extremely comfortable.

Some shoes never go out of style.