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OFFICIAL Simon Crompton thread (PermanentStyle.com)

ppk

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Wait! What? They are experimenting, being playful and having fun at a fashion event? What the bloody hell? That's outrageous!

Let's make sure to deride them, pass severe judgments, cast a few stones and hope that the style gods smite the sh*t out of them.
 

comrade

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Again, I don't understand the personal attacks against Simon Crompton here. In my opinion, there is a lot of personal envy that Simon has managed to turn his passion (menswear) into a profession. Only very few are granted that.

I am to a certain degree a fan of Permanent Style and find both the writing style and the detailed information about manufacturers, fabrics, etc., interesting. I don't know of any other similar source. In addition, the style of most other menswear bloggers is often very costume-like.

Further, the style of most other menswear bloggers is often very costume-like. Of course you can write about three-piece suits, ties, suspenders, hats, outdated rules like "no brown in town", etc., but who wears those these days respectively adheres to such rules? The move towards casual chic, which Simon has done well in my opinion, is more interesting to me in my own life. I'm a lawyer in a commercial law firm in Vienna, which is a conservative business in a more conservative city, but even here hardly anyone wears a suit on normal days, let alone a tie. As far as leisure time is concerned, I find his blog even more interesting.

The fact that Simon is not a supermodel makes the pictures more valuable to me. A very professionally photographed supermodel looks good in almost any piece of clothing. I can derive little for myself from such photos, although I myself am very slim and relatively athletic. For a more corpulent man, for example, there is probably much less to be gained from such photos. The normal-guy approach is better in every respect.

As far as Simon's webpage is concerned, I have one big criticism. You can't accuse him of not being financially independent. It's his job and he has to make money, BUT

+ Simon keeps writing that you can't order paid-for articles and I have no reason to doubt that. Nevertheless, each article is opaque as to what support it has received and why this particular company / maker has been chosen. It would help if he announced at the end of each article that, for example, the presented coat was made for him for free, that he received a sweater for free, that the trip was paid for by the presented company, that he has already been commissioned by the company to provide another service for which he was paid, or that he creates ongoing income from this company e.g. through advertising. It would be even more transparent if he were to disclose the sums he has earned, on second thought probably not the sums themselves but a description (e.g. "substantial", "minor") which in my opinion is state-of-the-art.

+ It is striking that Simon repeatedly describes and pushes a small number of often niche companies, but simply ignores others that would fit the profile of Permanent Style. The extreme example here is Rubato, which became big because of Permanent Style. Simon is open about the fact that one of the founders is his friend, but the constant Rubato articles are so conspicuous that I would be interested to know whether Simon is, for example, a silent shareholder of Rubato. A more recent article about, for example, Johnston of Elgin, or Willam Lockie, or Jamieson's, etc, cannot be found on Permanent style.

+ My final criticism is that he concentrates almost exclusively on English, a few American, a few Japanese (again, it's noticeable that Bryceland's is mentioned so often) and Rubato (Sweden). Aside from tailoring, for example, he hardly reports on Italian makers like Fedeli, Malo, Colombo, etc., of which there are many more than English ones and who, from my perspective, have a greater influence in the menswear sector and are often more creative than English or American makers. Other countries are not mentioned anyway. An example: When he writes about belts, it is almost always - you guessed it - Rubato, who have a few belts on offer but are not a belt company. But I have never read anything about, for example, Kreis-Lederwaren (Germany), which has a comprehensive MTM program for high-quality belts, or about Italian or English belt makers.

To conclude on a positive note, Permanent Style is unique, especially when compared to numerous other menswear sites that either follow an unwearable costume style (e.g. Gentlemen Gazette), or are clearly paid for individual items and are very superficial (à la -- "The ten shirts a men needs", "what you have to buy this summer").

Personal question: What is your opinion of Knize bespoke? On my last trip to Vienna in 2014
I was very impressed with their window display: jackets cut exactly to my taste. I did not bother
to enquire because I had neither time time nor budget to have anything made in Vienna. And
besides, I am not aware that they travel to the US, like many Savile Row or Italian bespoke houses.
 

Iskander

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@Markus123456789 another Viennese tangent: do you ever see traditional Loden coats in everyday life in Austria? Simon does not seem to be a fan and considers them a bit too costume-y, but I think they're rather nice and wonder how common they still are there.
I did not see any when I lived in Germany, but I was above the Weißwurstäquator
 

Thin White Duke

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Wait! What? They are experimenting, being playful and having fun at a fashion event? What the bloody hell? That's outrageous!

Let's make sure to deride them, pass severe judgments, cast a few stones and hope that the style gods smite the sh*t out of them.
Come on now @ppk that’s not a good faith post.

We are all fully aware that if you post pics on the internet you have to expect some criticism. I don’t think anybody is grinding their teeth in jealous angst and contemplating taking out a hit on those fellas at Pitti. They can have as much fun as they want but among some well dressed lads there is more than a hint of risible clowns. Same with any catwalk show, Met opera opening night, Oscar red carpet etc etc. there is always an element whereby aspirations of being stylish play a distant second place to ridiculous attention seeking and playing to the camera.
 

Viatu

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I think we just have to look at multiple sources of reference and pick up what we like from them. There's not even an objective set of standards of what a good dresser is. I like going to PS to check the differences between tailors' styles, but I also find some of his outfits questionable and I won't copy them. Similarly with Mark, I don't like some of his outfits, but I like some of his youtube videos where he tries to show colors that match well vs those that don't.

Mark's videos about color matching aren't good in my opinion. Those videos are what confirmed to me he sells great products but I wouldn't take dressing advice from him.
 

Viatu

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I assume that due to their trade they both feel the pressure to try different things, stay relevant and fresh, sometimes with more and sometimes with less success. In Simons case I feel he sometimes "missteps" when he tries to mimic some of his friends.

I'd be interested to hear though, some examples of who would you consider to be good dressers to contrast against these "not good dressers", to put your opinion into perspective.
Terry Corbett and Noburu Kakuta immediately come to my mind as good dressers.
 

SailingIvy

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Wait till you see the pics from Pitti.
Among some well dressed fellas are countless ‘alleged’ icons of style that look so fuckin ridiculous it’s laughable!
I've seen a lot of famous menswear guys at pitti. And other people. Few looked as timeless and just calmly stylish as Simon. At least to my eye. Charles cordeaux from fox brothers , Manish from the daily mirror, Tomasso Capozzoli from Bemer were easily among the best dressed man. They all have in common, that they also just look very good.
 

Thin White Duke

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I've seen a lot of famous menswear guys at pitti. And other people. Few looked as timeless and just calmly stylish as Simon. At least to my eye. Charles cordeaux from fox brothers , Manish from the daily mirror, Tomasso Capozzoli from Bemer were easily among the best dressed man. They all have in common, that they also just look very good.
Yeah just like I said. Some well dressed fellas.
And some clowns.
 

DoubleDouble

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I get triggered whenever I end up on this side of the forum. Simon and Mark are among the top 1% best dressed men around. The fact that Simon sometimes experiments outside of his comfort zone and doesn't land a perfect outfit is to be lauded, not mocked.

To me it sounds like someone's a little jelly.
 

comrade

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Terry Corbett and Noburu Kakuta immediately come to my mind as good dressers.


Good Dresser? Former Style Forum stalwart Will Boehlke, who published the pioneering
style blog "A Suitable Wardrobe". He epitomizes elegant "grown-up" style. However, I personally
don't find his penchant for tee shirts with tailored clothing for leisure wear attractive :

 

Viatu

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I get triggered whenever I end up on this side of the forum. Simon and Mark are among the top 1% best dressed men around. The fact that Simon sometimes experiments outside of his comfort zone and doesn't land a perfect outfit is to be lauded, not mocked.

To me it sounds like someone's a little jelly.
No jealousy
 

Viatu

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SailingIvy

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TomTom

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Crompton currently features an £8500 overcoat and proudly displays its ugly gaping pleat in the back.

Crompton always looks the same whatever he wears, whatever he spends.
Only £8500 for a piece of garment that looks like a costume piece..Still better than his review of a £1200 cardigan.
 

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