gennaro paone: former head tailor of rubinacci

Getting this back on track, anyone in the HK crew going and meeting the Paones next week? Sadly, I will be in Singapore that entire week, but intend to catch them on their next trip.

We should have interviews with tailor's significant others. That might give us better insight in to whether one should use them or not. That interview I'd read.



patrickBOOTH said:

We should have interviews with tailor's significant others. That might give us better insight in to whether one should use them or not. That interview I'd read.

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I recall reading one of Raphael's wife. Maybe more than one. I can't remember where or how to find it. I do remember she used to work t Barney's.



mafoofan said:

They've only made it since 2012 and it's just recently been discontinued. Every few years Cartier does a gold Tank Louis Cartier with a high-end movement in slightly different details. Here, it is ultra-thin with a Piaget movement. In my opinion, it might just be the most elegant watch in existence.

I realized greens are great accessory colors, as they pair very nicely with the more typical greys, browns, burgundies, blues, etc., that I typically wear.

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Currently hunting for an all gold Cartier Santos, not the big new ones though.

emptym said:

Has the vac given you trouble or are you talking appliances?

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Appliances. The vacuum is a rock star and will be the first thing I grab if the place burns down.

Can we freeze all the other threads and just have every post funnel into this one?

lefty

I get annoyed when people nitpick a new venture without even being a customer. Of course I was on the end of it 5 years ago here, 5 years later still in business, nothing but 5 star reviews everywhere.

I suppose style forum has had its share of nightmare vendors or tailors that are really bad to the point of ripping people off, but bizarrely SF always seems to put faith in those guys, maybe they are just slick marketers and thats why.

I sincerely wish Mr Paone the best of luck.



Grammaton Cleric said:

Getting this back on track, anyone in the HK crew going and meeting the Paones next week? Sadly, I will be in Singapore that entire week, but intend to catch them on their next trip.

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I shall be there in my finest Rubinacci, that may or may not have been cut by Genarro.

i am super looking forward to this trunk show, good on you kolecho



LA Guy said:

Also,  the distinction you make between "experience" and "experiences" is specious (...)

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Knowledge a mile wide and an inch deep. I know a little about that.

Guys, I am honestly flabbergasted that so many are offended by what I'm saying. Put as simply as possible: the longer you work with a tailor, the better you will know how he works and the better you will be able to work with him. Is that really so contentious or controversial? Is it snobbish? Come on.

I truly believe that we overemphasize apparent differences in cut and style when looking at tailors. This leads to the sampling mentality that I and others allude to, as every tailor tempts with a different house style. Yet, there are big gains to be had when a tailor is invested in making you happy over the long run, as each order gets a little better than the last. We might debate the merits of depth versus breadth, but surely we can all agree that given any single tailor, more experience must yield better results than less.

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Anyway, back to the thread topic. Gennaro always treated me very well and did excellent work for me. On my second visit to Naples, Mariano was out of work due to a thrown back. Gennaro and Luca worked together in his stead and did a fantastic job getting my fittings right.

At this point, I am going to keep moving forward with Rubinacci. Why? Well, as great as Gennaro has been, it's the whole house that has been serving me. That is Mariano, Luca, Chiara, forty other tailors, etc. Further, in my decision to go with Rubinacci in the first place, way back when, it was critical that I would get continuity as part of the package. Had I gone the English route, I probably would have chosen a major Savile Row firm rather than an independent tailor. I considered Caraceni in Rome, but as reputable as they are, I knew I was likely to outlive their service given my age and theirs. So, in actuality, Gennaro's departure was built-in to my original calculus and, assuming the quality of product stays the same, I have no reason to leave Rubinacci.

For others without a similar pre-existing investment, it is obviously a different decision. I would just re-emphasize that the retirement or departure of any single tailor is exactly the sort of event that choosing a larger firm can help hedge against.



mafoofan said:

Guys, I am honestly flabbergasted that so many are offended by what I'm saying. Put as simply as possible: the longer you work with a tailor, the better you will know how he works and the better you will be able to work with him. Is that really so contentious or controversial? Is it snobbish? Come on.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I truly believe that we overemphasize apparent differences in cut and style when looking at tailors. This leads to the sampling mentality that I and others allude to, as every tailor tempts with a different house style. Yet, there are big gains to be had when a tailor is invested in making you happy over the long run, as each order gets a little better than the last. We might debate the merits of depth versus breadth, but surely we can all agree that given any single tailor, more experience must yield better results than less.

****************************

Anyway, back to the thread topic. Gennaro always treated me very well and did excellent work for me. On my second visit to Naples, Mariano was out of work due to a thrown back. Gennaro and Luca worked together in his stead and did a fantastic job getting my fittings right.

At this point, I am going to keep moving forward with Rubinacci. Why? Well, as great as Gennaro has been, it's the whole house that has been serving me. That is Mariano, Luca, Chiara, forty other tailors, etc. Further, in my decision to go with Rubinacci in the first place, way back when, it was critical that I would get continuity as part of the package. Had I gone the English route, I probably would have chosen a major Savile Row firm rather than an independent tailor. I considered Caraceni in Rome, but as reputable as they are, I knew I was likely to outlive their service given my age and theirs. So, in actuality, Gennaro's departure was built-in to my original calculus and, assuming the quality of product stays the same, I have no reason to leave Rubinacci.

For others without a similar pre-existing investment, it is obviously a different decision. I would just re-emphasize that the retirement or departure of any single tailor is exactly the sort of event that choosing a larger firm can help hedge against.

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I think what people took issue with earlier was the idea that only people who have ordered 10 or 11 jackets from a tailoring house can comment on that said house, and @unbelragazzo was unable to give any kind of meaningful comment, because he's only ordered 2 or 3 jackets from 8 different tailors.

@itsstillmatt's comment a few posts above makes sense to me. That is, the idea that these are two different ways to experience a tailoring house, and that a tailor will treat each customer differently (perhaps be more flexible for long term customers).

The suggestion that the only way you can give a meaningful comment about a tailor is to order 10 or 11 jackets seems kind of silly.



unbelragazzo said:

I was wondering when we were going to get to the part where you say that for a professor I'm remarkably dumb. That's always my favorite bit of our interactions.

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I, for one, think you're within the average range of dumbness for a professor(e). I always wanted to say that.

If I was into such things I'd prefer to order from Paone rather than Rubinacci because the idea of a small tailor is more romantic than a big bespoke tailoring house.

“It was already Marx who long ago emphasized that a commodity is never just a simple object that we buy and consume. A commodity is an object full of theological, even metaphysical, niceties. Its presence always reflects an invisible transcendence. And the classical publicity for Coke quite openly refers to this absent, invisible, quality. Coke is the “real thing,” Zizek argues, foregrounded by Coke commercials that urge consumers to “enjoy.”

On the other hand, O'RLY!! Can anyone who is not a complete moron/buffoon claim that Rubinacci suits posted here over the years haven't looked terrific and brought a lot of satisfaction to clients, is it really important that one subjectively asserts them as more or less flexible in what they deliver, what is important is the subjective experience itself and the satisfaction it brought.



dieworkwear said:

I think what people took issue with earlier was the idea that only people who have ordered 10 or 11 jackets from a tailoring house can comment on that said house, and @unbelragazzo was unable to give any kind of meaningful comment, because he's only ordered 2 or 3 jackets from 8 different tailors.

@itsstillmatt's comment a few posts above makes sense to me. That is, the idea that these are two different ways to experience a tailoring house, and that a tailor will treat each customer differently (perhaps be more flexible for long term customers).

The suggestion that the only way you can give a meaningful comment about a tailor is to order 10 or 11 jackets seems kind of silly.

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If you read me to literally mean it takes exactly 10 or 11 jackets to understand how a tailor works, you are doing us both an intellectual disservice. Before that comment, I explained in great detail what I mean about gaining experience and evolving relationships.

mafoofan said:

I truly believe that we overemphasize apparent differences in cut and style when looking at tailors. This leads to the sampling mentality that I and others allude to, as every tailor tempts with a different house style. Yet, there are big gains to be had when a tailor is invested in making you happy over the long run, as each order gets a little better than the last. We might debate the merits of depth versus breadth, but surely we can all agree that given any single tailor, more experience must yield better results than less.

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I agree with you that there is a great benefit to working with the same tailor/chef/shoemaker/guy who fixes your appliances/alterations person. It's not even so much that the tailor/whatever is invested in making you happy, but just that he knows your preferences, and communication is much easier. That said, sometimes it takes a bit of time to find the right match. There are certainly better and worse tailors, and tailors who have a vision of what a good garment looks and feels like that is congruent and sympathtetic with your own. And beyond that, there are people who like to have a lot of different things, and certainly, different tailors are better at different things. That should go without saying.

To take it back to restaurants, which, at least in this thread, seems to be a less contentious issue. I've eaten at all sorts of restaurants, and my preferences always tend back to simple, filling, food. In Italy, I like trattorias that make good, traditional, usually Tuscan, fare, with maybe some personal touches, but without much experimentation. In the States, I like pub style food. Chinese? I like traditional Cantonese cooking. In France, I like bristro style food. I know that these are not the most current styles of cooking, and I have tried those, but ultimately, they are just not my style, so to speak. I'm not going to go to per se and ask them to make me a lamb burger with bumin aioli and thrice cooked fries. I suppose that if I had enough money and clout, I might be able to convince them to do so, but why would I, when I can get the same thing at The Breslin, which specializes in that dish?

You seem to have been lucky to find your ideal tailor on your first go around. But not everyone does. And it's quite possible that not everyone has an "ideal tailor", as well. Like I wrote earlier, I could eat the same thing for days on end, and never get sick of it, but not everyone has that personality.

I've been eating the exact same meal for dinner (my only meal) for the last few months.