A Few of My Favourite Things, Part 1

A couple of things that crossed my radar recently and with Christmas around the corner you may even find them helpful.

Jaeger Patch Pocket Suit

Continuing my patch pocket odyssey, or obsession, depending on your point of view, I found exactly the suit I was looking for courtesy of Jaeger. I found this suit by accident, diving into the shop to get out of a torrential downpour. Trousers and jacket are sold separately, which means you can stock up on extra trousers – always handy with off the peg. This Pure wool flannel suit is made of Italian cloth, with horn buttons and a centre vent. It could well become a core item in my wardrobe. Worn as one suit or stripped down –using the jacket with jeans and the trousers with odd jackets to allow a variety of looks. Courting a younger market the company has improved its look considerably over recent years. They’ve taken classics and given them a younger edge and sharpened up their lines.

Quba Sailcloth Jackets

A little while ago I spent a weekend in Lymington, a beautiful little town on the English coast. Owing to its closeness to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, it’s a haven for boaters, windsurfers, sailors and yachtsmen. And there I discovered Quba. Started in 1996 by two university friends who had some old sail cloth they wanted to turn into jackets, the company, and their range, developed from this simple idea. Having grown up sailing on the Norfolk Broads, I’ve always had a great affinity for sailing clothing. Much underused in the domestic wardrobe, it lends itself to the high street and high seas equally well, providing a distinctive and sportier edge. The two great advantages are that it looks great  – how many badly dressed people have you ever seen on a Yacht? And secondly, it has to withstand the elements, making it tough, practical and well made. I’m not advocating you wear a life jacket in town, but I love Quba’s X10 Drop-Back in white. Each piece of the jacket is put together individually and designed to withstand the roughest oceans and bleakest mountains. The range extends beyond merely jackets, and I think it’s a company to keep an eye on.

Christmas Presents For Gentlemen

I once accompanied a friend on a shopping trip, at his request, to ease the frustration he experienced when deliberating over clothing choices. Invariably, he informed me, there had always been some partially interested female who would accompany him, their spirits strengthened by the promise of brunch at Le Caprice, to advise on his questions; “Is this too tight?”; “Am I allowed to wear this?”; “Will this look stupid on me?”; “Does this make me look gay?” On this occasion, there was no such female; the friend was in the middle of a brief ‘dry patch.’ We two alone, wandered through the emporia of central London together. I learned a great deal about him on that trip. I also learned a great deal about the psychology of self-determinism.

Men want just as much, just as often as women – they might roll their eyes at handbag lust, tut-tut at shoe envy and shake their head in disapproval at the creaking racks in a girlfriend’s wardrobe but they have their little ‘adored treasures’ too. The problem is, many men are unwilling to purchase said treasures with their own money. Whereas women adopt a truly enlightened approach towards treasure-shopping (‘Buy now, repent later’), men crumble when attempting to summon the courage to secure these items. There is something about handing over one’s own money that causes one to ask ‘Why am I DOING this?’ At the till, the eyes scan the item with a nervous flicker; fearful thoughts rocket through the mind as the conscience hammers away. For some items, such an experience is simply endurance. For the ‘treasures’, the items a gentleman would dearly love to have but simply could not buy, the experience is horrific. I myself have experienced a peculiar hand shaking, palm-sweating, head-pulsing sensation when indulging. Exceedingly unpleasant.

To avoid this awful physiological reaction to self-indulgence, men who are reluctant to exact self-determinism may wish to pass on weaker, subliminal hints to those dear to them in order that it may be a merry Christmas for all.

Cravat

One of the ‘treasured’ items on the shopping trip with my friend, the cravat is a common object of lust for men. Most deny such lust stating disingenuously that cravats are ‘old farty’, ‘crusty’ or ‘poofy.’ In actual fact, cravats are an accessory of distinction that men crave the confidence to wear. My good friend cooed and ahhed, caressing the silk fondly in a way that was rather disturbing only to respond to the suggestion that he purchased the item; “I just couldn’t buy a cravat. Ever”

Opera pumps

Variously named ‘evening pumps’, ‘opera pumps, or simply ‘pumps’, these shoes are one of the most controversial wardrobe items in a gentleman’s wardrobe. Countless panicky threads are begun on style forums asking, democratically, for permission and approval; “Should I buy them?”; “My girlfriend said they’re really feminine…”; “£300 is a lot for evening shoes”; “I like them, but…” The men who know their own mind will purchase these shoes in a blink. However, most men cannot justify the expenditure. Their fear is that they will be laughed at, in a comical style, on the very first occasion they wear them; women and men, their very sides splitting, on seeing such dainty shoes. It is these thoughts that cause men to place the plastic back into the wallet, shake their head at the puzzled store assistant and exit onto the street, breathing a sigh of relief. Were it to be another who purchased said shoes for the gentleman? Well, now that’s a different matter.

Silk dressing gown

There are many men who consider a dressing gown (not a towelling gown) to be an item of antiquated extravagance. In an age when most men are happy to answer the front door to strangers whilst wearing only their boxer shorts, a gown that was first designed to cover a gentleman’s ‘state of undress’ – (a shirt, waistcoat and trousers) – on the occasion of receiving visitors into his abode, is rather superfluous. Thinking over their rather busy and unfortunately inelegant day, men sneer into the windows of Harvie & Hudson, scanning the silken gowns draped over the mannequins thinking “Nice? Yeah. But when will I wear it?” If you happen to be bought one? Nearly every day. And you’d be the better for it.

Whilst browsing the website of Swaine Adeney & Brigg, a snooping colleague leaned over my shoulder and uttered a gasp of horror; “£300 for an umbrella?!” Coolly ignoring their hot-headed naivety I flicked to the silver handled version. “Yours” I said, taking a bite of BLT “for £825.” No one seems interested in investing in a decent umbrella these days. Aside from a neighbour, whose chestnut handled Brigg I had recently admired, a smart umbrella is something that many people like to dream of but few people wish to buy. “I’ll just lose it” they say “That’s £300 lost.” This coming, of course, from people who purchase iPhones, Blackberries, Mont Blancs and countless other items of ‘loseable’ profligacy. Every man wants one, few men have the courage to buy one.

In Search Of A Raincoat

For the last few years I’ve had the gravest difficulty acquiring a raincoat. It’s possibly the one classic gap in my armoury.

In choosing a proper raincoat you have three basic options. Firstly you can go down the Slip-on road. This type is either Raglan or set-in sleeve, straight cut and sits below the knee. Secondly, you have the short Slip-on which is mid calf or just above the knee in length. Finally, you have the Trench Coat; double breasted, belted, wrist straps, gun flap, epaulets and ideally knee length.

The problem is that none of these options works well for me. The short Slip-on works best on men of slight build. I’m 6 ft 1inch tall, with a 42inch chest and 38inchs around the waist, such a coat merely appears boxy –something akin to Dawn French wearing a lampshade.

As to the long, whenever I’ve been tempted to try one, far from the longer silhouette improving things I’ve found there is just too much cloth. I feel swamped and decidedly self conscious.

This brings me to the Trench Coat. I certainly appreciate the aesthetics more than those of the Slip-on; double breasted, the large flipped collar, midriff and wrist belting. But the epaulets and gun flap are a step too far. The full Bogard can, in my view, prematurely age younger men. And there are few things more ridiculous to behold than young men dressing like old men.

But this week I’ve found what I was looking for. I’ve settled on this offering from English company Boden. The aesthetic is basically classic trench, providing shape but minus the overly fussy epaulets and gun flap. Some shape to the coat also allows me to get away with the shorter more convenient mid-thy length.

The company behind the coat is one I have a lot of time for. Their dependability and clear cut purpose of supplying subtly tweaked but sound wardrobe essentials makes Boden a useful source in my view. Rather unfairly the company’s popularity amongst the aspirant middles classes has led to a little sneering from some in the sartorial intelligentsia. Regardless of that, they’ve solved my raincoat dilemma  –no easy task.

Back To Bicester

It probably wasn’t hard to feel the excitement behind the words of my last post on Bicester Village. One friend’s favourite-ever quote from this blog says it all: “I am at heart a cheap man.” (From a post last year on buying luxury – specifically, very versatile Hermes ties.) The prices and luxury menswear on offer got my heart pounding, as they did many of you given the comments I have had.

Ever since I have been trying to think of an excuse to go back, and last week I found one. The good people at Chic Outlet Shopping, of which Bicester is part, invited me to a Blogger’s Day – essentially an excuse for them to tell us bloggers about the Village, what makes it so unique, and give us a discount card to get some Christmas presents. Not a bad deal.

Of the 20 or so bloggers there, four were men – and the others seemed to be tacked onto other groups rather than being individual bloggers. The female bloggers were American and Chinese, as well as British, and varied from solo writers to managers of transatlantic teams. All a little humbling: I do hope menswear catches up soon.

I learnt a little about why Bicester is so good for up-market menswear shopping. Although Ralph Lauren has many outlets around the country (and makes more money from them than its normal stores, according to one blogger), Bicester is the only RL outlet to get Purple Label. There was a beautiful double-breasted, shawl-collar tux from Purple Label, in the Custom Fit, which is a lot narrower and seems to fit me very well. Reduced from £2200 to £440.

But I resisted – I have one set of black tie already and little need for another, given that I wear it four times a year. Plus I swore to myself to only buy bespoke jackets from now on.

Loro Piana only has two outlets in the world, one in Bicester and one in Italy. So valued is the outlet here that celebrities have been known to land by helicopter in the nearby field and make a beeline straight for the store. And the staff manages a very detailed customer register that allows you to request updates when particular items come in, and even order in advance.

So how did I fare? Pretty well. An Alfred Dunhill doctor’s bag from the traditional English range (all 100% handmade, in London) a ‘Roadster’ cashmere sweater from Loro Piana and a ‘Horsey’ coat from the same store – the model made for the Italian horseriding team at the Barcelona Olympics and featuring LP’s famous Storm System.

One more trip before Christmas would be excessive, right?

An Exercise In Wardrobe Building

I commissioned my third bespoke suit from Graham Browne today, and I had thought about the choice pretty constantly for three weeks. There was one particular bad night in Hong Kong, plagued by jet lag, where I turned over the options for jetted versus flapped pockets for seven solid hours. I like to hope it was the insomnia that made me obsessive.

Essentially, it was a question of wardrobe building. Which suit should I commission next, given my existing bespoke, from Hong Kong and London, and ready-to-wear suits.

The existing wardrobe of suits is:

Graham Browne (British bespoke):

Single-breasted (SB) navy chalk stripe

Double-breasted (DB) blue herringbone

Henry Herbert (British bespoke, coming):

Mid-grey SB plain worsted

Edward Tam (Hong Kong bespoke):

Pale grey SB with bold Prince-of-Wales check

Mid-grey DB flannel

Dark grey SB worsted, with faint purple check

Ready-to-wear:

Blue SB pinstripe

Mid-grey SB Prince-of-Wales

Grey/green SB plain worsted

(Plus a few others either too old or cheap to mention…)

So what to commission from Graham Browne next? I want to build up a relatively conservative, business wardrobe. So the next commission would likely be navy or grey. My previous two suits from Browne were both blue, so logically grey next? But then all three Hong Kong suits are shades of grey…

Plus both the British bespoke suits have been heavier wools (12-ounce worsted and 13-ounce flannel). I haven’t really got a normal, worsted bespoke suit yet – one that would stand out at a conference only for its cut.

I’d also absolutely love a Prince-of-Wales; but I have two already. It would be nice to have a navy suit where the jacket would work as a blazer; but that would probably mean a heavier cloth. A bespoke tweed jacket would be different and practical; but I should probably get a suit while I have the money (a jacket would be cheaper).

It was all rather introverted and narcissistic. And not helped by the various cloths on display, such as a lovely thick, grey herringbone that was just sitting there, left over.

In the end I went for an SB two-piece in mid-blue, one button and with a slight cutaway to the jacket front. The cloth is 9.5 ounce, with a very small herringbone. A basic business suit, really. My only concession to experiment is the trousers – high waisted, to be worn with braces. I’m excited about this, my first ‘braced’ suit. The trousers will be about one and a half inches higher than mine at the moment, which isn’t that much; but there will be a fish-tail back.

Oh, and I couldn’t decide between a peaked and notched lapel. So I went for a fish mouth instead – where the lapel is slightly pointed upwards, but not as much as a peak lapel, and not extended either. It creates a smaller, more pointed notch. And is a compromise between the two traditional options.

Expect pictures of this fishy suit being cut soon.