Friday, May 10, 2013

In Praise of the Waistcoat

The web site should now be more or less up to date. There's an excerpt of the opening of the new book. I may do some more tweaks in the coming days as buy links come up. Pre-orders should become available for Amazon and Apple early next week, for those who want to have the book automatically appear on release day. It's also possible that the paperback via Amazon will be available around release day, but I'm not holding my breath because things there have a fun way of getting messed up. We've got all the pieces together for that to happen, so it's up to them being able to pull off their end of things.

I don't know why I put off the web site updates for so long. It went on the list of things I procrastinate about until it reaches a point of dread, for no apparent reason.  I was all geared up to spend the day working on it, then finished in maybe an hour.

In other news, I've recently noticed a trend that I heartily approve of: the return of the waistcoat in men's fashion. Or at least on TV. I don't really follow fashion, and I don't know too many men who care much about being in style (most of my friends are geeks), so I don't know if this is a real-world thing, but it's showing up on TV a lot lately, much to my delight. There's just something about a trim man in a waistcoat. Last night, Sherlock was wearing a buttoned up waistcoat and white shirt on Elementary. David (aka Prince Charming) was wearing one this week on Once Upon a Time (and it was a scene in our world, not a fairy tale land flashback). The Doctor has added a waistcoat to his wardrobe this season on Doctor Who, worn with bowtie and frock coat, but a couple of episodes ago, he was in shirtsleeves with the waistcoat, and I really liked that look. On Haven last season, a waistcoat became part of Nathan's "really, I'm the police chief now" look, worn with necktie and sometimes a blazer, but with jeans for those messy crime scenes.

I'm not sure it's a look every man can pull off. You kind of have to be built like Matt Smith or Lucas Bryant -- tall, able to hide behind a flagpole -- to really work it . It doesn't work if the buttons strain or the shirt peeks out from underneath. On a skinny guy, the waistcoat accentuates the slim waist while adding a little needed bulk to the torso. Plus, it just gives that classy gentleman look.

I was just thinking of how I'll have to start writing these into my work, but since I've been writing steampunk, I suppose I already have. Maybe that's why this appeals to me. Then again, it may also have something to do with my Overgrown Manchild aversion. It's nice to see men dressed like grown-ups instead of like fratboys. I'm a big fan of suits, in general, and adding the waistcoat/vest ramps it up a notch.

If I were a good blogger, I'd go find photos to embed for visual aids, but I know better than to even start going down that rabbit hole of searching for images. I'd never emerge, and I have stuff to do today, like a trip to the library and to Home Depot so I can set up my patio.

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