Search Results for: italian tailoring

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. 

Southern Italians are famous for their soft tailoring, but nobody really does a soft jacket like the Spanish. Specifically their Teba – a country jacket that comes mostly unpadded throughout the chest and shoulders, and features those signature shirt-like sleeves, ventless backs, and most importantly, notchless lapels. In a world where everything is being homogenized, the Teba is one of the last articles of men’s clothing that’s still unique to a region. 

Stories regarding the style are a bit murky. Some say the original Teba was a gift to the Count of Teba, Carlos de Mitjans y Fitz-James Stuart (known affectionately to his closest friends as Bunting), from King Alfonso XIII. Others say the exchange was the other way around. Others still say the jacket was originally made on London’s Savile Row and then adapted by a Spanish tailor to fit the Count’s needs. Whatever the actual origins, the Count almost certainly popularized it, and he most likely wore it out in the Spanish countrysides, where he spent time drinking wine and hunting quail. Over the years, it’s become an iconic piece of Spanish countrywear, mostly surviving on its comfort and aura of romanticism.

Construction wise, the Teba is something like a shirt jacket, combining the unstructured Neapolitan form with British-like-style. The notchless lapels may look odd at first, but they’re hardly even noticeable in dark fabrics. When worn, they give the jacket a more casual vibe. The ventless back and shirt-like sleeves also keep things casual, while the unlined and (largely) unpadded interior make things look relaxed. 

It’s bittersweet to see my hometown Vancouver change so much over the years. When I was growing up, it was a quiet, sleepy city with cloudy weather and an easy-going attitude (something like a Canadian version of their neighbors in Seattle). Nowadays, the place feels a lot more hip and bustling. Their menswear scene, for example, rivals that of any North American city’s outside of New York. You have Roden Gray and Haven for high-end streetwear; Dutil and NiftyDo for denim and denim-related things; and a dozen or so shops for everyday labels such as APC and Gitman Vintage.

One of my favorites is Neighbour – a small, cozy boutique that’s tucked away inside one of Gastown’s hidden courtyards. Although the shop is Canadian, it has a Scandinavian sense of simplicity. Its interior relies a lot on glass, light-colored woods, and concrete, and instead overcrowding the small space with too many racks and shelves, everything feels spacious and manageable.

Some of what Neighbour carries is probably too designer-y for the average reader here, although I think it’s all great. 1205′s Paula Gerbase, for example, worked for a while on Savile Row before starting her very modern, austere-looking sportswear label (she’s also designing a footwear line for John Lobb). Additionally, Christophe Lemaire might be one of the most interesting menswear designers at the moment. He recently left Hermes, where he handled womenswear, and caused quite a stir with his FW15 show(I think it’s one of the best in recent memory).

The rest of the store has things that can be easily incorporated into any wardrobe. Saager Dilawri – the New York transplant who started Neighbour in 2011 – tells me he only carries things that resonate with him. He likes Stephan Schneider and Our Legacy because their designs are interesting, yet also feel approachable and unpretentious (I’m a big fan of Schneider’s knitwear and Our Legacy’s jeans). He also enjoys O’Ballou for their 1950s sense of casual Italian style and the Japanese label Niuhans for their botanically-dyed clothes (he describes them as having a sense of “air-like lightness” and “clean perfection”).

Trousers are pretty straightforward, at least when compared to jackets. Except for what goes into the waistband, there’s no real internal construction to speak of – just pocket bags and lining, which are hidden underneath the garment’s shell. They’re also a lot easier to fit, which makes them nice for custom tailoring. Once your tailor has your pattern down – one for flat front pants, and another for pleats – you can order trousers straight-to-finish. 

I recently received my first order from Salvatore Ambrosi, the famous (and at times infamous) tailor from the Spanish Quarters of Naples. Salvatore, for those unfamiliar, had a meteoric rise eight years ago when he was first introduced to the online community of bespoke tailoring enthusiasts. People were crazy for his stuff, but after a few good years, Salvatore couldn’t keep up with the increasing number of orders. Deliveries were delayed and emails went unanswered. As far as I know, everyone eventually got their trousers or money back, but people are still rightly sour about the experience. The last time I wrote about Salvatore, a well-respected menswear writer emailed me to say I was breaking iGent omertà. He was probably half joking, but also … probably half not. 

Since that debacle five years ago, Salvatore has slowly rebuilt his business. He’s developed a healthy customer base in East Asia, partnered with boutiques to handle the logistics of his orders, and expanded his workshop. Instead of just the small workroom that he and his father used to occupy – and Michael Alden once filmed – his family’s operation now takes up two floors in the same building. 

Things seem to be flowing pretty smoothly nowadays. I received my pants just a short month after my fitting, and I’m happy to say: they live up to their hype. As simple as trousers can be, Salvatore’s are exceptionally good. The pants fit perfectly clean through the legs and seat, and perhaps most importantly, they’re styled quite well. Unlike my English or other Neapolitan trousers, these are slimmer through the thighs, which allows the legs to be nicely pegged without making the hips look too wide. The rise comes to about my naval, but the pants don’t look frumpy because of the slim leg line and pleats. The pleats are subtle, but they help break up the swath of fabric that would otherwise stretch across the lap. 

For the past five years, if not longer, luxury goods magazines have been publishing the same story about China every week. The market there is booming, thanks to China’s economic growth, but consumers are said to be “unsophisticated.” Most buy luxury goods as status symbols, rather than for the quality they offer. As a person who’s half-Chinese, it’s hard to not get defensive over these characterizations, but it’s also hard to pretend they aren’t true.

There are some exceptions, however. George Wang – better known to some as maomao on StyleForum and Beijing1980 on Tumblr – recently opened a menswear boutique in Beijing. Named BRIO, which is Italian for spirit or verve, it offers the kind of classic, softly tailored Italian style that George has always championed. George was in San Francisco last week, so we met at La Farina for lunch and chatted about his new store.

BRIO is an impressive two stories. The first floor, which is street level, holds all of the shop’s menswear offerings. The second floor is downstairs, where you can find a lounge as well as a barbershop (BRIO has an in-house barber who can give a shave and a cut). The idea is make a space where men can hang out, relax, and have a drink; not just buy clothes. Photos show that the lounge is still a work-in-progress, but the space so far looks exceptionally nice.

So does the list of brands. There are some British makers, such as Begg, Edward Green, and Sanders (BRIO will be carrying Sanders’ Playboy chukkas, which were made famous by Steve McQueen). The rest, however, is largely Italian. The store will have Sartoria Dalcuore for suits, Stefano Bemer for shoes, Rota for trousers, and G. Inglese for shirts. Other brands include:

My friend Gianluca, who directed the films O'Mast and I Colori di Antonio, just released a new project in collaboration with Italy’s oldest mill, Vitale Barberis Caonico. Titled Tailor’s Tips, it features VBC’s master tailor, Giovanni Barberis Organista, talking about how he makes a classic Ulster – a heavy piece of English outerwear defined by its half-belted back, patch pockets, and unique collar style. Hard to find off-the-rack nowadays, as fewer and fewer men wear “dress coats” (or dress anything, for that matter). The closest we really get to them in the United States are polo coats, although they don’t really have the same rustic feel. 

In any case, I’m told that this is a twelve-part series, and that a new episode will be released once a month. Just note that you may have to turn on closed captions in the control panel, which will pop up when you hover your mouse over the video (Mr. Organista speaks in Italian). As always, it’s a pleasure to see Gianluca’s work, as he’s one of the few directors doing work on the craft of custom tailoring. 

I may be speaking too soon – as this jacket is still in transit to me – but this Russell plaid sport coat by Steed may be the best tailored jacket I will ever own. It was inspired by a photo of George Frazier, a writer who started his career as a jazz critic before moving on to more general topics. In 1960, Esquire published his essay titled “The Art of Wearing Clothes,” which in my opinion, is one of the best pieces of writing on men’s style that has ever been penned. A must read, if you haven’t already.

Russell plaid is a distinctive check. It’s something like a tan glen plaid, but with the horizontal stripes stripped away, so only the vertical ones remain. For the lateral sections, there are dark, thin lines, typically in plum, brown, or rust orange, which help balance the rest of the pattern. You can find it in the form of a made-to-order hacking jacket at Leonard Logsdail, or in Harrisons and Hardy Minnis’ books if you’re going bespoke. Mine is from Harrisons (Porter & Harding’s Hartwist No. 32137), which is a darker color than the beigey version you’ll find from Hardy.

This jacket reflects Steed’s house style well, although I did have some things adjusted. The quarters are cut slightly more open, to give the jacket a dynamic look, but aren’t so open that I feel they define its style. I also asked for flapped welted pockets, rather than my usual patch, as I felt they’d give the tweed a certain kind of refinement. Additionally, I had the details done up in a more American or Italian sensibility, rather than British. The front is made with a 3/2 roll and a cheeky three buttons on each sleeve, rather than Steed’s default of four.

Except for Gianluca Migliarotti’s tributes to Italian tailoring, my favorite menswear films have all been BBC documentaries.  Unfortunately, they’re difficult to view unless you’re in the UK, but you can find clips here and there on Vimeo and YouTube. Someone in the Netherlands also once uploaded the full-video files on a server many years ago, and remarkably enough, they’re still there. He has Savile Row (parts 1, 2, and 3), British Style Genius (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), Tweed (parts 1, 2, and 3), Charles at 60, and Ozwald Boateng: Why Style Matters. The first three are especially good, with British Style Genius and Tweed being very difficult to find in full-length form anywhere else. 

The latest BBC project is The Fabric of Britain, a three-part series on British knitwear, wallpaper, and embroidery. I’ve embedded part one, The Golden Age of Knitting, above. Partly because it’s the beginning of fall, so knitwear is naturally on my mind, and partly because next to tailored clothing and shoes, I’m fanatical about sweaters. What’s not to like? You put them on, look great, and feel like someone is giving you a warm hug all day.