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A New Year’s Eve Tuxedo by Volkmar Arnulf

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New Year's Eve Tuxedo

A New Year’s Eve Tuxedo by German tailor Volkmar Arnulf. Ready to party. Shirt is from Camiceria Carmen, and the bow tie by Budd in London. Made-to-measure shoes from Kielman.

It took almost two years from start to finish. Finally, in May I could pick up the tuxedo at Volkmar Arnulf’s workshop in Potsdam.

The tuxedo is a very classic tuxedo, a new year’s eve tuxedo.

Design style is a double breasted two-button shawl collar with one-pleat high-waist trousers with side-adjusters.

Shoulders are extended a bit to give more drop.

Fabric is a mohair barathea from Dugdale.

As always with suits from Arnulf lines are immaculately clean. Moreover, the suit is extremely comfortable and proves once again that unstructured, soft tailoring versus structured, hard tailoring shouldn’t be confused with comfort. Comfort is about cutting technique mainly.

Unlike English tailors Volkmar Arnulf uses silk satin for the lapels.

Price was 4.200 euro.

See more of my Arnulf suits.

Photography: Sartorial Notes

White Summer Style for Men

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white summer style

White summer style of bespoke light brown jacket and bespoke off-white duck trousers.

I see two main traditions in regard to men’s summer style wear.

Victorian white summer style

There is the white summer style that goes back to the Victorian era. You can also say it is the pre-World War 1 summer style. It is about white and off-white shades with an occasional splash of a stronger colour.

The bold preppy style

Then there is the inter-war summer style from the 1930s, an era beloved by many sartorially minded men. Roomy cuts and colours arrived, for summer as well. The bold preppy style of the 1950s can be traced back to the gaily coloured 1930s.

I think it is right to say that the preppy style has won today. The white summer style tend to look dated and retrocentric.

How to use white summer style

That being said you can of course wear white clothing in summer without looking lost in the good old days. I think the trick is to vary shades and textures just a little. That brings a bit of energy and Zeitgeist into the old summer style.

In the present photo I sport a half-lined light brown jacket of “open-air” jacquard vintage cloth. Sleeves have been lined with a striped summer fabric.

I pair the jacket with light tan duck trousers.  Duck is a traditional weave of hard spun yarns. It was used for small sails and duck trousers that you could pair with a blue reefer jacket. Today the weave is popular for upholstery and backpacks mainly.

Underneath the jacket I wear a white jersey popover. My feet are covered by white plimsolls.

Francesco Guida has made jacket and trousers, and Camiceria Carmen had made the popover shirt.

Photography: Sartorial Notes

Readers of Sartorial Notes Met in Copenhagen

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sartorial notes

Anders. Francesco Guida has made the suit. Camiceria Artigiana Carmen has made the shirt.

Like last year I gathered with a group of readers of Sartorial Notes. This time around we upgraded the event, and we went to Restaurant Palægade in the old part of Copenhagen. Kenneth, a reader, who imports the best American wine for fine restaurants in Copenhagen, including Geranium and Kong Hans, arranged the menu with Restaurant Palægade.

The Scandalous Butler

I had forwarded a dresscode stating “lounge suit” that most attendees choose to follow apart from Butler, who arrived in t-shirt and worn-out jeans. I know Butler a bit, he is player, so I expected it was a practical joke of his. Yet, he insisted that his ugly jeans were proper, and I had to deny him access until his was dressed in a lounge suit. After a while he gave up, and we could all sit down to a superb dinner.

Sartorial Notes snapshots from the sartorial event

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Jimmy in a glen check vintage suits.

Lasse in a striped English vintage suit.

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Kenneth, wine provider, in a bespoke linen suit by Francesco Guida.

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Jacob in a 3-piece bespoke suit from Guida.

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Disgorged sparkling wine for a start outside Restaurant Palægade.

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Iversen, the dandy, in a pink jacket by Francesco Guida.

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Butler joking in t-shirt and worn-out jeans.

sartorial notes

Jeppe in a bespoke linen jacket by Musella Dembech.

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The lawyers.

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Butler and yours truly friends again. Butler in a Steven Hithcock suit. I’m in a bespoke suit by Volkmar Arnulf.

The wine we had

  • 1990 Tirage late disgorged sparkling
  • 2014 Eyrie Vineyards Original vines Pinot Gris
  • 2014 J. Rochioli Russian River Valley Chardonnay
  • 2013 Paul Lato ”California” Pinot Noir
  • 2013 O’Shaughnessy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
  • 2005 Williams Selyem Late Harvest Gewurztraminer

Photography: Sartorial Notes

How to Fold a Shirt Properly

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How to fold a shirt, a sort of craft in itself that is very convenient to know, if you don’t have a butler doing it for you.

New old method

I’ve been folding my shirts for many years. The other I had to realize I could improve my method. I met Carmela from Camiceria Carmen in Turin, and she showed me, how she is folding her shirts. Her method is without doubt better than my old one. It protects the sleeves better. It puts the creases in hidden places.

how to fold a shirt

You can start out with a magazine to stabilize the process. Place it under the collar of the shirt. After a few times you can skip it. Your hands will know how to fold a shirt a properly.

More methods on how to fold a shirt

For sure there are more methods on how to fold a shirt properly. My impression is that the folding of shirt sleeves are key in Carmela’s approach. She does that her own way. I suppose her way of doing them sleeves protect them well.

As soon as you have arrived at your destination, unpack the shirts and put them on hangers.

Check out how to fold a jacket like an old Italian tailor.

Photography: Sartorial Notes

The World’s Best Tailor

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world's best tailor Volkmar Arnulf
There is no World’s Best Tailor. It would be a bit like saying that there is a World’s Best Artist, and we know we cannot decide on that convincingly. We don’t have the measure.

You realize the subjective situation within bespoke tailoring, when you have tried bespoke tailors from different countries. They will differ in many aspects, yet is very hard to judge, who is the best. Sometimes you will think that “what tailor A does is the right way of handling that detail”. Later, you realize that “tailor B’s approach is in fact spot on, if you look at the whole picture”.

That being said some tailors are more advanced than others in terms of cutting techniques, make, style sense, and service. You come to that conclusion too.

It’s about the style

Take Volkmar Arnulf as an example of the situation. He is without doubt an extremely good bespoke tailor. His knowledge about cutting and fitting is superior. The make is really good as well, even though you might find more hand sewing on a fine Italian or French suit.

To me the only thing left discussing is his style. Personally, I like it a lot. I feel it serves my large build well. Arnulf’s cut for me is not fashionably tight or skimpy. The jacket rests on the shoulders, not the body. The drape is very clean. Creases have been removed meticulously. He doesn’t fit garments aggressively. Making a comfortable suit it utmost important to him. He is eager to work on details until he gets them absolutely right.

Fresco Suit from Volkmar Arnulf

You have an example in the photo above. I wear a two-piece blue suit made up from vintage fresco. One photo seldomly tells the whole story. Proportions vary with camera format and shooting angle. I see a lot of balance in that suit, though. Or, what do you say?

In any case, Volkmar Arnulf is not the World’s Best Tailor. He is perhaps the best tailor today within the German tailoring tradition. But if you include top tailors from England, France, and Italy, the hierarchy dissolves. You end up with different rich approaches, which result in different rich styles.

The World’s Best Tailor doesn’t exist.

Attire

Besides the Arnulf suit, I wear a bespoke shirt from Camiceria Carmen and an unlined made-to-measure grenadine tie. Jan Kielman has made me the black captoes. An artisan in Tuscany has sewn the silk crêpe handkerchief. The photo shoot is for an upcoming international book.

oxford_shoes_jan_kielman_by_sartorial_notes

Photography: Simon Jeppesen

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