Well-Dressed in Freezing Cold

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I had to go and look for my heavyweight overcoat. I’m not completely satisfied with the cut but it is not bad, and the overcoat is practical. It gives me a chance stay well-dressed in freezing cold. That we have now for the first time this winter.

I suspect temperature to be slightly warmer at Pitti Uomo in Florence in a few days, and I won’t bring it there. The double breasted blue suit I could take with me. It comes from the strong Red Tower, which, sadly, has sold out.

Well-Dreassed in Double-Breasted Style

The double breasted style is the most refined suit design. Period. The problem with the DB is operational. You have to keep it closed, when you wear it. What’s the fuss? Well, at the office you walk around. You sit at the desk. You leave for a meeting. You look for a colleague. If you open the DB to regulate warm, which can happen, if you are sitting down, you cannot leave the desk, before you have closed the jacket. An open DB jacket is a terrible sartrorial sight. A single breasted jacket can be open, when you move around at the office, although a closed SB looks better, for sure.

What I Wear 

In the photos I dress in a bespoke heavyweight herringbone overcoat and a bespoke double breasted blue suit from an Italian tailor. Moreover, I wear a light blue shirt from a shirtmaker in Turin and a made-to-measure six-fold foulard tie from Antonio Muro. Tadeusz Januszkiewicz in Warsaw has crafted the monk shoes. The thick mocca brown cashmere scarf comes from Begg.

Photography: Sartorial Notes

Slip-On Overcoat Craze

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I consider ordering a knee long slip-on overcoat. You know, the roomy model with raglan sleeves sometimes called a balmacaan or a raglan. I have such an overcoat already, however a long model. It is not practical for driving the car or riding the bike.

These old illustrations from Das Herrenjournal and another German magazine start of 1960s give some inspiration. There was a slip-on overcoat craze back then.

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A near perfect slip-on overcoat in tweed.

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Herringbone slip-on with raglan sleeves and Prussian collar.

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Camel hair cloth is not only for the worshiped polo coat. You may use for a slip-on as well.

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Illustrations: The Journal of Style

Teddy Bear Overcoats

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Overcoats have become lighter and shorter. A British warm and a ulster are seen rarely nowadays.

Pitti Uomo i Florence tells the story. Passing by the stands I saw a good amount of overcoats but of the slip-on type.

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Lighthearted teddy bear overcoats symbolize the movement. They have a long history in fashion indeed. James Joyce wore one.  Yet, they are modern too. They don’t take their role as overcoats too seriously. Fun, not protection, is their prime virtue.

Photos: The Journal of Style

A Formal Cashmere Overcoat from Ripense in Rome

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In September a reader  ordered a formal cashmere overcoat at Sartoria Ripense in Rome. He got his inspiration from an old Esquire image (see below). Esquire describes the overcoat as “a paddock coat”, but it is perhaps closer to a Victorian frock overcoat. The mysterious Sator has claimed that. In any case, the overcoat is impressive.

The reader wrote to me:

“Good evening, Mr author Torsten Grunwald.

You may have noticed that I did not show up at the party at Mr master tailor Peter Undén. It is not due to lack of desire, but just the fact that we are some, who take the classic wardrobe seriously! In other words, we do something about it, while others have fun, drink and enjoy themselves 😉

For several years I have dreamt about realizing the ultimate elegant formal overcoat. In my humble opinion that is The Paddock Coat as shown in the Esquire image.

In September I presented the project to my tailor, Andrea, who, despite a declared love for tailoring of the 1920s, had never been near a similar task. He agreed, though, after a long and loud discussion with tailors in the basement.

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“When you come in December, I believe that you can have it with you home, if you can stay for three days,” Andrea told me.

“OK,” I said, “but no compromises, please.”

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I came back in December, and I went to the final fittings. Andrea kept his promise. They made the coat, and what a marvelous coat, I must say. ”

Photos: Ripense & The Journal of Style

The Long Coat

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The impressive ulsters and great coats have disappeared. Most coats today are variations on a barely knee long chesterfield or a pea coat.

The step is logical. I mean, who needs a coat that runs down to the ankles? Long coats don’t fit the car and life in the tube, and they work poorly for bycycling, which so many cities try to promote. Long coats are cut for men strolling weather-hit streets of yesterday.

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All the more, it is a pleasure to see long coats today. They tell a story of a way of living that once was.

In the photos, Luciano Barbera and Ethan of The Armoury.

Source: The Journal of Style in Florence

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