Author: Simon Crompton

The best German tailors working today

Posted on by Simon Crompton

The best German tailors working today

Monday, August 26th 2024Tags:
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By Bernhard Roetzel.

In part one of this article I gave an overview of the state of bespoke tailoring in Germany, including its history. Today I will recommend some specific tailors, including my own experiences.

 

Volkmar Arnulf
www.arnulf-massatelier.de

Of the old masters trained by the pre-war tailors, only Volkmar Arnulf is still working. He is considered the doyen of German tailoring by most of his colleagues.

Volkmar Arnulf became a Herrenschneidermeister in 1962, after he had trained both as a men’s and as a ladies’ tailor. He was very active in Berlin’s guild of tailors and in the World Federation of Master Tailors.

For several decades Arnulf ran a shop at Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s famous boulevard, but he relocated to Potsdam 10 years ago. The shop is located in a historic townhouse with the workrooms in the back rooms.

Volkmar Arnulf offers precise cutting, excellent handwork, perfect pattern matching and a slim, slightly 1960ish silhouette. In addition you will experience meeting a very polite and modest person and an extremely knowledgable craftsman.

I have never ordered anything from Volkmar Arnulf, but Torsten Grunwald in Denmark has ordered several suits there and has written about his experience.

I had the trousers of half a dozen of my Savile Row suits altered there about 10 years ago, when they needed a little extra width at the waist. His tailors did an excellent job hand sewing little patches of matching satin to the inner waistband.

 

Max Dietl
www.max-dietl.de

The biggest name in German postwar tailoring was Max Dietl in Munich. The founder was an excellent tailor and at the same time a good businessman. He made for many German movie stars and TV greats because Munich was the centre of the postwar film industry.

Despite being devoted to his craft, Dietl started selling handmade Italian menswear in the 1970s. He was the biggest Brioni customer in Germany for decades; he also offers haute couture for women.

The shop is directly opposite the Opera house, comprising four floors of a complete building. The bespoke department is on the top floor. The present owner of the house is Max Dietl Jr. He is not a trained tailor, so the tailoring department has been run by employed cutters since the death of his father.

The company makes for customers of all ages - very often younger men are brought in by their fathers. Even though the majority of customers look for Brioni, Kiton, Stefano Ricci or Zilli, the bespoke department still has a very good reputation and lots of work.

There is no house style but the suits that are made there for Dietl Jr look very much like a well-fitting Attolini suit. I personally prefer the double-breasted suits they make for Wolfgang Grupp, the founder of the German sportswear and underwear brand Trigema. As he is very slim the outer chestpocket is slightly under the left lapel, which is quite a unique style.

 

Detlev Diehm
www.diehmdesign.eu

In Munich you should have a look at Detlev Diehm. His shop is located in an old Bavarian house in a residential area not far from the centre. Diehm trained as a tailor before he studied fashion design.

He spent most of his working life as a designer and creative director, returning to bespoke tailoring a couple of years ago. About half of his customers are from abroad, which is unusual for German tailors. He regularly holds trunk shows at the Les Bains hotel in Paris.

Diehm cuts and fits every garment himself. One tailor works for him in the workroom downstairs. Diehm is the only German tailor I am aware of who offers a house style: his trade mark style is a softly tailored double-breasted with wide lapels; his coats tend to be on the shorter side. He has a preference for luxurious fabrics such as cashmere.

I had a DB suit made from a green Solaro by Diehm about five years ago. The first fitting was very close to the mark except for the length of the coat. I wanted 3cm more, Diehm insisted on 1.5 cm. At the second fitting I agreed that 1.5 cm was better.

 

Stefan Sicking
sicking-muenchen.de

A tailor with a much bigger following in Munich is Stefan Sicking, largely because he has been around longer. I was introduced to him more 20 years ago, when his shop was around the corner from the legendary Schumann’s American Bar.

Despite his long experience, Sicking is not very well known outside Munich because he shuns publicity to the point of refusing requests for interviews. He is a very able tailor with a visible influence from Italy. Still, he is typically German in terms of precision cutting and the quality of the make.

 

Kathrin Emmer
handgefertigte-massanzuege.de

A Munich expat is Kathrin Emmer. She was born and trained there, before moving to Berlin to work for Volkmar Arnulf. She became a master tailor and opened her own shop in 2003 in her flat in Berlin. I met her briefly afterwards in 2005 when I happened to be in Berlin because I was attending the Congress of The World Federation of Master Tailors.

We met again in 2009 after I had moved to Berlin myself. I wanted to try her then and had a DB suit made. I wanted something in a 1940s type of cut with a ventless coat and wide pleated trousers. I showed her several pictures and talked at length about my vision for the suit. She didn’t say much but at the first fitting it turned out that she had listened very carefully, because the cut was faultless.

Emmer offers the old-school quality that she got used to while working for Volkmar Arnulf. She makes each garment completely herself, which sometimes results in a long waiting list. She has tried outworkers but was never happy with the results.

Emmer moved to Potsdam in 2012. She receives her customers in the basement of her house, which is half atelier and half fitting room. She is willing to fulfil most sartorial wishes if they are within her professional capacity. In my experience while she is reluctant to impose ideas on a customer, she will advise the novice.

Most of her output is sober business suits for men, but she does make for a couple of women, who mainly order overcoats and suits. Since the pandemic she has been making more sports coats and separate trousers. When a customers is able to define his wishes precisely, I find she will usually deliver a first fitting that is very close to the mark.

So far I have had four suits made by Emmer and the cut has always been precise. She likes the sleeves of the coat slightly longer so at the second fitting I always make sure the length is correct. In general she prefers a slightly ‘younger’ look. Jokingly she calls my style ‘grandfatherly' but she still does it very well.

 

James Whitfield
www.jameswhitfieldbespoke.com

Another expat is James Whitfield. He is English but works in Berlin. He trained as cutter and tailor at Anderson & Sheppard in London.

In 2012 he came to Berlin as the head cutter for the newly established bespoke house Purwin & Radczun. As this business depended on the head cutter it never recovered from his departure in 2019; Whitfield set up his own studio in the historic Kewenig warehouse.

Whitfield is the only Savile Row-trained bespoke tailor working in Germany. He offers not only a different kind of cutting and tailoring but also a unique way of handling customers. Don’t expect servile chitchat: he is very matter-of-fact and professional. He doesn’t speak fluent German but this is not a problem for his customers.

Despite being Anderson & Sheppard-trained, Whitfield has developed his own brand of Savile Row style. He cuts the coat a bit longer, with a clear shoulder line and wide lapels, especially on his double-breasted suits. Everything is made in his workshop by himself and an employee, who he has trained himself.

I had a jacket made by James Whitfield from a length of vintage Scabal jacketing. After many suits made by continental tailors I felt like I was back on Savile Row. The first fitting was with sleeves and James only made chalk marks, he didn’t unpick the shoulder seam. We had agreed on a very English cut with a hight waist, small armholes, slanted pockets, a centre vent and a long coat.

At the second fitting I was curious to know the length of the coat and at home I measured the longest jacket I had made by John Coggin in Savile Row. It turned out that James Whitfield had cut the exact same length.

The was very much the way I like it: no fuss, exact work, a good result. Germans usually love Whitfield because he has that air of authority in sartorial matters that many younger German tailors lack. And his suits have class that can otherwise only be found in London.

 

Carlo Jösch
carlo-joesch.de

In the Rhineland there are still quite a few bespoke tailors. One is Carlo Jösch in Cologne. He studied pattern-making because he wanted to become a fashion designer, and did not train as a tailor. Nevertheless we works by hand in the traditional way.

Jösch also trained as a kilt-maker in Scotland. The press often mentions this and he has become a bit tired of it. He does make kilts regularly, but his main business is suits, jackets, trousers and overcoats.

Jösch prepares a toile fitting before he cuts the actual fabric - the usual way to work in ladies’ tailoring and haute couture. It works well in men’s tailoring too. After the toile fitting you have the usual fittings.

Jösch’s workshop is in the centre of Cologne in a neighbourhood of antique shops, jewellers and art dealers.

 

Julian Weyand
julianweyand.com

A promising tailor of the younger generation is Julian Weyand in Düsseldorf. He trained with Heinz-Josef Radermacher and worked there for a while before setting up his own business.

Radermacher is one of the big old names from the 1970s-1990s. His style is influenced by the Radermacher silhouette; the double-breasted suits he usually wears show this pedigree.

Weyand trained both as a men’s and a ladies’ tailor. His first fitting is very rough, serving mainly to  check balance and proportions. The ensuing two fittings are performed in the usual way.

Tailors in Germany love to unpick the shoulder during a first fitting, but Weyand often prefers chalkmarks. Once he has good pattern for a customer he will manage with one fitting for following orders.

The interior of the shop is modern and clean, but it still looks like a tailor shop with dark green walls and some half-finished garments on display. Like most tailors Weyand mainly makes suits and jackets, but some customers also order shirtjackets or just a pair of trousers.

 

Schmidt & Schallmey
www.schmidt-schallmey.de

Frankfurt is the number-one suit city in Germany because it is the centre of finance - it’s popular for trunk shows of Savile Row tailors for this reason. And just a few minutes walk from the Opera house is one of the best-known local tailors, Schmidt & Schallmey.

Bespoke tailor Roland Schmidt (above) formed the company with Sven Schallmey, an experienced made-to-measure salesman. The focus of the business was on bespoke work, but they don’t see the point in sending away people who are not ready for bespoke or simply prefer MTM.

Schmidt worked for many years in Frankfurt before he started the business with Schallmey. He used to be responsible for the bespoke tailoring in n MTM shop but wanted to start his own operation.

Schmidt is a passionate collector of books about cutting and tailoring. His collections fills shelves in the shop. He studies these books frequently to find new inspirations or solutions from the past. He claims he can tailor as lightly and softly as any tailor in Italy.

From my personal experience I would always recommend ordering an Italian suit from an Italian and an English suit from an English tailor. But judging from the suits I have seen from Roland Schmidt over the past 10 years, I think he offers the degree of ‘Italian' that most Germans are happy with.

Germans would often not be happy with the real thing from Italy, not least because of the difficulties resulting from bad communication and the unwillingness of Italians to make something that is not really their style.

An update: when I asked Schmidt for his prices he told me that Schallmey will actually leave the business soon. Schmidt will continue alone as Roland Schmidt Maßschneiderei. He still employs four tailors and one apprentice.

 

Markus Schnurr
www.individuelle-handgefertigte-massanzuege.de

A more unusual place for a bespoke tailor is Offenburg, in the south-west of Germany. At least today. When Markus Schnurr was looking for a shop that he could take over in 2017 he found a business owned by the tailor Herbert Martin, which had for many years served local businesspeople, industry employees, academics and lawyers.

Schnurr had trained as a tailor in Metzingen and worked in the costume departments of TV studios and theatres in Baden-Baden and Stuttgart. In 2014 he started working for Max Dietl.

Schnurr cuts very precisely in my experience, so he usually finishes the garment after two fittings. He works on his own so he has complete control over everything, from the pattern to the buttonholes.

He is used to making contemporary suit styles but also knows how to cut a timeless style. I have ordered two pieces from him: a green flannel blazer and a checked double-breasted suit. At the first order I told him where I wanted the outer chest pocket, the width of the lapels, the size of the pocket flaps and the overall length of the coat.

He remembered that he made jackets to similar specifications for some older customers of Dietl; most of his customers today want narrow lapels, small flaps, short coats. For the first fitting he simulated the position of the chest pocket with a strip of fabric and I still found it too high so I chalked the position to the fabric myself. At the second order he knew my preferences and it went smoothly.

The finished suit was adorned with lots of very well executed hand-stitching around the edges. He was a bit disappointed because he noticed that I wasn’t too happy with it. But it was not an issue because on the checked fabric the stitches are hardly visible. A friend of mine really loved them and asked for them when he ordered a suit from Markus Schnurr later.

Prices:

All prices are for a two-piece suit. However, the tailors vary in preferring to quote prices with or without fabric. Apologies that this creates some inconsistency.

  • Volkmar Arnulf: €6000 (with fabric)
  • Max Dietl: €6500 (without)
  • Detlev Diehm: €4800 (with)
  • Stefan Sicking: €6600 (with)
  • Kathrin Emmer €4800 (with)
  • James Whitfield: €4200 (without)
  • Carlo Jösch: €5000 (without)
  • Schmidt & Schallmey €5500 (without)
  • Markus Schnurr : €3400 (without)

Autumn/Winter 2024 on the PS Shop

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Autumn/Winter 2024 on the PS Shop

Friday, August 23rd 2024Tags:
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Hello lovely readers,

Here’s our regular update on what’s coming into the PS Shop over the next few months. 

We’ve included the information we have, but feel free to ask questions if you have them, as chances are someone else is thinking the same, and it’s good to have them all here, rather than emailed individually. 

As per usual, keep in mind that some timings might change, but we’re trying to be a little bit more conservative to avoid overruns. There may also be one or two new launches which have yet to be confirmed and will drop into this season. 

Remember that a lot of shop updates are now done through the dedicated emails rather than PS articles. The PS cloth didn’t ever get a full article, for example, even though it involved some changes with distribution and location. Sign up to that list here if you want to keep in touch on everything. We try to limit the amount of emails we are sending and combine restock announcements.

Thanks, can’t wait to get these wonderful coats and knits out there.

August 

Finest Polos: Restocked

Bridge Coat: Restocked 

Light Grey Donegal coat: Restocked

Selvedge Chambray shirts: Restocked 

Selvedge Chambray cloth: Restocked yesterday

PS Oxfords: Restock of the perennial colours, blue, white and blue/white stripe

Cloth shop: All restocked. Cloths available to see at The Valet in London.

  • PS Shetland Tweed
  • PS Harris Tweed
  • PS Plaid (now in lambswool, to make it a little more accessible)
  • PS Donegal cloths (charcoal, light grey and dark brown) 

September

Wax Walker: Restock 

The Rider’s Raincoat: Restock of both existing and one new colour

Suede overshirts: Restock, plus MTM project (see Pop-Ups section below)

New outerwear product: Really excited about this one, but no, no details yet. Probably end of the month

PS Watch Cap: Restock of existing colours

Arran Scarf: Restock and new colours

Bullskin Tote: Restock in both colours

October

Reversible Suede bomber jacket: Restock in navy

New Donegal Coat: Dark navy/black (see above). The most classic version we’ve ever done. Perfect business coat and casual with jeans.
Note - Private White VC are also currently offering the 2022 flecked navy, which we no longer have stock of. This is not the same as the new navy (which is plain and a smoother merino)

Cashmere Crewneck and Rugby: Delivery of pre-orders, and restocks

The Japanese Denim Shirt: Restock

November

New PS oxfords: Two new colours coming

The English Tweed coat: Restock in existing colour

Indulgent Shawl Cardigans: Restock and one new colour

Pop-ups

William Crabtree: As in previous years, all coats will be available to see during the month of October at William Crabtree in Marylebone. We will also be there on the first Thursday and Friday to meet people in person.

Suede Overshirts MTO: During the other pop-ups in London and New York, we will be offering the suede overshirt as an MTO programme, with four colours available. To deliver in February ready for spring.

New York: Confirmed for October 16-19, in the J Mueser showroom as last year. To be joined by Rubato, not Taillour this time, and hopefully Seiji McCarthy (to be confirmed)

London: Will be held after New York, so in late October or early November. Dates and location to be confirmed. 

 

The versatility (or not) of navy hopsack – from Paolo Martorano

Posted on by Simon Crompton

The versatility (or not) of navy hopsack – from Paolo Martorano

Wednesday, August 21st 2024Tags:
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I wore this new hopsack jacket from Paolo Martorano quite a bit this summer, which surprised me. Although I’ve had navy jackets in the past, since I stopped working in an office I tend to wear more earthy colours, such as browns, taupes or that ever-reliable default, grey herringbone. 

A navy jacket or suit in a fine material tends to be the tailoring most associated with offices, and it can have other associations too - the preppy blazer or, in some parts of the US, even a security-guard uniform. 

Manish addressed this when he talked about selecting cloth for bespoke - how the standard advice of a navy blazer has perhaps had its day, or certainly doesn’t work for everyone with changing dress codes. 

I even made a mistake when selecting my hopsack - I should probably have gone for something darker, more uniform and drier like the ‘mesh’ I got from Holland & Sherry years ago. Instead, I was taken in by the luxuriousness of the Loro Piana material, and went for this slightly bluer, slightly shinier option. 

The cloth was Paolo’s recommendation, but I don’t blame him for my choice. He makes this bunch (Loro Piana 'Jackets') up for a lot of his customers, and it works well for them. As I know from seeing some of those customers and Paolo himself, they want something sleeker, and usually wear it more smartly. 

Among drier or more ‘rustic’ options, Paolo recommended the Oyster bunch from Harrison’s and the Worsted Classics from Fox, but both of those felt more like suitings to me, given their density. Or at least, they would have been more traditional-looking blazers and would have made great suits too. 

We went into more detail on this in the dedicated article on hopsack, part of the Guide to Cloth. The Holland & Sherry mesh I used years ago, which is probably the nicest I've seen of that type of material, is still available by the way. It just has a different number now - 3024010 (the midnight, not navy). 

Given all this, I’ve been surprised how much I’ve worn the Paolo jacket. One reason I think is that I like the combination of a navy shirt and jacket so much - with grey, charcoal, cream and even brown trousers. 

The navy-on-navy immediately looks non-corporate and interesting, and if you swap the shirt for a knit that impression is reinforced. I'm wearing a linen popover in these images, but also wore the jacket with a PS Finest Polo underneath (recently restocked - here). 

In fact, as I write this it occurs to me that I featured exactly the same combination before - five years ago. That outfit (below) and this one make an interesting comparison as the fit of my clothes is now a little more generous.

The Paolo jacket is a different cut of course - more English, more structured, more drape - but it also has bigger shoulders, a bigger waist and generally more sway going on than the Ettore de Cesare below.

The trousers follow the same trend: back then from Solito, now from Assisi, with the modern ones a little wider and higher. 

To my mind neither is right or wrong, they're just different styles, and I can definitely see the attraction of the slimmer fits (particularly having worn both). The roomier one feels more mature to me today, less striving after some sharp, narrow figure. 

Also, I should say that these changes don’t mean the clothes become redundant. Those Solito trousers are still going - the legs have just been widened, using the inlay you’d of course mostly find in bespoke. 

The other reason I’ve been wearing the Paolo jacket so much is that I’ve enjoyed wearing it with pale-blue jeans (and usually the same navy polo underneath). 

This shouldn’t really work, and in many ways it doesn’t. A jacket in a softer make and a more casual material would be a more natural partner. But what makes it is the deliberate contrast - something purposefully more unusual, more showy, and executed quite carefully (fewer shoes, knits, shirts etc will work).

It’s not the kind of combination most readers will want or will find most useful, which is why we generally don’t recommend it. I discussed this briefly in the article on my Caraceni blazer, whose outfit with black jeans is similar. It’s advanced dressing and not for everyone, at least every day, but can be refreshing and more personal. 

I’ll do a dedicated article on this at some point, with a shot of that jeans outfit.

As to Paolo’s execution of the jacket, it was great - the kind of thing you forget to comment on, because it is not just good, but predictably good. 

The make and fit were the same level as the black cashmere jacket he made, just dialled in in all the ways a second bespoke piece should be. 

I continue to recommend him to anyone in New York that is after true bespoke - or indeed in other parts of the US, as he is in Palm Beach as well as other places often. 

The shirt I’m wearing is a popover made by Jean-Manuel Moreau in Paris, in Solbiati linen. It’s superb - I had a white one already and asked him to make a navy for this summer. I would recommend him as a shirtmaker as well as for tailoring. 

The shoes are Sagans from Baudoin & Lange of course. The sunglasses are Meyrowitz and are sneakily peaking out of the breast pocket thanks to having that breast pocket made a little shallower. 

The jacket material is: Loro Piana 'Jackets', Super 150s, N721047, 270 grams.

Paolo's bespoke prices are (all including cloth and tax): Jacket $5200, suit $7500, trouser $2200, overcoat $7500.

How I learned to love shorts

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How I learned to love shorts

Monday, August 19th 2024Tags:
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By André Larnyoh.

Recently I’ve been pining for the summer of 2022. Remember that one? Temperatures got to around 40 degrees and everyone was encouraged to stay indoors - something I did not do because Tooting Lido was just too inviting.

I remember wondering what to wear, less from a style point of view and more just to avoid being either naked or suffocating the moment I stepped outside. Eventually I settled on a terry-cloth polo from Fursac, a pair of vintage Polo shorts and a baseball cap - which was unusual for me. Caps make me feel like Short Round from Indiana Jones (below).

However more than the cap, it was the shorts that were jarring. For the longest time I’ve just been uncomfortable in them. They make me feel vulnerable - exposed like a gazelle on the savanna. Self-conscious of my scrawny legs and ashy knees.

Fran Lebowitz was asked a few years ago whether men should wear shorts in the city and her basic response was ‘no’ (though of course in that roundabout, cutting way of hers).

At the time I agreed - why go for shorts when wide-legged trousers in a breezy linen or cotton work just as well? When I came across people in shorts, even those I consider good dressers, I’d internally shake my head. Is that really the best you could do?

In my mind shorts were meant for beach holidays, intense workouts and Just William. No one wants to see them on the Tube. I regularly go to Ghana to see family, and I could count on a closed fist the number of times I’ve packed a pair of shorts.

Fast forward to 2024 though and I’m now the proud owner of not one but two pairs that I love. So what changed, what prompted such a rejection of Lebowitz?

Mostly it was trying them again - being open-minded and comfortable with my own insecurities. As soon as I found some that appealed to me, that fit with the way I dress and make me feel good about my legs, it was straightforward. In fact good about myself as a whole, because, as I said earlier, shorts are profoundly exposing.

This where women, once again, have us beat - both in terms of options available (flowy skirts, bigger trousers, sleeveless garments) and at least for women I know, a higher level of confidence and ownership of their bodies.

I’ve always been slight of frame, but growing up I was just plain scrawny, so trousers were the best way to hide my chicken legs. Part of what led to my eventual comfort in shorts was realising there are people out there - especially in cities like London - walking around with all manner of legs. Toned, pink, hairy or ashier than Vesuvius, they’re all wearing shorts and 90% of them do not care. There's freedom in that.

This gradual acceptance of shorts has been a journey of self confidence, as well as a fashion one. However, most readers are probably more interested in the latter, so let's get back to that.

The first pair that got me going was the aforementioned 90s Polo ones. They’re basically a modification of a double-pleated chino they used to make and of which I own a few pairs - so when I discovered a short version on eBay for the low low price of £30, it felt like providence.

(Unfortunately I can’t find anything similar from the current collection, aside from maybe a few options in Purple Label, but if readers have any recommendations please do chip in.)

In a sense I already knew how these vintage ones would fit and how they would wear. That photo above is the first actual time I ever left the house in a pair of shorts.

I found they sat easily with pretty much everything, particularly the simplicity of worn-in Belgians and a roomy, untucked white oxford. My ever reliable quick-release shirt from LEJ (pictured with the shorts above) also proved to be a game changing combination on particularly balmy days, where ventilation was a priority.

A major part of the appeal of these two pairs over other shorts I’ve seen out and about are the fact that they’re pleated. I’m not really fussed about inseam lengths as long there is sufficient volume and width.

The second pair, and the ones I currently love most dearly, are ghurka shorts from Brycelands. Based on a 1940s British Army pair, they’re quite unusual - longer than most, higher in the rise, wide in the thigh and drawing yet more attention with the self-belting waist and its brass buckles.

However, in black I’ve found they’re subtler than other colours, and you can roll up the hems for a bit more shape. Also, despite what people tell me about black absorbing heat rays, I’ve always worn it in the summer with no ill effects.

I wear these shorts with quite a wide range of things too, though I wouldn’t tuck in anything that wasn’t a T-shirt - it’s too much. Untucked shirts fall nicely over the waistband, obscuring that complex-looking waist. And my black-linen smock from AWMS makes for a very minimalist pairing, something of a summer default for me now: simple, roomy and full of natural ease.

One thing I would have always thought would be off limits with shorts would be tailoring - verboten.

But recently, feeling rather bold, I broke that rule. Taking a page out of artist Peter Beard’s book I wore the ghurka shorts with a black tee and a well-worn linen/silk tweed jacket from Drake’s.

I really hadn’t anticipated how flatteringly relaxed the whole thing would be. And for me at least, rather versatile. Versatility is the last thing I expected from shorts, but it just goes to show how important the right pair is.

It also goes to show, in a wider sense, how important it is to keep an open mind about things that you might’ve written off previously. Not everything will feel comfortable straight away, but there’s something to be said for returning to something as we change - you might find that it wasn’t so bad after all, and there's a way to make it work for you.

Shorts still aren’t the first thing I reach for when the temperature goes over 20 degrees - I still rely heavily on those loose trousers, and Fran’s voice is still somewhere in the back of my mind. But I’m much more emboldened to show off my thighs and calves.

I just always need a little tube of moisturiser with me, for the knees.

The ultra-service at Saman Amel

Posted on by Simon Crompton

The ultra-service at Saman Amel

Friday, August 16th 2024Tags:
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I’ve been really interested to see how Saman Amel have changed their business model in recent years. They’ve made a conscious decision to offer a far more involved service to customers, which is then reflected in their prices. The cheaper Toscana line starts at £2300 for a suit now, but the Neapolitan is £3500. 

So, some examples of things they do are:

  • Conduct a half-hour interview with every customer before come to their country for a trunk show
  • Set the room up differently for every customer, during a trunk show or for any regular appointment, so that the clothes reflect specific things they would suggest (the interview, of course, helping to establish this)
  • Send out printed cards to customers each season, showing specific looks they would suggest, given what they know about their wardrobe and what they have bought in the past
  • Put together presentations based on discussions, including thoughts on materials and how things fit together with the rest of a wardrobe

Nobody really does this. Bespoke tailors sometimes know the customers the meet on trunk shows very well, but they never have dedicated garments, and rarely talk to them in advance. Some offer appointments of just 30 minutes. 

At the other end of the spectrum, luxury houses offer pretty poor customer service. Walk into most shops and you’re often made to feel like you’re privileged just to be served - and the person serving rarely has much style or experience. 

Saman Amel have always produced a very good handmade MTM product - I reviewed my jacket here. But the prices have risen to reflect these new services.

For many readers, this will be too expensive. But I also know others that would welcome the hands-on experience, as well as the luxury service (the showrooms in Stockholm and now London are beautiful). Unlike most luxury brands, you can see something of what you’re paying for. 

When Saman and Dag opened the new London showroom, they asked me to help make a video for them that explained some of the services. You can see it below. 

I also went through the service they offer people, with the pieces I’ve made with them so far (jacket, knits, trousers, coat) discussed, and then a rack of things they would suggest for me. It was really interesting, making me reconsider things like charcoal cashmere for a blazer and different black-silk options for evening wear. 

 

 

I also try to make clear in the video that if someone just likes the Saman Amel style, they don’t have to go through every part of this process. It’s just there if you want it. People vary in what they like and what they need in terms of service, just as much as they do in their clothes. 

I particularly liked the way Dag illustrated this by talking about two customers who recently ordered the same DB charcoal suit. One was a senior lawyer and would wear it with a shirt and tie; but the other worked in fashion and would be more likely to wear it with cowboy boots and a bucket hat. The Saman Amel tonal style can make it a bit of a blank canvas.

One final thing I thought was interesting was the reasons to say ‘no’ to a customer. Or rather, to gently suggest that they already have one of those, or don’t need that for at least another six months. Sometimes people of all levels of experience buy too much too quickly. 

In the video I am wearing:

Dag is wearing:

  • Saman Amel suit in navy Art du Lin linen from Solbiati
  • Saman Amel black polo shirt
  • Saman Amel black City-Moc shoes

 

Introducing: The Permanent Style collection at Fox

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Introducing: The Permanent Style collection at Fox

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Wednesday, August 14th 2024Tags:
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When I visited T&G Caraceni in Rome last year, a particular bolt of vintage cloth caught my eye. It was a brown-and-black houndstooth tweed, mid-weight but densely woven (as a lot of that vintage tweed tends to be). 

Unfortunately only 1.5m of it remained, so it was useless for anything but a waistcoat - but the pattern and colour stayed with me. Eventually, having occasionally put looks together and thought ‘what would be great would be a black-and-brown houndstooth’ I talked to Fox Brothers about reweaving something similar. 

I chose Fox because their tweed was the most similar to that vintage piece I was aware of. It too is denser than some of the more open Harris tweeds, though not as tight as the shooting-suit variety. It also helped that I’d already had two jackets made in the Fox Tweed, so it was a known quantity. 

Fox were keen on the proposal, but also thought it would be nice to do something bigger - maybe come up with three or four creations, plus existing cloths to go with them. There must be other cloths I’d thought about, but couldn’t find elsewhere?

So Lucas and I went down to the mill in Somerset in order to plunder the Fox archive, and discuss ideas with the wonderful design team. 

We came up with two further ideas:

The perfect navy chalk-stripe flannel

This one was kind of funny. Looking through all the Fox bunches, I couldn’t find the navy chalk stripe I’d want to make into a suit (I’ll cover later exactly how I wear it). There was a narrow chalk stripe on a good, dark navy background - and a wide chalk stripe on a lighter, rather bluer ground. 

I wanted the wider stripe on the darker ground. It seemed like the perfect combination to me. Fox were sure they had it somewhere, but it turned out, after a bit of searching, that they didn’t. So we decided that would make a good second collaboration cloth. 

My dark olive flannel

I’ve always liked a green-flannel suit. I actually had one made by Brian Smith at Fox Brothers years ago (quick PS research - it was 2015) made in a vintage piece I found on the shelves. I loved it, particularly with a specific burnt-orange challis tie from Church’s. 

But like a few things made in that era, it didn’t survive my changing physique so I ended up making a sequel with Ollie Cross when he was at Benson & Clegg. (Who’s now set up on his own by the way, under the sobriquet ‘Ollie’s’). The cloth that time was from Caccioppoli, because Fox didn’t have a dark olive. 

The suit was and is great, but really I would have preferred Fox because I like the set and finish of their flannel (pretty much all my other flannels are Fox). So it made sense that our third cloth would be that - a classic Fox flannel in a lovely muddy green (above). 

The plan is that we will have these fabrics made up into jackets or suits over the next few months, to demonstrate how they look and feel. This will also give me more space to go into why I like them.  

The tweed has already been made by Bryceland’s using their made-to-measure system with WW Chan. That’s what is shown above and below in this article, but I will also review it separately as I think their MTM option is worth covering in detail. 

The chalk stripe will be made up into a double-breasted suit by Ciardi and also covered separately (focusing on the style of a navy chalk stripe more than anything else). The green flannel, meanwhile, will be made up by The Anthology for Manish, and reviewed by him. 

All three cloths are available to buy through Fox, on a dedicated page of their site. You have to buy through them, not us, on this one. 

In the name of making it a bigger collaboration, you will also find on that page a list of my favourite other Fox cloths - most of which have been featured on PS in the past. So it includes my favourite grey flannels, the charbrown I wear a lot, my other Fox tweeds, and two overcoatings (one covered in the past, another one hopefully in the future). 

Readers often ask for flannels and overcoat materials in particular that I’d recommend. As far as Fox is concerned, there is now one dedicated place to point them to. 

Another useful piece of logistics is that swatches of all three materials will be available at The Valet in London for readers to go and see, if they want. This made sense given The Valet are now distributing all the other collaboration cloths we do. 

As soon as they’re back from their summer hols, Lafayette Saltiel in Paris will also have swatches available in Paris, as will several tailors. 

And you can always order a sample directly if you want, as you can with any of the fabrics Fox sell online. 

Any questions, please let me know. In terms of the colours, by the way, the images above are both from Fox in their studio and us on the street. I'd say both are a pretty good reflection of the colour, but seen inside and out. 

Here are the technical details on the cloths: 

  • Houndstooth Tweed:
    • Code A3344/11
    • BCC9 quality
    • 480/510g, 16/17oz
    • 100% British wool
    • £230 a metre
  • Chalk stripe flannel:
    • Code A1797/54
    • CBT5 quality
    • 370/400g, 13/14oz
    • 100% superfine merino wool
    • £230 a metre
  • Olive flannel:
    • Code A3174/1111
    • CBT5 quality
    • 370/400g, 13/14oz
    • 100% superfine merino wool
    • £230 a metre

The work in a bespoke jacket, with Jennie Adamson: Part 1

Posted on by Simon Crompton

The work in a bespoke jacket, with Jennie Adamson: Part 1

Monday, August 12th 2024Tags:
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One of the ways I think video can be very useful is showing how craft is done, rather than just the static nature of pictures. It worked well for the film we did with Dege & Skinner, showing how much difference pressing makes, and the ones with Ben Clarke, on hemming trousers and sewing a button.

For our next series, I wanted to focus on the sheer volume of work that goes into making a bespoke suit. To do that, we've taken three aspects of making a suit and filmed all of the work involved, with myself and the tailor Jennie Adamson explaining it as we go along.

The first instalment shows how a hip pocket is made. From forming the jetts to mitering, cutting away the lining to sewing an invisible silk stitch, there's a lot involved that no one would ever realise - unless it was shown like this.

It takes hours to make the pockets on a bespoke jacket, and minutes to make the ready-to-wear equivalent. Hopefully after watching this you'll look down at those pockets on your bespoke jacket and appreciate all the craft that went into them.

 

 

Jennie is a very talented tailor: a coatmaker for Gieves & Hawkes, a pattern maker for brands like The Deck and Casablanca, and a cutter and maker of her own tailoring. She has style too. More on her here.

The location is Cockpit Arts in Bloomsbury, a wonderful home for craftspeople that's just behind Lamb's Conduit Street. It's worth a visit on one of their open days if you ever get a chance - you can see the studios of jewellers, designers, artists, and buy from them where they work.

Thank you very much to Vitale Barberis Canonico for supporting this series. The cloth we used is my favourite VBC material, the four-ply high-twist wool in the Ascot bunch from Drapers. The suit being made is for Jennie, and I am wearing my suit from Assisi in the same material.

The code is 18054, which is the slightly beige-tinted grey. I think I misquoted that at one point, so apologies. It does look more grey than beige made up, as I think you can see. I'm also wearing it with our PS black denim shirt, which worked quite well (helps to have a bit of a tan I think).

Remember that all videos are available on the dedicated page of the PS site. Other similar videos are:

I’m going on holiday (again)

Posted on by Simon Crompton

I’m going on holiday (again)

Friday, August 2nd 2024Tags:
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Back in the Easter holidays, Manish kindly took over Permanent Style for a week, so I could completely switch off and spend time with the family.

That seemed to work well, both because the site didn't explode and because a few readers seemed to appreciate the change. (Not too much, fortunately, or I might have started to feel unwanted. Just the right amount.)

Next week Manish is doing the same thing for the second week of our holiday in Portugal. He'll write the articles for the week, and respond to comments. If there are specific ones for me, he'll leave these waiting for my return.

So enjoy, you're in good hands, and see you in a week.

Pictures: Me in a black Finest Polo, Hermes swimming shorts and sunglasses from L'Ingenieur Chevallier 

Seven boat shoes compared: Quoddy, Yuketen, Paraboot, Sebago, Castellano, Polo, Loro Piana

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Seven boat shoes compared: Quoddy, Yuketen, Paraboot, Sebago, Castellano, Polo, Loro Piana

Wednesday, July 31st 2024Tags:
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Boat shoes and their ilk (deck, moc, canoe etc) have become a bit of a trend in the past year. Miu Miu, Bally and Loro Piana launched styles in the fashion world, while the likes of Ghiaia, Crockett & Jones and Saman Amel have introduced more classic-menswear ones.

I can see why they're popular - people want comfort, but they might also be tired of the ubiquity and cheapness of trainers. Boat shoes offer the best of both worlds: a soft, lace-up shoe that’s smarter than a sneaker.

I’ve never worn boat shoes that much, largely because most styles are too chunky for the slimmer and dressier clothes I prefer. The toe shape is usually broad and round, the stitching prominent, and the high ‘wall’ (how the toe goes straight up to that row of stitching) doesn't help either. 

Still, I have had a few, including a pair from Ralph Lauren I featured a couple of years ago, which I wear with shorts, and a slimmer, low-vamp pair I got in Japan last year. They were shown with our cream Hand-Framed Sweater. 

The recent popularity then spurred my interest in other makes, such as the Quoddy collab from Beige and Loro Piana’s high-end version (above). As soon as readers start asking about something, I tend to interested too. It's both selfish and a service. I subsequently styled a pair from Paraboot for Clutch, and discussed Yuketen when I reported on Paris shows. 

So all in all, I have a fair few to talk about. Here are seven, with my thoughts on the style, quality and value of each. 

Sebago: Best budget option

£150

Traditional boat shoes look best when they are well worn, beaten up and comfortable sans socks. That’s the classic aesthetic, and while it can look a little old-mannish, it does depend a lot on what you wear them with. Black jeans and a western shirt, for example, largely remove the association. 

I picked up the Sebago shoes shown here cheaply on eBay (not the classic Docksides, but similar) purely to try them out, and I was very impressed with the way they meet this aesthetic at a decent price. They’re not quite the top quality, but they’re certainly better than pairs I’ve had in the past from immediate competitors like Polo or Sperry.

Castellano

£127 

I'd say the opposite about these from Spanish brand Castellano. I like the low vamp and long last shape, which is why I bought them in the first place, but they made my feet bright orange the first time I wore them, and that’s only just stopped happening entirely after perhaps 40 wears. They’re cheaper and it shows.

The shoe is soft and comfortable - easy to wear without socks - but the sole is thin and feels brittle, even compared to other leather-soled shoes. Of course the sole makes them a bit more of a loafer, but the categories of boat, deck, moc, loafer etc overlap, and I’m going largely off ways I wear the shoes rather than anything else. 

Paraboot: Best overall 

£190

The Barth probably hits the sweet spot for PS readers. It’s a high quality boat shoe at a pretty accessible price, and the perfect traditional style.

How do you assess quality here? Well primarily the upper, where finer wrinkles in the calf are a good sign, just as they are with dress shoes. You also want a good combination of softness and substance, then tight, uniform stitching and a quality sole. The sole here is natural rubber, and watch out for which models are Blake-stitched so can be resoled.

The only thing I dislike about the Barth is that little green label, particularly given ‘Paraboot’ is already written on the edge of the sole. But you can’t have everything and I’m sure some will see it as a traditional style detail. 

Ralph Lauren Millard boat shoe

£165

Like the Castellano, this is also the opposite of the shoe that came before. I bought this ‘Millard’ model from Polo because I liked the style - tobacco suede, beige stitching, curled ends on the laces, plus internal things like good arch support. They were and are a great summer style with shorts.

But over time they haven’t really softened, remaining quite stiff and hard to wear for long periods. This probably betrays a lower quality suede and/or internal construction, and while I still wear them, I use my Alden LHS loafers - which perform a similar function for me - much more. 

Quoddy / Beige canoe shoe

€291

This collaboration between the Maine manufacturer company Quoddy and Parisian shop Beige produced a great shoe, but personally I found the fit didn't work quite as well. 

Aesthetically, I love the choices Beige made to update the Quoddy style: black Chromexcel leather, white stitching rather than tan, yellow lining. It gives them real style and successfully separates them from that old-man look. 

But they weren’t as comfortable as the Sebago or Paraboot (which Beige also stock) and gave me a few blisters. Although, it should also be said that they are one of the few models that can functionally tighten using the laces around the top of the shoe, which is useful for someone like me with narrow heels. Also they have no external label, unlike Paraboot.

Yuketen Blucher

£495

Yuketen is fascinating. These are beautiful shoes, probably in the nicest leather I have ever worn barefoot. But they’re also made like a traditional moccasin, which makes them rather impractical. Plus they’re expensive. 

The leather is thick, cool and moulds to the foot. It makes them a pleasure to put on every time. But they’re also kind of soft and sloppy, with a soft, low sole. They have a similar feel to actual moccasins, which is great when you’re padding round the house or in the garden, but not so good for walking around on concrete all day.

A great shoe, but with probably only niche appeal. 

Loro Piana Sea Sail 

The finest

£785

If money were no object, I’d wear nothing but these. As I mentioned in a recent piece I’ve been tempted to try Loro Piana shoes, and ended up buying this colour of the Sea Sail. They were everything I expected: perfect materials, great shape (slimmer, smarter) and I think the most comfortable shoe (outside of a trainer) I've ever worn. But of course not good value. 

The ox-leather upper is soft and supple, but it’s the other parts - the leather lining, the construction, the sole - that set this shoe apart from the others on the list. The Sea Sail has the perfect combination of a structure that holds the foot, support in the heel and arch, and softness elsewhere. It’s a very well-designed and well-made shoe.

The only negative from a functional point of view - and I think it will be significant for some people - is that the lining is less smooth than most boat shoes and as a result they’re not that comfortable barefoot. They’re designed a little more like a trainer in that respect, and better with socks. 

Despite having seen and owned and tried more boat shoes than most people, I of course have not tried most boat shoes, or deck shoes, canoe shoes, moccasins etc. So do please let everyone know your experiences too.

I have also tried the new Saman Amel model, but not enough for them to make this list yet. I'll cover those in the future. 

The Pink Heap: Summer inspiration from Nantucket, 1957

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The Pink Heap: Summer inspiration from Nantucket, 1957

Monday, July 29th 2024Tags:
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The image above - often referred to as ‘The Pink Heap’ after the nickname of the car - has been an inspiration for me for years. If I had a moodboard, it would be on my moodboard. I had it on a Tumblr page at one point, then a Pinterest board, and now it’s saved somewhere inaccessible on Instagram. 

The reason it’s been such a perennial, I think, is that it expresses something core about what I like about Ivy style: that period-specific combination of laid back attitude and (by today’s standards) smarter clothing. 

I wrote an article about this a couple of years ago called ‘What Ivy means to me’. That piece worked by showing images of what I don’t like about Ivy style, alongside ones of what I do. But most of the latter were of me, and somehow I missed this one. 

I like that almost everyone here is wearing a collar - a shirt, an overshirt, a polo shirt - but doesn’t look formal. There are three great shetland sweaters - doubtless to keep off the cold sea breeze - yet it’s also warm enough for bare ankles and forearms.

Almost everything is tucked in. Loafers look casual and easy. 

Much of it is what most people today would consider smart clothing, yet it’s worn in an easy (breezy) manner that makes it seem as simple as a T-shirt and flip-flops. 

The use of colour is noteworthy. There are the two faded-red tops: one on the left with blue shorts and high-tops, the other on the right with stone-coloured chinos. The blue shetland on the blonde girl in the background is lovely, as are the two striped shirts.

I like, too, that there is an apparent gradation of clothes by age. The kids might be in a T-shirt or shorts, but the older guys are more likely to be wearing collars and loafers. 

As we’ll see in a bit, men were dressing more casually too, but then the clothes seem to be graded by activity. This is not an age where men look like boys, or people wear the same thing to the beach as to dinner. 

The photos were taken by Toni Frissell for an article in Sports Illustrated in 1957, covering the holiday scene in Nantucket (an island just off Cape Cod in Massachusetts). 

The article is great, kicking off with a poem and then covering everything from the weather to Quaker history, activities from fishing to golf. The whole thing is available in the Sports Illustrated archive here, though without the images.

Fortunately, Frissell donated her whole collection to the US Library of Congress in 1970, and her photographs are free to view on the Library website - not just the ones in the magazine, but all the outtakes too. This is where we see the alternatives to that famous Pink Heap shot (above), and we get more of a documentary-style view of everything else going on in that place and time. 

Of course, every time I see an image it’s the clothes that jump out. Like the boy above in torn canvas trousers, white T-shirt and dirty canvas shoes, plus a red shirt over the shoulders. Great look, very L'Etiquette.

The woman on the left is beautifully dressed too, and is an illustration of how good women often look in ‘men’s’ clothes like this, given the proportions of a small waist, bigger hips and billowing shirt. There are other, similar examples scattered around the archive. 

Frissell's photos often have something of the voyeur about them - such as the last image above. I like the tucked-in T-shirt with the boat shoes and socks on the middle boy, but you quickly realise the clothes are all variations on a theme, and each is just finding your own personal take. 

My other favourite mini-set of images is of people fishing on the shore. The standard clothing here is shorts, shirts (tucked or untucked) and bare feet, but there is also a very stylish guy (above) in a navy smock, green chinos and yellow turtleneck. 

And then, a little further on, we have what is perhaps a father and son, both in windbreakers or waterproofs, but both worn with a shirt (below). 

As with that original article on Ivy style, there are several elements of the genre I don’t like, and one of them is the gimmicky side that comes through in loud prints and checks. I can see the appeal of a really faded madras shirt or perhaps even a jacket, but the shorts and trousers on the couple below just aren't my style. 

Loafers with sports socks on the dock, white oxford shirts tucked into faded blue shorts: I love the first image below as well, and almost all of these have some element I’d want to make use of this summer. 

As we always say, the key to inspiration is not to completely copy looks - that both narrows your perspective and blocks out individual thought - but rather to take elements from them, such as the way two items work together, or a colour combination, or the silhouette. 

Images like these are replete with inspiration in that way, and as a result I keep returning to them. Thank you Toni Frissell for documenting this time and place, and for putting all of it into the public domain. 

Is there a particular set of images, of a certain time and place, that inspires you? If so let us all know - with links please!

Friday Polos, Linen Overshirts and T-shirts: The last of summer

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Friday Polos, Linen Overshirts and T-shirts: The last of summer

Friday, July 26th 2024Tags:
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There are quite a few things to catch up on with regards to PS products, and it feels like readers have quite a few questions too, given the number that have come up in comments. So it might be good to have all of those answered in one place.

First, the tail end of the summer products. The linen overshirts were our most popular product last year, so this year we bought a lot of them. It's been nice to see sales continuing to drip through over the summer - as people start to go away, for example - rather them all being sold in April.

All of the brown and most of the navy have sold out, but there is still stock of the black (shown above on me) and the tobacco (shown below on Manish). I like how Manish combines the tobacco with brown - I wouldn't have thought to do that. For more information on the other clothes shown, see the bottom of this article.

A couple of other summer things have been restocked in the past month:

  • Hand-Framed Sweaters: Restocked and with a smattering left, more in navy than in cream
  • New Friday Polo: Restocked in navy, white and a new mid-grey. Good stock in most of these. Again, we bought more this year

And a few other summer things are imminent:

  • Chambray shirts: Restocking on Monday
  • Tapered T-shirts: Restocking on Monday
  • Finest Polos: Should be restocked in a week or two

Lastly, unfortunately the summer shirt that we were working on has been delayed and delayed. It's now too late to release it for this summer, so it will have to wait until next spring unfortunately.

Then, we're starting to get into restocks of winter products, as some of this is cloth to be made up for the colder months, and in general I know readers like to get ahead of the game.

Cloth

  • Next week we will restock the PS Harris Tweed and the PS Shetland Tweed, as well as bring back three of the donegal-coat materials - the charcoal, the brown (above) and the grey herringbone
  • We will also be bringing back the PS Plaid, but in a lambswool this time instead of cashmere, making it more affordable
  • There will also be a new cloth collaboration with Fox

Winter products

  • The Bridge Coat was restocked last week. We always have stock at the same time as Private White, FYI, and of course appreciate it when readers buy from us
  • The grey herringbone Donegal coat will be restocked next week too. The Wax Walker will follow before the end of the summer, and the English Tweed (below) will be later in the Autumn. As ever, signing up to the shop mailing list, or product waiting list, is the best way to get first access
  • We will be releasing a new colour in the Donegal coat this winter, plus one other new product with Private White. There will be information on the new Donegal colour when the grey herringbone relaunches, but nothing else on Autumn/Winter products until our normal forward-looking summary in August

I think that's it. If anyone has any questions on any of this, do please let us know. But there won't be any other information on the Autumn/Winter things for the moment.

Clothes shown with the linen overshirt on me:

  • Rubato black knitted T-shirt
  • PS grey Cashmere Crewneck
  • Armoury linen trousers (from this suit)
  • Black Baudoin & Lange suede Sagans
  • Cartier 'Must' watch on green alligator strap

And on Manish:

  • Brown long-sleeved polo from Uniqlo
  • Scott Fraser classic wide-leg trousers in linen/cotton

Ways to wear seersucker

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Ways to wear seersucker

Wednesday, July 24th 2024Tags:
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I’ve worn seersucker a little in the past - I had a navy-on-navy suit from Dalcuore that was featured here and is shown below. But the fit wasn’t that great and it was never worn much. 

So in many ways the jacket I recently commissioned from WW Chan - the focus of today’s piece - is my first foray into seersucker. It is, of course, also the first in that traditional blue and white cotton. 

There have been a few different types of seersucker released in recent years, which also makes the choice interesting. Various mills now offer seersucker in wool, in silk and with stretch, in a panoply of colours. 

When I had that Dalcuore suit made, navy-on-navy had become popular because it suddenly made seersucker easier to wear, and so more accessible. Michael Browne made a beautiful one in 2013 when he was at Chittleborough & Morgan (second image below) that inspired quite a lot of people. 

More recently, I’ve seen quite a few people wearing and talking about wool versions, as well as experimenting with silk. The J Mueser team have a few, such as the brown on Matt Woodruff below (third image), the cloth there being from Delfino (9274T.20.5696). The Montecarlo bunch from Drapers is another good one for wool. 

I considered all these before selecting my cotton from Caccioppoli, and saw the wool in person on Jake Mueser. Wool does perform better in many ways - it wrinkles less, can be tailored more, and holds onto odour less. 

But the texture isn't quite the same (as you can see above) and more importantly, rather like woollen vs worsted flannel, you lose some of the character of seersucker this way.

Seersucker often attracts people because of its unusual texture, but the real pleasure (again, like flannel) is in the wearing - its lightness and slight crispness, which combined with the puckering keeps it away from the body. 

Cottons are a varied bunch when it comes to tailoring, and I often find the best are like seersucker or corduroy, in that they have something specific to define them and narrow the choices. 

I won’t go into the history of seersucker here (perhaps that’s a good one for Manish at some point) but I will mention the origin of the term, just because it pleases me. Apparently it’s from the Persian, combining the words for milk (shîr) and sugar (shakar): the grit of puckered stripes next to the smoothness of milk. I feel both cooled and sweetened thinking about it. 

The other relevance of the history, I guess, is that seersucker comes with associations. It has long been more popular in the US than elsewhere and is associated with a certain southern gentility - it can be seen as traditional, preppy and a little old-fashioned.

It's these associations that often turn people away from the traditional blue-and-white colour, and I was aware of then when I commissioned mine. I wasn’t sure if it would seem too preppy, or perhaps out of place in London. 

I had an idea, however, that if worn with very simple, smart pieces elsewhere, the blue-and-white might seem quite simple and restrained. 

This is what I’ve shown in the outfit above, and I think it works well. With just a white shirt, dark navy trousers and black loafers, the seersucker is smart but relatively subtle. I have sunglasses in my breast pocket as a sort of pocket-square substitute, but you could equally remove those and be simpler still. 

The trousers can also be charcoal; the shoes can also be Colour-8 cordovan. I was a little unsure about mother-of-pearl buttons as they usually seem too showy to me, but I think with seersucker they actually stand out less than horn. 

The other way I’ve found it pleasing to wear seersucker is with a white T-shirt and blue jeans. I wasn’t expecting this, but while the combination will never be as flattering as a collared shirt (see exploration of that here) the cotton does seem relaxed enough. 

Ideally the jacket would be completely unstructured for this style, but WW Chan’s lightweight make, with no shoulder pad and only slight roping, just about works. It will also help as I wear and wear the jacket, softening and wrinkling over time. (Pressing regularly would keep it smarter.)

Popping the collar, although a more preppy/rakish look, is also nice and negates the disadvantages of the uncollared T-shirt. Alden Aberdeen-last loafers, with their slim shape but wider welt, are also a nice bridge between the jacket and jeans. 

The particular seersucker is 310252, in the Cotton & Linen bunch from Caccioppoli (250g). I looked at a lot of others, including Solbiati (which would be my default) but the deciding factor was the colour of the blue stripes: some were too bright, some basically grey. This was a good midway point. 

I did also buy a length of the fabric to make some trousers, but have yet to do so. I'm not sure if I'd ever wear the seersucker as a suit, or the trousers on their own. But the fabric wasn't expensive.

As to WW Chan, they did another very good job, making a jacket in the same style as my previous tweed from them. I did fittings at Bryceland’s, and it was basically perfect after the first one. They remain one of my favourite tailors and one I would always recommend to readers. 

I had the jacket half-lined, which is actually unusual for me in summer jackets. I often have them fully lined because I don’t get that hot and so coolness is less of a factor, and I do get annoyed whenever the material sticks on my bum. 

So they’re both personal reasons; for a more general discussion of linings see the dedicated chapter in the Suit Style Guide. 

The other clothes are:

  • White linen shirt from D’Avino
  • Navy worsted trousers from Luca Museo (separate article coming)
  • Black-calf Piccadilly loafers from Edward Green
  • Gold Reverso watch with black alligator strap
  • Blue acetate sunglasses from Dunhill

Second outfit:

  • White PS Tapered T-shirt
  • Vintage seventies Levi’s 501s
  • Color-8 cordovan, full-strap loafers from Alden

Shot outside Bryceland’s in London

The state of German bespoke tailoring

Posted on by Simon Crompton

The state of German bespoke tailoring

Monday, July 22nd 2024Tags:
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Max Dietl and Curd Jürgens.

I’ve always found Germany an interesting country stylistically - one with a rich bespoke past but little left today, perhaps hampered by its attitude to dress and to smart clothing in general. In order to give the country its due, I’ve asked writer Bernhard Roetzel to talk about how Germany came to this point, and some the peculiarities of its tailoring. 

In a second piece he will relate his experiences with several bespoke German tailors, and give his reflections and recommendations today. 

By Bernhard Roetzel (above)

When people start looking for tailors in Germany, they often ask if there is a traditional centre of tailoring or a region where the best tailors come from. The answer is no. Tailors can be found everywhere - in the cities, in small towns and even in rural regions. The explanation lies in German history.

Unlike in the UK or France but similar to Italy, there was no single German state until the Reich was founded in 1871. Before that there were nearly 40 sovereign states, each with a royal or ducal court and court tailors. So today tailors are still spread around.

Berlin became the capital in 1871 and grew quickly into a modern city. Thousands of tailors worked there. For them the years between 1900 and 1914 were the golden age, and many cutting systems were invented. 

The one developed by the tailor and cutter Michael Müller in Munich (below) became the most successful. It was taught in the academy he founded in 1891, was regularly updated, and later became the foundation for the ready-to-wear industry when it grew in the 1960s. The majority of German tailors still use this system. 

The dominance of this cutting system is probably why most German tailors reject the idea of a ‘house style’. M Müller & Son regularly offers a new, updated silhouette in line with fashion, and tailors seem to trust these suggestions more than their own ideas.

The grand days in Berlin

Berlin’s equivalent to the West End in terms of bespoke was Friedrichstraße and Unter den Linden, in the area known today as ‘Mitte’. The two most famous tailoring houses were Gerson and Hermann Hoffmann. The latter was purveyor to German Kaiser and his court, with at one point 10 cutters and 150 tailors. 

The tailors in Berlin had a reputation for being the best in Germany. They were organised in a guild that had been founded in 1288, which took great care to uphold the standards of quality. For example, it classified all businesses by size, number of employees and quality, with tailors only allowed to charge prices that matched their category.

Tailoring flourished all over Germany in the early twentieth century, and there were tailors for every budget. The regional capitals each had their own fashionable tailors, and there were many good ones scattered across rural areas, spa towns like Baden-Baden or Bad Homburg, holiday areas in the Bavarian Alps, skiing resorts, and the affluent suburbs of Munich, Frankfurt, Mannheim and Stuttgart.

After Berlin was divided into sectors the number of tailors in West Berlin shrunk, but by the early 1950s the tailors guild still had about 1200 members. It was when the wall was built in 1961 that the slow demise of bespoke tailoring really started. By 1988, a year before the wall fell, there were only 60 bespoke tailors left in West Berlin.

In the GDR (East Germany) the situation was very different. They were cut off from supply in England, Scotland and Italy and locally woven fabrics were also hard to find. But tailors continued to work because the state-owned fashion industry couldn’t cater to everyone. 

Not all tailoring businesses were nationalised, but the government planned and controlled where tailors could open shops. Interestingly, the lack of wealthy customers meant that tailored clothes had no prestige attached to them.

The 2000s renaissance

In the late 1990s I met a couple of the greats of German tailoring before they retired or died. 

Arnulf in Berlin. Schmauder in Baden-Baden. Radermacher, Schaich, Westhoff and Ern in Düsseldorf. Staben and Brucker in Hamburg. Münch in Stuttgart. Stärkenberg and Röben in Cologne. Hussmüller, Brunner, Flingelli and Dietl in Munich. 

Many had a good business until they retired, but couldn’t find someone who wanted to take over. Arnulf is still working but has moved his shop to Potsdam. He is probably the last living link to the past. Max Dietl (above) is the last big tailor still working. The present owner is Max Dietl junior: he is not a trained tailor and the bespoke is offered alongside handmade RTW from Italy. 

In the early 2000s it looked like bespoke tailoring would die out. Apprentices were hard to find; the image of the profession was very bad and wages low. The cost of labour meant tailors found it hard to compete with RTW or MTM made in Eastern Europe or Asia. 

Somehow some businesses survived to benefit from the new interest in bespoke that was fuelled by social media. This small renaissance brought new customers and it motivated young people learn the trade or stay there, instead of looking for a job in the fashion industry.

Now young people want to become tailors because they like handmade clothes or the sustainability of this trade. Some of these enthusiasts are pretty skilled at the outset, thanks to YouTube videos teaching cutting and sewing.

The situation today

Presently in Germany the tailoring scene is pretty multifaceted. Very few of the old tailors born before 1945 are still working, and very few craftspeople are below thirty. There are no more big businesses - perhaps defined by those with more than 10 fully employed tailors. The typical business is run by the owner and cutter, with one fully employed tailor or an apprentice. 

Outworkers are rarely employed, mainly because there aren’t any. There is no tradition in Germany of tailors working from home as in in the UK. And in particular, there is no tradition of outworkers specialising in coatmaking, trousermaking or vestmaking. In Germany tailors are trained to make everything. 

The training, though, has always been highly standardised and regulated. The apprenticeship lasts three years, with apprentices learning the making side from a tailor who pays them a small wage. The apprentice also visits a vocational school. Cutting and fitting is taught when the ‘Geselle’ decides to attend a Meisterschule, which prepares him for the examination by the local tailors’ guild. 

That training has a strong focus on the mathematical correctness of fit. As a result, German tailors are very good at pattern making, and the focus on precision cutting means good pattern matching. 

German tailoring is not stiff

Most German tailors are less preoccupied with elegance, and there is less reverence for the beauty of handwork. Still, the quality of the tailoring is usually very good. Contrary to an ineradicable preconception German tailoring is not heavy or stiff.

When fabrics became lighter in the 1970s tailors learned to make them up with less padding. But customers from the old generation often liked their jacket to be very shaped, so many tailors continued with this more structured garment until those customers died out. 

The biggest problem for tailors today is, in my opinion, the general attitude towards clothing in Germany. The culture of dress is overall in a pretty bad state. German tailors rarely meet knowledgable customers who can inspire or challenge them.

Despite all this, there are tailors in Germany who deserve attention and can cater to those in Germany that want the beauty of bespoke. In a follow-up article I will discuss a few of the best, and relate my experiences with them. 

Bernhard’s second article, recommending tailors working tailor in Germany, will be published soon

Volkmar Arnulf

Outfits that define my week: Video with Bucherer

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Outfits that define my week: Video with Bucherer

Friday, July 19th 2024Tags:
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The watch company Bucherer recently made a 'Day in the Life' video about me, which they shared on their social media and I've included below.

It includes some nice points about Permanent Style - how proud I am of the community it's become over the years - but the main focus is the clothes and the watches.

There's a fair bit of poetic licence taken with this, as I'm not the kind of person that wears three outfits in a day. Even if I'm going out to something smart in the evening, I'll try and find a way to make one outfit work for both day and night. As we talked about last week with the Art du Lin suit, where I swapped a polo for a shirt and tie in the evening.

But there is a useful chunk of truth here, in that it shows three ways I dress today - a parallel, in some ways, to the article last year called 'Three wardrobes that define my week.'

 

 

In that article, the three were:

  1. Tailoring. Usually jacket and trousers, no tie, my standard work attire
  2. Casual chic. Smart without bespoke, shirt or polo, chinos or good trousers
  3. Weekend casual. Workwear and sportswear, jeans and tees and sweats, usually only a home

In this video, there is a slight variation but still a lot in common. The three are:

  1. Tailoring, but a suit. Same idea as 1 above, just in a (Solaro) suit and no tie
  2. Evening, sort of casual chic. A tailored jacket, but over a polo and jeans. Smart but not suited, dark colours
  3. Weekend casual, but in town. Same as 3 above, just worn during the week when just visiting casual places like Bryceland's

Most of these outfits have featured somewhere previously on PS, but to break them down for anyone that wants it (with links to those old articles):

Tailoring

  • Solaro suit from Dalcuore
  • Denim shirt from Al Bazar
  • Tan alligator belt from Ludens
  • Tobacco-suede loafers from Gaziano & Girling
  • Yellow-gold Cartier Tank Francaise watch
  • Covered in this article on the Solaro suit

Evening

  • Navy wool/cashmere double-breasted jacket from Ferdinando Caraceni
  • Black cotton polo shirt from Rubato
  • Black jeans from Levi's (vintage nineties, made in USA)
  • Black-suede Piccadilly loafers from Edward Green
  • Yellow-gold JLC Reverso watch (on blonde ostrich strap)
  • Covered in this article from Korea

Casual

  • Reverse-horsehide jacket from Himel Bros via Clutch
  • White T-shirt from Permanent Style
  • Grey Ball Park sweatshirt from The Real McCoy's
  • Vintage Levi's (sixties, big E)
  • Brown-suede Cranleigh boots from Edward Green
    • Though looking at them here, perhaps a rougher boot might have been nicer
  • Omega seventies Speedmaster watch
  • Jacket covered in this article on Clutch

Thank you to all the team at Bucherer, as well as to Mortimer House, Bryceland's and Maison Francois, where the video was filmed

Buck Mason: Good value staples

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Buck Mason: Good value staples

Wednesday, July 17th 2024Tags:
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A reader recently asked why there is a correlation between shorter, tighter styles of clothing and lower prices. Why are all the styles we like from more expensive brands? It makes it very hard for someone on a lower income to get into more classic dressing. 

There are a few related reasons, I think, but the main one is that that shorter style still dominates the mainstream, and if you want to offer a cheaper product you often need volume. So you end up catering to that mainstream. 

One brand that might be an exception is Buck Mason, the American brand that readers may have seen pop up recently as they’ve begun to work with a few people we know - Bryceland’s, Fox Brothers, J Mueser, as well as appearing in magazines like L’Etiquette. 

They’re a large brand by the standards of PS, with over 30 stores around the US, but also have some good-value, classically styled menswear. I tried a couple of pieces last year including the Rambler suede trucker jacket (below), which I covered in our Spring/Summer Highlights. 

But they have a big range, so when I was in New York I made the time to visit their Flatiron shop (above) and try everything I could. 

One thing that makes Buck Mason easy to wear is the color palette. It is deliberately narrow, with almost everything in wearable shades of brown and beige, navy and white. This could seem boring, but it makes it versatile and it leans it more towards the classic. 

The size of the range also means they often have multiple fits. So in chinos, for example, there is a slim fit (Maverick) that is a nice take on a mainstream chino, with a mid rather than low rise (11¼ inch on a 32) and a fairly narrow opening. But there’s also a modern take on the traditional officer’s chino - higher rise and wider opening, with all the right details: grown-on waistband, corozo buttons, coin pocket (below). 

Where the Japanese brands we cover do a purist version of that American military chino, Buck Mason update it and make it more wearable. And with the Maverick too - it’s not a model I’d wear, but it’s more elegant than slim chinos you find from other American brands around the same price level. 

I’ve been trying that version of the officer’s chino - the Service Twill Full Saddle Office Pant, to give it its full name - and have been impressed. It’s washed really well and worn really well.

If money were no object, I’d still rather have my officer’s chino from Rubato, as the make is a touch better and I prefer that Japanese cotton. But I wouldn’t pitch Buck Mason as a competitor to that - rather, it’s something I’d suggest to a reader for whom Rubato (or Bryceland’s, or those Japanese repro brands) are out of their price range, and they’re looking to something like Uniqlo instead. 

If you drop all the way down to Uniqlo, you sacrifice a lot in terms of material (as we’ve covered previously on knitwear). I did try their version of the US military chino once, and while it is extremely good value for the price (£35), it’s very clear what you lose. The officer’s chino from Buck Mason sits between at $158 - a price most people can afford, particularly for something that’s a wardrobe staple (as a lot of Buck Mason products can be). 

I also think the styling of the Buck Mason range puts it above other mainstream American brands like J Crew, Sid Mashburn or Todd Snyder, while it’s better value than Polo options I’ve tried.

Other things I liked included the swim shorts, which are simply styled and have a good range of colours (I’ve written before about how there should be more swim shorts like this). And the camp shirts - a slightly slimmer fit than others and a nice range of colours and materials.

Neither are extraordinary products - or perhaps, you could say, that special - but they really nail wearable fit and versatile design, at a good quality for the price. This seems to be the kind of thing Buck Mason do well. 

Not everything I tried was quite as good. I tried the Tough Knit T-shirt, for example, because I was interested to try something made in the US (Buck Mason own a factory in Pennsylvania, pictured above, only making T-shirts currently). While the style and fit were just as good, the tee did lose shape after a couple of washes; I know the heavier ‘Field Spec’ tee is their most popular one, so maybe I should have tried that. 

I also don’t like the design on every product. The collars on the oxford shirts are a little small and apologetic, for example, without much roll. Although the colour selection is still good and some use a nice lightweight tencel/cotton mix (below).

As ever, these kinds of things mean it’s worth going into a store if you can, and for US readers the stores are more accessible than most brands we cover.  

Other products I’ve roadtested also continue to do well. The Rambler suede jacket, for example, falls into that category; leather is not an easy thing to do at an affordable price, and $698 is very good for this quality, particularly if you compare it to someone like RRL. 

Lucas, who went to one of the LA stores when he was there, has tried a couple of things, including the jeans and the Yukon jacket from their Eddie Bauer collaboration. He wore the latter during this past winter and his reaction was rather like mine to the suede jacket - very good for the price. 

I also like the fact that on some of those Bauer products they show images of the garment worn in, rather than new. That shows some pride in the materials and how they wear.

Buck Mason as a company are in a period of transition. They’ve been around for more than a decade, but are just starting to experiment with higher-end products and materials. When I was in the Flatiron store they had just introduced chambray shirts in Kaihara material, and tailoring in Fox Brothers cloth. 

In fact you can see this range clearly in the tailoring: they do a well-styled but basic cotton jacket for $398, the same style in Fox Air material for $598, and now a Neapolitan-made model with J Mueser with hand finishing for $1498. 

The good news is that, at least according to them, the plan is not to abandon the mid-market staples that are a real strength. They’re a great option for readers that want something a level below brands we normally cover, but still well done. 

I’m sure I’ll try more things in the future, and continue to cover how those wash, wear and generally live. I’m looking forward to seeing the collaboration with Bryceland’s (new materials in a few existing styles) and a collaboration with J Press launched this week. 

The Casual Style Guide back in stock

Posted on by Simon Crompton

The Casual Style Guide back in stock

Friday, July 12th 2024Tags:
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I swear, we didn't try to create any of this hype. The Casual Style Guide, the book Jamie Ferguson and I published in March, was just popular. Particularly with wholesale accounts - menswear shops around the world - who bought up much of the stock before it could go on the PS shop.

That meant those books went fast, and suddenly shops were getting anxious phone calls asking if they had copies. If you did want to create hype around a launch, it would be hard to do a better job.

Fortunately, we immediately ordered a second edition and that has now arrived. Several hundred readers have already pre-ordered copies, and those should have started going out. A lot of shops have restocked too. Everyone else, you can now buy your copy on the PS Shop here.

The first book, plain old The Style Guide, is still in stock on the shop and several of the stockists have taken copies of those too.

My talented-photographer partner and I are eternally grateful for your support.

That's my slubby double-breasted linen jacket from Ciardi above, by the way, worn with a silk/cotton shirt (Sictess, Columbia Silk, K14 5000/100) made by D'Avino.

I found the jacket really good for travelling - with a white T-shirt, black jeans and Alden loafers for casual, and here with a cream shirt and brown tailored trousers in the evening. I'll do something showing that little travel capsule another time.

All photos taken from the book launch at The Armoury in New York. Thank you to everyone there for making us so welcome, and throwing such a great party. Sorry to the two readers who didn't get copies because we ran out. We finally have more!

Thanks to Chris Fenimore for the photography

The Armoury’s full range of tailoring surveyed

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The Armoury’s full range of tailoring surveyed

Wednesday, July 10th 2024Tags:
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The Armoury offers one of the best, and certainly widest, ranges of MTM tailoring around, but it can be a little confusing. 

Five years ago, I wrote an article setting out the models in New York and what I thought about them. Given that was popular, and a fair bit has changed since then, I took the opportunity of being in New York recently to try them on again. 

This is the current list, what I’ve had and what I recommend. 

Padded jackets: Model 1 and 101

There are two quality levels of MTM tailoring, the one made by Ring Jacket in Japan and the Hundred Series made in Italy. 

Both have a machine-padded chest, which separates them from perhaps the highest level of MTM, but have a lot of other handwork. The Ring Jacket series has a hand-attached collar and sleeves, which for me is the first level of well-made MTM tailoring. The Hundred Series adds some hand-sewn seams as well as lots of hand-sewn finishing - buttons, tacks, buttonholes.

I reviewed the 101 style in the Hundred Series after that original article, and was very impressed. It’s not cheap ($3600 for an MTM suit today) but was one of the best MTM experiences I’ve had. That’s it above, and you can read the full review here. 

Unpadded jackets: Model 3 and 103

The other major style is the 103, which is softer, unpadded and more casual. It has only canvas in the shoulder, a lower buttoning point and more open quarters (the front edge below the waist button). 

That’s it above and at top, and it’s what I decided to have made this time, to cover separately. It is Neapolitan in feel, but as I said in the first article, also has an extended shoulder and a little drape in the chest, which make it that much smarter. 

In fact, in that original article I was talking about the Model 3, and one thing I never quite clocked about the Armoury suits was that the numbers reflect the same styles. So a Model 1 and a Model 3 from Ring Jacket are the same style as a 101 and the 103 in the Hundred Series - just a higher level of make. Though only the ones above, not the next few, have a higher make version. 

Model 15 

The next style I tried was Model 15, above. This is in some ways a mix of 1 and 3, but more specifically a direct take on Florentine style, with its angled side dart and round sweep from lapel into open quarters. 

It’s the one to go for if you particularly like Florentine jackets - otherwise you might prefer Model 1/101 or Model 3/103. With these Ring Jacket styles, by the way, note that they’re a bit cheaper (an MTM suit starts at $3150) and are available MTO as well (just picking the fabric and details) from $2750.

A change from the first article is also that Ring Jacket styles are now available made-to-measure all the time in store, for repeat customers. Back then you always had to wait for an RJ trunk show, which was rather limiting, but now the Armoury staff have been trained to do the MTM themselves.

Model 12

An unusual style introduced recently. Very similar to Model 3 but with a slightly workwear feel. It has triple patch pockets, machine stitching on the seams and a one-piece back. Elements were specifically taken from 1930s work jackets. 

It’s designed to be more casual than the Model 3 and to work better with more casual trousers, but I’d be interested in seeing it in a more casual material than the oatmeal above, such as a heavy tweed. As in this material I’d always prefer the Model 3. 

The other more casual jacket style, Model 7 described in the original article, has been discontinued. 

Double-breasteds (6 and 16)

In the first piece I talked about Model 6, which is a double-breasted version of Model 3. I really liked the lapel shape and the peak, just wasn’t so keen on the pick stitching. That’s it in navy above. 

This time I tried a new style, Model 16, which is a double-breasted version of that workwear-like Model 12 above. It has a lower, more horizontal lapel, with the same one-piece back and dartless front. I can definitely see the appeal of this style, but on balance would probably go for  the 6. 

Model 11 

OK, try and get past that pattern. Kind of shade your eyes and try to look at the cut instead. 

This is the Armoury’s Ivy-inspired style, and I covered in the original piece in a more sombre colour. As I said then, this high-fastening small-lapelled cut is not really me, but I’m always surprised how much I like it despite that - perhaps because it’s a modern interpretation of the sack suit rather than a straight copy. 

Dinner jackets

Last of all, The Armoury recently introduced this shawl-collar dinner jacket based on the 103. In the Hundred Series quality, therefore, with a nice shawl collar and a 4x1 buttoning. It’s made in a Dupioni silk from Zegna, which is lovely. 

I like a shawl collar a little wider, and I might be alone in preferring it without a buttonhole (it always seems to interrupt the nice shape, and I never wear a flower) but the style did work really well. Soft, being the 103 style, but still with enough sharpness for eveningwear. 

The only model not pictured here is the Model 4, which is a peak lapel and usually used for other dinner jackets. You can see examples here. 

I should say that all the pieces I’m trying on here are available ready-to-wear. Not many of them are left in this dinner jacket apparently, but the point of the Armoury range is to have things available to try on - and then be altered, MTO or MTM. I know some readers will find that rather easier and more appealing than bespoke trunk shows.  

For my Model 103 commission I went with CashCo material from Zegna. I wouldn’t have done so (as I’d worry about how the mix would drape and wear) if I hadn’t seen it made up already elsewhere. 

That’s also why I went with the pale taupe colour - I wouldn’t have been sure how that would look at scale. Fortunately the button choice (tan corozo) was easier. 

I’ll cover that later in the year. Made to measure and made to order will be a bit of a focus for that period - instalments coming on Bryceland’s, The Anthology, Jake’s and Gaziano & Girling, alongside The Armoury. 

Price breakdown:

The Armoury by Ring Jacket:

  • RTW suit starting at $1600, jacket at $1200
  • MTO suit starting at $2750, jacket at $1950 
  • MTM suit starting at $3150, jacket at $2150

The Armoury Hundred Series 

  • RTW suit starting at $3500, jacket at $2900
  • MTM suit starting at $3600, jacket at $3200 

Model numbers are 3, 4, 6, 11, 12, 15 and 16. Letters A (flat front) or B (single pleat) refer to the trouser style, when it’s a suit rather than a jacket.

Lead times are 8-10 weeks for the Hundred Series, three months for the others. A full breakdown of the Ring Jacket models is available on the Armoury site here

Thanks to Chris Fenimore for the photography

Losing your hair gracefully

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Losing your hair gracefully

Monday, July 8th 2024
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(Me aged 20, just before the hair started to go. I still reckon that monkey has something to answer for.)

I started losing my hair in my twenties. Looking back at pictures from college, you can see the tell-tale signs of receding hairline and, less obviously, a rapidly thinning area on top (accentuated by a double crown).

I did experiment early with cutting it all off. While I was travelling in Israel, aged 20, I let a friend shave my head and sent a picture back to my parents. My mother wasn’t a fan; she thought it made me look ill. 

Perhaps it was that comment, perhaps it was having a job and being more professional, but it took me a long time to shave my head again. It’s only now, in my forties, that I have it almost as short, and would be happy cutting it back to zero. 

I mention all this because a couple of readers asked recently what I thought about hair. They were balding and unsure whether to cut it all off. I don’t know anything about pills or plugs, but I do have opinions on how a man presents himself, and have my personal experience to relate. 

My overall take would be, don’t worry about shaving your head. Everyone looks better than they think they will and it’s amazing how quickly all your friends, family and colleagues (and indeed you) get used to it. 

Plus the biggest danger is definitely on the other side: appearing a little ridiculous and unconfident by hanging on desperately to the hair that’s left. Keeping the hair long and combing it forward or, much worse, growing it long on the sides and going for the Bobby Charlton combover (above, first image).

I know a fair few people in fashion that speak favourably of the Pier-Luigi Loro Piana style of haircut, where the hair is kept long and swept back, almost revelling in what’s left (above, second image). Aside from liking the style, I think the reason is that speaks of confidence - something the combing-direction options don’t. 

I did not follow this advice. I worried about shaving my head, and only cut it shorter gradually over the years, always feeling self-conscious and afraid it wouldn’t suit me. 

I did an article a couple of years ago that I think about often - on learning to dress my body better. It included a few different examples, including height, weight and sloping shoulders. But the image that stayed with me was the one above, showing how my hair has got shorter and my beard longer over time, and how much better I look as a result. 

My hair is even shorter now. In the right-hand imageI was cutting it to grade 1, last year I shifted to 0.5. I still wince when I see my long, pale head in a photo, but I now realise that having even slightly longer hair was accentuating the effect, not hiding it. 

As with a few things in the past few years, I owe some gratitude to Ethan Newton, who in his gruff-and-loving way has pushed my hair and beard in these directions. God I hate it when he’s right. 

I also owe something to Stefan Avanzato, who has become my regular barber and I featured originally in 2020, in a parallel article about beards. 

“We have this conversation so often,” says Stefan. “Men aren’t always keen to talk about it, but when they do there’s a real outpouring - all the worry they have, how they think it’s going to affect their image.”

“I think you’re right Simon that most people look better with a shaved head than they think they will, but I also think they shouldn’t cut it off too early,” he says. 

“There are a few options with how the hair is cut - often particularly short at the sides - and with using products to plump up the hair. If you want to keep your hair it’s also important to start taking supplements earlier rather than later.”

The virtues of pills and surgical treatments are not something I’ll go into (although readers with experience, feel free to jump in) but I would say it’s invaluable having someone like Stefan (below) to talk to. He’s seen a lot of people try these things, he’s seen the results over a period of years, and he’s both more objective and personal than random coverage on TikTok.

There’s probably one parallel with clothes here, in that it takes all of us time to get used to a new look. You get a western shirt for the first time and you probably feel self-conscious about the pearly snaps, walking around just waiting for someone to say “Howdy, cowboy!”.

But five or six wears later, chances are it will feel completely normal, and when someone says “Yee-ha” as you enter a room, you’ll simply smile indulgently. Silly little frightened man. 

Cutting off your hair is the same, with the bonus that I think it’s unlikely anyone will ever actually tease you about it. There’s too much respect for it, too much recognition of the bravery it took to change your face - that most prominent part, the bit everyone looks at the most - so dramatically. 

So take Stefan’s advice and cover all the options first but, if cutting all your hair off is the best option, do not be afraid. 

The 2024 readership survey results: Younger people, less TikTok

Posted on by Simon Crompton

The 2024 readership survey results: Younger people, less TikTok

Friday, July 5th 2024
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What PS content do you like best?

The single most powerful thing about Permanent Style has always been its closeness to its audience. I have over 100 mini-conversations with readers every day in the comments; Lucas has half that again on the shop side. The suggestions for articles means we can never run out of content, and that content addresses reader concerns, rather than targeting fashion trends or SEO. 

Still, there’s something particularly useful about asking readers targeted questions, all at once. It focuses the mind, and makes sure we have the most feedback possible on important questions. Readership surveys are the best way to do that. 

We did our first in 2019, and completed our second a couple of weeks ago, five years later. Many of the questions were the same, so we could see how things have changed; others, for example on new media and business models, were new. 

These are some of the results. 

What are the most important features of PS products?

My biggest concern about PS right now is that we should be changing the medium we use. Blogs can seem very noughties: no one starts a blog today, they start an Instagram account or a YouTube channel. We are the biggest website for high-end menswear around, but perhaps that’s because we’re the only one left. 

So, the first question I was interested in was, how old is the average reader? Is our audience gradually ageing, as it follows the generation that primarily used websites and blogs, and gaining no followers among younger people who use Instagram and TikTok?

The answer, reassuringly, was no. Back in 2019, the average age of a PS reader was 42. Today, it’s 41.5. They’re getting younger! Well, barely, but basically the same. 

Given everyone has aged five years in that time, we must be picking up younger readers, particularly given traffic overall is up - 17% in that same period. 

This age breakdown is what Google Analytics tells us too, but that’s a little fuzzy. More importantly, it’s what I see anecdotally. In the pop-up shops we often have fathers and sons coming in together, the father having told the son about the site with the good reviews. I particularly love seeing how two generations take the same clothes and principles, but style them very differently. 

How do you like to read Permanent Style?

So how do those people feel about the media we use? This, by the way, is primarily the website. PermanentStyle.com always has more content. YouTube hosts the videos, but those are on the site too; Instagram gets extracts of the website. The only thing not on the site is IG stories and occasionally videos, like the off-hand Walkie Talkie ones we started recently. 

Surprisingly, the proportion of people that consume PS primarily through Instagram has actually fallen, to 22% of respondents from 28% five years ago (even though we do more). And no one thinks we should start doing more on Reels or TikTok - a tiny 0.61% of people thought that was a good idea. 

Interestingly, YouTube and Instagram have swapped places in the answers to the same question (which channel would you like to see more focus on?). It’s not a lot, but roughly 24% thought we should do more on YouTube, while 16% thought Instagram. Five years ago, those numbers were the other way around. 

Which channels would you like to see more focus on?

We then asked two questions about completely new media for PS: a subscription channel and a hard-copy magazine. 

As I hopefully made clear in the comments, we have no plans to make PS paid-for. The existing business model that combines advertising and products works well. But given the rise of platforms such as Substack, it was worth asking. Indeed, I find it interesting that in some ways Substack is the return of old blog-style content from 20 years ago, just with different funding.

The feedback on the subscription model was encouraging, if we ever decide to go down that route. Just over half said they were happy to subscribe (1324 people) and the average they said they would pay was £7 ($10). That’s impressive given that at other publications I know, five times the number of people ended up paying than said they would, and for roughly twice the price. 

It should be said that of course the survey audience is self-selecting. About 2400 people responded (100 less than last time) and they will by definition be among the most engaged. That’s why the data is always best combined with other analytics. 

But given PS’s primary focus on providing value to its existing readers - rather than growing as big as possible, inevitably into the mainstream - this type of survey is of particular use. And the traffic shows we’re growing anyway. 

Which of these other areas are you passionate about?

Other interesting results included:

  • Average reader income (mean) is £151k, up from £130k in 2019
  • Average quarterly spend on clothes is £1,375, down from £1,420
  • 1432 people said they would buy a hard-copy magazine
  • Watches remains third among other reader passions, after food and travel
  • Style advice and product reviews remain the most popular content types

There were a lot of good suggestions around improving the website and new products, but I won’t go into those here. Perhaps I’ll do that in the future when we make some of the changes.

I also should say congratulations to Thibault, who was selected to win the £500 PS-credit prize for taking part in the survey. He’s already bought himself an oxford shirt, a cotton sweater and Casual Style Guide. A nice bundle. 

How should PS primarily fund itself?

Overall, I was pleased and frankly relieved to see that we seem to be taking the right direction on media. TikTok and Reels might be big in society overall, but they’re not what PS readers want. It’s important, I guess, to not be swayed by talk of general trends at the expense of catering to your particular followers. 

Generally our policy has always been to move with readers - to take up new ones when they start using them, but not before. It’s what we did on Instagram and it’s what I would assume we’d do on new media like TikTok. Surveys are crucial to making sure we get that right. 

Lastly, I was amused by a recent conversation I had with a friend who used to work at a luxury menswear magazine we all know. He was amazed we printed detailed results of our survey, and were actually truthful about them. “Ours were entirely made up,” he said. “I mean, we definitely knew readers that earned $1million a year, but we had no idea what the average was, we never did a survey. So we just put $600k or something down as the average because it looked good.”

Here’s to having real numbers to talk about, and having pretty much all good news. It’s nice not having to make anything up. 

Luca Museo: Bespoke that feels like luxury retail

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Luca Museo: Bespoke that feels like luxury retail

Wednesday, July 3rd 2024Tags:
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Imagine walking into a bespoke tailor and finding clothes on long racks, inspiration pieces on mannequins, and unusual mid-century furniture. A tailor, in other words, that makes it immediately clear that they have just as much of an aesthetic vision as they do a craft one. 

Luca Museo in Seoul, South Korea is this kind of atelier and the more you think about it, the more odd it seems that other tailors aren't similar. In my experience most don’t care much about the design side - it’s just the work and a set of cloth books - or their taste level is, in my view at least, not the highest.

There are, of course, some very attractive bespoke shops. One of my favourites is Anderson & Sheppard on Old Burlington Street, which manages to somehow feel both traditional and up to date at the same time. It’s beautiful. 

But it doesn’t feel like a clothing shop; there's very little to look at. Most tailors have a handful of mannequins at most, nothing to inspire from season to season in the way the retail brands around them do. It’s just not how bespoke is set up. 

The Korean tailors I visited in Seoul last year were markedly different, and Luca Museo most of all. The atelier is just behind a main shopping thoroughfare, with a lovely coffee shop opposite. The inside is all beige and blond wood, with two big sofas around an intricate coffee table. It feels a lot more like Loro Piana than Savile Row. 

Korean tailoring is a small world, and two of the team at Luca Museo worked previously at B&Tailor, which was the forerunner for a lot of bespoke in the country. But they also trained abroad, with Ivano working at Saroria Pirozzi in Naples before moving back to Korea. 

Their house style is a full cut, with wider shoulders and high-waisted trousers. They commented that they have quite a few domestic clients who are big gym-goers, and the wider shoulders and large sleeve help accommodate that physique. 

They’re more influenced by 1930s and 1940s tailoring than by recent trends, and you can see that in those fits, in the wider-leg trousers and in some of the bolder materials. It should be said that in the richer areas of Seoul, it’s easier to wear this kind of tailoring than it would be in New York or London. 

Luca Museo also have a tendency towards obvious finishing details, like prominent pick stitching around the edges and seams - often two rows of it. 

This is something that appeals to me less, and I think they guys will forgive me for saying it’s something I associate with men who get bespoke for the first time - it's that urge to make it obvious the suit is bespoke, to add more bells and whistles than probably sensible. Over time, they tend to realise that elegance is quieter than that. 

The polo coat, below, is a good example of Luca Museo having something on display that is bespoke but made to be picked up and tried on. I did, and the cut was beautiful. But it’s also an example of going a little overboard on the details, like those big rows of pick stitching on the lapels. 

Luca Museo were keen to make me something, to demonstrate their work, and I agreed to a three-piece navy suit. I doubt I’ll wear the waistcoat much, but they wanted to demonstrate the full range. 

It was fitted twice during the trip, a third time in January at Pitti, and a fourth at Pitti again this past June. I’ll cover and review the suit soon. 

At the fittings I found there were one or two things I wouldn’t have gone with design-wise, like a purple lining, but I learnt early on that hospitality dictated some of these decisions being made by the host. That also included a coat, pictured below, which we ended up changing. 

Of course, this was just because they saw me as being someone they were hosting in the country - it wouldn’t be the case with a regular tailoring appointment or trunk show. (They currently travel to New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok and Taiwan.)

I was already impressed with the set-up of the shop before the guys took me downstairs to the bar they had in the basement, which also had a small selection of RTW knitwear and a try-on space.

It’s always been a bugbear of mine that new shops create a ‘VIP area’ where they hope customers will hang out and pass the time. No one really wants to hang out in a shop unless they’re actually friends with the owners, and the spaces are usually quite sterile.  

But the Luca Museo bar was impressive (as indeed most bars in Korea are). Small but beautiful, I actually did want to spend the hour I had before my next appointment there. 

The knitwear, meanwhile, was almost treated as an afterthought, yet I found it as well executed as pieces we feature from Rubato or Colhays. There were fine-merino knits with a good stand collar, and cardigans too, both designed to work under tailoring. 

It set the seal for me on an experience that felt like it showed how well bespoke tailoring and luxury retail could sit together.

Luca Museo offer three levels of make: Blue, White and Black label.
- Black is the full bespoke, which I am covering
- White is bespoke cut and fitted, but with some work (eg chest padding) done by machine
- Blue is made to measure, largely machine made and outsourced

Starting prices for each level (for a two-piece suit) are: $2,000, $2,500 and $3,800. Trunk shows are currently held in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok and Taiwan. All Asian trunk shows are hosted by Coller (prices might vary there slightly) and New York by Duleb.

lucamuseo.com
@lucamuseo
More on the Luca Museo tailoring itself soon

How Loro Piana’s style has improved

Posted on by Simon Crompton

How Loro Piana’s style has improved

Friday, June 28th 2024Tags:
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I thought it would be interesting to discuss Loro Piana here on PS, given it's probably the luxury menswear brand that has grown most in prominence in recent years, and which has changed most in that time. 

My personal history with LP goes back a fair way. Over 25 years ago, I was the luxury-obsessed kid that hunted the clothing on eBay, and regularly trawled their outlet in Bicester Village. 

There was one rack, right at the back on the left, which was 70% off. That was where I headed first and over the years I managed to pick up a Horsey jacket, a Roadster knit, a suede bomber and a cashmere shawl (the only piece I still have).

I continued to buy sporadically, often treating myself to one thing with my annual bonus. And then as PS grew, I got to know the staff and company, culminating in a visit to the weaving and knitting operations, and the design HQ, in 2014 for my book The Finest Menswear in the World. It felt like I'd come a long way. 

The thing is, Loro Piana’s quality was always exceptional - indeed innovative - but the designs were a little stodgy. 

That Horsey jacket in green covert made me look like a 60-year-old, albeit an Italian one. I had to wear a size 46 in the Roadster just to avoid looking like a balloon. The industry joke at the time was that the perfect brand would be Cucinelli designs with Loro Piana quality. (Not something I brought up in interviews with either Brunello Cucinelli or Pier-Luigi Loro Piana, above.)

I’m not sure Cucinelli is viewed as favourably today, but LP still felt as staid in terms of design - that is until recently. 

In the last three or four years the designs have become more interesting and the fits rather better. It’s gone a little unnoticed, given LP’s popularity as the embodiment of ‘stealth wealth’ and various other controversies, but there has been a real shift. 

It started first with womenswear, obviously. The collections started to play more with proportions and texture, in menswear-like colours and  incorporating a lot of tailored coats and jackets. 

The looks above are from the past two years, and I think they’re good examples of how womenswear can be inspiring for menswear, whether it’s ideas of materials, colour or layering - something both myself and André have written about. More recent collections have featured more silks and beautiful embroidery. 

The men’s collections have been slower. There was an odd collaboration with streetwear designer Hiroshi Fujiwara, which scared everyone into thinking they were going down the Vuitton route and abandoning classicism entirely. 

But since then things have steadily improved. The fits have changed (I’m now a solid 50) and every season there are interesting shirts and knits in fabrics you see nowhere else. 

In store today, for example, you’ll still find their standard half-zip jumper but also an unusual open knit, one with a raised stitch used to create the stripes. There’s the standard navy blouson but also a silk/linen version with a shimmery texture and distinctive Japan-inspired collar. (Not currently online, but the shirt in the same material is similar.)

A lot of the full looks (below) aren’t for me, but each contains beautiful and unusual pieces. Plus it’s refreshing to have any brand playing with classic styles like this at the top level of quality. Often it feels like Purple Label is the only one out there, particularly with Tom Ford turning more conceptual. 

The issue hanging over all of this, of course, is price. Loro Piana is enormously expensive, much more so even in real terms than it was 25 years ago.

There are a few things we can say about this. 

First, although not to the same extent, everyone’s prices have gone up. It’s the same at Prada, at Ralph Lauren Purple Label and at Edward Green. Those are three very different companies - spending a very different proportion on their product - but they have all gone up. 

Second, to the best of my knowledge both as a consumer and (to an extent) industry insider, Loro Piana spends more on quality than its peers. The problem always used to be that it didn’t spend as much on design, and that now seems to be changing. 

Last, a lot of the Loro Piana products are genuinely innovative in terms of manufacturing and textiles. In the same way that I’m more likely to spend money on Ralph Lauren because nearly all their fabrics are exclusives - and I therefore can’t get them anywhere else - the same goes for Loro Piana. 

None of this justifies £2000 knitwear, but it hopefully points out some of the nuance. The world is rarely as simple as those shouting on Instagram or forums claim. The world isn't split cleanly into heritage makers that are good value, and big brands that are ripping you off.  

So would I actually buy something from Loro Piana today, and if so what?

Perhaps, but very little. It would always be something that feels unique, and it would be a conscious indulgence: a treat, like upgrading on a flight - somewhere else where you know you’re paying over the odds.

For example, I bought a navy mock-neck from them a few years ago which had a fashioning structure I'd never seen anywhere, and was just beautiful. I have yet to see anything like it anywhere else. And at some point I can see myself being tempted by the shoes. 

Now, LP shoes probably need a whole post to discuss sufficiently. I think I could write one just on why I dislike the Open Walk. But like many things Loro Piana does, there is often genuine innovation in both quality and design with the shoes - as the number of copies of the Open Walk demonstrates. 

Yes, they do a version of the German Army Trainer, like everyone. But as a designer friend pointed out to me recently, the last shape is very different. It has a narrow, squared toe and surprisingly wide joints, the combination being a neat way to create a distinctive style that's also more comfortable. The shoe is also made out of the best, natural materials inside and out, with the upper an uncoated deerskin. 

It's these things that, as an obsessive about beautiful menswear, make me want to see and try them if nothing else.

Years ago, I attended a Loro Piana event to launch their new website. It was designed like a physical store, with the homepage showing a storefront rendered in dreamy watercolour. When you moused over it, a series of clicks took you through the shop, as if browsing in person. 

It looked lovely, but as a fellow attendee said to me on the way out: “I’m not going to go through a slide show every time I want to find a pair of shoes”. 

Loro Piana as a company has come a long way since then, and it’s no longer just luxe-obsessed teenagers like me that hunt down its products (searching for ‘Loro Piano’, rather than Piana, on eBay is a good tip). 

It’s become more popular and more expensive. But it’s still one of the few luxury brands I admire and, with the design consistently improving, now regularly visit. I think it’s also telling that even though I know a lot more about how the industry works than I did 25 years ago, I still (very occasionally) spend my money there. 

Brown ‘Art du Lin’ suit from Pirozzi and Whitcomb

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Brown ‘Art du Lin’ suit from Pirozzi and Whitcomb

Wednesday, June 26th 2024Tags:
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Quite a few people have asked about how the ‘Art du Lin’ linen from Solbiati performs, as it’s become quite a trend across different tailoring brands. Indeed, I hear Solbiati have now largely sold out of a lot of it and there are longer lead times on orders. 

This is the suit I had made in the material recently, as a result of a new jacket from Sartoria Pirozzi and trousers I already had from Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, which were featured previously in a PS piece about sandals.

I think these images are a pretty good reflection of how this linen, with its version of a washed finish, performs. The thing that grabs the attention is the matte surface, but its softness is just as distinctive. This means it wrinkles a fair bit but the lines are soft, not hard, and so more subtle. 

Traditional Irish linens are denser and usually heavier. They make up into a very sharp suit, with trousers that hold a great crease, but this also means the wrinkles are sharper too. My tobacco suit from Dege & Skinner is a good example. 

The alternative has always been European (usually Italian) linens that were lighter and more loosely woven, basically so they were cooler. The downside of this is that they produce more wrinkles, and could be accused of looking something like a crisp bag (see my older tobacco suit here). 

The Art du Lin is closer to those European linens, but the washing and treatment hide a lot of the wrinkles. It looks more like a suit that is already well worn and aged.

There have always been washed (often marked ‘délavé’) linens in European bunches, but they weren’t as matte as this, and so didn’t have that aesthetic half of the attraction of Art du Lin.

The softness of the material means it’s not great for trousers really - fine in a suit like this, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it just for trousers. A little bit more body is good in trousers even if you don’t want a super-sharp look. My other Solbiati ones here are a good example of that. 

In fact, the easiest way to wear the material is probably in a blouson like the Linen Harrington. There the material simply drapes, without having to be shaped or wearing in the same way. 

I’ve had this jacket for a few months, but only shot it recently at Pitti. (It’s always nice to take the opportunity to just shoot somewhere different.) In that time I’ve worn with a lot of different things, and I find it often looks best with a fair bit of contrast. 

If you wear it with something subtle in colour and soft in texture, like a grey piqué polo, everything just blends together. White or black is better, and better still if it’s in a material with more sheen, like a fine cotton or even silk. 

At Pitti I wore the suit as pictured during the day, with a black Finest Polo, as it was really comfortable, easy and cool. But in the evening I switched to a cream silk/cotton shirt and black knitted-silk tie (below). I also switched the footwear to Edward Green Piccadillys in black suede. 

In the daytime outfit, the shine of the alligator belt and its brass buckle also help to create some contrast.

Note too the sunglasses in the breast pocket - I have the pocket bags made to this depth (or adjust them later) so that the glasses peak out. It’s like a pocket square but more subtle and functional.

As to the coolness of Art du Lin, it was high-twenties (celsius) in Florence and I was perfectly comfortable. There are European linens that would have been cooler, but I’ve been hotter in Irish ones. 

Readers have also asked about Art du Lin in terms of robustness, and I’d say it’s been the same for me as those European linens too. It’s not a winter workhorse, even if it might be appear to be a colder-weather material in some ways, but I haven't found it worse than other linens. 

There are two weights of Art du Lin available by the cut length, a 410g and a 530g, plain weave and twill. Mine is the lighter, code NS20005. I don't have any experience of the heavier weight but the finish is similar. 

The other thing I’ve enjoyed wearing with the suit is denim, whether a lightweight denim-like linen shirt, or a chambray, or a heavier-weight western shirt. These aren’t particularly high-contrast but the fact they’ve got so much going on in terms of texture and design seems to make them work.

There’s a video of me doing one of our ‘Walkie Talkies’ in this suit and a denim shirt on Instagram, if anyone wants to see the suit in motion. 

As to Pirozzi, they continue to be one of the very best Neapolitan tailors in my experience. Everything they’ve ever done for me has been well fitted, nicely styled, consistent and correct. Those who have used Neapolitans will know how unusual that is. 

They’ve also happily evolved their style over the years, and remembered how I like mine. That first cord suit I made with Nunzio many years ago was pretty tight and short, even after I made a few changes, but this time around they started looser and had no problem going looser still. 

It’s useful, actually, to have all those old suits broken down in the Tailors Styles series on PS. It means I can measure the new one and see exactly how it compares to the old. In this case, the jacket is a full 3cm longer, the shoulders 1cm wider, and the buttoning point 2cm lower. 

Elsewhere in the outfit, I’m wearing Classic Sagans from Baudoin & Lange in black suede with a cheeky bit of suede alligator. This reflects the alligator of the belt I guess, but more importantly adds another point of interest in an otherwise plain outfit. 

The watch does that too - my Cartier Tank but on a chestnut-brown strap, which stands out for its different and brightness but still feels complimentary. 

The grey tote is the opposite: a colour and texture that is very much of-a-piece with the suit and fits in with it, rather than standing out. My Frank Clegg tote in a similar chestnut to the watch strap would have been an alternative and provided similar contrast. 

Finally, no it doesn’t annoy me that much not to have cuffs at my wrist. Not when things are this casual and it’s this hot. 

And I’m sitting down because I was knackered and it seemed like a nice way to reflect the soft, comfortable nature of the fabric. 

All other questions below please. Thank you. 

La Botte Gardiane: Searching for my perfect black boot

Posted on by Simon Crompton

La Botte Gardiane: Searching for my perfect black boot

Monday, June 24th 2024Tags:
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By Lucas Nicholson.

The idea of black boots has been obsessing me for much of the past year. It must be a fairly common menswear preoccupation, given the inspiration: Marlon Brando in his black leather and bad-boy persona, most obviously. Which as a middle-class white boy who grew up on the beaches of Bournemouth, and then moved to south-west London, I obviously identify with.

But was that the kind of boot I wanted? I certainly didn’t want a smart one - I can see the appeal of a balmoral, but not when it would be the optimal choice for me. I’d always prefer a loafer or lace up.

But an engineer boot like Brando’s didn’t seem right either. That thick leather, sole and strap wasn’t my speed. Yes I have a motorbike licence, but I haven’t ridden one since I passed my test at 21 - except that one time in Ibiza when I hired a Vespa and I don’t think that counts. 

How about something sexy and sleek, like a Beatle boot? I’ve tried to do this look before with a couple of pairs of RM Williams, but it never quite worked. I was aiming for the Husbands Parisian look, but ended up divorced from reality! 

I’ve also had some ‘interesting’ experiments via eBay. There were slightly cringy side-zip boots with an oddly sharp, square toe that I wore once and then left under the bed. And some ostrich roper boots from the now defunct Larry Mahan.

Thankfully, success seems to have finally come with a boot that combines parts of all these styles, but in a rather subtle manner - from the French brand La Botte Gardiane. 

I’m sure some readers will be familiar with the maker but equally sure many won’t, given the low profile they generally maintain. 

La Botte Gardiane was established in 1958 in La Calmette, in the Gard region of south-west France. It began by producing work boots for the Camargue herders (basically French cowboys) as well as sandals and belts, mainly for men. It was then purchased by the current owners in 1995 and they built the modern brand. 

There are four stores in France: two in Paris and two in the south, directly at the workshop and in Saintes Maries de la Mer. There are some stockists globally, from Korea to the USA, but the main offering is online.

La Botte Gardiane makes everything on site and to order, but it takes only two weeks to make standard styles, and you can select various aspects. This includes - impressively - adding or removing arch support and changing small things on the last, such as widening the forefoot or slimming the heel. You can also set the height, which is very useful in a boot for those of different heights.

There’s an additional fee of around £45 to select these options, but if you have trouble fitting boots it will certainly be worth it.

My choice was the Terence boot (above, £316). It had all the obvious style points I wanted: above the ankle, round toe, slightly stacked heel, plus a side zip that meant it had shape through the ankle and held my foot in place (a major gripe with roper boots).

More importantly, it seemed to hit that sweet spot between my different style references. It was a casual boot but but a little refined, a little more - dare I say it - sexy. Apparently the style is a contemporary version of their classic 1950s boot, the most obvious update being the side zip, intended to give that greater hold on the foot.

Being incredibly excited when the boots arrived, I unzipped them, slid straight in and left the house with reckless abandon. The soft leather and ergonomic last performed admirably - I can’t think of another pair of boots, bar soft suede chukkas, that have provided such immediate comfort.

Over 12,000 steps later, my feet were slightly weary but not bruised or blistered in the way they would be with most new shoes. The half rubber sole and oily leather also makes them immediately weatherproof.

I was impressed with the quality and style elsewhere too. The calf leather has a nice waxy-ness that gives it a more matte look than a dressy black boot, and it makes it a better partner to jeans and more workwear/rugged looks. 

I took my normal size, 10.5 (45). I didn’t go for any alterations on the shape, as while I do have slightly wide toes, the last sounded roomy enough to accommodate them. Having worn the boots now, I would probably take some further arch support on future orders, but it was interesting to try the standard fit for the purposes of this article.

The boots are Blake constructed and La Botte Gardiane offer a resoling service and a full reconditioning service. Changing the heel and rubber piece of the sole costs €45, while a full resole with new heels and insole costs €156, and takes about a month. 

The company seems to be excellent value. It’s slightly below the quality PS normally covers and I understand that some of the boots might not be to everyone’s taste. But the styles and the manner of making come from its genuine heritage. Some other styles also look interesting, including casual sandals and some “slippers” that look like they could be quite chic with a smarter look. They also make a range of leather bags that I’ve only seen briefly but seem to have a nice, minimal style. 

Since getting the boots (even though it’s slightly out of season) I’ve really put them through their paces, from pub nights to long walks. I initially wore them with black Levi’s and a black Wrangler shirt and the look wasn’t over the top - where a lot of my previous boots would have been. I’ve also worn them more simply with a wool trouser, shetland sweater and cashmere coat. 

I can post pictures of those outfits, as well as how the boots themselves have aged, later in the year. At this rate I might even have another pair by then. 

www.labottegardiane.com

Menswear stockists: No Man Walks Alone (US), Parlour (Korea). Circular image above taken from No Man.

How was Pitti?

Posted on by Simon Crompton

How was Pitti?

Friday, June 21st 2024Tags:
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Forgive me dear reader for writing about Pitti, but so many people have asked about it since the summer edition last week - both industry people and, perhaps surprisingly, readers - that it seemed worthwhile. 

The news isn’t good. There are fewer brands and some buildings remain closed. One London shop we all know said that since Covid, five of their suppliers have stopped showing and now are only in Milan. The Armoury only had Alan there, when they used to send a squad. 

The Wednesday was busy, but Thursday was quiet, and Friday was dead. Friday has always been an odd one, with brands trying to work out how soon they could start closing down their booth, but this was the first time everything just shut down early, apparently. Two agents we know left on the Thursday evening, knowing this was coming. 

Yet the parties are getting bigger and bigger. At the Wm Brown drinks on Wednesday evening, they had to pre-mix negronis to try and keep up with demand. There was still a 20-minute wait to get a drink, and it actually became a cash bar at 8 o’clock, at which point the place thinned out suspiciously. 

I love these parties; they’re great fun. My favourite is the drinks on Thursday night organised by Jake Mueser and Maximilian Mogg, where a couple of hundred people attempt to squeeze onto a narrow street, and cheer the cars that try to drive through them. 

The problem is, these are all work events for me and many others, and if they stop making sense from a work point of view, I won’t be able to come - or maybe come for only one day. I’ll go to Milan or Paris instead. 

If the Japanese and Americans I want to meet don’t go, then I’ll stop coming. I’d suggest that if people like me stop going, some others that want to meet me and tell me about their brand, will also stop. The layers peel away until only the tourists are left. 

A friend likened the situation to a dead whale floating to the bottom of the ocean. The animals that feed on the carcass are having a great time, but the whale is dead, and at some point it will all be gone. 

This is too harsh: the whale isn’t dead yet. But there seem to be fundamental problems with the fair, disguised online by a blizzard of cocktail-drinking. 

Talking of photos, it’s easy to forget that the more important photography has also slowly disappeared. Big magazines no longer want Pitti street-style photos as much, and so there are fewer photographers. There are fewer people posing to have their photo taken as a result: it’s the same vicious cycle as between brands and buyers. 

And while it’s easy to mock the posing peacocks, I know so many readers that enjoyed seeing what their favourite people were wearing to Pitti. I still post a photo each day, because people ask, and I’d like to see everyone else’s as well.

“Pitti used to be good for two things,” a magazine editor told me this week. “There was always a little brand you discovered - some French pyjama maker or something equally obscure - and you could do trend pieces based on what everyone was wearing. 

“Both of those things have disappeared. The brands are all the same, with generally lower quality. And there are fewer really stylish people going, so the big trend feature we used to do no longer works.”

I’ve seen these trends myself in the past 11 years. When I first went, the biggest party was drinks at Liverano & Liverano. There were maybe a hundred people, a great band, and everyone in there was a hero I wanted to talk to. 

It used to be even better still. At the Mueser/Mogg evening I spent a good half hour chatting to an Italian cloth agent who first came in 1984 (as I said, these are work events - not just chatting to friends). He talked of the little booths containing Kiton, Attolini and Brioni, with the founders themselves there. I wish I had a time machine and could go see it all.

Pitti is still, of course, wonderful. If I compare it to the industry events I used to go to in my previous life, it’s a hell of a lot more glamorous and fun - and more fun than buying in Paris or Milan, or cloth fairs like Unica (above). 

But to me it feels like something has to change, before the whale actually dies. If I was involved in Pitti I would try to bring more of the events and brands closer to the fair. I’d give them free spaces to hold events, and give deals to makers (and there are a lot of them) that show in hotel suites outside, inside. 

Pitti flies people over to cover the fair and puts on events, like the Paul Smith one this time. But there’s no point bringing people over if there’s nothing to see. And shows like the Paul Smith one are a one-off. It needs substance before marketing.

Perhaps it would be nice if it were set up like a festival. Somewhere that customers and buyers were welcome but it was clearly a show, a place to show off your brand. A clean break with the idea of it being about wholesale and writing orders. Florence is an incredible location that everyone wants to go to  - the concept of Pitti just has to make sense. 

Street shots courtesy Maximilian Mogg. Normal non-industry business will be resumed in full force next week

Reader profile: Tetsuya

Posted on by Simon Crompton

Reader profile: Tetsuya

Wednesday, June 19th 2024Tags:
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Tetsuya Yamashita is a reader that Lucas knows rather than me. Back in the days when he ran the Drake’s pop-up in the old Beige shop in Paris, Tetsuya was a regular visitor, and is still a friend of Beige today. In fact we used their shop as a base, as we went out to shoot around the streets of St Sulpice. 

Tetsuya is different from other readers we’ve covered in a few ways. He’s our first French entry, and he’s a waiter at the intellectually famous Café de Flore in Paris. It’s a place increasingly popular with tourists, but just about hanging onto its distinctive character - as we discuss. 

Tetsuya also described himself as a French sartorialist, which to me means not just a fondness for Cifonelli, Charvet and Hermès, but also a tendency towards the dandy, the extra accessory and the brighter shoe. I had great fun exploring all these topics with him. As ever I hope you enjoy it too. 

Outfit 1

  • Jacket: Lorenzo Cifonelli for The Rake
  • Shirt : Bryceland’s
  • Pocket square: Simonnot-Godard
  • Trousers: Rota (made-to-order)
  • Socks: Bresciani, via Mes Chaussettes Rouges
  • Shoes: John Lobb Paris (made to order)

So, Tetsuya, tell us what you do.

I’m a waiter - a garçon de café - at Café de Flore in Paris. I came to Paris from Japan to do this profession as a métier. I’ve been there 22 years now. 

I guess you must be quite senior by now then?

Yes, I'm the third longest-serving garçon today at Flore - you do develop relationships with particular customers, who then want to be served by you when they come in. I’d say it’s my favourite aspect of the job, the friendships you establish. 

Has that included anyone famous over the years?

Well, my favourite was Karl Lagerfeld. Karl and I had a nice relationship - he would come in regularly and ask where I was serving that day. He liked the consistency of it. 

I remember the last time he came in before he died - he clearly wasn’t well, and when he said goodbye there was something different about him. I deliberately said to him, not goodbye, but ‘see you soon Karl’.

I’ve had breakfast at Café de Flore a few times and it does still have real character, despite the tourists. Lovely little egg cups, perfect bread and salted butter. 

Yes, it has hung on to that. There is what we call the Golden Triangle of establishments in St Germain: Flore, Deux Magots, Brasserie Lipp. They’re still very genuine, very characteristic of the neighbourhood. But it’s been hard - Emily in Paris was huge for American visitors, and we were flooded. 

Forgive me for asking, but how does a waiter afford clothes from Cifonelli and Hermès?

Well, I don’t spend much money on anything else! But I also save up a lot, often buying just one or two big items a year. The velvet jacket from Cifonelli here is a good example, but it was ready-to-wear - they just altered a few small things. 

How would you describe this style?

For me it’s a mixed style, something quite Japanese but obviously very French too. It’s not common to wear black velvet during the daytime, but I love it with white pants, in fact I love white pants in general. In the winter I wear the jacket with ecru Fox flannel pants that my friend Kenjiro Suzuki made for me. 

Outfit 2

  • Blazer: Cifonelli (made-to-measure)
  • Shirt: Charvet 
  • Tie: Drake’s 
  • Pocket square: Hermès
  • Trousers: Bernard Zins
  • Socks: Bresciani (via Mes Chaussettes Rouges)
  • Shoes: John Lobb Paris (made to order)

How about this outfit? Rather French?

Yes I’d call it L'élégance Parisienne. Lots of details - the pocket square, the buttons. This blazer was Cifonelli made-to-measure and the buttons are their in-house ones, with their symbol. 

The shirt is Charvet too - never anything but Charvet! Although I don’t wear Charvet for work, that’s simpler and very traditional - white shirt, bow tie, vest and apron.

Are those the shoes that L’Etiquette magazine did with John Lobb? 

Yes, actually I saw these when they were first released back in the nineties, but couldn’t afford them. So when L’Etiquette brought the model back I didn’t miss the chance, and now I have a second pair - the suede ones shown above. 

The style was originally called Delano, but L’Etiquette called it 'Paris'. It was only on sale on their website initially, but now it’s available made-to-order from Lobb. 

Have you always been into clothes?

Ever since I was a teenager. It wasn’t unusual to be into clothes back then, but most of my friends were into American clothing - casual clothing, what we call Amecaji. I was more into tailoring and English style. 

I started going into Beams, then into United Arrows were I met [designer Yasuto] Kamoshita who taught me how to dress. And we’ve been friends ever since. Now every time he comes to Paris we go out - he’s like my older brother.

Was your father a good dresser?

Not really, he didn’t care about clothes. But he was a banker and wore a suit every day, so perhaps that was an influence. Also my family was very conservative, which meant English style. I still dream about having a bespoke suit made at Anderson & Sheppard. 

I also wear quite a few English brands - I’ve been wearing Smedley knitwear since I was 20 years old. 

Outfit 3

  • Coat : Hermès
  • Scarf: Charvet 
  • Knit: John Smedley
  • Jeans: Levi’s 501
  • Socks: DoreDore 
  • Shoes: John Lobb Paris (made to order)

OK, if we had names for the previous two looks, what would you call this one?

I would say it is my version of BCBG - Bon Chic Bon Genre. 

That literally means good style and good type of person, right? The taste of the French upper classes, like the idea of Old Money or the English Country House Look. 

Yes exactly, it’s very classic, very French. The knit is the Dorset style from Smedley that I said I’ve been wearing for many years. In the summer I wear Isis, the same model in Sea Island cotton. I have so many colours. 

The shoes are unusual - is that the Lopez loafer?

It’s the Lopez, yes, but in a colourway I specially requested. Mr Kamoshita used to wear a pair of derby shoes from Lobb called the Barros, in a bi-colour design like this. He used to say it was very ‘French Ivy’. 

You can’t get the Barros these days, even by request, so I made a pair of Lopez in the same colours. 

How long have you had the coat? It looks pleasingly faded. 

I’ve had it for 28 years - it’s particularly useful in Paris during the mid-seasons, in spring and in autumn. In Japan those seasons are very short - it goes from hot to cold too quickly to need something like this. 

Actually there’s a bit of a story behind this coat. Hermès made it with Mackintosh, in their bonded cotton, but apparently there was an issue with one pocket so they had to recall them. The shop promised to replace mine but the original wasn’t available again, so they gave me this one. I think it’s unique - I haven’t seen it anywhere. 

Those old Hermès pieces are so beautiful - I’ve picked up a few myself second hand. It’s such a shame they don’t do classic styles today. 

I agree, it’s a real shame. 

Where do you like to shop in Paris? 

There isn’t much. Beige is obviously great, and there are the makers I’ve worn here - Cifonelli, Lobb, Charvet. But there isn’t a lot beyond that - I buy more when I go back to Japan twice a year. 

I like your Charvet scarf. How do you tie it?

Always very simple - either twice round my neck and then in a knot, or making it into a loop and then putting the ends through. 

I’ve always thought of scarves as a very Parisian thing - is that fair?

As a Japanese person I always thought the same, and I do think it’s true. I’m always watching what other people are wearing and you certainly see a lot more scarves here than in Japan. 

Nice to know one cliché holds up. Thanks for taking the time to chat to us Tetsuya, see you later at the book launch. 

See you there Simon.

Tetsuya is @yamashitatetsuya on Instagram