You look quite dashing. How are you not wilted?

I love a man in a summer suit!

I can't see the belt. It's not white, is it? I can't imagine it would be white, but then I lived my whole life thinking a comma before the "and" was wrong and you not only use it, you have a name for it.

But, still, I can't imagine the belt is white.

No belt. Braces. Or, if you prefer American English, suspenders.

Braces, of course. What was I thinking?

As a 28 yr old often ridiculed for her longing for more classy days, may I just gush? That is the most fantastic summer suit I have ever seen and I hope some day to convince my husband to wear one as well. For now, I'll be content to know that out there somewhere are people who still believe in that genteel way of living that include summer suits, straw hats, and for me, white gloves at the picnic.

There are few men who can really pull off this look. You are among them. You look fantastic.

Very gallant!

We can't see your feet in this photo. I hope they were encased in white bucks.

It reminds of the film Topsy Turvy:

D'Oyly Carte: 'How can you sit there
in your hat and coat, Barker?'

Barker: 'I'm too hot to remove them, Mr Carte.'

I've missed you, Bucky!

Is that seersucker, or a lightweight worsted wool?

In any event, it looks sharp.

We are very casual at work down here. Shorts, polo or tee-shirts, and flip flops if you want. I wear sneakers.

Believe it or not, chillums, Uncle John used to dress much like this in the summers even when he was a 20-something graduate student. On one occasion, he passed a group of fellow grad students who were *extremely* casually dressed and sweating freely as they painted a house. Derisive comments were made about McIntyre's attire, to which he replied not only with dignity but in a manner that the American Cancer Society would approve today: "I'm preserving my pallor."

I am reminded of Forster's "Fools Rush In," in which the Brits have raced to Italy to retrieve a family baby. They go to the opera, where all the locals are dressed to the nines. One Brit comments on this, and the other, played by Helena Bonham-Carter, says it takes just as long to pack good clothes as ordinary ones. Words to live by. And might I just add, this is the summer photograph I've been awaiting. But why the stern expression?

P the T & Hot, I believe you are thinking of "Where Angels Fear to Tread" (although your title would certainly be apt).

Dahlink: You are quite right, of course. I'm not at my best in overheated weather, even with air conditioning, fans et alii. My apologies to you, Forster and Helena B-C. It was a good movie, though, with Helen Mirren as the ditsy Bit who marries a dentist and his entire town!

Of course I meant to type "ditsy Brit."