A New Pattern

My cutter at Henry Poole sent along this photograph of my pattern the other day. It is a first cut at the parts of a new jacket based on measurements taken in San Francisco last Fall.

Patterns are usually made of a sturdy substance called oaktag. They need to be sturdy so they can be laid on the cloth of the garment in process and weighted down rather than pinned (pinning tends to disrupt the lay of the cloth, making it difficult to cut the two layers identically). Then the pieces of cloth - and a three piece suit has nearly twenty of them - can be marked with tailor's chalk before being cut out with shears.

This particular pattern will be turned into a basted jacket for a first fitting in February. Any necessary modifications will be marked on the jacket at that time and later made on the pattern so that it is the repository of the cutter's understanding of how to make a garment that fits the client.

Fit is after all probably the principal single justification for bespoke tailoring. And, since it often takes as many as three jackets to fine tune a pattern so the fit is perfect, one can argue that patterns like this one are, along with people, the principal assets of a tailoring firm.

Photo: Henry Poole

Free Pocket Squares

Well, free pocket squares to those willing to do a bit of work.

We are having a bug hunt at the ASW online haberdashery. While you browse the five new neckties and the knitwear that is or soon will be on offer, buy, or pretend to buy, something and check out using any payment and shipping combination (if you are bug hunting instead of shopping just abandon your cart before paying). Report anything that does not seem to work on the site's Contact Us email form. Please try to provide enough information for us to reproduce the problem.

Note that the site now accepts credit cards, and the checkout process should be offering customers a choice of PayPal, Google Checkout and conventional Visa, Mastercard or Discover processing. U.S. customers should see free UPS Ground, and for-a-charge Second Day Air and Next Day Air shipping options. Outside the U.S. customers should see USPS Priority Mail at this time - we will be adding more options next week.

The first five people to report any particular bug get a pocket square of my choice (some of the squares will be cotton S-G and some will be silk from Drake's). Additional reports will earn an email of gratitude that is unlikely to be suitable for framing.

Thank you in advance for participating.

Somewhat of an Homage to Cary Grant

Of course I can not find it when I need it but a week or so ago I saw a new-to-me photo of Cary Grant wearing a dark suit and necktie with light socks. And so it was that I set out to do the same.

In the photo, a gray flannel suit accessorized above the waist with a gray on white striped shirt, white micro-dot on black necktie and a white linen and cotton pocket square with a gray-green border.


Below the waist, beige socks with beige and green stripes and brown semi-brogues.

Mr. Grant, of course, did it better.

Casentino Cloth

My friend Francesco pointed me at a Casentino cloth overcoat in Milan the other day. Only in Italy, and I think I say that in a good sense.

Casentino cloth has been made in Tuscany since the fifteenth century, and the orange hue in the photograph is, with green, one of the two traditional colorways. Worn in an Ulster style cut with a fox collar and a lining in the aforementioned green, the stuff is inexpensive, rough, water resistant and warm. What's more, spotting another coat like it on the streets of New York is highly unlikely.

But then, one would be wearing an orange overcoat...

Wedding Ties

What is a wedding tie? Or, rather, a wedding appropriate tie? Nothing but the most formal of four in hands, appropriate with semi-formal day wear (the short black jacket, buff waistcoat and gray patterned trouser).


Wedding ties have historically tended to be black or silver to harmonize with that black jacket, but contemporary patterns may be blue and even other colors for wear with a suit. Said suit, of course, will not be black - those are for burials.

Wedding tie patterns are in the style of Macclesfield, an early English tie-making center known for its necktie discretion. I believe it accurate to say that all wedding ties are Macclesfields though not all Macclesfields are wedding ties.


Every necktie-wearing man should own a wedding tie or two.

Photos: Drakes London

What Shall We Wear to Your Wedding?

Town & Country magazine has its Weddings issue this month, and wedding planners rejoice for the start of the season. That means it is timely to discuss the question of what should be worn to these events, particularly in the United States where our heterogenous mix of cultures has left us at the mercy of those same wedding planners due to our lack of a common tradition.

Fortunately for the length of this essay, today we address only the clothing of the male guests at a wedding and not the much more complex choices that face the bride about the wedding party itself. And the choices are complex, for there are essentially three styles of weddings held at two times of day, and the wedding party should wear different clothing for each of them. But, as I wrote, we will only concern ourselves here with the dress of the male guests.

Ignoring time of day, for the dress of the guests does not generally need to change with the time, the three styles of weddings form a pyramid. The broad base at the bottom is the informal event where the bride wears something less traditional than a wedding dress. These are the most difficult events to characterize and one can only recommend a telephone call to the bride or her mother to determine what she will be wearing. For it could be awkward to appear in a necktie when the bride will be in denim, and here in California if not all across the continent one should never assume any level of formality greater than is offered by the products of Levi Strauss & Co.

That said, the top of the wedding pyramid is a formal wedding like that in the illustration, a level of formality that most men never encounter in their lifetimes. The bride wears a long dress, the groom and his party wear formal or semi-formal clothing, and the guests wear lounge suits if there are no strollers already hanging in their closets. Eschew dinner clothes unless the event begins after 6PM.

Navy blue solid suitings are best for events that will continue into the evening, with black shoes, a silver wedding tie, and the three whites, as I like to think of them. Those being the white shirt collar, a white linen handkerchief in the jacket pocket and a white gardenia or carnation as a buttonhole. The last is important as it is the principal remaining item worn by the guests that differentiates the wedding day from an ordinary one.

Between the formality of the long dress and the informality of anything goes is the short white wedding dress event. And here the guests can confidently wear those same navy blue suits, perhaps with a less formal necktie and, during the day, a colored dress shirt. The white pocket square and white buttonhole remain the same.

Whatever the type of wedding, it is important to remember that we are guests of the bride's parents, and it is the bride's day. A suit honors both the occasion and the hosts as we wish the bride and groom a long and happy life together. And by thinking of these things in the depths of winter, we have time to acquire the proper clothing.

Consider the Roll Neck

Of the ways to wear a suit without a necktie in cool weather, perhaps the best of a poor set of choices is the roll neck sweater or jumper, where the collar provides a visual anchor that serves some of the necktie's function.

Single ply cashmere (two ply wears warm under a jacket) plays the best lead in the role of a necktie substitute, though the good stuff - either Scottish or Italian - is as dear as several neckties. Merino wool is a reasonable substitute with most of the hand for a fraction of the cost. Either way, choose a color that picks up a secondary color in the suit, as the sweater picks up the suit stripes in the photo.

This is of course a look that is not intended for the office. Instead, consider it for art gallery openings and cocktail parties on the weekend. That also means that woolen suitings are preferable to worsteds, with flannels being better than tweeds for the city.

Consider, if you must, the roll neck.

Photo: Woolmark Archive and London College of Fashion

Contrast

Today is gloomy on the coast, which meant that an hour spent perusing summer jacketing fabrics helped brighten the morning. And that led in turn to a thought about contrast.

You see, most experts advise that odd jacket ensembles have plenty of contrast between jacket and trousers to ensure that one's clothing is not mistaken for a suit. Now I suppose that is reasonable advice (though I am not completely certain why it should matter) but I originally interpreted the advice to be about color, and have since come to learn that simply combining dark and light is by no means all of it. For combinations in similar tones like the cream jacket and khaki trousers on HRH Prince Charles are quite effective.

The point of the matter is that there is contrast and there is contrast. Which is to say that contrast comes from reflected light, and it is more than just color. Different textures, such as the linen in the jacket and cotton on the trousers in the photo, produce their own contrast. And, in my opinion, similar colors with contrasting textures are more interesting than contrasting colors with similar textures.

Once we accept this principle, it becomes obvious why, for another example, flannel trousers pair so well with worsted blazers. As do gabardine jackets and linen trousers.

Of course, taking advantage of the principle of contrast calls for a bit of planning. When acquiring a new odd jacket, spend the bit of time necessary to acquire contrasting trousers. For a wardrobe consisting entirely of worsteds lacks contrasting textures, and is poorer for it.

Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

More S-G Arrives

Half a dozen more colorways of Simonnot-Godard's linen and cotton pocket squares arrived at the ASW Online Haberdashery receiving dock this past week, including fuschia, orange, lilac, red, violet and dark green on white. There is literally no comparison between the quality of these squares and the non-S-G varieties I accumulated in my own wardrobe over the years. The S-Gs are just that much better. I plan to photograph them today and have them available for sale before the weekend is over.

P.S. For anyone who prefers a payment alternative to PayPal, Google Checkout is now live on the site.

A Tip of the Hat

The two tilts from Michael Alden on Vimeo.

Michael Alden of the London Lounge has been producing, directing and acting in a series of short videos illustrating some aspects of dress, like the one we feature today. And while Mr. Alden may be unlikely to win any international awards for his work, they add a useful perspective on men's clothing and how to wear it.

ASW tips its hat to him.

Have Your Trousers Made

Bespoke trousers are expensive, that is to say £700 ($1,100) and more in England and €700 ($1,000) or more in Naples including standard cloth like flannel and cotton drill. But most men can achieve the majority of the benefit of bespoke odd trousers at a fraction of the price, for trousers are simpler to tailor than jackets and lend themselves to sewing machine sewing. Now I am not familiar with made to measure tailors save the one I use for my clients, but I do know that a diligent search should yield trousers that cost as little as $200 plus cloth, or $300-$400 all in. If you decide to look, start with the Hong Kong boys.

Which leads us to the principal benefit of having one's trousers made, and Mr. Fellows has provided a hint in his illustration. Notice how crisp and straight the trousers fall? For pents, as my genius trousemaker friend Salvatore Ambrosi was calling them for a while, are all about line. As in straight lines.

Which leads us to the point of this essay about trouser cloth. As I wrote in November (Wear Heavier Trousers), trousers drape better when they are as heavy as possible. And that is something that is rarely practical unless a man is choosing his own cloth weights. This essay intends to remind you dear reader that Huddersfield Fine Worsteds, Holland & Sherry and Scabal among others sell world class cloth directly to the public.

What's more, each of these merchants offers to some extent heavy (15-17 ounce/450-510 gram) flannels, heavy Irish linen (14 ounce.420 grams), proper (16-21 ounce/480-620 gram) moleskins, cotton drills and cords and breathable high twist cloth for warm weather. That selection lends itself to trousers that are two to six ounces heavier than ready to wear, hang straighter and look considerably more elegant with or without a jacket.

Made to measure trousers are not as critical as made to measure shirts in the wardrobes of men who care about clothing, but they are an important step that should be considered as soon as they are practical. Have your trousers made.

A Ducal Tweed

I wrote some days ago about a current subscription of the London Lounge Cloth Club and thought readers might enjoy seeing the early twentieth century original and the modern interpretation of the cloth.

In its original form, the tweed worn by the late Duke of Windsor in the unattributed photo was a gift in the then-pattern of one of the Scottish estates. The Duke wore the suit made from it for several decades and though any color photographs seem to be lost the pattern was described several times in letters and articles from the period.


Michael Alden of the London Lounge took the descriptions of the cloth and worked with what I think of as the best tweed mill remaining in Scotland to produce the sample pattern in the photograph. It weighs 14/15 ounces (420-450 grams) and combines green, brown and light blue checks on a tan ground, which will make a country suit that is distinctive without frightening the birds.

Tweed mills are generally set up for short runs of cloth, as much of their business historically came from Scottish estates who were clothing the owners and their staff. Where worsted mills have minimums of hundreds of meters of cloth, tweed mills ask for as little as 40 meters. That makes bespoke runs practical when a small group of men can agree on a common objective.

Kudos to Mr. Alden for helping keep these traditions alive.

Tweed photo: Michael Alden

Finally - the ASW Online Haberdashery

Well there is a lot of work yet to be done, but the first iteration of the ASW online haberdashery is finally up should you care to take a look at it. Mind you, there are only about three dozen products live rather than the hundred that are on the shelves. And neither the knitwear nor the shoes have arrived yet. But mighty oaks from little acorns grow, or so they say. We will be adding products almost daily.

The ASW store will never be a full line men's store because it will not offer tailored clothing or dress shirts, both of which should in my opinion be made for the individual. Instead it focuses on accessories from some of the world's best makers. There are sixfold neckties from E&G Cappelli of Naples and scarves, neckerchiefs, bow ties, and cashmere, silk knit and grenadine neckties from Michael Drake. When it is all photographed the selection of Simonnot-Godard's linen and cotton handerchiefs and squares will to the best of my knowledge be unequalled in the online world. There are also or soon will be exquisite silk ascots and squares from Cravate Royale, very well priced lined sixfold neckties from Vanners Silks, linen sweaters from Inis Meáin Knitting Company, boxcloth and barathea braces with the modern version of gut ends from Albert Thurston and an inventory of shoes from Gaziano & Girling.

Still to come over the course of 2010 are precious metal cufflinks and dress sets, cashmere knitwear, hats and caps and a line of warm weather polos.

The business side of the store will also be evolving. Standard shipping is free in the continental United States. Some countries may assess VAT upon delivery but we never charge sales tax or VAT on purchases. What's more, the U.S. Postal Service's Priority Mail provides a cost-effective international delivery without the handling charges of UPS and FedEx, though when you need faster delivery those alternatives are available. Finally, we currently accept PayPal and will be adding other forms of checkout as soon as we can find the time.

Click on the title of this post to visit the store. I thank those of you who have been ordering things by email these past months as we struggled to get things working, and I look forward to hearing your feedback once you have had the chance to look us over.

In Praise of the Ascot

Well, there was a little confusion around chez Will this past weekend, and the photos for today's post seem to still be at the studio while some photos for the web store are where the post photos were supposed to be. So though we did write about them in the not too distant past today's post is in praise of the ascot. Hopefully, you did want to be reminded about ascots.


Heir to the legacy of the day cravate, such as it is, the ascot is along with the neckerchief one of the few effective ways to dress up an open dress shirt collar when a necktie is either inappropriate or undesireable. Worn with an open collar but a buttoned shirt body under a jacket or a sweater (that is to say a jumper for those in England), the ascot adds a discreet half an inch of color to the neckline. Like the necktie it replaces, an ascot should be color compatible with the other elements of the day's clothing, but different in pattern.

The look may be discreet but there are those men who fear the ascot. Fortunately, those fears tend to be based on apprehension rather than experience. Few people under the age of sixty remember the time in our history when ascot wearing was the province of the ineffectual comedic subject on more than one weekly television series.

Again, for any man who may have missed the point, the import of the ascot (and the neckerchief for that matter) stems principally from the simple fact that the base of the neck is not the most attractive part of the male anatomy. It is better covered, and wearing roll necks/turtlenecks gets old after a while. So, we praise the ascot. As should you.

Rain

It is a sign of the drought we are having in Northern California when it is halfway through the rainy season and there had until yesterday been no reason to wear rain gear.

Yellow Macintosh, estate tweed cap, a cashmere glen check scarf and rubber soled bluchers. No gloves, as I was about to light a cigar.

As Good As It Gets

Chalk striped gray flannel double breasted and ticket pocketed suit worn with brown oxfords, a brown fedora, light blue shirt, navy blue necktie, and white linen pocket square. The red carnation is optional.

In my opinion, this is as good as cool weather clothing gets.

Australian for Underwear

When it comes to underwear, I am a Zimmerli cotton knitwear guy. Nonetheless as I write this I am wearing an Equmen Core Precision Undershirt, an Australian product that apparently contains not a single natural fiber (the label says it is a combination of polyester, nylon and spandex) in support of its heavily promoted mission of posture-improving support. In other words, and I cringe, it is a modern form of girdle.

Now, suspicious though I am of any clothing that is younger than I, I accepted a sample of the $99 (£49) Equmen product because I have been having minor lower back problems. And, sure enough, Equmen works as advertised to provide additional support that helps reduce muscle tiredness. Surprisingly, it is not as constrictive as I expected and I could easily see myself wearing it during a round of golf, for example, to improve my swing consistency. That makes sense as similar stuff is used in modern high performance athletic garb instead of sport taping.

Still, I would feel better if I could get one in cotton.

Maintenance: Sponge and Press

Stu Bloom of RAVE FabriCare wrote last fall to say that he would be instituting a modern version of the sponge and press for those of us who are not fortunate enough to live near a bespoke tailor who offers such a service.

Now there are no signs that Stu has instituted his service yet but the idea was interesting as a sponge and press, particularly the hand ironing press part, is usually all the maintenance that a suit needs unless it picks up a spot or acquires an odor. Suits can tolerate an annual dry cleaning, particularly if that same sponge and press tailor is available to repair the damage done by the cleaners usual attempt to iron the lapels into submission. Unfortunately, few alterations tailors, and those are the only kind of tailors remaining in most American cities, have recognized the revenue opportunity that sponging and pressing suits three or four times a year for $50 (35 euros) an hour might represent.

So, as I wrote, RAVE's prospective offering was of considerable interest. My own indequate attempts at tailored clothing maintenance have over time reduced themselves to the trouser press and my Jiffy steamer. That is because I have received too many dry cleaned suits that went away as a three roll top and returned as a three roll two, or, just as often, the reverse. And I suppose I should not really fault even my otherwise very good cleaning service for inadequately training staff who have most likely never owned a suit or had reason to understand that not all lapels roll the same way. After all, this is San Francisco and there are undoubtedly not many suits cleaned each week in the entirety of the city.

So last night as I contemplated a suit that does not need dry cleaning but would really benefit from a sponge and press, I thought today would be a good day to give RAVE's proposed service a bit of publicity in the hope that signs of prospective demand would get Stu off the dime. His toll-free (in the U.S.) number is 1.800.469.6776. Feel free to tell him ASW sent you.

Bolder is Better

A reader wrote the other day, asking how a boldly checked piece of tweed that I subscribed to a few days ago could make a wearable country suit. And since the cloth in question is based on a suit worn by the late Duke of Windsor after the War, perhaps this 1966 photo of the Duke himself will help me to explain.

If we can agree that woolen suits in solid colors are really city suits at heart, then there are two types of country suits for cool weather. The first, every man of some substance should own. It is a relatively conservative item for Sunday services and the like, in black and white Donegal, brown and cream houndstooth or some other relatively conservative pattern. But it is the other kind that is of greater interest, and it is considerably rarer. That of course is a bolder tweed that can be made into trousers as well as jackets. It is usually woven in a big check and a 15 ounce/450 gram weight in a traditional blend-into-the-hillside pattern that can be worn indoors, unlike the 18 and 20 ounce/540 and 600 gram stuff that was never meant for centrally heated spaces.

Now I will grant you that not every man will be comfortable wearing a tan suit with sky blue and forest green overchecks, or one that appears pink and blue like the Duke's, but my experience is that, properly blended with conservative accessories, they attract less attention than any state of the art fashion from Comme des Garcons. In fact, it used to be said that differentiating the well dressed man from the ordinary was the former's ability to wear strong patterns without being overwhelmed by them.

Done properly, bolder is better.

Photo: Popperphoto/Getty Images

Style Icon: Matteo Marzotto

This stuff is not easy, but a search for well dressed contemporary public figures in the world has turned up a couple that I will present for your consideration in the coming week. As always, the focus is only on a man's dress. Saint or sinner, other personal characteristics are irrelevant.

Our first new style icon became visible as the head of the house of Valentino after it was acquired by his family company in 2002, and though he was not treated with either sympathy or respect in Valentino Garavani's documentary The Last Emperor, Matteo Marzotto consistently presents a well dressed image to the world.


Marzotto displays a commitment to well-cut and slightly informal lounge suits that works well for him. His combination of wardrobe depth and quiet taste makes him a contemporary example of good dress.

Photos: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images and Turismo finanza

The Long and Short of It

I had been thinking about the late Duke of Windsor this week when I subscribed to a London Lounge Cloth Club tweed offering that is a version of a cloth used in a suit he wore after the war. And so it was that I found the photograph in this essay, dated seventy-one years ago. It shows the then Prince of Wales at a round of January golf on the French Riviera, wearing tweed plus fours.

Plus fours, also known as breeks, have virtually died out in the United States, but, as I like to point out annually, they remain practical for winter sports involving mud and the splashing though of same. The benefits are that one's washable socks get dirty but not one's wool trousers, and they are longer, hence warmer, than the bermuda shorts that are year-round golf garb for too many men in California. In addition, they provide another opportunity to wear tweed trousers.

Though it does appear that there is a new set of breek-wearing men in the United States, since a Barbour offering on Sierra Trading Post has sold out.

And that's the long and short of it.

Photo: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Wear Report: Will's Pajamas

A little more than six months ago I received the first of what are now six pairs of Italian linen pajamas made to my measurements by Joe Hemrajani, and I can report that in my opinion the experiment has been a success. The pajamas fit, are comfortable and show no signs of wear despite weekly laundering. That is considerably more than I can say for the ready to wear pajamas I had been wearing previously from two supposedly well regarded makers.

My principal concern initially had been how the linen would hold up to home laundering. Sending these pajamas out to be cleaned would have destroyed the economic argument that began the experiment, but that proved to be unnecessary. Cold water washing and low temperature drying (turned inside out so as not to chip the mother of pearl buttons) has worked fine. There has been no shrinkage and even without ironing the linen looks perfectly acceptable to me. By which I mean that it looks about the same as it does after a night's sleep and I am good with that.

Indeed, my only wish is that the mill supplying the linen had run more of the stuff. In the time we have been ordering our modest amounts, most of the better colors have been depleted, leaving a choice of cream, lavender, or a variety of browns. Not the end of the world as eight pair of linen are probably enough but going forward will present a new challenge. Most shirtings are not heavy enough for pajamas in my opinion, and most of the other cloth meant for tailored clothing is not suitable for laundering.

Still, if we can do as well with the next stuff as we have done with the linen, Will's pajamas will continue to be a success.

Barathea and Boxcloth

Trousers should hang from the shoulders, not the waist. And when it comes to supporting one's trousers from the shoulders there is but one name to consider, in my opinion, and that is England's Albert Thurston, our featured product line of the week. ASW has a stock of the best of the best, eschewing models with black or brown leather ends in favor of the hand stitched white ends that have replaced the no longer available gut ends of years past.


The stock at the ASW store have covered ends by default, including the barathea models that must be special ordered from other suppliers. Barathea of course is for warm weather and boxcloth for cooler temperatures. The former have nickle adjustors and the latter brass.

In the photos, khaki barathea and maroon boxcloth. Also available from stock in Saxe blue boxcloth and crayon blue barathea. 1 1/2"(38mm) wide, 40" long and $95.95 each, including shipping in the continental United States. To order, email will at dynend.com.

Nubby Neckties for Spring

The calendar continues to turn, thank goodness, and in the depths of this miserable winter there are signs of spring. Signs, that is, in the spring/summer collections of the menswear makers.

One spring offering that ASW supports enthusiastically is the resurrection of textured neckties like the sample from Drake's London in the photo, in silk shantung and blends of linen with silk. Both types complement the smoother jacketings of the warmer seasons. For remember, contrasts in texture are generally more satisfactory than contrasts in color, and slubby neckties contrast beautifully with jackets of mohair and silk as well as tropical weight plain weaves.

Look for the nubby neckties of spring in about twelve weeks.

Photo: Drakes London

Native Dress

The concept of native dress has been around for literally centuries, and for most of that time it has been perfectly acceptable at the English court. That means garb ranging from saris to buckskin and feathered headresses legitimately cohabits with dinner jackets, morning coats and lounge suits depending on the occasion.

Dress on the street in San Francisco tends to be khakis and shirts, but the financial district sees the occasional Savile Row suit. And to my mind, both are correct. The polo-wearing engineer wears the native dress of his set, and the management consultant does the same. Appropriateness is all in the mind.

To my way of thinking, confusion sets in when a member of a group where, for example, no-one wears pocket squares begins appearing with silk foulards in his jackets. He may raise an eyebrow. He will cause comment if he escalates again and moves to ascots or bow ties. For he has left the native dress of his circle behind.

At this point a man has a couple of choices. He can regress to the normal dress of his friends and acquaintances. He may choose a new social circle where his dress is considered normal. Or he may begin dressing situationally, where his appearance varies depending on who he is seeing that day.

My own clothing devolved from lounge suits to the knitwear, flannels and leather jackets of the photograph over the course of a career in Silicon Valley. And then things progressed to the point where I was in New York and London much of the time, and my clothing changed back again. I stuck with that, and today I am usually wearing a lounge suit.

It does not matter what people are wearing around me. For that is my native dress.

Such a Pitti

Pitti Imagine Uomo 77, one of the world's leading menswear trade shows, kicks off next week and I am not going to be there as I am not yet permitted to travel. That throws a couple weeks of posting up in the air, sets back the development of the ASW store, and defers a number of fittings for a month. It is quite a disappointment.

Pitti of course is an opportunity to see in one place 742 menswear makers that one would otherwise have to travel thousands of miles to visit. From knitwear weavers to shoemakers, the world shows its stuff in Florence. And many companies that do not exhibit, from Simonnot-Godard to trousermaker Salvatore Ambrosi, are in town as well.

The cancellation of the trip also means there will be no fittings at Cleverley or W. S. Foster in London, where slip-on shoes await. A litany of desired covert coat changes will have to be delivered to Peter Harvey by courier instead of in person. And the first fitting of a navy hopsack blazer at Henry Poole will have to be postponed.

The only ray of sunshine in all this is that the European weather does not seem to be the best, with one of my correspondents reporting that she was unable to commute to her office in London today due to the snow. So perhaps waiting a few weeks is for the best. And the Spring/Summer version of the show will arrive in June.

Nonetheless, it is such a Pitti.

Photo: Pitti Imagine Uomo

The Two Kinds of Tailors

There are two kinds of tailors, in my opinion, and I am planning to switch.

You see, most men do not have many special requirements for their clothes. They want garments that are well cut and fit. That is as far as it goes, and most very good tailors develop a house style to serve those customers. They become so accustomed to turning out the same, for example, 6x2 double breasteds that they lose their ability to make anything more than minor changes. So if a client wants a 4x1, just for the sake of argument, he gets either a refusal (usually accompanied by a turned up nose as if to say the request is in something less than impeccable taste despite having been worn by a significant fraction of the English aristocracy) or delivery of the same 6x2 that the tailor is accustomed to making.

Now, this is perfectly understandable. The first type of tailor has a perfected pattern for his 6x2 and can turn them out when semi-conscious. He may not have so much as made a 4x1 before, and doing so would mean time spent experimenting with the pattern and perhaps even wasting cloth in order to get it right. Time being money, he would rather cut another 6x2.

The second type of tailor will also make a perfectly fine 6x2 double breasted, though he will usually charge a bit more for it. And the premium exists in large part because the second type of tailor stands ready to make what the customer requests. 4x1 DB? Of course, sir, and would you like that with patch pockets?

This willingness to cut the odd patch, flap and bellows pocket is what separates the two types of tailors in my book. And now that I have accumulated what by any reasonable standard is a surfeit of conventional bespoke clothing, my wants grow increasingly exotic. So this year I will be venturing further afield in a search for a new relationship with someone who will make what I want, and do it impeccably.

So the next time I visit London, I plan to seek out Terry Haste, the former head cutter at Huntsman that author Nick Foulkes swears by (and Nick certainly possesses an assortment of one of a kind clothes to complement his proper London worsteds). I will take a look at Richard Anderson, also ex-Huntsman. I will visit Tommy Caraceni in Rome, though I doubt if those logistics will work out. And I plan a trip to Naples in the spring to visit London House, home base for Mariano Rubinacci (in the photograph).

I will have my 4x1 DB. I just need the second type of tailor.

State of the Sales

It is a new year, and with the change of calendar we have come to expect winter sales. And of course, they are about, with the caveat that the offerings are more uneven this year than most. For the majority of retailers were very cautious with their inventories in the soft economic climate, and since they bought less they have less to clear out. That contrasts with a year ago, when great bargains abounded.

That said, we thought readers might enjoy a survey of a few of our favorite shopping sites, to see what might be seen. The following survey is highly arbitrary, and probably not representative of the sites' offerings.

In no particular order:

Scotland's excellent A. Hume Country Clothing has William Lockie cashmere knitwear on sale, but with rather underwhelming discounts of £10 and £20 ($16 and $32) per item.

At Michigan's J. L. Powell, an Irish Navy Alpaca/Linen Blazer Sweater is $548 (£339), marked down from $698.

In the midst of an exceptionally poor selection, Ben Silver has a selection of Brisbane Moss corduroy trousers for $62 (38 pounds), marked down from $155.

Last but by no means least, New York's Paul Stuart has a broader selection than most, though most of the items I liked were available only in Small and XXL. Still, the good looking velvet collared covert coat in the photo is available in a variety of sizes for $1199 (£743), marked down from $1984.

Hopefully we will see more variety and better pricing in a couple of weeks.

Photo: Paul Stuart

Not All Hat Hair is a Bad Thing

The long holiday is drawing to a close, and I for one have been recuperating in the country for several weeks. Which provides the opportunity to remind all of us of another use for the hat, that being when a man is a month past due for a haircut. For hat or cap can conceal considerable disarray, as it does in the photo.

The pictured cap of course is in left over cloth from this season's glen checked suit. It is worn with a jacket in the late and lamented Hunter's of Brora 22 ounce/660 gram keeper's tweed that is every day clothing for men responsible for shooting parties in the Scottish highlands and few others. For cloth this heavy is unwearable in temperatures above 60 degrees F (15C), and the shoulders are only now starting to break in after a decade or thereabouts.

Of course, perfectly reasonable caps can be and are made from much lighter cloth. And though I will not vouch for Shetlands, Cheviot tweeds make fine rain gear in addition to promoting the concept that not all hat hair is a bad thing.

Always Be Flawed

A man's dress should never be perfect, for that would look too studied as well as too dull. Instead, it should always incorporate some sort of minor flaw, like the formality of the spotted bow tie in the photo next to a tweed suit, that keeps it from perfection.

It is easy for the blog writer to know when he has successfully incorporated a flaw, for he receives feedback letting him know that his ensemble would have been more successful if only he had not paired that satin necktie with an informal suit, or brown suede shoes with his navy worsted.

Feedback may be more difficult to come by for men without a public platform, but incorporating a flaw in one's dress is easier than it may appear on the surface. Just bend a rule. Wear knitwear under a suit jacket instead of a vest, or Norwegian slip-on shoes with a suit (any airline flight provides the perfect excuse for that one).

Always be flawed.