Flusser on The Sartorialist - Page 7

It's a difference between dressing-to-impress and dressing-to-express. For the latter I use my mouth. For the former, I am hidebound by Mr Grant, various Bonds, and every other father or authority figure in the Ego of the minds of my audience. While I am unknown, I might still hope to be mistaken for these impressive characters. I like to make more than just a first impression, and quietly confident clothes lets me hold my unruly tongue. Doesn't work the same online, where I am just a mouth This may sound awfully conformist, but dressing in mismatched grown-up clothes is hardly fringe. Edit: This post follows from the previous one, and has drifted off topic (sorry). The OP's picture actually looks like my dad, so projects authority for me.

A few observations from someone who actaully knows Flusser and was a regular customer:

Why the "dump-on Flusser" festival that occurs regularly here and on other fora?

Alan has always been pleasant, friendly, and respectful to me and my wife. He has never failed to send regards to my wife who used to go with me when I ordered suits.

He has also been very approachable and open with people who like clothing whether or not they are his customers.

He has an outstanding taste level. The store and the clothes have an old world feel which is unique. He runs a very nice store staffed by lovely people.

He looks very, very good in his own clothes. When he dresses in a suit or sportscoat, which is the majority of the time, he looks terrific. I last saw him in November when he had a party for the opening of his store's second floor. He was dressed in his typical and impeccable manner, double breasted striped suit.

True, once in a while Alan wears something that goes against the grain and the image of the old world clothier. I must admit that I find this a little odd for a leader in the custom clothing business and an advocate of classic clothes.

Alan has been at the clothing business for 30+ years, and he has had his shares of ups and downs. Also, he is no longer a kid, and he has nothing to prove. He certainly doesn't have to answer to the self-appointed pundits of the fora.

If he occasionally wears jeans, it doesn't bother me.

I am rereading Charles Dickens's Bleak House and have to pass along his unforgettable description marking the entrance of Harold Skimpole. The description brought to mind, very favorably, the Sartorialist's photograph of Alan Flusser.

As background, it is often said that Dickens based his Skimpole character upon his acquaintance Leigh Hunt. One of the Romantics, Hunt's best personal friend was Percy Bysshe Shelley, and among his acquaintances were Jeremy Bentham, Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, Lord Byron, Keats, Dickens, and even Nathaniel Hawthorne. In short, Leigh Hunt was someone to reckon with: he cut a dashing figure with his appearance, he was a brilliant conversationalist, and he created an unmatched name for himself as a youthful pertling by editing numerous English literary journals.

Here, then, is Skimpole/Hunt seen as he enters the story of Bleak House, bearing a remarkable resemblance, I think, to the brilliant Mr. Flusser:

"He was a little bright creature, with a rather large head; but a delicate face and a sweet voice, and there was a perfect charm in him. All he said was so free from effort and spontaneous and was said with such a captivating gaiety, that it was fascinating to hear him talk. . . . Indeed, he had more the appearance in all respects, of a damaged young man, than a well-preserved elderly one. There was an easy negligence in his manner, and even in his dress (his hair carelessly disposed, and his neck-kerchief loose and flowing, as I have seen artists paint their own portraits), which I could not separate from the idea of a romantic youth who had undergone some unique process of depreciation. . . . "

Further to my thoughts about Alan Flusser, I will never be able to afford another bespoke suit, but if I could, I would want one by Mr. Flusser, especially now that I have seen this unforgettable photograph of him. It confirms what I always suspected about his genius.

My wish has grown from the many separate Alan Flusser items of striking originality that I've picked up (cheap at sales) over the years. While they've grounded my wardrobe in beautifully traditional styles, they always seem to contain an underlying idiosyncracy that can be tapped into to express my own, very personal style with utmost confidence.