The London Lounge

I know for sure that Budd's sell white marcella bow ties fitted to the specific neck size.

Thank you, gentlemen, for your most interesting comments. Of course, I did not expect any eulogies on the President's inaugural wear which I also thought rather odd (resembling those tux-rentals). I just ask myself if this 'performance' is now setting the standards for many 'average' people in the f...

townie, thank you very much for posting the link to the article. Very interesting to read, but not many sartorial details. Could any one of the gentlemen at the LL share their observations regarding Obama's shoes and shirt? Did he wear a cummerbund? I could not make out a waistcoat or anything, I ju...

Please excuse my question, but what do you mean by 'traditional'? If you go back as far as the very early 1800s, pocket watches (slim was the fashion these days, think of the cylinder escapement and such prolific makers like Bautte, Lepine and, of course, Breguet) were indeed worn in the waistband w...

Dear kirsch, would you let us know the serial number of your Hamilton? I might tell you more about your fine watch in terms of manufacturing dates (roughly) and model/size even though it does not say anything about the case and dial. A great company, indeed, that started in 1892 (deriving from the L...

Good point! It really is a wonderful place for a SLIM pocketwatch. I always ask the tailor for these pockets to be inserted in vestless suits. Do not even try to squeeze a18 size watch of american make into such a pocket, not to mention english full hunters! Simply put, the emergence of these little...

RWS, I had my first Budd dress shirt (with detachable collar) ordered at the age of 18 and I still wear it occasionally now that I am 40. It was a piquee front, the detachable collar ready made. At that stage, I bought the shirt off the peg with an extra long sleeve. I really would be interested to ...

Dear Edward, I indeed have quite a collection of white tie stud sets, mostly from the U.S. (Kementz and Larter); I also own several sets of pearl studs from England (1910/1930s), which in fact are always without the cufflinks (those should be plain gold or mother of pearl chainlinks). Usually these ...

I am in the process of having made a shirt by him. Kerry Ford is very forthcoming, always attentive and helpful, listening to the details that I pointed him to. I walked into the shop asking him if he could make just one bespoke shirt and he agreed immediately at a very moderate price (GBP 140). The...

Even though I am not closely familliar with the latest development of this company, I would like to introduce another name within the world of british shoemaking which I regard as very reasonably priced: R.E. Tricker's. They never let me down since I started to buy various specimens of their product...

Dear Mr Hayes, being a member of the NAWCC since 1994, I would like to recommend a british born watchmaker who has done some quite remarkable restorations of bubblebacks and will be pleased to give you some refernce details. He is located in Texas, though, has reasonable prices and, of course, a mas...

What about these ones (maker's marks cleverly hidden ) ?

I definitely have to agree to the previous commentary. However, I somehow collect those stud sets and can tell you that you will hardly find anything in a decent quality (silver or even low-karat gold) for little money. Platinum sets are hugely expensive, they sometimes sport jewels like sapphires o...

Sorry, entered the post twice.

I suppose the original black tie dress shirt used by the English princes was simply the same formal shirt used for white tie at the beginning of the 20th Century. This is exactly the case.They used the same stiff fronted shirt in the 1920s/30s for white AND black tie. The shape of the front bib was...