It Never Really Went Away

A reader sent me this photo of himself wearing raspberry linen trousers with a white dinner jacket and Belgian Shoes, which reminds me of years ago when the guys I knew dressed like that. It's classic prep, an eastern thing that was diluted somewhere before it got to California via every chain clothing store.

The foundation of preppy dressing was originally an "I don't need to dress for success" style that generally related to preppy sports: casual wear for golf, polo, tennis, rugby, riding and sailing. There were no suits at the country club (the next step upwards in formality was the dinner jacket) and going to work after graduation usually required a completely different wardrobe. I envied the guys that went into publishing and could wear tweed to the office.

The classic prep undergraduate look was a pink, peach or yellow oxford cloth buttondown shirt worn over a polo shirt in a different, preferably clashing, pastel, a vibrant madras jacket (or a loud tweed plaid), Weejuns and khaki trousers. No socks.

The clothes that once signaled WASP membership are costume now. But raspberry linen trousers worn with a white dinner jacket somehow transcends Ralph Lauren.

Wearing a Scarf

How should a man wear a scarf? There are several ways, and most of them work whether the scarf is paired with an overcoat or just an odd jacket.

Which is a reason to point out that scarves look great without overcoats. Tied like an ascot around the neck (like the men in the illustration) and worn over a sweater or a shirt, a scarf fills the front of the jacket and keeps the wearer warm. I like them paired with tweed on weekends instead of a necktie.

Of course, some men don't go to the trouble of tieing their scarves when they're wearing an overcoat. Scarves can be worn without a knot, where the ends just frame the opening of the coat, exposing the necktie. It's a nice look so long as the overcoat holds the scarf in place, and so long as the winter wind isn't whistling into the wearer's shirt.

A step beyond the open scarf is the continental approach. Just fold the scarf in half, place it around the neck and pull the two ends through the open loop.

Twenty Great Clothing Books

Here is my list of the twenty great books on classic men's clothing and style of the past fifty years. Most of them are out of print but I've found copies and you can too. In no particular order:

• Scottish Estate Tweeds, E.P. Harrison. A history of tweed with photos of the great estate patterns.
• Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashions, O. E. Schoeffler & William Gale. Esquire was once a style leader and the Encyclopedia covers what it thought about every category of men's clothing from the turn of the century through the 1970's. On the required reading list for every budding menswear designer and ferociously expensive.
• Men in Style, Woody Hochswender & Kim Johnson Gross. Learn how men dressed during the Golden Age from these Apparel Arts & Esquire illustrations.
• The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie, Thomas Fink & Yong Mao. Tired of your four-in hand? Here are all the options.
• The Englishman's Suit, Hardy Amies. How the western world came to dress like the English aristocracy, and how it still can. Expensive, if you can find a copy.
• Handmade Shoes for Men, Laszlo Vass. All about shoes made as they should be made.
• The Boutonniere: Style in One's Lapel, Umberto Angeloni. How to wear a flower in your lapel.
• The Elegant Man: How to Construct the Ideal Wardrobe, Ricardo Villarosa & Giuliano Angeli. Interesting overview with perhaps the best section on cloth that's been in print.
• Hatless Jack, Neil Steinberg. What you'll care to know about the hat.
• Eminently Suitable: The Elements of Style in Business Attire, G. Bruce Boyer. Well written and comprehensive look at the suit.
• Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion, Alan J. Flusser. Big and beautiful review of how to dress.
• Clothes and the Man: The Principles of Fine Men's Dress, Alan J. Flusser. The visuals aren't as good as the ones in Dressing the Man but the text is better.
• The Book of Ties, Francois Chaille. Just about all you need to know about neckwear.
• Gentleman: A Timeless Fashion, Berhard Roetzel. Well illustrated. Less on suits and more on a variety of accessories for the gentleman's lifestyle.

Reader Questions

From Koenraad
"How do you suggrest combining mobile phones with the wardrobe? Some fashion houses (Prada, Armani) have recently come with their own phone designs. Are there more options, including bespoke phones? How does one go about finding the right phone with one's outfit?"

I recommend you find one phone that suits your self-image. Unlike an accessory such as sun glasses, a cell phone is not something to be matched to the day's clothes. The address book and other content of a phone is too time-consuming (and important) to maintain in several devices.

Great phones look good, have features such as cameras built in and may offer extensive service packages for mobile lifestyles. For example, Vertu offers a line of very expensive phones (starting about $6,000 USD) made from beautiful materials that include a high level of service. One of the services is a concierge service called "Vertu Concierge". It is accessed through a "Concierge key" at the side of every phone. The service comprises a team of assistants to help the owner, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Comes in handy when you miss your plane in Vienna.

Or, consider an Apple iPhone.

From Jon

"Is there a proper way to wear the tuxedo? I dug mine out the other night for a party and decided to scrap the vest as the button stance is relatively high on the jacket. This was fine when I was walking but left an expanse of shirt between my waist and my neck when I was sitting. Is a vest or cummerbund customary? And if one is wearing a vest does he follow the same logic as for a three piece suit and leave the jacket unbuttoned?"

The single breasted dinner jacket is often worn unbuttoned, which is why a vest or a cummerbund is integral to the look.

Book Review: ABC of Men's Fashion

The English designer Hardy Amies, who passed away in 2003, was so far as I know the first important menswear designer. His book, ABC of Men's Fashion, was originally published in 1964, just as top down men's fashion was to disappear for twenty years in favor of street fashions.

Re-issued this month, ABC should be of interest to any man that appreciates classic dressing. Organized as a series of alphabetized definitions, it's a combination of forecasts that didn't happen - Amies believed that the next step for men would be high closing four button jackets and that boots would replace shoes - and useful thoughts on color, contrast, late day dress and other things you may not have thought about before.

For example, Amies points out that a 13 ounce mohair makes a great travel suit for all but the hottest destinations as it doesn't wrinkle and holds a crease as if it was made of metal. To that he adds that being relaxed on holiday should not mean that we walk around other people's cities dressed as if we were at a sea side resort. "Correct dressing is only another form of good manners, and good manners are only another form of mental comfort."

Amen.

Custom Clothiers Stub Their Toes

I'm all in favor of what are called custom clothiers, consultants who help their customers put together wardrobes that work for them. Clothiers represent themselves as more than retailers or tailors. Their services include wardrobe consultation, image analysis, and appointments at the client's home or office at his convenience. I do a bit of that myself for clients.

Like Manuel Martinez of Martinez Custom Clothiers in Baton Rouge, the man on the right in the photo, many custom clothiers belong to the Custom Tailors & Designers Association. CTDA, as it is abbreviated, is the oldest trade association in America. It was established in 1888 as a venue for members to exchange ideas about tailoring and has stayed relevant by shifting into the custom clothing arena. Which brings me to the September issue of Robb Report, which contains a piece titled 'Clothiers Make the Man' featuring Mr. Martinez as well as several other CTDA members.

The theme of the Robb Report piece seems to be "patronize one of these men and you'll look unlike anyone else." Not better than anyone else, or well dressed. Just different. And that's a half truth if I've ever heard one because there's different as in better and then there's different as in odd. The Robb Report story is about odd.

Now I am not talking about over the top dandy stuff like Hamish Bowles might wear but the distinguished members of the CTDA represent themselves wearing ensembles ranging from mediocre to awful.

He's not awful but Mr. Martinez, who's been elected the best dressed man in Baton Rouge and who probably doesn't deserve to have me pick on him, appears in the magazine wearing a fairly outlandish combination that pales next to the red and white checked odd jacket and bright green necktie worn by his business partner. They definitely don't look like anyone else.

It used to be said that an Englishman could count on his tailor for the make of his suit but shouldn't depend on him for recommendations about his daily dress, as many tailors don't have the experience to make the best choices. Robb Report tells me that adage still has run left.

I hope all the featured gentlemen gain clients from the publicity but I'm not looking forward to the clothes we may see around America's private jet terminals next year because of it.

The "Fake" Classic

Another of Autumn's classic sweaters is the Aran fisherman's knit, which takes its name from the islands where it originated, off the West coast of Ireland. Arans were, and to a certain extent still are, knitted by the wives of fishermen using unscoured wool that retains its natural oils, making them water-resistant. But they have a back story that's questionable.

Sellers of Aran sweaters like Clan Arans assert that the jumper is an ancient design that has been used on the island for hundreds of years. The Clan Arans site also says that each family had a sweater with a unique design, so that if a man drowned and was found maybe weeks later on the beach, his body could be identified.

It's a great story, but according to Wikipedia there is no evidence to support there being a systematic tradition of family patterns. For that matter, there is some doubt about whether Aran sweaters were ever widely used by fishermen as the originals with their untreated yarn may not have been suitable for this use. Finally, it appears as though knitting didn't begin on the islands until the twentieth century.


Setting controversy aside, Aran sweaters are unquestionably a trad classic that's equally at home with corduroys, moleskins and flannel trousers. I particularly like Inis Meàin's shawl collar version offered by J. L. Powell in merino wool ($435.00).

You Thought Gallo Was A Winemaker?

I happen to think that there's not much fun in plain socks. I like them striped or checked with my suits in a color that picks up something above the waist but doesn't match anything. Which sent me on a search for the pictured pair that's the featured item on the men's product page at Pantherella's web site and, naturally, I can't find a pair anywhere. Most of the Pantherella that is actually available for purchase lacks, shall we say, distinction.

It's not just Pantherella. For a variety of reasons, the geometrics and colorings of brands like Richard James and Dore Dore don't work for me and I've found only a few attractive offerings from makers like Bresciani and Marcoliani that don't cost $80 a pair for cashmere blends that may be good for three or four wearings. Which is what has finally led me to Gallo, an obscure brand that's currently my favorite maker of dress socks. Gallo has stripes, vertical or horizontal, and the quality is excellent. Of course, they're not easy to find either.
I have nonetheless managed to piece together a Gallo collection from several sources. I saw them last summer at Edward Green, which stocks a few colorways in London that are available by telephone (try their very dark navy with discreet red vertical stripes). LA's Welcome Hunters stocks several colorways (the ones in the photo above) that aren't sized but fit a medium foot. And The French Gentleman has others (look under Chaussettes) with the caveats that stock is low and the shipping is as much as a pair of the socks.

Now none of this matters if you're one of those men who is happy wearing navy blue socks every day. But if you see me with a smile on my face it might well be because I've got green socks with pink stripes hidden under my tan gabardine double breasted. Gallo makes socks.

Can This Really Be The End?

Savile Row tailor Steven Hitchcock is showing a tweed car coat he recently made for a client.

According to the cloth's maker, Dashing Tweeds, the checks in the cloth's weave of wool worsted and reflective yarn reflect light, making the coat easy to see at night. London's double yellow-lines and red routes were chiselled up and matched to produce yarn shades that match the colors of the City.


It might not work for Bob Dylan in Mobile but it could be just the thing for Sir Paul McCartney to wear over his suit and sneakers in London.


Though I will say I have to admire the courage of the Dashing Tweed principal who permitted himself to be photographed wearing a purple checked jacket with matching knickers.

Reader Questions

From CJ
"My question concerns a debate a colleague and I are having. He believes that it is acceptable to wear cream trousers for the autumn and winter season, calling it 'winter white.' I believe very much to the contrary. A glass of Woodford Reserve is riding on the answer!"

Seasonal colors follow what we see in nature and there's plenty of white around once the snow begins to fall. So, were I you, I would pay up.

Of course, knowing that you can wear a color is not the same as having a place to wear it. I'd wear a navy jacket and winter white trousers on a sunny Sunday afternoon to a party in a winter garden. The green jacketed gentleman in the illustration is wearing his in a clubhouse on what looks like an autumnal day.

From Jocke
"Do you have any good picture examples of different ways to wear neckerchiefs? And also tips on where to buy them?"

I thought I could find a illustration that answered both of these questions but, alas, the men in the illustration are wearing an ascot in one case and toweling in the other. I recall there's a decent illustration in Flusser's Dressing the Man.

There are only two ways that I know of to wear neckerchiefs. Start with a silk square. If it's at least 36", you can roll it up and tie it as a four in hand. Or, if it's the more common 27" variety, roll it up and tie a square knot. The ends may be worn in or out of your open shirt collar, but in is a bit more discreet.

They are not on the web site but if you call the store you'll find that London's New & Lingwood carries a variety of 27" patterns for £75 apiece (about $150).

Quotation: Overdress for a Party

"The elevation of comfort above all other considerations, the flawed belief that informality equals conviviality, and downright laziness have resulted in a contradictory and illogical dress sense that would stump the most mondaine of time travellers beaming into a modern dinner party as he observed the crazy cocktail of sartorial semiotics about the table.

However, the tide - at least outside the shellsuit-wearing brigade - is turning. This is because of two fundamental human instincts that have been overlooked by the slobs. One is the ancient need of people to decorate themselves, which started long before the first murmuring of civilisation and continues today. The other is our very natural wish to please others, be admired by our peers and attract a mate. Add to this the security that a few unwritten rules can bring, and the enduring need for dressing up becomes clear

The first step is to forget the old British adage that it is ill bred to be overdressed. This guideline has outlived its shelf life, as it was conceived in a period when it was the accepted norm to dress up for any activity more than gardening. At this time overdressing meant being got up in a flashy, overly elaborate or embarrassing way and took no account of the modern invasion of sports-inspired clothes that has enslaved whole swathes of the nation into sweats and trainers

Now it is advisable and good manners to err on the over- rather than the underdressed when invited to a party. This is because by being seen to make an effort you are paying your host or hostess a great compliment, as well as making yourself look your most attractive. After all, the short time required for getting yourself dressed is negligible compared with the hours the hostess may have put in preparing the party."

Debrett's New Guide to Etiquette and Modern Manners, by John Morgan

What's Style?

What is style? To me, it's not just good taste. A man whose regular garb consists of two button suits in conservative cloth, black oxfords, white shirts and solid neckties lacks individuality, and without individuality there can be no style.

Personal style is a consistent gestalt of individual choices, with the emphasis on individual. Where is the individual in a crowd wearing striped suits, Hermes ties and Gucci loafers?

That said, style can be consistent with business dress. The dress in the photo from Alan Flusser Custom is made up of conservative elements. It's the small touches that add individuality, like the double breasted jacket with a stripe alternating single and double beads. A uniform, but an individualized one.

That's style.

Little Bits

Four In Hand is having a necktie and cashmere sale that includes Begg's cashmere scarves like the chocolate one in the photo.


Cravate Royale is also having a sale, in this case on its superb bow ties. Pictured is the Royal Woven Kent mini-basketweave in navy silk with blue and purple paisleys. $45.95 each while they last.


And here is a photo of the pork pie hat that I wrote about last week, after a day's hard work.

Don't Step On My Brown Suede Shoes

I am enamored of brown shoes with navy suits, even tobacco suede bluchers like the pair on the father of the graduate in the illustration. I used to think wearing bluchers with suits was a sartorial sin, but I have grown out of that one. At least for less formal occasions.

My attraction to the combination of brown shoes and blue suits began after I realized that navy and black look bad next to each other. I gave away a couple of black and blue neckties that had never worked for me and soon after began asking myself why I was wearing black shoes with navy suits. So, before six o'clock, I've stopped. To paraphrase Dorothy, I don't think we're in London any more.

Currently, in the suede category, I like very dark brown best with navy flannel. And I've been seen wearing tobacco suede as well as fox if I'm feeling daringly Neapolitan.

But I'd never wear black shoes with white flannels as the young man is doing and you shouldn't either.

About Color

Color theory is a body of knowledge about the visual impact of specific color combinations. Orginally conceived for painters and then modified for the printing industry, it's also useful for choosing clothing combinations.

There are three principal types of color schemes. A monochromatic scheme is comprised of different shades of one color, such as a navy blue suit, light blue shirt and mid-blue necktie with navy stripes.

An analogous color scheme is comprised of colors that are adjacent to each other on a color wheel (A color wheel is a wheel used to show the relations of colors). Tan, red, and yellow are adjacent to each other on the wheel and might be worn successfully as a tan suit, yellow shirt and red necktie.

Complementary colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as the orange Alexander Olch necktie worn next to a blue suit in the photo. When used side-by-side, opposites make each other appear brighter.

There's a color wheel at Wellstyled.com that's designed to produce color schemes for web pages. Playing with it for a few minutes may give you ideas that will be helpful when you're dressing in the morning.

Sweaters and Suits

I like the more-casual-than-a-vest look of a sweater under a suit, but the sweater had better not have sleeves or it'll be too hot to wear indoors. Fortunately, there are plenty of sources for armless v-necks, including this very refined cashmere pullover from Parisian designer Marc Guyot.


Guyot's knitwear is made to measure and the vest in the photo below is constructed much like a conventional waistcoat, down to the strap across the back.


Men who wear belted trousers should consider spending their money on sweaters rather than waistcoats. The unattractive sight of the belt buckle under a vest is covered by sweaters with round bottoms. Which is as it should be.

Reader Questions

From Chris
"I need a new set of dinner clothes and I've decided to bespeak one. What do I need to ask to ensure that I'm getting true bespoke and not "custom" or made to measure?"

I suggest you focus on the tailor's reputation and whether you like the work rather than the technical details. MTM with a hand sewn collar and shoulders is often a better product than the machine sewn bespoke I see coming out of some small tailor shops in the United States.


From Michael
"Is there a specific type of brush you recommend for suit care?"

In my opinion, the double sided Kent CC20 is the most useful brush for suits. £29.50 (about $60) directly from the maker.

Quotation: Style

"Style is rarely glimpsed in times like these, which at best encourage its humble relative, good taste. While style and taste have been known to intermingle in the past, the currently widening gap between them reminds us once more of their fundamental enmity. The world of the merely tasteful - trim edifice of bourgeois conformities, with narrow slots to be filled and straight lines to be toed - is bound to barricade itself, in the end, against style, which is individual, aristocratic, and reckless."

- The Fashionable Mind by Kennedy Fraser

A Pork Pie for the Car

I drive a convertible and the top is open unless it's raining cats and dogs. But sunglasses leave a glare gap above the lenses and don't do any good at all when it's sprinkling. So, in the car, I'm a hat wearer.


Inspired by a photo of Fred Astaire, I recently commissioned a light-weight beaver felt pork pie for days when a standard felt is too warm and a straw too out of season. Here's the result of my day dreams in light gray, thanks once again to Art Fawcett of VS Custom Hats. The shape proved unexpectedly elegant in person and has quickly become my favorite.


A hat in the car keeps a man stylish, dry and nicely shaded, without the "no place to put it" annoyances that crop up if I'm walking around town. I'll try to have action photos for next week.

Style Icon: Hubert de Givenchy

The fashionable pairing of designer Comte Hubert de Givenchy, one of the world's best dressed men in the second half of the twentieth century, and the actress Audrey Hepburn helped make Hepburn an enduring international star.

For all that he was elected to the International Best-Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970, Givenchy was typically photographed in a dark suit, plain shirt and a discreetly dark necktie a la Cary Grant in Hitchcock's film North by Northwest. The only other style I've seen in his photos is a casual version of the same clothes: dark dress trousers, a plain dress shirt and a dark crew neck sweater.

Givenchy shows us that a man can be every bit as well known for his good taste over time as he might otherwise be for consistent outrageousness in his dress.

Middle of the Road Shoes

When I see photos of bespoke shoes from Gaziano & Girling on the web, they tend to be aggressively styled. Tony Gaziano is the first to admit that he likes to push the envelope, and I'm not the only one that thinks he has a knack for it. But he can be conservative when he's asked to, and here's some espresso brown quarter brogue proof (I call them quarter brogues because they don't have a toe medallion, but they do have a heel counter so technically I think they are hybrid form of semi-brogue. Not that it matters.).


G & G bespoke shoes arrive in a sturdy shoe box with heavy cloth bags and elegant mahogany trees that put the shoe trees from Tony's two previous employers to shame. Even the soles are discreet. I asked for a fiddleback sole and I got one, but it's modest. And the plum lining on the inside blends right in.


Since I've decided that I prefer brown or tan shoes with my blue suits for day wear, I'm only wearing black shoes with gray suits that have black in the weave. That has meant that I needed (OK, wanted) a couple more pair of darker brown city shoes in my rotation. These fit the bill.

G&G Visits SF

Despite a case of the sniffles, Tony Gaziano was in town for Gaziano & Girling's semi-annual visit and there was quite a bit to talk about.

We spent most of our time discussing the improved manufacturing prowess evident in G&G's newer ready to wear samples, like the one on the left in the photo below (click to enlarge it), which feature a jointed heel and a more prominent fiddleback waist that's cut as close as the waist on a bespoke shoe.


The new samples are the best looking machine-made shoes I've seen. Tony called them "Northampton (ready-made) shoes with a London (bespoke) look."


Then there were the boots, and some new shoe models that have been kept quiet until now. Beginning around the end of 2007, the RTW line will be expanded to include six new boots. The boots will include a balmoral, a chelsea and a Norwegian (the samples in the photo are bespoke but similar styles).


There'll also be new elastic sided slip-on shoes, balmorals, and walking shoes. Interestingly, each of the base shoe models will be offered in a traditional and a modern version.

You really need to see the new samples.

Final Adjustments

Tailor Thomas Mahon was in San Francisco a few days ago and that provided the opportunity to get what should be final adjustments to my first Mahon suit, an effort that we began a year ago. It was fitted for the first time this past Spring.

The suit is a half lined summer weight (ten ounce) mohair and wool blend cut as a 6x2 double breasted. There is a slight sheen to the mohair so I'll wear it on days when I might want to look a bit dressier than normal, and in the evening.


The suit had cleared customs a few days prior which gave me time to wear it for a day to see how it settled. It looked pretty darned good for a first effort with only one previous fitting.


Of course there were some nits. The trousers were a bit tight in the thighs when I sat, which Thomas picked up on before a word left my mouth, the coat needed a bit of shape and the jacket sleeve length was a bit off. I also asked for an eyeglass pocket in the jacket and an English back to the trousers instead of a straight waistband so the trousers will ride like my other suits and won't require me to adjust my braces each time I put it on.


If someone looks closely they may notice the turnback cuffs on the sleeves (click on the photo to see it full size), a subtle Edwardian touch. I think they add a little interest to an otherwise conservative double breasted. The jacket might have been a bit bolder if the lining was the paisley I'd requested, but it arrived navy blue and I elected not to make an issue of it. I've never received a bespoke suit that was exactly what I asked for, so why start now?

All that means this mission is mostly accomplished. In a couple of weeks I'll have a suit that I won't be able to wear until the end of March '08. I'd like to get delivery and season synchronized next time, so I'm planning to order a fresco next. With luck, both the suit and the appropriate season for it will arrive in the Spring.

Style Icon: Luca Di Montezemolo

The Marquis Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Chairman of Ferrari (nice job, no?), is one of the few men on this year's best dressed lists to actually warrant inclusion, in my opinion. Of course, he learned much from Gianni Agnelli, the acknowledged master.

It's been worn millions of times, but the photo shows that the basic combination of a navy suit and a white shirt can still be effective when properly deployed.

Quotation: Count D'Orsay's Example

"I very much enjoyed learning about him, his contemporaries and his way of life. I must also confess to a little bit of what might be called method-writing: inspired by D'Orsay's example of scented gloves I have taken to dabbing my watchstraps with Caron's Coup de Fouet and I've even purchased a white buckskin greatcoat, of which I am sure the count would have approved."

- Last of the Dandies: The Scandalous Life and Escapades of Count D'Orsay by Nick Foulkes

Maintenance: Caring for Suits

A reader asked about the maintenance of suits and the change of season means it's probably time to review those practices once again. So here goes.

The chemicals used in the dry cleaning process can significantly shorten the life of a suit, and I try to have mine cleaned only at the end of their active season. Before cleaning, send suits to an alterations tailor to tighten buttons and make any required repairs. When they come back, have the suits dry cleaned to remove any dirt that might be attractive to moths, and hand pressed. When you get the cleaned and repaired items home, remove the cleaners' poly bags and store them for the inactive season in cloth suit bags.

If you wear hand canvassed jackets and your dry cleaner won't hand press the jacket fronts, I urge you to find another dry cleaner. The photos are of my alterations tailor performing emergency service on one of my jackets after my (now former) cleaners ruined the press of the collar.


Minimizing dry cleaning frequency requires five minutes of home brushing and steaming before and after each wearing. A suit should be brushed to remove dust and dirt before it gets ground into the cloth. After brushing, empty the pockets, remove belts or braces and hang the suit on a shaped or padded hanger with the closures zipped or buttoned.

Suits should rest for at least 24 hours (flannels and tweeds should rest for at least two days) so the cloth has time to recover its shape. Many wrinkles that developed during the wear will fall out of their own accord overnight.

Before wearing a garment again, remove any remaining wrinkles, and any new ones that developed during storage, with a steamer. Steam relaxes the fibers and, unlike ironing, will not scorch them.

Some trousers may lose their crease during the season. When this happens, I prefer to have my trousers pressed but not cleaned (a jacket and trousers should always be cleaned at the same time to keep them looking like a matched set). This is only a good idea if they are brushed regularly. Pressing dusty cloth, even cloth that looks clean, grinds dirt into the fabric. And, because most people don't brush, many cleaners don't offer a separate pressing service.

Need help finding a competent dry cleaner? If there is a Four Seasons Hotel in your city, call and ask where they send their guests' clothing. Try the service they use -it'll usually be the best establishment in town.

Thom Browne Visits Brooks Brothers

Thom Browne put in an appearance at the San Francisco Brooks Brothers to promote the Black Fleece line recently. From the waist up, his clothes wouldn't turn any heads.


From a distance, his signature short trousers, bare ankles, and over-sized shoes are another story.


Some shopping went on at the event, but the flow of bags leaving the store was less than a tidal wave. Of course, at those prices they didn't need to be.

Photographs are courtesy of Drew Altizer Photography. © Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.

A Blurry Forward Fitting

Well to his dismay your fearless reporter forgot to charge his camera battery before his fitting with Peter Harvey of Fallan & Harvey last week. The photos in this essay are from an iPhone. They don't show what they should but they are hopefully better than nothing.


I missed Peter when I was in London last July so this was the first chance we'd had to fit the coat since I wrote about his Spring visit to San Francisco. The faults we found in the first fitting were all fixed, leaving an issue with the sleeve length and the buttons and buttonholes as the only tasks remaining. As is too often the case with bespoke, that means my warm weather jacket will be finished just as the weather turns cold.


It's a three roll 2.5 jacket with patch pockets that will have gilt buttons as it's intended to replace a worn navy blazer. I plan to wear it with gray fresco or, when I'm feeling bold, terra cotta linen trousers.

I left Peter a couple yards of gun club tweed (barely visible on the chair in the back of the second photo) for our next project, an odd jacket for Fall. That one will have crescent pockets and a paddock front.