America’s Mad As Hell Moment

Nothing to do with clothing for once. MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan recently went on an emotional rant worthy of Keith Olberman and the avalanche of response prompted a follow-up in which he expresses the collective rage of the American people toward Washington and the economy. He encourages the people to take to Twitter and Facebook and the blogosphere to express the fact that we are Mad as Hell and that we demand change. While I agreeRead More

Gieves & Hawkes

A storm blew through town last night which took down some pretty big trees, and with them, the power. Mine finally came back on this morning but the office is still closed so I glanced over at “the pile”; various garments that have been collecting over the last few months waiting to be chopped up, photographed, and analyzed- maybe today I can dig in a bit and get some blogging done. I’ve been pretty busyRead More

Holland and Sherry- Vendon

Remember this stuff? I normally prefer smooth finishes or at least a fine, tight weave; coarser weaves seem, rightly or not, somewhat outmoded and more difficult to work with because they fray easily and don’t always take shaping as well. When I first came across this cloth from Holland and Sherry I was a bit skeptical, but it came highly recommended by someone I trust, and had been favorably compared to Minnis’ Fresco by othersRead More

DIY chalk sharpener

Franca has shared her latest DIY project (or rather, her husband’s). Chalk sharpeners are not the easiest things to find and are certainly not cheap when you do so here is her version (if there is demand, perhaps we could encourage her husband to offer “bespoke” chalk sharpeners on Etsy 🙂 the box € 2.504 packs of 10 blades € 1.00 each total € 4various bolts € 1 Total € 7.50!! Grazie, Franca!

L’Asola Lucida, part two

I think the Asolsa Lucida, or glossy buttonhole (the example above being from a Tom Ford garment), originated in the Abruzzi region of Italy as it is most commonly seen on garments made in this area. It is also very common in Paris, where it is known as the boutonnière Milanaise, though likely for the brand of gimp that was commonly used and not the city; it is worth noting that most of the grandRead More

Gilbert Feruch

Custom shirtmaker CEGO’s Carl Goldberg shared a few garments from his father’s wardrobe with us, one of which is a DB jacket (pants long lost) made by Gilbert Feruch, some time in the seventies, I think. I gather he was something of a futurist, and the V&A museum has a Nehru suit that he made on display. Other than that, I know practically nothing about him. What I find most interesting about this garment isRead More

Boutonnière milanaise, méthode Cifonelli

The image above is the wrapper for an old spool of gimp, “vergolina” being the Italian word for gimp, and La Milanese being the brand name. I am guessing that this is how the French came to know gimp as “Milanaise”, and thus the Milanese buttonhole would have found its name. Conjecture, but likely. I’ve discussed this buttonhole a few times, mainly because I didn’t know how to do it and that was driving meRead More

FRANCESCO SMALTO HAUTE COUTURE

I’ve linked this video before, but here it is again. Sometimes promotional material can push the envelope a bit in order to look good, and I admit that a few moments during this video I found myself thinking “Oh, really?” Well, yes. Really. Thanks go out to Des Esseintes for donating this coat from Francesco Smalto. A few posts back I remember lamenting the fact that certain houses get way overhyped and others don’t haveRead More

Festival des métiers- HERMES

If you happen to be in Chicago, I highly recommend the Festival des métiers, or celebration of craftsmanship, going on at Hermès on Oak Street until Wednesday March 16 (right across the street from Despos *ahem*). A craftsperson representing each of the product categories is on hand, making their product, largely by hand. A leatherworker sits making a Kelly bag, whose handle alone requires 4 hours of work, and 18 hours in all to hand-craftRead More

Maurice Sedwell

The latest sample I purchased on ebay thanks to a tip from RJMan. Maurice Sedwell enjoys an excellent reputation and its proprietor, Andrew Ramroop, is very keen on explaining the many reasons why. Of course, one of the first things I look at when examining a garment are the buttonholes and buttons, and these are very good. The buttons have been beautifully shanked and stand up to attention like a row of horn soldiers. IRead More

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