Richard Kew, the man in the photograph, was reigning at his Albert Thurston stand at Pitti Uomo the other day. Thurston is of course the king of the bracemakers left in the world and it is always a pleasure to meet the people behind the things one has been wearing for lo these many years.
Richard re-assured me that even though there is only one person remaining on his staff that is qualified to hand stitch the buttonholes on the covered ends of the traditionally constructed braces that I insist on ordering, they will continue to be available indefinitely. So no compromise is required, as of yet anyway.
That is a good thing because in addition to the warm glow one gets from wearing something that is made as well as it can be, only those traditionally made braces are available with white ends. The others come in either black or brown and, since the ends on a pair of braces should be the same general color as one's shoes, that means each of those lesser pair is qualified to do only half the duty of the somewhat more expensive white ones. For the white may be worn with both colors, which makes it one of those good situations where a wardrobe of the better made versions is actually less costly as fewer pair are required.
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5 comments:
What exactly ARE the covered ends? I don't think I've ever seen them and the photos on the Thurston website aren't quite big enough to tell. It looks like they're leather ends, but with an extra bit of leather over the ends to help reinforce everything?
http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/2010/01/barathea-and-boxcloth.html
The standard ends are thin pieces of leather. The white ones are doubled over, and cover a length of something much like fishing line that adds strength.
The white ends are definitely better from a use point of view and in my opinion more aesthetically pleasing than the black or brown although I have all types. Boxcloth is the king of brace material but it works best when it's cooler. For hot weather linen or silk are better.
Dear Will, I always felt that boxcloth braces were more appropriate for odd jackets or country suits and barathea were the better choice for a city/business suit. I am interested in your point of view on the matter. Thank you.
Stepan, I think of them as seasonal. Barathea for warm weather and boxcloth for cool.
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