Neapolitan

[rjman]

Sorry folks. Above trench coat post not intended for this subject.

And yet, given the "snooper dooper" associations you allude to above, it's somehow perfect.

[uppercase]

I’m glad someone finally picked up the subtleties of that post’s placement.

Cheers, rjman.

[pur_sang]

Reviving an old post.

I frequented this forum a lot more once upon a time, took a break for whatever reason, started reading again recently, and I found the tone of the forum have changed a lot towards the negative. Is everyone just fed up with the whole Instagram-centric world, and everyone is a sartorial guru? Probably.

However, more to the point, I am rather surprised that Michael have had such a bad experience with Neapolitan tailors, because when I first started reading this forum (maybe some 10 years ago), the general word on the forum for them seems more complimentary. Now coming back, every tailor seems to be sub-par, not worthy etc. Are we getting too critical? Or is excessive commercialization killing everything?

[alden]

HI Pur Sang

Great to have you back. I think you have answered many of your own questions and that shows that you know us well. I am really happy to see so many old time LLers coming back and that tells me they are maybe unsatisfied with the general offering on the net these days.

I think there is a lot of very positive news on the LL as we celebrate some very exceptional craftsmen, dandies and cloth. Problem is they truly are exceptions these days.

So, I don't think we have become any more critical or discriminating, its just that times they have changed since we started here 15 years ago.

15 years ago I would say things like, "There are very few bad tailors, just lots of bad customers." Today I would amend that and say "There are very few tailors and legions of bad customers."

Read the posts from NYC members fifteen years ago and you realize the city was a mecca for great tailors back then. Today, how many are left...two? It's kind of tough to feel positive about those numbers.

Jesus was able to feed the multitudes with only two fishes, but a benchmade tailor can only produce a very limited number of garments while respecting the canons of his craft. So in order to meet the demand, most tailors have switched to MTM to keep up with and capture the expanding market (brought on by the blog/Instagram set.) And MTM will rarely render the kind of elegance most of us here are used to drinking like mother's milk. And "Masculine Elegance" has always been a central interest and theme around here. So the lack of real tailors is crimping our style.

But being essentially a very positive person I take your point and will strive to set a Northerly course for this ship in the future.

Welcome back

Cheers

[pur_sang]

So, I don't think we have become any more critical or discriminating, its just that times they have changed since we started here 15 years ago.

15 years ago I would say things like, "There are very few bad tailors, just lots of bad customers." Today I would amend that and say "There are very few tailors and legions of bad customers."

Thank you Michael, and by that I mean thank you for all your wisdom over the years. I am glad that you did not interpret my post in a negative manner, as I doubted myself afterwards that it can be interpreted as such.

Even a green shoot like me cannot stand the state of affairs in the menswear world these days driven by instagram and style gurus, I can only imagine the frustration you endure. Everyday there seems to be a new 'bespoke' shop selling mass produced stuff. I blame all this on LVMH haha.