Ongoing Bespoke Projects

[Fonz4]

For a polo, I think I'd just stick with a wool-camelhair blend. Pure camelhair can be a bit delicate, but my understanding is that wool-camelhair blends are a bit sturdier.

I also want a tweed ulster though. George from BRIO has a nice one. I had the same cloth for a while, but sold it. Kind of regret doing so.


View attachment 1223656

Have you seen the new polo coat from RL?

 

[Encathol Epistemia]

I just got back from John Di Pietro's shop where I picked my waistcoats up. I got three this time and plan to get another two later so that I have a full week's rotation to correspond to the trousers. My daily 'uniform' is a dress shirt, waistcoat and trousers, so these will get lots of wear. I believe that I also happened to meet @classicalthunde in person while he was retrieving something that he'd had Mr. Di Pietro press. He was very pleasant to meet and I hope that he's pleased with the work that he had done. (It's still always a little weird for me in those rare moments when the lines between real and online are crossed)

The vests have notched lapels, four besom pockets, five buttons and a small hole between two of the buttons for my watch fob. They feel very cozy on me and I especially like the lapels.

Pictures of a representative example unmercifully made to house my bulbous torso ensue.

From the front, with my watch in place to demonstrate the fob 'port'. (It's slightly tight fit, but usable; for future vests Mr. Di Pietro intends to make it larger and I might have the ones I have recut later)

From the side, as embarrassing as that inherently is for me.

A rear view, to complete the set; as these are usually worn without a jacket, I had them made self-backed. Note that there is no adjustment belt; Mr. Di Pietro prefers to eschew them and I agree; they've only ever been a bother, if anything.

For completeness, these are the other two waistcoats that I took delivery of.

Mr. Di Pietro also replaced the stem holder on my jacket, which had started fraying as I had tried to use it with the entirely too-thick stem of miniature pineapple. We chatted, even though I'm bad at chatting, as he did, which is part of why I enjoy patronizing him. He's a living memory of things long gone in Philadelphia. I also learned that his wife is Jewish and his children were raised Jewish, even though he is Catholic. He professed a fascination with religion and said that he reads what he can of it, which is a little limited as his reading proficiency is, per his own admission, somewhat limited. As part of a discussion of a three-piece, double-breasted suit that I wanted, for a laugh he showed me some pictures from a 1950 or 1951 style book that illustrated such suits with hilariously exaggerated and baggy shoulders that we, of course, both agreed were ludicrous.

Earlier today, while checking the pockets of the sport coat for something that I'd briefly lost (it wasn't there) I happened upon a label with my name, date of commission and tailor's name on the right-hand inside pocket. I've heard of this being done, but I hadn't noticed it on that piece before. (Curious aside: These must be quite old as its gives his address as in the Bourse Building, which he hasn't been in for quite a long while)

Lastly, while idly looking around for vintage men's fashion images, I was tickled to find this:

Mr. Di Pietro says that he developed his style of cloverleaf lapel independently, but he seemed amused that a version of it was known, although probably not widely, back in the twenties or thirties. (He also noticed that the picture portrays the men with both buttons buttoned.)

 

[dieworkwear]

Have you seen the new polo coat from RL?

Thanks! I hadn't seen that. I noticed the RLPL version, but it's ... $15,000.

Still waffling between doing this as a bespoke commission or just buying RTW. That RL looks great. Might go with that.

One thing swinging me to bespoke is the ability to get the coat in a slightly darker color, like the one Edwin is wearing. I feel like the coat might be easier to wear with my casualwear if it were just a touch darker than traditional camel tan.

 

[usctrojans31]

Thanks! I hadn't seen that. I noticed the RLPL version, but it's ... $15,000.

Still waffling between doing this as a bespoke commission or just buying RTW. That RL looks great. Might go with that.

One thing swinging me to bespoke is the ability to get the coat in a slightly darker color, like the one Edwin is wearing. I feel like the coat might be easier to wear with my casualwear if it were just a touch darker than traditional camel tan.

Roll around in the dirt. Problem solved.

 

[dan'l]

^ you mean like a real polo player, warning up for his match?

 

[Fonz4]

Thanks! I hadn't seen that. I noticed the RLPL version, but it's ... $15,000.

Still waffling between doing this as a bespoke commission or just buying RTW. That RL looks great. Might go with that.

One thing swinging me to bespoke is the ability to get the coat in a slightly darker color, like the one Edwin is wearing. I feel like the coat might be easier to wear with my casualwear if it were just a touch darker than traditional camel tan.

ahahah 15k? hahahahah c'moooooooon!

I agree on the color by the way.

 

[IJReilly]

I love the cloverleaf lapel, or at least ones which have a softer point. My Camoshita cardigan has it, and it looks great. I wish more designers would experiment with it.

 

[NakedYoga]

Have you seen the new polo coat from RL?

For when you're out rounding up the cattle and it's cold outside, but your chore coat is at the tailor.

 

[classicalthunde]

I just got back from John Di Pietro's shop where I picked my waistcoats up. I got three this time and plan to get another two later so that I have a full week's rotation to correspond to the trousers. My daily 'uniform' is a dress shirt, waistcoat and trousers, so these will get lots of wear. I believe that I also happened to meet @classicalthunde in person while he was retrieving something that he'd had Mr. Di Pietro press. He was very pleasant to meet and I hope that he's pleased with the work that he had done. (It's still always a little weird for me in those rare moments when the lines between real and online are crossed)

The vests have notched lapels, four besom pockets, five buttons and a small hole between two of the buttons for my watch fob. They feel very cozy on me and I especially like the lapels.

Pictures of a representative example unmercifully made to house my bulbous torso ensue.

View attachment 1225522

From the front, with my watch in place to demonstrate the fob 'port'. (It's slightly tight fit, but usable; for future vests Mr. Di Pietro intends to make it larger and I might have the ones I have recut later)

View attachment 1225524

From the side, as embarrassing as that inherently is for me.

View attachment 1225523

A rear view, to complete the set; as these are usually worn without a jacket, I had them made self-backed. Note that there is no adjustment belt; Mr. Di Pietro prefers to eschew them and I agree; they've only ever been a bother, if anything.

View attachment 1225609

For completeness, these are the other two waistcoats that I took delivery of.

Mr. Di Pietro also replaced the stem holder on my jacket, which had started fraying as I had tried to use it with the entirely too-thick stem of miniature pineapple. We chatted, even though I'm bad at chatting, as he did, which is part of why I enjoy patronizing him. He's a living memory of things long gone in Philadelphia. I also learned that his wife is Jewish and his children were raised Jewish, even though he is Catholic. He professed a fascination with religion and said that he reads what he can of it, which is a little limited as his reading proficiency is, per his own admission, somewhat limited. As part of a discussion of a three-piece, double-breasted suit that I wanted, for a laugh he showed me some pictures from a 1950 or 1951 style book that illustrated such suits with hilariously exaggerated and baggy shoulders that we, of course, both agreed were ludicrous.

Earlier today, while checking the pockets of the sport coat for something that I'd briefly lost (it wasn't there) I happened upon a label with my name, date of commission and tailor's name on the right-hand inside pocket. I've heard of this being done, but I hadn't noticed it on that piece before. (Curious aside: These must be quite old as its gives his address as in the Bourse Building, which he hasn't been in for quite a long while)

View attachment 1225521

Lastly, while idly looking around for vintage men's fashion images, I was tickled to find this:

View attachment 1225525

Mr. Di Pietro says that he developed his style of cloverleaf lapel independently, but he seemed amused that a version of it was known, although probably not widely, back in the twenties or thirties. (He also noticed that the picture portrays the men with both buttons buttoned.)

it was great to meet you too, i took an educated guess that there probably weren't more than one person running around South Philly in a three piece suit with a bolt of fabric on a Saturday afternoon, haha. The alterations are great and he managed to fix an uneven lapel from a poor prior pressing job at my (former) dry cleaners. His pricing is definitely in line with with the standard pricing I've seen at other dry cleaning and alterations shops in the city and the burbs, i think i'll be taking most of my alterations work there for the time being. Although, John does seem to have a disdain for overseas MTM items, so hopefully he doesn't give me too hard of a time with my Kent Wang pieces going forward.

the vests look great, and i'm excited to see how your new project unfolds!

 

[brax]

I think I'm going to commission a bespoke polo coat, either at the end of this year or beginning of next. Curious if people have strong opinions on what should go into a polo coat.

Some photos, and then some quick thoughts

View attachment 1222994

View attachment 1222996

View attachment 1222997

View attachment 1222998

View attachment 1222999

View attachment 1222995






1. Collar: Most polo coats seem to be made with either an Ulster collar or a peak lapel. A few years ago, Michael Alden had a video that polo coats should always be made with an Ulster collar because it's an inherently casual coat. But then noted that Yves Saint Laurent wore peak lapel polo coats in Paris.

I don't have strong views on the origins/ coherent combination type stuff, but it seems to me that they've been traditionally made both ways. And I think of the peak lapel version as both more handsome and closer to the RL aesthetic, which I grew up admiring. So kind of leaning towards a peak lapel with no belly.

2. Back: I think it'll just be a Martingale belt with a single vent. I don't know if I should specify anything more than this. I remember Foo's Martingale belt being a bit wide on his Rubi great coat, so maybe?

3. Edges: Definitely swelled edges. Including on the envelope pockets.

4. Buttons: I was thinking of doing a 6x2 in a keystone formation.

5. Outbreast pocket: Lots of variation here. I've seen polos with no pocket, a welted pocket, and even flapped pocket. I'm leaning towards welted pocket with no flap.

6. Cuffs: Turnback cuffs

7. The other stuff: The above feels fairly standard, but this is where I'm curious if anyone has thoughts. I can't remember what my tailor calls it -- may have been "walker coat?" But there's a button placement that basically lowers the buttoning point so it's a little lower the waist. I'm thinking about getting the same on this coat. You can see the same placement on many of the coats above. this seems to do a couple of things. One, it elongates the lapel line, which I think looks rather nice. And two, for lapels with no belly, it just looks sharper and avoids the stubby lapel look.

Basically, the ideal polo coat to me seems like the last photo above, the one in a darker brown color and with most of the details I mentioned above. But I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on this.

Despos made a very interesting traditional polo coat that you may want to draw inspiration from. It is notthe one you posted earlier. Rather it was a very old-school one that was intended to look like the actual coats worn by polo players. Pictures are on this forum somewhere.

 

[lordsuperb]

Despos made a very interesting traditional polo coat that you may want to draw inspiration from. It is notthe one you posted earlier. Rather it was a very old-school one that was intended to look like the actual coats worn by polo players. Pictures are on this forum somewhere.

Male gigolos

 

[brax]

Here it is. Can't remember the details but that may be Kirby hiding behind that dot.

And while I've attended two of the three legs of the polo triple crown, I've never actually seen the players wear coats between chukkas. Must be a really old school thing.

http://i10.tinypic.com/2ups4ra.jpg

 

[brax]

Male gigolos

Don't swing in that direction but I'm not scared to recognize that polo players are handsome men.
This chap made the transition from Argentine polo player to RL model:

Google Image Result for https://poloandlifestylemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Nacho_Polo.jpg

 

[lordsuperb]

Don't swing in that direction but I'm not scared to recognize that polo players are handsome men.
This chap made the transition from Argentine polo player to RL model:

Google Image Result for https://poloandlifestylemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Nacho_Polo.jpg

American Gigolo ......

 

[brax]

American Gigolo ......

View attachment 1226537

And that really resembles Despos’s version of a traditional polo coat. Good call.