Duck Heads & Polos

"After all, it was the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was in the White House, God was making a comeback, and Duck Head khakis with heavily starched Polo shirts were the official uniform of campus life."

- Joe Scarborough
Extracted from Rome Wasn't Burnt In A Day

Image Credit: Scott Schuman/The Sartorialist

In the Volunteer Tradition

Tennessee Loves You 4"x4" sticker can be purchased HERE. Shirts by Billy Reid HERE.

While the rest of the country was weighing in on Arizona's new immigration legislation, the Gulf Coast was waiting (and still is) for a solution to the horrific oil leak, and New York City was investigating a failed terrorist attack, the people of Nashville and middle Tennessee were dealing with what some are calling the "1,000 Year Flood."

On Sunday, May 3, I left Washington to fly to Nashville for a conference and saw the very unfortunate situation on the ground first hand. Across the next several days, we saw the water breach the river's banks and heard up-to-the-moment reports of flooding at Music City's most prized landmarks: The Grand Ole Opry, the basement of the Shermerhorn Symphony Hall, the Wildhorse Saloon, LP Field and so on.

Fortunately, we were able to continue with our conference, stay in a downtown hotel, patronize the honky tonks, and, hopefully, in turn do our part to support the Nashville economy during it's most dire moment.

Now you can too. Volunteer Traditions, a Nashville-based company, that has appeared under SG's "Purveyors of Southern Goods" column for quite some time is giving 25% of May 2010 sales to help flood victims.

With gear from the Volunteer State and Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North & South Carolina, and Texas, you now have no excuse to not show how much you love Tennessee.

Where In the World

It's been a busy few weeks and the next few aren't looking great either. The end of April started the run of trade shows that are a big part of our industry starting in Orlando then Nashville and now in Vegas. From here I head to Napa for a wedding this weekend and then New York City the weekend of Memorial Day.

I hope to be back on regular blogging schedule in the coming days, but in the interim enjoy a few observations from my travels:

• Rip Ride Rockit: A ridiculous rollercoaster ride at Universal Studios Florida, where you pick the soundtrack from a pre-programmed MP3 player. I rode 4 times: Kenny x2. Alman Brothers. Journey.
  
• Rising Waters: I happened to be in Nashville the day after the flooding started and saw first hand the river crest and destroy the home of country music. Keep Music City in your thoughts.
  
• Plaid Shorts: Replacing the cargo, knee-length plaid shorts seems to be the go-to rig of twenty-something dudes (and some dads) as evident in the too many to count we've seen in Vegas.

Image Credit: Google Images