Australian Members

[Journeyman]



Hey All, for my sins work are sending me to Delhi for a month to sort out some #$%^ sandwiches over there.  

Any intel from those here in the know about places to go, things to do, am doubtful any tailors will come front of mind from those of you who have ventured there.  Something to make you all cringe, had my vaccinations yesterday, $1,400.....cripes, could hardly believe it.  Dog bites me, Im covered!!!  Just not covered for a bad curry.

Also, any of the BNE crew ventured into the new Zegna shop yet?  Any thoughts ?  Journeyman have you been in yet?

WP1967,

Good to hear that you've got all of your inoculations. Have you been to Delhi/India before? If not, it's quite a culture shock - the crowds, the dirt, the grinding poverty alongside great wealth, the beggars, the noise. It's a lot of fun, but it can also be exhausting. Be sure to get out and about a bit and do some sightseeing.

"The False Prophet" and I ventured into the new Zegna store a couple of weeks ago, along with another friend of ours. This is what I thought of it at the time:

The store itself was very nice - very well furnished and a pleasant place. Whilst generally fairly austere and minimalist in its furnishings (wooden floors, fairly light-coloured wooden display racks and shelves), it also had a large fireplace upstairs made out of what appeared to be green marble (or a similar stone).

Whilst some of the clothes on offer were lovely, they were (predictably) very expensive. A jacket in a deceptively light, summery fabric in a gunclub check pattern was priced at about $2500 and suits were even more.

The store had some nice Zegna "fatte a mano" shoes, including a pair of Belgian loafers in dark green pony hair (which should actually be called "cow hair", rather than "pony hair", as it's made from cowhide with the hair (is that the right term?) of the cow still attached). I didn't check the prices, as I'm sure that they were horrendously expensive.

There were some nice pocket squares (again, doubtless very expensive) and a few of Zegna's classic, printed silk ties but most of the ties that they had were pretty forgettable designs in woven, rather than printed, silk.

 

[UnnamedPlayer]

Who makes the best value for money shirts?
I understand that a $400 shirt will be better than a $50 item, however I don't think it will be 8 times better.

 

[Henry Carter]



Aidan Joseph Hair. One dude, in his house, great hair dresser, great guy.

HC: Does the Kamakura shirt come in fabrics other than Oxford?

Mostly oxfords, but some pinpoints also (for the BD's).

www.kamakurashirts.com.

 

[PapaRubbery]

Friend of mine is playing with The Re-Mains in Melbourne this weekend at the Union and The Standard. He needs a hair cut any recommendations?

RockIt barbers on collins. No bookings, cash only. Maybe $25-$35 for a cut, but that includes a beer and a conversation about things that men talk about.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]



Aidan Joseph Hair. One dude, in his house, great hair dresser, great guy.

HC: Does the Kamakura shirt come in fabrics other than Oxford?

could he do a quiff?

Had to laugh while in Civic yesterday jumper shopping this bloke or was it poodle? Middle aged mind you so he should know better. He being led around like a prize bull by the wife, he picked a couple of things out a scarf and jumper in a purple and even I could see he was right that the colour suited him but oh no. The wife vetoed his choices and then picked out a couple of other items for him which he did not think that much of. He tired to get her to see his POV but alas mama san held sway and he led off to slaughter his plastic the poor bastard. i had to leave other wise I would have burst out laughing at his plight.

 

[Windowpane1967]

WP1967,

Good to hear that you've got all of your inoculations. Have you been to Delhi/India before? If not, it's quite a culture shock - the crowds, the dirt, the grinding poverty alongside great wealth, the beggars, the noise. It's a lot of fun, but it can also be exhausting. Be sure to get out and about a bit and do some sightseeing.

"The False Prophet" and I ventured into the new Zegna store a couple of weeks ago, along with another friend of ours. This is what I thought of it at the time:
There were some nice pocket squares (again, doubtless very expensive) and a few of Zegna's classic, printed silk ties but most of the ties that they had were pretty forgettable designs in woven, rather than printed, silk.

No first time to the Indian continent. Am quietly very excited. Have Lonely Planet packed so will do some research on the way over.

Re Zegna - totally share your observations. All I would add is that the store almost looked on the empty side. Garments upstairs were sparce and well spread out almost making the illusion of lots of stock. Cant help but think that they need double the stock they currently have to make it look interesting, they have erred on the side of severe conservatism in styling and fabric choice. I was keen to see the couture ties; to me their stock standard ties are too narrow - so I asked!!! Couture is behind the hidden door upstairs to the left of the fake fireplace and then in a cupboard with all the other Zegna Couture shirts, suits and trousers. Dont understand why they hidden away like that. In HK they fully out on display. Was almost like a secret society of Couture....!!! Anyway, nothing much tempted me, I parted with wallet in tact. This was soon emptied at Allanah Hill, had my daughter in toe!!

 

[nabilmust]

Just took some photos (with a real shirt) and sent them to Romp. Might post later, but the lighting's so bad in my crib I don't even know if they're useful.

Also, trying to photograph clothes makes me appreciate how difficult it is. Like, I have to stand in a particular way so that the mirror captures the whole outfit, but then this means my posture changes how it looks, so I adjust, but then things are out of the mirror's view, etc, etc, etc.

Now you know the daily struggles of a #menswear blogger

14 plain colours standard, and "special" linings such as the camo that are in limited quantities

Also was it you asking the mills we use? Loro piana, Ariston and barbera are the common ones

Also showed Patrick your fit pic LM... "pull up your pants at the back" was his advice

Those are some fantastic mills. I've been thinking of a brown suit - and I think this is a good time to make that move.

Gilet: The Vest A Man Can Get

This is the vest I've got. I'll stop now.

P.S. Shirt looks awesome Jas. Pity they have darts. As you say, not a deal breaker, but would've been nice for them to devote more time to finding a workaround.

I've had issues with darts. Never liked them. But they were necessary on my shirts because, I have a very concave spine, and at the same time, well, I like to eat.

The Kamakura shirts do look very good, Jas! Will keep Kamakura on my radar when the present batch of OCBDs run their distance.

 

[Journeyman]



Who makes the best value for money shirts?
I understand that a $400 shirt will be better than a $50 item, however I don't think it will be 8 times better.

Howard Yount?


Seriously, though, what is it that you want in a shirt?

Ultimately, fit is king - clearly, it's better to have a well-fitting shirt with no handwork, than a fully hand-made shirt that is too tight or too baggy.

I'm sure that you're aware of this already, but there are a lot of other things to think about in addition to handwork, however, including collar band height, length of collar leaves, collar interlining (stiff or soft), type of buttons, whether you want button cuffs or French cuffs and so on.

Most off-the-rack shirts in Australia are overpriced, as you can get very similar shirts from places like TM Lewin and Charles Tyrwhitt for $40 or so per shirt, instead of paying between $100 - $180 in Australian stores.

However, some people find that particular "house" cuts from brands such as Herringbone or Rhodes and Beckett fit them very well and so they're willing to pay more because the fit is very good. It's really up to the individual to make that choice.

If you want greater choice over what collar you get, what collar interlining you get, what buttons you get, what fabric patterns you get and so on, then you could try going through one of the onshore or offshore made-to-order places that abound nowadays. I know that people in this thread have used Cottonwork and Luxire and seem quite satisfied with them. I'm very happy with my MTO shirts from Deer Style in Brisbane, too, and of course there are people in Sydney who have been using Charles Nakhle for a long time and others use P.Johnson for shirts as well as suits/jackets.

Ultimately, there's no simple answer - some are happy with off-the-rack shirts from places like Charles Tyrwhitt, others prefer more expensive OTR shirts because they happen to fit them well, and yet others go the MTO route, at varying levels of cost.

 

[Oli2012]

What annoys me the most about shirting is the lack of plain poplins with button cuffs with OTR. I imagine its because of the whole 'business casual' thing, where if you're only wearing a shirt and trousers you probably want that shirt to be interesting.

 

[Geoffrey Firmin]



I was keen to see the couture ties; to me their stock standard ties are too narrow - so I asked!!!  

The couple of Zegna ties I own both bought on sale at Henry Bucks in 2012 are 8cm wide, wide enough if you ask me. How wide do you prefer in a tie?

 

[California Dreamer]



Hey All, for my sins work are sending me to Delhi for a month to sort out some #$%^ sandwiches over there.  

Any intel from those here in the know about places to go, things to do, am doubtful any tailors will come front of mind from those of you who have ventured there.  Something to make you all cringe, had my vaccinations yesterday, $1,400.....cripes, could hardly believe it.  Dog bites me, Im covered!!!  Just not covered for a bad curry.

Also, any of the BNE crew ventured into the new Zegna shop yet?  Any thoughts ?  Journeyman have you been in yet?

I've found jewellery, especially silver and semi-precious gems, especially good value in India. Should be able to find some fantastic value on cufflinks. Silk scarves are good value too. Oh, and books! Load up your suitcase on the trip back.

If it's your first trip, you have to find time to go to Agra and see the Taj and the Red Fort. The old city in Delhi is great too, as is the Indian National Museum.

They've just built themselves a new Metro. Would be interested in your opinion of how well it works. I gather it would make a Melbournian weep at what they've been able to get done in a relatively short time.

 

[lachyzee]

Windowpane, I'd head to Bangalore and get Luxire to fit you up!

On that note, damn you AUD.

 

[Dusty Brogues]



Hey All, for my sins work are sending me to Delhi for a month to sort out some #$%^ sandwiches over there.  

Any intel from those here in the know about places to go, things to do, am doubtful any tailors will come front of mind from those of you who have ventured there.  Something to make you all cringe, had my vaccinations yesterday, $1,400.....cripes, could hardly believe it.  Dog bites me, Im covered!!!  Just not covered for a bad

Catch a Twenty 20 game while you are there! Even if you are not a cricket fan the experience would be amazing.... +1 on buying jewelery there too

 

[Dusty Brogues]

Dp : (

 

[thebrownman]

+1 on the jewellery.

Taj Mahal is majestic.

Scarves are a big winner in India. I have so many not enough that put Drakes' offerings to shame and they cost a fraction of the price.