The London Lounge

Since I'm endeavouring to travel light and so, carry just one jacket...do you think that a velvet jacket could replace a blue blazer for the Winter months...? Keeping in mind, that I have only casual day time needs for the jacket and it needs to do duty at night as well....

I would carry the blazer. They work for evening with a bow tie and are much better than velvet for day wear.

I like the idea of a velvet jacket.
For those like myself with no work or social constrictions as to what I should wear, the idea of something a little unconventional appeals.
I feel that it might engender a rather arty, louche look that can work if done well. I imagine Brown/tan ,green ,velvet as opposed to the usual evening black and burgundy.
I still have a strong hankering for something like Douglas Fairbanks's cigar coloured double breasted evening jacket, which I imagine i might copy at some point if I can find the right materials.

uppercase wrote: ..do you think that a velvet jacket could replace a blue blazer for the Winter months...? Keeping in mind, that I have only casual day time needs for the jacket and it needs to do duty at night as well....

If you're carrying just one jacket, I believe that the velvet one would make you look much more stylish than the blue blazer. It would cover elegantly all your casual needs during the day time (see The Photographer in the link below with his iconic dark green velvet jacket) and it could double perfectly well as a sophisticated evening jacket.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ywa6qeY ... re=related

Velvet is not an outdoors fabric for me...

Costi wrote:Velvet is not an outdoors fabric for me...

And you are not alone in that opinion. Some would add that it´s not a daytime fabric either. But I believe this position to be a bit conservative and that a casual piece in cotton velvet can be worn well outdoors during the day. We are not talking formal wear or shiny silk velvet here.

Well, I ask because I have not yet had my Winter blazer, which was stolen last year, replaced. So it's time to buckle down and get something made, however....do I really need to replace it?

Now I was in London recently, and can report that the men were uniformly egregiously dressed.

So why dress?

What can I say, London, perhaps the last bastion of classical masculine elegance, has abdicated that position. Yes, there are spots here and there in London where you can see the occassional well dressed man, primarily around Savile Row, but really, throughout the town, well dressed men are as rare as hens teeth.

Yes, this is all anecdotal, just an observation of the casual visitor. But I did alot walking, eating, frequented public spaces and I really did not see more than a handful of well dressed men, let alone men in bespoke. And my impressions are gather over a number of visits through the years.

At restaurants, there was not one man wearing a tie at dinner. Not one. Some wore sad, drab suits without tie. The large majority were dressed very casually, indeed; some 'fashionably', most sloppily. The women looked good, though. The men, schlumps.

And this scenario repeats itself in every large city I have visited: no one dresses.

Why should I argue with this by endeavouring to dress differently?

Yes, one versatile coat should do for traveling. I thought of velvet because the world is now so casual and even a blazer is perhaps too stiff, hide bound and out of place in a buzzing city, while a velvet blazer is indeed louche, artsy, stylish and importantly, tactile, more in keeping with the zeitgeist.

Why fight the tide: if you want to dress well today you need to dress well in a casual style, and know how to do that. Here, RTW trumps bespoke. There are so many compelling RTW clothes, beautifully designed, wonderful cloth, light, vibrant and liberating that I wonder about the need for bespoke on all but a few occassions....

And where do all of the bespoke suits go? Savile Row has never been busier. The worlds' 1 percenters are buying up SR legacy and tradition at record rates. So where are the bespoke men in London? How many suits does Savile Row produce a year? Isn't it around 10,000? 15,000? Are those bespoke suits mostly exported? I don't know...but they were not evident in the streets and restaurants I frequented on this short trip to London....

The choice between blue blazer and velvet is perhaps sartorially existential. It's interesting to me to consider. I'm a bit weary of bespoke right now. And of dressing for a time and world which exists only in my mind and perhaps a few other cohorts.

Perhaps I should start looking for a good pair of city-jeans. And a velvet jacket.

Uppercase, well-written. It is always a pleasure to read your reflections on dressing. I particularly like the following sentence: "if you want to dress well today you need to dress well in a casual style."

Gruto wrote:Uppercase, well-written. It is always a pleasure to read your reflections on dressing. I particularly like the following sentence: "if you want to dress well today you need to dress well in a casual style."

Gruto,
I quite agree about your comments regarding the post(s) from Uppercase but what was it you found so appealing about that particular sentence ?

Regards
Russell

uppercase wrote:
At restaurants, there was not one man wearing a tie at dinner. Not one. Some wore sad, drab suits without tie. The large majority were dressed very casually, indeed; some 'fashionably', most sloppily. The women looked good, though. The men, schlumps.

And this scenario repeats itself in every large city I have visited: no one dresses.
Why should I argue with this by endeavouring to dress differently?
I'm a bit weary of bespoke right now. And of dressing for a time and world which exists only in my mind and perhaps a few other cohorts.

Uppercase,
you have touched my heart and your reflections -coming from one of the pillars of LL- have saddened me a bit. I share your feelings and perceptions, and once in a while I find myself asking me the same questions you ask yourself.
Different answers work for me at different moments and keep me going.
Sometimes I dress well just to assure myself that I'm part of the cohort you mention. Sometimes, I confess, to impress the women who -as you say- still look good. Sometimes to cheer me up. Sometimes for feeling comfortable in my clothes and appropriate at the occasion. Sometimes it's a matter of survival and more of a power play. I'm sure you have your own satisfactory responses.
To end on a lighter note, I hope your current weariness of bespoke could be easily cured by your next visit to your tailor

Russell wrote:

Gruto wrote:Uppercase, well-written. It is always a pleasure to read your reflections on dressing. I particularly like the following sentence: "if you want to dress well today you need to dress well in a casual style."

Gruto,
I quite agree about your comments regarding the post(s) from Uppercase but what was it you found so appealing about that particular sentence ?

Regards
Russell

Russell,

To me the sentence says that dressing must be connected to the society that we live in, if we will avoid taking part in a comedy. Flaubert, the French author from 19th Centrury, expressed something similar when he said: "you must write the mediocre well". If I should translate that to dressing, I would say that we must use the garments of our time but doing it elegantly, with style.

UC, I was in London the past summer and thought the opposite. I was impressed how many well dressed men were seen on the street. I stayed at Pall Mall, which I expect might be somewhat different than the rest of London.

hsw9001 wrote: I was impressed how many well dressed men were seen on the street. I stayed at Pall Mall, which I expect might be somewhat different than the rest of London.

Interesting perception. In my experience the amount of well dressed men that you can see on the streets of London has been dwindling since my first visit in the late 70s. Although it´s difficult to be objective when it comes down to just personal observations. I believe it would fair to say that men you see strolling down the streets in the St. James and Mayfair areas are on average much better dressed than in the rest of the London neighborhoods. Maybe they are the last few in the planet, coming in and out of SR or Jermyn St. shops or of their gentlemen´s clubs. But just move half a mile in any direction and the sartorial gage drops dramatically.

I experimented with velvet jackets some years ago, they are okay for light-hearted evening wear but too flippant for day wear. Unless you are a Chinese grannie at Lunar New Year, in which case your seniority entitles you to do exactly as you please

Being demoralised about declining standards of dress is not unusual and I sympathise. However, being well dressed and well turned-out is a mark of respect for the people you deal with, and you never know whom you will need to impress within the course of a day while travelling. A blazer or sports jacket that fits well, and a shirt with sleeves the right length and a collar that fits, will put you ahead of 80% of the men one encounters ( If you can get that from RTW, that's great. I can't.). Then people can cease concentrating on your ill-fitting ensemble and focus on what a good fellow you are. There are enough people who will respect your efforts to make it worthwhile. The Maitre D' at the packed restaurant who will find you a table while he turns away endless tourists clad in expensive sportswear. The business contact who agrees to a second meeting. The young lady who rejects a dozen requests for her phone number each day, until you come along....

Maybe a soft blue flannel blazer might strike a nice balance between formality and comfort?

Simon A wrote:Unless you are a Chinese grannie at Lunar New Year, in which case your seniority entitles you to do exactly as you please

Simon A wrote: A blazer or sports jacket that fits well, and a shirt with sleeves the right length and a collar that fits, will put you ahead of 80% of the men one encounters ( If you can get that from RTW, that's great. I can't.).

A few people can. In the end, it depends what you expect from your clothing. If you want to buy the latest and dump it after 2 years, RTW is the way to go. I have tried a few years, because suits were no longer required for my work, and I wanted to simplify my wardrobe. The experience failed graciously - things don't fit the way I want them to fit (it really starts with trousers requiring a belt and being cut too low), cloth is not satisfactory (mostly too light weight), things wear out quickly.

When I calculated return on investment and overall satisfaction, I returned to bespoke.

Simon A wrote: Then people can cease concentrating on your ill-fitting ensemble and focus on what a good fellow you are. There are enough people who will respect your efforts to make it worthwhile. The Maitre D' at the packed restaurant who will find you a table while he turns away endless tourists clad in expensive sportswear. The business contact who agrees to a second meeting. The young lady who rejects a dozen requests for her phone number each day, until you come along....

So true. If anybody needs more arguments, I could continue...

Simon A wrote: Maybe a soft blue flannel blazer might strike a nice balance between formality and comfort?

Excellent idea. Or a wool/cashmere cloth.

Cheers, David