May 2012
10 posts
Yohei Fukuda
Shoe blogger Claymoor recently conducted an interview with Yohei Fukuda, a Japanese master cordwainer who received his training in custom shoemaking under famed British companies such as Edward Green and Cleverley. After reading it, I was inspired to visit Mr. Fukuda’s website, where most of the pictures below are drawn from. As you can see, many of his designs are “suspiciously...
Smalto FW12
Parisian fashion house Smalto released some images of their Fall-Winter 2012-2013 collection recently. Pictured here is a range of ready-to-wear suits, odd jackets, and coats, many of which feature the signature cran necker that the house’s founder, Francesco Smalto, and many other Parisian tailors have become known for. The cran necker is a stylistic detail where the stitching on the...
The Swann Club
Once a year, men gather in Paris as members of the Swann Club, an invitation-only social club named in honor of the Proust hero who epitomized elegance and romanticism. Their annual nighttime soiree begins with a great meal, some port and cigars, and then moves to what they all came for. After dinner, guests remove their shoes, take out their tins of wax polish, and clear the tables. With only...
Luciano Barbera and the Joys of Elegant Dressing
Much of the menswear blogosphere seems to be dominated by young men who like to wear tailored clothing like streetwear. Suits are paired with running shoes, unbuckled double monks are worn sockless, and sport coat collars often flipped up. Everything is also worn rather tightly and short. To be sure, this kind of style is very fashionable at the moment, but a lot of it feels unoriginal and...
A Few New Arrivals
Michael Drake once gave an elegant description of summer clothing that I really liked: “fawn colored linen suits with blue chambray shirts, raw silk neckwear, and woven straw hats.” That’s what I realized I had in hand a couple of weeks ago. A swatch of tobacco linen suiting recently came from W. Bill in London. It’s a heavy 14oz cloth, which means it’ll rumple, but not crinkle....
The Dress Boot
If I could only wear one “style” of shoe exclusively, it would probably be boots. Unlined, suede chukkas in the spring and summer, so soft that they feel like slippers; jodhpurs in the fall to match things such as moleskins and flannel; and heavy shell cordovan boots in the winter to deal with the foul weather.
One of my favorites, however, is the dress boot, otherwise also known as...
Major Hoad
Like Doc Hu, my spirit animal is a curmudgeon, and my spirit animal’s spirt animal is an even more curmudgeonly curmudgeon. So while this post isn’t as editorially focused as I’d like to be, these videos of Major Hoad were just too enjoyable for me not to share.
Keep fighting the good fight, Major Hoad.
Aspesi: Field Specialists
One of my favorite pick-ups last year was an M65-styled jacket by Aspesi. Aspesi is a high-end Italian casualwear brand that’s perhaps most known for their lightweight down-filled jackets. Some of my favorites from them, however, are their cotton field jackets, which more often than not are military inspired. These days, as Spring’s rain and chill seem to have dragged on, I’ve...
Archive of Shoes
David at Archive of shoes recently gave me the special opportunity to be interviewed. Thanks David!
David has other interviews with people such as Ron Rider and Andrew Portnoy that you should check out, as well as a pretty incredible website showcasing his artwork.
Black Suede
Since coming back from Naples, I’ve been somewhat besotted with black suede shoes. I first noticed them on Antonio Panico. On the two occasions I saw him, he wore a deep navy, single breasted suit with a light blue shirt and burgundy tie. On his feet were heavily faded, black suede, single monk strap chukkas. He looked nothing short of bad ass in them.
I kept thinking about those chukkas...
April 2012
9 posts
Fawn Flannel
I really like this Apparel Arts illustration you see below, where a man is shown wearing a dark blue polo shirt, fawn colored trousers, and a pair of slip ons. Since finding it, I’ve been inspired to get a pair of fawn flannel pants. Fawn being a melange of grey and tan, and can look either dirty or dusty, depending on the shade. I’ve included pictures of the two ends of the range -...
Antonio Mannina
I always enjoy seeing Antonio Mannina pop up over at The Suitorial. Antonio is the son of Calogero Mannina, a master bespoke cordwainer, and now runs the family’s shoe business out of their shop in Florence, Italy.
I believe most of Signore Mannina’s suits are made by Florentine tailors, but at least on one occasion, Paolo featured him in a golden tan three-button suit that was made...
Ambrosi, Napoli
At some point, tailoring becomes art. When I was in Naples, I had a chance to stop by Ambrosi’s atelier, which is located in the Spanish Quarter district of the city. If one thought finding tailors in Chiaia is difficult, especially since many of them are tucked away inside courtyards, the Spanish Quarter can be even more so. The place feels a bit like a Byzantine labyrinth, and tailors are...
StyleForum 10th Anniversary Party
I can’t imagine there are too many readers here that don’t also follow me at Put This On, but for the sake of telling everyone, I thought I’d also post something here about the StyleForum 10th Anniversary Party.
It’s going to be awesome. If you can get to San Francisco, you really ought to go. First, there’s the O’Mast screening on May 4th. Gianluca, the...
The Earthier Spring Palette
Camo has a spring-summer collection that I really like, not so much for the style, but for the colors. Most of it is in your earthier tones of brown, grey, and blue, but they’re a bit lighter in tone, and slightly tweaked to be spring appropriate. You often see companies such as Loro Piana and Banana Republic rely on these palettes. I suppose it sells well because men find earthier colors...
Thinking of Summer Suede
Yesterday, I was looking at Rose and Born’s new lookbook and got kind of inspired by some of the shoes featured (ignore the trendy hats, ridiculously short pants, and spring scarves for a moment). All of them were in summery suede colors, such as russet brown and bright navy, and had slightly chunkier red brick soles. It got me thinking about how well certain suede shoes can work for the...
The Other Supergas
I’ve been looking for a new pair of plimsolls for summer. Plimsoll, as you know, is the British term for shoes with a canvas upper and rubber sole. The first was invented in the 1830s and was designed for beachwear. Thus, its original name was “sand shoe.” In 1870, however, people started calling it the “plimsoll” because the horizontal colored stripe that ran along...
Asians in Barbours
My friend Cooper has been intermittently posting pictures of Asians in Barbours the last few months. Which reminded me - Barbour jackets are great. Their classics, the Bedale and Beaufort, can be worn with khakis, jeans, odd wool trousers, and even casual country suits. I presume Cooper took these photos from Japanese magazines such as Leon and Mens’ Ex. The last photo, which is of the most...
First Look: Howard Yount's New Line of Trousers
Howard Yount makes some of my favorite trousers. They simply fit better than almost anything else I’ve found. There are clean lines everywhere, both on the front and back, and they drape well from the fork, which rarely happens on me. They’re also very well constructed to boot. The only thing I wish is that they were a hair higher waisted. I like my trousers to sit above my hips....
March 2012
11 posts
First Look: Isaia SS12
A friend of mine at Isaia, Agyesh, was kind enough to share with me the company’s latest spring-summer lookbook. Here we see very soft-shouldered jackets paired with slim, tapered trousers and a variety of slip on shoes. Including, I may add, some sand suede double monks. If you’re wondering whether they’re the blogoratti’s favorites by ROTM, they’re not, but that...
The Spring Shirt-Jacket
Many men find sport coats, even the most casual ones, to be too formal. One alternative is the shirt-jacket, which can’t be accused of being formal at all, but still gives a nice collar line to the wearer and pockets to hold things in. Spring happens to be a great season for shirt-jackets. You can wear one on the weekends or when you’re out quickly running errands. It’s perfect...
Drake's Grenadines
I used to have a couple of over-theorized opinions about grenadines. Grenadine, as you know, is a slightly textured silk that’s used for neckties. Most tiemakers get their silk from one of two weavers in Italy, Fermo Fossati and Seteria Bianchi, both of which produce two types of weaves. The first is Garza Grossa, which is a looser weave with a honeycomb-like pattern. The second is Garza...
Antonio Panico: The Last of His Kind
One of my most memorable experiences in Naples was visiting Antonio Panico, a legendary tailor in Italy. I wrote about the visit in a two-part article for StyleForum. The first part went up today and I encourage you to read it.
Panico is an elegant man with a strong presence, and his workshop is one of the last places where you can see the kind of tailoring that seems to have all but...
La Vera Sartoria Neapoletana and Elegance
It often seems to me that elegance is all but dead. An associate of mine recently wanted advice on what tie he should wear to a wedding. I suggested a few, but he dismissed them as being too boring. He wanted something that would make him stand out. I asked him if he didn’t think the other ones were more elegant. “Well, yes, they’re more elegant, but I want something...
Cigar Linen
Thanks to my friend Cooper Frederickson’s suggestion, I think I’m going to have a cigar linen suit made for summer. Obviously not in time for this summer since I’m working with a traveling tailor, but I hear patience is a virtue.
By cigar linen, I mean a fabric whose color approximates the outside of a cigar - a medium shade of tobacco brown with a subtle touch of red or gold....
"I Don't Want To Be a Preppy"
Some Friday night music, if you’re not already listening to something.
Life Archives: Summer
My mind has skipped spring and is well into summer. As such, I thought I’d pull up some photos from the Life Archives, mostly of summery scenes in Italy, but also couple from the States. You can use them to remind you that warmer days are ahead.
This summer, I’m hoping to get these Howard Yount cream tropical wool trousers and Ralph Lauren’s Palm shirt jacket. Both would look...
The California Tuxedo
I don’t really do “reblogs,” but this post at A Suitable Wardrobe was inspirational enough that I felt like I should. I’ve been thinking a lot about summer, and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo here looks great. Will writes:
“Lightweight blazer, chambray shirt, chinos and a pair of Sloops. That is the proper version of the California tuxedo, worn in the photo by Luca...
Franglais Style
Michael Drake, the co-founder of Drake’s, was recently quoted on Permanent Style as saying that he thought the French had a more chic, individual, and comfortable reinterpretation of English style than the Italians. ”Italians dress more like sheep; they all look the same. The French tend to be more individual,” he said. “The French like that old English, school look. Even...
The Italian Boat Shoe
Brooks Brothers’ Friends and Family sale is coming up in about a month, so last week, I decided to poke around their webstore to see if there was anything worth buying. A few things caught my eye, but at the top of the list was this tie loafer, which looks not too unlike SW1’s Sloop. The apron is a bit further on the edge, the last less sleek, and the leather obviously pebble grain,...
February 2012
4 posts
Koji Suzuki: Cordwainer in Japan
Alan See from The Armoury has been posting some wonderful photographs lately of Spigola shoes. Spigola is a small Japanese operation based out of Nagata-ku, Kobe. It’s operated by Koji Suzuki, a talented, young cordwainer who trained under Roberto Ugolini. There, in Florence, Suzuki learned the full process of bespoke shoemaking, including everything from designing a model to fitting a...
Naples and Rome
In addition to my work at Put This On, I’ve recently had the honor of writing at A Suitable Wardrobe about Anna Matuozzo and Mimmo Siviglia, two custom shirtmakers in Naples and Rome respectively. Matuozzo is famous the world over for her handsewn stitching, and Siviglia is known for his clean fitting, smooth tailoring. As I noted in the articles, it’s often believed that all things...
Kilim Slippers
One of the highlights of yesterday’s Michael Bastian FW12 show was the use of Kilim slippers, which you can see in the first photo. Kilims are traditionally flat tapestry-woven carpets or rugs produced from the Balkans to Pakistan. They’re produced by tightly interweaving the warp and weft yarns to produce a flat surface with no pile. Though they’re traditionally made into rugs,...
First Look: Cucinelli SS12
I’m back. Naples was amazing and I have some articles in the works for a magazine and few websites. I’ll link those when appropriate. In the meantime, I was able to catch up with Cucincelli, who was kind enough to share with me their latest SS12 lookbook.
The collection here is not too unlike the other spring-summer collections they’ve been doing for the last eight or nine...
January 2012
10 posts
Off to Naples, Italy
I’m traveling to Naples this week and won’t update this blog until I get back. Till then, gung hei fat choi.
Guy Rover Polos
I’ve been getting along just fine with my Kent Wang polo and rugby. In fact, I think they represent a great value. $65-85 is about what I’m willing to pay for an off-the-rack casual, weekend shirt. Kent’s are well made, fit nicely, and feature a spread collar with reinforced collar band. I think they’re one of the best on the market.
The only other polos I want more are...
Affordable European Shoes: Meermin
I’m working on a post for Put This On about “affordable” shoes. I put that in quotations, of course, because everyone’s definition of affordable is different. By affordable, I mean shoes that retail for under $350, which is about the entry level price for good quality, full-grained leather shoes that can be resoled nowadays.
Meermin is on the short list of companies I plan...
Pitti Uomo, Days 3 and 4
New photos from Tommy Ton and Moon on the Moon.
Pitti Uomo, Days 2 and 3
Some more photos from Pitti. To be honest (and I know this is irresponsible of me), I’ve somewhat lost track of where I’ve gotten most these photos at this point. Some are from Tommy Ton, Nam, and GQ Eye, while others came from the Twitter accounts of Park & Bond and Nick Sullivan. The rest, I’m not so sure.
Click behind the cut to see photos from inside the show. Most of...
Nick Sullivan and GQ Italy at Pitti Uomo
Esquire’s Nick Sullivan has been posting some great photos through his Twitter. Pictured here are colorful, cashmere lined chukkas from Fratelli Rossetti; lightweight Tombolini suitings; a range of Isaia coats and jackets in innovative fabrics; elegantly tailored garments from Sant Andrea; and some country-inspired pieces from Belvest.
GQ Italy also has has some videos of their interviews...
Pitti Uomo, Day 1
Well, it’s begun. Pitti Uomo, the menswear trade show in Florence, Italy, began yesterday. Photos have been coming from Justin Chung, StreetFSN, Crazy Pangolin, and A Continuous Lean, as well as the Twitter accounts for Nice Try, Bro and The Grungy Gentleman.
In addition to the photos, GQ published a short piece by Brunello Cucinelli on what he brings with him when he travels, and...
Pictures of Gianni Agnelli
There’s apparently a new photo-blog dedicated to Italy’s own Duke of Windsor, Mr. Gianni Agnelli. I found it through tredici e lupo, the Tumblr accompaniment to 13th & Wolf.
I subscribed.
Fedeli at Herrenausstatter Braun
I was browsing Sartorial Doctrine today and found a new menswear store in Hamburg, Germany called Herrenausstatter Braun. The shop carries some of Europe’s best labels - Aspesi, Mandelli, Finamore, Cucinelli, Attolini, etc. - as well as some American labels such as Ralph Lauren, James Perse, and Woolrich. You should really check out all the companies they carry; it’s seriously a great...
Finding MA Strum in Beijing
I returned from Beijing on Monday and found that I was included in GQ Italy’s list of best fashion bloggers in 2011 and received an honorable mention at The Sig Other’s “Best of 2011” list. I’m really surprised, to say the least. Heck, I’m still surprised that I’m writing at Put This On, one of my favorite menswear blogs, and I was invited there nine...
December 2011
8 posts
Happy New Year and Many Thanks
I’m really surprised by what this blog has become in the last year. I started it on a whim last January, purely out of boredom, and it’s allowed me to meet all sorts of wonderful people. Thanks to Jesse, Pete, and Jonathan for giving me the opportunity to write, and many more thanks to people who read what I post. Also a special thanks to Lawrence for giving me some great advice this...
Split Leather
One of my favorite companies, Lotuff & Clegg, recently became two companies after the Lotuffs and Frank Clegg decided to part ways. Moving into 2012, there will be Lotuff Leather and Frank Clegg Leatherworks.
To be sure, Frank Clegg Leatherworks isn’t a new company. It was started in 1976 and for the first 25 years, Frank maintained his own line of goods. The English briefcase I own, in...
Valstar and Ring Jacket's Blousons
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to buy a Valstarino at a significant discount, but kept waffling on whether I should take it. The Valstarino is a classic Italian blouson-styled jacket. It’s manufactured by Valstar, a 100 year old Milanese company that got its start in raincoats. Not too long after the company’s inception, however, Valstar evolved and expanded into general...
To Be Modern and British: Thom Sweeney
Some years ago, I was really enamored with slightly contemporary British cuts that were a bit structured in the shoulders, nipped in the waist, and slimmer fitting. I think this is the kind of suit that works well for a man in his late-20s and early-30s, which was how old I was at the time, but I admit I never found too many occasions to wear such a thing. New Year’s Eve parties, certain...
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The Italian Menswear Series, Part XV: Boggi
Boggi is the Milanese version of Brooks Brothers - similar in quality, price, and ubiquity, but differing a bit in silhouette. If you’ve been to Italy, particularly Milan, you can find them almost everywhere. The company started in 1939, but they really took off in the ’60s when they started creating their own brand-exclusive retail stores. Today, the company has a strong presence in...
Cobbler's Web
As a break from overstylized lookbooks, trendy cargo pants, and street shots of men at Pitti Uomo, I thought I’d bring you a collection of photos from Cobbler’s Web, a Japanese menswear site that focuses on real classic menswear. I’ve included a British Mackintosh look they’ve styled, but everything else here is showcases Italian suits and sportcoats, as well as British...