Impressions of Vienna

[Sator]

Originally Posted by bengal-stripe

Nice report, Sator. About Knize, the name is of Czech and not German origin. So the ’z’ is pronounced like a German ‘sch’ (Engl. ‘sh’) = Knische. (For English speakers: the ‘K’ is pronounced, like in ‘Karl’ and not swallowed.)
Thanks for the education. I was going to ask at Knize but it slipped me. It's hard not to say the "-sche" without making it a hard "sch". The Russians distinguish between a soft 'sch' and a hard 'sch' for example, and perhaps there is a way of notating this in Slavonic languages which use the Roman alphabet. In any case, that's why I heard it as "K'nee-dja" rather than "K'nee-shi".

 

[Eustace Tilley]

A great report - thanks Sator!

 

[RJman]

Sator, was anyone else in Knize when I was there? I too was disheartened by some of the fairly ho-hum RTW there and the disappointing shoe selection, but most of all by the complete absence of clientele -- it was clear that Knize was an institution and I very much hope that I just happened to be visiting on a day when most clients were away.

Good cashmeres though.

 

[Eustace Tilley]

Btw, I was in Vienna for half-a-day a few weeks ago, and received information from Markus Scheer that was quite different from yours.

I was told shoes started at 3,000 euros, with a fitting no later than three months down the road, and the finished shoes would be completed 4-6 months thereafter.

 

[Sator]

Originally Posted by RJman

Sator, was anyone else in Knize when I was there?

Oddly enough I was one of only two shoppers in the store. After the lady before me paid and left, I was the only one. Yes, it's a bit sad, isn't it?

 

[tutee]

Originally Posted by Sator

Indeed, morning dress seemed to pop up everywhere around the city.

Man! …and they criticize Americans for being like paired canary birds when guys match their vests with women's dress. Now we know Austrians match their vests with their exotic cars!

Originally Posted by Sator

There was a little poster in the window display too:

]

Ha! This is an AA/Esky illustration from summer of 35' (painted by L. Saalburg). I highly doubt that this was a page ripped off from the magazine but was probably one of the display pieces AA used to sell to its retail customers for showing customers that they were presenting "correct fashions" according to the "chart".

If Knize always had it from the original days or it acquired this from somewhere else, either way it is VERY interesting because I have NEVER seen a copy of AA display illustrations.

thanks for your post Sator

 

[Sator]

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

Btw, I was in Vienna for half-a-day a few weeks ago, and received information from Markus Scheer that was quite different from yours. I was told shoes started at 3,000 euros, with a fitting no later than three months down the road, and the finished shoes would be completed 4-6 months thereafter.
Admittedly, I did not meet Markus Scheer that day. The lady there seemed to want to scare away potential customers. Maybe you pay extra for not speaking German or getting your shoes sooner?

Alternatively, did you specify some sort of exotic leather or some more time consuming features eg Goyserer stitching etc.

 

[Fabro]

Excellent post; thank you for sharing. Travelogues are among my favorite posts here. I visited Vienna when I was much younger and didn't appreciate it in the way I would now. I really must go back.

 

[grimslade]

Originally Posted by Sator

Admittedly, I did not meet Markus Scheer that day. The lady there seemed to want to scare away potential customers. Maybe you pay extra for not speaking German and getting your shoes sooner?

It's true all over Europe--some people don't want customers. It's too much trouble.

 

[Sator]

Originally Posted by tutee

Man! ...and they criticize Americans for being like paired canary birds when guys match their vests with women's dress. Now we now Austrians match their vests with their exotic cars!

Actually, I could swear I could hear some American accents amongst that lot. I was surprised to hear them speak English and doubly so to hear their American accents. And no, it wasn't the accent of a continental European who had learnt American English either. I was rather surprised they had not turned out dressed like the waiters in Cafe Central outside of which this photo was taken.

 

[Sator]

Originally Posted by grimslade

It's true all over Europe--some people don't want customers. It's too much trouble.

Um...my visit to NYC suggested that it wasn't much different in the boutiques there either. Twice I was in the JM Weston store. Twice, I was the only one there. At the Dunhill store on Madison IIRC, the staff outnumbered the customers 4:1!

 

[TheIdler]

Wonderful thread, Sator--made my day. Thank you.

 

[Douglas]

What a wonderful post. Thank you, Sator, for taking the time to share.

It is posts like this one that make SF such a great place.

 

[Flambeur]

Great post!

 

[fritzl]

Originally Posted by airportlobby

Would Thomas Bernhard wear morning dress?

Never, he hated the establishement. RIP