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OFFICIAL Simon Crompton thread (PermanentStyle.com)

lordsuperb

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Do you have any examples of his sports jackets that you feel particularly fit that 'old fogey, geography teacher' look? Interested to know if I agree, or vehemently disagree!

Arguably, Drake's has an entire brand vision based on the geography teacher look, no?
Florentine-jacket.jpg
 

William Kazak

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They are both a certain type of menfluencer but Crompton's taste, if at times overwrought and tedious, is more in line with my own than Allison's. He is considered but confident in the things he wears.

Crompton also has a general awareness of how to wear tailored clothing without being making a spectacle of oneself. Crompton also seems more self assured in his style than Allison who seems concerned about what is "proper"...I think it's a bit out of line with what I consider an American sensibility of having style and taste but ultimately not giving a damn and wearing nice things because you like them. Style comes from having a considered worldview and adorning oneself in a manner that is in line with that worldview and I am generally unimpressed by adhering "rules" that simply do not matter to anyone of importance.

I also don't get what Kirby is trying to sell me on in his videos: handmade buttonholes? cigar smoking? fedoras? Is it a lifestyle thing? Crompton has a hustle too, he's just more into clothing and less into the "lifestyle".

At the end of the day they're both looking for that ad revenue and free stuff and I respect their hustle in a niche space. They're both well dressed and have made a living off of it. Salut!
What do you mean by a considered world view? Can you go more into the details on that? Also; adhering to rules that do not matter to anyone of importance. Who might those people be and what rules? Examples please. I would really be interested in these statements in this discussion.
 

KWang94

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What do you mean by a considered world view? Can you go more into the details on that? Also; adhering to rules that do not matter to anyone of importance. Who might those people be and what rules? Examples please. I would really be interested in these statements in this discussion.
Kirby always gives off the impression that he's cosplaying as some "European gentleman".
 

corpseposeur

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What do you mean by a considered world view? Can you go more into the details on that?

I think Crompton considers a lot about the people and craft involved in clothing production. The amount of labor and labor conditions of the people making clothing. Before he was dedicating time to selling his stuff, I enjoyed reading his experiences with Savile Row tailors and what worked for him and what didn't, different styles of shoulders or drape, different nuances between different regional styles in Italy. He also considers tailoring in a contemporary setting so his suits for the most part are in neutral tones but wearable. He's also written a full article on why or why not to wear a belt. You can also just take a look at Permanent Style and see for yourself. He has been a good source of information in the past when I first got into bespoke in 2019. I think Permanent Style suffers from the same issue that many blogs written about any niche interests has; there's only so much information one needs on a subject.

Also; adhering to rules that do not matter to anyone of importance. Who might those people be and what rules? Examples please. I would really be interested in these statements in this discussion.

Kirby Allison seems very invested in an anachronistic idea of dressing like "a gentleman" as if we lived in some P.G. Wodehouse novel set in 1910s London. Dressing like this requires rules of wearing dark colors or wearing a fedora and an umbrella with a fob chain while strolling through London. I think he wears a stroller suit which expresses an idea that this is how British aristocrats dress. Kirby wouldn't wear brown in town...that's against "the rules" or some silly nonsense like that. There's a distinction between "classic" which I think Simon does well, and "costume" which is how I often feel about Kirby.
 
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kashmir

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Agreed that locale really matters. When I was in London I found it very easy to have a "considered view" as per your definition. So much context, history, references, seeing and getting inspired by other stylish guys... indeed it is the birthplace of traditional western menswear as we know it. Hard to imagine that happening if I were in some American suburb.
 
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othertravel

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It's fun reading Simon's reviews.

On a related note, I'm going to make a point of visiting Jean-Manuel Moreau at some point in the near future for a MTM. When Simon initially reviewed him back in 2020, a MTM suit started at 2400 euros. Today the starting price is 3100.

Would be interested to hear about anybody else's experience with JMM.
 

circumspice

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It's fun reading Simon's reviews.

On a related note, I'm going to make a point of visiting Jean-Manuel Moreau at some point in the near future for a MTM. When Simon initially reviewed him back in 2020, a MTM suit started at 2400 euros. Today the starting price is 3100.

Would be interested to hear about anybody else's experience with JMM.


TLDR: "And that's not far from federal inflation data: Cumulatively, U.S. prices are up 23% since 2019."

Mildly amusing that JMM MTM is reasonably approximating US inflation
 

corpseposeur

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I don't think Simon's look is that bad. It looks like a business casual look that SVP would wear in tech or media industries. The crewneck undershirt is what throws it off for me.
 

mak1277

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I don't think Simon's look is that bad. It looks like a business casual look that SVP would wear in tech or media industries. The crewneck undershirt is what throws it off for me.

It’s not “bad”. But the guy is a prominent menswear blogger buying bespoke, not a corporate VP. Shouldn’t he look great at least most of the time?
 

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