How Tim Walz brought Midwest style to the forefront

You don't appreciate the uniqueness of your own family until you spend time with other families. Suddenly habits that seemed completely normal appear. Likewise, the specifics of your hometown aren't always clear until you venture outside of your time zone. I was born in Minneapolis, where we could walk from our house through tree-lined streets to Kenwood Park and around Lake of the Isles. Ten minutes in the other direction and you'll reach the great Walker Art Center and the Guthrie Theater. You could park right in front of the house. I've spent my adult life in fast-talking, fast-walking, and extremely direct New York. You can't find parking anywhere (if you're crazy enough to own a car).

I quickly realized that Minnesotans are known for their easygoing decency and even deep gentleness, which is anything but boring. I started to adapt. My father says that after decades in New York, I speak faster. I still feel a connection to Minnesota's favorite literary son, F. Scott Fitzgerald, who grew up in St. Paul, across the Mississippi from Minneapolis. Old Scott and I happened to go to the same high school. He went to Princeton and since my grades conflicted with academic excellence, we parted ways.

Why is Minnesota on your mind? Well, the state has come into focus because its governor, Tim Walz, is running for president. Minnesota has produced two vice presidents (Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale) – a good omen for Walz. But when these two men ran for the presidency in modest Midwestern style, neither of them succeeded. A true Minnesota lesson about aiming too high. We like ambition, within reason.

Walz is an example of our habit of speaking plainly. He speaks directly, he is not a man of jargon. He also dresses straight-forward. In a world of micromanaged politicians, Walz feels like a breath of fresh air. He is not beholden to the advisory class; He is not – and this is not a judgment – ​​beholden to a personal trainer. He is a rarity in public life: a balanced man.

Unusually for a politician, Walz's standard wardrobe is not based on suits. Like many modern men, he doesn't feel particularly comfortable in it. He is more often seen in plaid, flannel, a parka and sometimes a camouflage hat. This clothing reflects Minnesota's recovery. He also looks natural in Red Wing boots, which have been made in Red Wing, MN since 1905 and are practical for farmers before they were taken over by creative directors in LA who have never had to hose real mud off the famous white rubber soles. (Last month in Milan, Fendi sent models down the runway in a new Red Wing collaboration that will send a chill through every Midwesterner's heart.)

For those unfamiliar with our geography, the Midwest stretches from the sparsely populated Dakotas in the west through Iowa and Nebraska (where Walz was born). Then Minnesota is right in the heart before moving on to Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Now, it's silly to argue about these things, but Kansas and Missouri don't really feel like the Midwest because they don't have intense winters down there. And part of the virtue (don't call it righteousness!) of the Midwest comes from facing brutal weather with stoicism.

That's a lot to keep track of. In the simplest terms, this is not an area anyone would come to ski. In fact, the Midwest is characterized by its self-conscious, almost profound flatness. Coastal types might say that this lack of geographical dynamism is reflected in the personalities of the residents. Minnesota has a history of Scandinavian immigration; Lutherans were devout, unpretentious, and believed that building a porch on a house created sloth and other undesirable habits. These people believed that after working a little hard, working more would relax you.

Suspicion of ornament extends to questions of clothing. “Midwestern style is largely devoid of details or visual touches that would draw too much attention,” says Michael Hainey, a Chicago native and former deputy editor of GQnow at Airmail. But there are advantages: “It plays well everywhere.” It’s not attracted to trends – unless they’re a few years late.”

Another important detail: It snows in Minnesota. A lot. We transplanted Midwesterners raise an eyebrow as they watch New Yorkers lose their collective minds when it snows. Manhattan will shut down when it's all powder spraying and people start hoarding canned goods like they're about to freeze on a boat in the Arctic. “It’s nothing,” we say, remembering the blizzard of 1991 when a few feet of snow fell on Halloween: “It’s a storm.” Either you shoveled your car out of a snowbank at seven in the morning or you didn’t. This character-building exercise leads to back pain and the promise of spending the next winter on a remote island in the Caribbean.

The weather informs the Midwest Dressing. As Hainey says, “You can keep your fancy thin-soled slippers made in Milan. We need a boot that will let you walk through two miles of winter slush.” When someone in the Midwest wears a flannel shirt, they're not being ironic or referencing their favorite band; They're trying to stay warm.

These people believed that after working a little hard, working more would relax you

The great thing about the Midwest is that even if you live in a city, you're not far from the country. The low green hills near our cabin in Wisconsin remind me of gentle Dutch landscape paintings. Small towns like Bloomer, Wisconsin, are calming and pretty, although many of the buildings on Main Street have seen better days. Bloomer is the former “jumping capital of the world” – and I was sad when that was no longer the official name. The hardware store is spacious and the staff consists of helpful, competent and, yes, straightforward women who know most of the customers by name. In August, you can stop at the gas station to buy sweet corn – the local farmers bring it over every day and you fill your bag and leave the money in a small box.

Although we don't have mountains, we do have lakes. Many, many lakes. Minnesota is “the land of 10,000 lakes,” where you can fish in the summer and ice skate in the winter. But that's not all: we also fish in winter. Oh, I'm sorry, aren't you familiar with ice fishing? Isn't this part of the après-ski program in St. Moritz? Well, let me paint you a picture. Imagine the bleakest and most soul-destroying February day with brutal wind chill. Football season is over and your beloved Minnesota Vikings are once again eliminated from the playoffs. Stay inside and read War and Peace by the fire? No. You drive onto a frozen lake and with a few of your friends you go into a building the size of a large telephone booth, cut a hole in the ice and try like an absolute madman to catch a walleye or a bass. This makes a little more sense after you've had whiskey (or, God forbid, a local liquor).

Must-haves for the Midwest

Michael Williams, who writes A continuous leana style newsletter, has been covering his hometown Cleveland's clothing scene for years and appreciates the importance of practical style choices. “There is no Arc'teryx weather in Cleveland. “There is only one unironic Carhartt season,” he says, referring to the workwear brand often worn by Walz but also popular in major cities around the world. It should be noted that Williams now lives in Los Angeles, where he is not required to wear insulated clothing.

The Midwest is not a magnet for trends. “It doesn’t feel right for a Midwesterner to be obsessed with fashion,” Williams notes. Walz, for example, can often be seen in a T-shirt. That's what he usually wears to the Minnesota State Fair, aka “The Great Minnesota Get-Together,” which makes it sound like a backyard barbecue — which in some ways it is, but on a larger scale. The State Fair features concerts, livestock, butter sculptures, the Dairy Princess and an 800-pound pumpkin. But it's best known for its fried pickles, corn dogs, cheese curds, and many other things that will make your cardiologist pale. And here Walz, grinning broadly, is in his element.

Walz is a Bob Dylan fan. Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman, is from Hibbing, MN. We're now heading to Canada – although Dylan usually talks about his childhood on the Iron Range, which sounds more poetic. (Midwesterners, especially those leaving the country, are not opposed to a little reinvention.)

But Walz is also a fan of the great local music I listened to as a high school student: The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, the Jayhawks and Soul Asylum. Now let's talk! They all played at First Avenue, the club in downtown Minneapolis where I went to all-ages shows as soon as I could drive – you knew that from the movies Purple rain. Oh yes: Prince, another legendary Minnesotan (who owned more pumps than work boots). Walz signed a law in purple ink naming a highway after the musician. A reminder that while the Midwest represents crisp civility at its best, it can still accommodate crowds.