The London Lounge

It may well be that my long residence on London has skewed my judgement but I think that, of the major cities, London is the best one for a clothes-conscious man.

First of all, the climate is quite mild. For much of the year, it isn’t too warm to wear a jacket and hardly ever too snowy to wear decent shoes and a traditional coat.

Although on the expensive side, it is chock-a-block with some of the finest purveyors not just of clothing but all the other perquisites of stylish living.

It is a gorgeous background for a stylish person due to its predominance of period architecture and interiors, generally spruce upkeep, traditional events and lively social scene.

Most importantly, someone who cuts something of a dash will be well received, even admired in London, even by those who don’t themselves make a big effort on that front. Conversely, I feel that in most other places a well-dressed dandy will be faced either with disapproval from rather dourly attired ‘suits’ or the amused puzzlement of the slovenly.

Luca,
I agree. Being a Yankee, I have not spent much time in London, but every visit to the city has impressed me. As I enjoy observing the women of Paris (even more), I appreciate the well turned out men of London. The place has a certain gentlemanly uniqueness that I do not sense in places like Philadelphia or Washington. I could live there were it not for missing my own country so much.

Luca wrote:Most importantly, someone who cuts something of a dash will be well received, even admired in London, even by those who don’t themselves make a big effort on that front. Conversely, I feel that in most other places a well-dressed dandy will be faced either with disapproval from rather dourly attired ‘suits’ or the amused puzzlement of the slovenly.

A good description of how things are in Moscow...

Andrey

I couldn't agree more, we are very lucky!

Luca wrote: London is the best one for a clothes-conscious man.
I feel that in most other places a well-dressed dandy will be faced either with disapproval from rather dourly attired ‘suits’ or the amused puzzlement of the slovenly.

Dear Luca,
what you say about London is quite true. I lived there for the most part of the 90s and nowadays I go back to the UK a few times a year -not the least- to enjoy wearing my clothes in the perfect environment.
I live in Washington DC now and, let me tell you (in the assumption that I may still cut some dash), I have never gotten disapproval from the dourly nor puzzlement from the slovenly in this city. Mostly just cold indifference, and fortunately the occasional praise from men (particularly African-American, who are not reluctant to let you know about your suit or shoes) as well as women.

I do like being in London, but was surprised when visiting Paris last February how different the sartorial climate was. In London, except at the very pinnacle of taste, anybody who was trying to dress ended up looking like a Japanese securities analyst-- black or nearly-black suit, unremarkable shirt, etc. In Paris, everyone seemed to want to look like a college professor, art dealer, or psychiatrist. Some suits, yes, but also many other combinations that were more relaxed without quite being casual. Maybe it was the greater amount of sunshine, but I think it was cultural, with some nudging along from the different economy.

I agree about London. Dandyish, eccentric even, clothes have a home and acceptance.
Lots of nice places to dress and go out to.

Interesting note on Paris. btw, Bruce Boyer wrote an article about Parisian men's style vs. English a while ago. Can't find it…anyone know about it?

And what about Milan as a receptive home for dressing…?

Even NYC appears dressier each time I visit.

uppercase wrote:And what about Milan as a receptive home for dressing…?

I was back two weeks ago for a really enjoyable stay. Along via Monte Napoleone, half of the gentlemen were in (navy blue) bespoke suits and generally very well dressed. Like Jermyn Street, but with better ice-cream.

As the still small but growing "movement" back to tailored clothing and traditionmal elegance in general builds steam, I think the number of places that provide an appropriate background to good and perhaps even dandyish tailoring grows. I still think that there is nowhere quite like London, in terms of quantity*quality but that is not to say that other than London it's all the sticks; far from it. Posters have mentioned Washington D.C., Paris (Paris!) and Milan -- places where you would expect some elegance.

On the latter, as a native and former resident, I would say that relative to its small size (<1.5 mn cCiyt, 4-6 mn metro area dep. on definition) it does rather well in the tayloring stakes but, just to give a few examples, formal dress is almost non-existent, the use of major historical interiors for social events is relatively rare, the social "season" of all but a tiny elite is devoid of truly special events, etc. All these those things are relatively commonplace in London.