PURCHASE - Affected, borderline campy Oyster Belt Buckle from Sid Mashburn.
Circa 2003, working at Robert Talbott Pebble Beach
I have had a life-long, not-so-secret fascination with classic, East Coast, Ivy League preppy style. I don't know where it came from, as I certainly didn’t grow up anywhere near it. Maybe it was my early interest in the Kennedys. Perhaps it was born in films like Dead Poets Society, The Paper Chase, or Risky Business. It could be many things. It definitely blossomed, though, when I was in college working my first job at Robert Talbott in Carmel-By-The-Sea. Though the overall aesthetic at Talbott at the time was not strictly in this style, working in Carmel which is by definition a retreat for the well to do waspy old guard, I was exposed to people from that world for the first time, and on a regular basis. That world of frayed and sun-kissed Nantucket Reds, well-worn Sperry Top Siders, and borderline thread-bare button-down oxford shirts from Brooks Brothers.
Since I do not herald from a background authentically reared in this style, I can only channel my love for it in a quasi half-assed fashion by adopting small essences of it. (I tend to find it rather repulsive when I see people who head-to-toe embody this look without coming from it, not unlike seeing someone wear a military uniform without having been in the service). I have become quite adept at doing things in this half-assed fashion over the yeares and it is the method of doing things that seems to work best for me.
I first saw this belt buckle on the blog of one Dusty Grainger, a bona fide bon vivant of classic menswear . In my opinion, a belt buckle cast from an oyster shell encompasses all the things I love about that style. It inspires from a bit of history, it is whimsical without being too pretentious, and it is well-made. All of that describes Sid Mashburn, who commissioned the buckle and sell it exclusively (there are many clones and knock offs, but only one original).
As of this writing, it retails for $75 from Sid and you can order one HERE. I know it looks like gold in the photo, but it's brass. I'm not that bougie, trust me.