Blazer Specs

[Guest]

I know and agree. As a matter of fact .... my DB suits all have waistcoats and I never do the coats up at all. However, just as a matter of habit, I don't do up the last button on my 4 + 2 DB blazer and, thinking about it now, I think that it looks better.
NJS

[Guest]

Hello Frog,
I have just shot myself in the foot because I have posted a famous portrait, by Baron, of Jack Buchanan in the 'Sartorial heros' thread in the Dressing Room and he is completely buttoned.
NJS

This is a handsome and generous admission. I appreciate it all the more than I had hardly ever heard of Jack Buchanan and do not remember ever seeing a photograph, probably because English and American actors mostly become known in France through the medium of film. I must google him to find more pictures.
As to the buttoning issue, we may leave then it as undecided. No one gets excommunicated over this.

Another “rule” of mine: I have never had the courage (I do think it is a form of courage on your part, as it is certainly rarer thus more noticeable) to get a waistcoat with a DB suit, feeling as I do that the DB by itself is busy enough and does not show too much shirt, which of course allows one to go very bold in the choice of shirt if one so wishes (one often does). Conversely, a SB suit without a waistcoat seems unfinished to me. The waistcoat hides more of the shirt area as well.

I hasten to add that these “rules” are mine alone and that I would not dream of forcing them on anyone else, even if I could. I am trying to remember how I evolved them and cannot really say. It must have taken me a good many years. Many of my old suits had both belt loops and braces buttons. Over the years I have decided that braces are the only way to hold one’s trousers up and I now wear braces even with my cords or moleskins, with a jacket of course.

This ends my Sunday morning sartorial musings.

Kind regards,

Frog in Suit.

[Guest]

I often button both buttons on my 6x2 blazer and occasionally on other DB suits. For blazers, it seems to look better so I do it nearly always. On suits, if I do it at all, it is on a whim or out of boredom. I don't make it a habit, though.

dopey

[Guest]

Hello Gentlemen,
I'm having a DB 6 x 2 blue blazer done up and I'm wondering about fabric choices. I thought of "doeskin", but the one sample I've seen is a high-twist super 120's (probably 8 oz.) and I'm not sure of that route. Do you all have favourite fabrics for blazers? There may be a worsted cashmere (also roughly 8 oz) that I could get my hands on, but I thought something in at least 9 oz. would suit for year round use during all but the dog days in Virginia. The blazer will also see regular use, but I am not too hard on clothing.

Many thanks for your opinions.

Regards,
CCox

[Guest]

Hello Frog - I wish that my French were as good as your English! Jack Buchanan was a contemporary of Maurice Chevalier. There are several pictures of him on the internet and also in Getty Images and other photobanks. In fact there are even somewhere pictures of them together. Chevalier was a better singer but I think that JB had the edge as an all round entertainer - the last film that he was in wwas the Band Wagon - with Astaire, Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant. As to DB suits and waistcoats - actually it works very well provided that you keep the waistcoat single-breasted without any extra ornamentation such as lapels. I must do a picture of one of mine and let you see.
best,
NJS

[Guest]

Hello Frog - I wish that my French were as good as your English! Jack Buchanan was a contemporary of Maurice Chevalier. There are several pictures of him on the internet and also in Getty Images and other photobanks. In fact there are even somewhere pictures of them together. Chevalier was a better singer but I think that JB had the edge as an all round entertainer - the last film that he was in wwas the Band Wagon - with Astaire, Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant. As to DB suits and waistcoats - actually it works very well provided that you keep the waistcoat single-breasted without any extra ornamentation such as lapels. I must do a picture of one of mine and let you see.
best,
NJS

Dear NJS,

Many thanks for your compliment. Unfortunately, English is my only other language apart from French, and after some forty-seven or forty-eight years of learning, reading and speaking it, I do not think my merit is so great. I do envy people who can speak several languages. I may decide to take German lessons from the Goethe Institute later in the year, being the only member of my family with no training in that language.

I shall make a point of following your advice and looking up pictures of Jack Buchanan.

I was in London yesterday, so have now taken deliveries of two DB suits from my tailor (Jones, Chalk & Dawson/Meyer & Mortimer). Number 3 (pinstriped dark grey DB) needed a couple of further alterations (trouser length, a minor adjustment on the low front end of the coat…) and number 4 (SB 3-piece POW check in a muted brown/tan overcheck, the SB waistcoat has lapels) was only on its second fitting. I am going back in April and should be able to take delivery of those two as well (I shall post pictures once I can find a concurrence of three events: dry and light weather, my – very busy -- wife’s availability to take pictures, and my own time). I also went by N & L and ordered two shirts, which I should be able to pick up in May (Mr. O’Flynn’s travel schedule may have something to do with the delay). I also strolled along the east side of Savile Row, popped into Lock’s and bought a hat, a hat box and a tie, but failed to find a bridle leather passport cover, which I also use as a wallet. I tried Foster, Pickett’s, Fortnum’s and Swaine. The last named should have a new model out in May, so I shall try them again. The people at Foster and Pickett’s were very pleasant and helpful but they did not have quite what I was looking for. All I all a very pleasant little jaunt; I am trying to convince my wife to organise a “week-en à deux” later in the spring, to coincide with the shirts and the availability of the passport cover, plus whatever the museums have to offer in the way of temporary exhibitions.
Best,

Frog in Suit

[Guest]

Dear Frog,
The British are rotters for not learning other languages. My French and (very slight German) are at the standard of a schoolboy and the Portuguese which I use here always raises a tolerant smile. We met a German in the cosmopolitan Buzios recently who spoke with us in better English than some English people could muster and with only a very slight accent. I apologized for the fact that this was the best language for us to speak in and he said that the English don't have to bother to learn other languages. This is, I suppose, because, for historic reasons (Empire and America) English has spread around the world. However, it is a two-edged sword because there is something ungracious in speaking with residents of a country in a language other than that of the country.
However, that aside, I am glad that you have recently enjoyed your London trip and are looking forward to returning to collect and have more fittings. We will be returning sometime this year to see friends and family and to do a little shopping too. Maybe, one day, we will all meet up.
best,
NJS

[Guest]

NJS

A few years ago we had the idea of having a Euro LL meeting in Paris. Maybe we should reopen the discussion. Mr. Frog and I could find a few good spots to visit for our sartorial educations and a few other places for victuals and medicinal sparkling beverages.

What do the UK and Continental LL members say?

Cheers

Michael

[Guest]

. . . . there is something ungracious in speaking with residents of a country in a language other than that of the country. . . .

Very, very true. Better to speak the native's language poorly (and then graciously accept the other's proffer of a better English!) than to make no effort at all.

. . . . for historic reasons (Empire and America) English has spread around the world. . . .

But also for linguistic: English has by far the largest vocabulary of any language ever spoken (twice that of the runner-up, Chinese) and a supple, subtle grammar that often reminds me of my schoolboy's delight in classical Greek.

Of course, with the ubiquity of English comes greater abuse. Just a few minutes ago, for example, I listened to a reader on National Public Radio (supposedly the best-spoken network in North America) talk about "the five-year anniversary of the Iraq War". Not for nothing does language remain the chief indicator of social class!

[Guest]

. . . . there is something ungracious in speaking with residents of a country in a language other than that of the country. . . .

Very, very true. Better to speak the native's language poorly (and then graciously accept the other's proffer of a better English!) than to make no effort at all.

. . . . for historic reasons (Empire and America) English has spread around the world. . . .

But also for linguistic: English has by far the largest vocabulary of any language ever spoken (twice that of the runner-up, Chinese) and a supple, subtle grammar that often reminds me of my schoolboy's delight in classical Greek.

Of course, with the ubiquity of English comes greater abuse. Just a few minutes ago, for example, I listened to a reader on National Public Radio (supposedly the best-spoken network in North America) talk about "the five-year anniversary of the Iraq War". Not for nothing does language remain the chief indicator of social class!

RWS

[Guest]

Michael,
Makes sense to me - especially the victuals and the medicinal beverages! Not sure when we are next back (most days sadly - and maddenly - too busy to cross the road to the beach) but if you start a precedent for such gatherings you will gather many, many members to such an event which will recur (and I will eventually get there too!
best,
NJS

[Guest]

Michael,
Makes sense to me - especially the victuals and the medicinal beverages! Not sure when we are next back (most days sadly - and maddenly - too busy to cross the road to the beach) but if you start a precedent for such gatherings you will gather many, many members to such an event which will recur (and I will eventually get there too!
best,
NJS

[Guest]

NJS

A few years ago we had the idea of having a Euro LL meeting in Paris. Maybe we should reopen the discussion. Mr. Frog and I could find a few good spots to visit for our sartorial educations and a few other places for victuals and medicinal sparkling beverages.

What do the UK and Continental LL members say?

Cheers

Michael

A Euro LL meeting in Paris? Why not indeed, but given the bespoke prices in Paris (I saw on another blog the equivalent of 5,000 GBP quoted as a starting price at Smalto, which makes SR an “excellent rapport qualité/prix” indeed), and my own self-confessed anglophilia (anglomania?), I would suggest that London might be more suitable. Victuals and beverages may cost more but there are a few spots within reach of Jermyn Street and the Row which offer toothsome yet affordable browsing. I would feel awkward visiting Parisian sartorial establishments which I have no hope of, nor interest in, ever patronizing.
Frog in Suit

[Guest]

I would gladly participate too. Getting to know London better in the company of other Loungers is an attractive idea.

Milo