the Gentleman Smoker
-
Kevin Godbee - Feb 4, 2014
- 6 min read
Steve Morrisette
This column is about Gentleman’s Style and it’s various forms of expression as they intersect the experiences of pipe smokers and all lovers of fine tobaccos.
Why a style column?
There is currently a resurgence of interest in men’s fashion.
You can find variations of this statement more and more frequently these days across the media spectrum. You may have also noticed the increasing attention the media is focusing on the apparent growing popularity of the pipe hobby among young adults. Though possibly coincidental, I believe there is a subtle, if tenuous, relationship between the two.
From the Victorian period forward to the late 1960’s, pipe and cigar smoking among men was quite common and ubiquitous. We all know this. During these same times men (and women ) were far more attentive to the proprieties that expressed respect and grace in social interactions. This respect shown in civil discourse was echoed in a gentleman’s ( and lady’s ) style and dress as well.
All this fell away in the late 60’s with the “Let it all hang out” attitudes that set the coming tone and style for society over the next fifty years.
Pipe smoking is a talisman of that bygone era; an era remembered to have been a calmer and more civilized time of gentlemanly behavior and style. Dressing well also harkens back to such times. I recall that my father never went downtown without a nice jacket and tie if he wasn’t wearing a suit. And always with one of his small brimmed fedoras that were so popular at the time. This was to show respect and also to present himself, at a glance, as the gentleman he was. He invariably was smoking his pipe as well.
In today’s atmosphere of vitriolic political wrangling, banking frauds, terrorism, the NSA and a perceived growing lack of respect for one’s fellow man, folks may indeed be longing for the civilities of days gone by.
Everything old is new again
It is interesting to note that at the 2014 Pitti Uomo, a highly regarded twice yearly men’s fashion industry event in Florence, Italy, a significant number of the stylish and splendid attendees were seen smoking pipes and cigars. Pipes in particular seemed to be incorporated into outfits and employed as an expression of style. It is also important to note the happy fact that these sartorial devotees were actually smoking said pipes and cigars.
These individuals, acutely attuned to image and their own expression of style, have high regard for pipe and cigar smoking and demonstrate how well these align with a gentleman’s style. For many years, smoking was absolutely considered a sophisticated activity because it went hand in hand with style, individuality and freedom of self expression.
Given all of the above, a column on gentleman’s style seems quite timely.
What is style?
I believe that everyone has a sense of style. Some are more developed and clearly expressed than others, but we all have it. And, it can be enhanced and refined when one takes an interest. Just as in music and art, there are rules, guidelines and principles of style that can be learned and followed. A person developing their style, having mastered these principles, may then reinterpret them in ways that create a unique personal style. Look at the author Tom Wolfe, the actor George Clooney and star Frank Sinatra.
Each succeeded quite well in expressing their tastes and sensibilities while simultaneously defining themselves to the world. Tom Wolfe is formal and refined, but not too serious about it, hence; the white suits. George Clooney is subdued, elegant and casual all at the same time. And Sinatra? Well, Frank was just cool. Period. Three very different men presenting three very different styles, but gentleman all.
Fashion vs. Style
"Fashion fades, style is eternal." – Yves St. Laurent
The terms "fashion" and "style" are frequently used interchangeably. They are not the same. One can purchase fashion. Style is crafted by the individual and cannot be bought or hired. A great Harris Tweed sport coat may be purchased from Brooks Bros. and you have fashion. Style is choosing the pocket square that perfectly accents your tie and also picks up the subtle tones in the coat’s weave.
Gentlemanly style is when you, unbidden, slip that coat around your lady’s shoulders because you noticed she was cold. An important aspect of gentlemanly style is the consideration of others.
Judging a book by it’s cover
"You only get one chance to make a first impression."
It has been shown that the vast majority of information we take in during face to face communication is visual. Style is a subtle and often powerful element in that communication. In case you were wondering why you should give a damn about style, there’s your answer.
Our focus here
"Looking good isn’t self-importance, it’s self respect." – Charles Hix
A gentleman’s style is expressed in his choice and style of garments, but it also includes footwear, grooming, the cars we drive and even the pipes we smoke.
Style also extends to our choices about entertaining, the sports we play, TV, movies, music and so on.
The focus here will generally be sartorial concerns, as there is plenty to cover.
We are not only concerned with the wardrobe, but with how to wear, care for and preserve fine garments and footwear. There is also where and how to purchase pieces, what looks well with what, proper attire for special occasions, how to judge fit, what elements make a good shirt or suit, the value of a good tailor, and even esoteric concerns such as what pipe shapes look well with your face.
When timely and appropriate we will no doubt look at fine liquors, elegant dining, watches and jewelry, and perhaps more kinetic subjects like fishing, performance driving and the shooting sports.
We will also work to fit in a useful tip in each column so you always come away with information that is practical and proven.
Your comments and questions are invited and will be appreciated.
The Gentleman Smoker’s tip:
Spring is on the way before long, so now is the time to think about storing your woolen garments. If you retire the heaviest items first and as the weather warms continue to the lighter ones, you can avoid the sticker shock at the dry cleaner in June. Try this: immediately after cleaning, store the garment in a large and heavy zip lock type plastic bag like the ones for storing pillows and blankets. If they are clean and zipped up airtight you can forget about moths destroying your favorite herringbone tweed trousers. Do not use vacuum “space saving” bags, as you may damage the construction of jackets and set in God awful wrinkles.
Links:
www.gentlemansgazette.com
www.putthison.com
www.parisiangentleman.com
Credits:
Photos of Steve Morrisette by Steve Morrisette
|
Steve Morrisette is an artisan pipe maker, relentlessly snappy dresser, and self-confessed Virginia gentleman. He makes artisan pipes for discerning collectors, and scours the internet and shops of all types seeking information and fine garments, hats, watches, shoes, and jewelry – anything related to the gentleman’s lifestyle. Steve also spent several decades as a working drummer and photographer/photojournalist. You can find his pipes at www.smpipes.com, and catch his style photos and latest pipes on Facebook and Instagram. |
Written by Kevin Godbee
More Pipes and Tobaccos Articles
14 Responses
Smokingpipes.com Updates
9 Fresh Ashton Pipes |
48 Fresh Nørding Pipes |
132 Fresh Peterson Pipes |
24 Fresh Brulor Pipes |
48 Fresh Ropp Pipes |
Recent Posts
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 636. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Barry Kane. Barry started smoking a pipe in 1961 when he was 14-years old. Back then it seemed like everybody smoked, and you could buy pipes and tobacco just about anywhere. Barry is a true old-school pipe smoker, sticking to just one blend. See if you can guess which one before listening. At the top of the show Brian will give his take on Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s purchase of Mac Baren and Sutliff Tobacco and their announcement that they will be shut down.
There’s a pipe in my collection that I cannot bring myself to smoke, though I’ve had it for more years than I care to recall. It’s old, or shall I say, well experienced; that experience, that oldness came to it long before it was in my possession. The pipe is an old Comoy’s Grand Slam from the 1940s. The shape (#93), a slightly canted, stack billiard (sometimes referred to as a Belgian) is right up my alley, and it’s a beautiful example of it. It came to me with some wear and tear; nothing unusual for an old pipe, but more the signs of one that has been well loved, smoked a lot, treated as a favorite tool, cherished, in a sense, by frequent use. It’s the pipe equivalent of a vintage car that’s been driven a lot, enjoyed fully and maintained adequately, rather than one kept in a spotless garage, dusted and detailed weekly, brought out only for leisurely Sunday drives, or to be ogled behind the ropes at the next Concours d’Elegance. When it arrived, those uncounted years ago, it wanted a little restoration. Nothing dramatic needed to be done to it, but the stem was oxidized, the finish a little dingy. The cake was even and fairly thin, and the airway was relatively clean, both signs that its previous owner cared for it, but the bowl’s surface was a little drab and dull. It took little effort to reveal its beauty, to show the lovely contrasted stain and interesting grain beneath the old wax. I often think I should do before and after photos of pipes that I work on, but those thoughts always come after the work’s been done. This one would have been a great illustration of how years of handling that can sometimes make a pipe more beautiful, can other times make it just look grungy. Once I’d cleaned up the externals, it was time to address the inside bits. I approach this a little bassackwards, I realize. It would be more sensible to take care of the inside before addressing the outside, but it’s how I roll. If an old pipe isn’t pretty to look at, it’s unlikely that I’ll care much about it, and cleaning is usually the hardest part, or at least the most boring part of any restoration for me. Alcohol and pipe cleaners. Lots of pipe cleaners. That’s why I leave it for last. Sometimes, I’ll even give a pipe a test smoke before a deep cleaning, just for a point of reference. I gave it a sniff to get an idea of what I was up against, and it stopped me cold. There in that bowl was an aroma that I had not smelled in decades. My head was instantly filled with memories of being in the back room of a fabled Berkeley tobacconist’s shop where I stumbled upon a few jars of long discontinued blends. One of them, a blend called Forty and Eight, had the most engaging and unusual scent of any tobacco I’d stuck my schnoz into. It was sweet, but not in a candy store way. There were none of the usual vanilla, cherry, berry or anise notes of typical aromatics, nothing that could be compared to aftershave or deodorant soap, but something almost musky, a little earthy, something exotic. The shop’s owner couldn’t tell me what was in it, how, or where it had been produced. The old blend had been retired before he’d bought the place. The printed catalogue gave no clues, either, other than being overprinted with the word “DISCONTINUED” in bold, rubber-stamp type. (And, I don’t recall it as being “highly aromatic” as the description indicates.) There was still quite a bit in the jar. Being, at that point, an intrepid explorer of all kinds of tobaccos, whether I thought I’d like them or not, I had to give it a try. It was burly based, but also comprised a good measure of virginia leaf, and maybe some other varieties; I didn’t have enough experience at the time to really pick it apart. But, that aroma was unlike anything I’d experienced before or since. It was something now completely lost to time. Until it wasn’t. Memories are powerful things, and there is no sense more tightly bound to memory than our sense of smell. One whiff was all it took to carry me back in time, conjuring a vivid recollection of something long submerged in the inky depths of a subconscious mind. Look, I know as well as anyone that pipes are meant to be smoked, and that many feel it almost sacrilegious to have a pipe and not set it to its intended task. In this case, I simply can’t. I won’t. Ever. Rationally, I am fairly certain this pipe would probably be a great smoke. It was too well loved by its previous caretaker to be anything less than that. My choice not to smoke it is an emotional one, not something rational. Of the thousands of pipes that have passed through my hands over the years, this is the only one to create such a singular and vivid, almost Proustian recollection of temps perdu, of lost time. It revivified a long dormant memory that is mine, and mine alone, and that’s enough. I keep it in a drawer with other old English pipes. In some ways, it’s nothing special, just a nice old pipe. I don’t lavish it with any particular care that arguably befits the hidden treasure that it holds. It’s not in a special box, or displayed preciously in a glass cabinet. Every once in a while, I take it out, point my nose bowlwards, and every time, those memories return just as powerfully as they did the first time. I have no idea how long it’s been since its last owner smoked it, but in the years I’ve had it, there seems to have been very little degradation of the aroma, and that’s […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 635. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with James Ravenwood. James is the boutique tobacco blender of Ravenwood Blends. His blending started out as a fun hobby, and he now has professionally packaged commercially available products with some great tin art. Part of his interest in pipe smoking goes back to fond memories of a retired Navy Veteran that lived on his street while he was growing up that would sit in his driveway smoking a pipe all day. Later, in 2011 he began smoking pipes and soon after started experimenting with mixing different tobaccos. His other hobby, that he has been doing for 30 years, is photography. He takes wonderful photos of outdoor spaces, and still life pictures of pipes and tobacco. You can see them on his Instagram @thebriarfellowship. At the top of the show we’ll have an Ask the Pipemaker segment with renowned pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. Or the wild turkeys gobbling in the backwoods or all the fuss and feathers over the big one—Christmas. No, it is that we might need to take note of all the little things that mean so much to us. Like a good sunrise (seriously, Pundit has not gone all Pollyanna.) Mayhaps we need to appreciate more of what we have than what we have not. Or something like that. Like, a good pipe in the morning with coffee as the dawn brings us coolish weather now that we have flipped the calendar to autumn. But it also brings beautiful leaves that have become a spectacle of technicolor in the wind. It is the little things. The rereading of an enjoyable book and finding something you did not see or learn in the first go-round. Or a stunning phrase you commit to memory with the re-read, while smoking that favorite pipe. And you notice a superior puff that just seems to be different. It’s in the air and the seasons of meaningful little things. It’s aromatic! Or perhaps it is that sense of satisfaction knowing and appreciating you made it to another day. With the world in a kind of rinse-and-repeat history, reminiscent of a Shakespearean play, it is perhaps a good moment to remember some of Pipedom’s philosophers whose cogent thoughts brought light to clear a path in the mists of confusion and confounding opinions. Ok. No gloom and doom. Just some down-home thoughts. Think of times in the past when history was running off the rails. It took our pipe-smoking thinkers (the mind workers of the world) to speak of better pathways to more light. Think for a moment, with a pipe in hand, these wizards of the world and word: Albert Einstein, J. R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edwin Hubble, Bertrand Russell, C. S. Lewis, and Jean-Paul Sartre. All learned and enlightened. They offered wisdom instead of storms of meaningless roads to nowhere. All while smoking their pipes! Maybe especially with the help of their pipes in the art of thinking and philosophy. Recall the words of Mr. E=MC2 when he said, “I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs.” Amen and amen! Dealing with world-rattling events takes a calm and objective view of things, to the Pundit’s way of summing it up. You just don’t go messing around with quantum physics without a calm and objective approach, methinks. Or as the extraordinary physicist Robert Oppenheimer said after he and a team in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Labs developed a way to split atoms into bombs during World War II. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” said Oppenheimer referring to the development of the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. It must be pointed out that Oppenheimer was more of a cigarette smoker than a pipe smoker. Nonetheless, pipes were part of his personality. Now, if you have read some of the great authors of the past and present, their pipes were always nearby. Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be a three-pipe problem at times. S. Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre require time with your pipes to reflect on the existential problems and solutions these authors provide in learned novels and other narratives. Or take Edwin Hubble and Bertrand Russell, philosophers of another world. Pipes are required for reading. The quantum lode of ideas Pundit is attempting to sort out is that our pipes are relaxing and stimulate our thoughts and creativity. Especially in these last months of the year. Many times Pundit has had that light bulb flick on while smoking my beloved pipes. And friends in Pipedom, it ain’t easy to turn on the lights in Pundit’s rock pit head. Now it’s time for a quote from a Pipe Smoker of the Past. Shelby Foote was born Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., and died June 27, 2005, in Memphis, Tenn. A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Steve Morisette is the consummate gentleman, who demonstrates both visually and verbally that a gentleman should be attired with the proper pipe to exemplify sartorial elegance. It isn’t a matter of how much you spend on clothing–one can drop a bundle and still look like a slob. Thank you, Steve, for a simple and elegant introduction to what I hope will be a long-running, and well heeded series.
Steve,
You are the epitome of the well attired and personable gentleman. I am always impressed by your dapper style and friendly conversation at the pipe shows when I see you. Not to mention the fantastic pipes that you craft. Good luck with this new column, I look forward to more gemtlemanly recommendations befitting our hobby.
Great article, I am looking forward to the future contributions.
From the article: “During these same times men (and women ) were far more attentive to the proprieties that expressed respect and grace in social interactions. This respect shown in civil discourse was echoed in a gentleman’s ( and lady’s ) style and dress as well.”
Amen!
I distinctly remember in the early sixties, boarding a plane the people dressed nicely, and social graces were on full display for my young eyes…fast forward to the ensuing years, I have seen everything from a woman finger flossing toe jam onto the terminal seats, and a slob in a homemade muscle shirt, armpit hair tufted out, smelling like a sweaty mule shoulder to shoulder with me on a plane.
Earlier this year in an airport, I saw an older couple that made me feel like I was transported back in time, he was dressed very much like Mr. Morisette, his wife was equal in her appearance, but it was more than that also…it was how they carried themselves, and interacted with their fellow man…they looked far superior in class to those around them with no ostentatious air about them.
On a side-note, it would be nice to return to the day when women actually looked like ladies, and tramp-stamps protruding from low rise pants were a thing of the past, but that horse has left the barn I am afraid.
Great article.
I remember when everything changed in the 60’s. At first it was great to be so casual, but like everything else, too much of a good thing gets old.
The other day I saw a women in pajammas at the grocery store . . . this reflects the sad state of society on a whole.
Another great article of which I am excitedly waiting more installments of.
I have to agree, society has definitely lost the refinement it had up until the 60s. The days when every man had a suit and tie matched with a nice fedora/bowler hat. Women wore a dress practically every day.
I’ll say this about my style, people usually ask me if I’m heading out for a job interview lol. I typically head out in a pair of dark wash jeans, an untucked button up dress shirt, some loafers, and usually a fedora. Sometimes I’ll accent it with an unbuttoned vest. I try to look like a gentleman as much as I act like one.
I’m glad the world is casual. Myself? I wear ties every day, jackets, cuff links, the whole bit. No big deal. However, if everyone else was doing it, it would be no big deal, and I’d be the guy driving around town with a tacky freak’n baseball cap and no shirt on, lol.
Steve;
Great opening article. I look forward to your following submissions.
Regards
BB
Excellent article Steve – thanks! I’m really looking forward to future pieces. I’m a middle-aged Englishman who works in the City of London, so I also dress every day in the uniform of suit, tie, cuff links, subtly personalised to my taste. I like to think that I dress well when casual – tweeds &c. – but I’m very open to new ideas. I’m really interested in seeing the American and international themes; the Italian show content was great and I love what Gianni Fontana is wearing. Particularly telling are the comments on manners and the way we treat others. A number of us work to maintain the spirit and practice of English behaviour, but the masses are happier to behave like slobs. A real shame. Good luck to you Steve and well done!
I would love to dress the “Dapper Don”, sadly where I work it never fails that when I wear something nice I end up on a job site and its ruined!
I wish to thank you for your excellent article. Self-respect is important; it has sadly all too often been eroded away by cultural fads and pressures. I am not at all against casual wear. In the house and around the garden I dress accordingly; but I do like to wear shirt, jacket and tie with decent shoes. Part of my upbringing when you weren’t allowed out of the house unless you were smart enough to do so! Regarding the pyjama person, well that is all too common in areas near where I live in the UK! I will not condemn them, only to wish for a wiser and wider view of what passes for acceptable peer smartness.
Here’s to gentlemanly dress sense! Many thanks for an engaging and inspiring viewpoint and looking forward to more articles.
I will wear my jacket tomorrow with pride!
G.
Though, a non-clothes horse myself I look forward to more articles in this series.
Thank you to all for your very kind reception and most welcome comments. I eagerly look forward to next month’s column. Please know that you are welcome to ask questions of me or make suggestions. All pertinent input is welcomed and desired. If you feel inclined, please tell your friends and pipe clubs about ” the Gentleman Smoker ” column. As we build interest and participation through the comment section, perhaps we can add a Gentleman Smoker sub-forum. My best to all,
Steve Morrisette
the Gentleman Smoker
Without being formal, it’s still been possible to dress with a sense of style. I wear fedoras, long coats, and lots of dress shirts- some rather bright, and others more subtle- none of which I tuck in.
But there’s been an abandonment of anything classic- in favor of synthetics and “active-wear”. T-shirts. Collars have been abandoned on shirts, jackets etc. The cult of youth has given us the desire for people to wear as little as possible- so we seen the abandonment of coats and even jackets… I’d like to hear some of these pompously youthful idiots try to tell me they aren’t cold! L Ron Hubbard created this trend in California(where else) is my guess.
The result is frightfully dull clothing, and the idea that men wear nothing more than basketball shorts, flip-flops and ball caps. What’s funny when you see these slobs- and their girlfriends wear all this makeup and actually do spend a lot of time trying to look good- very incongruous! We now live in an age when if a man actually tries to look nice, he’s made to feel suspicious of being less than manly.
Perverse, but all too real. These are my observations- mostly of Arizona; it’s not quite that bad elsewhere.
I’ve always adhered to the maxim that fashion can be bought, while style one must possess. Looking forward to the next installment Steve.