Who had style in 1985? The editors of the now-defunct M: the Civilized Man thought they knew. They named their January 1985 issue with just that question. The cover story was written by John Burr Fairchild, who at the time went by the nom de plume W. Rushton Chatsworth III. An excerpt:
For some people, style is everything.
Those people – and there are a lot of them – have no style, never will, and are completely irrelevant to this discussion.
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There are only a few more weeks left in winter, but so long as there’s time for tweed, there’s time for madder. Paul Winston over at Winston Clothiers once told me the chalky, dusty hand of ancient madder reminds him of a horse’s wet nose. I’ve always thought was a charming description.
The term madder actually refers to two things. The first is the rich-red, vegetable dye that’s derived from the Eurasian plant Rubia tinctoria. In ancient times, it was used to dye regal clothes, which Bruce Boyer says is how we get the “ancient” part of ancient madder. Then we have “madder style,” which is an old method of printing that involves using thickened mordants, drying, aging, dunging, and dyeing with alizarine (the coloring agent obtained from madder root) or other coloring agents. I’ve never known whether madder in silks refers to the first or the second, but for what it’s worth, not all madder ties contain red.
In any case, the nice thing about madder ties is that they sit in the middle in terms of formality – just as good with tweed and corduroy jackets as they are with worsted suits and pinstripes. I like them in indigo blues, faded greens, and dusty reds, although the occasional buff or brown colored tie can be good as well. For a bit more versatility, aim for ones with paisleys or small geometric prints. The bigger, bolder diamond designs you see above can be great if you mostly wear sport coats, but they’re more particular.
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It takes a lot of guts to open a new men’s store nowadays. With fast trends, copycat competitors, and the ease of online comparison shopping, it’s just harder and harder to build customer loyalty. When I spoke to George Wang about this last year, on the eve of him opening BRIO in Beijing, he said he hoped his taste would help set him apart. And it’s true – many of the best boutiques are a cut above thanks to the owner’s high-level of taste. See the late Wilkes Bashford, Charlie Davidson of The Andover Shop, and Mark Cho and Alan See of The Armoury.
This month, a man who has been inspiring others for years will be opening his own shop. Ethan Newton – who has worked everywhere from Evisu to The Armoury to Ralph Lauren – will be opening Bryceland’s in Japan with his business partner Kenji Cheung. The store’s name is taken from Ethan’s family. “Bryceland is my mother’s maiden name,” Ethan told me. “There aren’t any more males on that side of the family to carry it forward, so I decided to honor it by using it for my business.”
When I talked to Ethan about his shop back in October, he described it as Ivy, although he meant it more in approach than aesthetics. “When I first started studying tailoring, I realized there are certain products that are just perfect in design – whether it’s a Zippo lighter or a blue blazer or a Buco J-24 jacket. Basically things that are made right and don’t need to improved on, they are as they should be. I think a lot of Ivy stuff embodies that – the perfect grey flannel suit, the perfect tweed jacket. I want a business that revolves around that spirit.”
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I was sad to learn a few months ago that Ciro Palermo passed away. Ciro, as some may know, was the inspiration for O’Mast, the 2011 documentary on Neapolitan tailoring by Gianluca Migliarotti. That’s partly because Gianluca grew up watching his father getting outfitted in Ciro’s workshop, and partly because Ciro was the last direct connection to Vincenzo Attolini – that famous early-20th century cutter who transported Domenico Caraceni’s soft tailoring techniques from Rome to Naples.
Like many tailors of his generation, Ciro Palermo grew up in a tailoring workshop and started his trade at a young age, first doing small tasks before becoming an apprentice. Working under Vincenzo Attolini, he eventually became the cutter’s right-hand man and helped define what we think of today as the classic Neapolitan silhouette. When Vincenzo unexpectedly died, he went off to start a new tailoring workshop with Vincenzo’s son, Claudio Attolini. And when Claudio shifted his focus to ready-to-wear, Ciro left again, this time not telling anyone where he was going.
Ciro’s clients eventually found him working out of a small apartment in the seaside district of Chiaia, where many of the city’s tailors are based. It’s in that apartment where I first saw Ciro’s tailoring (thanks to Gianluca, who took me there a few years ago). Unlike Rubinacci or Antonio Panico, Ciro’s workshop is modest – hidden away with no signage and sparsely decorated inside. Once in, you’ll find that it looks more like a small alterations shop than a top-end bespoke tailoring house.
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It’s been four years since Stefano Bemer passed away. As many are aware, Bemer was widely considered to be one of the best shoemakers in Italy, if not the world. Operating out of his workshop in Florence, Italy, he both trained apprentices and made top-end, bespoke Italian shoes that were as striking as they were elegant.
Since his passing, the company has been taken over by Tommaso Melani, a fellow Florentine whose family has been in the leather goods business for several generations now (see his other company, Scuola del Cuoio). Under his management, the Stefano Bemer brand has gone global. Melani travels through Asia and the US with his trunk shows, and has set up a new showroom in NYC (it opens next week at 23 E 67th Street, in the penthouse level of the building, although interested readers will have to email newyork@stefanobemer.com to make appointments). Over lunch a few weeks ago, Melani told me that he has his eyes set on opening showrooms in other cities, although plans are tentative.
Perhaps the biggest change is the expansion of the company’s ready-to-wear and basic MTO/ MTM line, which offers customers a chance to try the company’s shoes at a more affordable price point than their bespoke offering. The main difference between the RTW shoes and bespoke, aside from the level of customization, is that these have machine-stitched soles and hand-stitched welts, whereas the bespoke line is fully handsewn. They’re also partly made in Ferrara, while the bespoke range is fully made in Florence (although Melani tells me everything is done by his employees only – not outsourced to other companies).
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I didn’t have plans to get anything from Nicholas Templeman when I first wrote about him last year, but it was hard to resist after I saw his samples. A former lastmaker at John Lobb of St. James, Nicholas has a keen eye for design and over seven years of bespoke shoemaking experience. His work as an independent shoemaker demonstrates this wonderful balance between conservative English taste and the kind of creativity that makes commissioning a pair of bespoke shoes seem worthwhile.
So I met with Nicholas last October when he visited San Francisco as part of his US tour. The first meeting with a bespoke shoemaker isn’t too different from what happens with a bespoke tailor. You flip through dozens of swatch samples – many more than what would be available through a ready-to-wear label – and then discuss the particulars of your order. If you’ve ever wanted to be overwhelmed with options, commission a pair of bespoke shoes. Suit jackets and sport coats differ mainly by pocket, button, and lapel design, but shoes can take any number of forms. I avoided the problem by telling Nicholas I would settle on a design later. After all, the lasts come first, so there would be plenty of time to decide on the particulars.
Every once in a while, I’ll get an email from a reader asking which companies I think offer the best value in tailored clothing. It’s impossible to answer, as so much depends on the buyer’s needs. What kind of style does he like? What’s his body type? How often does he plan to wear his suit? What kinds of things does he prioritize? Buying clothes is never just about getting the best quality for your money – it’s about developing personal style – so recommending something is difficult.
If pressed, however, there are two companies I particularly like. On the lower-end of the price scale, there’s Suitsupply. Their marketing is God awful, but if you can get past the presentation, they offer nicely made, half-canvassed suits and sport coats for about $500. With a huge range of styles, from their structured Washington to the softer Havana, they have something for almost anyone.
If you have a bit more money to spend, Sartoria Formosa is remarkably good – and perhaps the closest you’ll get to bespoke Neapolitan tailoring without actually going bespoke. Formosa is an old Neapolitan tailoring house located across the courtyard from EG Cappelli, in the city’s seaside shopping district of Chiaia. They’re a small workshop, with maybe only a half dozen people working in-house. Most of what they do is bespoke, but they also offer ready-made suits and sport coats for about $1,400 - $1,800.
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January marks the beginning of a number of tradeshows, first starting in London, then moving to Milan, Paris, and New York City. Pitti Uomo is the most important for tailored clothing, although lately, I’ve been paying more attention to London Collections: Men (LC:M), which is a five-day show showcasing a breadth of British fashion talent – from the world’s most innovative designers to Savile Row tailoring houses (at least the ones that now have seasonal ready-to-wear lines). Even for guys who might not be interested in runway presentations, there’s a lot here to admire. From Barbour to John Lobb to E. Tautz, here are eight shows that caught my eye last week.
Anyone who’s ever been to a small, traditional American clothier knows – places such as Cable Car Clothiers and The Andover Shop are treasure troves for new-old stock clothes. Unlined button-down collar shirts, bleeding madras jackets, vintage outerwear, and piles and piles of scratchy sweaters. Mostly things from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, when things were made with the kind of qualities trad enthusiasts like to gush about today.
I recently picked up this deadstock Aran sweater from O’Connell’s, who sells a ton of new-old-stock clothes online (although, they have even more in-store, if you’re able to stop by Buffalo, New York). It’s thick, heavy, and beautifully textured. The inside label reads “Glenshee Woollens,” which is apparently now defunct. The one photo of them I could find online, shown at the end of this post, charmingly shows two old ladies peering out of the company’s window.
Generally speaking, there are three ways to make an Aran sweater:
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Mr. Porter just started their end-of-season sale, with discounts of up to 50% on select items. Lots of familiar labels, such as Drake’s, Common Projects, and Red Wing, as well as a number of not-often-discounted brands such as William Lockie and George Cleverley. Some notables that I found last night: