A gentleman is so much more than a guy in a debonair jacket. That's the conclusion Kirk Chugg arrived at when his five year-old son put the "What's a gentleman?" question to him.
As the head of a formal menswear company Haberdasher Custom Clothing, Chugg knows all about the aesthetic of the gentleman. In trying to answer his son's question, he was forced to dig deeper, embarking on a much larger project about old-fashioned values.
And so the dad of four started "The Gentlemen Project" in an attempt to pin down the personal qualities and social etiquette that define a gentleman (and, er, gentlewoman, gentlelady...).
With his own family, Chugg began compiling "a legacy book together of character-building lessons, goals, ideas, and dreams."
The project ultimately grew to include a line of leather-bound “Things I Learned From My Dad” journals, together with a website where he shares the lessons he learned through his own kids.
Among the characteristics of a gentleman, Chugg suggests showing appreciation to others and learning to balance technology with the need to be present.
He appeals particularly to dads to "take a more focused and deliberate approach to being involved part of their children's lives." Of course many dads already do just that.
And despite its masculine-sounding name, Chugg insists these are the "characteristics that I teach my daughters as well."
Notwithstanding, Chugg has an awesome message, and the world could certainly do with more gentle people, or is it gentle persons? It's high time some "old fashioned" values and social mores made a comeback.
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