VintageGent’s Menswear Daily

This post brought to you by VISIT FLORIDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Many people think of mouse ears and sunburns when they think of Florida. The next time you are down, check out the scene for antiques and vintage clothing. Florida has areas that are a hot bed for the most curious finds. No, it is not just because folks retire, pass away and have estate sales. People bring their prized possessions when they move and then realize they haven't worn that cashmere top coat in eight years and they part ways with it. When they decorate, its not convenient to find out if the niece or nephew form Maine wants Uncle Morton's sideboard, so by mutual decision, it is sold for something new. Not to mention the years of tourist kitsch some folks collect.

St. Augustine has several worthy contenders to stop at for vintage clothing, including The Way we Were on Charlotte St and the Closet on Cordova. What is not to be missed is the architecture. At Augustine is the oldest settled American city if you are talking about European settlement and put Salem to shame. Bring your inner Indiana Jones or at the very least Jack T. Colton.

Right now, check out Florida’s Three for Free Giveaway vacation, sponsored by VISIT FLORIDA. The grand prize winner selects three vacations from a list of 12, including a trip to St. Augustine. (You find VISIT FLORIDA on Facebook for more details.) Nine other random winners will receive one of the nine remaining trips.

Here is the big wishlist:

1) Historic St. Augustine

2) Legoland

3) Florida's SpaceCoast – lunch with an astronaut!

4) Shopping Spree in Destin

5) Swim with the Manatees in Homosassa Springs

6) Go horse surfing and ride a Segway on Florida's Gulf Coast

7) Be a Trainer for a day at Miami's Seaquarium

8) Be pampered at the Breakers Palm Beach

9) Golf and Spa at a PGA National Resort

10) Be a World Golf Hall of Famer in St. Augustine

11) Tradewinds, Florida Beach vacation

12) Hawk's Cay Resort in the Keys

If you win, I'll share my list of secret places to find the snappiest fashions.

I entered. I chose the Historic St. Augustine vacation (sponsored by Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth), the shopping spree in Destin (provided by ResortQuest) and I'll learn to horse surf (provided by AnnaMariaIslandLongboatKey.com) and pretend I'm in black and white film making my escape from a remote island…maybe.

No Facebook membership required. Simply click on the icons of the trips you choose and then fill out the entry form. A name, phone number, email address and address are required to contact you.

If I in…you may have to share your favorite spots with ME.

This post brought to you by Western Union. All opinions are 100% mine.

Well meaning relatives may send gift certificates to their favorite boutiques and stores. Little do they realize that just because a chain is in town doesn't mean its in yours. Before it was the thing to redeem gift cards online, there was always a stash of restaurant cards to be used when visiting relatives, as the local chain didn't have a location where I lived. If the recipient is into buying everything second hand, its even more challenging.

Western Union gift cards are a one size fits all solution and come from a trusted name that is globally recognized (Just ask Lucy, at left, advertising the Western Union Telegram). No guff will be received at checkout when a VISA card with kittens or a child's soccer photo is on it (I didn't know this, but you can sometimes order credit cards with your own photo.)

If that wasn't enough, Western Union offers a gift package, which includes:

• The Western Union Gift Card
• A personalized greeting card that you select from their website
• A recorded message. When the recipient calls the toll free number to activate their card, they also receive a special message from you.
  

If you use the promo code WUGIFTPROMO8, you will receive 25% off of the $5.00 fee. This code is good through 9/1/12, so be sure to book mark this page.

Shipping via First Class Mail is FREE. There are also overnight options through FEDEX available at an additional charge. Speaking of charges, there is no charge to the recipient, other than an inactivity fee if they let it sit in a drawer. One transaction needs to be conducted, even if they don't use the full balance within a year of activation.

What would really be keen is if Western Union delivered a telegram along with it, delivered by a courier in uniform. That will never happen with the technology of today, but it sure could make someone feel like a regular Rip Van Winkle. Unfortunately, through today's lens, the person would not think it was a quaint and polite surprise, but assume that the courier must be a Strip-O-Gram.

o The Western Union® gift card is issued by MetaBank™ pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. MetaBank; Member FDIC. A $2.50 per month servicing fee applies after 12 consecutive months of non-use
o Gift Card only for sale and shipment to the 48 contiguous states excluding AZ, PO Boxes, U.S. military bases and correctional facilities

This post brought to you by Kia Rio. All opinions are 100% mine.

Kia sent two teams on a Scavenger Hunt around Los Angeles recently. The prize at the end was to meet their favorite Hollywood celebrity, and they chose Christina Milian. My favorite Hollywood celebrity has been deceased for quite a bit. Wonder if they would let me choose a set or costume designer from the big budget movies, or perhaps individuals in charge of the Bond inventions. They wouldn't be the type of celebrity that KIa was intending, and I am sure you wouldn't get to spend the day learning their craft. It would probably be more like a photo op. Drat.

The participants drove around in a Kia (visit the Rio Explorer Page for more details on the car), visited Amoeba records, the land of both CD and vinyl, the circa 1937 Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round, The Roosevelt Hotel, Pink's Hotdogs and Rodeo Drive. If I was in a hurry, the challenge at the record store would be the most difficult, as sometimes my very own set of keys can be right in front of me all along and still be invisible, much less a needle in the haystack cd.

Was it through the magic of video editing that the two groups arrived one after the other? Or were they really on the heels of each other? I could understand the treasure hunt of looking for the CD, but was not able to conclude what the letters on the cubes on the Merry-Go-Round told them, but perhaps I need another viewing. The teams both relied on the Kia Rio's Microsoft-fueled UVO Technology, which is an entertainment system that streams music, provides a rearview camera, and allows you to say voice commands and use a touch screen. There is a USB jack, bluetooth and navigation system also. When my trunk is roped down holding a midcentury credenza in it, that rear camera display comes in handy.

Would you participate in a town run around?

This post brought to you by Crucial.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

Many emails reach the official VG spam box. Unlike the mahogany "in tray" for messages from readers atop a burled walnut desk, the spam box is a tiny, rusty corrugated metal receptacle. Before email was popular, it was filled with misbegotten fashion trends such as neon mesh shirts for men and mismatched real-feathers-on-one-side-and-one-millimeter-stud-earring on the other ear for women. In many of these spam messages, senders try to coax with offers of free IPads if you only complete 25,000 surveys and give away your addresses and future addresses.

There is actually a real contest (Crucial Memory Sweepstakes) that not only would put you in line to win an iPad to track all of your outfit ideas. but $10,000 worth of Apple products. The promo is put on by Crucial Memory that sells memory upgrades to Mac, Gateway, HP and even makers and devices I have never heard of before, such as Apricot and Voodoo. They are a premiere source because memory is absolutely all they do. They have been in the business for the past 15 years, so you can trust them. They can't do anything about finding your keys, but your computer will be in the best shape of its life.

There are a few tricky questions you have to answer to make sure you are a human being, but as soon as you do, you'll have your hat in the ring right along with me.

Upgrading one's RAM capacity can be the difference between chucking your machine and buying something new and blogging on your Blueberry iMac G3. With upgraded memory, the resident Blueberry IMac screams right along. I know, not a hardcore retro machine complete with Oregon Trail and a lovely green screen, but the 90s are still before some current computer hackers were even born. That almost causes me to wistfully dab my eye with a monogrammed pocket square over my comparably misspent year of bike riding and roller skating while I could have been a 13 year old millionaire hacker had I been born later. Almost.

This post brought to you by PA Tourism. All opinions are 100% mine.

The open road is full of oddities: Roadside Teepee motels, giant balls of twine, and Museums of Bad Art. Depending on where you go, fashion inspiration can be found people watching on the street corner (but land sakes, no, not THAT corner). Sometimes when you transport yourself to another part of the country, sometimes fashion is homogenized and is exactly what it is at your own local mall parking lot or school. Sometimes a trend where you are hasn't reached your town yet.

If you are just traveling the interstate, you may have never found the Giant Clothespin on South 15th and Market St in Philly. Hop out and take a snapshot of you squeezing the end to place something on the line. Or piinch your friend's nose. It isn't as trite as pushing the Leaning Tower of Pisa up. Yet.

Of course, there's that Liberty Bell.

If you are planning a roadtrip through Pennsylvania and have special interests in history, arts, or any other subject, there is pa-roadtrips router that plugs in every site of interest so all the VintageGent's and Gentette's won't miss any plaque that commemorates achievements of much older Gents and Gentettes. Maybe one will be put up for you for your amazing incorporation of non-walking shoe looking walking shoes into your ensemble.

Simply plug in your start and destination point and all sorts of little red dots spring up along your trail with details about each spot. There may be too many to visit them all, but you can choose what is along the way and have some roadtrips of a lifetime rather than driving in circles.

The trip map works from any in-state starting point. Next time you are cutting through the state, or even if your destination is there, you will have much more fun than feeling claustrphonic between your Nauga that was brought along for safe keeping and your blue Slurpee that was bought at the only place you saw, when you could have indeed bought a Martini and a flattened penny from a machine instead.

Open to suggestions? There are preselected road trips if you don't have any particular place to go. Maybe I'll take the SmallTown Charmy tour and ride an authentic, restored 1920s railcar in New Hope. Trains of that vintage do definitely "Travel By Map" a la Raiders of the Lost Ark…and the Muppets, and then head to Doylestown for a shopping trip down Antique Row. I find the best top hats there. The VintageGent-ette would take her favorite guy and the VintageGent would take a very big steamer trunk.

This post brought to you by éclos Skin Care. All opinions are 100% mine.

Apples have played an important part in the advancement of humane society. Sir Isaac Newton not only had an apple pelt his noggin but perhaps he also ate one a day…to keep the doctor away. Newton avoided the Black Plague by hook or crook, but maybe he owed it to Granny Smith all along way before society new the proper repellant for the need for the medical establishment. Now its even a baby name—Apple, but Granny would be decidely retro (After all, Edith, Ethel and Ida are all poised for a comeback. Dudley and Calbert for gents.)

Now, apple stems cells are said to revolutionize your own pucker…the pucker of your face that is.

One lucky reader will win….

…a prize pack from éclos Skin Care. This includes sample sizes of:

• Facial Cleanser Skin Prep
• Cellular Activator Face Serum
• Moisture Therapy Regenerative Cream
• Restorative Eye Cream
• Instant Radiance Facial Scrub
• Skin Renewal Clay Mask
• éclos Terry Cloth Head Band

To Enter:

1) Leave a comment below for one entry. Opine about anything.
2) Second entry: Comment and tell me if you use deodorant soap on your face in the shower or do you have a skin care regimen?
3) For a third entry, follow @VintageGent on Twitter and tweet this giveaway.

This set is appropriate for BOTH ladies and gents. The head band could be used as a retro 80s sweatband if you like, or to remove the tendrils of female or even male David Coverdale-like hair band hair from the face.

Through a strenuous test at the Headquarters, the VintageGent-ette agreed to guinea pig herself out and found the following results:

The Positives:

• The product is surprisingly non irritating for individuals with conditions such as eczema and dermatitis. Please check with your dermatologist first if you have a severe condition.
• The regiment greatly reduced redness, but go easy on the scrub product if you are unsure.
• eClos is plant-based, vegan (Not to be confused with Las Vegan) and gluten-free if you happen to be allergic to everything under the sun…and then some.
• It is available at familiar retailers. National chains, such as GNC, Walgreen's, Target, Rite Aid and Ulta, stock the product.
• A quick scan yielded a price range for products from $6-25 for various products and sizes (this range may vary by retailer and location.)

The "Oh well:"

If the user is not used to a multi step regimen, the system takes some time to get used to. It took about three days to naturally remember which product was next. It was easy to get the hang of after that.

Try it for yourself and see if it stacks up to the hoopla…

Comment below to put your hat in the ring to win!

This post brought to you by ShopYourWay Program. All opinions are 100% mine.

Recently, I received an invite to Shop Your Way. I felt so elite, except for the fact that I clicked on the web page's homesite button to request one rather than having received a personal summons by an influential mover and shaker. Pretending is always self esteem-building, however,

The site works a little differently than many shopping sites. As a member, you receive points for making purchases through the site, as well as exclusive Member-Only deals. On top of it, you get to play personal shopper to your friends by sending them information for your top picks. When they buy, you earn 1% that can be redeemed for cash! The payout threshold is at $20.00. Links to suggestions can easily be shared through Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo mail and Gmail.

This could be an important avenue for style makers with impressive Twitter and Facebook followings, as well as for recommending items in the virtual Christmas Wishbook for the family when that seasonal time of commercial chaos ensues, not to mention when in-house balsams and firs lay peculiar square and rectangular eggs.

When I followed the registration link from my invite, my information originally was not accepted. Users are required to provide a name, address, email and phone number. It is only natural if users collect revenue, but most importantly, shop. Initially, the system would not accept me citing that my phone number was invalid, though it was typed in the correct format. Oddly, I found that when I switched browsers and used a cell versus a landline and it worked. Very peculiar.

Right now, the store choices are limited to Sears, Kmart, MyGofer, Avis, Land's End and the Great Indoors, but that is still provides a large range of products, whether that means showing relative's your brother's wedding wish list of car parts that he hopes his bride to be doesn't grouse at, or swapping back to school fashion ideas. Sears catalogs are always a good reference for what everyday people actually wore in any given year, and it remains true to this day. Not everyone steps out in cutting edge couture.

Have you signed up? If you purchase clothing or appliances at any of these establishments, it behooves you to collect additional rewards. Request an Invite to ShopYourWay

to get started.