What's In A Name (it works both ways)

Recently on a hunting trip I found a glen check suit with a tan cast and a faint blue overcheck, styled in full blast traditional American details: 3/2 roll, undarted front, two button cuff, center vent, and flat front pants. First thing I saw in amongst a lot of junk that day, I scooped it right up.

Via none other than the High Holy Brethren Theyselves, the Brothers Brooks. Score, right? Maybe not.

This suit felt a bit "crunchy" as I say. Lots of times, in thrift shops, things feel this way when they are in desperate need of dry cleaning. Lots of times, good dry cleaning brings hem back and renders them soft and cozy once again. But not always...

Turns out this ones "Crunchy" a'cause its made mostly out of polyester. For shame, Brooks Brothers, you say. But let us not forger that it was the very Brethren Theyselves that unleashed DuPont's Dacron monster on the world. In the end, I left this one behind.

A "Good Name" isn't always attached to good quality, just as good quality isn't always attached to a "Good Name". Know the difference.

p.s. new stuff in the Shop. Go see.

Business Casual

The other day, I read a post  on Put This On about dressing down a suit, and I thought I might offer my own two cents on the subject. As someone who only ever wears a suit by choice, it's something I think about now and then. I personally tend to prefer a sports jacket and trousers most of the time. It's a look that is inherently less dressy than a suit, and allows for more room to play. Jackets can range in color and texture from the staid formality of a classic and well cut navy blazer to tweeds and linens in all manner of bright color and pattern. Still, I do like to wear a suit sometimes. The tough thing is that many suits, particularly navy and grey, are difficult to wear without looking like you're dressed for a business setting, which I never am, so it helps to find ways to soften the edges. 

I'm not a fan of the look of a suit with no tie, something that's become increasingly popular in the past few years. To me, it always looks like you just left the office and are out grabbing a beer before heading home, in other words, like an incomplete outfit. Rather, I like to use accessories and minor details less aligned with business situation to do the trick. Pictured above is a worsted grey pinstripe suit, ($12.98 in a thrift shop), softened with a glen check tie in an earth tone, a pattern and color hinting more at country clothing ($1.99),and a densely printed paisley square rather than white ($2.99, found in the ladies scarves in a thrift store). A white shirt with a suit like this may be as proper as can be with a suit like this, but I opted for a softer one with a button down collar by Brooks Brothers ($5.49). 

Instead of black, all my leather accessories are brown. Added to that, the shoes are heavy longwing brogues, another style derivative of country clothing. The skull and bones socks are perhaps totally silly, but again, a good degree less formal than plain black or grey. (side note: don't wear argyle socks with a suit, ever. I hate that.)

With a little whiff of imagination, you can wear your business clothes in a more casual way.

p.s. In writing this post and searching back through my own blog for links, I realize that I have written much the same thing on this same topic about this same suit before, right about this time of year when I first pull this suit out of storage (see here). I suppose that means that a grey pin stripe suit really is the most challenging thing to wear outside of its proper context of business, or that immutable things like classic menswear are hard to blog about for over five years without at least a little repetition. Oops.

A Matter of Proportion, part 2

...or "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

I recently found this really great tweed check at a thrift shop. It's thick but soft and has a great earthy color scheme accented by a punch of burnt orange, very British. The combination of details it carries is pretty cool too: natural American style shoulders, 3/2 front, with darts, three button cuffs and a center vent. The flap on the breast pocket is the icing on the cake. But if it's going to be mine, it will need some work.

It fits me great through the shoulders and chest, but it's a size "long" and wear a "regular". I'd need to be two inches taller at least. As you know, I'm a big proponent of utilizing the skills of a good local tailor on good clothes found through thrift, but an educated consumer also needs know what realistically can and can't be done. Obviously, the sleeves are long and shortening those would be no trouble or great expense. However, in this case, the skirt of the jacket needs to come up by about two inches. It can be done, but it's a costly job averaging between $35-$50 when done well. Still, that's not the kiss of death.

No, the decision not to alter this coat is a matter of proportion. Even if done well, shortening this coat will drastically change it's lines. The pockets will set too close to the hem, and the button stance won't look right. In back, the vent will become too shallow. A good tailor can do the work, but an excellent tailor will refuse it for these reasons. I recently came across a double breasted navy blazer by Paul Stuart at a thrift. It was obvious immediately that the coat had been shortened for all the reasons I just listed. The work had been done well, but the coat would never look right again, no matter how nice it may have been in the first place. I threw that one back.

Finding a good tailor doesn't only mean finding one who can execute your requests well, but also one who knows when to say no. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

A Good Suit

Last Saturday, my first customers in the shop were a boy, about twelve, and his dad. The boy wore sweats, a ball cap and sneakers, and the dad looked like, you know, a dad. My first thought was that maybe the dad was going to make the boy suffer through an awkward vintage shopping experience. But I was wrong.

Turns out, the boy needed an outfit for an upcoming school production of "Guys and Dolls". It just so happened that I had a recently acquired Brooks Brothers blue glen check suit in less than 36 short, likely from the boy's department anyway. Not exactly period correct, but the kid tried it on and the coat fit him like a glove. Trousers were good too, but for a bit big in the waist. I also had a small size grey fedora hat in stock, and offered to throw in a couple of vintage 1940s ties I had laying around if they bought the suit and hat.

"Well sir, do you need a new suit" said the dad. "Really?" said the boy, beaming. "It's a good suit. You'll even be able to wear it for a few years if someone gets married or something. I bet your mother would approve." I said. The dad bought the suit, the kid was happy, and I was reminded of the best reasons why I do what I do.

p.s. new stuff today in the Shop. Check it out.

Another Man's Clothes

People often ask me "doesn't it bother you to wear another man's clothes?", or coarser still "how can you wear a dead guy's things?" The answers are respectively "No", and "with great pleasure".

A while back, I acquired a truly beautiful navy blazer through a trade, and it quickly become a staple and a favorite. Originally found by good friend Zach, it was hand made in New York of very fine cashmere for a man who just so happened to be built exactly like me, with perhaps slightly longer arms. Mere weeks later, the above jacket surfaced. It's the same coat, down to every detail, only this time rendered in a large scale glen check with blue accents, also cashmere. The fit you see here is "as is".Incredible.Once again, found by Zach and acquired through trade.

Ticket pocket and two button cuffs, with side vents...

with not black, but smoke blue buttons to bring out the blue accents in the check. This thing is for real.

Once again, by Virgil Carducci of Fifth Avenue. The name remains a mystery.

So,I guess when such a thing happens, one can only assume that some fellow has died and his things are now being cast away by family members. It's very likely. I can fully understand why many people would find this to be a bit creepy, I get it. But I choose to believe that the kind of man who commissions such garments to be made would be happier to see them in use than be quarantined simply because the original purchaser has passed on. What good can come of that, really? Whoever he was, both he and Virgil put a lot of soul into these jackets, and I'm happy to keep them alive. There really is no need to be morbid about it, is there?

Frankly, I'll be thrilled if his suits start turning up  soon.I bet (hope) they have forward pleats.

p.s. Spring goods trickling in to the Shop. Silk jackets have begun to post today.

Opposites Attract

A pair of Albert Thurston braces, new in the box with a price tag from the Andover Shop is a rare enough thrift store find. When they're bright orange with white leather fittings, it's awe inspiring. I wish I could claim credit for digging these up, but that honor belongs to Zach. After a bit of cajoling, I managed to talk him into trading for a pair of black watch trousers and a vintage shantung tie from J. Press.  (Zach and I trade thrift store finds with some frequency. Look for an upcoming series of posts about our swaps)

Lately, my taste in trousers has turned almost exclusively to forward pleats, and as a result, I've been collecting and wearing braces quite a bit. I have a good number of pair in vibrant stripes and colors, but find myself reaching most often for a somber set in navy with a hunter green rear blade and brown leather fittings. These orange ones, for as great as they are, can be tough to wear. I find that their best counterpart is their exact opposite, navy blue.

Fist time out, with a Brooks Brothers shirt ($5.49) and a Liberty of London tie ($2.99), both in navy and white. This combination was kept in check with charcoal flannels and a Polo navy double breasted blazer.

Second run, a week later, and the same tie makes another appearance, this time with a vintage white oxford shirt with unlined, long pointed collar, not unlike the one Bruce Boyer recently commissioned from Mercer. It's perfect for a collar pin.



This time, with a Southwick glen check suit with faint blue overcheck in cashmere blend (the result of another trade with Zach). A little more bold than the blazer and flannels combo, but still relatively classic.

Bright colors are a great thing to bring into your wardrobe once  you become a confident dresser. They can be daunting, but they don't have to be. Remember, temper them with quieter, classic pieces and let them do the talking.

p.s. given that the rear blade and leather are white, these are pretty much a guarantee with black tie.

p.p.s. new stuff in the Shop, including a rare 1940s Continental style suit. Check it out.

Halfsies

Last year, I acquired this glen check suit with light blue overcheck in a soft wool and cashmere blend by Hickey Freeman through one of my by now notorious trades with the venerable Mr. De Luca of Newton Street Vintage:

I'd wanted a good glen check suit for some time, and this one had a nice scale to it. Large enough to be prominent, small enough to appear as pale grey flannel from a distance of ten feet. I like glen checks best with an overcheck. In the old days I was certain only red would do, but blue is much more understated and workable. Brings the possibility of navy ties into the picture, despite the general black and with nature of the suit.

A suit like this is what I might call an "extra suit" in that it should really only find its place in a man's wardrobe well after he's acquired suits in navy, charcoal, and perhaps the same with some sort of stripes. For someone like me who never really needs so mach as a tie, let alone a suit, it could be better called an unnecessary frivolity. But so be it.  Oddly, in its way it's more useful to me than a navy or grey suit. Given its more casual connotations, it reads less like a business suit and as such feels more comfortable when worn for its own sake. Besides, dare I say it, it actually works as well as (gasp) two separate pieces as it does a suit. I wouldn't give such grotesquely incorrect advice lightly, so please allow me to explain.

For starters, we can see that the suit works quite well in its complete form. It is well constructed with a soft three button stance, darted front, moderate shoulders and side vents, with forward pleated trousers. This gives it just the level of formality that a suit should have.Sharp enough to be worn "in town" (as though that mattered anymore) but not so stiff as to be bound only for business meetings. In this photo, the camera is set about ten feet back, and the glen check pattern so obvious in the first photo is muted from this distance. True, the right sleeve could be a whiff longer, but let's not pick nits.

The trousers work just as well on their own with a vintage varsity cardigan in a big cut with shawl collar. A navy or black jacket would go just as well for a slightly dressier look, while a heavy black turtleneck sweater would be more casual. True, these trousers are half a suit, but glen check trousers are frequently seen alone as a single garment in their own right. As a side note, for men who actually work in businesses that require suits this look works quite well in the privacy on the office. Wear the suit on the commute, with clients, and at board meetings, keep the cardigan in the office for greater comfort while working behind closed doors.

No problem wearing a solo glen check jacket either, especially with dark grey flannels, aka "the pants that go with everything". Like the trousers, glen check jackets exist alone too, and a light grey jacket is something unexpected these days, though still quite correct. Even my nemesis agrees. A younger man could wear this jacket quite well with dark jeans and a crisp shirt, sans tie. Navy pants, never a favorite of mine, would work too. Just don't pair it with black pants. In fact, unless you're in a tux, don't wear black pants...ever.

This approach doesn't work for most suits, as the separate pieces will always look like just that, pieces separate from their counterparts. Stripes are the most glaring example, but I find a separate navy or charcoal jacket just as orphaned looking. Glen checks, being more about pattern and texture, get a pass, if you're careful and you can pull it off. Go halfsies with a suit like this, and you might get three outfits in one.





Endless Tweed

Herringbone, houndstooth, glen check and tattersall. I've been stockpiling the heavy goods all Summer. Coming soon to Top Shelf Flea Market 6.

Sea Foam Surprise

Two good old friends will get a nice chuckle out of the title of this post (private joke, not telling). For the rest of you, I offer this version of the sea foam surprise:

A suit in glen check of a subtle scale may not be anything shocking, in black and white, looking like pale grey. If it's zesty, it will have an overcheck in blue or red. But a glen check suit in pale green with an overcheck in...dare I say it...sea foam??? Filthy, degenerate...brilliant. (caveat: the photos simply do not do the color of this thing justice)

Bearing what appear to be actual horn buttons...

In some unheard-of fabric composed of 79% wool/21% linen. Lightweight but sturdy, comfortable on a hot day, crinkles just enough (but not too much) to look like Summer...

Off-the-rack  number from Paul Stuart, fits me like a glove...

Not bad with a Brooks Brothers USA made pinpoint button down shirt and an Italian made Polo bow tie.

I am in no way one to advocate the separation of suits, but I think this one wil work as well as two pices as it does as one. The pants will jam with a white tennis shirt and navy blazer...the jacket will work with tan, navy, charcoal, or cream slacks.

$14.99 (plus $12 dry cleaning) well spent, no?

p.s. remember that teaser photo of a tote bag bursting with ties a while back? The first batch of the went up on the shop today, with more to come next week. Check it.

Neutrality

I often like to indulge in bright colors and pattern matching that is likely excessive (though my preference for that does seem to be wearing off in my old age). Still, nothing puts it all in perspective like an assemblage of neutrals.

Still, an assemblage of neutrals doesn't need to be boring by any means. This is the time to play with texture and material. Remember too that black and white don't have to be kept separate from brown and tan. I think quite the opposite is true, that the four of them together, while perhaps more difficult to pull off at first, is far more interesting.

Here. a newly acquired jacket in black and white glen check, sans colored overcheck, gets its first outing ($7.49). The coat is unidentified, but carries all the right details: 3/2 roll, a high notch,  no darts, center vent, natural shoulders and half lining. The three button cuffs, as opposed to two button, lead me to believe that it might be from J. Press.  True, it might be half of a suit, but I don't think so. In this particular case, I hardly think it matters. The cloth is what I'd call 10 month weight, but two weeks ago on a day that hovered at 70, it was a nice break from my navy and white Summer uniform.

A white pinpoint Brooks Brothers shirt with button down collar ($5.49) is an obvious choice. A black silk knit tie (Lands' End, gratis) adds texture while keeping it simple. Brown Ray Bans, rather than black, with green lenses may be unexpected, but the country origins of a pattern like glen check take to brown accessories well, despite it being actually black and white. The pin on the tie is proof that I can't leave well enough alone, even when I'm supposedly "keeping it simple".

Below, tan trousers in silk/cotton blend with forward pleats by Ralph ($5.99), and old favorite brown tassel loafers, with off white dress socks in one of the few situations I can think of where they are actually the right choice.

Just because you're keeping it simple, doesn't mean you can't also keep it interesting.

United Nations

I write about men's clothes, and being from Boston, my own experience and personal style lies heavily in the classic American East Coast camp. While "Made in USA" have of late become nearly holy writ on a clothing label, I'm not one to marry myself to such a narrow field of vision. Last time I checked, the Europeans knew their way around the finer things too.

The general look of today's ensemble is in many ways rooted in the British countryside. Tweed jacket, broad glen checks, informal tie( the other perfect knit tie; silk with white dots) and a yellow vest, all brought down from the equestrian tradition. A tab collar on the shirt would have been great here, but a short pointed spread works pretty good, too.

The jacket hails from the quintessential American brand, Brooks Brothers. A recent piece, made of fine, soft wool, $7.49. Continental/Neapolitan details, such as soft shoulders, high gorge two button front and four button cuffs define this coat...

...as well they might, given its Italian provenance. Truthfully, I prefer my Brooks Brothers old, undarted and American, but a piece like this for practically nothing is too good to pass up.

The Brothers strike again with the tie, and once again we have the Italians to thank for it.

The yellow/buff vest is a very English convention when rendered in soft doeskin. This one, a vintage number likely from the early 1960s, is knitted of fine wool, maybe merino, and has a killer vintage pocket detail and tiny side vents.

Once again, the Italians are to blame. Full fashioned...good thing, I just hate it when my clothes are only partial fashioned.

Below, a favorite pair of vintage charcoal worsted slacks, well fitted yet narrow enough to remain in keeping with the overall continental vibe here, with chocolate brown suede USA made Allen Edmonds shoes, and silly skull and bones socks...just to drive you crazy.

A real Bavarian Alpine hat, adorned with a vintage hat pin from the Andover Shop, is the whipped  cream on top.

And since my birthday is this weekend, my parents, as usual and despite my yearly protest, gave me a card full of money with the instructions that it not be spent on anything responsible. In the past I've used this money to pay a bill, or something. This year, I decided instead to do it right. A lunch of sushi and a Sapporo is in keeping with the days theme of internationalism...

...as was the bag of drink that came hone with me tonight. Chateau Tariquet 15 year old Bas Armagnac, from France, was a gift from the job ( working in a wine shop has its advantages). Bunnahabhain 12 year old single Islay malt Scotch and Kopke Colheita 1997 Port rounded out my own use of the birthday cash. Consider my house "Winterized" as it were. A man's got to keep warm, you know.

shop news: the Shop has more items than ever, including most recently some choice coats and other outerwear. You've got to keep warm too, you know.