Some old tweed...

[uppercase]

Malaparte's home in Capri is beautifully located.

[filangieri]

Alden,

Unfortunately, these days large checks are in serious danger of extinction because:

1. The demand for bespoke “sporty” odd jackets is constantly declining since many customers no longer use to wear a coat during the week-end.

2. Correctly matching large patterns implies that the tailor needs (at least) 1/3 more fabric than usual to cut a perfect jacket, and that he needs to spend (at least) 1/3 more time than usual to make it, resulting in a higher cost of the finished garment.


Uppercase,

Did you shoot that stunning picture of the Villa Malaparte during one of your Italian holydays ?

By the way, if you want to know about the way that the poor Neapolitan people managed to survive during WWII, you have to get yourself a copy of Malaparte’s classic book “La pelle”. It’s an “ante litteram” neo-realistic masterpiece filled with intense, raw, almost “pulp” stuff.

[alden]

Unfortunately, these days large checks are in serious danger of extinction because:

1. The demand for bespoke “sporty” odd jackets is constantly declining since many customers no longer use to wear a coat during the week-end.

2. Correctly matching large patterns implies that the tailor needs (at least) 1/3 more fabric than usual to cut a perfect jacket, and that he needs to spend (at least) 1/3 more time than usual to make it, resulting in a higher cost of the finished garment.

Filangieri,

That is precisely why the Cloth Club was created.

Someone should make a movie on the life of Malaparte: "From Mussolini to Mao" in one lifetime, how to be an excellent author, dandy, ladies man, fascist, communist, get condemned to reclusion on Lipari and Capri, and build a marvelous house that Tom Wolfe would write about......whew

Cheers

[filangieri]

Someone should make a movie on the life of Malaparte: "From Mussolini to Mao" in one lifetime, how to be an excellent author, dandy, ladies man, fascist, communist, get condemned to reclusion on Lipari and Capri, and build a marvelous house that Tom Wolfe would write about......whew

Cheers

Curzio Malaparte ... un italiano vero !

Just think of how many Italian intellectuals (less gifted than Malaparte, of course) played a starring role in the hilarious fin-de-siècle movie "From Marx to Berlusconi" !

[couch]

For the curious, Godard's 1963 "Le Mepris" ("Contempt") features the Villa Malaparte from every conceivable angle; indeed it's almost a character in itself in the second half of the film. The movie's a strange, melancholy departure for Godard--Technicolor and Jack Palance--but in addition to delivering La Bardot sunbathing on the villa's roof it serves up Fritz Lang and Palance (as a Hollywood mogul) arguing over the nature of cinema. And throughout, the locations and composition are stunning, especially the villa and the adjacent sea.

[alden]

Just think of how many Italian intellectuals (less gifted than Malaparte, of course) played a starring role in the hilarious fin-de-siècle movie "From Marx to Berlusconi" !

Caro Filangieri

Your reference to Groucho would have pleased him greatly!

Our most recent President of Italy, Mr. Napolitano, is a Communist. He has a wonderful mansion in Sicily on the island of Panarea, a jet set destination, not far from the mansion of Dustin Hoffman.

Oh, I did say mansion, not gulag, right?

Cheers

[iammatt]

Hopefully this does not get lost at the end of a long thread...

Regarding Malaparte, I was speaking with my Italian teacher yesterday who happens to be a lovely young lady from Milan with decidedly communistic leanings. I was teasing her about the fact tact that nobody in Italy lives as well as the the Communist Intellectuals. Malaparte seemingly bears this out.

I told Alden that in facwhen I ordered the blue and pink jacket I picked out another fabric at the same time. From cener to center the blue and pink pattern is slightly more than 4" by slightly more than 3". Alden assured me that this was a nice medium size tweed. The one below is, at 5.5"x4.25", on the larger side. The pattern matching is nothing short of miraculous. The cut is more or less identical. I would say that it is truly the same, but Filangieri's people don't really seem to do identical.



Enjoy:

[smoothjazzone]

Matt:

You have a great eye for fabric. Another beautiful jacket -- and a wonderful choice of lining.

[angelo]

Iammatt,
in my opinion this second jacket looks even more beatiful than the first one as the colour combination is so perfect . It reminds to me the sport jackets worn by an uncle of mine , who lived in Naples, when I was a teen ager in early '60ties.
My uncle was a Rubinacci customer at that time. For this reason I think that Your jackets are really vintage ones as they give an example of what elegant gentlmen were used to wear 50 years ago and how some fabrics can represent really a classic.

Angelo

[filangieri]

Iammat,

It looks like you established an extremely proficient relationship with Signor Mariano and the tailors at Rubinacci’s, and your taste for vintage cloth is consistently exquisite.

I totally agree with Angelo: the last jacket is quintessentially Neapolitan in a subtle, understated and yet immediately recognizable and eloquent way.

The vintage fabric, the colour combination, the patch pockets, the soft tailoring ... all the right ingredients have been wisely chosen, blended and cooked to perfection.

One thing that makes these old tweeds so unique is their ability to “encourage” you to experiment with a variety of shirt, tie and pocket square combinations.
You can pick any of the check stripes colours and start from there, trying out contrasts as well as tone-sur-tone alternatives.
The only limit to your imagination is your good taste.

As soon as your Italian will be as fluent as your sartorial talent, when you’ll walk the streets of Napoli wearing such a beautiful jacket it will be hard to tell you from any other elegant local gentleman !

However, be aware that you’ll still need a few lessons of Neapolitan dialect to be fully eligible for the honorary citizenship !!

[nioh]

What a truly beautiful jacket! Great choice!

[Swann]

Iammatt,
the fabric looks amazing.


Regarding the first picture of Malaparte: In 1939 Malaparte was in East Africa as a special envoy and journalist. I guess the picture was taken that year.

[alden]

I am not quite sure how I would improve on this elegant tweed: the large scale is balanced with muted colors to produce a particularly pleasing effect.

Well done, Matt

PS: I am going to try and at least equal the tweed, please see Cloth Club.

[RWS]

Doesn't Malaparte-Suckert appear to be wearing officer's uniform trousers with this odd jacket? (I see, or think that I see, a broad onseam stripe on the outside of the writer's left leg.)

[iammatt]

Iammatt,
in my opinion this second jacket looks even more beatiful than the first one as the colour combination is so perfect . It reminds to me the sport jackets worn by an uncle of mine , who lived in Naples, when I was a teen ager in early '60ties.
My uncle was a Rubinacci customer at that time. For this reason I think that Your jackets are really vintage ones as they give an example of what elegant gentlmen were used to wear 50 years ago and how some fabrics can represent really a classic.

Angelo

Thanks Angelo,

My main aesthetic interests reference back to the 50s and 60s so I am not entirely surprised to hear you say that. Like others have said, I think that it is a real shame to see only small, subdued patterns on sportcoats nowadays. Filangieri referenced the fact that many people no longer wear them on the weekends, but I also think that too many people see sportcoats as quasi-business wear and don't want to be too loud, or stand out too much.

Interestingly enough, although Sig. Mariano and I both liked this fabric very much, it was his daughter Chiara who found it in the cassaforte and really pushed hard for it from the group we were looking at. She is very good with fabrics and has excellent taste oveall. I imagine that being involved in the family business will be slightly more difficult for her than for her brother, but she has a lot to offer and should not be underestimated by those who encounter her in the London shop when her father is in Naples. Obviously working with Mariano is preferable and when he is interested and engaged I know of no man with better and more personal style.

A bit off topic, but how widely used is the Neapolitan language nowadays?