Go Pleated or Go Home

pleated-dinner-trousers

Credit: thesuitsofjamesbond.com Although I have been called all sorts of derogatory names by the dandy underworld - ‘sloppy sartorialist’ was one of the kinder monikers - the rest of humankind thinks of me as some kind of faddish perfectionist. One of their favourite curiosities? My liking for pleated trousers. When it comes to suits, my feeling is that the cut and style of the trouser is at least as important as the jacket. I’m … [Read more...]

Born Too Late?

cary-nostalgie

“Dressed up in a gown that trails on the floor In a picture hat that your mother wore Living in a world that you never saw My little lady make believe.” I heard Al Bowlly sweetly croon these words as I sat looking out of the window on a grey and rainy Sunday; an ideal hour for low lamps and sentimental music. It reminded me of something my mother had always said to me; "You were born too late." Anyone who knows me well enough knows … [Read more...]

Manuel Vanni

vanni

Of all the Pitti Peacocks, Manuel Vanni is one of the most resplendent, and certainly one of the most controversial. His plumage is outrageous, fearless and full of contradiction; mad but coordinated, clownish but cool. After all, it takes something pretty special to be gawped at by everyone in Florence and there is no doubt that Vanni seems to enjoy the attention. However, there are those who consider his ensembles to be nothing more than … [Read more...]

A Marriage of Equals

marriage-equals

Occasionally, affianced friends and acquaintances have approached me for help and advice to input into that mutually significant but disproportionately female-influenced occasion; the event of marriage. I say ‘disproportionately’ because so many men take little or no interest in the planning of weddings. However strong-minded they are in other things, however opinionated or of a certain taste, their own wedding is an occasion which they … [Read more...]

A Case for Seersucker

csg-suittieblur

I know that some of you are just starting to reach a tentative armistice with snow and ice, but in the Deep South, spring has done sprung. The dogwoods are in bloom. Everything is in bloom, really; every car from Dallas to Charleston has enough pollen stuck to it to keep the Claritin folks in business for the year. Temperatures are bottoming out in the 70s, and on Easter Sunday, color came back to men's wardrobes. After months of cold, dark, … [Read more...]