The Dapper Dad

I came across this website the other day and I just had to write a brief article about it. FIGS (Fashion – Inspired – Global – Sophistication), the website explains, is the brainchild of entrepreneur Heather Hasson. During college she helped over 170 Vietnamese children attend school by providing uniforms with the proceeds from sales of designer handbags. This was her introduction into social entrepreneurship and she was hooked. She then worked with fashion companies such as Levis Strauss and Gucci and has since parlayed her love of fashion and helping others into her current venture.

Currently, you can go to the FIGS website and look through their selection of ties and bow ties. The material and design looks fantastic and how can you feel bad about splurging a bit when with every tie purchase, FIGS gives a uniform to a child in order for them to attend school.

Welcome to The Dapper Dad! A brief introduction is necessary as I gather my thoughts and gets things started. Many of you already know me as New York Dad over at my daddy blog New York Dad’s Blog. I know that over there I can talk about anything and everything dad related which probably could include much of what I want to talk about over here.

I felt, though, that a separate blog was appropriate since I will be concentrating much more on the dad as a man as opposed to the dad as a parent. All the ideas and thoughts I have concerning being a “Dapper Dad”, in fact, whether it is clothing, accessories, grooming, mixology, hobbies, sports, attitude or mannerisms in general will be left to these pages. Think of it as the den – a place for you to momentarily shut the door and remind yourself that you are a man – and most importantly a gentleman – as well as a father. A place, also, to unwind for a split second amidst all the burp up stains, the crushed Cheerios, the crazy hair, the unkept beard and all other forms of voluntary and involuntary submission to the parenting world that we have come to know since our first born was, well, born.

There are certainly many dads who just don’t care and I understand completely why they would think what I am doing here is useless. For those of you who do, though, feel that every once and a while you would like to feel like “a million bucks” I welcome you with a pat on the back and a stiff drink in hand. I certainly have my own strong opinions about what I feel constitutes a Dapper Dad and I certainly fail in many instances to live up to my own set of criteria due to my own negligence (and the ever present excuse of “I have a kid, you know!”).

I would like to see your comments and guest posts that will hopefully bring together different opinions, preferences and points of view for all of us to discuss, debate and question. I don’t really have a specific format in mind for these pages nor do I want to limit access to dads and men only. I do think, though, that there are certainly general parameters that define a Dapper Dad and despite the need for such a man to be as diplomatic as possible – I can make no guarantee that it will always be the case with me (I am, after all, a New Yorker).

Let me set as an ambitious objective that of providing a source of information for dads, in particular, that offers (from all different points of views and sources) suggestions, opinions and room for debate on issues that gravitate around what I have mentioned above and see where this takes us! Bear with me as I build up the page and also as I experiment using tumblr as an on-the-go and “improv” post source. My hope is that the posts will entertain and inform.

Thanks for taking the time to drop by and I look forward to engaging everyone in the conversation!

Sincerely,

The Dapper Dad