A Good, Honest Umbrella

The text read: “You’ll know this Simon, where do I get a great umbrella in London?” It was from my cousin Harry, but I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know what to answer.

Being absent-minded at the best of times, I’ve never spent more than five pounds on an umbrella. Even the free brollies from various law firms that litter the office get lost. I take them out when it’s raining, and they get left on the tube, the bus, the Pret a Manger counter. I once bought what seemed a rather nice umbrella from Muji for five pounds. Full-length, a mossy green and smart without being boring. It got left on the bus on the way home.

Ashamed by my lack of brolly knowledge, I didn’t reply to Harry. Being the sort of wandering fellow he is, though, he spent the next hour exploring Bloomsbury and its environs. And I got a triumphant text: “Found the most brilliant umbrella shop. Old, musty, lovely men inside. Didn’t buy anything, but there was a great one with a sword inside.”

The only thing he could tell me was that it was on New Oxford Street. But a bit of research easily identified his find as James Smith & Sons, purveyors of fine umbrellas, sticks and canes since 1830.

From the website it looked as though most of the umbrellas would be out of my price range. With city umbrellas starting at £79, it would be foolish to spend that amount of money on something that could be lost of the train back to Dulwich.

For the sake of research more than anything else, I wandered in there last week – not intending to buy anything, but merely to gain sufficient knowledge of the place to be able to answer a text (and perhaps its detailed follow-up) the next time around. 
The inside felt practical. Rough and ready, with a taste of sawdust in the air. Somehow, a place so unpretentious makes you feel that you are implicitly getting value for money. The sheen and gloss of a fashion brand may seem alluring, but you know you’re paying a sizeable premium for that excitement, that sense of belonging. At no point does it seem honest.

Anyway, turns out James Smith does a rather nice range of city umbrellas that start at £39. For your handle there’s a choice of cane, redwood and a rather rough wood that looks as if has just been hacked off a nearby trunk. They are long-lasting, and can be repaired at any time on site.

I opted for redwood, and am rather pleased with it. It’s lovely to extend that feeling of luxury or tradition to another part of your attire. I really hope I don’t leave it on the train.

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A Hole in the Made-to-Measure Market

The problem with made-to-measure suits in most of Europe is that they are an afterthought.

Most of the high-street brands offer made-to-measure, where a tailor takes somewhere between eight and twenty measurements and creates a block for the factory to make your suit by. Hackett offers it, Austin Reed offers it. So do Aquascutum and foreign chains such as Massimo Dutti, or American chains such as Brooks Brothers.

But they are all afterthoughts – a desk and book of swatches lies at the back of the store, waiting without much anticipation for that customer who wants something a little more personal.

And that is how it is often sold, as the opportunity to customise your suit or shirt. Pick your lining, pick your buttons, have your initials sown into the cuff. Well if that’s all you want, it would be a lot easier to take your shirts to a tailor willing to sow something onto them for you. Or even to replace the lining.

The real selling point of made-to-measure (one that is rarely used in these high street stores – as they rarely try to sell the service at all) is that the suit actually fits. Few people can pick up a suit which is measured by one thing – your chest size – and have it fit them well. Even if you pay for a few alterations here and there.

As the subject of my last posting, Hardy Amies has it: “Normal figure: There is no such animal. You may be ‘stock’ size so far as chest and leg measurements are concerned, but it is 99% certain that you will have some idiosyncrasy of figure that makes you not abnormal but simply individual.”

Everyone should buy made-to-measure if they can. And they may be able to, thanks to the launch of Suit Supply in the UK. This Dutch brand launched on December 12 last year, setting up shop at 9 Vigo Street – at the head of Savile Row. It offers made-to-measure from £300 for its English wools and £600 for the Italians.

It can be that cheap because everything is geared to economies of scale. It has its own factory. It can mass-order fabrics. It offers the three most popular colours (mid-grey, charcoal, navy) at the cheapest price, because these are ordered in the greatest volume. As made-to-measure is its main business, there is someone on the shop floor dedicated to that service.

A computerised ordering system tells the factory immediately whether your stance is stooped or straight, whether your right arm is a little shorter than your left, and how high up you like the waist of your trousers. It is made-to-measure, made efficient.

(Have a look at www.suitsupply.co.uk. The website is pretty fun as well – try dragging the pictures around! Those in the US, you may have to wait a while for this to come your way. It’s only Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK so far.)

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New Books on Men’s Style for the New Year

I love books. If my wife would let me line each room of the house them, I would. In my study, I have a wall of bookshelves stuffed with volumes ranging from physics to interior design, presidential biographies to etiquette guides, and poetry to world history. In this New Year, I have added a few titles to my menswear and clothing section so I have a few books to recommend.

Personally, I think every guy should have a few books that can help him get dressed for the day. As an information junky and writer, I have amassed a fairly large collection on menswear including books, guides, magazines and clippings. In fact, I just did a quick count and discovered that I have 37 menswear-specific books.

It’s not a collection just for the sake of having one. To me, each one of those books is a source of inspiration not a rulebook – though some authors seem to think theirs is the only way to dress. Don’t hold fast to any one recommendation or opinion. Take it all in, decide what you like and leave the rest.

With that disclaimer in place, here are some suggestions for your reading pleasure:

Men’s Style: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Dress
This has replaced G. Bruce Boyer’s “Elegance - A Guide to Quality in Menswear” as my hands down favorite menswear book. I never thought the day would come.

Russell Smith is perhaps one of the best menswear writers out there. If you only read the introduction, titled “why bother?” it is worth the purchase price. He succinctly and with great wit explains why you should want to dress well. If you read on, it only gets better.

Smith’s sense of style is classic and his opinions pointed – like how he eviscerated any thoughts I had of ever wearing a white suit a la Tom Wolfe. Oh well – I still have the white bucks.

Overall, it is an excellent book for someone who already has a pretty good handle on his own sense of style and is now ready for the advanced class. Not a lot of images, but the excellent writing takes care of that.

Details Men’s Style Manual: The Ultimate Guide for Making Your Clothes Work for You
One of the best all around resource books I’ve seen in a long time. If you need to figure out where to start – start here. This book is a production of the crew at Details Magazine and they’ve done a fine job. Lots of pictures and sidebars add to the constant flow of sartorial information.

This is good book when you are looking for an all-in-one resource. From suits to jeans, sweaters to formalwear, most every angle is touched on. Several chapter topics are paired with a celebrity style guru offering their personal “Rules of Style.”

Esquire’s Big Black Book
OK, so it’s not really a book, but it’s not really a magazine either. This is the second year that Esquire has produced this style guide and though much of the content is “of the moment” it is a wonderful look book from which to get ideas. It covers all aspects of men’s products and luxuries, from watches to suits, to snazzy hunting duds and essays like the making of cashmere.

Mark your calendar to pick up next year’s copy; it should hit the shelves sometime in early December.

Ralph Lauren
If you are a fan of Mr. Lauren you should get this book if for no other reason than its value as a novelty. It is massive. I am contemplating getting an iron frame stand made for it so that this volume can double as a coffee table.

OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but it is an awfully large and expensive book. It’s all for good though, because it literally contains the entire visual history of Ralph Lauren the company. If you can think of a favorite advertising campaign, it’s in there.

I recommend this as style inspiration/resource guide because Lauren is a genius when it comes to tapping the emotional core of style and design. Just leafing through a few pages will give you style ideas to last a month.

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Short Coats for the Winter

With the winter’s wind and dropping temperatures marching across most of the northern hemisphere, it’s time to open up the closet and pull out a good coat. While there are many options – from ski parkas to quilted jean jackets – if you’re heading off to work it should be something a little dressier.

When it comes to men’s coats, there are a number of perfectly respectable options. Chesterfields, polo coats, camel hair, and coverts; and each have its place. But for something a little more modern and portable, try a short coat.

Short coats tend to end somewhere between the waist and mid-thigh area. As with their longer brethren, short coats can be put to use in formal and casual environments but they possess the additional benefit of comfort and variety.

Short coats have less fabric floating around and can be more comfortable for people who commute via public transportation. They also have a less formal feel about them even though many varieties are designed to the same level of detail as longer coats.

As a general category, Car Coats are classic and have a lightly formal design that can be worn over a suit or whenever you want to present a simple professional look. The clean lines, often with slash or patch pockets, make the traditional car coat versatile and useful.

Another classic option is the traditional Navy Pea Coat. This season, I have seen all sorts of takes on this truly timeless short coat. From leather to cashmere, a pea coat’s innate style translates well. And as long as you don’t choose some funky patterned version, it’s almost guaranteed never to go out of style.

Duffel or Toggle Coats are perfect for cold, windy days and those times when you look to project a casual and preppy sense of style. The coat’s toggle latches, patch pockets and cozy personality are a great way to inject some fun into your day.

The Barbour Jacket is an iconic choice that pretty much looks great on everyone. Barbour jackets speak of country houses, wealthy relatives, shooting weekends and galloping your favorite mount across the estate. In addition, they are a practical investment and one of those things that looks better the more it is abused. With its liner zipped in, you have a warm and waterproof outer layer that looks at home in the field or the concrete jungle.

Foul weather gear and technical jackets are a fun and functional alternative to “traditional” business oriented outerwear. As I mentioned in an earlier column, when done well, I am a fan of technical parkas worn over dress clothes. When wearing casual or weekend clothes, these jackets hit just the right note. They provide protection, are usually very comfortable and have an unmistakably rugged style.

As you can see, this is one of those subjects can literally fill a book. Cold weather coats come in myriad styles and sizes – bomber jackets, mackintoshes, raglan sleeved overcoats and wool lined barn coats. The list is endless. Try on different styles that appeal to you and go for what feels right.

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How to Get Value for Money

It’s hard to sit at home while luxury items are being reduced all over the city. But it’s worth it.

This year economic uncertainty meant that many sales started early, often before Christmas. When I was in New York at the beginning of December, a Ralph Lauren employee subtly mentioned to me that all their stock was already on sale. Polo and Black Label were reduced by 30%, Purple Label by 50%. There were no signs in the store, and no marking down on the labels. But a few people were quietly told as they browsed.

It was the same situation in London, though staff wouldn’t necessarily admit it. I bought a suit in mid-December that was altered in a few places, but when I went to pick it up they claimed to know nothing of the early sale.

“You say you bought this suit in the sale, sir?”
“Yes, around December 12”
“The sale didn’t start until December 27, though – are you sure that’s right?”
After 20 minutes of searching, the suit was eventually found. Maybe this particular employee wasn’t clued in, or maybe it’s a conspiracy. Either way it is understandable that a chain wouldn’t advertise the fact that sales had started early – it could be seen as a sign of desperation.

Because sales started early, many retail chains had to increase discounts after Christmas and into January. This is why, though hard, it is worth waiting until the end of the sales. If you start with a discount of 50%, the “further discounts” that are advertised in mid-January need to push sales to 60% or even 70%.

This is particularly satisfying because you know you are eroding a label’s profit, approaching the point where all you are paying for is the cost of the item itself.

The typical profit margin in fashion retail is between 65% and 80%, depending on the brand and what you include in a chain’s costs. The cost of manufacture may be small on its own, but the chain also has to cover its rent and wages, not to mention firm-wide costs like advertising and branding.

(This, by the way, is how Selfridges can sell, say, Prada shoes at the same price as they are in the Prada store. Selfridges gets them at a discount because Prada doesn’t have to pay rent, wages etc. for those items.)

So wait until the end of the sales, and then rejoice when your discount approaches 70%. Ralph Lauren reduced its Purple Label socks from £25 to £8 in these sales, a reduction of 68%. A manager there told me they had been snapped up as a result – not surprising really.

Savile Row store Kilgour is also worth watching out for, as it reduces the previous season’s suits and shirts by a further discount in the sales. Last season’s jackets, for example, were reduced from £660 to £195 last time I checked – a very satisfying 70% saving.

Happy shopping!

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