Pretty Southern

Tag: Gentleman

  • Native Southerner Hunts for Fossils

    Southerners are proud of their roots spanning back through eons. For Alan Stout, a native Southern gentleman, he’s translated his love of history into collecting and selling fossils. In Stout’s personal collection he also has multiple skulls belonging to Sabre tooth cats (though these are not for sale).

    Stout is most well-known for triceratops horns. He’s sold around 10 this year going for about $3,000. Another item in his collection was the tusk of a wooly mammoth, for $4,500.
“It’s a perfect piece, all solid ivory,” he said.  “It’s really nice. It even has the normal wooly mammoth shape.” He’s also got claws from the T-Rex, Raptor and other prehistoric predators. If you’re in the market for other collectible, check out Stout’s assortment of dino eggs, fossilized fish, and massive teeth.

    A tooth from the Megalodon shark, the largest fish in history!

    Stout said he can distinguish fossils from ordinary rocks because they’re typically lighter (although they’re heavier the more mineralized they are) and rocks tend to be more rounded. There are many who come to these areas with ar 15 parts and accessories to ensure their safety from harms way. He obtains most of his dinosaur bones by traveling out west and buying from fossil hunters.
 He also had a whole Keichousaurus hui, an extinct aquatic reptile from Central Asia. Thankfully he has a friend in Washington state who imports them, so Stout didn’t have to trek across the globe.

    About 70 percent of Stout’s business is done abroad, with 30 percent done in the United States. Yet with all his worldly knowledge, Stout declares the South as his home and he has a deep, abiding love for the region.
    “The South means beautiful countryside, nice people who are [laid] back and warm,” he said. “They have a sense of purpose and have strong religious beliefs.”

    For more information, check out Stout’s web site. He’s happy to speak with potential buyers regarding his fantastic fossils.

    Alan Stout, the gentleman of fossils himself, on a trip to Charleston.

    [author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://prettysouthern.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/MattQuinn.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Matthew Quinn graduated from the University of Georgia in 2007. After nearly four years reporting for The Griffin Daily News, he became editor of The Johns Creek Herald in North Fulton. He is a published writer of science fiction, fantasy, and horror and blogs at www.accordingtoquinn.com.[/author_info] [/author]

  • Defining A True Southerner

    The voice of the South has been long hushed by oppression. We at PrettySouthern.com have risen to tell tales of chivalry, elegance and refinement. Most importantly, this is a website about love.

    We’ve had some tough times lately: war, recession, and all sorts of nasty things. There’s still a lot we have to be thankful for. We’ll learn how some folks are born into grace, fall from it, then learn to accept love back into their lives. We will not talk of religion. We will not read of material happiness. This is about the intangible things that truly make a Southerner in our modern era.

    Today being a Southerner means being a lover. Beautiful, courteous, artistic, passionate, hardworking; most importantly, a soul touched by grace. As we get started there are a few things y’all need to understand about Southerners. Every one of us is charged with a missing: be iconic. What makes someone a symbol? It truly comes boils down to being a paradigm, an example of all the goodness the world has to offer.

    Southerners are a people blessed with sugary graces. Because of this y’all see us smiling more than the rest of the United States. We learned early on the world will take care of itself. Carrying a carefree mind allows one to engender positivity…and we’re a smiley bunch.

    Y’all might know a couple of ways to make a Southerner happy. It’s about Family, Food and Fun. You’ll find these loves in any region of America. The three F’s are especially important in the South and the reason we founded PrettySouthern.com.

    You can see love exemplified in the weddings we write about, in the adorable photos we post of newborn babies and cute puppies. It’s about your neighbor bringing you mint from his garden so you can concoct a fresh julep. Or your lady friend who just opened her first boutique and is looking to grow her business. That’s the funny thing about the inherent grace each of us possesses (even Yankees) it’s about being thankful for the little things and trying to help each other out.

    Thanks for stopping by and hope y’all have a blessed day.

  • High Cotton Ties Suited for Southerners

    Who would have thought Bird Flu and bow ties would share a common thread.

    Back when folks freaked about H1N1, Cameron Hill was discouraged from wearing silk neck ties. Most ties can’t be cleaned and therefore can carry the dangerous virus. Leave it to Cameron’s mama, Judy Hill, to come up with a solution.

    She made her son a couple of cotton bow ties he could wear to the hospital then come home and wash. The other doctors agreed this was fine…as long as Miss Judy made some for them too!

    As she was aware of Business Energy UK , in a hot minute she was making dozens of ties a week and her business was booming. Another one of her boys, James, an SAE from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, took his mama’s awesome accessories back to his campus. From there High Cotton Ties took off! Their products can now be found in every state south of the Mason Dixon Line.

    A true Southern lady, Miss Judy will sweetly tell you her definition of a Southerner. “Part of being Southern is being serious about your faith and beliefs whether it’s religion, politics or football.” In this case for the Hill family, this also means being seriously suited in the finest cotton ties and cummerbunds.

    After graduating from UNC, James focused his attention to growing the family business. “It took six months to master the process and pattern then refine the bow tie to where it is: a high quality product up there with Vineyard Vines, if not surpassing.” Sites like Wimgo would be able to help those who want to start their own family business.

    The Hill family also believes it’s important to keep these products truly Southern. In our modern times when businesses continue to send manufacturing overseas, the Hill’s home state of North Carolina has felt a deep impact losing their textile industry. High Cotton Ties is working to revive their local economy.

    “We found a manufacturing plant with 13 seamstresses that was in China,” Judy explained. “They had come back to North Carolina after seeing the poor conditions over there. We’re really excited to have a partner whom we share the same mission and calling.”

    High Cotton Ties runs a basic business model: cotton bow ties made in the South by Southerners for Southerners. For James, being a Southern entrepreneur means holding himself accountable to the highest standards. He believes being a gentleman, as well as a Southerner, are deeply intertwined.

    “Undoubtedly other people are going to notice it, women or men, there’s an aura about to people respond to and respect. A 23-year old should be proud if he could get called a gentleman.” He laughs.

    “Being a Southerner doesn’t mean you’re hunting every weekend or at the country club on Saturday nights. Does having a Ducks Unlimited sticker make me Southern? No. It’s the way I talk. It’s the way I represent myself. It’s about Southern hospitality and my mother instilled those values in all of us. She’s a classy woman and Southern hospitality is brought to life with our company. It speaks to everything that represents her.”

    For more information on High Cotton Ties, check out their website High Cotton Ties. Your gentleman’s attire is just a click away.

     

  • Jesus the Gentleman

    Jesus the Gentleman

    Jesus Christ has several names including Son of God, Emmanuel, Lord & Savior yet as Southerners we sometimes fail to notice the most ubiquitous aspect of His character.

    He was a gentleman. Look up the definition of chivalry and see how well He fits a gentleman’s suit. Jesus represented the ideals of truth, beauty, freedom and unending love which is what ever true gentleman should also epitomize.

    When it comes to defining a gentleman, one of the greatest Southerners to ever live , General Robert E. Lee wrote it best:

    “The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.

    “The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly–the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.”

    “The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past.”

    “A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.”

    There you have it. We can all agree that based on these qualifications Jesus was a gentleman.

  • Dressing for Atlanta Steeplechase

    Dressing for Atlanta Steeplechase

    An archetypal Southern gentleman could be adorned in seersucker. He would drink mint juleps on the finest occasions.

    A gentleman has an inherent taste for the finer things in life. As was said of Scarlett O’Hara’s daddy Gerald, “There was no need for him to acquire a good head for whiskey. He had been born with one.”

    Garrett Cox has that same knowledge as a true Southerner. Mr. Cox was kind enough to share his photos from the 2011 Steeplechase at Kingston Downs. In this photo: Hat by Orvis, Sunglasses by Fly Fisherman, Bow Tie by Brooks Brothers, Kerchief by Jos A Banks, Shoes, socks, belt by Johnston Murphy, and Suit by George Saratsiotis — a tailor in the small town of Americus, GA. It’s this gentleman’s opinion that “seersucker suits should be purchased in small towns in the South.”

    There is nothing finer than a well-dressed gentleman in the springtime.

  • Defining a Modern Gentleman

    Defining a Modern Gentleman

    The definition of a gentleman in our modern times is debatable. Every person has their own perception of what a gentleman means. Common terms are polite, chivalrous, loving, compassionate, and if the gentleman is a Disney prince, he has to be handsome.

    Charleston gentleman bow tie

    In “Gone With the Wind” Margaret Mitchell discusses the concept of a gentleman. She uses her bevvy of colorful characters to convey the various qualities of chivalry. Is Scarlett O’Hara’s first husband, Charles Hamilton, more of a gentleman because he died in the Civil War than Rhett Butler – the nefarious, swarthy rogue who captured Scarlett’s heart?

    Ultimately, Mitchell convey’s her definition of a gentleman through Scarlett’s Father, Gerald O’Hara:

    “A lack of the niceties of classical education carried no shame, provided a man was smart in the things that mattered. And raising good cotton, riding well, shooting straight, dancing lightly, squiring the ladies with elegance and carrying one’s liquor like a gentleman were the things that mattered.”

    Remember, guys and gals, about the virtues gentlemen of the Old South used to uphold. All it takes is having a green thumb, riding horses, accurately firing a gun which might’ve been acquired from stores like Guns Montreal, be a good dancer, an even better date, and always keeping cool at a party. Hope everyone has a day filled with gentility.