Real Men Wear Sweater Vests
Yup, this is me, in my office at Concordia Publishing House. I love colder weather because I get to wear sweater vests! Apparently several of the women in my life think sweater vests are kind of dorky. That's ok, I can live with that.
The huge crucifix that hangs on my wall is a gift from the family of President Alvin Barry. At his death, they offered me the crucifix that always hung in his offices, while he was a pastor, mission executive, district executive, district president and then Synodical President. It was a gift to him from one of his first congregations. He had found it up in the church attic, unused. It had been painted white and he carefully removed the paint and restored the wood to its original condition, and then the congregation had it mounted on a cross and put into the large shadow box you see in the photo, and gave it to him as a gift. The crucifix was brought with founding members of the congregation, from Germany, when they came to the USA in the 19th century. The paintings next to it are the Cranach Weimar altar painting, and below it Hook's Christ with the Children.
it is hard to resist thinking of your story of Dr Barry´s crucifix as being a metaphor for what every christian of every generation should try to think about doing.
Please don’t tell me you’re wearing penny loafers.
Hey, I LOVE sweater vests AND I’m wearing one right now. AND all the women in my life tell me they’re dorky. What do they know?
McCain: It must be a guy thing.
Paul,
I love sweater vests too. Personally, I think it takes a real man to brave the possibility of being called dorky in order to be fashionable and warm. Keep wearing your sweater vests, throwing all caution to the wind, and staring danger right in the face. If all else fails, we’ll all be dorky together. Besides, we all know we’re cool….well, we’re actually quite warm in our sweater vests. Anyways… Have a great weekend.
I too am a sweater vest guy. And I too get grief from the women in my life for wearing them. I will not be swayed, however.
Apparently there is a deep undercurrent of angst out there among many women over against sweater vests. We men have to stick together on this.
Such panache. How ’bout a pipe and tweed jacket, too? Winking smiley face.
We Northwesterners prefer our fleece vests from Eddie Bauer.
I dress my son like that for school sometimes, except that I don’t make my kindergartner wear a tie. The vest look is a bit dorky, but I happen to like dorky.
I struggle with putting the complete three-piece outfit together for my kid. Maybe you vest-wearing men can help me out. Are the pants supposed to match the vest, the undershirt, or neither? Is it ever acceptable to have the vest be the same color as the shirt it covers? And can you wear a polo shirt instead of a dress shirt for the bottom layer?
To answer the questions posed by Cindy Ramos:
Neither
No
NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
I’m with you, Paul. Living in Arizona gives me very little opportunity to wear a sweater or sweater-vest, and I have been wearing them since 1968! I have become partial to the cable knit sweater in the JC Penney Big & Tall Catalog…it looks great with a clerical.
So, go with the vest, lose the tie….we’re Lutheran Pastors and, by definition, belong in clerical collars!
I love sweater vests too, for the one or two days of the year where I can wear one in Southern California. But my wife knows where my closet is…and for some reason, they keep on disappearing!
Sweater vests are for real men – absolutely! I think real men will opt for comfort over fashion any day of the week.
Down under we call them “sleeveless jumpers” and I have three, one of them actually being a sleeveless cardigan…do you have them in the States? It’s a sleeveless jumper with an extra deep v-neck and buttons down the middle – ultra dorky and great for the home study.
Now Paul, do you have a corduroy sport coat in your wardrobe?
Indubitably, as to the owning of cardigan sweater vests (navy blue and white) … my comfort, in this matter, is that it is highly likely that St. John the Baptist himself was considered hopelessly “dorky” by his contemporaries, with regard to his chosen dress. It’s only one man’s humble opinion, but let those Lutheran blogging clerics speculate on THAT.
Indubitably, as well, as to the possession of corduroy sport coats … the last, acquired from the local, high fashion Target store (that’s pronounced Tar-SHAY’, for any speculators given to sneering e.g., “Surely he’s a Samaritan, and a devil”).
I am, however, perturbed that the otherwise stalwart Rev. McCain fails to seize the grand opportunity to display a bow-tie.
I’m a pastor’s wife who loves the sweater vest, with clerical, or with a nice shirt and Dockers or even jeans…but I prefer the cardigan style as opposed to over the head v-neck.