Keikari's Interviews with Men Who Think in Style

[VRaivio]

With emptym's kind permission I'm setting up a thread for Keikari's extensive interview series. I'll update it with snippets and photos after adding some new profiles so casual readers can follow some more or less familiar names and faces. So far I've collected 135 tailors, cordwainers, retailers, artisans, bloggers, writers and arbiters of elegance, and hopefully I'll reach a thousand within a decade. Some background: the series began in August 2009 when I felt that style sites and magazines were featuring the same makers, merchants and rakes time and again. This left out many men with intriguing backgrounds and a wealth of experience, though some had set up blogs to inspire and share their insights. I approach these interviewees due to their accomplishments, persona, taste or intrigue, and some of them are bound to raise eyebrows. I believe the tailor Darren Beaman wasn't a very welcome addition, but he's part of the story of this odd world of online style forums. Perhaps some profiles and their answers, or what's left out, will spark some debate in this thread.

The latest victim is Nicholas Storey, who's written three books which, by his words, are tongue-in-cheek collections of anecdotes and history of accessories and fine living. These include History of Men's Fashion, History of Men's Etiquette and History of Men's Accessories, though he's the first to acknowledge that the titles are inaccurate, chosen by his publisher, Pen&Sword. He's also an active member of Filmnoirbuff's forum and settled to Brazil in 2006. Below's a portion of his interview.

'I don’t really regard my interest in clothes as a hobby or a passion. I think that clothes should be background to our daily activities and that they should be appropriate to those activities but clothes should never be an end in themselves. There is, somewhere on the internet, a photograph of some chap, in full evening dress (including a topper), in a plastic-furnished ice cream parlour. That’s just nuts. People should dress appropriately for the time, place and company; in the best clothes that they can find but wearing full evening dress for a visit to an ice cream parlour is just as inappropriate as wearing jeans to the opera or to a high-end casino – and a good deal more ludicrous.

I enjoy beach fishing, which I am sure that my fly-fishing friends back home would regard as highly suspect, if not infra dig.. There is little in the way of country sport, in terms of hunting and shooting here and, one of these days, we will take a trip down to Uruguay or Argentina, where these things are understood and practised. I am not sure that, after living in a climate where, except for five to ten days of winter (when the temperature drops to 15-18 degrees Celsius) nearly every day of the year is like a fine south European summer day, we could face the English winter again, when country sports are in full flight there.'

The rest can be found through my forum signature.

 

[MikeDT]

You trying to spam your blog?

 

[Claghorn]

With emptym's kind permission

It isn't spam if it has the boss's stamp of approval.

 

[emptym]

Mike's concern is legitimate. Our policy has consistently been that we don't allow people to simply post links to their blogs. But they've always been quite welcome to put a link in their sig and post a significant amount of content from the blog, particularly if it's high quality, largely original, and not overtly commercial.

Keikari's interviews certainly fit that description. And I say this not simply because he interviewed me.

 

[Thanks SF (a new me)]

^^ I always enjoyed VRaivio interview series...I always wonder if Emptym was "Flip" (please take this as compliment) but don't want to ask. his interview confirmed that..

 

[Quantimil]

I've followed the blog for quite a while in Finnish, and it deserves recognition, at the very least this thread.

 

[chogall]

Please grant VR thread ownership.

And please no vender account spams.

p.s., big fan of the blog. one of the top non vender infused blogs out there alongside w/ claymoore.

 

[emptym]



...I always wonder if Emptym was "Flip" (please take this as compliment)...

Is there any other way it could be taken?

Really good interview w/ NS, V. I also enjoyed the old Ask Andy thread on Ivy that you linked to.

 

[VRaivio]

The latest victims in my series:

David P. Lochner (from Briar Vintage)

'VR: How did you first become interested in clothing, and when did you turn your eyes towards more or less tailored pieces? Why classics instead of fashion?

DPL: That’s easy, I saw a movie called Swing Kids. That for me was the birth of a love affair with clothing. Learning about proper tailoring took a bit longer. I had heard all my life that I would “grow into it”, whatever it was at the time. I learned about hemming clothing, trousers mostly, but getting things properly tailored was beyond me until I started learning more and more about menswear. I started noticing that jackets didn’t fit me properly. So, I visited an alterations tailor. The classics, to me, just look better. I find the lines more elegant. They withstand the test of time. Hence our reason for labeling those items “classic”.'

Jeffery Diduch (a forum favourite)

'I don’t believe in the distinction between “classic” and “fashion”. Things that are supposedly timeless still have contemporary details which will look dated ten years on. Things which many consider “classic” today are still current interpretations of those particular styles. As a designer, even if I were to take a style right out of a 1930s illustration of Apparel Arts, I will still interpret it with an eye to current details instead of doing a very literal version of it, which would look costumey.'

Herbert Stricker (more active in the German-speaking Stilforum)

'‘I’m 53 years old and the “the mind behind” Classic Parfums. I graduated at the Bocconi in Milan with an MBA. I am married and have two children. I think all three of them consider me slightly mad when it comes to clothing. They smile at my dedication to small details and some of my stylistic choices. Maybe they even pick up a few elements here and there but without documenting it further. [As for hobbies,] there are way too many. I like to cook and eat, travel, drink complex wines, smoke cigars and furthermore I’m interested in art, culture and music. As I already said, there are too many. My problem is that once I’m interested in something I aim to pursue it to the fullest degree, for example cooking. I’m not satisfied with cooking one tasty meal. No, I want to reach at least 1 Michelin Star level. Of course this takes a lot of effort and looking into the subject.'

Carina Eneroth (a Swedish cordwainer)

'I only wear my own handmade shoes and since I love to experiment, I make a lot of different designs for myself. Flats, pumps, high heels, summer sandals, winter boots and orthopedic sandals for working. I have not bought any new shoes for myself or my husband during the last 18 years, so I don’t have any personal favorite brands, but from what I see in my repair workshop, the best men’s shoes are still produced in England. Gaziano&Girling, Crockett&Jones and Edward Green make wonderful shoes. The American brands try so hard to make “easy to sell” shoes, so the quality is not the same anymore. A good quality shoe needs to be broken in during a long time to be able to last a long time. Soft, comfortable, lightweight shoes work fine from day one, but don’t last for much longer.'

For the rest, I'm sure you know what to do.

 

[emptym]

I enjoyed the interview of member Billax of member Billax, particularly this line from Bill's mentor regarding pant length:

Bill, it is better to endure the occasional flood than to live in a perpetual puddle!

 

[VRaivio]

Oh, I had forgotten about this old thread. There's several hundred interviews on the site today, and I feel a thousand would be nice. The problem with them is to find the right people, preferably the ones who have something to say as these are written pieces. Billax is a true American, I'm glad he had the time to take part.