I was particularly struck by Winston's harangue of men who wear Printed T-shirts. I have some sympathy for his point of view, but it would be hypocritical of me to fully endorse his stance given, and still do, London.
However, it did bring to the surface my own latent hatred for one item of clothing in particular. No, not those jeans which require your arse to be hanging out over the waistband and the belt ratchet around your thighs to stop them meeting your ankles. No, my own personal loathing is for a garment which many men may already have sitting in their wardrobe.
I'm speaking of cutesy printed ties with animals, plants and all manner of childlike crap upon them; the sort frequently offered up by Hermes, Thomas Pink.
I've always thought of a tie as part tool and part expression of personality. The problem I have is that as a tool to building a look I just don't get the aesthetic, even from a distance. As an expression of personality I'm even more perplexed, just what exactly is it you're trying to say: I'm a child at heart, I like hippos, I'm wacky, my wife buys my ties!
Even as an act of rebellion I'm sceptical that it works. If you care not about fashion, style or dress why not simply wear plain black or blue ties. You can't get much simpler. Ultimately such an excuse is a lie given that these ties are for the most part brightly coloured, and you must possess some interest in clothes to able to match with anything.
I have wondered, given the success of Vineyard Vines in particular, whether there was some cultural significance that I was missing.
There is a respectable tradition in the UK of sporting motifs on ties, intimately bound up in British class consciousness. Typically, patterns incorporate stags, foxes, pheasants, fish and horses, all highlighting country pursuits, and natural accessories to tweeds and country clothing. Good examples of these can be found at the excellent hume with their Atkinsons Irish Poplin.
While this latter illustration is an aesthetic I can appreciate, it isn't one I necessarily practice; and I'm willing to accept that to those living beyond the shores of England it may seem as baffling as Vineyard Vines is to me. But fundamentally, I struggle to understand why a grown man would do such a thing to himself.
If you like to learn more details about custom made shirts and suits, please go to TailorU's website.
2010年6月10日星期四
Bespoke Suits and Cute Printed Ties
I was particularly struck by Winston's harangue of men who wear Printed T-shirts. I have some sympathy for his point of view, but it would be hypocritical of me to fully endorse his stance given, and still do, London.
However, it did bring to the surface my own latent hatred for one item of clothing in particular. No, not those jeans which require your arse to be hanging out over the waistband and the belt ratchet around your thighs to stop them meeting your ankles. No, my own personal loathing is for a garment which many men may already have sitting in their wardrobe.
I'm speaking of cutesy printed ties with animals, plants and all manner of childlike crap upon them; the sort frequently offered up by Hermes, Thomas Pink.
I've always thought of a tie as part tool and part expression of personality. The problem I have is that as a tool to building a look I just don't get the aesthetic, even from a distance. As an expression of personality I'm even more perplexed, just what exactly is it you're trying to say: I'm a child at heart, I like hippos, I'm wacky, my wife buys my ties!
Even as an act of rebellion I'm sceptical that it works. If you care not about fashion, style or dress why not simply wear plain black or blue ties. You can't get much simpler. Ultimately such an excuse is a lie given that these ties are for the most part brightly coloured, and you must possess some interest in clothes to able to match with anything.
I have wondered, given the success of Vineyard Vines in particular, whether there was some cultural significance that I was missing.
There is a respectable tradition in the UK of sporting motifs on ties, intimately bound up in British class consciousness. Typically, patterns incorporate stags, foxes, pheasants, fish and horses, all highlighting country pursuits, and natural accessories to tweeds and country clothing. Good examples of these can be found at the excellent hume with their Atkinsons Irish Poplin.
While this latter illustration is an aesthetic I can appreciate, it isn't one I necessarily practice; and I'm willing to accept that to those living beyond the shores of England it may seem as baffling as Vineyard Vines is to me. But fundamentally, I struggle to understand why a grown man would do such a thing to himself.
If you like to learn more details about custom made shirts and suits, please go to TailorU's website.
However, it did bring to the surface my own latent hatred for one item of clothing in particular. No, not those jeans which require your arse to be hanging out over the waistband and the belt ratchet around your thighs to stop them meeting your ankles. No, my own personal loathing is for a garment which many men may already have sitting in their wardrobe.
I'm speaking of cutesy printed ties with animals, plants and all manner of childlike crap upon them; the sort frequently offered up by Hermes, Thomas Pink.
I've always thought of a tie as part tool and part expression of personality. The problem I have is that as a tool to building a look I just don't get the aesthetic, even from a distance. As an expression of personality I'm even more perplexed, just what exactly is it you're trying to say: I'm a child at heart, I like hippos, I'm wacky, my wife buys my ties!
Even as an act of rebellion I'm sceptical that it works. If you care not about fashion, style or dress why not simply wear plain black or blue ties. You can't get much simpler. Ultimately such an excuse is a lie given that these ties are for the most part brightly coloured, and you must possess some interest in clothes to able to match with anything.
I have wondered, given the success of Vineyard Vines in particular, whether there was some cultural significance that I was missing.
There is a respectable tradition in the UK of sporting motifs on ties, intimately bound up in British class consciousness. Typically, patterns incorporate stags, foxes, pheasants, fish and horses, all highlighting country pursuits, and natural accessories to tweeds and country clothing. Good examples of these can be found at the excellent hume with their Atkinsons Irish Poplin.
While this latter illustration is an aesthetic I can appreciate, it isn't one I necessarily practice; and I'm willing to accept that to those living beyond the shores of England it may seem as baffling as Vineyard Vines is to me. But fundamentally, I struggle to understand why a grown man would do such a thing to himself.
If you like to learn more details about custom made shirts and suits, please go to TailorU's website.
Bespoke Suit with Old Hat
I've hired the jacket and trouser but what I looking to buy was a double breasted buff waistcoat.
A wonderful vintage emporium located, just across Putney Bridge, it's renowned for high quality vintage evening dress and formal wear. They also have an unrivalled collection of vintage Savile Row Tweed jackets and suits. I'm a fan of vintage and own just one Savile Row suit. It fits me like no other garment I own, and comes courtesy of Old Hat.
It always amazes me just how many men known of Old Hat, and how many who still don’t. For one thing the shop is beloved by the men who frequent it, and it doesn't attract your average vintage crowd. Many aren't by nature what you'd call thrifters. But there is something about Old Hat which means once you step inside its hard not to find yourself coming back. For most men that first experience starts with morning tails. In fact enter the premises on any Saturday between May and September and you'd find it hard to move for grooms to be, best-men pending and other honoured guest.
But Old Hat is more than just a great place to go to get around a potentially expensive social life. If anything it's a celebration of classic dressing, an age of craft and quality. Supplying everything from stiff collars to riding boots, Old Hat is about the vision and dedication of one man with an extraordinary love of clothes, the legendary David Saxby. Sadly when it came to my double breasted waistcoat Old Hat had already been cleaned out by Ascot goers, but any excuse to visit Old Hat should be indulged.
For more details about bespoke suits and shirts, please go to TailorU.com.
A wonderful vintage emporium located, just across Putney Bridge, it's renowned for high quality vintage evening dress and formal wear. They also have an unrivalled collection of vintage Savile Row Tweed jackets and suits. I'm a fan of vintage and own just one Savile Row suit. It fits me like no other garment I own, and comes courtesy of Old Hat.
It always amazes me just how many men known of Old Hat, and how many who still don’t. For one thing the shop is beloved by the men who frequent it, and it doesn't attract your average vintage crowd. Many aren't by nature what you'd call thrifters. But there is something about Old Hat which means once you step inside its hard not to find yourself coming back. For most men that first experience starts with morning tails. In fact enter the premises on any Saturday between May and September and you'd find it hard to move for grooms to be, best-men pending and other honoured guest.
But Old Hat is more than just a great place to go to get around a potentially expensive social life. If anything it's a celebration of classic dressing, an age of craft and quality. Supplying everything from stiff collars to riding boots, Old Hat is about the vision and dedication of one man with an extraordinary love of clothes, the legendary David Saxby. Sadly when it came to my double breasted waistcoat Old Hat had already been cleaned out by Ascot goers, but any excuse to visit Old Hat should be indulged.
For more details about bespoke suits and shirts, please go to TailorU.com.
2010年6月6日星期日
Bespoke Suit and Gentlemen's Beach Life
The gentleman exhales with relief “beach life!” He lays himself on the golden sand, glistening from his brief dip in the chilly, turquoise waters, the sound of which he now conceals with a carefully selected playlist, largely populated with Bob Marley favourites. The sun bakes his skin and he smiles, in genuine satisfaction; by the time of his return to a cloudy mother nation, he will be able to crack smiles and admiring glances when wearing his distinctive and punchy tangerine summer shirt. All the appurtenances of a sophisticated hedonist are at his disposal; iPod, award winning literature, chilled caipirinha.
This bourgeois thought does not trouble his sandy head for too long before he remembers that he is lying on one of those feeble, overwashed, crusty room towels that hotels so perversely cherish; small, uncomfortable and barely absorbent, it’s also a rather disturbing off-white which makes it look as though it has been stuck in the pool’s drainage system for the past fortnight. Our gentleman had assumed, like many others, that a private beach and large pool area automatically indicated a supply of towels to rival that of Champneys. Admittedly, a good hotel should provide all linens and towels throughout a stay – one should not have to waste clothing space with lumps of spongy cotton. However, for the gentleman of distinguished taste a decent towel is an essential accessory when ‘swimmy’ and ‘beachy’ frolics are in the offing.
First and foremost, it must be of a sufficient size and quality. Small and fluffless beach towels are heinous. Cotton terrycloth is the only option for a material; stay well away from cheap microfiber towels. Secondly, colour must be considered carefully. Plain white towels, while versatile, are likely to be mistaken as hotel owned and you might have a hard time convincing Fabrizio the pool guy that your own property is mixed up in the mass of soggy suncream n’ sweat soaked cotton that fills a vat of used towels. In fact, anything too ‘plain’ and your towel might be mistaken for an oversized bathmat – pattern is the key to the classic beach towel.
Avoid the vulgarity of advertising your brand allegiance to the helicopters that swirl above; there is no brand display more pathetic than a gigantic name printed across a beach towel. The opportunity of purchasing a towel is an opportunity to express yourself in a way you might be disinclined to with clothing; after all you do not, technically, wear a towel. It is something you lounge on, wipe sunglasses on, cosy up with on the terrace whilst watching the sun set. It belongs on holiday, not at the pub with your drinking mates. Therefore, a little pattern, a little colour, a little design – the sort of thing a gentleman only admits to liking in pillow talk – is perfectly acceptable.
For more details about bespoke suit and shirt, please go to TailorU.
This bourgeois thought does not trouble his sandy head for too long before he remembers that he is lying on one of those feeble, overwashed, crusty room towels that hotels so perversely cherish; small, uncomfortable and barely absorbent, it’s also a rather disturbing off-white which makes it look as though it has been stuck in the pool’s drainage system for the past fortnight. Our gentleman had assumed, like many others, that a private beach and large pool area automatically indicated a supply of towels to rival that of Champneys. Admittedly, a good hotel should provide all linens and towels throughout a stay – one should not have to waste clothing space with lumps of spongy cotton. However, for the gentleman of distinguished taste a decent towel is an essential accessory when ‘swimmy’ and ‘beachy’ frolics are in the offing.
First and foremost, it must be of a sufficient size and quality. Small and fluffless beach towels are heinous. Cotton terrycloth is the only option for a material; stay well away from cheap microfiber towels. Secondly, colour must be considered carefully. Plain white towels, while versatile, are likely to be mistaken as hotel owned and you might have a hard time convincing Fabrizio the pool guy that your own property is mixed up in the mass of soggy suncream n’ sweat soaked cotton that fills a vat of used towels. In fact, anything too ‘plain’ and your towel might be mistaken for an oversized bathmat – pattern is the key to the classic beach towel.
Avoid the vulgarity of advertising your brand allegiance to the helicopters that swirl above; there is no brand display more pathetic than a gigantic name printed across a beach towel. The opportunity of purchasing a towel is an opportunity to express yourself in a way you might be disinclined to with clothing; after all you do not, technically, wear a towel. It is something you lounge on, wipe sunglasses on, cosy up with on the terrace whilst watching the sun set. It belongs on holiday, not at the pub with your drinking mates. Therefore, a little pattern, a little colour, a little design – the sort of thing a gentleman only admits to liking in pillow talk – is perfectly acceptable.
For more details about bespoke suit and shirt, please go to TailorU.
2010年5月31日星期一
Bespoke Suit and Luggage
As a successfully detoxed label-hunter I know full well the apparent attractions of wearing other’s brands; my previous naïveté in this regard is somewhat embarrassing and consistently mystifying. When I rifle through old collections of sweaters at home I cannot comprehend why I purchased so many with emblazoned brands. I remember my mother accompanying me on shopping trips, encouraging me, sometimes imploring me, to purchase alternative items of equal quality but comparative plainness; bizarrely, I went for the billboard.
Ever since I realised my folly, I have been a strong critic of shameless branding, mainly from the point of view of an aesthete. As each year passes I seek greater distance from the brands which I purchase. Not because I am ashamed of my patronage but because the whole point about purchasing something someone else has made is that you are buying an item of quality and/or design that you alone do not have the resources or invention to create. Any quality or design is denigrated by the presence of overt branding. Branding symbolises ownership and alarmingly, it is not that of the wearer but the brander; ranch rules still apply.
Valextra are an altogether different proposition. An old Milanese brand, though not as ancient as Goyard or Vuitton, Valextra was rescued from the unloving clutches of Samsonite by Emanuele Carminati Molina in 2000. Although it sounds more like a patented lab-tested material than a luxury leather goods brand, Valextra has, in the past 10 years, returned to doing to what it does best; simple elegance. The bags are blissfully logo free, beautifully made and extraordinarily exclusive – even the sales assistant at Harrods, their only point of sale in the UK, spoke about the products with a hushed reverence that mirrored the subtlety of the bags’ designs. The leather is stiff, plain and of outstanding quality. Unlike the neo-Edwardian aesthetic of Goyard and Vuitton, the appeal of Valextra is firmly mid-twentieth century; a nod to the birth of air travel. Available in a range of colours including black, bright blue, Hermes orange and an incredibly impractical white, Valextra is almost perfect – until you look inside the pocket for the well-concealed price tag.
Unfortunately, as beautiful as a Valextra is, it isn’t worth the money being charged. I examined the lovely briefcases, laptop cases and overnight bags with care but struggled to see how the breathtaking prices were justified. Leather is by no means a cheap material but nigh on £4,000 for a non-croc leather briefcase is a hefty price; I don’t care how many ‘Italian artisans’ were involved. “Valextra”, as the man in Harrods keenly informed me, “will last longer than Vuitton.” A brave assertion but what, I wonder, could he be referring to? The product itself or the brand? As a brand it is earning itself a reputation as ‘celebrity endorsed’ with Victoria and David Beckham, Katie Holmes, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie as admirers. Whether such associations advance or hinder the brand, in the long run, is unknown.
For more details about bespoke suits, please go to TailorU.
Ever since I realised my folly, I have been a strong critic of shameless branding, mainly from the point of view of an aesthete. As each year passes I seek greater distance from the brands which I purchase. Not because I am ashamed of my patronage but because the whole point about purchasing something someone else has made is that you are buying an item of quality and/or design that you alone do not have the resources or invention to create. Any quality or design is denigrated by the presence of overt branding. Branding symbolises ownership and alarmingly, it is not that of the wearer but the brander; ranch rules still apply.
Valextra are an altogether different proposition. An old Milanese brand, though not as ancient as Goyard or Vuitton, Valextra was rescued from the unloving clutches of Samsonite by Emanuele Carminati Molina in 2000. Although it sounds more like a patented lab-tested material than a luxury leather goods brand, Valextra has, in the past 10 years, returned to doing to what it does best; simple elegance. The bags are blissfully logo free, beautifully made and extraordinarily exclusive – even the sales assistant at Harrods, their only point of sale in the UK, spoke about the products with a hushed reverence that mirrored the subtlety of the bags’ designs. The leather is stiff, plain and of outstanding quality. Unlike the neo-Edwardian aesthetic of Goyard and Vuitton, the appeal of Valextra is firmly mid-twentieth century; a nod to the birth of air travel. Available in a range of colours including black, bright blue, Hermes orange and an incredibly impractical white, Valextra is almost perfect – until you look inside the pocket for the well-concealed price tag.
Unfortunately, as beautiful as a Valextra is, it isn’t worth the money being charged. I examined the lovely briefcases, laptop cases and overnight bags with care but struggled to see how the breathtaking prices were justified. Leather is by no means a cheap material but nigh on £4,000 for a non-croc leather briefcase is a hefty price; I don’t care how many ‘Italian artisans’ were involved. “Valextra”, as the man in Harrods keenly informed me, “will last longer than Vuitton.” A brave assertion but what, I wonder, could he be referring to? The product itself or the brand? As a brand it is earning itself a reputation as ‘celebrity endorsed’ with Victoria and David Beckham, Katie Holmes, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie as admirers. Whether such associations advance or hinder the brand, in the long run, is unknown.
For more details about bespoke suits, please go to TailorU.
2010年5月26日星期三
Bespoke Shirt of Old Themes
I happen to think that ginghams and checks are a natural fit with a blue blazer as a rule. In my view they’re a less formal type of shirting more fitting to the reduced formality the blazer encapsulates. However, owing to the fact that a couple of years ago they were worn everywhere by everyone I’d tired of seeing them and hitherto banished them from my wardrobe -an error of judgement on reflection. I’m hoping that the combination of coloured but subtle check paired to a subdued tie will provide that sense of relaxed formality which has so far eluded me.
Now, the shirts themselves are from Haroutunian’s off the peg range of formal shirts, which retail for £39 individually or £75 for 3. The made-to-measure are made in the same family owned workshop, and the cloth is 2 fold Egyptian. I have to say pound for pound these are about the best low cost off the peg shirts I’ve yet found.
In fact I’m so confident in my recommendation that I’ve asked the family whether they will manufacturer shirts for my own label. Thanks to the encouragement of Mensflair readers I’ve decided to take the plunge. One of the first projects will be two shirts over which I have a fixation. The first a good cocktail cuff shirt, and a button down oxford in its original form, with no interlining in the collar - a subject on which I’m currently doing some research.
It’s funny how certain themes keep on reoccurring.
For more details about bespoke suits and shirts, please go to TailorU's website.
Now, the shirts themselves are from Haroutunian’s off the peg range of formal shirts, which retail for £39 individually or £75 for 3. The made-to-measure are made in the same family owned workshop, and the cloth is 2 fold Egyptian. I have to say pound for pound these are about the best low cost off the peg shirts I’ve yet found.
In fact I’m so confident in my recommendation that I’ve asked the family whether they will manufacturer shirts for my own label. Thanks to the encouragement of Mensflair readers I’ve decided to take the plunge. One of the first projects will be two shirts over which I have a fixation. The first a good cocktail cuff shirt, and a button down oxford in its original form, with no interlining in the collar - a subject on which I’m currently doing some research.
It’s funny how certain themes keep on reoccurring.
For more details about bespoke suits and shirts, please go to TailorU's website.
Bespoke Shirt of Old Themes
I happen to think that ginghams and checks are a natural fit with a blue blazer as a rule. In my view they’re a less formal type of shirting more fitting to the reduced formality the blazer encapsulates. However, owing to the fact that a couple of years ago they were worn everywhere by everyone I’d tired of seeing them and hitherto banished them from my wardrobe -an error of judgement on reflection. I’m hoping that the combination of coloured but subtle check paired to a subdued tie will provide that sense of relaxed formality which has so far eluded me.
Now, the shirts themselves are from Haroutunian’s off the peg range of formal shirts, which retail for £39 individually or £75 for 3. The made-to-measure are made in the same family owned workshop, and the cloth is 2 fold Egyptian. I have to say pound for pound these are about the best low cost off the peg shirts I’ve yet found.
In fact I’m so confident in my recommendation that I’ve asked the family whether they will manufacturer shirts for my own label. Thanks to the encouragement of Mensflair readers I’ve decided to take the plunge. One of the first projects will be two shirts over which I have a fixation. The first a good cocktail cuff shirt, and a button down oxford in its original form, with no interlining in the collar - a subject on which I’m currently doing some research.
It’s funny how certain themes keep on reoccurring.
For more details about bespoke suits and shirts, please go to TailorU's website.
Now, the shirts themselves are from Haroutunian’s off the peg range of formal shirts, which retail for £39 individually or £75 for 3. The made-to-measure are made in the same family owned workshop, and the cloth is 2 fold Egyptian. I have to say pound for pound these are about the best low cost off the peg shirts I’ve yet found.
In fact I’m so confident in my recommendation that I’ve asked the family whether they will manufacturer shirts for my own label. Thanks to the encouragement of Mensflair readers I’ve decided to take the plunge. One of the first projects will be two shirts over which I have a fixation. The first a good cocktail cuff shirt, and a button down oxford in its original form, with no interlining in the collar - a subject on which I’m currently doing some research.
It’s funny how certain themes keep on reoccurring.
For more details about bespoke suits and shirts, please go to TailorU's website.
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