Search Results for: summer

It’s been tremendously fun putting together these custom cloth runs. Subscribers have mostly been from Western Europe, East Asia, and the United States, although I’ve been happy to see other parts of the world represented. Earlier this year, a reader from Lebanon called me to phone-in his order, and we chatted for a while about Lebanese and Neapolitan tailors. 

Last year, I wrapped up a tobacco brown Fresco project. Fresco being a porous weave, high-twist fabric that’s both breathable and wrinkle-resistant (making it good for both summer and travel). And two weeks ago, we just finished deliveries on a slubby silk/ linen I call “summer’s tweed” (partly inspired by this jacket on Taka from Liverano), as well as a rare, patterned Fresco in a blue-and-navy houndstooth. Both projects were about filling a hole in many men’s closets – warm weather suits and sport coats that have the kind of textures and patterns we love in the fall/ winter months, but struggle to find in tasteful combinations in spring/ summer. 

Granted, these runs are only useful for readers who get custom clothes made, but in today’s market, there are so many options – MTO, MTM, and bespoke, either from local or traveling tailors, as well as the occasional remote, online operation. Although good, custom tailoring is always going to be expensive, there are increasingly more affordable options these days. I may put together a list of some of those options in a future post. 

Charvet has something like a million shirtings in their workshop. Bolts of fine cottons and breezy linens, stacked shoulder-high from wall-to-wall. It’s the kind of inventory you could get lost in – figuratively and literally – but if you’re willing to venture through it, you’ll come out with the perfect shade of blue. 

I’ve always wanted to commission a Charvet shirt for just that reason, but truthfully, my dress shirt needs are pretty easily satisfied. Like most men, I find blue is blue, white is white. You can mix-in some stripes, and turn to a variety of different weaves, but at the end of the day, a shirt is just a background for your tie. 

Lately, however, I’ve been venturing into slightly bolder, vintage-inspired designs (including Alohas, which I’ll write about another time). For that kind of shirt, you’d have to go to some other place than Charvet – they mostly specialize in the kind of things you’d wear to the office. A better first stop, I think, is Bryceland’s in Japan. 

Mr. Porter’s end-of-season sale is always one of the most exciting sales events. Where else can you find marked-down Drake’s ties and John Lobb shoes being sold alongside discounted casualwear items from Aspesi, Camoshita, and Kapital? 

This morning, they dropped prices on their spring/ summer inventory by 30% to 50%. For a thorough browse, go to their sale page and filter by sizes. That won’t capture some of the Japanese brands – where you sometimes have to size up – but it’s a nice way to serendipitously find things you may not have considered otherwise. I’ve also rounded up some of my favorite items below:

This is the face I imagine Franco Sozzi makes when he hears you only wear crunchy silk knit ties. He’s the president of Sozzi Calze – a century-old Italian manufacturer of high-end dress socks and knitted neckwear. Crunchy silk knits, such as those from Drake’s, are often favored by men’s style enthusiasts for their unique texture and weave. As Franco shows, however, other things can look good as well. 

Silk is nice for knit ties because it’s versatile. Particularly in a color such as black, you can wear one year-round with almost anything – brown tweeds, cotton sport coats, grey wool suits, etc. It’s the one tie you can rely on when you don’t want to put too much thought into your clothes, but also need something to dress down a tailored jacket. The style has been made famous by everyone from mid-century jazz musicians to the literary version of James Bond (who Ian Fleming often described as wearing a dark suit, clean white shirt, and “thin, black silk knitted tie.”)

In the last year or so, however, I’ve started to appreciate more seasonal knits. Ones made from wool or cashmere have fuzzier textures, which makes them pair well with tweeds and flannels during the winter months. I also recently picked up a cotton knit tie to go with a linen suit. Cotton tends to produce a flatter weave than silk, but sometimes you want that bit of understatement. See above, for example, where Franco is pictured wearing a patch pocketed, tan suit with a fancy shirting (monogrammed, no less) and soft, beige cotton knit. The whole ensemble just has a nice spring/ summer feel to it – more so, I think than, if he went with a crunchier silk. 

For clients of custom tailors, finding a good spring/ summer fabric can be tough. Once you get past your basic linens, cottons, and tropical wools, you’ll notice that warm-weather fabrics don’t have the same textures and patterns that make fall/ winter clothes so appealing. Gone are your prickly tweeds and district checks. Instead, you’re left with solid-colored fabrics on the one hand, and patterns that look like they can only be worn at Pitti Uomo on the other. 

After last year’s successful tobacco Fresco run, I decided to put together a couple more custom fabrics. Like last time, I’ve found that it can take a lot of work to get the color and general design just right – a little too much of something this way or that way, and the swatches just look off. After a bit of work, however, I think I have what are two very special spring/ summer jacketings. 

Edwin and Matthew DeBoise from Steed Tailors were in San Francisco this past weekend as part of their US tour. I stopped by their hotel on Sunday to say hello, as well as to get fitted for two new sport coats – one being a dark brown Donegal from W. Bill, the other a tan glen plaid tweed from The London Lounge. Both single breasted jackets with three-two-roll fronts, patched hip pockets, and some funky sleeve button configurations. 

Fittings are nice time to catch up with your tailor. Edwin and Matthew tell me they’re planning to introduce a new line of Scottish knitwear and scarves, as well as handmade ties and pocket squares. The latter will be made by a woman who produces for another Savile Row firm – all hand stitched from English silks and wools, and made in Northampton. I forgot to confirm whether they’ll take custom orders for the ties, but they’ll have made-to-order knitwear if the stock options don’t suit you. The last photo below shows some of the prototypes. 

I also had a chance to flip through some swatch books. I don’t know how other clients of bespoke tailors are able to arrive at their decisions so quickly (assuming they do). I take months to settle on a fabric, so fittings are a nice time to look at options. Two bunches that caught my eye: the lightweight, porous wool-silk-linen blends from Portofino, and the new Harris Tweeds. The first looks to be a great source for patterned summer jacketings, while the second has some rather nice patterned tweeds that go beyond your usual herringbones. As usual, I favored the slightly more conservative designs. 

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.

Men’s style had it rough in the 1970s. Sometimes referred to as the decade taste forgot, the ‘70s was characterized by tight shirts, bellbottom trousers, and the piles unrotting synthetics that will probably outlast this civilization. The clothes of that age, as well as the lifestyles, were as lurid as they were chaffing. 

Not everything was terrible, however. What decade is better defined by corduroy sport coats and shearing collar jackets? Or those puffer vests that eventually peaked in the ‘80s? For as many companies that made flashy, disco-inspired clothes, there were just as many that relied on simpler, rugged charms. 

One of those was Rocky Mountain Featherbed, which was founded in the Cowboy State of Wyoming by Francis “Cub” Schaefer. RMFB specialized in down-filled outerwear with Western-style yokes, which became popular with skiers and ranchers across the American West. These were worn during the days when Colorado ski instructors were still likely to be seen in cowboy hats. Unfortunately, after a decade of success, the company went bust in the ‘80s and Cub lost control of his label to bankers. 

A lot of men’s fashion today can be broken into two camps. On the one end, you have heritage (and heritage-inspired) brands that rely on the classics. On the other end, there are avant garde labels creating conceptually interesting – even if hard to wear – designs that break from the past. Ten C is a relatively new Italian outerwear company that sits between these two worlds – perfectly blending techwear with heritage, innovative fabrics with classic military design. Think of them as: Stone Island meets Nigel Cabourn. 

Which makes sense, I suppose, given that the two founders, Paul Harvey and Alessandro Pungetti, are Stone Island and CP Company designers. The two are known for making very innovative, but also highly-wearable, contemporary Italian sportswear. Ten C is similar, but is a bit more approachable for the kind of guy who buys his casualwear from shops such as Unionmade and The Bureau Belfast. 

The original concept for Ten C was simple: create a “forever collection,” which would be comprised of seven fall/ winter outerwear designs, made from the same fabric, but offered in four colors. And never do anything else – don’t change the collection, don’t introduce anything new. Just make things that will last and people can keep forever. In that collection was a belted snow smock, an M-65 jacket, and a fishtail parka (among some other things). You can hear Paul Harvey describe them here.

Sartoria Solito returned to the US this year, after a five-year stint of being away. The small Neapolitan tailoring firm is run by a father-and-son team. Gennaro, the father, is known for cutting a fuller, more old-school silhouette, while his son Luigi defaults to something trimmer (although, he can also cut a fuller jacket upon request). 

The firm enjoyed quite a bit of success in the States many years ago, but for various reasons, stopped visiting sometime in 2010 or 2011. That admittedly left a few customers hanging (three, that I know of), but I’m glad to say those orders are now being sorted out. I’m a big fan of the company’s distinct Neapolitan style: soft, sloping shoulders are combined with knocked-down sleeveheads and a minimally padded chest. The skirt is cut close to the hips, while the quarters gently curve away. It’s a much more rounded silhouette than what you typically see from British tailors (even ones who specialize in soft tailoring). Perfect for those who want a softer, more casual take on tailored clothing.