Loris Vestrucci, Florence

[uppercase]

I found some photos of newest LL CAP artisan tailor, Maestro Loris Vestrucci, Florence:

[iammatt]

UC-

Nice pics.

You in the pic, or another one of our "friends"?

[mathew]

I've got a few photos to share, though it'll have to wait until I get back home...

[uppercase]

Indeed, not my coat , but Loris pulled down this coat, pretty close to my size, to show me what his coats look and feel like.

He takes great pride in his work, is eager for you to appreciate and understand what he is doing, and is generally a very warm human being.

I can tell you that the coat, though not cut for me , felt wonderful, immediately comfortable, very soft with good room in the shoulder. I could love a sports coat like that.

What's interesting to note here is that the pattern on the front of the chest is left undisturbed because there are no front darts; rather, waist shaping is achieved through the dart coming from under the arm toward the front pocket in the classic Florentine manner.

[mathew]

[masterfred]

I realize this is an unfinished garment, but from the side view, the dart is very prominent looking, and not as subtle as I thought at first. When a coat that is darted in this manner is completed, does the darting appear less "obvious"?

[mathew]

The pattern of that fabric is rather large. If he'd instead use the more common vertical dart it'd just "smoosh" the pattern a bit instead of, as you point out, setting it off. But first, the angled dart is a less noticeable than the vertical dart, second, Florentine style is Florentine style...and third, this artisan has a "strong mind."

[masterfred]

From the front view, you're certainly correct that it doesn't disturb the pattern.
Hmmm...what is it about tailoring and "strong minds"?

BTW, mathew, your Vestrucci pics aren't loading when I log onto the site.

[mathew]

I think the problem is that the pics are a bit large. I just uploaded them as they were straight from my camera. But if you right-click and select "view image" that should do the trick.

[uppercase]

Wow!

How cool is Loris with his cigar and funky coat!!

Regarding the side vent, I suspect that if this coat were fitted for me, the side vent would not show. I think that the pitch of my arm would cover it.

Alden could probably elaborate on that since he owns a Vestrucci.

Here are the final 3 shots of Loris admiring some of his overcoats as well as contemplating cloth for a new commission: casentino as well as some oddly familiar looking cloth for sports coat.

Mathew: did you apprentice with Loris as well as Bugelli?

[mathew]

A couple interesting tidbits about Loris: when it was pleasant weather-wise Loris always wore grey pants with a red Lacoste polo. From morning to night he is only rarely seen not smoking a Toscanello. I like the smell of the Toscanello...and I usually can't stand smoke.

One of the buttons on Loris's personal tweed overcoat has been hanging by its last threads for some time now. And it isn't a big enough deal to the good tailor for him to get around to fixing it.

Re: the angled dart, he used it for me. All the Florentine tailors I saw use it. My feeling is that it leaves the front upper part of the jacket a bit more "open," that there's a bit more room.

Uppercase, I did not apprentice with Loris. I did have the pleasure of spending a good amount of time around him, though. Since his shop is so close to Leo's he'd stop by a few times every day, we'd get coffee, and a few times I had to accompany non-Italian-speaking clients to Loris's shop and translate.
As you said, my arm pitch too probably conceals the dart most of the time. Not that it would matter for mine as my suit and overcoat are solid colors.

[uppercase]

Mathew, sounds like you enjoyed your work and stay in Florence.

As I recall, you apprenticed with Leonardo Bugelli?; here, we're just admirers of artisans and their craft....but you got an inside look into their world.

Hope that it all turned out good for you.

That coat and outfit that Loris is wearing is really growing on me!; the overcoat cloth and the put-together colors of everything are amazing.

That Florentine soft shoulder, almost raglan looking, is a nice contrast to the very tailored shoulders of the overcoats I saw in Naples.

[mathew]

Uppercase, yes, it was a most beneficial and enjoyable experience. I did work with Leo. It could hardly have turned out any better.

The jackets and overcoats made from the stiffer "vintage" fabrics Loris has really seemed to be best for a natural shoulder which, despite its usual lack of padding, has an extremaly "clean" look the way Loris does it.