Fresco jacketings

"The brute covers himself, the rich man and the fop adorn themselves, the elegant man dresses!"

-Honore de Balzac

manton
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:37 pm

Every time I have seen Mariano Rubinacci (which is admittedly not many times), he has had on a mid gray SB suit (either hopsack or sharkskin) and really substantial grained tan double-soled longwings. The shirts and ties probably change, but my memory is not good enough to remember what they were.
uppercase
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:54 pm

Every time I have seen Mariano Rubinacci (which is admittedly not many times), he has had on a mid gray SB suit (either hopsack or sharkskin) and really substantial grained tan double-soled longwings. The shirts and ties probably change, but my memory is not good enough to remember what they were.
Yes, I recall that outfit as well. He doesn't seem to have alot of clothes for a Rubinacci!

Or perhaps more accurately,he likes what he likes, and those are just a few items which he wears often.

If I remember correctly, he told me, and this was before he opened his London shop, that he hadn't had a suit made for something like 10-15 years. What he was wearing was mostly 15 and 20 years old.

I think that he has had some new stuff made for himself after he opened in London. But my guess was that was just to open up a new market and appear a bit updated.

Otherwise, he seemed perfectly happy when you see him in Milan or Naples in his old clothes which speaks volumes for their longevity and classic style!
alden
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:15 pm

One could easily imagine the brown DB in middle illustration in particular as a very sophisticated alternative to the blue blazer and very versatile choice.
I find that dark blue is a color often misused. Not everyone can wear it or Navy as easily as imagined. A warm shade of brown, possibly in a linen or "another blend", might do the trick for those who pale at blue. I do have an idea for this one and have made enquiries. Stay tuned.
storeynicholas

Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:21 pm

This is interesting. Brown is a much warmer colour than blue and stage entertainers often favour it for that reason - to warm the audience to them. But why stop at brown - boating blazers are often brightly striped and the original Lady Margaret Hall blazers were bright red.
NJS
alden
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:21 pm

They don't seem to be clothes horses, accumulating clothes, but rather dressers with a strictly edited, consistent, harmonious approach to dressing.
Young men, print this sentence out, paste it to your dressing room window and read it everyday or until you understand its meaning and feel capable of applying the message.

I can remember my mentor telling me the story about Mr. Eliot, who used to come to the shop and order four 3 piece suits to be made in the same 3 button cut in the same dark gray cloth. "Not a man to exaggerate Mr T.S Eliot", he would say.

Cheers

Michael
Last edited by alden on Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
yachtie
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 6:45 pm

alden wrote:
One could easily imagine the brown DB in middle illustration in particular as a very sophisticated alternative to the blue blazer and very versatile choice.
I find that dark blue is a color often misused. Not everyone can wear it or Navy as easily as imagined. A warm shade of brown, possibly in a linen or "another blend", might do the trick for those who pale at blue. I do have an idea for this one and have made enquiries. Stay tuned.
I remember seeing a very nice RTW suit in ( Brioni I think) was a beautiful shade of copper brown. A very under-represented color in the fabric books. But perfect for this jacket:

Image
alden
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:05 pm

Glenplaid with an overcheck is a suit to me, unless it's a brown tweed with a rust check, like the LL Best of Both. But in black and white with a blue check, that's a suit.
Manton,

I agree with you in the case of small patterned PoWs in flat fabrics, worsteds and worsted flannels for example. I think a large patterned black and white PoW with a blue window in tweed like the Coops2 can be worn as an odd jacket. The scale of the check gives the pattern enough life to go it alone. But you don't find that scale in any of the books and thats what makes the cloth interesting. A smaller scale PoW, even in tweed, would be suit material.

I also think that scale is important in the windowless PoW. A small scale plain PoW is a suit to my eye. If it has scale and a rough texture it can also be worn as a sportscoat.

Cheers

Michael
alden
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:07 pm

Too few fresco sport jacketings around. Is anyone listening Wink
Message received. I am working on it. Look for a nice light blue and light gray soon.
alden
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:09 pm

What else?

Very light gray fresco. Cream gabardine. Maybe wheat fresco.
I would like a light gray BRISA. Its on the way...

Michael
manton
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:09 pm

Yes, scale is important. But for some reason, I just would never get a B&W plaid wiith an overcheck as an odd jacket, and I would never get one with no overcheck as a suit.

That said, I would never get a small plaid as a jacket, but I would get a large plaid as a suit.
alden
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:25 pm

I have not seen the Coops2 made up yet except in a picture on Steve H's blog, so I will have to reserve judgment on its odd jacket-ability till I see it in the flesh. At this point it is a strong suspicion.

The next PoW will be fawn with a very pale blue windowpane. A few LLers and tailors saw the first darn-in sample in London last week. Too bad you were in such a hurry :-) The overall reaction was very positive. It should be a nice odd jacket.

Cheers
Last edited by alden on Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
iammatt
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:34 pm

manton wrote:Every time I have seen Mariano Rubinacci (which is admittedly not many times), he has had on a mid gray SB suit (either hopsack or sharkskin) and really substantial grained tan double-soled longwings. The shirts and ties probably change, but my memory is not good enough to remember what they were.
His shirts are the most consistent thing about him. He only wears light blue chambray, either in a button down or medium spread. Mainly he is quite consistent, but he varies from time to time.

Re Uppercase on his never buying new stuff. His wife once mentioned to me that he doesn't like to wear anything in public until it is at least five or six years old. I have no reason to disbelieve her.

To me, a fresco jacket other than blue is of no interest at all, either as a commission or even to contemplate. I like to vary what I wear a bit more than the discussion here would point to.
angelo
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:44 pm

iammatt wrote:
His shirts are the most consistent thing about him. He only wears light blue chambray, either in a button down or medium spread. Mainly he is quite consistent, but he varies from time to time.

Re Uppercase on his never buying new stuff. His wife once mentioned to me that he doesn't like to wear anything in public until it is at least five or six years old. I have no reason to disbelieve her.
Iammatt ,with his dressing habit Mariano fully expresses the quintessence of the true neapolitan elegance . Indeed neapolitan gentlemen during the day time never wear shirts other than light blue ,leaving the white ones only for the evening and for formal morning occasions. This choice is considered almost as a must, and in my experience is a distinctive feature of the dressing tradition of this town. As far as the wearing of only aged suits and jackets , I believe that this behaviour is shared by very refined and great taste persons all over the world ,who signify in this way their adhesion to a philosophy of understatement and sobriety.

Angelo
manton
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:59 pm

iammatt wrote:To me, a fresco jacket other than blue is of no interest at all, either as a commission or even to contemplate. I like to vary what I wear a bit more than the discussion here would point to.
Tan/wheat would work too, but I'd rather have that color in linen. And, in fact, I do!
iammatt
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Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:01 pm

manton wrote:
iammatt wrote:To me, a fresco jacket other than blue is of no interest at all, either as a commission or even to contemplate. I like to vary what I wear a bit more than the discussion here would point to.
Tan/wheat would work too, but I'd rather have that color in linen. And, in fact, I do!
Yes, or even cotton. Fresco just says suit to me.
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