Cloth mills rarely, if ever, work directly with individual consumers. They typically work with distributors or large customers. Less frequently, individual tailors may commission special designs and weaves just for their shop. The cloth is probably produced in a length of 20-30 meters and will likely go to several of the tailor’s customers for their […]
Designing fabrics: A mill to consumer direct model? Read More »
When I was in Los Angeles recently, I also spent some time with a knowledgeable contact in the cloth trade and learned about a couple of fantastic new books by William Halstead, a weaver and mill based in Bradford, Yorkshire. Operating since 1875, they are perhaps most well-known for their classic English mohairs. Mohairs are
William Halstead: Traditional English mohairs Read More »
I spent a few days in Los Angeles recently, which was well-timed given the recent heat wave on the East Coast and much of the eastern US. My intent was to visit my shirtmaker Freddy Vandecasteele and order a few more cool, lightweight summer casual shirts. In particular, my purpose was to look at his
Freddy Vandecasteele: The cool, unsung virtues of voile Read More »
Season four of the award-winning AMC series Mad Men picks up again tonight. As part of the ramp-up to the season premiere, the New York Times has assembled a 1964 menswear report and asked Ed McCabe, a former advertising exec, to answer reader questions about being an ad man in the heyday. Enjoy the episode
Mad Men style: Brooks Bros, Finchley or J. Press? Read More »
American heritage is continuing to steamroll into the hearts and minds of American men after a long hiatus. The folks at Hamilton Shirts, founded in 1883, kindly sent me an invite to the launch of the S/S 2011 line last week in NYC but I was unable to attend. [Photo no longer available] The photo
Hamilton Shirts 1883: Spring/summer 2011 line Read More »
As I noted in my piece on Japanese repro-authenticity, the Japanese are experts in spotting a good thing and refining it again and again. And they’ve done it again. Take Ivy, the 1965 photo essay of Ivy League style, is being republished again after years of being out of print. But this time the book
Take Ivy: An American style bible reissued Read More »
MRketNY is a US menswear tradeshow featuring leading makers and suppliers of men’s clothing selling to independent stores and larger accounts. From my perspective it was a very well-organized show and bustling with appointments and foot traffic the day I visited. I enjoyed visiting many of the booths and chatting with owners, sales reps and
MRketNY 2010: The business of menswear Read More »
The Neue Galerie, a museum in New York specializing in modern German and Austrian fine arts, is currently showing an exhibition on the 20th century German artist Otto Dix. Dix is associated with the Secessionist as well as the Neue Sachlichkeit (or New Objectivity) movement. When one thinks of art one thinks of artistic license,
Portraits of and by an artist: Otto Dix and artistic license Read More »
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