The London Lounge

I have, at times, made suits I consider to be in bad taste. But who am I to insist how a man should feel about himself in his clothes? If I am capable of constructing the suit of this man's wishes, then by alerting him to what I see as a mistake, but then creating this suit for him, I believe I hav...

Consider contacting Mr. Edwin DeBoise of Steed. In addition to his bespoke service, he offers an online made-to-measure service: http://www.steedtailors.co.uk/ I know that he could find the 16 oz. tweed that you seek--and send you samples. Mr. DeBoise is a member of the Lounge, so you could also e-m...

Although you now know the basics of constructing the cloth, cloth is not ready for the needle until it is "finished". After weaving, fabric then goes through one or all of a variety of 'finishing' processes. These include dying, sizing, sanforization, and pre-shrinking to name just a few common one...

I admit to using the Tumi roll-away on planes because it protects my stuff from the cads who force too many bags into overhead compartments. When I travel by train, I bring my soft-sided tweed bag. I read--maybe in the Financial Times -- that the secret to securing upgrades on international flights ...

Erasmus continues to ask thought-provoking questions. Patients' paper medical records are transitioning (albeit slowly) to electronic medical records. Do any tailors or shirtmakers digitize patterns through scanning? The average Kinko's (a US photocopy store owned by FedEx) can print architectural p...

Mr. Kabbaz, Would a previous shirtmaker's pattern be of any value to you? When physicians accept a new patient into their practice, they might be curious to see a patient's medical record even if they intend to manage the patient's condition differently. Does the same idea apply in bespoke clothing ...

Dear SouthPender, I apologize for the confusion. I wasn't suggesting that we graph bespoke suits; rather, I was suggesting what we might learn about wearing suits from the principles of multivariate graphing. It's an indirect response to Mr. Alden's post on elegance in which Balzac asks science and ...

Professor Emeritus Edward Tufte asserts that Minard, a French engineer, drew the finest statistical graphic in 1861 when he described the history of Napolian's Army during its Russian Campaign of 1812.* Tufte never says "elegant" but I think his remarks are consistent with Balzac's definition of ele...

BirdofSydney wrote:I always keep my g-string firmly ensconced until I can smell the country air of my estate...

Eden, isn't that a line from Kipling's poem, If ?

"If you can keep your G-string ensconsed when all about you are showing theirs...you'll be a man my son!"

Metcalfe

A possible point of interest, or at least curiosity: Upon looking up the quotes in my own edition of Williams (8th, 2005), I discovered a change the author had made. It’s no longer “those first awkward failures” but simply “those first failures.” I assume Williams reconsidered his original statemen...

Perhaps Saxby moved into his other store?

66 Fulham High Street, London SW6 3LQ

You could check on him by email: saxby at thechap dot net

Metcalfe

I hope you submit that essay for publication so that a wider audience can appreicate your insight. The Economist's Intelligent Life would be a lovely home. Your writing strikes me as interpretative ethnography: Clifford Geertz would say that the jackets are, "a story we tell ourselves about ourselve...

Joseph Williams's book, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (2004)includes a brilliant chapter on writing elegantly. I think some of his ideas also apply to dressing: " Here's the point: The risk in striving for elegance is that you fail spectaularly and never risk it again. I can only encourage...

RWS wrote: "Ugliness is the spring for my disdaining to pair buttondown collar with double cuffs. I may be informed by precedent, but I would disregard that (even though I am a former historian) were I to consider the result of traducing history as aesthetically superior. I likewise am little concer...

To bring this home to the example at hand, then, I would cautiously argue that, even if Grant, Astaire and the Duke (for example) all consistently wore the BD/FC combination, it would still be "wrong". On the other hand, I suppose, if the origins and associations of the button down collar were grou...