The Rise of Style Forum-born Entrepreneurs and their Impact on Style

[RSS]

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

RSS, do you have any idea how long those photos you posted years ago have had to sustain me? Have some mercy and post some more, especially of your Richard Anderson stuff.
Not the best pictures ... but below is a collage of what I wore to dinner last evening. Further below a cropped snapshot of yours truly at the table. Odd Coat: bespoke tweed of brown & cream herringbone. Anderson & Sheppard, London. Shirt: otr cotton flannel tattersall of brown, tan, grey, & black on a cream ground. Hilditch & Key, London Tie: printed silk paisley of red, yellow, blue and green on a brown ground. D.H. Lord's, London Pocket Square: printed silk foulard of red, blue, & green on a brown ground. Hand-me-down, made in England. Trousers: corduroy in olive green. Lambourne @ Sierra Trading Post Shoes: calfskin bluchers in dark tan. Operation Paprika via Fritzl. Socks: wool argyles of brown & yellow with orange accent on olive green. Mettez, Paris.

I'll make a serious attempt to improve the quality of the photos the next time I do something like this. BTW, that'a antelope on the plate. Sorry Doc ... not RA ... but A&S. I'll work on getting a pic or two of some of the RA items.

 

[edmorel]

for some reason I pictured you more rotund and wrinkly.

 

[Baron]

You must have missed his recent comment that he wears the same size now that he did in his 20's.

 

[Parker]

Good stuff RSS. I can see how Doc would appreciate your style. Very "country gentleman." Antelope must be a lean protein.

 

[dmac]

RSS - How do you find the quality of the Lambourne cords?

 

[DocHolliday]

Thanks, R. That's enough to whet my appetite.

Of the firms you use/used, do any stand out as making an especially shaped coat? How much of the stylistic direction do you leave to the maker?

 

[OttoSkadelig]

Originally Posted by RJE

Yes.

[several excellent observations deleted]


very astute and very well said.

Originally Posted by CunningSmeagol

Don't forget the manufactured iconoclasts, who criticize high-dollar bespoke coats just to show how enlightened they are. By the same token, these are the same guys who are always saying, "if this were PG or vox, you guys would be totally fawning." They live to point out hypocrisy, and they will find it even if it's not there.

my head is spinning from the post-post-post modernism of this observation.

i haven't noticed anyone that regularly goes on the attack of expensive bespoke... just occasionally.

personally, i think we need more such people, to the extent they exist. the more independent voices there are, the better. and there is certainly a lot of truth to the notion that if celebrity member X or Y were wearing it, people would be fawning. this is fairly basic psychology. you see it in art criticism of any kind all the time.

 

[OttoSkadelig]

Originally Posted by RSS

Not the best pictures ... but below is a collage of what I wore to dinner last evening. Further below a cropped snapshot of yours truly at the table.

keep posting, excellency.

 

[OttoSkadelig]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

Honestly I fail to see how looking at photos of clothing made by tailors in Naples (or Steed) can possibly be applied to RTW or MTM decision making. I am a bespoke customer and I can't think of a single time I've ever said to myself (or my tailor) "let's go for what Mariano or Mina did" for whomever nor would I expect someone to do likewise with what Raphael or Despos has made for me.

Plus, you are taking one hell of a leap of faith in taking pointers or advice from the customer and not the tailor. Tell me that you have gained genuine insight into construction and fit from Despos or Jefferey and I will happily agree. Tell me it was pontifications of it's wearer and I'll have to agree to disagree that you have learned anything of value.

i think the ways in which one can inductively learn (or not learn) from others' experiences exist at a couple of levels. and i think the issues are different for FIT (a set of aesthetic judgments) and CONSTRUCTION (a set of technical facts with varying degrees of relevance to fit.)

FIT: one can certainly learn a lot from dissections of how a jacket fits on someone else - bespoke or not. the bespoker's intimacy with the creation of his garment will typically give him a slight edge on how useful his insights are, but a lot can be learned from an educated, literate, and inquisitive buyer with a good eye and a more-than-superficial level of interest in (and, consequently, knowledge of) what he's wearing.

i think this is the point TB was making and i find it a bit astonishing that you would come down so severely on the notion that a customer with a good eye may actually have valid things to say about fit, and that others can learn from these observations.

not every food critic is a chef... not every art critic is a painter... these are aesthetic judgments that can be made independently of one's technical credentials -- if you have a good eye and an instinctive sensitivity. and many of these observations and learnings are portable. of course no one walks in and asks for a replica "en masse" of what they saw online. you learn in bits and pieces, and over time -- with a variety of real-life experiences along the way -- form an instinctive understanding of how to assemble the piece parts into a desirable whole.

CONSTRUCTION: there are the superficials, such as various kinds of soft shoulder, which one can certainly learn from the commentary of others, and which can be highly useful knowledge to be armed with. and then there is commentary on the deeper stuff, such as what's hand-sewn and what's not, how the pad stitching is done, etc., which, yes, are matters on which i would only trust a tailor, but which are also orders of magnitude less important to fit and thus not terribly relevant to the typical semi-demanding buyer who is after a great look and fit and doesn't really care too much about what's under the hood.

 

[aportnoy]

Otto, if you can tell from an internet picture how something really fits, and more importantly, why it fits that way, more power to you. I think that to be a canard of the most dubious order.

As for some value to gained from understanding "the experience" of others, all I can tell you its that it varies wildly from commission to commission, let alone from tailor to tailor, so I find there is little use in looking for definitive or even directional information.

Take what ever lessons you choose from this cesspool of verbosity in which big egos try to make themselves feel better about their own sartorial insecurities and misgivings by foisting their wisdom on others. But for me, I prefer to experience things first hand and to make and to learn form my own mistakes (and occasional successes).

 

[SpooPoker]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

But for me, I prefer to experience things first hand and to make and to learn form my own mistakes (and occasional successes).

I wish you the very best mistakes, particularly in suits for 2011 (thus resulting in more FS threads)

 

[OttoSkadelig]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

Take what ever lessons you choose from this cesspool of verbosity in which big egos try to make themselves feel better about their own sartorial insecurities and misgivings by foisting their wisdom on others. But for me, I prefer to experience things first hand and to make and to learn form my own mistakes (and occasional successes).

AP, what you say is certainly very true - ultimately, nothing beats first-hand experience. but the most informed experiences in any pursuit combine experience and theory -- it helps to have some sort of framework against which to evaluate those experiences so that each experience can be converted into useful information for the next time round. so, the question is, where is the theory on something as arcane as high-end suits to come from?

let's face it, there are only so many sources for this, and so the occasional nugget of hobbyist wisdom amidst the "cesspool of SF verbosity" is still better than nothing. (besides, it's easy to tell who's blowing wind vs. who seems to really understand things, so you can always filter out the self-important blowhards. and while not a wikipedia, SF is decently good at self-correcting really bad information.)

(not to mention that most people don't have the financial means to learn exclusively via failed experiments...)

Originally Posted by SpooPoker

I wish you the very best mistakes, particularly in suits for 2011 (thus resulting in more FS threads)

you B&Slut

 

[aportnoy]

Originally Posted by OttoSkadelig

it helps to have some sort of framework against which to evaluate those experiences so that each experience can be converted into useful information for the next time round. so, the question is, where is the theory on something as arcane as high-end suits to come from?

besides, it's easy to tell who's blowing wind vs. who seems to really understand things, so you can always filter out the self-important blowhards

(not to mention that most people don't have the financial means to learn exclusively via failed experiments...)

Fair enough Otto and good points. Though I fear many take for sartorial wisdom what you take with a healthy grain of salt.

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by edmorel

for some reason I pictured you more rotund and wrinkly.
In that photo ... I'm the heaviest I've ever been. I really need to lose five pounds for most of my wardrobe to fit me properly.

Originally Posted by Baron

You must have missed his recent comment that he wears the same size now that he did in his 20's.
That's true for the most part. And when I lose the five pounds, it will be completely true once again.

Originally Posted by Parker

Good stuff RSS. I can see how Doc would appreciate your style. Very "country gentleman." Antelope must be a lean protein.

Thanks Parker. As for the antelope ... it is very much akin to venison by taste. I think that might have been a first for me.

Originally Posted by dmac

RSS - How do you find the quality of the Lambourne cords?
They work well for me. I particularly like the scale of the wale ... wide but not too wide. I bought five pairs and wear them often. They are perhaps my most frequently worn casual trousers in a winter weight of cloth. I've had not one issue with them ... no loose threads, no opening seams ... and they are quite comfortable.

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

Thanks, R. That's enough to whet my appetite. Of the firms you use/used, do any stand out as making an especially shaped coat? How much of the stylistic direction do you leave to the maker?
Dege has the most shape. However it is also the coat in which I have the most difficult time being comfortable. It's a bit stiff.

 

[radicaldog]

^ Impeccable, RSS. I also rather like the fact that your shirt is OTR: you are clearly confident enough not to be a customisation obsessive.