Sportcoats at J. Kos

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

-Honore de Balzac

T4phage
Posts: 218
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:42 am
Location: Netherlands

Thu May 26, 2005 4:28 pm

Jona wrote:Jan, that is a great story! I can't help laughing around!!! I can see that movie!

Anyway, my tailor showed me a buttonhole made with a "hand stitched buttonhole" machine. I couldn't distinguish. He barely does. Other side of the story: this machines are so slow and expensive.
Wow, that good as to make it indistingushable? That is incredible! But as you said.. probably the cost of such machinery would make it prohibitive to small ateliers.
Guest

Tue May 31, 2005 1:41 am

J Kos's suits are indeed Castangia, which are available at Barney's under the Battistoni label and at Bergdorf Goodman under the Castangia label. I am interested in this brand because of its rarity (I also have mostly D'Avenza RTW) and quality. Andrew Harris, a merchant on AAAC, thinks that this brand has the best quality/price ratio of the top brands, though I think he is commenting on the Castangia clothing generally available, not specifically Koss clothing. I believe this because I have seen the inflated prices Kiton, Attolini, and Borelli command in the USA.

My main problem with these top brands (besides that they are RTW), and a reason I enjoy my D'Avenza so much, is that they are succesful precisely because they are geared to the American market very closely, which more than hand/machine pick-stitching, means very fine fabrics with lots of un-worsted cashmere, which are exactly the fabrics that will give you the least value for your money. In my opinion, this is the most serious problem with American RTW, besides a uniformity of color each season, which renders any purchase less classic. D'Avenza does not pose me this problem becuse they are so un-plugged-in to the American market, that the suits and jackets I see at the boutique I get them at are more to European taste than to American. And they are rarely made with anything finer than super 120's, my personal limit if I can help it.

Don't get me wrong, each D'Avenza I have I regret in some some small way, but this is why I really want to concentrate on bespoke. But there are a few rare RTW brands that are interesting to attempt to collect, for me Castangia, Barba, and Albaladejo. I know there are those who would argue, but for me Castangia is interesting, while I would suggest Barba and Albaladejo are the best RTW shirts and shoes in the world.
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