Australian Members

[meister]



Just won a trip to Honolulu in October.

Never really considered going before. Anyone got suggestions on things to see and do - sartorial or otherwise - while I'm there? Will definitely check out Laather Soul, though being in the no spend club while I'm there is going to be pretty depressing.

Leather Soul in Waikiki is a def but the downtown closeouts near Holiday St are also worth visiting I've heard.

 

[TheWraith]



I picked up 3.5m of this navy mohair fabric off Ebay a few days ago and it's going to get sent to Shanghai C & G for a CMT order. There's enough for a jacket and trousers, maybe a low cut lining-backed waistcoat if I'm lucky. It's a very dark navy, certainly closer to the midnight blue end of the colour. I was thinking 3.5 inch notch lapels, two buttons and half-lined with a ticket pocket.

Excellent! Keep us updated with the progress of this suit, Stebbin.

 

[sliq]

looks superb, Andrew. well done! all the best with your wedding.

 

[Arch3r]

As some of you know, in a fit of insanitypiration I bought a TF suit at half price from the Harrolds Crown outlet a while back. Even with that discount, after alterations I was poorer by three large. Most expensive suit I've ever bought, but it fits really well (now) and is beautifully made from gorgeous fabric, so on the whole I feel it was money well spent.

No plans to buy any more TF. However, out of curiosity I've recently tried on a few of their current suits at the booth in Harrolds, and find them rather ridiculous. The shoulders are padded out stupidly wide and the waists tapered in very tight. They certainly hold their shape, but the overall effect verges on comical.

Basically all these suit companies seem to get it right for a while and then go adrift. Twenty years ago it was all about Armani, Zegna and Hugo Boss, all of which now produce (mostly) overpriced rubbish. SuitSupply are hot right now but are already showing signs of going off the rails, with their high button stances, pencil trousers and wrist/ankle exposure fetish. MJ Bale were solid a year ago but are now heading inexorably toward the disposable-fashion end of the scale. Pick a Kiton apart (as was done on a different SF thread) and you'll find your $8000 "hand-made" suit is, er, well, go and read the thread.

A couple of years ago I started buying Canali (mainly because their boutique is almost next door to my Sydney office) and while they might be at times a little staid and boxy, at least they're dependable. I've been re-assessing my various Canali investments and finding that they mostly stand the test of time.

I suppose what this indicates is that my tastes have changed and, armed with the increased sartorial awareness I've garnered from this board over the past twelve months (admittedly off a very low base), maybe it's time to go bespoke.

I couldn't agree more, makes it hard when you are trying to develop your style and find a house that provides exactly what you want. I discovered Herringbone just before they started to drop their game and then MJ and then TF... Now I'm on the SS/PJ wagon.

It's disappointing that these companies make these decisions, to us it just doesn't make sense. Surely offering a core collection or line of conservative wear and then having a fashion forward line would be the best way of catering for both types of people. I know Zegna tried this with their ZZegna line but it just ended up being an expensive poorly made line of rubbish which started to affect their core Zegna lines. On the other hand Ralph Lauren seems to consistently get this right, they have their outlandish coloured fashion forward crap but ALWAYS offer the tried and true conservative gear.

I love Canali, I haven't had the pleasure of owning one of their suits though a few friends own them and if you get the alterations right they are just great.

 

[Arch3r]

Hi all,

Third fitting of my coat with Bijan is up on the blog. Virtually complete now, with only minor adjustments and finishing details left.
Off to Italy (Naples and Florence) and London in 3 weeks, so I hope to have a number of tailors and businesses from there, written about in the coming months.

http://www.timelessman.com.au/bespoke/bijan-bespoke-linen-sport-coat-part-4-final-fitting/

You're really making it hard to resist the temptation of Bijan....

Nice PoW suit btw.

 

[TimelessMan]

Exquisite, Andrew.

How about cuff. Do you feel like it shows off enough of it?

Thanks @jimmyhoffa.
It's probably just the angle of that shot, but when standing normally, the cuffs are reliably half an inch below the coat sleeve.
Jason is right about linen's propensity to crush, shortening the sleeves, but the weight of the lining in the sleeves should help reduce that significantly.

 

[Romp]

Thanks @jimmyhoffa.
It's probably just the angle of that shot, but when standing normally, the cuffs are reliably half an inch below the coat sleeve.
Jason is right about linen's propensity to crush, shortening the sleeves, but the weight of the lining in the sleeves should help reduce that significantly.

Sleeves look good to me. Cuff is very personal anyhow and sometimes subjective to keep balance on each individual. My linen jacket has shortened about 0.5-1cm from the concertina effect but its part of its appeal.


re:Honolulu, its pretty expensive there. Crap coffee minimum $4 a cup. Just relax on the beach, drive around the island and eat at some of the musubi/udon places for cheap food.

Mens shopping there is not great, Leather Soul is candy but again expensive e.g. their prices were pretty much same as double monk but in USD. I still snagged some Aldens though

 

[Foxhound]

You're welcome.

The new "Blacked out" Filsons look cool, especially for SW. Looks like something Foxhound would carry, maybe?
http://www.filson.com/collections/the-black-collection/-cc15/

Good guess, I would definitely carry some of that stuff. I actually have a black Filson 256. I would have liked to have seen the Twill backpack in black. That would have been a serious contender against the TOJ Daypack when I was buying a new backpack a few months ago.

 

[Thanasi]

Quote:
No. I mean shirt stays to keep your shirt tucked in tight.

 

[Henry Carter]



Thanks @jimmyhoffa. 
It's probably just the angle of that shot, but when standing normally, the cuffs are reliably half an inch below the coat sleeve.
Jason is right about linen's propensity to crush, shortening the sleeves, but the weight of the lining in the sleeves should help reduce that significantly.

Andrew will you be gone by the 24th when the trunk show is on? Would love you to drop by if your still in town.

 

[lukejackson]

That jacket looks great.

Congrats on winning that trip Ovlov.

Might just be me, but feels like there is a propensity towards very short sleeve length these days, with tons of people having their jacket sleeve end a good few inches from their wrist, meaning it rides up like crazy when, for example, gesturing or crossing arms. (Not saying that jacket appears to be the case, looks perfect to my [untrained] eye).

 

[logiclusion]



Hi all,
...

You could probably get some gents' blood pumping over in the buttonhole thread with that lapel

 

[TimelessMan]

That jacket looks great.

Congrats on winning that trip Ovlov.

Might just be me, but feels like there is a propensity towards very short sleeve length these days, with tons of people having their jacket sleeve end a good few inches from their wrist, meaning it rides up like crazy when, for example, gesturing or crossing arms. (Not saying that jacket appears to be the case, looks perfect to my [untrained] eye).

Thanks @lukejackson
I don't think it's too much more than a bit of a trend. The thing I tend to notice are a lot of young guys with their trousers, heavily cuffed and finishing above their ankles (not on, but above). It's largely the same thing and will probably move back towards a more traditional length once the trend plays itself out. That's where I'd always err on the side of classic lengths and proportions, but each to their own I suppose and I'm just glad when I see someone making an effort, even if I wouldn't necessarily try it myself.

@Henry Carter I would have loved to come to this Jason, but I'm heading to Sydney that morning (wedding is on the Saturday 26th). You'll have to let me know how it goes!

 

[TimelessMan]

You're really making it hard to resist the temptation of Bijan....

Nice PoW suit btw.

The trick is to try to convince your brain in to thinking there is a zero missing from the price.
That way, when it's all finished and you have to pay for it, you have a small (large) heart attack and then hand over your card.

 

[TimelessMan]

You could probably get some gents' blood pumping over in the buttonhole thread with that lapel

I didn't even know one existed, I'll have to check it out and take some close up images.