Cuff Your Enthusiasm Part 2
What follows is a small sampling of cufflink makers, cufflink designers, wardrobe designers or cufflink merchants and their opinions on what is popular in English circles in terms of cufflinks.
Fine Enamels:
They make mainly standard and themed cufflinks; carried by stores like Harvie and Hudson."
The most popular are the standard cufflinks (ovals and the other “classics”).
A huge seller is the Spitfire plane. Rugby and cricket themes are also popular. Although the Churchill image is relatively popular, the English eschew idolatry and this is preferred by Americans who want to show their support.
The English like white metal (including platinum). Rhodium plating of white base metals retards tarnishing.
Fine Enamels trademark is to make their oval, rectangular and circular cufflinks a wider gauge than most makers which gives them both a heft and a uniqueness. This provides a surface interest which stands apart from the vivid shirt fabrics the English often choose.
Rugby cufflinks by Fine Enamels, Inc. Available at fine men’s shops like Harvie and Hudson.
For enamels, blue is by far the most popular color. Black or white are popular for weddings. Pink is also quite popular. Occasionally a wild color like Lime green will work; but only for a season.
The London office worker tends to be more flamboyant than Britons across the rest of the country. Fine Enamels targets the gift market. That’s both sorts of gift; women buying for men and men buying them for themselves.
Flying Scotsman also by Fine Enamels. It has an interesting “swivel” way of securing itself through the cuff.
Sports themes are very popular. And as mentioned, the spitfire is a success, enough so to offer it in several versions. The English like the different regional flags too ( England, Scotland, Wales).
Harold Cox:
Retails thousands upon thousands of cufflinks from the most expensive to the relatively bargain price. Their customer base is mostly England. Women have become a new and considerable element of their client base.
Harold Cox of London sell a large variety of cufflinks in their brick and Mortar shop but also carry a smattering of their stock online.
Harold Cox maintain that individual taste plays a huge part in English cufflink selection. Absolutely anything goes. Every conceivable color in enamels, and any shape from guns to lanterns. No cufflink request surprises them anymore. Englishmen indulge themselves and price is no object for the English to express themselves here.
Linked cufflinks are more popular than clip back but the clips are catching up. There are no rules at all because the English don’t make judgments about cufflinks, just the manner in which they are worn. Tongue-in-cheek is approved of, taking oneself too seriously is not.
The English like to be noticed surreptitiously. If someone wants a bottle of beer on a cufflink, they will make it up. Naked women? No problem. Pigs are quite popular, representing not just the pig farmer but the cult of the male chauvinist.
Deakin and Francis Essex Crystal are very lovely. They are quite dear and not for someone who has a tendency to bang their wrists on door knobs!”
Silver cufflinks were all the rage but that’s changing again. People get tired of the same old thing. Suddenly everyone is wearing cufflinks, men, women, older, younger. Clip backed styles are becoming very popular again. Novelty cufflinks are, and have been for a long time, used as a tacit way for the English to break the ice with each other. One cannot simply go up and speak to a person but if you see his cufflinks, you can make a comment on them.
The bolder shirts won in the UK, demand stronger cufflinks too. Harrod’s, the great department store, number one shirt color sales resided with pinks. Generally, the English don’t like to spend a lot of money but for cufflinks they will stretch a bit to get what they want. The City of London is different than the West End of London in terms of tastes, backgrounds, messages. It’s tribal really.
And tastes do vary. Central London will buy picture cufflinks but the North of England loves novelty and the Midlands seem more likely to go for flag styles. Cat’s-eye cufflinks are popular because they catch the light. Watch cufflinks and flashing light cufflinks also work very well in England. In America these traditionally would run you into trouble with polite company; although that is rapidly changing.
Duchamp:
Duchamp make a wide variety of colorful enamels that are always a cut above the ordinary.
This firm is a tribute to colorful style that’s palatable for most English circles in the City. Many of their items add that touch of the dandy which the artist Dali was so fond of and carried off with such aplomb. They make a variety of accessories for men but the cufflinks are a stand out. Often, finishing touches are what separate the well dressed from the individualistically well dressed. Duchamp’s success proves that the concept of the London dandy is alive and well.
Duchamp loves color.
Duchamp’s cufflinks are both beautiful and affordable. Using art and especially surrealists like Salvador Dali for a mind-spring, color and a taste for the abstractly eye fetching are the weapons employed by Duchamp. The result is a never ending late sixties-early seventies celebration. They are like the SAS of dandyism with accessories proving that “who dares wins.”
Tatteossian:
Tatteossian. “King Kong ain’t got nothing on me…”
Designed by a City Lad for the City Lads. These cufflinks are brassy and clever and go perfectly with the City Trader aesthetic. If you free yourself from self consciousness you can design cufflinks that express a pure mood. These cufflinks accomplish this. Their fiber optic cufflinks are quite hip, especially the “round sushi” and the “traffic” models. Actually the entire line lends itself to both old world tailoring and to a more contemporary look ala Kilgour or even Boateng. This is a fence the English straddle well. Their skull king demonstrates the English ability to make a joke about their tastes before someone else can and to take a piece “over the top” and give it style.
Dunhill:
Dunhill carry great cufflinks which have terrific modern design and are engineered in such a unique manner that one can always tell it’s one of their items. Some of the themes are quite edgy but still carry enough class and tradition to make them acceptable across the board amongst all sorts of English shirt wearers. Their Headlamp cufflinks and the spider are both particularly well executed but they make a variety of plainer cufflinks too. Dunhill are known for a very modern, stylized look which in some ways, ironically, is reminiscent of the 1970s fascination with pan-cultural modernism. When I look at Dunhill’s cufflinks, I see “stewardesses” in full uniforms, I see the panorama of A Clockwork Orange or 2001 a Space Odyssey as directed by Kubrick; I see Future Shock.
Paul Smith:
Paul Smith has designed large and or bold cufflinks that still have enough self deprecating humor and class elegance about them to appeal to even the stodgiest English office worker. Year in and year out, this company designs humorous and slightly naughty cufflinks to adorn the cuffs of boldly checked and striped shirts. A favorite recurring theme is the flickering image of a woman who becomes undressed when the cufflink is tilted a certain way; proving that this company is expert in the art of clandestine style.
Paul Smith “flicker” cufflinks.
Also popular are his mini cooper and cartoon images whether cut outs or actual illustrations under enamel. Paul Smith himself seems to embody the very essence of English eccentricity along the lines of City lad meets Jack the Ripper. I have to say that Paul Smith’s cufflink designs are always ingenious and even when risqué are never outré.
Deakin and Francis:
http://www.deakinandfrancis.co.uk/
Deakin and Francis cufflinks are traditionally crafted even if they sometimes buck the establishment.
At this price level, The English become more traditional than other nationalites for cufflinks. The Gold ovals with your grandfather or great grandfather’s initials are still much slavered over by the English.
The only difference between bar or chain attachments seems to be for people who want to get the cufflinks through their shirts a little faster in the morning; chain attachments often go on before the shirt is donned and one can then wriggle their wrist through the cuffs.
The gold skull cufflinks are very popular, the ones where the jaw moves and forces out jeweled eyes set in the sockets; in fact at the moment, it is the bulk of what they are making. Also popular are the black gem encrusted skulls in rubies, sapphires, emeralds or black diamonds; one of four or five different models of skull they offer.
Deakin and Francis for William and Son, London.
A Viking helmet was a request made by a Chinese man to honor a distant relation. Aside for English predilection for chain links versus clip back or bar; tastes are very subjective. Thus the English will wear anything in their cuff, even a pair of bare feet in sterling as a gift purchase for someone running a marathon. The trend is back into yellow-gold metals for cufflinks.
Of course they also make most of the finer enameled ovals one sees and they both come in a variety of diametrical sizes and are thin gauge making for an elegant cufflink.
William and Son
The heir of long standing British jeweler and accessories store Asprey opened this shop after the family business was sold. Thus their cufflink story starts long before William and Son opened their doors.
In about the mid 1980s, English men were just starting to pay attention to details of grooming. Ferraris like 250 GTOs were very much in demand, going for as much as a million pounds at auction. An idea came to him to make cufflinks based on classic racing car wheels; black enamel tires with white gold spokes yellow gold wing nuts with a drum behind it. Porsche rims, Ferrari wheels with the logo on the front. They flew off the shelves.
Before 1985 most cufflinks were more jewelry oriented rather than quality standard novelty ones. The standard was a classic yellow gold oval for given as a gift for an 18th birthday; engraved with either the family crest or their initials.
Roy would follow the shirt color trends on Jermyn Street and would fire up enamel cufflinks in combinations that complimented them. Matching shirt and cufflink colors is an Anglicism which can be a very nice diversion for Americans who tend to focus on contrast.
Fire kilned enamels were made in the 1920s and then died out but made a comeback in the 1980s. Offered in two toned colors such as, red and blue, blue and yellow, pink and blue, purple and aqua. Today, colored enameled ovals are one of the most popular cufflink styles in Britain.
Deakin and Francis do a lot of hand painted enamels on 18k gold which ensures that any lessons they teach will be valuable.
Even in England where cufflinks were always popular, they are now more popular than ever. And the question is, do the English judge each other by cufflinks? It is human nature to size people up upon meeting them for the first time and they’re going to use certain bellwethers; shoes, watch, cufflinks and tie to see if people are up to scratch. In England a double cuff is not considered supercilious.
The King of Norway (Olaf) always came to donate a Christmas tree in Trafalgar square as a tribute and sign of thanks to the Queen. Always wore a bowler hat and carried an umbrella. They made a black onyx bowler hat (profiled and flat backed so it sat flat against the cuff) chain connection and attached to a black onyx umbrella (unfolded) with tiny diamonds for the tips of the frame.
The English like to be individuals but still want people to know that they have something valuable and desirable on their cuff.
After Asprey was sold to the Sultan of Brunei, the oldest son of John Asprey, William decided to open up his own shop in 2000. They still cater to the whims of their clients. Sapphire knots (three bands of gold in a knot with a sapphire on the tip) for the Mandarins of the civil service; masculine hematite cufflinks with a mirror finish for the city lads to wear.
Elizabeth Parker:
Englishman like certain shapes and colors. Reds and blues, black and white, keeping it all classic and simple. The English still retain an image of the gentleman and stick to relatively safe colors, patterns and shapes. In terms of cufflink materials, the English are currently moving toward gold and jewels. More English men are buying their own cufflinks now and even the English women are wearing more and more cufflinks.
Elizabeth Parker create a palatable cufflink for the “everyman”.
In England, because the view is that a newscaster is coming into your living room and wants to be your friend, many savvy television presenters want to make a good impression and take pains choosing tasteful cufflinks. Others who wear more casual or less tasteful clothing choices hear about it from viewers!
Is there a difference between a well dressed man and a dandy? Yes, dandy is a bit more quirky and more in touch with his feminine side. A dandy might have different stitching on his shoes, someone who pushes the edges just a bit.
A smart dresser would wear a pair of cufflinks that were smart but “safe” and very simple in design. A dandy would wear something with a swirl; something not quite normal or average.
E. Parker manufactures a wide variety of cufflinks both a core range that their company wholesales and specific ranges designed for various stores or companies. Base metals, precious metals and tones are all used. Suffice to say they make a lot of cufflinks.
Safe and sound with Elizabeth Parker.
In America, the men want the cufflinks made bigger and/or chunkier for heightened notice-ability while the English rely more on the functionality and a smaller splash of color or reflection.
In England, cufflinks are an add on, men don’t necessarily think about what they are looking for but they know what they like when they see it and the key is to provide them with those items that strike their fancy.
Towlers:
This firm makes reasonably priced cufflinks of excellent quality for the wholesale trade. They make novelty, theme based and geometric cufflinks in sterling, base metal and enamels. They fit well against the shirt and they appeal to the English desire to look smart and live simply.
Towlers cufflinks all go into the shirt cuff effortlessly and allow room for the wrist while still looking smart and remaining secure. Towlers knows what the English like and deliver it to them. Towlers also manufactures beautiful silk knots in an almost inexhaustible supply of solid colors and color combinations and in a variety of shapes.
The cufflinks below are either Towlers or T.M. Lewin:
Towlers also supplies many shops in the industry producing collections to go well with a given season’s colors and patterns.
To sum up
The English are wild about cufflinks as an expression of individuality. There will be tribal differences with the more discreet circles eschewing animal imagoes and some of the larger, louder cufflinks for smaller, enameled ovals, simple stones like lapis perhaps with a gold rim and a small ruby in the center or a mother of pearl set in sterling or gold which mimics an actual shirt button.
The English city lads like loud or striking cufflinks that cut through the busyness of their shirts but enameled ovals in simple two color combinations using blue, red, yellow, white and pink or plain sterling or gold ovals (sometimes domed) are the most common choices.
Although the English are not a people to wear their hearts on their sleeves, they will wear hearts on their cuffs along with a variety of other shapes. It is all a part of the English need for snippets of deviance which relieve them of their normative rules of social behavior.
Creative cufflinks are thus a symbol of the inner Briton clawing his way through his gray, icy surface. It is a part of their culture to wear interesting cufflinks that other people can appreciate and even smile at but outsiders can sidestep the repression that gives rise to this sort of display and merely enjoy the idea of wearing interesting and thoughtful cufflinks which do not have to cost an arm and a leg.
Comment [3]
Triumphing Over Time: Lasting Elements of Classic Style
What are the lasting elements of classic style? For most people, it’s probably a long list and definitions will vary from person to person. My definition is the following: clothing elements which have remained more or less unchanged in design and function for at least 50 years and which have never been irreversibly altered by fashion designers and retailers. Everyone will have their own list—this is mine.
Double-Breasted Suits
Double-breasted men’s suits have been around for two or three centuries, depending on your definition of “suit”, but the recognizably modern version appeared in the 1930s with the rise to primacy of Savile Row tailoring. The modern version has balanced proportions, long(ish) peaked lapels, buttons on the waistline, and a fitted silhouette (the vests have disappeared). Deviations in the 1960s and 1980s were short-lived and did not impact the classic design. Go to a good tailor today and he will make you a double-breasted suit that has not changed in eighty years.
Single-Breasted Sports Jackets
Easy to overlook, but indispensable. First appearing in the 1920s, the earliest versions were truly “odd jackets”, distinguished both in details and application from suits. Belts, pleats, and lots of buttons were the order of the day. In the 1930s, simplified versions resembling suit jackets became more popular and the early Norfolk jacket versions largely disappeared from men’s wardrobes. Whenever a business suit is too formal and a blazer is too flashy, the sports jacket has always been the go-to garment. With the advent of “business casual” Fridays in the 1990s, the future of the sports jacket was assured and twenty years later these garments have almost achieved on-par status with suits among businessmen.
Long Neckties
The word “necktie” was first used in the 1930s to describe cravats worn once around neck and tied in bow or knot. This definition more or less describes the modern necktie, but in those days neckties were shorter and wider things intended to be tucked under waistcoats. Today, neckties are longer, narrower and worn beneath fold-down shirt collars. The modern necktie might point at your genitals, but that’s not why it’s there (and one wonders about people who come up with such ideas). Forget fashion and rules, and buy neckties which express your personality and match the width of your suit lapels.
Button-Down Collars
Brooks Brothers calls it a “polo collar”, although so far no one has found photographic evidence of it actually being worn by polo players—most wearers are more likely to be playing the markets and riding minivans than playing polo and riding ponies. So is the name a marketing fantasy? Probably. Is the design a classic? Absolutely. Why? There simply exists no other shirt collar as casually charming, or as widely acceptable, as the button-down. It can be worn with a suit or shorts, in church or at a barbecue, by the young and the old. It’s been copied many times, but it has always stayed the same.
Trenchcoats
Not much can be said about trenchcoats that hasn’t already been said, but it’s worth noting the first ones were made from a tightly woven wool gabardine, not the cotton gabardine which predominates today. The cloth was created by Thomas Burberry in the 1870s, and the iconic garment itself was designed just in time to keep a generation of doomed young men warm and dry in the First World War. Officers may have started out wearing trenchcoats, but in the Second World War these practical garments enjoyed a more egalitarian role, since other ranks had access to them in the US Army, depending on branch of service. Designers and retailers have often made them shorter or longer, fancier or plainer, but the basic design has survived intact for almost a century.
Chinos
Cotton twill fabric of combed yarns made into men’s trousers of traditional design. Unquestionably the most versatile pants ever created. You can wear them with sports jackets, leather jackets, and nylon jackets; you can wear them with dress shirts, polo shirts, and tank-tops; you can wear them with cap-toes, loafers, and sneakers. These irreplaceable garments started out as (nearly) unwanted goods: woven in Manchester, exported to China, and re-sold—dumped, one suspects—to the American army occupying the Philippines just before World War II. So we owe a debt to some opportunistic Chinese dry goods broker for the most versatile pants in the modern wardrobe; six decades old and more popular every year.
Grey Flannel Pants
The second most versatile pants in the modern wardrobe. First appearing in the 1920s as summer resort pants (in white), by the 1940s the grey version became so popular they were worn year-round for casual wear. Old photos reveal that grey flannel pants had at one time a presence of their own, grabbing the eye even when paired with a windowpane sports jacket or blazer with gold buttons. This was probably due to a dry surface, fuzzy nap, heavy weight, and plenty of drape. Today’s versions, by contrast, are made of harder, wetter, and thinner materials and can easily seem to be style afterthoughts with little presence of their own. Hunt out the real thing, it’s worth the effort.
Leather-Soled Dress Shoes
It’s hard to pin down the most classic style of oxford shoes, but the plain cap-toe and standard full-brogue must be the leading candidates. Conservative Britons consider the cap-toe to be the businessman’s standard shoe, but in America the wingtip is often preferred. According to style historians, oxfords became popular in Britain in the late 1800s (at Oxford), spreading gradually throughout Europe and to the United States, and by 1910 most men wore them most of the time. Interestingly the Russians embraced the oxford early: in a country under snow for eight months of the year and mud during the rest, oxfords became the mark of the urban resident and boots the peasant or labourer, while in the rest of Europe—Britain in particular—tall boots were the sign of the horse-riding elites.
Boat Shoes
Everyone knows the story about the dog, the penknife, and the yachtsman, so I won’t repeat it here. One thing needs to be mentioned: although Paul Sperry introduced his “siped” rubber soles in 1935, his original boat shoe was a lace-up canvas oxford, not today’s oiled-leather moccasin. But it’s the moccasin version which has proven one of the most bulletproof and classic shoe designs of all time. Pink, red, and baby-blue versions aside, no one has managed to fatally alter the classic design—even the copycats and counterfeiters serve up the genuine style.
REFERENCES
Alan Flusser, Style And The Man (New York: HarperCollins, 1996).
Alan Flusser, Dressing The Man (New York: HarperCollins, 2002).
Karlen & Sulavik, The Indispensable Guide To Classic Men’s Clothing (New York: Tatra Press, 1999).
Paul Keers, A Gentleman’s Wardrobe (New York: Harmony Books, 1987).
Oscar Linius, A Well-Dressed Gentleman’s Pocket Guide (London, Carleton Publishing Group, 1998).
Mary Brooks Picken, A Dictionary Of Costume And Fashion (originally New York: Funk & Wagnell, 1957; this edition Toronto: Dover, 1999).
Bernhard Roetzel, Gentleman (Cologne: Konemann, 1999).
Icons Of Classic American Style II
This article continues my earlier collection of American men of style by adding a few who weren’t quite so famous or prominent, but who still embodied great American style in the twentieth century (and beyond). Enjoy! [photos from CORBIS]
Fred MacMurray – As good as any leading man in Hollywood, MacMurray always seemed to be the first choice for supporting actor. It was Billy Wilder who gave him the chance to be as good as anyone in the biz; and it was playing the father of three sons on television that made him a household name. In many ways his sense of style resembled Jimmy Stewart’s, but unlike Stewart he seemed to adapt better with the times and never looked dated in his later years.
Angier Biddle Duke – His name doesn’t stick in the public’s memory, but check out what he did: Ambassador to El Salvador, Denmark, Spain and Morocco; chief of protocol under Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson; head of several civilian organizations and charities. Despite choosing his parents well, he started along a rough road (suspended prison sentence and driving license revoked in New York state) but the war gave him the opportunity to serve his country and he took it. Red sailing pants and single-breasted blazers are extremely American.
Ahmet Ertegun – He didn’t start out American, but he came to personify the American Dream and all its opportunities for achievement. By the end of his life, he had accumulated probably the largest and most sophisticated wardrobe in the United States—this man loved clothing and shoes, and he had the money to indulge himself. Fortunately for the rest of us, he also had the taste to do it in a classic, timeless way.
Paul Bremer – Put aside his messy and controversial year as the point man in Iraq (Children Playing Adults?), and you have a man who introduced Baghdad to Brooks Brothers—with style. Too safe? Maybe. But you wouldn’t go wrong if you dressed like him wherever you go. Just leave the silly boots at home.
Alan Flusser – Flusser is a man whose shadow looms large over the world of American men’s style, but whose contribution is hard to pin down. Did he make his mark as a designer? or as a retailer? or as an historian? He’s certainly a minor celebrity among American men who care about looking good, but his greatest influence may be as the man who single-handedly revived interest in the “drape suit” in the late twentieth century. The jury’s still out on that one, but no one questions the depth of his knowledge, the sharpness of his eye, and the success of his books.
Comment [2]
Victoria Richards Ties; Respect and Respectability
Have you ever wondered why there are so many brands of necktie? Is it because they are easy to make up when compared to either items in the wardrobe? Or, is it that they reflect more narrowly upon the wearer’s personality and taste?
I have heard of men who will wear nothing but Hermes, Ferragamo or Pucci ties. Necktie styles and brands do seem to become the province of a certain type of man or walk of life.
Often, a well dressed man wants something unique that is also admired by passing observers. This demonstrates the duality of male dressing, to be both a dandy and conform to a sense of what the main stream envies. It is rare that necktie design can encompass both a broad appeal and an elevated one. However, U.K. designer, Victoria Richards’ ties possess just this sort of dual quality.
Woven tie “Pansy bar” in an eye fetching color combination.
The City gentleman is a traditional English image developed over centuries but why and how do they decorate themselves?
Outside of a few select circles most American men believe that pink and lilac shirts are effeminate. Victoria Richards believes that this is a bridge that has been crossed in England where pink shirts are very popular. It is now considered masculine to be in touch with your feminine side. In England, even Rugby shirts are quite often pink.
Ties were an accident. Victoria is a textile designer but at one point, she accumulated a large amount of off-cuts from textile runs which on a whim she sent off to be made up into ties. She then displayed the ties at an exhibition with fellow artists at Charlie Chaplin’s old London rehearsal studios.
Attending that same exhibition was one Jon Snow, a prominent journalist. It was a fluke that he was there at all and only because an artist friend of his was also exhibiting at this show. However, coincidences sometimes produce happy results and Mr. Snow immediately fell in love with Victoria’s ties.
“Poppy Slant” adds both color and texture to the blue striped shirt and dark suit.
That was some time ago and Mr. Snow now owns hundreds of Ms. Richard’s ties. In fact, Victoria often designs her ties with a WWJSD frame of mind. She is not alone. Large enough numbers of viewers call in about Jon Snow’s ties that the network now includes a blog which informs viewers about which tie he wore on a particular news show. Additionally, there is a link from England’s Channel 4 news to Victoria’s website which allows the designer to answer inquiries and facilitate purchases by avid tie fans.
“One off” tie which is the sartorial equivalent of a snow flake.
Victoria’s ties are limited edition, twelve of each design, and then even when she redoes them, they come out slightly different because the dyes are mixed by hand. Originally the ties were all hand painted, one offs. However, when the demand for more ties grew, she had to start getting her ties woven by the mills in Suffolk which would reproduce a hand painted look in a woven style. The decision to add woven ties was partly influenced by many customers who liked the overall look of her ties but frequently did not understand the hand painted nature of the originals.
Another “One Off” tie. Shirts are all from Acorn Fabric’s Grassmere line which is a 160s cotton.
Interestingly, most of the customers that come through the channel 4 website want exactly what Jon Snow has which are often the hand painted ones and thus, her customer base is well balanced between the two. This preference by the Chanel 4 audience remains firm even after Victoria explains that the hand painted ties will have splotches, blotches, drips and other irregularities on their surface.
Victoria likes to use a lot of color and, for the hand painted ties, she experiments with different chemical reactions to see what effects they produce and how certain colors work alongside each other.
And, there aren’t any color combinations she will not try out; except that she refuses to put yellow right next to pink. Although, she will use them both on the same tie, separated by another color. Likewise, she avoids yellow background ties because of their limited market; Italians are the only people that buy her yellow ties which do not sell much in the UK.
“Tulip Line” on Grassmere range cotton by Acorn Fabrics, made by Paris Custom shirts makes for a look of affluence. Cufflinks are by Patrick Mavros.
Another color combination she dislikes is bright red and gold. Victoria employs a lot of grey in her collection because she has an architectural following and architects love monochrome ties.
Victoria makes even bolder and more abstract ties but they aren’t put up on the website at all because each tie looks completely different.
In future, she might have a section offering a more expensive, totally one off tie. She does like the idea of a one off tie that is unique and thus, no one else has anything like it.
She feels her ties look better on their own than when grouped together because the resulting riot of color can be too distracting to the eye; rather like a Pollock. However, when viewed individually, the ties have a rich vibrant look to them which suggests harmony within the chaos; a favorite dandy weapon.
Hand painted ties have a rich, custom look but one has to appreciate the irregularities as strengths. These ties are not for the OCD crowd.
Victoria Richards also does checked and spotted ties. Although I prefer the red/pink/purple end of the spectrum, she has plenty of color combinations to choose from. This is “Rouge Check”.
Often, women initially buy her ties for their partner. As a result, men are more likely to wear them because in so doing they believe they are pleasing their partner. Further, because ties given as gifts come with a preordained seal of approval, these men then feel secure enough to select future ties themselves; which they often do. However, Victoria maintains that it takes a bold or very confident man to select her ties before seeing them on someone else or receiving one as a gift. Even at shows, she finds herself consulting most men concerning which ties would best suit their personalities.
Blue is the most conservative color and most of the men who choose ties, start with a blue one and then might branch out to brighter colors. The Lawyers, architects and some of the West End crowd form a significant amount of her customer base. She feels that a lot of the City gents wouldn’t wear most of her ties because they tend to be more conformist.
“Tulip Bar” is a woven tie design and plays subtly with a favorite English color scheme. Cufflinks by Fine Enamels.
Victoria maintains that ties are an area where you can express yourself and place a sartorial imprimatur. The tie endures because it is seen as a mark of respect and respectability.
Although I first saw them online and loved their intrinsic sense of art and the elegance they could lend to an outfit, Victoria’s ties look richer and more vibrant in person.
I am not usually a fan of the horizontally striped tie but something about the color combinations she sets them in and their slightly irregular bands makes them compelling. She has done and is going to reintroduce some diagonals but the horizontal stripes are her preference. This is because they are more of a challenge to create. Tie silks are cut on the “diagonal” or bias, thus it is easier to design a diagonal stripe than it is a horizontal one.
Whatever future necktie designs she has in mind, you will find that this Buff has become a fan.
If Jackson Pollack were alive today, he would wear these ties. If Beau Brummell were alive, he would buy them off of Pollock.
Neckties by Victoria Richards:
www.victoriarichards.com
Comment [4]
Cuff Your Enthusiasm
But she must have a prize herself, you know,’ said the Mouse.
`Of course,’ the Dodo replied very gravely. `What else have you got in your pocket?’ he went on, turning to Alice.
`Only a thimble,’ said Alice sadly.
`Hand it over here,’ said the Dodo.
Then they all crowded round her once more, while the Dodo solemnly presented the thimble, saying `We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble’; and, when it had finished this short speech, they all cheered.
A thimble is a small glint of metal and small metal glints have value in Britain. For one thing, they are small, which the English associate with the positive quality of understatement, and they cause an observer who catches their glint to become curious. Arousing curiosity is part of the English social interaction; to be clever, to be subtly and differently clever.
Ecce cufflinks, the English heart and soul and the only type of emotion they wear on their sleeves. This is the place to shine; to be an individual. If there is one item that the English literally have almost no rules about it is their cufflinks. Almost anything you like is permissible and any novelty, no matter how bawdy, is acceptable provided it is worn tongue-in-cheek. In fact, the idea is to have something unique, witty, sparkly and offensive; all in the same item if possible.
There doesn’t seem to be a type of cufflink or a style the English will not wear. From $20,000 gem encrusted metals to pieces of string holding the cuffs together, anything goes. The one exception are crystals which seem to grate as too feminine; and even these the English will wear socially. Other than crystals, there seems to be a race to the bottom to outdo each other with playful cufflinks.
Although the fact that the clip’s color matches the shirt is probably enough to make it non English, it illustrates what can substitute when a link breaks or a set cannot be found in time to make a morning train.
Of course, within the City there are trends, tribes and circles which prefer certain forms of cufflink over others. For instance, merchant bankers might avoid the silly messages and toilet humor the city boys enjoy in favor of enameled and jeweled cufflinks and unless he were a farmer or hunter many might avoid wearing animals that were not sufficiently parodied. But, as a culture, the English are very accepting of a wide range of cufflinks, they would not wear themselves, on each other.
The English love enameled ovals, often with geometric designs on them; even stripes.
In England, spending a lot on cufflinks is not required, somewhat frowned upon and generally not done unless it is an exquisite antique. The English believe that talent rather than money is the way to go with cufflink selection; the cheesy, chunky gold cufflink so much a part of “Diamond District” New York is unknown amongst the Londoners.
Sterling is a preferred metal for cufflinks (often enameled) because the upper classes often do not have a lot of money and because they often won’t spend it even if they do. Gold plated and 9K gold cufflinks are also popular because they are on par with the cost of quality sterling silver.
Interestingly, the English will wear silver cufflinks with a gold watch but want to match the shade of a gold pair with the same shade of gold watch. A few years ago, gold was somewhat popular but now sterling has completely taken hold.
This metal preference is largely a function of thrift; if you gave an Englishman a set of gold cufflinks, he would not be offended. Metals come in out of style and the fads of the island are a little like the bands around a tree stump, telling stories over time.
Culturally, silver cufflinks are so pervasive that even when the English do spring for gold, they frequently choose a white gold which has the virtue of appearing like sterling silver but without the threat of tarnish.
Either in sterling silver or white gold (even with surface texture) the simple oval is an English favorite.
The English understand that the perfect set of cufflinks does not exist and that once you make a choice a better one pops up somewhere that you wished you had bought; so why limit yourself?
It stands to reason that all that repression elsewhere and in the wardrobe had to produce an outlet somewhere, doesn’t it? Additionally, With the bold shirts favored by both the City lads and barristers, large, bright cufflinks are the only things that will cut through the pattern and/or color of the shirt.
In fact, the same Englishman who would only wear three types of neckties around his neck and would choose from a relatively limited range of shirt patterns and colors would not hesitate to put a set of cufflinks on that would make many otherwise tasteless Americans gasp.
Richard Harvie, of Harvie and Hudson, observes that solid silver, double ended with or without good enameling sell in quantity. Silver cufflinks are the English favorite. The spitfire cufflinks are quite popular. Strong designs like the spitfires are necessary to break up the large, colorful patterns on the shirts.
This pair, beautifully made by Fine Enamels and available at Harvie and Hudson, is a perennial English favorite.
Americans do not like novelty cufflinks as much because they can’t sit still long enough for someone to notice. Alternatively, we all live in dread that someone on the elevator will trap us with unsolicited stories about their cuff ornaments.
England is different. No matter how outlandish the cufflinks, they must never be brought up by the wearer; to do so smacks of trying too hard and wanting to be noticed. Your cufflinks only work if someone notices your devil may care attitude or quirkiness on their own.
Another reason the English may seek out unique cufflinks is their realization that there is no silver bullet cufflink (well, actually there are but there exists no “perfect” cufflink). Cufflinks are useless without a double shirt cuff and the shirt is unfinished without the links.
This creates a inchoate, symbiotic relationship that exists nowhere else in the outfit. After all, you can wear plain socks with dress shoes and a jacket pocket can get along without a pocket square but your cuffs need a fastener and wearing what everyone else wears feels… wrong.
Traditionally, Americans believe that cufflinks reveal clues about your background. Unfortunately, they apply this thinking in way too strict a manner. This idea revolves around the belief that the simpler the cufflink and the less it says about you, the better bred you are. In England, they make few judgments about cufflinks and irrespective of who you really are, you can wear any sort of cufflink you like.
Another exception to the “anything goes” rule is that the English do not like complicated cufflinks. To be sure, the English do not like complicated anything but when it comes to cufflink art, the simpler, plainer and more stylized, the better. Ornateness of etching and carving or too many delicate, moving parts are not appreciated. Thus, although anything goes, how a subject is executed is also very important.
This Deakin & Francis Fox is perfect for English tastes. Although an animal, it is not a ferocious one. Further, it is stylized to the point where it could be part of a more advanced, alien culture’s temple. However, it is still recognizable as a fox. It is also “solid” of construction which the English like.
A cufflink’s message should be apparent to the simplest minded observer at an instant. The only exception are some of the hand painted enamels where the charm is often in the intricacy.
Self deprecating messages, tongue in cheek humor, titillating or slightly naughty references are all appreciated but you must never have to point them out or explain them. If you have to explain your cufflinks, they have failed the English test for cleverness; if you can’t resist showing them off, you yourself have failed the English test for being clever.
Hand painted gold cufflinks by Longmire. As long as it is worn “ironically” the English will wear their car, dog or a silly image/story on hand painted enamels.
One never knows what will excite admiration and what will not. A Frenchman working in the city, wearing a frog imago as a cufflink (assuming it’s tastefully done) will score huge points amongst the lads (even with the chaps) and might be recognized as a good sort after all; possibly getting invited for a bit of pub camaraderie.
And the English, as with so many other things, do not like duplication. They want unique cufflinks, and it is fair to say this item might be one of the most self expressive parts of the English wardrobe.
The “anything goes” mindset and the innate drive to be different may explain why Britain has so many cufflink shops and so many interesting cufflink artists.
To be continued…
Deakin & Francis make some of the most beautiful cufflinks in the world and serve the upper end of the English taste spectrum.
Comment [1]
Remembrance of Brooks Brothers Past
Those in the Tri-State area devoted to the natural shouldered look always referred to Brooks Brothers as “Brooks” or ‘‘B-squared”. Brooks was a fixture in affluent urban and suburban life, when clothing was meant to be comfortable, non sexual and signaled that you were a member of the right circles.
Our hero, Nino Corvato arrived in New York fresh from a Sicilian design and cutting school. Nino’s first job was at Brooks Brothers, in the alterations department. Problem: Nino didn’t want to do alterations but he managed a transfer to the Brooks factory in Long Island City. Here, Brooks made their own suits, pants, ties, shirts and overcoats on the premises of 33rd street and 36th Avenue.
Brooks’ suits were made from high quality English wools, interlinings and linings with unparalleled construction. However, from a stylistic point of view, Nino didn’t like it. He considered the Brooks suit dowdy and it didn’t change all that much over his 20 year tenure.
At Brooks, the 3 button jacket didn’t exist, instead 2 on 3 was the preferred stance. The 2 on 3 jacket stance looked like a 3 button jacket but it was really a two button with a non functioning 3rd (top) button. Pants didn’t have pleats until they started making 2 button suits and then they gave the customer a choice between stove pipes and pleated. Two button suits were introduced in the late seventies because young people wanted them.
Navy, charcoal and medium grey pinstripes were the most popular choices, followed by a dark plaid. For jackets, Brooks offered a navy hopsack and wool herringbone jackets in gray, blue and brown. Black wools were avoided for sports jackets and suits. Although for Nelson Rockefeller they made a lot of navy and black solid silk shantung suits. Linings were in harmony with the suit’s shell fabric, fancy linings were unknown.
The custom suits were 100% hand made by the Brooks tailoring style. However, Brooks’ commitment to quality was such that even the ready made and made to order suits were at least 50% handmade.
This image and the ones which follow are sketch templates Brooks Brothers used for their various clothing models.
Standard overcoats came in a 14 oz topcoat model and a 22oz herringbone wool model in brown, gray and navy. Their polo coat was sturdy with all the bells and whistles in 18oz blue or charcoal grey wool.
Brooks’ single breasted, peak lapel tuxedo was a classic in a splendid English 10oz barathea. Shawl collared versions were available for special order. Unless asked, no buttonholes were cut into the lapels and both satin and grosgrain facings were used. Trousers had no pleats, satin trim and regular waistband with an extension.
At the Long Island City garment factory, Nino learned the secret formulas that made Brooks Brothers such a venerable institution for the serious minded professional. Brooks Brothers believed that the suit should be like armor and last forever but still be soft.
Brooks further believed that a jacket should have minimal shoulder padding and thin interlining. At Brooks, the sack coat, a slightly boxy looking jacket, reigned supreme; a garment full in fit and without much shape but one that felt like a soft glove even if the fit was nothing like one. The absence of front darts allowed the jacket to be fuller.
Coming as he did from Italy, Nino was used to higher shoulder pads and the arm away from the shoulder. Brooks’ method was minimal shoulder padding and a closer shoulder fit. Just removing the shoulder pad from a suit doesn’t accomplish this. It is a matter of cutting and shaping the jacket’s back, front, shoulder and sleeves which creates this original, American natural shoulder.
Very few companies can make a true natural shoulder. Brooks’ natural shoulder, soft finished garment worked well with the flow of one’s body and became unnoticeable because of its feather weight. This observation stuck with Nino.
In those days, Brooks Brothers had only three stores: Wall Street, Madison Avenue and Scarsdale. It was well known throughout the world for its soft tailored, no nonsense suits which clothed both tycoon and scion alike. And if you wanted a Brooks Brothers suit you had to come New York, The Mountain definitely did not go to Mohammed.
Brooks Brothers was the closest thing America had to the Multi-generational, Savile Row tailoring firms which are guardians of taste for the well heeled, industrious crowd. However, Brooks’ rigidity sometimes produced somewhat comic circumstances.
For example, in the 1970s, an incident at the factory arose because various fashion houses like Pierre Cardin were placing higher vents on jackets. Nino, with an eye toward design, believed the 12” vents on the designer suits were too high but he also believed that the ones used on the Brooks suits were too short and thus he increased them at the factory from 6-8” high.
The brethren were not amused and Nino was called to account for this heresy; instructed to return to the Brooks way and to never again veer from the pattern without permission. It should be mentioned that a week later, a Brooks papal bull was issued that henceforth all jackets were to have 8” vents!
Nothing, it seems stays the same. And even the monolithic traditions and tastes of Brooks began to show fissures. Brooks introduced more massed production in the 70s and by the time Nino left in 1980 Brooks was well on its way to becoming a corporate conglomerate. This trend would spell catastrophe for Brooks’ legendary quality.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. At the time of Nino’s Brooks tenure, the American elite all wore the Brooks suit. International clients were also legion. The custom department’s order ledger was a who’s who of the American intelligentsia. Artists like Warhol mixed with congressmen, doctors, lawyers, designers and bankers all sipped champagne together while getting fitted for the great American symbol of gravitas.
Brooks was the suit of choice for every aspiring or successful person whether they were in a mainstream industry or a counter culture one. The corporate elite would wear a Brooks suit with a French cuff, Bengal striped shirt and a number one, Repp tie while the Jazz crowd would pair black and white spectators and a coconut straw hat with a charcoal pinstripe. Even if you did not wear one, you recognized the Brooks Brothers suit as a badge of success and taste.
Standards were maintained by the vice presidents who were responsible for the quality and taste of a given area, such as shirts. And they dreamed in Oak and Cherry wood. Brooks ordered and designed most of its fabrics directly with English mills; patterns and qualities were made exclusively for Brooks Brothers.
In 1974, there were over 400 special orders a week which for the time was a significant amount. Additionally, these customers changed almost nothing on the basic suit including the fabric; interested only in a better fit for the reigning president of suits. Brooks’ taste was so well contemplated and plugged into the Eastern establishment that no one tampered with the details. The ordinary man ascended and Kings genuflected to wear this most equalizing of garments.
Standards were so stellar that in the 1960s and 70s, the garment industry rated Brooks a “number 6” quality, which meant custom grade, while Paul Stuart was a mere “number 2”.
At its zenith, Brooks Brothers represented a monolithic quality. A shirt lasted forever. And Brooks’ standards were the same for everything; for everyone. If tailored clothing was not made by Brooks with a high degree of hand work, it was not sold on their premises.
Ultimately, constant cost cutting and quality shortcuts eroded the granite reputation of Brooks Brothers. At one time because of their invincible standards, Brooks was the store where if you were not satisfied with an item after several years you could bring it back for a replacement. Now, Brooks is just like any other store trying to market a mixture of garments and furnishings.
Legacy
Brooks Brothers Golden age ended 20 years ago but Nino Corvato continues to make suits that incorporate the Brooks credo of comfort, solidity and patrician reserve.
Nino stays away from the sack coat. He prefers the English look with suppression to the garment and an overall balance. However, he doesn’t like the English finish and details. He likes the cleaner Italian finish and attention to finishing touches.
Nino does preserve the Brooks inspired true natural shoulder which is soft, round and fitted closely to arm and shoulder head. Nino also incorporates the Brooks softness in a garment which is solid and seemingly indestructible.
Nino learned a great deal from Brooks but especially the ability to make a garment soft which few tailors can do. The Brooks natural shoulder was a unique thing of beauty and very hard to make. Nino believes his service at Brooks shaped his core approach to making suits which incorporates the Brooks soft tailoring technique with their natural shoulder.
What makes a soft garment? Part of the secret of the success of a softly tailored garment is placing the interfacing in symmetry with the fabric, thus about an 8-9oz canvas for a 14oz wool.
Nino continues to make his suits in his shop on Madison Avenue which have an overall look of excellence. The American intelligentsia, or at least that sliver of it still in the know, continues to patronize him for a suit that is stylish, handsome and quietly authoritative.
But Nino can and does make a custom version of the dart-less sack suit for customers both young and old. For there are those who want to relive the Brooks golden age and those who wish they could have known it.
Corvato Custom Designs
420 Madison Avenue, Suite 406
New York City
By appointment only (212) 980-4980
Suits start at $4,000 for some super 100s and can cost $10,000 for worsted cashmere. Expect to place a 50% deposit.
Wait time is approx. 8-12 weeks. Prices are as of May 1st, 2009 and are subject to change without notice.
Comment [6]
Summer Shirts
What do Ninety degree days with similar humidity have in common with snowstorms? They are wonderful if you don’t have to fight your way to work in a suit.
Ah, summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime, or so the song goes…yeah, right. At least not for work when early morning jaunts become Foreign Legionnaire-like meanders down the sun bleached pavements. The occasional stumble onto the tarmac lasts just long enough to marvel at how it melts under your cap toes. If you alight from a commuter train or descend into a subway you are greeted with a blast of sweltering fumes. The sky is lit up as one brilliant, cloudless sun; the horizon shimmers, collars are loosened, jackets come off and handkerchiefs come out.
Still there is the thought of summer nights with friends. Sipping frozen drinks you wouldn’t be caught dead handling during cooler months. White wine or sangria in an outdoor locale; a garden barbecue in the ‘Burbs, a Caribbean resort, a trattoria overlooking Mediterranean ruins or simply downtown at the newest, chicest restaurant around.
If you live in New York City (NYC) or the NYC area, and you are a man who has to wear a jacket and tie (or a woman who wears a jacket and blouse) to work you are probably dreading the sticky approach of summer’s panting breath. The question is what shirt fabrics will offer you maximum comfort and relief?
Most of the shirting’s that men find good for winter are just not up to snuff for the exigencies of summer’s unyielding discomforts. Even the steadfast and fine 100s 2×2 cottons can be a little too dense and heavy for the muggy yawns our American cities release in our faces whenever we step out of our air-conditioned offices.
Color choices for summer are a bit icier, a bit darker, a bit more vivid or even playful. American offices have a built in casual attitude in summer and there is a more ice cream pastel and tropical fruit color palette available for the regimental grey and navy suits. Lighter hued suits look more handsome with stronger colors and the summery cloth qualities whether tropical worsted, mohair or seersucker pair well with semi-sheer or light weight cottons.
If you have the desire to get special shirts made for yourself both for business and for casual then this may be of interest.
Acorn Fabrics in the United Kingdom offer a goodly range of shirting which can help a man who wants to beat the heat and stay looking crisp and feeling comfortable.
Voile: This fabric is very sheer – great for keeping cool – not so good if you don’t want to show your chest hair through the shirt!
This fabric is not recommended for the American workplace and is mainly a casual shirt. Even for casual, one may not want to wear it where people from work may be in attendance. A double front of voile for the chest area makes the shirt less diaphanous and somewhat more acceptable for the American office but one needs to ask if all this trouble is worth the effort?
Mostly sold for dress/tuxedo shirts as the fronts are usually pleated. Voile is good for this because it remains looking crisp but is very soft and cool to wear; useful under dinner jackets that are rarely removed during the evening’s festivities. Also used in ladies wear. Derives from the French language and means “veil”
Linen:
Classic Summer shirt – the more creased, the better the linen! Gives an unstructured look and is good at absorbing moisture, thus keeping the wearer cool. Linen always lends a prosperous, refined look to the wearer. Made from flax – extracted from plants of the species Linum usitatissimum – “Linen” being a derivative of the latin.
Barbados:
Barbados is a 50-50 blend of bamboo and linen.
Environmentally friendly – Bamboo is lighter than linen and mimics characteristics of cotton. When it is blended with linen, bamboo prevents the linen creasing as much as pure linen and the shirt is lighter in weight. Bamboo is excellent at “wicking” the moisture away from the skin. If a fabric is good at wicking, it will keep the wearer cooler than a fabric such as polyester which holds moisture against the skin – making the wearer uncomfortable.
Bamboo is grown easily ( 3 – 4 feet a day ) – and does not require the same intensive farming as cotton. This fabric is much easier to iron than linen and in some cases the finer quality broadcloth.
Zephyr:
Three colored gingham checks are popular at the moment and in the zephyr weave, colors take on a summery, almost madras like quality.
My favorite – this cloth combines breath-ability, feel, luster, drape and wear-ability – it feels cool to wear, it is light yet it recovers well after creasing – great colors in the range too.
A mint green is pleasant for the summer when color rules are relaxed
Summer pinpoint:
In many ways this “summer pinpoint” combines the properties of regular oxford and pinpoint oxford cloth.
So named as it looks like pinpoint but it is lighter in weight – a nice alternative to pinpoint, this fabric breathes better that pinpoint but yet still has “body” for the customer who does not want a “flimsy” fabric.
Cambridge:
Cambridge has an open weave which allows for air circulation. The cotton is opaque like oxford cloth until placed against direct sunlight. The English like the white shirt for casual because they do not associate it with work. However, when it is broiling hot outdoors, even Americans appreciate a white shirt with an odd jacket.
When you see a cotton designation as 100s 2×2 that means the yarn is two strands twisted together in both horizontal and vertical weaving directions. Cambridge is a 3 ply fabric – meaning 3 yarns twisted together as one – instead of Acorn’s more common 2 ply (2 yarns twisted as 1).
This is done primarily to allow a relatively open weave but the bulkiness of the yarns prevent the fabric from becoming too “see through” or sheer. It also helps maintain the strength and stability. These characteristics make this a good summer weight fabric with a rich look.
Offered for a long time in white and two shades of blue it is currently discontinued. However, Cambridge will be revived and in additional colors such as cream, lilac, mint and pink; colors reminiscent of their Zephyr range. It possesses the overall look of an oxford cloth with the breezy relief of a voile which makes it a perfect choice for the American in summer.
Broadcloths:
Americans like dark blue or black stripes and the 140s quality creates a crisper color resolution.
140 2×2: A great fabric – feels very silky, nice sharp stripes, cool to wear and crease recovery is not bad if one considers that in this area of fine shirtings, creasing is a given. Due to the increased weight which makes it more robust, the 2×2 140s is easier to wear often and for longer periods than the 2×2 160’s and 170’s.
Grassmere GV-Yellow.
160 2×2: Often mistaken for Sea Island cotton because it feels amazing (It is almost indistinguishable from silk) – the only down side is the crease recovery. Acorn’s 160s have a light airy property to them which make them an excellent selection for American summers. Grassmere customers usually wear nothing else.
170 2×2: Very similar to the Grasmere but a bit heavier – at this level of fineness it is hard to distinguish between 160’s, 170’s & 180’s. Acorn’s fine broadcloths are usually lighter in weight than those of the competition because the English like a lighter shirt. Their preference is our gain.
White shirts
White hasn’t been incredibly popular at the office lately, at least not in its time honored guise of a smooth broadcloth. However, in the summer, white can offer a refreshingly cool blast to the eyes; it does, after all, resemble snow. It hides sweat and it reflects light, including sunlight…get it? Also, white goes well with printed ties or any sort of tie you care to grab on your way out the door.
Although the shirt in the photo is a 160s Grassmere broadcloth you could wear white in any of the qualities mentioned above; however I would not wear voile, linen or bamboo to work in the USA.
Chatsworth:
Yeah baby! If a reserved gentlemen were required to go to an Austin Powers party, this is the range of shirt cloths he would choose from!”
Florals are “Trendy” at the moment – not only do they make a refreshing change to the norm, they are a bit of fun and feel great against the skin – The secret lies in the lawn square-sett construction. Although the result is softer, this construction is similar to the Zephyr and therefore feels and wears similarly. The patterns have a certain universality about them (They make older guys look more “with it” and younger guys more refined without being prematurely “stuffy”) and can be used for a variety of social occasions.
Short sleeves:
Chatsworth in red with short sleeves. This cotton takes vivid colors and this shirt would look fantastic under an open weave or linen jacket.
This is from Acorn’s Regent range. It has enough pattern and color to be casual but it also has enough white background to look good under an odd jacket. If the background were colored this same pattern would be perfect to wear with shorts.
Although still unacceptable for business in most industries, they are indispensable for casual when it is simply too hot or humid to wear long sleeves; even rolled up. Everyman should have a few.
These Acorn fabric ranges offer a man of refined tastes a variety of appropriate shirts. The colors and patterns are a sartorial mirage while the fabrics themselves serve as an oasis from the Sahara like conditions of the urban summer.
All Shirts from Acorn fabrics
www.acornfabrics.co.uk/
All shirts made by Paris Custom Shirts in NYC:
Paris Custom Shirts
38 W. 32nd Street
New York, New York
(212-695-3563)
Comment [1]
Harvie and Hudson From Suit to Knots
Well, silk knots anyway.
“I’ve got mad tastes Mr. FNB” said the shop assistant at Harvie and Hudson. This comment worthy of Alice’s hatter was made by someone clever enough and sure enough to place clothes in ensembles which were both traditionally English and possessed shock value. That’s what is so wonderful about Harvie and Hudson, they cater to both the staunch traditionalist and the man who wants traditional tailoring with attitude.
According to the store’s ethos, the trick is to be able to size up what a given customer wants without wasting too much of his time with repetitive questions. If you see someone in a bold shirt you know they’re interested in the more adventuresome, brighter patterns and colors. Usually it’s the more established men, the managers and directors, who buy the wilder items. The guys starting out tend to be more straight laced.
Harvie and Hudson customers favor striped suits; mostly navy and grey. A few select customers will buy a black suit with a white stripe. Even the “solid” or plain suits tend to have a self stripe. True plain grey and navy worsted suits are only popular with the youngest customers. And though just about all of their customers outwardly cloak themselves in navy and grey, they often spring for an ochre yellow or bubblegum pink lining.
In London, coloring follows two trends, British and Italian influences. The two main differences are coloring with the English tending towards blue to the extent that everything either has blue in it or is designed to go with blue of one shade or another. The Italian palette will be much more brown/tan/black /grey/burgundy. The actual shape and size of the collar is key too. The English shirt collar will be both larger and stiffer while the Italian one will be both smaller and softer.
Compared to the English, Italian business shirts are very conservative, one might say plus-Anglais-que-les-Anglais. The English will wear butcher stripes and gingham checks with chalk striped suits but the Italians are much more understated and spend more attention on color matching. Italian fondness for matching will extend to printed tie and handkerchief sets. Contrast this with the English attitude. They will often buy new ties that go beautifully with their new shirts but the next morning their favorite old tie gets plopped on the new shirt irrespective of whether it matches or not.
Very English but a bit old fashioned is to throw a pocket square into the pocket that has no relationship to the shirt or tie. Nowadays the younger English are picking up a secondary color in their shirt or tie.
At the moment English pocket squares are often in solid colors and will pick out a color in the tie. A solid scarlet, navy blue, pink and a wine color are the most popular plain colors for silk pocket squares. Also quite popular, Harvie and Hudson carry a range of silk handkerchiefs quartered in four shades of the same color.
Necktie patterns need to be interesting but not so interesting that they clash with the shirt. Tie colors need to be in the ranges that compliment the shirts they offer. The ties offered are designed to compliment their best selling shirts. And ties can be tricky because if you get the wrong shade, you get stuck with the ties. With yellow if it is too creamy or too acidic in color it’ll be a failure, it has to be just the right shade of lemon to pick up the shade of yellow the English like in shirts.
Most popular sock colors after black and navy are scarlet and lemon yellow followed by pink, lilac, purple and a bright blue. Usually, men buy a dozen of the black and navy and a half dozen of the bright colors, mostly the scarlet.
Although Harvie and Hudson carry a good number of ready to wear suits and fabrics for their made to order program, if they had to stock five suits to appeal to their customers and specifically their English ones, they would include: A plain, dark grey flannel in a light-ish weight because no one wears thick, heavy suits anymore. A plain charcoal worsted twill, A strong-ish chalk stripe both in a charcoal ( with the charcoal shade on the darker side of medium grey) and a navy blue, a very dark grey Prince of Wales (PoW)- sometimes with a colored over check in a medium to dark blue- and a plain dark navy in either a muted herringbone or a twill.
The trend is currently shifting away from solids towards striped suits again but solid suits will remain popular. The English shy away from actual black suits and although they like very dark charcoal solid suits, recently, for striped suits, they chose more medium toned greys; mainly because they go with a larger variety of patterns and colors. The English old money look of the black suit with the white rope stripe is dying out except for an occasional taker who wants to stand out. Ironically, medium grey also hides a lot of marks and stains while black shows any hint of dirt.
English shirt basics include: plain white, blue herringbone, a blue, large gingham check, a Mediterranean blue (often with a white collar), a plain pink and blue end-on-end. Most men get three or four of these basics then select the same number of bolder shirts from the thousands Of Swatches Harvie and Hudson can tantalize their shoppers with. The basics are a wardrobe anchor while the bolder shirts act as the wearer’s personal semaphore.
The English love large gingham checks which are always popular in this order: light blue, pink, medium blue, red, navy, purple. Also popular but a bit more fashionable are three colored ginghams (always on a white background). For example two shades of blue on white or blue and yellow on white. Gingham shirts are also worn casually and the English wear them this way even with French cuffs. Silk knots are common with gingham shirts because they are both lighter than metal cufflinks and look less odd without a jacket.
Once you get the color palette right and as long as there is some variation in scale you can place any tie on any shirt you like and wear it with just about any suit you like. Even gingham shirts, as long as you don’t wear a tie with squares on it or a pattern that’s much larger than the check, can be worn with just about anything.
For casual, the brushed cotton shirts in tattersall patterns are popular. Also sought after are floral print shirts which are worn during the spring and summer.
For suit linings they have a their own Harvie and Hudson logo and other, plainer linings in pink, gold, royal blue, wine, scarlet, purple, turquoise, peppermint or aqua.
Few double breasted suits are sold these days. Customers ask Most for single breasted, two button, double vent, and single pleat trouser with no turn ups. Belt loops are standard but they will put side adjusters. Plain black or brown belts with simple, plain sterling buckle. A double breasted has to be more precisely fitted and it has to be buttoned most of the time which makes it less popular as a suit choice. Three piece suits are decidedly out of style.
Neat check suit designs exploded back in the dotcom era when casual Fridays hit both London and New York City in Dark blue and grey with a blue over check. They were thought to be casual but still a suit.
Lighter PoW checks in the standard black and white mix making an overall light grey look are only worn by estate agents or used car dealers. They might be used as a weekend or country suit but not for work; they are gone from the wardrobe. Part of this suit’s demise is tied to the ascent of more boldly patterned shirts; you can really only wear blue or white solids with it. By comparison, with the dark PoW’s checks you can wear just about any type of shirt. One note for the lighter PoW suit is that sometimes someone who has a lot of suits might get one for special occasions.
Evening dress suits are typically black single breasted peak lapel with silk facings and dark red linings.
Purple and pink stripes on a dark background are acceptable for suits but not that much in demand. However, blue stripes on blue or grey backgrounds are popular.
English, Europeans and Americans all buy a great deal of blazers. They usually come with metal buttons but you get the occasional nautical type who likes the black or navy blue button with the anchor design on them similar to the ones found on traditional pea coats. These double breasted blazers are usually a very hard finish twill fabric in 11-12 oz; the single breasted version is a bit lighter in weight.
Now that the economy is somewhat gloomy the colors will get less bold and the patterns, smaller and neater. Choices in clothes for men have to do a lot with making a good first impression for business purposes. The exceptions will be lawyers (and Doctors!) who do well in slow economies and will continue to buy and wear the brighter, bolder clothing items.
Irrespective of the economy, Harvie and Hudson will continue to offer quality traditional clothing infused with occasional flurries of color and for those willing to join the perpetual March tea party hosted by their resident “hatter”, there will be mad tastes enough for all.
Harvie and Hudson online shop: www.harvieandhudson.com
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Run away!
Men get custom everything these days from wool suits and shirts to yachts, cars and wine vintages. Although theoretically, the concept of custom made is anything the customer wants, most items ultimately derive from items the merchant already makes and the customer basically knows how the item will turn out. What about getting something custom made where nothing like it had been made before? Could this produce truly unique experience which might require more effort on the part of both patron and artist?
Custom made cufflinks are an interesting grey area between what a client wants and how the jeweler makes it.
Different factors determine what themes a customer dreams about decorating his cuffs with in metal or jewels. Is it a pleasant memory from childhood whether Dr. Who or Captain Kirk? Is it to commemorate a favorite team’s championship, showcase a hobby or simply to share a laugh with the viewer?
Once a customer’s interest is narrowed down decisions must be made about which symbols or icons best represent it. Further, can the idea be captured with metals, enamels and gems? There is a limit to what can be reduced to the size of a cufflink.
Finding custom made jewelers is not easy, finding one who works in the mediums you need or desire with a style that you find compatible is even harder. Most jewelers produce a collection and those are the only items they sell. Unfortunately, this approach makes it harder for them to stay in business independently because the success of their collections is dependent on current tastes. Thus, most jewelers either make things specifically for the trade or remain very artsy. In either case, they are not always as accessible to the retail market as they might like to be.
Even when a customer finds a willing jeweler who works in a medium and style which suits what you need, there is another obstacle. Does the customer know what he wants or does he need the jeweler to design it from scratch? The more specific your request, the less design work the artist needs to do.
However, if you are too sure of what you want you might lessen how much of his accumulated experience and expression you can call on. In short, you might be leaving a better unexplored design idea on the table. On the other hand, if you only know what you want at the most general of levels it might protract the design stage which in turn ratchets up the cost.
Amazingly, sometimes jewelers work in tandem. For example, one does the metal work and another does the enamel, or some jewelers will make the mountings but refuse to set their own stones and send this out to a specialist. Although not unlike a tailor having a buttonhole specialist this greatly increases the cost.
Additionally, a pair of cufflinks you have in mind might be a wonderful idea conceptually but may not translate well into either the medium or scale you desire. Detail, expression and recognition may or may not be a feature that suffers. Durability is a consideration as well as personal convenience. After all, what good is a pair of cufflinks so bulky that they continually thump against door knobs?
Then there is the issue of cost to the client. How much is too much for a pair of cufflinks that express your style? What is your lifestyle like? Are you likely to leave a pair in the cuff when you send a shirt out to the laundry? Are you likely to remove a shirt quickly during a moment of serendipitous passion? If so, then, perhaps, a $10,000 pair of cufflinks is not for you. But of course if you are carried from apartment to stretch Hummer, you might indeed want to wear some wealth on your sleeve.
Most cufflink commissions are by women for men and often for weddings or anniversaries. Women seem to know that custom made jewelry is a possibility; a possibility which never occurs to men and also which is an effort most men cannot be bothered with pursuing.
Women can wear almost any design in any metal, jewel or combination in any style or finish whether tribal, rococo, Florentine, religious or Western (Cowboy). It would seem men of taste are limited to certain parameters
Style can play a role; do you like Gothic or minimalism, retro or futuristic? Do you prefer a dull, shiny, tarnished or satiny finish to the metal? Then there is the idea of dimensions for a man’s jewelry; do you want a small cufflink, or a large one and how much sculpting, etching or inking will you accept on the metal? Although a good jeweler can relate to you what is feasible and what isn’t, it is also incumbent on the customer to know to some degree what they want.
Sometimes both customer and artist have a meeting of the minds and hit on all cylinders such as when they share a common sense of humor. The question is how subtle you want the message to be? Do you want passing observers, no matter how superficially aware, to pick up on the association or do you simply want aficionados to appreciate the imagery? What about a combination?
Once the general concept is arrived at we enter the design stage. A sketch or a photo is used for reference to in turn produce a CAD image of the completed cufflinks set. Using software called Rhinoceros; the artist can create an image of the jewelry piece’s dimensions and much of its detail which greatly reduces unpleasant surprises throughout the process.
Once the design is accomplished, details can be tinkered with and set. A scale is decided on, in the case of the Trojan rabbit, one inch from wheel to ear top. A three dimensional piece was decided on rather than a textured flat. The scale is limited to the cuff buttonhole size. For the outer side of the cuff, the piece can be much larger while the end that goes through the cuff buttonhole must be a certain size and shape.
In this case, because the Trojan rabbit was meant to be large (Commercial cufflinks are far too small, mostly for cost savings reasons), it could not be repeated on both sides. Therefore an Arthurian legend helmet was chosen for the other side.
The artist needs to keep in mind the relationship between weight of the objects and their balancing points. To keep the Trojan rabbit from spinning around or sagging, it was decided to hollow out its underside and make a solid curved bar to connect to the crown. It was then changed to a heavy rectangle on a chain to offer maximum flexibility and balance and set in a manner that would prevent the rabbit from pivoting.
Men generally limit themselves to gold, silver or platinum. To be sure, these cufflinks could be encrusted with diamonds but that, it was agreed, would detract from the intended impact of their message.
The ears were cut straight from silver sheets, bent over and then soldered onto the head/body. This practical approach would ensure the ears were more durable than if they were cast along with the rest of the piece.
A master is modeled in wax to create uniformity for each of the cuff links’ component pieces whether rabbit, helmet or chain link. Once molded, they are cast in a metal and then filed, sculpted, sanded, polished and given a satin or shiny finish.
A lot of hand work is involved throughout the process. For example, after casting, the planks on the “house” looked too smooth and thus the artist rescored them to give a rough hewn effect.
Speaking of finishes, a number of finishes could have been used on this set of cufflinks. In this case, a rhodium plate was applied for maximum shininess and anti tarnishing properties. Perhaps, next time, a gold plate may be applied or they could be left raw silver or even antiqued.
In the UK, after they are basically completed, the cufflinks are sent to the Assaying office to be hallmarked. The metal is acid tested and the jewelers stamp is punched onto the metal in a place designated with temporary pen mark by the artist.
The final set is then polished by the artist and mailed to the customer for personal expression on the cuff of a favorite shirt. The process of getting truly custom made cufflinks is not an easy one but it definitely separates the dedicated dresser from someone more likely to… runaway!
Cufflinks by Chris Parry: www.chris-parry.co.uk
Ya Boo Socks
An interesting view about the relation of socks to the rest of the City outfit:
“Many years ago a noble lord inferred he was socks-conscious. His words were: “A hole in one’s sock is an accident, but a darn is poverty”—an exaggeration, perhaps, but very near the truth.
Socks are a guide to a man’s mental outlook.
A well-worn pair of shoes can retain a cared-for character. Shiny seat or elbows are readily forgiven, but socks with visible darns are different. Why do some men forget that some darns are visible? A sock on a protruding or crossed leg is as visible as an arm—and who would wear a patched sleeve?”1.
I should think an American would generally consider the hole a problem and the darning, the thrifty solution. This strikes at the heart of darkness between our two cultures. Americans believe falling short of being perfect is shameful, whereas, for the English it’s the attempt to be perfect in the first place that smacks of covering up one’s shame.
In England, socks are something of a national passion because the suits are so dark and subject to so few variants that other areas like linings and shirts are constantly used to break up its catholic monotony. In England, the bright socks may be a sign of eccentricity, but eccentricity in England makes one an individual, a creative thinker, and a man.
Things are changing in England. The Island is in a period of experimentation with style in a manner it hasn’t been for a long time. In the last decade, the once plain black, navy and charcoal socks chosen by the ordinary City worker are being replaced with more patterns and colors than ever before. Socks are now another of those “anything goes” items in the English wardrobe and one can literally wear any pattern or color as long as they are still an appropriate cotton or wool material that would ordinarily go with a suit if they were solid.
Even the most staid Englishman might wear a pair of brilliant socks; it shows he’s one of the lads or chaps. In a boardroom of some of the larger public companies, you will see an ocean of dark suits, but if you were to crawl around on the floor pretending to look for your pen, you would view the ocean bottom with its colorful array of socks like so many tropical fish and sea anemonies. The English wear their trousers longer than the Americans do, and these signals are covered up more than they would be here in the land of the highwater.
One is either a wearer of colorful socks or one is not. However, Even if he does not wear them himself, an Englishman will react positively to other Englishmen wearing bold or colorful socks in the City. It becomes a signature of sorts, like the man who wears a pocket square or a certain make of tie. One English fashion expert I spoke with was mad about pink socks and felt they should be worn with every City suit.
Colorful socks play a part in every English shop that sells clothes or furnishings for men, regardless of whether the shop is actual or virtual.
It will never occur to an American man to wear a colorful pair of socks with a dark business suit. For leisure, Americans will go Borneo, but for work? Very rarely one will see someone quirky or dandyish sporting a bright pair of socks, but more than likely it will be a dark, byzantine pattern, which might beg the question-why go through the effort to vary your socks at all? In fact, there is a reason for this.
Americans react very differently to socks in brilliant colors or fancy patterns. Brilliant socks suggest that you are perhaps eccentric or even bizarre. Many in the USA fancy themselves an amateur psychiatrist or detective . In America, the view is that a man wearing a dark suit must also wear dark socks. Dark socks attest to the fact that you are not in sheep’s clothing, that you have no hidden agenda, that you are indeed a serious and solid citizen.
What is interesting about American responses is how quickly they can change. For instance, only a few years ago that you would not dare wear bright or boldly patterned shirts to the office of the conservative industries. Now that attitude has changed and no one notices shirts that might have once elicited pejorative comments. Socks appear to represent the last bastion of this brand of self-conscious conservatism.
Here in their own words, the English explain a small part of their approach to socks. As you read this, I delve further into my understanding of the English style, which seems so simple and yet has so many different layers. With my white rabbit as a scotch drinking companion (it is he alone who bears approving witness to my metamorphosis), I slouch in an easy chair and dream the English dream, immersing myself ever deeper into the Anglo-Saxon sartorial chi.
Pantherella:
Pantherella started in England in the 1930s, where Leicester is the hosiery capital. Sadly there are very few of these companies left. They do their own designs and weaving but they don’t spin the yarn or make their own boxes.
Designs are led by trend forecasts, and, combined with trusted perennials, form the bulk of their stock collections. They do a lot of fancies for special orders.
Cotton is becoming more popular, though it is acknowledged that wool is more comfortable and ultimately cooler than cotton, with its wicking properties.
In the UK, anklet socks tend to be preferred…hmmm. Although in the city of London the over-the-calf reigns supreme while on the continent the mere thought of exposed leg skin is troubling, most of England doesn’t seem to mind if their bare legs show when crossed.
Bright red solid is a classic color, especially for the City. Lilac is also popular because it’s pleasing to the eye under charcoal or navy suits.
Navy, black, charcoal, dark brown, and khaki are the hands-down best sellers. Americans love all the many shades of khaki Pantherella make, probably because they wear tan suits, which the English do not.
Cashmere socks are sold all over the world and are not uncommon for the English, since they help keep out the damp and cold in their under heated environs.
Woods of Shropshire offers the best prices and the owner will inquire with Pantherella about special orders, sizes and other unusual requests, with the understanding that you will order in sets of half a dozen.
New and Lingwood
New and Lingwood have been around a long time serving the public school lads and outfitting them in their West End or City rigs. According to them:
There are two camps the classic camp, which wears short or long socks in dark, plain colors (or bright plain colors for a touch of fun or for the holidays), and the whimsical camp which exhibits altogether more daring in its choice of socks. Striped socks are popular also, originating with Eton, where the public school lads wore different striped socks for sports and for their various clubs and societies. New and Lingwood do a large business in sock because they are now specialists in the field offering thousands of shades, patterns and sizes. English men like to carry this school tradition into the city in order to show that they’re one of the chaps.
Socks are an expressive item; said in some circles to be the new ties. Even the most staid Englishman can venture into this colorful indulgence. The English like a definite break in their trousers so the socks aren’t visible unless one crosses their legs.
Turnbull:
Silk socks originated in the 15th century, when men’s stockings were either silk or wool. Silk stockings were always the more formal, and are still worn ceremonially by the Black Rod2. Turnbull supplied the proper black silk socks for many of the black tie-wearing participants of the Oscars.
Red socks, yellow socks, purple or lilac socks are a tiny bit of personality peeking out, and the English enjoy this small indulgence. Anything goes here; striped socks, paisley socks. Match them to anything you like; shirt, tie, pocket square. This is a splash of color against the black hole that is the English suit. The dark color of the suit is unalterable, it is something that cannot be negotiated, and this explains why so many colorful accessories are employed to nibble at the monolithic void that constitutes the city suit.
Salmon pink socks in just the right shade will be snatched up in dozens by any smart City banker or head of a Public Company. Cashmere socks in winter, cotton lisle in summer.
Corgi:
Since 1892 Corgi has been making socks, not in as fine a gauge as pantherella, but high quality for after hours or weekends and the country. Still family owned and run by the 5th generation. Most socks are made on automatic machines in pure cashmere, wool, or cotton, and all of them are hand finished.
Corgi also make a handmade sock in cashmere in a cable knit. Upon seeing a pair of these socks adorning my ankle, a pretty girl maintained that they were the most beautiful socks she’d ever seen — in the best Daisy Buchanan tradition. I wear them with suits because they are so very eye engaging without being distracting.
They also make the cable sock in grey and blue, but “colors” are very popular.
Argyles, skull and crossbones motifs, initialed socks, and horizontal stripes are all made using 150 different individual colors. That’s 150 colors in each yarn, cotton, wool or cashmere. They include numerous reds, blues, oranges, pinks, lilacs and many others, because colors are important. The beautifully colored yarns have created a fan base for Corgi socks all over the world.
The American and UK markets both like colorful socks in mid-calf, while the continentals prefer over-the-calf lengths. The Japanese, meanwhile, prefer duller, more sober colors.
Navy socks with pink or bright yellow designs, chiefly horizontal stripes, are a huge seller in London.
The cotton used is Egyptian cotton, which is very soft. Merino wool for the all wools, and for the cashmere socks, Himilayan cashmere for a strong, luxurious result.
A plain sock with a different color heel and toe is quite popular among the English because, again, they enjoy hidden eccentricities more than in any other western culture. One can hardly believe an Italian would want to hide any sense of elegance but the British go into fits of rapture over hidden details like these.
Plain socks were made from 1892, with cable socks coming in the 1930s and the other patterns in the 1950s. As mentioned, navy and pink and navy and yellow are popular across the island. Red is also very popular, mostly as a solid.
Corgi makes other accessories as well; sweaters (cardigans, pullovers) and jackets in 4 or 8 ply cashmere, as well as knit scarves, gloves, hats etc…
To avoid damage or shrinkage their socks should be hand washed and left to air dry. This holds true for all quality socks.
In New York City, Barneys carries a variety of jointly labeled Corgi socks. You can most likely find a stockiest either by going to Sox Wales or by emailing Corgi themselves and make an inquiry, https://www.corgisocks.com/.
The designers Duchamp and Paul Smith make quite a few bright and wildly patterned socks. They make most of them ankle-length and in cotton and the English love the colorful paisleys and block patterns in a variety of pinks, purples, blues and reds, with colors like yellow and orange thrown in for accents. Even smaller and very conservative clothing shops such as Prowse and Hargood seem to carry festive socks in diced or vertically striped patterns. Rest assured that even a solid sock with a contrasting heel and toe color (which would not be outwardly visible whilst wearing a shoe) can drive the English to fits of ecstasy.
Footnotes:
1 Clothes and the Man, Sydney D. Barney ©1951, London
2 Black Rod is best known for his part in the ceremonies surrounding the State Opening of Parliament and the Throne speech. He summons the Commons to attend the speech and leads them to the Lords. As part of the ritual, as Black Rod approaches the doors to the chamber of the House of Commons to make his summons, they are slammed in his face. This is to symbolise the Commons’ independence of the Sovereign. Black Rod then strikes the door three times with his staff, and in reply to the challenge “Who is there?” answers “Black Rod”. He is then admitted and issues the summons of the monarch to attend.
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