One store to rule them all...

[Bradford]

Interesting, I was just there on a layover in March and while I did notice that The Hound is closed, I got a haircut and shave at Cable Car Clothiers and between that and Khakis of Carmel, you still beat out the options in many other places including here in Phoenix, which, while not a small city, is a very casual environment.

 

[double00]

monterey co ( including carmel ) is not bay area fyi

 

[mhip]

When one lives in the style desert of the San Francisco Bay Area
there is little alternative.

Lol...
You're going to make me feel guilty that almost everyday at lunch, I look out the window at Divij/Mytailor...

 

[Bradford]

monterey co ( including carmel ) is not bay area fyi

I know, but it's not all that far.

 

[double00]

I know, but it's not all that far.

too far for a layover

 

[gimpwiz]

Interesting, I was just there on a layover in March and while I did notice that The Hound is closed, I got a haircut and shave at Cable Car Clothiers and between that and Khakis of Carmel, you still beat out the options in many other places including here in Phoenix, which, while not a small city, is a very casual environment.

Haha well yeah I wouldn't want to wear tailoring when it's 116F either, tbh.

monterey co ( including carmel ) is not bay area fyi

My favorite part of living in the bay area is debating what counts as bay area!

 

[symphvaria]

Haha well yeah I wouldn't want to wear tailoring when it's 116F either, tbh.

Let’s be real, at that temperature not even going nude is going to save you. Your only options are to sweat it out or to sweat it out in style.

 

[Bradford]

Haha well yeah I wouldn't want to wear tailoring when it's 116F either, tbh.



My favorite part of living in the bay area is debating what counts as bay area!

LOL - I did 20+ years of suits and ties in AZ. Now you're lucky to find me in anything more formal than a pair of khakis and a buttondown 😀

 

[comrade]

Khakis of Carmel is a mixed bag. I did get a sport coat
there about 10 years ago. Very trad but w/side vents
from H. Freeman. Last time I was there in' 21 nothing
like it in stock. Cable Car is a special case. It's always 1958
at CCC except w/ 2030 prices. It's something of a San Francisco
institution. I cannot figure out how they stay in business.

 

[Bradford]

Khakis of Carmel is a mixed bag. I did get a sport coat
there about 10 years ago. Very trad but w/side vents
from H. Freeman. Last time I was there in' 21 nothing
like it in stock. Cable Car is a special case. It's always 1958
at CCC except w/ 2030 prices. It's something of a San Francisco
institution. I cannot figure out how they stay in business.

I haven't actually been to Carmel in at least a decade, but they stuff they post on Instagram looks good and I know Gus still goes there. As for CCC, I completely agree with you. I really don't know how they stay open, especially with empty office buildings surrounding them. There must be a core group of customers that buy enough to keep then in business.

 

[stuffedsuperdud]

Has anyone said Charles Tyrwhitt yet? Not the sexiest option on the list, but has been my go-to for the past fifteen years. When I was a PhD student, I greatly took advantage of their bundle shirt deals and I'm pretty happy with the other staples they've since expanded into (knits, polos, proper tailoring, English-made shoes, etc.). All rather fuddy-duddy, I admit, but sort of by design and in a way that makes it hard for a non-enthusiast to go wrong.

I started going to The Hound during visits to San Francisco when I decided that my academic career had run its course and left to get my first big-boy job. The wares were just fine, and it was indeed a great one-stop shop, but there was some extra sentiment to it for me, as it symbolized me leaving being a previous life where I was miserable most of the time and entering one where I got to something fun and meaningful every day instead (and just so happened to require proper clothes). So of course they closed soon after...

-_- It sure felt like arriving at a party after it had already died down, but that's just the story of my life.

Cordings London.
If one likes British Country Clothing without having the net worth
of a member of the landed aristocracy, Cordings is for you. I have
several of their "country shirts", a fraction of the cost of my others,
yet decently made. Very full cut. Their tailored clothing , however is too
"upper class twit of the year" for my Ivy natural shoulder sensibilities.

@comrade I always like your perspective, as you actually lived through the eras and social circles that we in 2023 refer back to. I've recently become a Cordings convert myself, after making fun of them for years. It started with one of their trouser promotions, and I really liked their high-waisted cut and massive selection of Brisbane Moss fabrics. I tried their 80/20 cotton/wool shirts next and again really liked the cut and fun selection of colors. What really sealed the deal for me though was, I started training in wingshooting seriously last year, and one of the other folks at the clay range was off to one of those estate pheasant shoots as someone else's guest. He was complaining about having to buy the proper attire (tweed jacket and plus-fours, shooting socks, Wellies, tie) and it didn't seem to me all that much different than how he likes to wear his camo hunting jackets to shoot sporting clays, so later that day I bought the Cordings shooting vest just to get a rise out of him. What was supposed to be a pricey joke actually ended up being a really nifty durable garment, and I ended up getting a lot more of Cordings's sportier offerings and actually use them as originally intended. To my surprise it all holds up very well, and there's no need to treat them with kid gloves. They weren't particularly expensive in the grand scheme of things either.

You are right though that their tailored jackets are a bit too Torie and even their "city" suits wouldn't be my first choice, or any choice for that matter, but I think their distinctive house style works well for their country jackets. I ended up getting their house check shooting jacket, with the action shoulders and big bellows pockets for your ammo, and it works great as a practical fall/winter garment. You might even be able to go shooting in it.

They don't have shoes or socks though so that limits them as a one-stop place. House of Bruar, their Scottish competitor up north, however, does, which provides a bit more versatility for folks who like outdoor rural pursuits, albeit with the tradeoff that they don't have as large a selection in the hyper-classic styles that Cordings focuses on.

 

[comrade]

I haven't actually been to Carmel in at least a decade, but they stuff they post on Instagram looks good and I know Gus still goes there. As for CCC, I completely agree with you. I really don't know how they stay open, especially with empty office buildings surrounding them. There must be a core group of customers that buy enough to keep then in business.

More San Francisco lore. About 15 years ago I mentioned Cable C C to another clothing
merchant in a now-gone high end men's boutique and he said that the store was basically
a hobby of its owner/founder, Charles Pivnik, who had made a fortune in San Francisco Real Estate. Now his grandson runs it

Clothes make the mensch: For six decades, Pivnick family has kept San Francisco dressed for success - Cable Car Clothiers

cablecarclothiers.com

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

When one lives in the style desert of the San Francisco Bay Area there is little alternative.

Wilkes Bashford, no?

 

[comrade]

"I always like your perspective, as you actually lived through the eras and social circles that we in 2023 refer back to."
Thank you for your complement. I am old, but perhaps more important, my father,
though the son of poor immigrants from the Russian Empire, had a storng interest in clothes and very refined taste, unlike most of his peers. When he returned from England
after World War 2 he was actually carrying a bolt of tweed which was made into a Balmcaan.
How could I not be intested in clothes?

 

[comrade]

Wilkes Bashford, no?

Wilkes, Saks, Nieman's: I don't like their current aesthetic. Nor their prices.
As I mentioned, my last purchase from Wilkes was over 10 years ago in a Belvest
model that has a a fuller fit and longer coat. Not the "slim-fit" that was coming in
then.