Australian Members - Page 1598

What can I say??? I'm a slow learner!

You could find a soft shouldered (as in no padding) jacket from both MJ bale and Herringbone for sub $1000.

If it's a true 'shirt shoulder' you're after, with a pleated sleeve-head etc, I doubt you will get that here without going MTM. However, if you know your measurements shopthefinest.com has many Italian makers on offer that are under $1000. I've found their measurements to be accurate and they generally offer great deals.

Successful op-shop outing :)

Sorry to rain on your parade, but I'm a great fan of Shop The Finest and have been to the actual shop
(warehouse) several times.The last time I was there about a year ago Ian, the owner had a large selection
of suits and jackets from Italian makers, especially Attolini, but nary a "shirt shoulder" or really "natural"
Neapolitan shoulder garment- at least in my size 44R. If one looks at the website, most of the garments
show more built up shoulders than this Kiton:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7250-Rare-KITON-Napoli-Brown-Pure-Cashmere-Jacket-EU-50-NEW-38-40-/290832444941?pt=US_CSA_MC_Blazers_Sport_Coats&hash=item43b6f6

Alternatively, one can buy an American Ivy League garment- another species of natural shoulder, which I grew up
with from OConnells in Buffalo NY, USA:

http://www.oconnellsclothing.com/product.php?productid=17529&cat=250&page=1

Sorry to rain on your parade, but I'm a great fan of Shop The Finest and have been to the actual shop
(warehouse) several times.The last time I was there about a year ago Ian, the owner had a large selection
of suits and jackets from Italian makers, especially Attolini, but nary a "shirt shoulder" or really "natural"
Neapolitan shoulder garment- at least in my size 44R. If one looks at the website, most of the garments
show more built up shoulders than this Kiton:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7250-Rare-KITON-Napoli-Brown-Pure-Cashmere-Jacket-EU-50-NEW-38-40-/290832444941?pt=US_CSA_MC_Blazers_Sport_Coats&hash=item43b6f6

Alternatively, one can buy an American Ivy League garment- another species of natural shoulder, which I grew up
with from OConnells in Buffalo NY, USA:

http://www.oconnellsclothing.com/product.php?productid=17529&cat=250&page=1

Any other recommendations for ties in the price range of $50-$100? Sam Hober?

 

This page mentions Hober, Kent Wang, Howard Yount and Panta: http://putthison.com/post/5802225399/the-necktie-series-part-iii-starting-your
 

Louis Vuitton any good?

I would suggest:

"Ridiculously well-versed; here mainly to mock you peons and drop the occasional pearl of sartorial wisdom."

I think this has a nice ring to it.

 

Romp, Spalla camicia is the look l'm after, lm fairly broad so l thought this look maybe more flattering with the natural taper...

 

BTW thanks also to Comrade and Upright Man

I'm not sure he'd like his email published on the web but I think it's an excellent suggestion - he certainly is the kind of guy who would like to hear from anyone with genuine issues.

From what I've seen, I think their webstore inventory is linked to their bricks & mortar store database and all the garments are shipped from nearest store with stock (I don't think there is a central warehouse as such)... obviously this is a cheap way to do e-commerce but anyone who has worked in retail will know that when the computer says there is one item left, you should believe it only when you see the actual garment. Obviously that's a bigger problem when you have people ordering and paying over the web from that database thinking they have bought the last suit, last jacket etc. when in reality there are none left.

I haven't tried Hober, but by all accounts, the ties are excellent. Bear in mind that they are made-to-order and that it therefore takes a little while to get them.

I'd also add Vanda to the list - I have quite a few Vanda ties and pocket squares and they are excellent. Perhaps not to everyone's tastes, as they are lightly lined and "untipped" (that is, the triangle of fabric at the bottom has no backing fabric - it just has the edges turned in and the seams sewed by hand) but they tie a beautiful knot and sit very nicely.

I have knit ties from Kent Wang and Howard Yount, and both are good. I also have knit ties from locals Henry Carter (run by SF member Charlie's Wardrobe) and High Tied (run by SF member Tobiasj) and both are very good, too. Henry Carter also offers conventional silk ties, as well as knitted ties.

I have some silk ties by Panta and they are very nice. The ones that I have are like Vanda's ties - multiple inner folds of silk, lightly lined in the upper part, with no backing nor lining for the lower part. I don't know if Panta (run by SF member edmorel) still makes their ties like this.

Another place to look is EG Cappelli, which has an online store. They make lovely, typically rather conservative, printed silk ties and I just noticed that the "outlet" section of their store has ties priced from 50 Euros each, which is ridiculously cheap for such ties. I don't know how much they charge for shipping but if you buy a few ties it would bring down the per unit cost, anyway.

Drake's and Marinella also make lovely, classic ties but Drake's ties are now very expensive and (in my opinion) too narrow and Marinella ties are also expensive and not widely available over the internet or in Australia.

No - and for the price that you pay just for the name, you can do far, far better (such as the aforementioned Vanda, Cappelli etc etc).

As someone once said to me: "You have a great future as a tombstone salesman."

Hey DB - I think I know what you mean, but I woud not get too hung up on the spalla camicia side of things.... but obviously you know what you are after and my speculation may be wide of the mark.

There are two things at play here. How the shoulder is given structure and how the sleeve is attached. I get why you are after the soft shouldered look. I am quite broad, a little portly and a really strong, padded shoulder makes my chest/shoulders and head look like a block with a ball balanced on top. With the minimal padding of my MJBale and a couple of other sports coats I have that effect is minimised because the shoulder of the jacket fits much closer to the line of my natural shoulders. I really like the soft shoulder.

But spalla camicia is all about the seam between the shoulder and sleeve. When they are joined one piece can have a bit of extra fabric folded back on itself (doubled) and then a single peice of fabric from the other part is overlapped and they are sewn together. If the doubled peice is the shoulder the sleeve appears to fall away softly - like a shirt, hence spalla acamicia. If the doubled bit is on the sleeve and the shoulder is single, you get a wee roll at the top of the sleeve - this is a less "soft" look.

But I think it is the padding that makes the most difference - especially if you are broad shouldered, as the seam will flatten somewhat over the curve of you shoulder anyway. This is good news, beacuse I think you would be searching a good while for an OTR suit in Oz with true spalla camicia.

Apologies if this is already known, but I think it can be confusing sometimes, so I thought I shold mention.

 

Shouldn't be an issue - at the beginning of January, MJ Bale sent out an email asking their customers to contact him with any feedback or suggestions.

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Yes, I should have pointed out that in his latest email to customers he said 'My email address is at the bottom of this email, please don't hesitate to contact me with feedback or suggestions...'

I hope he doesn't mind me promoting this among a broader audience.

PS. Sam Hober ties are excellent and the service is exemplary.

DR has met him. Apparently he is quite a nice guy. His recently made fortune is probably going to his head.