• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Kirchtag Umbrellas

patrickBOOTH

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
38,393
Reaction score
13,643
IIRC, any Italian umbrella sold at a shop has been very small also with overcooked styling (I like bland black umbrellas).

I suspect the price difference between his shop and getting it here is customs who likes to hold wood hostage for a few months.
 

logboy

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
134
Reaction score
59
IIRC, any Italian umbrella sold at a shop has been very small also with overcooked styling (I like bland black umbrellas).

I suspect the price difference between his shop and getting it here is customs who likes to hold wood hostage for a few months.

you thinking maglia specifically? i've seen masses (dozens) of stockists of maglia during the hours i spent recently looking at umbrellas across the world. maglia travels internationally better than any other maker i've seen. you can't escape them. 'overcooked' italian styling is something i wouldn't use to describe most of those i've seen stocked anywhere in the world - they tend to be far more muted than some i've seen picture of in articles (but still more colourful than black) where you will see yellow / purple leather handles and the like. remember, maglia uses fabrics made in italy by a weaver producing for neck ties. they'll be dominated by colourful stripes as a result, but not as floral as talarico as a result, where you'll see paisley and the like, but will be flashes of bright colours and nothing like golf umbrellas, in a way you can imagine fitting of a fairly conservative formal work look for men.

when i asked for prices from maglia earlier this year, and discussed my taste with francesco, he did say 80% of what he sells to the UK was black; he produces models without his name on for outfitters, some fashion houses, and they supply fabrics, too. he gives the impression he is realistic in knowing what sells well in italy won't necessarily sell abroad, and at 500 umbrellas a week (25k a year) and a great sense of promoting himself globally, he will work with other tastes in a way which is very forthcoming rather than reluctant. he understood that i didn't appreciate what i then called typical italian styling - tends to be gaudy too often - but i find his choices for stockists if he recommends stuff and what they order by their choice, to be largely relatively colourful compared to black, but muted compared to typical italian bright colour usage most of the time. i pointed to navy blue examples elsewhere, he picked out a navy blue for me from dead stock. he did send me a black initially, and i will maybe sell that one to put towards something from brigg / fox / james smith; only hesitant on shipping costs, because they're heavy, when selling on.
 

Attachments

  • img_2469.jpg
    img_2469.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 99

patrickBOOTH

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
38,393
Reaction score
13,643
I wasn't speaking to the brand itself, just noticed what a lot of shops carry by Italian makers here in the states. They tend to be trendy designs and small.

Silk is the traditional fabric for the canopy, but it isn't as durable, or effective at keeping water off of you so I opt for poly.
 

logboy

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
134
Reaction score
59
I wasn't speaking to the brand itself, just noticed what a lot of shops carry by Italian makers here in the states. They tend to be trendy designs and small.

Silk is the traditional fabric for the canopy, but it isn't as durable, or effective at keeping water off of you so I opt for poly.

ok. i think many of what you're seeing from italy in the USA will then be talarico? it's the only other maker of that much note that's widely known about and stocked. the small ones you're thinking of are presumably compacts. maglia does those, don't think talarico does - could be wrong, but i've not looked for them or stumbled into them. your perception of bright and fashionable might be tainted by thinking the only colour you want in an umbrella is black. i've seen lots of those in brighter colours, but they're not as easy to spot (as far as i can tell) as full length umbrellas from my googling, as i say. any mass-produced compacts i can think of tend to be by knirps, the german maker, which look good for what they are.

as for poly as a canopy, and silk being the tradition, i can think of few that are still using silk. heurtault (paris) does, but they're like 1500 euros very typically. most have discontinued doing it due to costs, i think. lots of japanese makers use silk, but they're short stick and hard to determine the canopy sizes for, are nice with their much higher rib counts; expensive though. yes, it perishes over time - presumably the sun and rain both doing damage. the reasoning behind maglia's neck tie fabric usage is that it's something like a triple / multi-directional weave and far more waterproof than other such relatively mass-produced fabrics, which tend to look a little flat or less textured on other makers umbrellas.
 
Last edited:

patrickBOOTH

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
38,393
Reaction score
13,643
Yeah, I am not sure about the makers specifically, I just passed on them for size and styling. I am sure they are fine umbrellas. I know Brigg has a silk option at a significant upcharge. I think my opting for Fox was both size of canopy and thickness of the stick at its narrowest part.
 

logboy

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
134
Reaction score
59
Yeah, I am not sure about the makers specifically, I just passed on them for size and styling. I am sure they are fine umbrellas. I know Brigg has a silk option at a significant upcharge. I think my opting for Fox was both size of canopy and thickness of the stick at its narrowest part.

you'll find that finding and judging the canopy size can be difficult. umbrellas in the UK tend to be tied to walking stick ideas - hence the solid stick as an ideal - and need to have a walking length that's comfortable for hand height as though used as a walking stick and deployed when raining. the canopy width should be tied to this, but tends to be 1m+ for anyone bordering 6ft and certainly over.

if you look at japan, which i've got some very nice makers from looking at, the sticks are based upon parasols. the whole history and styling is muddled with parasols and meiji period opening of borders to westerners and different fashion ideas. so, you get silk, but you'll also find it's about holding a parasol up rather than using it down as a walking stick. you can still find canopies over 1m, but you'll be hard pushed to find the detail to be sure of it, and you stand a good chance they're using silk and charging a lot for it.

the compacts i think you're trying to remember are most likely maglia's - they're the only bright italian ones i 've seen lots of. he doesn't use them (francesco maglia) and i don't like the mechanism on them. they are a bit too much of a fashion accessory you can carry to look flash, bit like a man purse. not my thing.
 

patrickBOOTH

Stylish Dinosaur
Dubiously Honored
Joined
Oct 16, 2006
Messages
38,393
Reaction score
13,643
The ones I was looking at definitely were not compacts, they were sticks. Also to add to what you've said about the canopy being difficult to judge is rib length vs. arc. The rib length can be longer, but a more pronounced arc can eat away at this. I find this also with the Brigg umbrellas. they have a beautiful arc at the expense of coverage.
 

usctrojans31

Distinguished Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2009
Messages
2,239
Reaction score
1,366
Did you bring it back with you on the plane? Shipping is brutal... both of my Talaricos are from Napoli, not NMWA

I did. I also carried it in the umbrella shoulder bag, which made it look suspiciously like a rifle.

Logboy - Talarico does compacts
 

logboy

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
134
Reaction score
59
I did. I also carried it in the umbrella shoulder bag, which made it look suspiciously like a rifle.

Logboy - Talarico does compacts

i think i found the idea of bright colours confusing. maglia is known for them. i think patrick doesn't like anything other than black in an umbrella. everything else is relatively bright, but maglia can get very very bright.

i've looked at talarico, even had one and returned it for being damaged - explained away by the seller as 'handmade', but one of the lesser ones i know now to avoid, with the tag missing and the name on the ring at the base of a fit-up.

still interested in a few english makers, but think i now need to clarify canopy size instead of just relying on walking length.
 

logboy

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
134
Reaction score
59
... oh, and it's worth being clear that compacts all have a compromised length and canopy size. the major flaw on them seems to be the mechanism to get the small size, so i don't tend to be thinking about them any further than that. but thinking about makers and the appropriateness in their canopy size, it has to be stated if it's a compact or a full length model being criticised. full stick umbrellas - solid or fit-up - can still vary, but don't tend to be as dramatically compromised on canopy size. can still be a minefield to check or be certain of.
 

logboy

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
134
Reaction score
59
Since the thread title is 'Kirchtag Umbrellas' but there is no picture of a Kirchtag umbrella, here are pictures of an umbrella I recently acquired:

View attachment 1420326


The stick is made from waxed cherry with horn tip.

can i ask you the process to buy from kirchtag?

ive tried an initial email, asked for prices, but had brief response only.

i like their very wide and unusual choice of woods, but need fabric choices - even if i narrow it by colour, type - and options on metal work, horn.

also concerned about frame and other metalwork origins, qualities.

running out of time before brexit hits.

managed to place an order at heurtault very quickly and easily, clear info and reasonable shipping, explanation of what i would be getting. waiting on it to be made; three weeks turnaround currently.
 

blueberry7

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
72
Reaction score
115
can i ask you the process to buy from kirchtag?
Sure. Best would be of course seeing them in person.
I gave them a phone call and discussed the details with Mr. Kirchtag himself.
There are of course limitations to this process and I left the choice of fabric to him (just told him I'd prefer green and which style I'd prefer overall), wasn't disappointed.

Turnaround was three to four weeks, maybe a little more but that was during summer.
One has to remember that they are a very small shop selling most of their umbrellas over the counter.
While on the phone Mr. Kirchtag went 'upstairs' to check the available fabrics.

Frames are 10-segment frames made in England or Italy. Other metal parts are made locally.

I hope this helps, let me know if you need anything else.
 

logboy

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2019
Messages
134
Reaction score
59
Sure. Best would be of course seeing them in person.
I gave them a phone call and discussed the details with Mr. Kirchtag himself.
There are of course limitations to this process and I left the choice of fabric to him (just told him I'd prefer green and which style I'd prefer overall), wasn't disappointed.

Turnaround was three to four weeks, maybe a little more but that was during summer.
One has to remember that they are a very small shop selling most of their umbrellas over the counter.
While on the phone Mr. Kirchtag went 'upstairs' to check the available fabrics.

Frames are 10-segment frames made in England or Italy. Other metal parts are made locally.

I hope this helps, let me know if you need anything else.

latest email asks me to phone. i’ve asked for email of details. i have offered fabric and metal part colour choices, but need confirmation on qualities and prices.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,161
Messages
10,579,004
Members
223,882
Latest member
anykadaimeni
Top