In some ways, this navy jacket and topcoat from Ettore de Cesare are the antithesis of the Disguisery tweed jacket we featured last week. 

Ettore is a third-generation Neapolitan tailor known for his close-fitting, unstructured garments and leather work. 

The jacket - in a hopsack-like open-weave cloth from Holland & Sherry - is relatively short, small-shouldered and completely unpadded. Other than a touch of roping at the end of the shoulder, It makes no effort to make me look bigger or stronger.

It may make me look slimmer, but that's about it. (And even then, there is minimal difference in the fit through the waist.)

The contrast between it and the Disguisery tweed should be interesting, therefore, for readers evaluating where on the spectrum of size and structure they prefer to sit. 

Readers may also understandably ask why I have jackets made in such different styles. 

Partly it is the interests of the blog. I want Permanent Style to be a reference for all styles of tailoring, and that requires pieces made by a variety of tailors in their rough house style. 

But in reality that is a minor reason. More important is the fact that I just enjoy different styles of tailoring.

I enjoy, in the same way, finely welted bespoke shoes, chunky cordovan boots, and simple, chic sneakers.

There are limits (all have points of quality and style in common) but the range is still fairly wide. 

Of course, I will also wear these pieces of tailoring in different ways. I am more likely to wear English tailoring at a smarter occasion, with smarter accessories. I am more likely to wear a Neapolitan jacket with an open-necked denim shirt and slip-ons. 

Ettore has not had much attention online as a visiting tailor, which I think is partly due to his tendency to bright colours/designs, and partly that so much of his clientele is in Italy - Naples and Milan. 

However, the quality of the work is very high - and he offers something genuinely different in his familiarity with leather and suede. 

The workshop was founded by his grandfather, who had trained at Rubinacci, in 1960. Ettore initially learnt tailoring at his grandfather's knee, working after school as many in Naples do.

But he left to go to university, studying economics, and comes across as a little more cosmopolitan than some tailors as a result. (He is also very tall - easily the most striking thing about him.)

I'm in Naples next week and will report back on Ettore's workshop, as well as those of many other Permanent Style favourites.

The fit of the pieces Ettore made for me was very good in the fundamentals - but required a few changes, both functionally and aesthetically. 

Both were made without any padding in the shoulders, just canvas. But at the first fitting, the shoulder line was perfect, the balance perfect, and both back and chest very clean. 

It was the work of someone that - I learnt - is used to working off a single fitting. 

Because when Ettore returned to London, both pieces were finished. This wasn't what I expected, but as the fundamentals were right it just meant the changes would be a little harder for him to make - requiring more seams to be unstitched. 

As I was travelling to New York the following week, and shooting with Karl-Edwin Guerre of Guerrisms, I took the two pieces as they were and had them photographed. 

That is what you can see here. There were some functional issues with the jacket, eg:

• the vent was opening too far (obvious in the image above)
• the fit was a little too tight through the waist

And some aesthetic issues:

• the length is about 2cm too short for me, even on a short jacket (seen on the top image most obviously)
• the sleeve was a little too slim (it was usable, but any sleeve becomes rather effeminate, for me, if too slim)

The latter two points perhaps illustrate how Ettore naturally cuts a jacket - what might be called his house style. And it's useful to have imagery of those things for anyone considering using him. 

The coat, by contrast, was perfect from the off. That same clean fit in the chest and back, and neither waist nor sleeve too tight. 

It is double breasted, with a dark-brown suede undercollar, ticket pocket, dark-brown horn buttons and a half-belt in the back. 

The back of the coat has a full-length pleat, tacked just behind the belt - which itself has been made in the style I originally used on my Vergallo loden coat, with two buttons at the fastening points to allow it to be tightened when worn without a jacket. 

This system has worked very well on the loden, and so far on this navy DB.

It helps that the coat already has some fullness in the back gathered into the belt, as tightening it just increases that gathering. It also helps that it is a relatively soft, lightweight cloth.

I'd pick out that cloth separately as something I love about the coat. 

It is a 400g wool/cashmere mix - so very lightweight and soft for a coat - and has a beautiful black herringbone pattern over a mix of navy and white/grey flecks. 

It is produced by Scabal, but unfortunately exclusively for Ettore - so it is available only through him. 

As a top coat, the dark colour will make it a great piece to wear with smarter outfits - suits or at least smart trousers, black or dark-brown shoes - in warmer weather than a regular overcoat.

The jacket's cloth also deserves a mention, as it is an open-weave wool that is extremely lightweight and breathable - but not a hopsack. 

It is from the Mesh Blazers 1730 bunch at Holland & Sherry, which was new this year.

The bunch has five different blues, plus a big range of bright summer colours. Nine ounces, woven in Huddersfield. 

As to the suede, I was keen to make use of Ettore's experience here but in a small way to start with. So we just added suede to the undercollar of both pieces - dark brown for the coat, mid-brown for the jacket. 

Both are subtle details, but ones that I really like. The mid-brown on a blazer, in particular, is something I've always loved on Loro Piana jackets, but been unable to replicate bespoke. 

The suede is beautifully soft, and neatly worked. It also helps support the collar when it is popped up. 

Ettore's suits start at €2300 - so great value - with this jacket costing €1800 and the coat €2600.

He travels regularly between Milan, Naples and London, but not elsewhere. He is in London roughly every 4-6 weeks, and is next here in September after the summer break.

Usually fittings and finishing can be done between each visit, so 2-3 appointments would be necessary for a suit. More likely to be three for a first-time customer. 

He can be contacted on ettore@ettoredecesare.it.

 

 

Photography: Karl-Edwin Guerre

A slightly smaller set of reviews in the brand round-up this month, with more focus on the details.

Rubinacci suit carrier, £1200

therake.com/brands/rubinacci/bags

First up is this leather suit carrier - or garment bag - from Rubinacci, being offered by The Rake on their online store.

The key aspects a suit carrier requires to be practical, in my experience, are lightness of weight and flexibility of use.

As a suit carrier must be carried in the hand all the time, it cannot be that heavy.

Most are not made in leather for that reason, and when they are the skin is often split so thin that it loses the leather’s natural appeal.

This Rubinacci version manages to find a good balance, being light in weight yet using a nice, veg-tanned leather.

I have used it to carry suits to and from the office and never felt it is too heavy.

The lining is not as appealing, being made from a slippery synthetic. And the method of inserting the suit is original but perhaps a little fussy (it involves four flaps, four straps, and eight button options). It can also realistically only carry one suit at a time.

But the carrier does have a large variety of internal and external pockets that make it highly practical.

Most of the time it’s worth avoiding carrying much more in your suit carrier than a single suit. If you don’t, the whole thing becomes heavy very quickly.

It’s nice to have the flexibility to put in a shirt or tie if you need to, however, and this Rubinacci version has four pockets of various sizes, a big zippered outside pocket, and a sleeve to enable the bag to be attached to the handle of a rolling suitcase.

Both black and burgundy deerskin are nice, although I like the richness of the burgundy.

CQP Racquet sneakers, £240

www.trunkclothiers.com/cqp-racquet-white

Regular readers will be familiar with my love of Common Projects sneakers. (Or trainers; I must stop reading so many American sites.)

While I can't see myself switching fundamental allegiance to another brand, I'm always interested in alternatives - for context if nothing else.

Most white trainers don’t offer anything different to Common Projects.

They are either simply cheaper in materials, more expensive for no reason other than brand, or have various designer bells and whistles. (Actually, studs seem to be the current fashion.)

Swedish brand CQP, however, does. Its Racquet sneaker is very similar to a CP in terms of leather and construction, but is unlined, making it softer and lighter.

This feels lovely, as you have a much closer connection to the soft leather and the way it moves and moulds.

However, the downside is that the upper is less smooth and smart (less of a problem with suedes) and offers less support to the foot.

The last shape is also stubbier than a CP Achilles, making it more a casual court shoe than a dressier, loafer-substitute sneaker.

CQP’s Tarmac model does have a longer last and is lined - but it’s also more of a mid-top.

Carl Friedrik Palissy 25-hour bag, £441

www.carlfriedrik.com

The Swedish brothers behind Carl Friedrik have had an interesting few years in menswear.

Originally their brand was called Oppermann, and it made classic leather bags in Asia that were distributed through wholesale to various stores.

After a while, they became frustrated with the wholesale model and wanted to do retail themselves - going direct to consumer and spending more on production.

So they moved manufacturing to Italy and began selling online.

Then earlier this year, a trademark dispute over the name Oppermann forced them to rebrand - to Carl Friedrik. (Their grandfather’s name, away from their own surname.)

Fortunately, the product is strong. It is decently made from Tuscan veg-tanned leather, in Naples, with Raccagni zippers and a nice water-resistant lining.

I particularly like the cognac colour, as it is the least treated of the leathers and therefore ages the quickest - in a similar fashion to the Hermes Barenia leather (though not of the same fineness).

There isn’t much to designs in bags and small leather goods. (And shouldn’t be, really; who wants an odd and unusual briefcase.)

But I would highlight the way the Palissy 25-hour bag is designed to increase its capacity.

It is slightly taller than most briefcases, but not much wider, and narrows toward the top. This makes for a bag that could easily cater to a single-night trip, but doesn’t look too out of place commuting to the office.

Many readers said they liked the personal, behind-the-scenes approach of Plaza Uomo's cover story on me last year. 

Here, then, is another angle. My desk, where I write most of these posts, and therefore probably the most important Permanent Style-related thing in the house.

The antique slant-fronted desk is both beautiful and space-saving, though I've always meant to get an equally finely shaped chair to go with it. 

On the top of the desk is a variety of items - often a lot of clutter, but today (happily) a relatively small selection of pens and related items.

My antique cigar case in brown alligator, which I've written about previously here. Sitting underneath the personalised green alligator glasses-case that Dunhill made for me a few years ago (again, covered here). 

A beautiful Sailor pen in walnut and gold (top right), and then an old wooden pen, spare nibs and a spare shoelace.

Beside the desk sit a stack of old Lodger shoe boxes (Lodger was a British shoe company that I worked with several years ago, since sadly closed) that operate like drawers. 

And on top of the boxes, a pile of recently worn sweaters. From top to bottom:

• Ralph Lauren Purple Label charcoal cashmere hoodie
• Cream Loopwheeler cotton hoodie (featured in this Plaza shoot)
• A navy Johnston's cable-knit cashmere crew neck 
• Sleeveless V-neck wool sweaters from Anderson & Sheppard in navy and grey (perhaps the most useful knitwear I own)
• Ralph Lauren Purple Label cashmere crew neck, in a jersey knit and sweatshirt style

Above the desk hang three Hermes scarves. 

I love Hermes scarves and have accumulated a small collection. As written about here, I like to wear the classic 90cm silk squares with crew-neck knitwear, but I also wear them with jackets and inside overcoats. 

As with many menswear pieces I write about, the Hermes scarves are works of art in themselves, and it always seems a shame to have them fitting folded in boxes. 

I therefore constructed this set up, with three hooks in the wall that scarves can be hung off. The central scarf is a larger silk/cashmere design and so hangs lower. 

And finally, tucked in at the back of the desk you can see the boots I had made with Ludwig Reiter last year. 

They haven't had much use yet, but I have high hopes for winter. 

For the past year - ever since they were first launched here on Permanent Style - I have been wearing Sagans by Baudoin & Lange regularly and consistently. 

But it has only been in the past few weeks, as the temperature has soared and I've been travelling in Italy, that they have really come into their own. 

In hot weather, with a small invisible sock, I can wear Sagans all day long and remain cool and comfortable.

No blisters, no sweaty feet.

If I walk for hour after hour, my feet will get tired without the normal structure and sole of a proper shoe. 

But even this Allan (Baudoin) has mitigated with a particular insert under the ball and heel of the foot. 

I'll go into this in more detail in a fuller piece on dressing for very hot weather, in a couple of weeks. 

Right now, I am proud to say that Allan and Bo are offering a new colour of Sagan that I have designed myself - the lovely grey/brown you can see pictured here. 

I've worn both brown shades, and black, in the Sagans but I always felt there was a gap for a versatile suede that bridged slightly smarter and more casual clothing.

This is the result. A brown whose earthiness will make it perfect for warm colours such as brown, tan and green, but whose grey cast also makes it suitable for cooler colours - greys and navy.

In the pictures here I'm wearing them with off-white linen, but they have also gone well with a navy cotton suit, green linen trousers, and grey Crispaire. 

The versatility also has the advantage - of course - of making them even more useful for travelling. 

There is also - though it is very slight - a subtle purple cast to the colour. You can see this particularly when you look at the reverse, inside the shoe. As they are unlined, you can see the topside of the leather there, and it has a grey/purple tinge. 

I was honoured to be asked by Allan and Bo to help come up with a new colour for the range, and even more pleased now to see the results. 

The new 'Bark Grey' colour is available on their site as of this morning, in a limited run of 50 numbered pairs. There are three styles, as shown above.

You can see and buy the pair here. 

Now back out into the heat of Naples...

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

This summer there were several launch events at Pitti Uomo. 

Kenji opened up in Florence again, with his new Tie Your Tie store (small but lovely); Benedikt had his Shibumi showroom with new tailoring; it was effectively the launch of Neapolitan trouser maker Lino Pommella (for whom I, Mark Cho and Antonio Ciongoli designed some denim trousers). 

But the biggest launch was undoubtedly Sartoria Vestrucci - the re-born tailoring house being led by Tommaso Melani of Stefano Bemer, and Salvatore Ambrosi. 

The new Vestrucci has a shop on the south side of the Arno in Florence, with a small entrance but deep space, running back through racks of ready-made tailoring to bespoke cutting tables at the back. 

At the first table stands Loris Vestrucci, old and already once-retired, picking apart basting stitches.

Behind him work two apprentices, hired for him to train and provide some future for the bespoke. 

Vestrucci himself is smiling and cheeky, muttering his views on any tailoring within his view. The length of my Caliendo jacket and the flyaway peak lapels of a customer both came in for commentary. 

I'd been a fan of Vestrucci's style for years without knowing it. 

Vestrucci cut for my friend Tommaso Capozzoli for years, working at home with his wife. And I had always admired Tom's green tweed jacket and solaro suit among other things. 

He had also cut historically for several Japanese in the industry - including Kenji Kaga of Tie Your Tie and Kentaro Nakagomi of Coherence.

Tom (below, centre) is now the face of Vestrucci, and you will see him on the website as well as on trunk shows to New York and elsewhere.  

Vestrucci's style will be familiar to those that are aware of the peculiarities of Florentine tailoring. 

So the shoulder is a little extended, but only lightly padded, with a fairly natural run down into the sleeve. Its width (as we discussed previously here) creates an impression of strength without using padding or roping.

The canvas is similar in weight to other Italian tailors, and the chest is cut clean without being too close. It is accentuated by broad lapels.

One difference from other Florentine tailors (most obviously Liverano) is that the lapel is not concave but straight, with even a touch of belly (curving outwards rather than inwards). The front quarters are also relatively closed.

The jacket is slightly shorter than most, and in common with other Tuscans has no front seam running down below the hip pocket. 

The double-breasted jacket has a relatively low and flat gorge. Thankfully this is more in fashion now after years of high, pointy lapels that threatened to flop down the back of the jacket.

One of the reasons Tommaso Melani says he was excited about launching Vestrucci was that the Florentine style is rather underrepresented in the ready-made market, and that's certainly true - Italian tailoring around the world is dominated by Naples and the Abruzzo region. 

The quality and level of work in a Vestrucci jacket is very high, and a challenge of the new brand has therefore been reflecting it in the ready-to-wear. 

Here they've largely succeeded, with neat finishing and most of the Vestrucci style details reflected in the jackets.

They are made in Italy, although decline to say which factory (which is sensible in my view - too much is often read into manufactures which often offer different levels of quality).

The downside is that the prices are quite high - around €3000 including VAT for a ready-made suit, and a little more for made-to-order. (Bespoke starts at €6000 including VAT.)

Vestrucci will be doing trunk shows in partnership with Stefano Bemer and Ambrosi - in London and in the Bemer showroom in New York, with more to come. 

As a strategy it makes perfect sense, with customers now able to have bespoke or RTW shoes, trousers or suits from the same group. How far they can go into the very competitive RTW tailoring market remains to be seen. 

In the meantime, I highly recommend visiting the Vestrucci shop if readers are ever in Florence. 

It doesn't have the character of an older tailoring boutique yet, but there is a real range of RTW on display to try on, plus Bemer shoes, a nice range of knitted ties and leather goods. 

The shop is at 58 Via Maggio. Trunk shows will be announced on their site, as well as on our Trunk Show Calendar. 

I'll report separately, later, on the Holland & Sherry charcoal-flannel suit I am being fitted for. 

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man 

The two-week period for placing special orders of our Friday Polos ends tomorrow. 

So if you are planning to take advantage of the opportunity to order one in any colour or size (including XS and XXL) please do so by midnight tomorrow UK time. 

Thank you everyone that has ordered so far. Your polos will go into production on Thursday and should be ready to ship within two weeks. 

Details on the special order are on our original post here.

Naples has the biggest concentration of high-end handmade menswear in the world.

Although not so much for shoes, for tailoring and shirtmaking this is the motherlode, with hundreds of tailors in the city and surrounding region, and thousands working in small factories or busily hand-sewing at home.

You come here for bespoke, not for shopping.

But there are still a few shops worth visiting, and we highlight them here alongside some groupings of the best tailors and shirtmakers.

Many readers will visit Naples at some point, for a fitting or just to see the atelier of the tailor they’ve been using for years - and give some context to those beautiful suits they wear every day.

So we include some of those we particularly like, alongside the handful of shops.  

Please do bear in mind that there is no way to include all of those bespoke artisans - and that is not the role of this list. The bespoke listings below are necessarily partial and subjective.

1 Rubinacci
www.marianorubinacci.net
Via Chiaia, 149

Historically the biggest tailoring house in Naples, and the place so many other greats have sprung from.

Rubinacci moved a few years ago from its old, curved-front shop into a much bigger space up on the hill. Here it looks down impressively on Via Chiaia, although the elevated position can also mean it is easier to miss.

There is a large, deep shop selling both Rubinacci ready two wear and a variety of accessories, and a bespoke space at the back with many bolts on display. If you can, try to also see the cloth archive, which is stored in an actual bank vault.

2 E Marinella
www.marinellanapoli.it
Riviera di Chiaia, 287

Perhaps the most famous shop in Naples, Marinella is shockingly small.

There is just about enough room for two people to come in, browse the ties that are stacked unceremoniously in plastic sleeves on the tables, buy one and leave.

Various Rubinacci spin-offs are also available around the shop, and upstairs, but is the ties and the charm of the tiny boutique that people come for.  

3 E&G Capelli
www.patriziocappelli.it
Via Cavallerizza, 37

The other internationally known Neapolitan tiemaker is bigger, but harder to find.

E&G Cappelli has its shop (and workshop) in the gated square at 37 Via Cavallerizza. You’ll have to ring to get through the gate, though there is also the advantage that, once inside, you can also visit Sartoria Formosa - tailoring or shirts - on other sides of the square.

A tie brand that has recently opened a shop, and is worth a visit given how close and central it is, is Ulturale on Via Carlo Poerio

4 Barbarulo
www.gemellidapolso.it/en
Piazza Amedeo, 16/i - Passeggiata Colonna

Jewellery has been in the Barbarulo family for four generations, although they have gone through various retail strategies: the founder was a goldsmith, current owner Cristiano’s father moved the shop to Capri and sold vintage jewellery.

Cristiano opened the new shop, in a lovely arcade next to Piazza Amedeo, in 2012. His international website is called Gemellidapolso (the Italian for cufflinks) but there are also pins, chains and other jewellery for sale.

Cristiano has also brought more of the craftsmanship from outside Naples into the studio, which is nice to see.

5 Mario Talarico
www.mariotalarico.it
Vico Due Porte a Toledo, 4/B

Talarico makes some beautiful umbrellas in a tiny and ancient workshop off Via Toledo. He also offers some cheap brollies, but move those aside and look out for the solid sticks in chestnut or cherry wood, with hand-sewn canopies.

Mario Sr will likely be sat at his desk, which has been worn down so much it looks like a shark has taken a huge bite out of the top. And Mario Jr should be at the counter, tying on the little strips of silk or cotton that bind the umbrella's ribs. 

A worthy souvenir of Naples.

6 Caccioppoli
www.caccioppolinapoli.it
Via Antonio Ciccone 8

There used to be dozens of cloth merchants in Naples, importing and stocking cloth from Biella and Huddersfield for all the tailors around the city. Today there is one: Caccioppoli.

The Caccioppoli office in the east end of Naples has a lovely atmosphere to it, with three floors covering most of the city block. Customers can buy cloth directly in the shop, which is unusual among merchants, and visitors to Naples should take advantage of the chance to see the latest season’s collections in full bolts, as well as to see the building itself.

7 Camiceria Piccolo
www.camiceriapiccolo.com
Via Chiaia 41

Far, far smaller than Caccioppoli, but worth a visit. Piccolo (not to be confused with shirtmaker Salvatore Piccolo) is a small shirtings shop just off Via Chiaia in the centre of town.

The range of shirtings is good, if not extraordinary. There are few rare or unusual bolts you won’t find elsewhere (in contrast to, say, the Charvet range in Paris), but actual shops with shirtings on display in this volume are few and far between. Take the opportunity to reconsider shirt cloths, their textures and weaves.

8 Milord, Mister Fox, Gutteridge etc

Visitors to Naples with an interest in classic menswear will welcome the number of small shops offering brands such as Incotex, Boglioli and other Italian smart/casual labels. There are no more than other large Italian cities, such as Rome and Milan, but far more than in the UK, US or Asia.

Most of these are relatively cheap or a little outdated - Mister Fox and Milord, on either side of Via Cavallerizza, are examples of each. But they can be interesting to pop into (even chains such as Gutteridge) on the lookout for a nice tie or chino.

9 Sartoria Melina, Sartoria Rifugio
www.alfredorifugio.com, Pompeii
@sartoriamelinanapoli, Serano

As you might expect among the hundreds of tailors in Naples, there are a few that specialise in leather work - either making for brands, for tailors, under their name, or all three.

The biggest and best-known of these is Sartoria Rifugio, and last year one of the top makers branched out on her own to found Sartoria Melina (which only does bespoke, fully handmade work).

Both produce a lightweight leather or suede jacket with no canvas, just a small shoulder pad and a thin layer of fusing. The handwork is beautiful, and the nubuck calfskin a particularly nice choice of skin.

Both are some way out of town and require appointments. Rifugio also has showrooms in Milan, New York and Palm Beach.

10 Tailors, big and small

Some of the great names of Neapolitan tailoring, such as Antonios Panico and Pascariello, Gennaro Solito and Gigi Dalcuore, are still around and working - and worth a visit if you can.

Of course, it’s a lot easier if you are having something made, and commissioning a suit in Naples remains very good value for money (although it would require several return trips unless that tailor also travels).

The ateliers of the tailors are often steeped in history, with various awards and certificates of recognition on the walls. Places like Panico or Ciardi also have tailoring accessories such as old irons, and paintings on the walls that make the place feel more like a home than a shop.

Which of course, is exactly how they want it.

Smaller or younger tailors are more likely to travel, and among these it’s worth seeking out Ettore de Cesare up in Vomero, and Elia Caliendo in the centre of town. Dalcuore also travels widely.

11 Trouser makers: Cerrato, Ambrosi etc
@cerratomarco, Via Emanuele De Deo 4
Ambrosi-napoli.tumblr.com, Via Chiaia 184

There are two young and dynamic men at the head of two of the trouser makers in Naples: Cerrato and Ambrosi. Ambrosi has become particularly well known around the world, both for bespoke and ready-to-wear, with Cerrato only starting to travel recently.

Both make great trousers, and generally offer a higher level of make under their own name than in those they make for the city’s tailors. More bar tacks, more pick stitching.

Both are very welcoming and close by, Ambrosi on Chiaia and Cerrato on Toledo.

12 Shirt makers: Luca Avitabile, Anna Matuozzo, D’Avino
www.lucavitabile.it, Via Toledo 256
Anna-matuozzo.tumblr.com, Viale Antonio Gramsci 26
Davinoshirt.tumblr.com, Via Marigliano 72, 80049 Somma Vesuviana

There are a lot of shirtmakers in Naples, most of which are open to visits but tend not to have ateliers with the same history and atmosphere as the great tailors.

One worth highlighting is Luca Avitabile, who has built up a big international business for his bespoke and readymade polo shirts (designed with Permanent Style). In 2017 he also opened a large office on Via Toledo (same building as Solito) which is modern and welcoming. Lovely view down the long shopping street of Toledo.

Anna Matuozzo is more famous and uses more handwork in her shirts. Outside of town, meanwhile, is D’Avino bespoke (not to be confused with Avino, which does both ready-made and bespoke). If you fancy travelling out to the suburbs, the D’Avino atelier is a nice place to visit and is surrounded by the likes of Attolini and Borrelli, as well as many women finishing shirts at home.

Connolly, which opened on Clifford Street at the end of last year, is one of the most interesting new menswear stores London has had for a while.

It offers luxury clothing, both under its own name and a few European brands (Charvet, Car Shoe, Stile Latino), covering everything from knitwear to tailoring, shoes to leather goods.

It is best understood, however as three different collections: the Driving Collection, the Classic Collection, and the leather goods.

It’s important to understand the differences, as each has a distinct outlook, and seeing just one (for example, by not visiting the lower-ground floor) could mean missing out on what is a very rich and original contribution to menswear.

The first, and easiest to get excited about, is the Driving Collection.

Although everything is overseen by founder Isabel Ettedgui, the collections have different designers - in this case, Adam Cameron, who readers will know from The Workers Club.

The collection is a mix of knitwear, soft tailoring, outerwear and accessories. All are beautifully made (by the best manufacturers I know), are good value by luxury standards, and often have small and original design quirks.

There is a cashmere knitted jacket, for example, which has piped seams and is slightly felted to give it a little more of the feel and drape of cloth. There is a cream-canvas tote with the most subtle white leather binding (above).

And there are some beautiful suede jackets. The Autumn/Winter collection had a full-length, hooded coat in unlined navy suede; it was sensational. Spring/Summer has a collarless biker jacket in the same soft stuff (pictured below, £2600).

There aren’t many pieces in each category. This is not where you go to fill up on navy ties or pale-blue shirts. But each piece has an interesting aesthetic without becoming too fashion-y.

For example, the key summer shirt is in a broad blue-and-cream stripe, linen/cotton mix, and relaxed cut. That’s it in the image below, far left.

Next to it is a herringbone-linen jacket made by Stile Latino, wonderfully slubby and softly structured. Further down the rail are that blue-suede biker and the cashmere-jersey jacket.

The Driving Collection is well-curated and highly wearable, and readers will have no problem finding things they love. It even contains the only cotton drawstring trousers I’ve ever been tempted by (deliberately in a trouser cut, rather than baggy in the thigh and pegged at the ankles).

The Classic Collection (upstairs, at the back) is a different kettle of fish.

Designed by Marc Audibet - of Hermes, Prada, Ferragamo and others - it is a more fashion-forward collection, with more unusual cuts, materials and proportions.

But the colour palette is still very restrained (mostly navy, cream and brown), and it is this that I think keeps a lot of it very relevant - in fact, exciting - for a Permanent Style reader.

To take an example, consider the ribbed cream sweater I’m wearing in the image above (£550). The colour, the knit and the materials are the same as a classic piece we’d expect from one of the Scottish knitters we know and love.

But the neck is scooped and high. The body is voluminous, high in the waist and then expanding in the chest. And the cuff is very long - 2 or 3 times the length of a classic piece.

None of these design points are extreme. This is not a showy piece of fashion (you’d struggle to pick them out coming down a runway). But the overall effect is very distinctive.

Isabel and retail director Ivan (above, who some readers might remember from Trunk) agree that the aim here is to mix the best qualities and classic menswear styles with touches of originality and fashion.

“It’s refreshing to mix these ideas, while remaining faithful to the best makers and best traditions of quality,” Isabel says.

Some pieces in the Classic Collection are less unusual - eg a beige-suede safari jacket (above, left). Others are more so - such as the floor-length liquette overshirts (fourth from left, £550).

But there are always pieces at a perfect, wearable point in the middle.

For example, the Spring/Summer collection has knitted polo shirts in either cream with navy ribbing, or navy with cream, that have extended sleeves finishing just above the elbow (pictured above, third from the right, £285). The effect is quite subtle, and the navy/cream version was my first purchase.

And there is the staggeringly wonderful shawl-collar cardigan pictured above (£1700).

(Deliberately slouchy, but not as oversized as pictured - I am wearing a large/extra-large, though I would actually be a small/medium.)

All of the pieces in the Classic Collection also seem to have nice manufacturing details - such as the full-length pleats in the liquette (below), or a strip of herringbone knitting just before the end of the cuff in the polo shirts.

Overlaying all of this in the Classic Collection is the idea that this is a shared wardrobe, with pieces that can be worn by either men or women.

I can see this putting off some Permanent Style readers, but I think it’s a little bit of a red herring.

Some materials will be too effeminate, such as silks and gauzy cottons. But these are easily avoided, and the cuts of the other pieces are perfectly masculine: more suited to women borrowing from their partner’s wardrobe than the other way around, in my opinion.

Elsewhere in the beautiful Connolly building are some unique leather bags and accessories, and a collection of vintage pieces on the top floor.

Connolly was originally a leather business, founded in 1879, and it made the interiors for some of the world’s best-known cars as well as for the British Houses of Parliament.

There is also backstory to the clothing, as readers may be aware. The original shop was opened in 1995, in a crescent just off Belgrave Square. Isabel was responsible for bringing many luxury brands to London for the first time, including Charvet and Car Shoe.

It was the best curated luxury shop in the city, and had a real loyalty among men in Mayfair, as well as a great clubby atmosphere. (In many ways, a forerunner to shops like The Armoury that we celebrate today.)

It expanded and moved to Conduit Street in 2000, before closing in 2010 with the death of Isabel’s husband (and founder of Joseph), Joseph Ettedgui.

Isabel opened again last year after a long time of looking for the right location, and the right partners.

The location on Clifford Street was perfect (Isabel also lives above the store) and the partners turned out to be both as brands and manufacturers - the key way the new shop is different from the old one is the amount of 'Connolly' product rather than just curated brands.

I’ll cover more of the ethos of Connolly in a separate interview with Isabel, but it is notable how much of the online menswear philosophy - which we discuss and analyse here on Permanent Style - has always been at the heart of Connolly.

To pick a few things from its mission statement:

“Connolly believes we don’t need more stuff, just good stuff”

“Connolly champions craftsmanship, not something designed by machine”

“Connolly thinks less is more, and more is less”

“Connolly provides truly personal service, not lip-service”

They’re all things that could have been lifted from this very site over the years. And they are still a rarity today among fashion companies.

Here’s to another great shop in London - alongside Trunk, Anderson & Sheppard, Anglo-Italian and others. It will be fascinating to see how this small but endlessly variable shop evolves.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

connollyengland.com

This is a nice exercise in combining summery, pale colours.

The challenge is being light and pale overall, while retaining enough contrast between shirt, jacket and trousers - both in colour and texture. 

The starting point is the jacket, made for me by Elia Caliendo in a light-grey linen.

As with most outfits, this started with the desire to wear a particular piece that day - and the linen jacket was it. 

Picking trousers to go with a grey jacket is not easy, as we have discussed previously. 

The standards of grey and navy are not available (grey because the jacket is grey, and navy because it rarely works as an odd trouser) so we turn to the secondary menswear colours of green, brown and tan. 

Here, I've gone with the light-green cotton trousers from my suit made by Spanish tailor Reillo. The jacket didn't work out very well, as mentioned previously, but the trousers are still useful. 

Dark brown also works - I have worn the brown Crispaire trousers from my Dalcuore suit with this same jacket, and it works well. 

Cream would also be good, and it goes with pretty much every colour of jacket. But obviously not on most grey, English days. 

Of the two obvious shirts colours - white and light blue - the former is the most effective here. Blue doesn't have provide enough contrast with either the jacket or the trousers: the whole starts to merge into one dull block.  

Of course, pattern would also have been effective in providing contrast: a nice strong and broad blue/white stripe, for example. 

The shirt here is actually a summer prototype for the Friday Polos that I design with Neapolitan Luca Avitabile. It is therefore ready-to-wear, which is why the sleeves aren't quite long enough and the collar not quite high enough. 

Wearing a polo generally with an outfit like this, however, does give it a nice relaxed, summery vibe. 

Combining linen and cotton in an odd-jacket-outfit is also a good way to ensure contrast in texture. The linen will always have a little slub and crease to it, while the cotton is smoother. 

The pocket square, from Drake's via The Armoury New York, is similarly simple and muted - a navy with grey motifs and tan-coloured edge. 

The outfit could have handled something brighter or stronger in the breast pocket, given the muted look elsewhere, but it would have become the focal point of the whole piece. 

Combinations like this, increasingly, are how I like to dress day-to-day. Simply and effectively. 

It's unlikely to be picked up among the peacocks of Pitti. But these days that's quite a compliment. 

The hat, in stiff sisal straw, is from the Anderson & Sheppard haberdashery.

I'm not a huge fan of the material, but I do prefer the brown colour to other, bright-white panamas. It's more subtle and informal, and given how few people wear hats these days (even in the glaring sun) subtlety is good.

The grey linen, by the way, is from a vintage bolt I bought at Wilhelm Jungmann und Neffe in Vienna, which has some lovely old pieces. This is particularly unusual, being very heavy and coarse - almost more like canvas than modern linens.

And on the feet were the bark-grey Sagans I designed for Baudoin & Lange. 

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

As I return from two summer trips - one for a week in Florence, the other a week in Naples - it seems a fitting time to run through what I pack for trips such as these. I know readers have asked about it in the past.

Of course, any travelling wardrobe is specific to the trip itself, depending heavily on the location, the purpose, and the people being met.

But Permanent Style readers will doubtless find a need to travel with a similar level of formality to the one described here. And the general principles apply more broadly.

I can look separately at what I pack besides clothes, in hand luggage, and more general travel points.

The list below is what I might pack for a trip of five days - so five full days on location, with travel either side.

For that travel, I would generally wear something more obviously comfortable than the tailored pieces I will be wearing every day.

However, I wouldn’t resort to jeans and a T-shirt; and I always want something where I can keep passport, boarding pass etc - without resorting to my back pocket.

So a summer example would be:

• Green tailored shorts, from Bardelli 
• Navy linen blouson, from Hermes
• Grey long-sleeved Friday Polo or denim button-down shirt 
• Tan suede loafers from Edward Green

For an Autumn/Winter equivalent, you could swap in Incotex chinos for the shorts, and my navy-suede jacket from Stoffa for the linen blouson.

In my hand luggage I will often have a mid-weight piece of knitwear, in case the plane is chilly. I wouldn’t wear the jacket on the plane.

I rarely travel on a trip of this length without a suit. It’s always good to know I can turn to something more formal if the need arises - for a particular dinner, or an event.

That suit will usually be navy or grey, and I will aim to have something where the jacket or trousers can also be worn with other items.

A ‘three-way suit’ like my Pirozzi corduroy would be perfect in one way, as the trousers and jacket can be worn on their own with the right partners, and can be worn together as a suit.

However, such three-way suits tend to be in more casual materials like cotton, and therefore don’t cover my need for formality. An exception would be a navy cotton suit, or a heavy hopsack.

Suits I more usually turn to, therefore, are my brown Crispaire from Dalcuore (whose trousers are quite versatile) or my Anderson & Sheppard grey-flannel suit.

More detail on all these pieces can be found at those links.

For a five-day trip like this, I would also pack two jacket/trouser combinations. So two jackets, each with a pair of trousers to be worn with them.

If the two can be swapped over, or work with part of the suit, all the better.

As with all pieces taken on a trip, there is an urge to take the most versatile, functional pieces. Examples would be:

• My navy-hopsack jacket from Ettore de Cesare
  • Perhaps with tan cavalry-twill trousers from Richard James
• My green/black checked jacket from Solito
  • Perhaps with grey Crispaire trousers from The Disguisery

The advantage to these four pieces is that each can be worn with the other trouser. However, if this is overkill in terms of versatility, one of the jackets could be more unusual - such as the Liverano purple flannel.

Note also that cream is probably the most versatile trouser there is, in terms of what it can go with.

The only problem is that cream trousers are not suited to every destination and season. If they are in a particular case, bring them.

With these tailored pieces, I would have three outfits for the first three days.

On the last two days, I could then wear other combinations of these, or two of the outfits again (perhaps with different shirts or accessories).

Shirts are usually most versatile in a plain blue, then white - or with subtle patterns that make them no different in effect from plains.

In order to avoid this being boring, I would tend to mix up materials (eg cotton/linen) or design (a long-sleeved polo shirt for a tieless day, instead of a button-down shirt).

Ideally the shirt collars are such that they can be worn effectively both with and without a tie - as most of mine now are, whether spread or button-down.

My favourite travel ties are a navy and black large-knot grenadine. But to avoid this being too boring, I would chuck in one or two more interesting options - perhaps my dusty-orange Mattabisch.

And I always have two handkerchiefs with me: a white linen and a dark silk or wool/silk, eg the navy Drake’s I wore on Monday.

Plus one brighter selection- eg yellow and cream from Rubinacci.

I usually take three pairs of shoes, all brown.

One pair must be such a dark brown that it can be worn with a smart, dark suit - such as my Edward Green Oundles.

The others can be mid- or light browns, but as with everything else it’s helpful if they can go with multiple pairs of trousers.

In the summer, one pair at least is Sagans from Baudoin & Lange. And even in the winter, I try to fit in a pair, as a fourth shoe.

There’s nothing worse that finding one pair of shoes - for whatever mysterious reason - becomes uncomfortable when you’re travelling, and leaving you with just one other pair, to wear every day.

Having had that experience, on any trip of more than a couple of days I take three pairs of shoes.

Socks are pretty much all my favourite dark green. They go with everything, and they have a little personality. The perfect combination.

There will be one piece of knitwear in there, that goes with almost everything - usually a navy crewneck.

Plus (if I have room) one cardigan or similar that can add interest to an otherwise versatile (read: dull) outfit. Such as a cream or burnt-orange colour.

And last of all: a lightweight scarf. It takes up hardly any room but makes a big difference on a cold evening.

Any questions, problems, or votes on future travel pieces, please let me know.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

This is the first in what will be a series on artisanal workshops in Naples - following my trip there with Jamie a couple of weeks ago. 

One of the loveliest we visited was the Cerrato atelier, which is on the first floor of an building in the Spanish Quarter of town. 

The Spanish Quarter, although in the centre of Naples, is one of the oldest and poorest. It is here that you are most likely to here the Neapolitan dialect, and in these streets - running up onto the hill from Via Toledo - that you are still best avoiding late at night. 

The Cerrato family house, where Marco was born, is halfway up one of these streets. The atelier is two streets over. And Marco's house today is three streets beyond that. This is still a community, in the middle of a modern city. 

The door to the building is huge, wooden, designed originally for horses and cart. A small cutaway in it allows for pedestrians to step through. 

The inner courtyard is dark and, frankly, very dirty. But it breathes history, and the broad stone steps up to the first floor are cool and shadowy. 

The atelier itself comprises two rooms: one workshop, one office/cutting room. 

In the workshop are Marco's mother, his father, his wife and his brother. (Or rather, one of his brothers - the other, Massimo, lives in London and does fittings there.)

Historically, there have been a handful of trouser workshops like this in Naples (the other big ones being Mola and Ambrosi) working nearly exclusively for tailors. Those tailors would take measurements and sometimes cut, before handing the work to the trouser workshop. 

But in recent years the trouser makers have begun to establish their own brands, and serve their own customers. Ambrosi was the trailblazer there, but Cerrato also began a few years ago and now nearly half of their business is retail. 

"It's important to maintain a balance, but I do like working directly with customers," says Marco. "It's more personal and more satisfying. Those customers also appreciate a higher level of handwork, or have more interesting design ideas."

He estimates that work for tailors (four, currently) can produce about 115 pairs a week. But the extra work often required for end customers means that number is more like 80 week. 

Those trousers aren't all being made by the family in the workshop - about 17 people work outside, from home. They tend to do the finishing work, such as the pick stitching, bar tacks and buttonholes. 

This set up used to be common in many parts of Europe, and there are still remnants of it in the UK or France (for hand rolling of handkerchiefs, for example). But the system remains in Naples, where the lack of industrialisation left many crafts intact. 

The Cerrato team can do all the same handwork and detailing as any other trouser maker. There is little real difference between makers there.

Quality tends to come down to how thoroughly and precisely it is done - do buttons fall off, is the stitching so loose that lining starts to come away.

And there are occasional making points - for example, if a trouser maker is asked to do a waistband that is wider than the standard, most tend to use the same, narrow lining inside, meaning the waistband will buckle slightly. 

Marco, however, cuts an entirely new lining in that case, from a full roll of canvas (below).

Interestingly, Marco also says that recently customers have been asking for narrower and narrower waistbands, against the trend of recent years. 

"These things all come round in cycles," he says. "If you've been doing this for long enough you've seen everything - every type of buckle or side adjustor, every width and shape." 

His current favourite is the closed or 'kissing' pleat, as seen on his trousers below. 

When it comes to cutting, there are some small differences in style. 'Handwriting', as Marco puts it. 

"I tend to prefer a little more room around the top, the seat," says Marco. "I hate it when the cloth pulls there. And then I would narrower the leg slightly more sharply below the knee."

You can see an example of Marco's work in the cotton trousers he made me here. 

Marco still only travels to London, although is considering New York. Trouser start at £600. 

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

As mentioned in our post on Marco Cerrato last week, much of the sartorial industry in Naples occurs outside the city - in the suburbs and towns of the surrounding area.

Much of this is in the north-east, just above Mount Vesuvius, the still-active volcano that sits on the horizon, perpetually hulking over the city.

On the northern slope of Vesuvius is Somma Vesuviana, a quiet suburb where shirtmaker Fiorenzo D’Auricchio has his workshop. His brand is D’Avino.

(Not to be confused with Avino, the ready-to-wear and bespoke shirtmaker that is not far away.)

The area has hundreds of shirtmakers (nearly all women) that work at home on the finishing and hand-sewing of shirts.

The larger makers in Casalnuovo, north-west of here (Attolini, Isaia, Borrelli) all make use of these shirtmakers.

When Fiorenzo was at Borrelli (he was the head of quality control in hand finishing for 15 years), he was in charge of 50 women in the area.

Today all his D’Avino shirts are made in the workshop - something he is very proud of.

“In an area like this, it is one thing that sets a maker apart,” he says. “We invest in people, we work together all day long, myself and my wonderful employees. I need to keep them happy, and they know that.”

He gestures to one lady (all six of them are women) who came with him from Borrelli: “We’ve been working together for more than 20 years. So far it’s been a pretty good relationship.”

Fiorenzo's mother also worked at Borrelli, and it was she who taught him to sew when he was young. Later he went to college to study design and pattern making.

The women of D’Avino do everything in-house, from the side seams to the buttonholes - and there is an awful lot to do.

I’ve written before about the quality of the work at D’Avino, which is the highest I have come across. Everything that can involve some hand-sewing, does. Both the practical things (attaching collar, armhole etc) and the aesthetic ones (hand-rolling the bottom hem).

A white shirt is set up in one room, with all the hand sewing done in blue, to highlight it.

You can see some of that below: the stitching under the collar around the collar-stay, and the top of the shoulder.

Fiorenzo even invented a method of using an extended collar-stay in the collar, making it easier for the women to sew in perfect, straight lines around it (below).  

"I always want to try to look to innovate, to improve these age-old processes whenever I can," he says. 

Fiorenzo shows us around the workshop, starting with the paper patterns created for each customer, then the washing machines outside to wash all the material before working on it (linen is always washed twice).

Then there is the cutting table, where Fiorenzo does all the cutting himself. "I need this kind of oversight, to be able to see everything at every stage," he says.

"In my previous job I had maybe 30 seconds to check the work on every shirt - it wasn't real control."

Another of his innovations is a button-hole sewing machine that he uses just to create guides for the women, rather than actually sewing the holes (below).

"I do this myself usually," he says. "If there isn't any thread in the machine, it will just cut the cloth and the create a dotted outline of where the buttonhole should be. It can then be sewn by hand but with more accuracy."

The underside of Fiorenzo's collars always have a middle section in linen/cotton (the white bit you can see in the image below).

This is softer than the rest of the collar, and makes it a touch more comfortable. The ends need to be cleaner and sharper, where the middle does not. 

Interestingly, Fiorenzo increasingly offers a floating lining in his collars as well as a fused one.

Although I personally prefer the look of a fused collar, I do appreciate the extra work required for floating lining, and it is nice to see that Fiorenzo offers both. 

There are three thicknesses of lining, all on rails in the picture below. All made in France. 

It's always nice to see the workshop where your favourite clothes are made. The fact they are often small, personal places is a further bonus - and a lovely aspect of bespoke clothing.  

After Fiorenzo and I had toured the workshop, we wandered down to the local cafe in Somma Vesuviano, and talked about the area. 

The land around here is particularly good for growing fruits and vegetables, partly because of its volcanic earth. This is something I had spotted on the farms on the drive in, and I noticed several shops offering fresh produce. 

After we had ordered coffee, Fiorenzo's brother-in-law (a lawyer) and his assistant joined us.

The assistant spoke fluent English (Fiorenzo's is not perfect) and we had a pleasant conversation about the history of Somma Vesuviana while Jamie wandered the street, taking shots of shops and brickwork. 

I'm not sure when I would ever go back to the D'Avino workshop, given Fiorenzo's travel to London and its location outside Naples. 

But every time I see Fiorenzo, or indeed wear one of his shirts, I will have a pleasant and very personal memory to go with it.  

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

I am wearing my tobacco-linen suit by Dege & Skinner. Details on the suit at that link, and thoughts on the combination coming soon in a separate post.

*UPDATE: Edward Sexton have just confirmed they will producing a ready-to-wear version this Autumn/Winter, probably in flannel, price around £600*

One of the more unusual bespoke commissions I made over the past six months was these linen trousers, made by Edward Sexton.

Known as a Hollywood waistband, or Hollywood top, the design was fairly popular in the 1940s and into the 1950s in the US. The infamous zoot suit frequently featured it.

The central aspect of the design is that there is no waistband. Instead, the cloth of the leg continues uninterrupted to the top of the trouser, before turning over.

A canvas interlining is still often used inside, to reinforce the top. However, it is often lighter in weight and this, combined with the lack of the waistband itself, makes the top softer and perhaps more comfortable.

This waistband-less construction is used on trousers designed to be worn with braces or with a belt.

With braces, it has the advantage that any waistcoat does not have to be long enough to cover the waistband and then some trouser below it. It just needs to cover the top of the trouser, and can therefore be shorter if desired.

With a belt, the loops are usually dropped an inch or so, and the style is therefore sometimes known as a dropped-loop trouser.  

In this case, there will be strip of canvas around the line of the belt, but nothing above it. The trouser is also cut so that its narrowest point is at the belt line, before expanding slightly above it.

You can see the canvas at the belt line in the first image of the making of my trousers, below. 

It is this latter, dropped-loop design that Edward Sexton has been making for bespoke clients for the past few months.

They have been popular, particularly in the summer when the lack of waistband and wider leg (a common but not required part of the design) can make them comfortable in the heat.

Anyone with an awareness of women’s fashion will have seen this design around recently - often, in that case, with a self-fabric belt tied loosely in place of a belt.

But it’s nice to see it resurrected for men - dug up from a time when tailoring was more creative than we give it credit for (particularly as pieces were being made for leisure and sport, rather than just business and formalwear).

My fear with the trouser, as I’m sure readers would anticipate, was that they would appear too dandyish and perhaps anachronistic.

But actually I have found them quite wearable. The exposed, pale-coloured cloth above the belt does not stand out as much as you might think, partly because the shirt rolls out of the trouser a little during the day, and covers some of it.

You can see that clearly in the image below of me in the Sartoria Vestrucci atelier in Florence, with Tommaso Capozzoli and Loris Vestrucci.

You can also see the lovely line of the trouser, just sitting neatly on top of my Baudoin & Lange Sagans (in my Bark Grey colour).

From the front, the unusual top of the trouser is more noticeable, and I find it’s a nice point of focus between the fronts of a jacket.

However, I would always wear it with fairly subdued combination elsewhere; if combined with other unusual elements, this could become too dandyish.

I also find that the exaggerated trouser style is nicer with overshirts or knitwear, rather than a tailored jacket.

(As a reader pointed out perceptively in last Monday’s post.)

The belt, by the way, is an alligator piece from Brunello Cucinelli - a gift from Brunello when I visited him in Solomeo.

A nice colour, deliberately aged, and the over-long design is nice doubled up through these loops.

The alligator is unfortunately cut halfway round, but then if it wasn’t the belt would be a lot more expensive.

The only issue I had with the trousers was that the front tended to drop slightly under my stomach.

This effect was accentuated by the fact that the belt narrows towards the front, suggesting an even greater downward slope.

This is partly down to my request to have the trousers cut lower than Edward’s normal design. Normally the trouser is high-waisted, with the belt sitting on the natural waist rather than the hip bone.

I wanted to have the belt at my normal, hip height, but use the cloth above the belt to extend the leg line.

This hasn’t quite worked, and I am going in in a couple of weeks’ time to have the waist altered.

The trouser is traditionally a little loose in the waist too, so the belt actually cinches the material. But I think it is harder for this to work on the lower rise I opted for.

The linen, from Solbiati, is lovely. I would usually go with an Irish linen for a trouser like this, but this has both body and drape. It is cloth number S01046, from the Linen 5 bunch, weight 430 grammes.

Edward is exploring making these trousers available ready-to-wear as well, using the overseas workshop that makes their made to measure.

That could be a nice option, as Edward would then be able to alter them in-house for the waist and length, and they would be considerably cheaper than the £1,300 the bespoke costs.

Always easier to experiment with something unusual when it’s a little bit cheaper.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

*For the full article on Connolly, its designs and collections, click here*

Permanent Style: Good to see you Izzy. It’s great to have Connolly open in London again - there are still so few independent shops offering this combination of real craftsmanship and original design.

You opened in November 2016. How has the reaction been since then?

Isabel Ettedgui: Very good, particularly from the old, very loyal Connolly customer. But it’s interesting to see how many new customers are coming in - and women too.

We’ve also been picked up by Matches and by Mr Porter, which is helpful because as a small store we don’t have a big advertising budget. So those shops help to spread the word.

Was the plan always to do wholesale as well as retail?

Not really. I think for a brand like ours, it can be hard because we get lost in the big, shop-in-shop department stores.

Online is OK, and we will be in Fortnum & Mason too from September, which is a different proposition. But wider wholesale is less attractive.

Do you like the way Fortnums has been revamped?

I do. The third floor is a really nice space - open, where you can see all the product, and I bump into an increasing number of people who go there for their perfume, or for a shave and so on.

Will you have the whole collection in there?

No, we will keep it quite tight, just a small story around the driving collection. I think if you’re going to make any money as a small store you need to have a tight, clear message in a place like that.

We will also refine the collection in the Connolly store over the next year or so. There are a couple of pieces of big luggage coming in for the winter, and some new coats; but we don’t want to add much more - we need to see what really works.

So you plan to reduce the number of collections, or the number of pieces?

The pieces, probably. Just each collection until we discover the core 20% or 30% that defines our offering and really drives the business.

That’s interesting. It must be tempting as a brand to start small, then add season upon season, until you have something that is a little unwieldy - hard to communicate and stock accurately.

Yes, but we had to start fairly big because we had a shop to fill.

It’s amazing how much we have - I can’t believe that five people put this all together. Particularly given that when the store was open before, we were buying a lot of it, like Loro Piana, not designing our own.

That trend in menswear has been interesting over the past 20 years. Beginning with multi-brand stores like your own, then all the designer brands opening their own stores, and now many of them struggling.

Yes, a lot of the brands have tried to grow very fast. There are too many stores, and that creates a lot of pressure. It often reminds of that Dali painting of someone eating themselves!

I’ve gone back to a mom-and-pop store in a way - I even live above the shop. It’s all personal finance and that means you really have to strive to grow, and invest for the long term.

A lot of brands seek out private-equity money, but it can force many of them to grow too fast.

Absolutely. I think the luxury industry is going to change a lot in the next few years. It can’t sustain the way it’s been growing, and young people are just not responding to it any more.

Luxury is about time and experience. I love the brands that just have three or four shops, that have been around for generations. You get a lot of them in Germany.

It’s unusual - even for independent stores - to have your mix of mostly own-brand product, but a significant amount from other brands - Charvet, Car Shoe, Stile Latino. Why did you want that mix?

I just like the variety. It’s never going to be the core of what we do, but I love to have the freedom to bring in a few pieces from other brands I love.

In my initial piece on Connolly, I defined your approach as working with artisanal, heritage manufacturers, but often with subtle, contemporary design tweaks. Is that fair?

No one else has put it that way, but yes I think that’s right. We take a lot of inspiration from vintage pieces too - so that cream sweater with the extended cuff you mentioned [pictured above] was inspired by an old 1940s piece.

Those kind of designs are also more often used in womenswear. It’s nice to bring some of them across to men too.

How does it work with the designers you use, like Adam [Cameron, Driving Collection] and Marc [Audibet, Classic Collection]?

I think all design is about working with talented, creative people, so in a way this is not that different.

But the bottom line is this is my brand and I have to be sure I can sell it. So they propose ideas and I give my guidance on whether I think it will work or not, what direction it needs to go in.

And at the very beginning, I’ll often give a view on where I want to take things.

Although it’s always surprising what works at what doesn’t.

It’s the same with most brands, but it never ceases to surprise me how you have pieces at the beginning of a collection that you think are sure-fire hits, and they don’t sell but something else goes immediately.

Thank you Izzy, it was a real pleasure talking to you.

No problem. I really love your denim jacket by the way, and the combination with the natural-coloured shirt. Where are they from?

The jacket is from Cifonelli, the Parisian tailor. And the shirt is from Neapolitan shirtmaker D’Avino.

I do particularly like this shade of shirt at the moment - it feels like the opposite of a white, starchy corporate shirting.

I do often envy men and the relationship they can have with their tailor. It must be such a lovely thing to develop.

You find your shape, and then it’s just a case of the little changes, the cloths,the colours, the patterns.

When Joe [Joseph Ettedgui, founder of the Joseph brand] died he had around 400 hand-made suits.

I think that’s what a brand should do really - find its shape and its line, and then vary it a little every season.

Like a band’s second album. Everyone basically wants the same album, just different.

Exactly! That’s often not the best thing with music, but with menswear it’s perfect.

Do you like the way Clifford Street has developed by the way?

Oh, it’s a great place to be now.

Next to Drake’s, and the Haberdashery. We’re different to both of them, but I think compliment them nicely as well.

I think this street is on its way to be the best for menswear anywhere in the world - and right around the corner from Savile Row as well.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

*For more on Ettore de Cesare, and examples of the pieces he has made for me, see original post here*

The workshop of Ettore de Cesare is in Vomero, a residential neighbourhood on the hill behind central Naples. But he lives in the centre of town.

Every day he reverse-commutes, driving up the hill while on the opposite side of the road a long snarl of traffic tries to drives down.

This is not the reason he lives in the centre, of course. He lives there because it’s more fun, and interesting, and because it’s no longer as dirty or dangerous as it used to be.

I found his arrangement interesting because another tailor in Altamura - Sartoria Cornacchia - said the same thing to me the other day.

Their workshop is in a set of flats outside the city - where their parents moved to - but they now live in the centre.

It is a generational thing, more than anything else. Ettore’s grandfather lived in Vomero, and set up the workshop there in 1960.

Ettore has since expanded and modernised it.

The work is done in four interconnected rooms under arches that were once used as bomb shelters (above). The showroom is in the building next door, though a gate in the fence.

The showroom is a little too modern for me, but the arches have a lovely atmosphere, with each effectively dedicated to a different stage in the making process.

Particularly noteworthy was the photograph on one wall of Ettore’s father with Diego Maradonna, wearing a De Cesare jacket (above).

It caught our eye because the previous evening Maradonna had been in Naples, to receive the freedom of the city in recognition of his time playing for Napoli.

He was staying in the Grand Hotel Vesuvio, next to us, and all night a crowd of fans waited outside, chanting his name and hoping for an appearance on the balcony.

It finally happened about 1am, just as I was falling asleep.

Ettore’s master tailor, Luigi, works in the first arch of the workshop and oversees much of what is done elsewhere.

We watched as he laboriously but four rows of stitches in a hand-padded collar (above), slowly rounding its shape as he went.

The stitches were also small and more numerous than many Neapolitan makers.

In a larger room down a couple of stairs, Luigi was overseeing a young apprentice, Alessio (above), who was repeatedly padding the chest of jacket after jacket, trying to get his speed up.

It’s relatively rare in Italy to see young people learning tailoring - certainly compared to the UK or Japan - so it was great to see Alessio’s focus and dedication.   

Luigi also demonstrated the process of inserting a sleeve into a jacket (above).

This is one of the hardest parts of assembling a jacket, as the sleevehead is 5-7cm bigger in circumference than the armhole it has to go into.

The excess must be worked in gradually, all the way round the armhole, with a smooth finish where it is desired, and ripples where it is not.

The ripples at the top of a sleeve on some Neapolitan jackets - often associated with ‘spalla camicia’ or shirt-shoulder construction - are a good example of the latter.

Ettore’s team are also good at working with unusual designs or materials.

I noted in my review of the jacket and coat he made me that this includes suede and leather - as I had under the collar of my pieces.

When we visited the workshop, the team was working on a design sent by a customer, of an Indian Nehru-collared jacket in light-blue wool with blue-silk details.

Not my cup of tea, but interesting to see the range of work.

Back in the showroom, Ettore walked us through a few of the styles he has been working on.

I always welcome attempts by tailors to innovate, even if some of them are not to my taste, or plain don’t work.

As long as they maintain their quality and focus on craftsmanship, it’s a useful way to stop tailoring from stagnating.

A few of those things are pictured here:

• A reversible overcoat (above)
• An unlined car coat (below)
• And a safari-style jacket in chalk-stripe flannel (further below)

I tend to prefer bespoke pieces that have a full canvas, as they benefit from the hand-padded shape in the chest and lapel that you won’t get with ready-to-wear.

But these pieces do appeal to guys that want to create their own unique versions of such coats, and with a better fit (the other two benefits of bespoke, aside from the make).

It was lovely seeing Ettore's workshop, particularly as our previous meetings at Holland & Sherry in London had been so fleeting. 

We also had more time to talk later, as we had dinner round the coast in Marechiaro (Al Faretto restaurant).

Given the quality of Ettore's work, and the frequency of his visits to London, I'm sure we'll be working on something  else again soon. 

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

Following my post two weeks ago on what I pack for travel, a reader asked about non-clothing items - electronics, toiletries and so on. 

So here are a few of my favourite things, which will certainly be going on holiday this summer. 

1 Bower & Wilkins P7 wireless headphones

A reader picked up on these on Instagram. I've had them about a year, and at this point they are one of the joys of travelling.

I can rarely be bothered to carry over-the-ear headphones day to day, and they are rather bulky for a sharp, tailored outfit. But travel makes it worthwhile. The sound quality is superb and the styling simple and refined.

2 BeoPlay A1 Bluetooth speaker

Similar love of the performance and style, but slightly different use case: A few months ago I swore I'd never travel for long periods again without a speaker.

Being able to play Radio 4 in the morning and music in the evening is the best way to feel at home, and forget you're away, alone. 

3 Starsky sunglasses by EB Meyrowitz

Never quite right with a suit, but my perfect sunglasses with casual clothing.

Beautifully made, a subtle but distinctive style and - it turns out - now quite fashionable. Everyone is bringing out straight-topped eyewear. 

4 Bennett Winch commuter holdall, black

I have two Bennett Winch holdalls - a Weekender in green, with brown leather trim, and a Commuter in black.

Much to my surprise it is the latter I prefer and use more often. The size of the weekender is attractive but makes it rather heavy if full; the commuter is often a better size. And although I like the way the brown leather is ageing, I prefer the sleek and simple effect of the black. 

5 Russian-reindeer washbag

Again, this was a question from a reader. I've had this for just over a year and it still has that distinctive, smoky smell of the Russian-reindeer hide - the same as my double-monk shoes, and a scent that has now permeated by bathroom cupboard. 

The make isn't amazing, but it's worth it for the smell alone.

6 Aesop cleanser and balm

An absolute luxury, but as with music, familiar toiletries are something that make me feel at home when travelling. Aesop's quality and fragrances both appeal, and when I can afford it, they are my go-to.

7 Le Labo Bergamot

My current favourite fragrance, an original version of the classic citrus scent.

Great for summer, although I must get a travel vaporiser to avoid lugging the whole bottle around. 

8 Alvaro 'Alberto' leather sandals

I rarely wear sandals, but when you're on holiday it's so useful to have something to slip on and off to walk down to the pool - a step down in lazy from an espadrille.

I received these recently as a present and, although expensive, they do fit and perfectly beautifully. Nice leather and sole, though glued not stitched. 

Other than these, I'll be taking a lot of novels, a few back issues of the New York Review of Books, plus a notebook and my Perfect Pencil. Nice for notes as well as the odd sketch. 

I can't wait. 

As with most of my reviews, I wrote a first, introductory post on P Johnson last year, after they opened in London.

My apologies that the full review, here, has taken so long.

In that time John, James and the others have moved from the pop-up in Soho to a permanent location just north of Tottenham Court Road.

They have also rebranded - dropping the word 'tailors' from their name, among other things, which I heartily welcome.

P Johnson are not tailors, although some like James Johnson have had training at Andrew Ramroop's Savile Row Academy.

They are, rather, an interesting and potentially good-value option for made-to-measure.

Patrick offered to make me a jacket and trousers (for free - not the norm, but it does happen) in order to review.

I opted for a linen jacket in denim-like blue from Solbiati (S01049) and a pair of white cotton trousers in a denim-like weave from Loro Piana (LP641006).

The jacket had the middle of P Johnson's three structuring options.

You can see the three pictured on my original post: essentially a slim shoulder pad and two layers of canvas, a very thin pad and single layer of canvas, and no pad just a touch of canvas in the shoulder.

I'd recommend either of the first two, but the latter only in a shirt jacket or similar.

The jacket was strong in the fit, but less so in the style.

James took the original measurements and then conducted the fitting, and the result was good for made-to-measure.

The shoulder line and chest were clean, as was the fit through the waist and hips. The pitch of the sleeve was also good, as was the length.

The back is pretty clean (bear in mind this is linen). The only small issue was with the vents kicking out a little over my seat - always a difficult point for made-to-measure tailoring, and something we did try to address at the fitting.

The bigger issue was style. As you can see, the jacket is a little shorter than I would normally wear - perhaps 2cm. And we already lengthened the standard jacket by 1.5cm to get to this point.

The buttoning point was also lowered by 2cm - so proportionately, lowering it a little compared to the length - but it still feels a tad high.

I'm also not a big fan of the lapel line, which is a little narrow and has perhaps too much belly on it, curving up towards its tip.

Of course, this is the lapel I chose, but with made to measure there aren't infinite varieties of style.

P Johnson offer two standard lapel widths, of which this is a slightly widened version of the narrow one. And with MTM you can't start re-drawing the lapel line - the changes have to be regulated enough to be fed through a system back to the factory.

It's for this reason that I focus on the style of the jacket here, and consider it important. I'd also say, on balance, that the P Johnson style is more suited to younger guys that want a shorter, more contemporary cut.

The trousers, on the other hand, were great.

The waist needed to be taken in a little at the fitting and the thigh narrowing, but that was about it. Nice fit through the seat, clean line down to the shoe, and perfect length.

Style is of course less of a factor with trousers, but there was no hint of making these too tight or too short.

I try hard also not to be influenced by choice of material, but the Loro Piana cotton is beautiful (soft and comfortable, but with a touch of the hardiness of denim) whereas the Solbiati linen is a bit too saturated for me, and lacking depth in the texture.

Neither jacket nor trousers are made to the highest quality level, but that is reflected in the price to a certain extent.

The jacket does not have a hand-padded lapel or collar, which is fine - that's what you'd expect with MTM. (Although God, it does make you miss bespoke.)

But the collar is also not attached to the jacket by hand.

The top stitching is by hand, which is nice, and from what I've seen it is all cut by hand, but overall there are higher levels of make in MTM.

That goes for the trousers too, which are fine but don't have the hand-tacking or other sartorial details of some MTM.

As I said, this is reflected in the price.

The starting price for a P Johnson jacket is £960, which is pretty good. And trousers on their own start at £265 - which is what most top-end ready-to-wear trousers cost in London.

For anyone looking for that perfect pair of flannels for winter - and with a big range of cloth to choose from - P Johnson could be a good option.

These are definitely starting prices, however. My Loro Piana ones would have cost £450, and the jacket £1100. Worth clarifying the range of pricing before going through all the bunches.

On the subject of quality, it's also worth saying that P Johnson are moving all their tailoring production to the factory in Carrara, Italy, but historically pieces have been made elsewhere, including China.

There is also potential confusion with the fact that their cheaper line in Australia - Suit Shop - is made in China, as is some of the new ready-to-wear clothing (such as linen shirt-jackets and trousers).

Now I have heard P Johnson salesmen being a little misleading about manufacturing - suggesting that pieces are cut on site, or that chests and hand-padded, for example.

But I know this is not the aim of Patrick, John (Glass, pictured above) or anyone else. They want clarity and consistency across the team, and across the stores.

I also think we should be a little tolerant of how brands grow and develop.

It is natural to think that brands are born fully formed, with a clear mission and a consistent product. But that rarely happens. Most take a few years to find their feet, be 100% confident in the style and make of their product, and their communications.

One of the things I found most interesting about having MTM at P Johnson was the way it made me appreciate bespoke - particularly that lovely hand-rolled lapel line.

But this is not bespoke and should not be compared to it. Rather, it is well executed MTM with a strong, contemporary style.

I'd certainly recommend exploring the trouser option, and the more casual pieces such as the shirt-jackets, in linen for summer (below) or wool/cashmere for winter.

In the images I am also wearing:

• With the jacket:
  • Button-down chambray shirt by Luca Avitabile
  • Grey Crispaire trousers by The Disguisery
  • Oatmeal cashmere pocket square by P Johnson
  • 'Crompton' model bespoke hatchgrain loafer by Gaziano & Girling
• With the trousers:
  • Collarless shirt by Simone Abbarchi
  • Navy cotton sweatshirt by Dunhill (one of our Top 10 for summer)

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

Finding new colour combinations I like makes me disproportionately happy.

I know this doesn’t apply to every menswear enthusiast, but for me the interrelationship of colours is one of the most enjoyable and creative aspects of dress.

Particularly in menswear, where colour is often so limited.

This combination made me happy: sage-green shirt, tobacco-brown safari jacket, and cream-cotton trousers.

Accessorised with brown shoes (suede, Baudoin & Lange Sagans) and a brown bag (leather, Frank Clegg x Michael Bastian tote).  

The shirt we have referenced before, as one of the three linen pieces I had made by D’Avino.

I said then that it was hard to wear with anything but blue (including denim) and white/cream, and I stick by that - the shirt needs the off-white trousers here (from P Johnson, reviewed on Wednesday).

It’s an important point, for this shade of green often pops up among summer offerings by Italian brands, such as Fedeli.

However, once the shirt has an effective partner, I find all manner of jackets or blazers can be worn over it. A brown-suede blouson perhaps or - as here - a tobacco-linen safari jacket.

The jacket is from The Armoury, one of two shades it offered the Ascot Chang-collaboration in this year. (Only currently available in large; the navy is available in small and medium.)

It is made from very stiff linen, which means it holds a shape very well, even if it’s not as relaxed as overshirts from others such as Drake’s.

It can hold a mobile phone easily without distorting the cut; but you do feel you’re wearing something closer to a jacket than a shirt.

(The difference is clear if you compare this post with my post on Hollywood-top trousers, which features the Drake’s piece.)

Looking back, I think the combination appealed particularly because it was summery, but not as bright as many summer menswear outfits.

There is colour here - great colour - but it does not have the sugary pinks or acidic yellows that often characterise ‘resort’ collections.  

Strong and summery, but organic and natural. Helped by all the browns elsewhere.

Photography: Jamie Ferguson @jkf_man

Sunglasses: 'Starsky' model from EB Meyrowitz