Tucked away on 48th Street is one of my favorite stops in Manhattan, Alan Flusser Custom. Flusser was resident that day, dressed in the highly personal fashion that's been his signature the past few years. His look combined worn jeans, a checked shirt, tartan necktie and an Austrian loden style jacket. 
The highlight of the collection for me was a raincoat. Held in the photo by the store's Mark Rykken, the Mackintosh is the original waterproof, named after its Scottish inventor Charles Macintosh. First sold in 1824 and made out of rubberized fabric, the Flusser version is available in three colors including a very stylish banana yellow. It can be made to order, with a choice of corduroy collars and tartan wool linings for $1,395.
Oddly, the company and the coat are spelled with a k, but the inventor's name does not have one. Nonetheless, it's a very stylish Mac.
Monday, November 3, 2008
A Stylish Mac
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
13 comments:
Will, thanks for the update on Flusser and the great photos. His 1981 book, Making The Man was some of the earliest credible writing about men’s dress since the hay-day of Esquire. After all, we didn’t always have your blog! ;-)
Gosh, he’s changed a bit since then. And gosh, so have I!
Considering the cost of off-the-rack Macs (at least in Japan), $1,395 doesn't sound so bad for made-to-order. Don't know about those dunagrees, though...
My favorite photo of Mr. Flusser is one in which he wearing a very casual loud raglan sleeved tweed overcoat. I've been trying to screw up the courage to have that copied since I first saw it.
Will...I must have just missed you at Flussers last week.
I ordered the Mac in yellow with a tattersal lining and corduroy collar. I also had Mark and Alan make a cavalry twill sportcoat with bellows poacher pockets and chest pocket flap. I had trousers made of the same cloth. Might wear it as a country suit...who knows.
Finally, a word on Alan. He remains in my humble opinion, the most erudite style expert in the country. I love the fact that as Alan begins his sixties, he's setteled into a casual eccentricity that is fetching and uniquely individual.
People sometimes are unfair in their judgement of recent/current pictures of Alan snapped on the streets of NYC...by folks like The Sartorialist. He is 25 years older than the publicity photos of him that we all remember seeing when he did the clothes for Wall Street!
Additionally, Alan has always been about comfort and to some degree a bit of bohemian layering and eclecticism when he's not required to wear a suit.
What are your thoughts on his MTM suiting?
Youngin, I know Southwick makes it but I haven't examined it.
The Southwick goods are solid. They've allowed Alan and Mark to create some style treatments that are quintessential Flusser and the goods are priced appropriately for the garment. The shirts are made in Hong Kong.
While on the Flusser topic, I'd like to add a comment or two regarding the Flusser "full service....full price goods" vs. some of the similarly priced options....The "full service" line of Flusser clothing remains, in my opinion, a good value. I'm still wearing Flusser clothing that I had made in 1992. You should see the workroom one floor below the showroom/shop. They have first class, European trained artisans finishing the garmets and they do have the talent and capability to do full bespoke on the premises when required.
Another way that I look at the value equation for Flusser is grounded in the style component. A Flusser garmet is on par price wise generally, with a lot of the off the peg Polo Purple Label stuff and sometimes a bit less than some of the off the peg Brioni and Kiton goods. What you get additionally from Flusser is Alan's styling influence and if he's in the shop, you get his one on one feedback regarding what you are interested in and what would best complement your build coloring etc. Why in the world would you not access that level of guidance as opposed to depending on one of these minimally trained guys with only trace elements of style themselves?
I stick to my guns when I say that Alan's level of erudition and sartorial taste is unimpeachable. The sales guys at Bergdorf, Saks and Polo NYC don't have the skills and/or sartorial knowledge to hold a candle to what you get from a shop like Alan's. These guys are passionate about clothes and styling and that's what I pay for when I go there. That's the differentiator.
As the Flusser price points close in on Savile Row bespoke and as the dollar gets a bit better vs the pound, my rationale my get a bit wobbly regarding Flusser MTM vs. Savile Row.
Thank you for including Mark. He's a legend as well. In the Washington DC of the mid 80s, Mark worked at Britches of Georgetown and I was told he had his own stock boy. He also had a suit named after him, The Rykken although I was partial to The Kennedy. I just missed him when I moved to Chicago where he managed Paul Stuart.
I've been meaning to stop by Flusser's place but hesitate for fear of being shown the door if I only buy a pr of socks.
Tintin, the first couple of times I went in there socks were all I bought. They let me come back so you should be OK.
Tintin,
I buy only socks, handkerchiefs and an occasional tie and they still let me come back.
Tintin....Mark is a great guy and would be so flattered that you remembered the "Rykken" model from Britches. I was an undergrad kid in South Carolina back then and had no money to buy Polo level goods. I would go to DC during the summers and make a b-line to Britches of Georgetown because I could equate the Polo look at a price point affordable to a cash starved college kid. They did private label stuff that was tastier than anything you could find, at that price point anywhere on the east coast.
Britches was a great place. Alexander Julian, Jeffrey Banks and Ralph Lauren, Aboud all sought out Britches as an arbiter/channel to launch their goods when they first began.
Mark tells a delightful story about the evening that Ralph came to Britches for a reception celebrating the launch of Ralph Lauren at the Britches stores. All of the salespeople were obsessed with what to wear to the reception where they would meet and hope to impress Ralph. Mark says it was laughable how theatric the choices were that the salespeople made in order to show Ralph that they were a devotee. Remeber, this was over 25 years ago....Polo was known for dramatically wide lapels and ties.
Mark shares that all of the Britches folks were cowering around in mega pinstripes....white spread collars, paisley wide polo ties, contrasting white french cuffs etc. Only to their chagrin do they see that Ralph walks in wearing....a simple pearl gray flannel two button suit, white shirt, black knit tie pinned at the point collar and black monogram slippers. Priceless!
You should go by and say hello to Mark. The fact that you remember the Rykken model suit will so gratify him that he'll give you a pair of socks!
Will, John and adg- many thanks for your advice and I will visit. He's not getting more than $50 for a pr of socks is he?
Only for the cashmere...
Post a Comment