I am very critical of American men'sdress, too somber and uniform, but there is no doubt that New Yorkers dress better than Philadelphians. There are a huge number of men to admire in NYC, though the overwhelming majority are still too uniform and somber.
I want to make a few notes from the Philadelphia perspective. Michael, your list of a basic wardrobe was extremely useful and fun. I paired it down to things that would be acceptable in Philadelphia for my own use. I actually carry it on my Palm Pilot.
Some of the basic numbers are funny, and of course the problem is that forgetting taste we all have different lifestyles (for example, not all of us go to our country estate every weekend). Your list had 14 suits or jackets. Ironically I have thirteen and Centofanti is making me a fourteenth from the first Cloth Club flannel.
But the shoes and shirts seem all wrong (too few). And I am being minimalist. Did anyone feel this way? I have 14 pairs of shoes and 30 dress shirts and I think I have too few.
I spoke with our certified artisan in Florence and he is really a wonderful person, I am very excited about his making me some shirts.
Philadelphia
I agree about Philadelphia being pretty much a sartotial waste land. Occasionally, I will se a well dressed gentleman on Walnut St. near Holt's Cigar Company, but sightings like that are few and far between.
Well, Doc, what do you day me and you, being close to the area, change that? I promise to always be well turned out when in the City of Brotherly Love and to exert influence on my Philadelphia clients and colleagues to spruce up their appearances.
Tom
Well, Doc, what do you day me and you, being close to the area, change that? I promise to always be well turned out when in the City of Brotherly Love and to exert influence on my Philadelphia clients and colleagues to spruce up their appearances.
Tom
Are you have some shirts made by Bugelli? Pls. tell us more about that....what fabrics did you choose ...what collar styles....and where did you get measured?
As to a comfortable number of shoes, curiously, I find that I am paring down on the number of shoes I wear frequently. I recently bought some fairly classical English shoes and find that these go so nicely with a range of suits/coats I have. They seem to add an appropriate sober note if I choose to dress more fancifully in the shirt/tie/sock department.
I now find the English models more elegant than my previoius Italian more pointed-toe models. So I am pretty stable at 4-5 English style shoes and find I am wearing the older shoes less often. One's tastes evolve and develop over time.....and seem to me to gravitate toward the classic, elegant styles in both shoes and other items.
Having said that, I find more and more use from some of the casual styles - Car Shoes, for example - and have been buying a few of these, in different colors and leathers, for week-end wear. They have replaced the Dock Siders of years past....
Generally, I think what I find happening in my purchases is that I am buying fewer items, but better quality, more classic, and more expensive items , and purchasing these more thoughtfully, than previously. ....so my closet is getting less full, as a rotate out the older, more impulse-purchased clothing and slowly add a few more carefully chosen iitems here and there. Also, focusing on bespoke suits and such, with their higher prices, by necessity, one just naturally purchases fewer items. That's an advantage of transitioning from fashion to classic....
As to a comfortable number of shoes, curiously, I find that I am paring down on the number of shoes I wear frequently. I recently bought some fairly classical English shoes and find that these go so nicely with a range of suits/coats I have. They seem to add an appropriate sober note if I choose to dress more fancifully in the shirt/tie/sock department.
I now find the English models more elegant than my previoius Italian more pointed-toe models. So I am pretty stable at 4-5 English style shoes and find I am wearing the older shoes less often. One's tastes evolve and develop over time.....and seem to me to gravitate toward the classic, elegant styles in both shoes and other items.
Having said that, I find more and more use from some of the casual styles - Car Shoes, for example - and have been buying a few of these, in different colors and leathers, for week-end wear. They have replaced the Dock Siders of years past....
Generally, I think what I find happening in my purchases is that I am buying fewer items, but better quality, more classic, and more expensive items , and purchasing these more thoughtfully, than previously. ....so my closet is getting less full, as a rotate out the older, more impulse-purchased clothing and slowly add a few more carefully chosen iitems here and there. Also, focusing on bespoke suits and such, with their higher prices, by necessity, one just naturally purchases fewer items. That's an advantage of transitioning from fashion to classic....
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Guest
Well, my first advantage Uppercase is to have tasteful people like you, who freely give me good advice on this site!
In any event, so far, I have had extensive conversations with him by phone, and I have sent him a shirt (which he received) to copy. Artist that he is, he asked me such thoughtful questions.
I do not know how you all feel about this, but sometimes the best artisans are the best not at doing what I tell them, but at acting in loco parentis for me.
Richiard Chae, a custom tailor in Center City, Philadelphia, made me a pair of pants. Never mind how long it took him to make them fit. One day he looked at them, and he said "You are going to have trouble with that fabric." Mind you, this is a 400 dollar pair of pants from Taylor Stewart blue flannel. I asked why. He said "It won't wear well." Now, I picked it with his assistance from his very limited selection, only a few weeks before. Another time (a few more weeks later), he looked at the same pair and he told me, "If I made those now they would be many times better." I am glad he is improving, but I am not sure I want to be his lesson. He is right, the fabric is mediocre for a variety of reasons, I needed to see more flannels to realize this.
In any event, so far, I have had extensive conversations with him by phone, and I have sent him a shirt (which he received) to copy. Artist that he is, he asked me such thoughtful questions.
I do not know how you all feel about this, but sometimes the best artisans are the best not at doing what I tell them, but at acting in loco parentis for me.
Richiard Chae, a custom tailor in Center City, Philadelphia, made me a pair of pants. Never mind how long it took him to make them fit. One day he looked at them, and he said "You are going to have trouble with that fabric." Mind you, this is a 400 dollar pair of pants from Taylor Stewart blue flannel. I asked why. He said "It won't wear well." Now, I picked it with his assistance from his very limited selection, only a few weeks before. Another time (a few more weeks later), he looked at the same pair and he told me, "If I made those now they would be many times better." I am glad he is improving, but I am not sure I want to be his lesson. He is right, the fabric is mediocre for a variety of reasons, I needed to see more flannels to realize this.
Well, pls. let us know how the Bugelli shirt turns out.
It is not so easy for an artisan to copy some one elses shirt; he will have his own ideas and styles.
One of the great pleasures ofcourse in bespoke is working directly with the maker both for the personal relationship but also to let him see the product of his work on you and so, have the paper pattern and style evolve as he moves toward perfecting each subsequent shirt.
Having said that, doesn't Bugelli visit the US?; I thought I read somewhere that he travels to the US with Bonfanti....
I have had the pleasure of meeting Leonardo Bugelli and he is an excellent human being and dedicated craftsman.
It is not so easy for an artisan to copy some one elses shirt; he will have his own ideas and styles.
One of the great pleasures ofcourse in bespoke is working directly with the maker both for the personal relationship but also to let him see the product of his work on you and so, have the paper pattern and style evolve as he moves toward perfecting each subsequent shirt.
Having said that, doesn't Bugelli visit the US?; I thought I read somewhere that he travels to the US with Bonfanti....
I have had the pleasure of meeting Leonardo Bugelli and he is an excellent human being and dedicated craftsman.
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Guest
As a matter of fact it does, as did the list, which I "adapted" for the casual dress of Philadelphia (actually, my social circle, which because I have no friends here, is small).
What REALLY helps is having some wardrobe piece, usually a jacket I got on sale, that just does not look right (I posted pictures of several of them on AAAC and received a lot of criticism), and contacting a bespoke artisan like my Neopolitan pants maker or Bugelli (Chuck of Carlo Franco actually did this too). The pants maker sent me swatches, Chuck sent me a pile of ties. Then I select the item that makes the item look good. Bugelli is doing the same thing. Without their assistance, I would basically have several RTW un-wearable items. I am getting better at selecting things that are easier to make outfits from, but then again, I am buying less and less RTW and more bespoke, particularly as I finsih the "build" phase of my wardrobe and move to the "refinement" phase.
Cloth Club was helpful too, particularly when several patterns were posted, from which I selected my favorite. I would love for there to be similar postings/projects, even if the fabrics are not specifically commissioned by Cloth Club.
What REALLY helps is having some wardrobe piece, usually a jacket I got on sale, that just does not look right (I posted pictures of several of them on AAAC and received a lot of criticism), and contacting a bespoke artisan like my Neopolitan pants maker or Bugelli (Chuck of Carlo Franco actually did this too). The pants maker sent me swatches, Chuck sent me a pile of ties. Then I select the item that makes the item look good. Bugelli is doing the same thing. Without their assistance, I would basically have several RTW un-wearable items. I am getting better at selecting things that are easier to make outfits from, but then again, I am buying less and less RTW and more bespoke, particularly as I finsih the "build" phase of my wardrobe and move to the "refinement" phase.
Cloth Club was helpful too, particularly when several patterns were posted, from which I selected my favorite. I would love for there to be similar postings/projects, even if the fabrics are not specifically commissioned by Cloth Club.
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