Dare we call Rep. Don Young a “lumbersexual?”
The 82-year-old Alaska Republican probably isn’t familiar with the term, even though he embodied the hipster label — definition: a cool, bearded type often sporting rugged vintage threads of a certain provenance — at a party Thursday at the District of Columbia outpost of Filson on the trendy 14th Street corridor. Filson is the Seattle-based heritage brand that got its start outfitting miners in 1897.
Young turned up at the fete wearing a 1960s-era Filson suit he’s had in his closet — well, since it was new, nearly a half-century ago. Young told the crowd, heavy on fashion bloggers and Filson execs, which was gathered to celebrate the company’s new watch collection inspired by Alaska’s Dutch Harbor region, that the getup is known in his circle as an “Alaskan tuxedo.” Apparently, the jacket and pants combo — gray wool, with double breast pockets — was a style favored by guys in the Last Frontier state who typically are more comfortable in flannels than dress clothes.
But the event wasn’t just a chance to show off his suddenly chic-again sartorial statement — or even to revel in home-state pride (the crowd was nosing on Alaskan beer and crab canapes). Young, with Anne, his wife of less than a year, at his side, ended his remarks by inviting partygoers to see the inspiration behind the watch in person, which he hoped would boost tourism in his district: “I want your money!” he said.