The London Lounge

Having taken a review of my closet and noting all the grays and blues, except for that lonely natural linen summer suit, I believe it's time for me to venture into the browns. Without any intention to start a "brown in the city" thread, I would like this for business and the city, and would welcome members' thoughts and experiences on suitable cloths, shades and textures - both for autumn/winter and for spring/summer.

For example, I did see this lovely black/brown nailhead recently, where the brown was almost like chocolate or havana. Having a medium complexion and dark hair, this was quite appealing, perhaps for the autumn/winter.

I like the nailhead idea for a brown suit. Lessers and Harrisons (13 oz Thistle book) have nice brown nailheads. I also think I saw an attractive one in Scabal's 13 oz book.

I have a three-piece Donegal tweed suit that I like very much. I wear it frequently in the city but mostly on weekends and not for business.

I also have three-piece suit made from the brown Holland & Sherry Crispaire at the bottom of the picture below that I do wear for business, but, obviously, only in the summer and early fall months (the waistcoat disappears in the summer and reappears in the fall).


I have also seen some beautiful brown flannel chalkstripes in a range of base colors and would recommend you have a look at those as well (the LL-celebrated Raphael-made rainfall shoulder is one). Rich chocolate brown flannel chalk-stripes are beautiful and I wish I had one. The best are such a rich dark shade that they really do look like melted chocolate - The depth of color tricks you into seeing shiny and liquid.

I always have trouble thinking of brown brown (not tan) as a business color. If I were to try something like that, it would have more of a tweedy flavor. There are some nice browns in the 12oz Alsport book-- I'm experimenting with a pair of trousers in brown herringbone with a subtle overcheck. If that comes out well, there are some herringbones mixed with barleycorn toward the back that might make a nice suit-- in brown or green.

Concordia wrote:I always have trouble thinking of brown brown (not tan) as a business color.

I admit that I cannot recall seeing brown on anyone else in business settings, so I suppose that would make it an unusual color. But unusual can be pejorative or it can carry its literal meaning - not often encountered. In this case, I believe the latter applies. There are many brown suitings that may be unusual in the literal sense of the word but are perfectly appropriate for all but the most rigid of business settings. The flannel chalkstripe I referred to above is a perfect example. I have seen it worn several times now, and while I have to consider the occasions social, it would have been no less appropriate if the occasions were business meetings.

Certainly, some browns do not work for business. I am inclined to think tweeds fall into that category. And while I am not familiar with the Alsport book you are referring to, I suspect I would be less comfortable with those than with striped brown flannel or, for example, a worsted glen check. I will, however, have to take a look at the book.

Being in a similar postion as Risto (having mostly blue and grey suits) I acquired a brown one a couple of months ago and am very happy with it. The shade (medium brown with thin pale blue stripes) offers a kind of versatility that - from my point of view - totally lacks blue suitings. I will try to post pictures soon.

Tweeds do fall into the category of things that I will consider wearing when I am the client (or at lunch during the week on my own time), but not when I'm being paid to appear somewhere.

That also applies to suede shoes and a few similar items of which I don't disapprove but whose appearances I do meter out carefully. Personal choice only, and others in different circumstances might do differently.

As for more urban brown suits-- those that are really brown-- I never quite got the itch. To my parochial eye, they look too Italian (if luxurious), or too Midwestern (if not). Liking them in my own wardrobe would require overcoming years of habit and prejudice.

For what it's worth, I pretty much agree with Concordia right down the line on this. That said, though, I might change my mind a bit, having seen one of dopey's brown suits and one of Manton's: handsome, indeed.

Minnis has a lovely dark brown glen check 400 gm flannel that I would wear on Fridays unless in London.

Will wrote:Minnis has a lovely dark brown glen check 400 gm flannel that I would wear on Fridays unless in London.

I am familiar with the Barbera for Lesser version, which I assume is similar. I have no rational basis for saying this and it is merely an aesthetic judgment, but brown glen checks straddle the border. In flannels or other woolens, they seem too casual for business; in a worsted, they seem fine. For the kinds of situations Concordia described as being on his own time, even the woolens would be great.

And thanks, RWS.

Where does the first cloth club (brown) flannel fit into the spectrum? Is it too casual for business? By that, I mean wearing to the office, not to an important meeting where a blue or grey suit would be mandatory. I think that cloth is a woolen flannel. Or is it worsted. I have yet to have mine made up.

bry2000 wrote:Where does the first cloth club (brown) flannel fit into the spectrum? Is it too casual for business? By that, I mean wearing to the office, not to an important meeting where a blue or grey suit would be mandatory. I think that cloth is a woolen flannel. Or is it worsted. I have yet to have mine made up.

Bry: It is unusable for all but garage cleaning.

I use a garage and it is dirty, so send your cloth club flannel to me.

No upper class Londoner would wear brown on business in town (during the week). Maybe odd jackets in the evening (doubtful, but possible). Brown is the preserve of the country magnate visiting town. They are a dying bread, the cloths they used to wear are completely gone (e.g. Reid & Taylor).

If one choses brown in London, one comes from the Continent. Not a bad thing, but a clear distinction.

I like the nailhead idea for a brown suit. Lessers and Harrisons (13 oz Thistle book) have nice brown nailheads. I also think I saw an attractive one in Scabal's 13 oz book.

I have a 3-piece in the Lesser 13oz nailhead. I think it is one of two browns in that book. I think it is nice. It is a very dark brown (espresso-ish) with a lighter nailhead pattern. I don't know if I'd wear it for business; I'm not a businessman.

Oh, just to amuse you, some months ago I saw a man in Curzon Street, heading towards Berkeley Square, who wore a three piece single breasted suit in a similar nailhead as that shown. Along all vertical seams, there was about an inch of darker fabric on both sides. It took me a a lttle bit of time until I figured out that the suit had been let out at every seam to accomodate the changed shape of its wearer, and the ancient fabric had been bleached out by the light but remained darker inside, now uncovered by the alteration.

A strange sort of parsimony at Savile Row rates. The wearer quite definitely fell into the category of landed magnate, or possibly (at a stretch) a member of the equally rare and endangered breed of grand academics. These men of independent means have been victims of punitive taxation and all too human profligacy, so that few are alive and fewer still well.