New York will be getting its first visit from shirtmaker Luca Avitabile and tailor Luigi Solito in a couple of weeks, which I know will be welcome news for readers that have watched their pieces on PS for the past couple of years.
Details are below on the invite. Luca is asking for a minimum order of four shirts for a new customer, which hopefully readers will understand. Most artisans like Luigi and Luca still lose money on the first few trips, so its a long-term relationship that both are trying to build. They will be back in New York in December.
This was taken during a recent photo shoot for Plaza Uomo magazine in Sweden.
I think the only time I have shown the jacket before I wore it open-necked (blue shirt and navy crew neck, with charcoal trousers). It is not an easy pattern to accessorise, though one tie colour that certainly goes is black, going off the colour of the check itself.
Looking for such minor colours in the pattern or weave of a jacket is a good place to look for potential accessories. Sometimes it is more obvious – as here – and other times – as with the weave of my Rubinacci donegal, you have to look a little closer.
It’s particularly worth looking for black in trouser cloth, as large sections of black in a twill or houndstooth will often restrict it to being worn with black shoes. Brown just won’t look right, but the reason won’t be obvious.
The jacket cloth is from the old Caccioppoli A/W bunch. It was not my first choice – I remember I originally wanted a grey with a brown overcheck that sat next to it, but it was sold out. In retrospect this was the more interesting choice, however.
That grey/brown check would have sat much better with brown shoes and paler trousers, and this one requires blacks, charcoals and dark navy. But once you have learned how to wear something it’s no harder to put together. I’ve learnt that the trousers have to be a relatively strong colour for instance, such as the khaki here.
Interestingly, as with many checks this one is brought alive by its overcheck. The vibrant orange brings the pattern together, lifting the otherwise potentially turgid black and green.
Handkercheif folded square and then stuffed casually, as I like it. One point appears to have twisted downwards, which is a nice accident (or is it?). Vintage folio as featured before, briefly. I’ll write a separate post on that next week.
First off, a quick update on the situation with the Robert Noble mill – as readers seemed quite interested in news of the closing down of the historic site in Peebles.
As suggested then, the Robert Noble name, designs and some staff (including sales head Alistair McDade and design head Elspeth Anderson) have been bought by Magee Weaving in Ireland. Magee is an old name (1866) for weaving in Donegal, and mostly weaves for the womenswear industry. Hopefully it should be a good fit.
In other updates, thank you all for orders on the Tote Bag. Orders on this will close tomorrow, but can be made on the Globe-Trotter site now – here.
We also have about 15 places left for the book launch of the Finest Menswear in the World, which is next Wednesday in the Royal Arcade, London. Cleverley have the whisky coming, A&S the food, and there will be books available to be bought and signed. Please do come along.
Thanks all for pre-orders on the polo shirts. They should be ready in about two weeks’ time.
And finally, someone asked recently about Permanent Style 2015 – the best-of-the-blog book we published earlier in the year. This is still available, and can be bought here. Remember that you can get local shipping in the US or UK (where I know most readers are); just make sure to select that as your country.
I had mentioned that the founder of The Rake was wearing a Rubinacci-made number in the same Scabal linen as my Sastreria Langa.
Here a couple, from the poolside discussion and the group shot afterwards. Obviously Wei’s style is not mine, but the fit and finish of the suit were excellent.
I am not a gentleman. Or if I am, it has nothing whatever to do with what I wear.
I get increasingly frustrated with the peddling of the idea of the ‘gentleman’ as a vehicle to sell tailoring. Everywhere you go, fashion brands push this bizarre association, usually accompanied by images of confident, laughing men in tuxedos.
There is no necessary connection between what a man wears and his gentility.
Gentility can imply a refinement in many things, from manners, to morality to culture. It may also involve a refinement in clothing – but it does not have to. And the idea that smart clothing directly suggests something about a man’s ethics is absurd.
This would all be pretty funny, if it wasn’t so depressingly ubiquitous.
In menswear magazines around the world, we are presented with the same images of brooding men, sipping whisky, puffing cigars, surrounded in a cheap and frankly misogynistic way by submissive women.
In fact, that might be the worst aspect of it all. For the lifestyle, the morality and the culture we are presented with are deeply suspect. To be a gentleman, we are told, is to be a rich, famous, womanising drunk.
Where is the celebration of other aspects of life? Physical achievement, as seen in stamina and suffering. Or the creativity and originality of intellectual achievement, .
It may turn out that refinement in life is best encapsulated by a yoga teacher with a wife and two kids, who cycles to work. But of course that would sell fewer sports cars.
If I see another perfume ad where a smirking man walks away from a prone woman on a bed, puts on his shirt in slow motion, and sips a drink while staring out of his balcony window, I will shoot someone.
Please, let’s have enough of this celebration of shallow pleasures and hollow conquests.
When I brought my shirt from Simone Abbarchi back to him in June (or rather his assistant, Gianluca) we ended up making quite a few changes. This may be a cause for concern, though I will reserve judgment.
I had had one fitting originally, in a trial shirt, before having this final grey one made. And as I said in the post on that completed shirt, the shoulders were noticeably too tight while the body was a bit too big.
Neither were big problems, but they certainly needed to change for the next shirt, so I went in while at Pitti in June to have a few changes made to the pattern. Gianluca took quite a lot in at the waist, lengthened the sleeves slightly, and widened the shoulders. In retrospect, they were quite substantial alterations.
Why is this important? Because the aim of anyone seeing a shirt maker should be to perfect a pattern – usually after two or even three shirts, rarely after one – and then be able to order consistently and with confidence.
Shirts should be a relatively inexpensive purchase, compared to suits or shoes, and they will need replacing more frequently. You are also much less likely to need or want different styles, again unlike suits or shoes. So one good shirtmaker with a great pattern is a lovely thing.
Of course, being me I actually use three shirtmakers (D’Avino, Luca Avitabile and Abbarchi) depending on how flush I am feeling at the time. They all offer good value for what they do, and each will suit a different pocket. [See this post for more details.]
Simone comes to London and New York twice a year, and both trips are coming up. He is London next week – September 15 and 16 – at 35-36 St James’s Place. And in New York from October 7th to 15th at the Michelangelo Hotel (152 W 51st St). Email simone.abbarchi@gmail.com for appointments.
God, there’s so much going on I feel like I need one of these posts every week.
Thank you to everyone that has emailed asking about the dedicated copies of The Finest Menswear in the World. There has been a slight delay getting these from the warehouse, but we should have them all next week. I will be in contact with everyone by email about payment as they come in.
The books will also be available at our launch party tomorrow, and I will be there to sign or dedicate copies. So do come and get one there if you want.
Thank you also to those asking about our Friday Polo shirts, which we introduced with Luca Avitabile back in July. The second run of these will be available on September 28, in two weeks’ time. The same range of colours will be available as before, although we are only doing the half-button style as it was so much more popular than the button-through.
If you’d like to ensure you don’t miss out on the polo shirts, you can pre-order any time by emailing me.
Milan is the centre of the men’s fashion industry, yet as far as style is concerned, there are surprisingly few shops worth visiting.
Via Montenapoleone, Via Della Spiga and the roads that run between them are all pleasant places to stroll. But the shops are 90% fashion houses with the same offerings as any other major city.
In these guides we’ve tried to avoid such cookie-cutter chains. They’re certainly no part of the joy of travelling. As a reminder, here are the ground rules, established in the first sartorial guide (to London):
These are guides to quality. Only top shops with well-made products are included
The guides only cover menswear, and largely sartorial menswear
Most importantly, they only cover shopping experiences that are pretty much exclusive to the city. (There are fewer and fewer of these, and they should be celebrated.)
With that out of the way, let’s run through where to go if you ever find yourself in Milan.
Top of the list not for its taste, which isn’t always perfect (eg over-coloured double monks) but for the originality of the male clothing in a town sadly lacking it. Tailoring in original cloths, nicely made polo shirts, and some great knitwear.
Perhaps the best traditional menswear store in Milan. Originally started as a hat business in the 1940s, it has a great range of classic, beautifully made, luxurious clothing. Particularly good on accessories and knitwear.
Although it has branches in a few other major cities, Tincati is a Milanese shop with a bigger range at home and a strong local following. It is strong on tailoring, but also has casualwear, knitwear and accessories. Slightly brighter and holder than standard Milanese fare.
There are, thankfully, still some great bespoke tailors in Milan, with the two Caracenis (Ferdinando and A, for Augusto) on top of the pile. All are friendly and welcome people to drop by, but still best to make an appointment. If you’re set on bespoke, also worth checking out Musella-Dembech and Sartoria Pecora among others.
5. Antonio pio Mele Via Soncino, 3
As with most cities, there are rather fewer shoemakers than tailors in Milan, particularly without big names such as Gatto and Messina. Antonio is one of the few of a new generation, and he makes both traditional shoes, leather accessories, and casual shoes (through his family connection to a shoe factory in the south).
At Rivolta there are shoes made to very high standard (hand-sewn welts) and a bespoke service that attempts to use a digital scanner to model the foot. My experiences with the latter weren’t great, but I’m told they have refined the process. Classic designs with a good range of exotics; made by a third party.
Caruso is a top-class tailoring factory that has expanded in recent years with its own line of ready-to-wear. Although shops are opening slowly around the world, this opera-themed store is worth a visit both for the stock and the interior decoration. The company also has a cousin, Uman, around the corner. Both are part of the project to turn Via Gesu into a dedicated menswear street.
The best known of the Milanese shirtmakers, north of the centre. A nice, if formal make (floating lining in the collars) and extraordinarily expensive prices. Other shirt makers include Evgeniya Kiyan, Camiceria Barone and Alessandra Passeri.
Rubinacci has stores elsewhere, of course, and is not from Milan. But the new shop off Montenapoleone is worth a visit, if only because there is such a strong range of accessories and some strong ready-to-wear.
10. Etro perfumes and discount store www.etro.com Via Spartaco, 6; Via Verri, ang. Via Bigli
A big fashion brand with a lot of similar shops, but there is only one Etro store dedicated to its fragrances, and only one discount store.
If you do want to visit any fashion brands, the massive block of real estate taken up by Giorgio Armani is the one place not to miss. An experience, whether you love it or hate it.
Many thanks to all the Milanese (and Italians generally) that contributed their views on this list. Alessandro, Alessandra, Antonio, you know who you are.
Nearly everyone made it, despite the torrential rain, the taxi strikes and the underground closures. Cleverley and Anderson & Sheppard did a wonderful job of hosting us, with a window display of their products, alongside Drake’s ties and my two books – The Finest Menswear in the World and Permanent Style 2015.
And then people began queuing for signatures. I’m sorry I didn’t have much time to speak to everyone. I think it was almost three hours in the end of solid signing and greeting, so apologies (particularly to all the readers) that we couldn’t chat for long.
Thanks to to Cifonelli for coming over, Begg and all the others included in the book. Also to Balvenie for some wonderful whisky and Charbonnel & Walker for the chocolates.
For those that couldn’t make it, don’t worry there will be more events before Christmas.
Thank you again, everyone. The Finest Menswear in the World is still available for dedicated versions by emailing me, and Permanent Style 2015 is also available.
I return to the drape style with recognisable regularity. For those without a big chest – and not that bothered about big, wide shoulders – it is a very flattering shape. Many also forget how slim it is usually cut through the waist, enhancing the contrast with the chest.
But I wasn’t going to talk about drape. I was going to use this excuse of a fitting with Steven Hitchcock on a new jacket – in a beautiful grey from the W Bill Lamlana bunch, which mixes lambswool and angora – to talk about the customer’s interaction with his tailor.
Men that are new to bespoke are often thrown by the number of options: width of trouser, length of sleeve, number of buttons. Unfortunately, some react by trying to learn about every single aspect of the suit, and then dictate to the tailor.
This is rarely a good idea. Almost every man I know that has suits from multiple tailors ends up coming to the same conclusion: just let the tailor cut their style.
Don’t get an English tailor to cut a Neapolitan jacket. Distrust any tailor that says they can cut in every style. And don’t start moving around buttoning points, lapel rolls and pockets.
I’ve made all these mistakes in the past – the English/Neapolitan one, the tailor in any style one, removing structure from a structured jacket, removing drape from a draped jacket, perhaps worst of all trying to make a traditional jacket ‘younger’.
Just because there are so many variables in bespoke, it doesn’t mean you should change them. You may get 8 out of 10 right, but not 10. The Florentine tailor, on the other hand, would have cut a perfect Florentine jacket.
This same lesson goes for behaviour in a fitting room. For a start, leave the basted fitting to the tailor; it’s about balance, not style; just stand there and answer if asked. Then, at the forward fitting, only consider the options that are obviously questions of personal taste. The obvious ones are sleeve length, trouser length and perhaps trouser width.
Some bespoke customers seem to be under the bizarre impression that tailors are trying to deceive them. That if they don’t come in armed with requirements for every aspect of the suit, the tailor will screw them over.
They won’t. The tailor will simply cut to his style and taste. And if you don’t like his style and taste, you shouldn’t be using this tailor.
Others seem to be under the impression that they know more than their tailor. You may know more about international styles, but you don’t know more about how to cut his style that he does. And again, if you know more than your tailor, you shouldn’t be using him.*
I mention all this, of course, because it occurred to me how few choices I made with this jacket from Steven. We have made a jacket before of course, so that helps. But all I really had to do was select cloth and buttons, the number of breasts and buttons, and confirm Steven’s assumptions about my sleeve length.
Steven cuts a damn good jacket. I know his style and I came to him because I like his style. That’s it.
It’s also nice to see Steven and Celia settling into the premises on George Street. As soon as you walk in you can see them working away at the back, with Steven often preparing his own bastes (as he usually prefers to do). There are other tailors in the building, of course, but the downstairs area feels like Steven’s pad, and it suits him to have one.
In two weeks’ time, on Monday October 5th, there will be a reprise of Sheep On The Row – the event that five years ago saw the Row carpeted in grass and covered in sheep.
You can see coverage of that previous event here. It was a wonderful atmosphere. Sheep strolled peacefully, bespoke-clad shepherds tended casually to them, and all the bespoke houses had work on display – with their front doors open.
The format will be similar this year. There will be two sheds at either end of the grass, housing information on the major sheep-growing regions. There will be two flocks of sheep on display, Bowmont Merino and Exmoor. And 25 tailoring houses are making special pieces to be displayed on models, in cloths of different mills. (It will be the biggest group of tailors ever to put their work on display at the same time.)
The event is open to anyone to come along, though be warned GQ will be roving about taking street-style photos. It runs from 10am to 6pm and marks the beginning of Wool Week in the UK.
For any young tailors and apprentices out there, a photo shoot is also being organised for the morning of the 5th, around the postbox on the corner of Burlington Gardens. Intended to celebrate the wealth of new talent coming into the industry, it is open to anyone to come along. Email hello@sheeponsavilerow.co.uk for more information.
(I can’t believe it was five years ago. And I had hair back then!)
I bought this vintage folio from Bentleys Antiques in London last year, and it has proved fantastically useful.
We can all count ourselves lucky that laptops (well, MacBooks anyway) are only a touch bigger than European writing paper in the first half of the twentieth century. It means vintage cases like this one can still be used today.
Along with the MacBook Air I tend to carry a phone, wallet, keys, business cards, phone and notebook. Plus assorted papers. This case can hold all of them, with several of the pockets also conveniently sized.
The biggest problem with vintage cases is speed of access. A gentleman in the 1920s never had to dive into his case to answer a call, fish out his wallet or drop in a leaflet. He would arrive, sit, and only then open his case. Pieces like this would usually contain writing equipment, which would always require a desk.
Modern cases usually have some form of external pocket, and it is often the one most heavily used. The classic attache case suffers from the same problem – it has to laid down on a surface to access the contents, which is not helpful when you are trying to dig out a map or grab your keys.
However, for a vintage piece this folio is actually quite easy to use. It can be opened at the top when held, as shown, giving access to a deep, full-width pocket. It is here that quick-access items can be stored, while the laptop and anything else can be contained in the other two, folded sections.
The leather is a heavily waxed calf on the outside, and goatskin on the inside. It has a lot of spotting on the exterior, but I like such signs of age if they don’t affect the functionality.
If I could change one element, it would be the hardware, which might be nicer in brass.
A few weeks a reader asked for a post on what makes a tie more or less formal, smart or not.
It’s a very relevant question. Few men today wear ties, but when they do, they rarely want them to be as smart as the traditional foulards and Macclesfield weaves. Understanding how to dress down a tie (or, for the right occasion, up) is important.
The four elements
The elements that make a tie more or less formal are very similar to those that affect suits, shoes or handkerchiefs. Brighter colours and bolder patterns are less smart; smooth texture and dark tones are more.
Just like a strongly patterned, woollen jacket is less formal than a plain suit in smooth worsted, so a cashmere tie with a big club stripe is less formal than a navy repp.
The four dominant elements here are: tone, colour, texture and pattern. Of these, texture is often the most important in a tie – partly because it is the most subtle and easy to miss.
In the image at the top of this post, I have shown five ties that have greater texture from left to right. They are: printed silk, woven silk, grenadine, tussah and knitted silk.
All things being even, they would therefore go from more to less formal, left to right.
The first two have a pattern, however, which sets them apart, and are slightly different shades of blue. The printed silk (left) has a slightly larger pattern (less formal) but is a darker shade of blue (more formal).
The difference between these two is tiny, but the important thing to realise is that all three things – texture, pattern, colour – make a difference as well as texture.
If there were to be an order to the different textures, it would look something like:
Satin
Printed silk
Woven silk
Grenadine
Tussah
Knitted silk
Most wools and linens
Shantung
[I am mixing up different terms for the sake of clarity and brevity. Some of these are also weaves, of course, and I’m omitting types of weave as well as types of grenadine.]
You could argue about the list, but it’s essentially an objective judgment of the same thing: how textured, how smooth or not, is the material? This is largely important because it affects the way light is absorbed or reflected.
Formality in diagrammatic form
Below is a diagram showing pattern together with the three other elements – tone, colour, texture and pattern – that should be considered.
Again, there are things we’re leaving out here, such as finishes on the silk or wool/cotton, but the same principles generally apply.
An important point on pattern is that it matters both how big it is, and how fancy. So a club stripe is a large, dominant pattern; but it’s simplicity makes it relatively formal. A paisley, on the other hand, is usually quite informal even at a lower scale.
Deciding whether two ties with widely different readings on these scales is largely pointless. Is a (muted) pink tie with a large (but simple) pattern smarter than a (strong) blue tie with a (small) fancy pattern? It doesn’t really matter.
The important thing is that if you want to know which tie to wear to a formal event and which informal, you have four elements to consider.
A satin tie is often great for an evening event because of its sheen (but is smarter in navy than in yellow). A grenadine, in navy or black, is perhaps the most versatile of all ties because its texture sits in the middle of the spectrum.
Reader (I think you were anonymous) I hope that helps.
The ‘How Great Things Age‘ series celebrates and examines how quality menswear ages over time. Often, it becomes more beautiful, though different materials from leather to cotton to board age in very different ways.
Regular readers will be familiar with this leather jacket, which was made bespoke for me by Davide Taub at Gieves & Hawkes. As well as being cut and fitted by hand, it had a padded, jacket-style shoulder which set it apart construction-wise from anything off the peg.
It’s only been two years, but the jacket’s calf leather has darkened significantly, as I’d hoped it would. Veg-tanned leather will normally acquire a patina in this way, but without specific knowledge of the tannery or evidence of pieces made in its leather, it’s very hard to know exactly how it will age.
When we say patina, of course, we mean dirt. Leather builds up atmospheric dirt, and then darkens more in places where it comes into contact with dirty surfaces – the elbows, top of the back, bottom edge. Or indeed with your own skin, on the fold of the collar or the bottom of the zip.
As the whole skin settles into a darker tone, this ageing will slow down, but it will continue to change colour indefinitely.
Such changes are particularly noticeable when there is some leather facing inside the jacket. This won’t age anywhere near as fast, and so you can see the change simply by folding back the cuff, as above. (As ever, click on the images to enlarge.)
A reader made the comment a while ago that the jacket’s cut makes it slightly more of a fashion piece. I agree: the bespoke cut is quite form fitting, and most leather blousons would use ribbing around the waist to keep it tight, expanding into a much more generous fit around the waist.
But this cut has more in common with motorcycle jackets, which of course were always cut close to reduce wind resistance and retain warmth. It doesn’t have an asymmetric zip, or quick-access external pockets, but the shape is very similar.
That ageing is also now a big factor in how it looks. The blackness of the elbow and chest, as well as the wrinkled texturing everywhere, give a touch more ruggedness.
Beautiful and more personal, certainly. And hopefully it will only get greater as it ages more.
(Polo shirts coming later this week by the way, for those waiting…)
The next batch of our Friday Polos, designed by myself and Neapolitan shirtmaker Luca Avitabile, are now available to order and be sent out.
As we described in our first post on this collaboration, these long-sleeved polo shirts are cut long in the body (like a shirt) to make them ideal for wearing with tailoring.
They also have a classic, cutaway collar, a slightly slim fit, and are made of a beautiful mid-weight cotton piqué. The latter makes them ideal for wearing most of the year, under different weights of jacket.
As the shirts have been available for pre-order for the past few weeks, stock on many is already running low – despite the 100-piece production run. The current stock is:
White: all sizes available Navy: sold out except in XL Grey: sold out S and M, all other sizes available Blue: all sizes available Green: sold out except in XL
I particularly recommend the white and grey colours. Over the past few months I have found white to be particularly versatile, under either a navy or grey jacket, and grey to work well casually – avoiding any of the corporate or preppy associations of some other shirt colours.
Please note that we are only making the half-button style now, as per a classic polo shirt, as it was so much more popular than the full button-through.
Those that have already pre-ordered their polo shirts will receive an email from me giving them payment details. All others wishing to make an order should email me at simon@simoncrompton.co.uk. Each polo costs £145, and postage is £8 in Europe, £14 elsewhere in the world.
You can see the five colours below: white, navy, grey, blue and racing green. The mother-of-pearl buttons look particularly nice against the white.
I wear a medium, and have a 38-inch chest and 15-inch neck. The measurements for all the sizes are (in centimetres):
ChestWaistYokeSleeveBody
S 102 92 40 61 75
M 106 96 44 65 76
L 116 106 47 69 81
XL 124 114 48 69 81
Other points:
Payment is through the Permanent Style site on credit card
Shipping is £8 in Europe and £14 elsewhere, with a small additional charge for each polo shirt after the first
I’m happy to accept returns, but can’t pay return postage
Any other questions please let me know
And on the product itself:
My key aim was a polo that worked well under tailoring
They are designed to be tucked in and so cut long, with tails like a shirt. This way they do not come out of the trousers and have a cleaner finish through the waist
They are made with a collar stand, in order to stand up and roll around a jacket collar, but also have rubber collarbones in case you want the collar to not roll and remain stiff
The material, from Caccioppoli, is one of the most important aspects. Previously I have had bespoke ones in both winter and summer weights, and neither have been quite right. The summer ones lack body and can be too transparent; the winter ones are too heavy to wear in the summer. This fabric is not only a beautiful quality, but is a mid-weight that (in England) could be worn three seasons of the year. On its own in summer, or in Spring or Autumn with a shawl-collar sweater over the top
Few readers will be surprised to hear that I like a nice green suit. Green is a wonderfully versatile colour, going with every autumnal colour you can think of, plus really strong browns, purples and oranges that few other colours could support. (It is also apparently rather fashionable. Who knew?)
However, the difficult thing about green is that the shade has to be bang on. It can’t be too strong a colour in its own right – it has to be either fairly muted and pale (like my Reillo cotton suit) or dark and deep, like the flannel pictured here.
Several readers had asked for pictures of this suit, going back to my post ‘Green is the third colour’ two years ago. My apologies for not doing it sooner.
It was made in a particularly nice vintage Fox Flannel that I picked out while visiting the factory back in 2011. Unfortunately, it is no longer available. Not because Fox cannot weave it, but because the colour is not offered by the yarn supplier.
This fairly deep green sits well with a burnt orange wool tie, a mid-blue shirt and a silk handkerchief with green shoestring (the rolled edge).
On my feet are JM Weston dark-brown cap toes, which have a thin rubber sole and are my go-to shoe for wet weather. The upper has also been patinated, which helps with water resistance (in the same way as several layers of polish do).
The burgundy socks from Bresciani demonstrate another good colour with this green, though that shade wouldn’t work quite as well as a tie or handkerchief.
The suit was made by Brian Smith, an Anderson and Sheppard-trained tailor who works out of the Fox Flannel factory and makes suits for Fox’s ever-dapper salesman, Douglas Cordeaux.
It is a drape cut, as you would expect, with soft extended shoulders, a small armhole and generous sleeve. Brian also cuts quite a high, sharp gorge. The fit, however, isn’t perfect – I’ve been meaning to take it back to Brian or another tailor in London for a while.
The shoulders are a little low, leading to a slight collapsing under the arms, and the seat isn’t quite right. There are also one or two points where the workmanship could be better. The pale-green thread is showing through in one or two places around the patch pockets, as you can see below.
Having said that, Brian is good value (I’m checking the precise amount, but a good deal less than anyone based in London) and does all the tailoring himself. He also visits London every week or two, so there’s no need to go down to Somerset for every fitting. I’m sure working consistently with him on a pattern – as Douglas has done – would lead to some great suits.
Over the years I’ve had a few casual waistcoats made. What makes them casual? Well primarily cloth, ideally something with a pronounced texture and perhaps a chunky pattern – in this case, a tan/black herringbone woven from a wool/linen mix.
I also prefer such waistcoats with as few pockets as possible. Sometimes two, but even none – as shown here.
To someone used to a dress waistcoat, the absence of pockets might seem a little jarring, but this deliberate choice moves the waistcoat a little closer to being knitwear – to a sleeveless cardigan, which again I’d usually prefer to be pocket-less.
Another nice, casual element is the extension of a band of the cloth around the back of the neck, as you can see below. It intrudes onto the sheen of the lining and breaks it up, suggesting the collar of a jacket.
Indeed, I started thinking about this waistcoat recently when I wore it to a fitting for my button-in gilet with Davide Taub (pictured, head cutter at Gieves & Hawkes). Davide reminded me how high the waistcoat had been cut on the neck, up around the shirt collar. A regular dress waistcoat would never be cut like this because it risks pushing out the collar of the jacket.
The waistcoat – cut by Russell Howarth at Graham Browne, several years ago – was also quite high under the armholes, again unlike a normal dress piece. It was nice to be reminded of these points, which I discussed with Russell at the time.
The only thing I would change about this waistcoat now is the back – which I would have in a cotton twill or similar matte-finish material. The Bemberg is simply too shiny for a casual piece.
A casual waistcoat always involves a trade-off in length. Any waistcoat will look best with high-waisted trousers, where it can be shorter and only extend a little below the natural waist.
If it is worn with low-waisted trousers, the waistcoat must be longer to prevent shirt peeking out. But too long, and it loses all proportion. Part of the solution is to have relatively high-waisted jeans or other casual trousers (I normally wear these with my high-waisted bespoke denim from Levi’s Lot No.1). Another is not to have too big an opening at the front or sides of the waistcoat.
Oh, and the waistcoats always have in-breast pockets. Only works in heavier cloths.
There’s something so calming about walking on grass. Genteel even.
The second ‘Sheep on the Row’ day, which took place on Monday, was a lovely affair. Tailors strolling around on the turf, often with their model (wearing a bespoke creation) nearby for photo opportunities.
Shops on both sides stood open, often with staff standing outside watching the parade up and down. Many had invited customers inside, and were offering food and champagne.
Most wonderfully, two flocks of sheep were calmly parading themselves up and down. All it took was one of them to see something interesting at the other end of the pen, and everyone would follow him. Like sheep, basically.
It was raining sporadically, which was unfortunate, but then this is the weather than British tailoring and therefore all wool (Australian merino or not) has to deal with.
Pictured top:Graham Browne three-piece suit in Zegna checked worsted, and Chittleborough & Morgan top coat in Loro Piana cloth.
A cycling suit made by Davies and Son using Dashing Tweeds. Made from Navy ‘Raver Wave’ cloth, it has adjustable reflective cuffs and rear under flap, with bellows patch pockets
Anderson & Sheppard ivory bespoke pea coat, with a half-belt, box pleat and quilted lining; knitwear by Inis Meain. With Anda Rowland
The event was all in aid of the Campaign for Wool, supported by HRH The Prince of Wales.
The Prince commented: “I sometimes think that too many people have forgotten – or perhaps they never even realised in the first place – that wool is one of the most beautiful, ecological and sustainable natural fibres in the world…it fills me with dismay when we overlook it. It horrifies me, for example, to learn that only 1.3% of clothes today are made from wool, when 60% are made from synthetic materials.”
The Mont Blanc leather facility is in an industrial park just outside Florence. All the big names of fashion are here. Gucci is across the road, Prada a few blocks down. Only Hermes from among the top brands is missing.
Mont Blanc used to made its leather goods in Germany, but moved three years ago. “It’s just far more efficient,” said Giacomo Cortesi, the head of the facility (pictured below), when we visited in the summer. “There are about 150 tanneries in the area, and they all supply everyone already. Plus all the other suppliers, for hardware and so on, come here too.”
Efficiency was a theme we would return to frequently. Because while Mont Blanc retains the same level of craftsmanship as all the other brands in the area, it mixes in some rather special touches of German management and quality control.
“All the talent is here, the workers we hired to create this facility,” continued Giacomo. “That was an interesting process – hiring from everyone else. And of course having everything on site means we can develop and adjust new pieces quickly. You can’t do that with a pen or a watch.”
As Giacomo talked to us, in the stark white reception room, there was a rather distracting mechanical arm moving up and down behind him. On the other side of the corridor, a big yellow machine was lifting and turning bags repeatedly, twisting them and replacing them on the floor, only to wrench them up again.
Eventually, we had to explain why we were constantly looking over Giacomo’s shoulder. And that led to a discussion of the quality control at the pelleteria.
There were several great machines. One tests hardware for resistance to heat and humidity (think someone dragging their suitcase on wheels through the streets of Singapore). Another tests for salinity (perhaps a wash bag carried to the beach). A third looks at how colour fast leathers are under light (sitting in the front seat of your open-topped car. A lot).
Not all pieces are tested – merely a sample. But they are tested regularly and consistently. That colour-fast machine tests leather for three, six and twelve-hour stints. And a product line will go through the process every 1-4 months, depending on the piece.
“It’s not necessarily a problem if the colour does fade over time,” said Giacomo. “It happens with veg-tan leathers But the key is to know that, so we can communicate it to the customer or, if we don’t like it, reduce the effect. If you don’t know, you’re always at risk.”
Often, these machines have been brought in to look at a particular problem. The mechanism inside a lock, for instance, is particularly susceptible to heat and salinity. All it takes is a little rust or distortion to the metal inside, and the lock will stop working. “I’ve seen that happen on other products in places like Malaysia,” said Giacomo. “There’s often 70% humidity there and you’re right by the sea.”
How does gold, rose gold and silver tarnish? (It always starts at the corners – where it’s hardest to get a consistent level of coating.) How will the gusset of a wallet react when it has been bent 100,000 times? How abrasive are different leathers when rubbed against a pair of jeans again and again? The list of scenarios seemed to be almost endless.
All leather producers do quality control. But Mont Blanc does more of it (according to those workers from other factories) and creates its own, bespoke machines.
The machine below for testing leather belts, for example, is a one-off. It opens and closes a buckle on a strip of leather, seeing when it (and the inking at the edges) cracks.
My all-time favourite, however, was the simplest. “We spent a long time trying to work out how to test a buckle when it has been dropped repeatedly – when you undo your trousers, or chuck the belt in a draw,” said Giacomo. They finally came up with a set of steps, about 20 of them going down about 6 feet. And they just drop the buckle down it. Again and again. “It’s very simple, but it works. It breaks things,” concluded Giacomo.
As I’ve said before, not everything in the Mont Blanc leather range is to my taste. I tend to prefer brown, natural leathers with brass, rather than blacks and blues, with silver hardware. But after many years (and many factory visits) it was wonderful to learn so much about something so innovative.
