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Boston Globe

A dapper young man has become the talk of Manchester-by-the-Sea

'There is something about Matthew Swindell that suggests he has just walked off the set of a period film, so perfect is each detail of his person,' gushed the local newspaper, 'The Manchester Cricket,' From the moment he arrived, Manchester-by-the-Sea suddenly had something it didn't realize it was lacking: a fashion icon. Advertisement 'It's been quite the experience for me,' Swindell said recently inside the tiny 'I humbly believe that people appreciate a well-dressed man, particularly a young person,' he said as he adjusted a stray hair on his head (held together, fittingly, with a pomade called Dapper Dan). Advertisement He speaks with a polished lilt, reinforcing what those who know him say: it's not just his clothes that seem pulled from a time machine; it is Swindell himself. 'He's not vintage. It's like he's from the 1920s, like he's stuck in an era,' said Anna Gonzalez, who sees Swindell a few times a week at the post office where he will wait in line to watch her hand stamp his cursive correspondence with the date and place, Manchester-by-the-Sea. His speech pattern adheres to a formal politeness, polished to a shine, and peppered with a natural lean toward old-timey sayings, like when he was asked about his evening strolls to Singing Beach, and said, 'Yes, when day's work is done.' What he's doing might go unnoticed in a more urban setting, where hipsters and vintage clothing stores abound. But in upper-crusty Manchester-by-the-Sea, where the preppy uniform is more Not to say that what Swindell is doing is either preppy or hipster. It's older than that, from an era of pleasing formalness, where a crowd at Fenway was better dressed than we are at weddings today. 'The first time I saw him I was like 'Oh, my God, I love you,'' said Beth Giblee, who owns Advertisement When Giblee asked Swindell why he dressed as he did, he gave his usual simple answer: He loves the feeling of it. 'It doesn't matter if he's got the umbrella or the straw hat or the fedora, there's never a hair out of place,' said Frank Fusco, assistant manager of Matthew Swindell stood inside the Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Swindell said he started wearing traditional menswear when he was a student at Salem State, and committed to it when he landed an internship at the Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum after graduation. Nearly four years later, as he has risen to run the day-to-day operations, his look has become synonymous with the museum. And as he leads visitors on a tour of an exhibit highlight the town's 'resort era' in the late 18th and early 19th century, you can almost picture Swindell in one of the black-and-white photographs of bathers on Singing Beach, or strolling the grand lawn of the Masconomo House Hotel. As he looks at the photos, you can feel his pride in feeling connected to the era. He loves the detachable collars — 'I wish more people would join me in being an enthusiast for them' — and, particularly, the hats. Swindell is a dedicated follower of the tradition of switching from a winter felt hat to a summer straw hat on May 15. 'I've always loved history, but I have a particular fascination with happened before you in the places you know well,' he said. 'Some people say the past is another country. You might say I'm always visiting.' Advertisement Swindell switches from wearing a felt hat to a straw hat on May 15. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Billy Baker can be reached at