Overlooked brands/labels... - Page 5

I have a couple 7 Downie Street ties that I really like.  Whenever I've seen their shirts though, my eyes started bleeding a little.

For the Toronto based Pal Zileri fans, a new shop uptown opened just a week or so ago (Ermano Menswear).  It's on Yonge, north of Lawrence and only a few doors down from the current Coop location.  I went in yesterday to see what they had.  Some of what I remember:

Suits:

Tombolini

Cerutti 1881

Pal Zileri

(also Pal Zileri MTM starting at around $2000, and Tombolini MTM from around $1400)  They are going to be having a trunk show for one or the other soon.  Sorry, can't remember which one.

Shirting:

Stenstrom (both RTW and soon, MTM)

Shoes:

Pal Zileri

Also an Italian make, the name of which escapes me priced in the mid $300 range for the few pairs I saw.

Casual:

Brax slacks

Poggianti 1958 shirts

Strellson coats

Haight & Ashbury shirts

Friendly staff.  Pricing as you'd expect.

Yonge from Eglinton up to York Mills seems to have really become a menswear destination.  Testa Uomo has moved to the strip 9just north of Sporting Life).  There is a new shirt shop with mostly unknown-to-me Italian makes (name escapes me) a couple blocks north of Eglinton. this Ermano place, and of course Jeromes, The Coop, Aduosso Uomo and Camicie 7 all stocking at least decent quality clothing.

By the by... again for the Torontonians among you, the Coop moving sale is on its last week (or so the window says).  I didn't see very much to my taste, but there were a whole bunch of Rufus shirts if that is your thing, some Sand suits and sports jackets in various sizes and some very basic Jack Lipson for the Coop dress shirts in staple solid colours. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Master-Classter 

+1, that area's got some nice shops that often get overlooked. Plus there's "off the cuff" second hand stuff, the owner has quirky taste.

Ah yes!  I forgot about Off The Cuff.  I've only ever managed to go inside the shop once (there always seems to be a "back-in-10-minutes" sign in the window).  A friend of mine who is a very athletic 38R bought a beautiful Isaia suit there a couple years back.  He is a cheapskate, so I'm sure the price was very good.  When i made it through the door, I was told they had nothing in 42R, the shop looked like a tornado had just been through it, and the sales-person seemed more interested in what was on her computer screen than paying any attention to me.  I haven't been by in a while though so i should give it another go.

@Man of Lint.  The new shirt store, the name of which had slipped my mind, is Capo.  It is on the East side of Yonge, a little south of Castlefield.  If you happen upon it, and are familiar with the merchandise, I would be most grateful for a comment or two.  I've never heard of any of his brands, all of which are supposedly Italian and of the quality one finds at "the big shops downtown" (A rough quotation of the owner that appeared in the North Toronto Post).  Much of what I've seen there is not my taste style-wise, but there are a few shirts that I liked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjamin E. 

+1 on CB and Battistoni. I have a Battistoni tie and it's easily my favorite. I think their suits are made by St. Andrews and I believe they also have a good bespoke operation. Chester Barrie has always been great quality, although I haven't seen much of them lately.

You don't hear about Mattabisch all that often, but they're good quality.

+1! Agree with all of the above

I am just chuckling at the suggestion that Paul Smith is somehow not well-known. I guess it's because I have generally divided my time between the UK and Japan: he's just about the most famous contemporary British menswear designer, and in Japan, you can't move for Paul Smith shops. Is he really that 'niche' in North America?

Anyway, I have a cord suit, several pairs of suede shoes, ties, socks and probably other bits and pieces too, all picked up over the last few years from his Sale Shop (ends of lines, orphan stock etc.) on Avery Row in London. My favourite less well-known brands tend to be Japanese. I have an unstructured summer jacket from Beams (which isn't at all uncommon in Japan) and a few pieces from Palas Palace (which is much less well known, and generally thought of as a women's brand).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Klobber 

PS has a presence in the USA, but nothing like in UK / Japan etc. I rarely see them in department stores.

Besides, Paul Smith is largely crap quality, few members here would go near it. I personally like the styling on some of the mainline stuff, so am quite partial to him/them.

I wouldn't dismiss it all as 'crap' but I agree that his diffusion and PS stuff (most of what people know as Paul Smith) can tend to the iffy. That's why I only buy the good stuff when it gets to a price I can afford in the sale shop. I have to say I've never seen his stuff in Canada, now I think of it.