Random fashion thoughts - Part II (A New Hope)

[nicelynice]

just curious, how are the commuter trains in new york? Are they pretty packed? I try reading on the train, but it's usually pretty packed and I can't concentrate with everyone shuffling around. Usually just end up reading the news or browsing forums on my phone

I'm gonna move anyways, I used to live 5 mins from work a couple years ago and loved it. Nice to come home for lunch (or dinner if I'm working late). Gonna miss my weird neighborhood full of outdoor grilled chicken restaurants

Actual fashion thought: Man, I hate metal buttons so much. Ruins a lot of Attachment, Viridi Anne, and Taichi Murakami clothing for me. I know I can replace buttons pretty easily, but I haven't bought a couple items just because I don't like the buttons. Don't feel good.

 

[futuresailors]



just curious, how are the commuter trains in new york? Are they pretty packed? I try reading on the train, but it's usually pretty packed and I can't concentrate with everyone shuffling around. Usually just end up reading the news or browsing forums on my phone

I'm gonna move anyways, I used to live 5 mins from work a couple years ago and loved it. Nice to come home for lunch (or dinner if I'm working late). Gonna miss my weird neighborhood full of outdoor grilled chicken restaurants

Actual fashion thought: Man, I hate metal buttons so much. Ruins a lot of Attachment, Viridi Anne, and Taichi Murakami clothing for me. I know I can replace buttons pretty easily, but I haven't bought a couple items just because I don't like the buttons. Don't feel good.

Go at rush hour and you're lucky to get on the train. The rest of the day they're pretty empty.

I want speak for all metal buttons, but I like the ones on my VA blazer. They're lighter and thinner than plastic and I don't have to worry about cracking them.

 

[LA Guy]

The difference between that stuff and your typical designer stuff is incredible.

I think that it depends on what you are calling "designer". At the higher end, I'm not sure that there is really such a thing as "typical", since Comme doesn't look anything like Issey Miyake which doensn't look anything like Rick Owens. If you are talking about "mens contemporary, which is mostly wearable and forgettable, then yes, for sure.

 

[the shah]



After that, it kinda felt like he was retreading the same ground (nothing wrong with that) but in increasingly less focused and watered down ways, smoothing out the idiosyncrasies of his work in the process.

it's often taken for granted how long some established designers have been producing works that are lauded year after year, for better or worse, and this is an unfair expectation to have of everyone. that said, i agree that ervell is boring as is most other stuff.

* * *

i am fortunate enough to travel several times a year to places where, with enough time to freely spend, i can check out b&m shops. most recently i spent a good while in barneys and rack after rack of disappointment speckled across the various floors. items that look nice due to gigapixel photography with perfect lighting scenarios end up falling short. plenty of dries pieces whose bookmarks i subsequently deleted. few things remain that i can get excited about in menswear (womens floor was far better as is always the case), and thanks to NMWA there is now a closer source for Leder. In fact there should be something up on their blog that might be of interest soon and @gdl203 has informed me the pieces are now available on the website.

Yeah sure, it's still a business first.

one of the awesome things about Leder is that he doesn't follow this mindset one bit

 

[GoldenTribe]

@jet, @sipang and @the shah, what a day

Speaking of Leder, I was shocked at how affordable it is (looking at NMWA)

 

[gamblor]

It's interesting seeing the direction Kilgour is going after waiting 7 years. The 2009 SS was the last collection shown before an ownership change that refocused on bespoke. I don't think it was produced, I have never seen any pieces. Things were becoming more directional here, and the lapel changes were probably the easiest guess as to what would happen if Brandelli ever came back. To me, the new look really cuts a lot of the social associations attached to 'wearing a suit'.

The main fit features are a 1 button closure on a low stance, and an overall lean, columnar look. Color palette is limited to Navy and Sky Blue, Black, White, Brown, and Greys. Fabrics have always been very high quality and tend to have a lot of 'interest'. I have a Starlight Donegal that pops more than what you would traditionally see from SR. The new pieces are very much taking this even further. Also lots of nice mixes with mohair (formal, nighttime sheen), alpaca (flecked), cashmere (mottled and warm).

All the suit pieces have enough slouch to match with a T shirt. They also work well with non dress shoes, I prefer Achilles but I think there may have been a collaboration that came up with wool GATs. Shirts always have covered plackets. The house print is dots, which tend to show up on lots of pieces, and feature a lot on the internal details. Silk accessories are lots of scarves and narrow knitted ties. Shoes were from C&J, I am still looking for some in what I would consider the house style, black suede.

Quality was always quite high. I haven't handled anything from the new collection but imagine at these prices it will continue. Full canvas construction, the best fabrics, silly stuff like mother of pearl buttons. A big thing for the brand was to re-engineer how the suit is built, to feel lighter and less restrictive. I have a top coat with real structure to it, horsehair canvas I think, and heavily roped shoulders. It still feels light to wear, after sleeping in it on a plane or whatever it only fits better and loses none of its very sharp lines.

I'm not sure who their customer is. You can still get a suit that won't raise any eyes, except that there will be something a bit swish to those that know. 2008 price examples were, £1,500 for a cashmere blend topcoat £1,100 for a wool/mohair suit, £200 for a wool sweater, £180 for a cotton button down shirt. Seems like the price increases are in line with others at this level. The bespoke shop is right across the street, I don't know how much overlap there is. I think of bespoke as being a huge jump, not just price but in approach to buying.

 

[robinsongreen68]

nick knight, the photographer, wears a black kilgour suit + white shirt as his everyday uniform. made me want to commission a bespoke from them but prices are eye-watering these days. i think their best cutter was ritchie charlton who left to take over doug hayward's business, i would probably go to him now

 

[robinsongreen68]

cuz right about now, i aint braggin or nothin, but yo, the Wu, the Wu got somethin that i know everybody wanna wear

Part of the new COS collection is online, including this dope collarless coat

 

[cyc wid it]

http://www.styleforum.net/t/507889/the-official-j-crew-ludlow-suit-thread

Is this what it's come to?

 

[nicelynice]

^^^ still better than the slp thread

 

[cyc wid it]

 

[Synthese]

Yikes, man. Wow.

 

[msg]

Despite the tough retail environment, Totokaelo opens a second store in NYC

Clothing Retailer Totokaelo Has High Hopes for Manhattan http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/f...as-high-hopes-for-manhattan-fashion-week.html

60% of their sales are online, according to the article.

NYC certainly has the money and clientele, but lots of competition too. And the rents not cheap.

 

[chupas]



^^^ still better than the slp thread

And the dressing in academia thread.

 

[LA Guy]

Despite the tough retail environment, Totokaelo opens a second store in NYC

Clothing Retailer Totokaelo Has High Hopes for Manhattan http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/f...as-high-hopes-for-manhattan-fashion-week.html

60% of their sales are online, according to the article.

NYC certainly has the money and clientele, but lots of competition too. And the rents not cheap.

Interesting. I wonder if they have the muscle to go head to head with stores like IF boutique. I suppose that they have the advantage of a strong online following, which IF boutique has never had. I also am interested in seeing how a big boutique like this opening up right in their territory will affect IF boutique and its ilk. Even in NYC, there are only so many Dries van Noten and Yamamoto consumers.

On the other hand, if it works out, I could see the Seattle store closing or becoming much smaller. Their space right now is big and confusing, and if their onlines sales are 60% of the business, that net revenues on the B&M space much be relatively low, seeing the size of the space, the number of SAs they employ. etc..