Andrew: My journey in bespoke tailoring
Our regular reader Andrew has contributed to many PS discussions over the years about bespoke, and given valuable advice to readers on both cloth and tailors. So I asked him to rewind a little and describe his whole experience from start to finish, ...
Andrew: My journey in bespoke tailoring
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This article explains the bespoke tailoring process very clearly. The emphasis on proper consultation, accurate measurements, and multiple fittings is important and often overlooked. Highlighting craftsmanship and long-t...
A Neapolitan ‘caban’ coat, from Luca Museo
What is a ‘caban’ coat? Well, it's meant different things at different points in time, but it has a particular meaning as a sartorial version of a pea coat in Naples. The caban was originally something European sailors called a coat the...
A Neapolitan ‘caban’ coat, from Luca Museo
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Thanks Luis! I haven't seen examples from many other Neapolitans to be honest, and some of them (like the Ciardi one) can be rather different. Sorry that's not that helpful!...
Reader profile: Sebastian
Sebastian has an interesting story - a clothing story with distinct phases. He’s a long-term reader (just over 10 years) and has worn many different styles, many different brands. But he's another PS reader in essence - always a little similar...
Reader profile: Sebastian
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Saman Amel does. P Johnson for some things...
An Hermes silk scarf with all navy
Long-term readers will be familiar with my passion for Hermes silk scarves, which I’ve often bought over the years as a treat, and of which I now have a small collection (nine of them, since you ask). I’ve found particular enjoyment thi...
An Hermes silk scarf with all navy
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Personally I think the losange is best worn in a similar way to a bandana - so tied simply at the front and tucked in, having been wrapped once or twice. It's a little too delicate hanging out on its own, at least for my...
Reader profile: David E
David is an example of a reader that has been into clothes for a long time, and now looks back on it from the perspective of a professional and father, fitting that interest into a life that has changed dramatically. A resident of south-east London...
Reader profile: David E
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That’s very encouraging. May give him a commission soon. Many thanks Lindsay...
Playing around with white bucks
During sunny weather in the past few weeks, I've been playing around with these old shoes from Lodger, the shoe shop that used to be on Clifford Street in London, and where I first started writing about menswear . The shoes were a recreation of a 1...
Playing around with white bucks
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Forty plus years ago, I had a pair of Brooks white bucks, and a buck bag. Somewhere along the line, I got rid of the bucks but kept the bag. Now, I'm 72 and trying to find my unspent youth, with a new pair of white bucks...
Layering and accessories for cold Spring days
Back when these things were possible, I remember an American friend visiting in the Spring and asking: “How on earth do you dress for this weather? I can see my breath in the morning, but my midday I’m roasting and can barely wear a jack...
Layering and accessories for cold Spring days
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I don't think so, no. Though it's also one to think yourself - if you saw someone wearing one around where you are, would it look odd to you?...
Navy jacket and jeans (with recommended cloths)
A few readers asked in our recent Complete Capsule posts about the kind of navy jacket I mentioned, that would work with jeans as well as flannels. So I thought I’d shoot this example from Solito, which Luigi made me last year but which I've ...
Navy jacket and jeans (with recommended cloths)
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I would say that the greater risk is the jacket appears a little showy or dressy with mother of pearl. It can be nice, but horn is usually better and you can have more flecks and contrast, or a slightly lighter shade, if...
Two reader stories: Starting and building a wardrobe
In recent years I’ve done an increasing amount of personal consultancy, meeting readers in person to answer their questions rather than just here on the website. I don’t really advertise it because I don’t have much capacity, and mo...
Two reader stories: Starting and building a wardrobe
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I think there's probably lots you can take from traditional country clothing, MB. In the UK, that would be looking at things like tweed jackets, cord or moleskin trousers, and more substantial boots. It all goes together...
Solito summer jacket: Style breakdown
The next area we move onto in our Style Breakdown series is Naples – which might have more high-end bespoke tailors than anywhere else in the world. Neapolitan tailoring is known for its soft jackets, with light shoulder padding and chest c...
Solito summer jacket: Style breakdown
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Not enough cloth... I've changed a lot!...
Finest Knitwear available again – in navy a...
Our Finest Knitwear, which we created earlier this year, is back in a second batch with a new colour. Alongside the navy fine-merino knitwear - in crewneck and V-neck - there is now also a dark, muted green that I picked for its versatility. Both ar...
Finest Knitwear available again – in navy a...
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Hey, Interesting question, I actually don't know. I still really like that look. It might be because I wear slightly heavier shirts these days, or because some of my tailoring has got a little tight so I don't have the r...
Bespoke commissions – What I should and sho...
Thank you everyone that responded to my ‘You are the interviewer’ post a couple of weeks ago. The number of variety of questions was staggering, and I will try to answer as many as I can over the coming weeks. It may take time, but I wou...
Bespoke commissions – What I should and sho...
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For a cream linen suit? No, not at all. Jacket or trousers, yes, but the suit should not be regarded as a staple. For DBs, absolutely...
What I pack when I travel
As I return from two summer trips – one for a week in Florence, the other a week in Naples – it seems a fitting time to run through what I pack for trips such as these. I know readers have asked about it in the past. Of course, an...
What I pack when I travel
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I still use Rimowa when I'm checking something in, but I'm not sure I'd buy again today given the prices. I'm yet to find an alternative - everything people suggest is either worse quality or just as expensive....
Naples: A sartorial shopping guide
Naples has the biggest concentration of high-end handmade menswear in the world. Although not so much for shoes, for tailoring and shirtmaking this is the motherlode, with hundreds of tailors in the city and surrounding region, and thousands working ...
Naples: A sartorial shopping guide
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Thanks for the personal recommendation Howard....
Wearing black (in a sports jacket)
I recently remembered these shots we took last year in Japan - it was September, but Tokyo was hot and humid, as Europe has been in recent weeks. Although wool, the checked jacket is 9 ounces and half lined, wearing pretty cool. It was a useful piec...
Wearing black (in a sports jacket)
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Sharp sport coat! I don’t have the same reservations about black that many seem to have. To me, a very dark navy or grey is virtually indistinguishable in almost all lighting. I have a black hopsack sport coat and two ...
Cavalry twill for trousers
Finding the right material for odd trousers - those worn with sports jackets rather than suits - is not easy. The kind of smooth, worsted cloths you're used to wearing as part of a suit are too sleek and formal. Many cottons, particularly garment-w...
Cavalry twill for trousers
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Hard to tell for sure as I haven't done it, but yes it might make a difference in stopping it seeming like part of a suit...
Huntsman dinner: The reader outfits
As mentioned in my original post about this reader competition, our aim was to explore the different forms formalwear can take today. Men will always have a need to dress up, in order to appear appropriately for a smarter, more important and more f...
Huntsman dinner: The reader outfits
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I wore my Cleverley imitation brogues. I don't think there's anything wrong with Oliver's trousers - they are just breaking a bit more at the front as a result of how he is standing. I also wouldn't go with turn-ups, bot...
Building a wardrobe: Neapolitan tailoring
In recent months a few readers have asked for a breakdown of how I built my wardrobe - my plans, my process and my lessons learned. Doing so across all types of garment and even styles would produce a very long, unwieldy piece, so I thought I would ...
Building a wardrobe: Neapolitan tailoring
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I think it's a nice cut, yes, and for a more formal shape I like it. I wouldn't necessarily do it in a Norfolk jacket though, as that's more of a country/casual piece. Also, I wouldn't necessarily recommend Sinclair them...
Wearing a grey linen shirt – or the virtues...
A style post today, after several product and profile pieces in recent weeks. To break it down into bullets: I love grey shirts, primarily with navy suits or jackets as an alternative to white and blue. It feels urban and modern The problem is, wit...
Wearing a grey linen shirt – or the virtues...
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Interesting. I haven't tried it, but I reckon it could be OK as long as there was something else colour-wise going on - a pocket square, a tie, something else in the breast pocket....
Colour combinations, from casual to formal
The colour combinations that we discuss every week in regards to formal wear, can be applied just as readily to casual wear. Although there will always be elements that don't crossover (such as the immense versatility of denim) a lot of the themes ...
Colour combinations, from casual to formal
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Thanks Zawaad. No, but I certainly plan something. Thanks for the suggestion...
Escorial jacket: The modernity of muted colours
There are many ways in which you can make a sartorial outfit look younger or more modern. Extremes are always wrong: very short jackets, big puffy shoulders. They just look trendy, for a bit. But aside from the extremes, I would argue proportions...
Escorial jacket: The modernity of muted colours
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I think that might be right, it was a hard one to photograph...
Which office are you? (Or, a sliding scale of for...
Dressing well is as much about propriety as it is about style, quality or personality. This is particularly true at work, where there are often prescriptions, or at least expectations, about professionalism and clothing. I have often talked over ...
Which office are you? (Or, a sliding scale of for...
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wonderful content, the article is super practical for men daily,...
Scarf outfits: Solito, Cifonelli, Anderson & ...
Several readers asked what I was wearing in the video we produced recently for Begg & Co scarves. So here they are, one by one. In the jacket shots, above: Navy cashmere jacket by Solito. Not a great level of finish, but one of the most u...
Scarf outfits: Solito, Cifonelli, Anderson & ...
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The stitching can be a little loose and irregular - I've had linings come loose for example, though they were then repaired. And buttonholes etc aren't that fine...
Video: The Tailoring Symposium
Ahead of our next Symposium in Florence next week – focusing on accessories – here’s a reminder of the tailoring edition I organised last summer. The Rake organised this video of our discussion beforehand, at the Four Se...
Video: The Tailoring Symposium
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Thanks Irv, lovely to hear...
Checked jackets and accessories
This was taken during a recent photo shoot for Plaza Uomo magazine in Sweden. I think the only time I have shown the jacket before I wore it open-necked (blue shirt and navy crew neck, with charcoal trousers). It is not an easy pattern to accessor...
Checked jackets and accessories
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The green plaid is 9/10 ounce I believe. A little too light, as you say, but I really liked the design. The navy cashmere was a touch heavier...
