Time has come for a Blue Double Breasted Jacket

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Blue Double Breasted

Days in a double breasted jacket

Two days with two days between them. Both days I was in a bespoke blue double breasted jacket.

A short history of the double breasted jacket

You can hardly call a a double jacket more formal than a single breasted jacket.

If we look back both designs have been around since the start of the lounge jacket in the 1860s. Perhaps the double breasted design has a stronger connection to a uniform, say, the naval officer’s reefer jacket, the double breasted blue blazer.

On the other hand, the double breasted design has been way of skipping the waiscoat, a remnant of Victorian times. That is, in the past a waistcoat was compulsory with a single breasted suit but not with a double breasted jacket. That tradition can explain the revival of a double breasted jacket in the 1930s. People wanted to dress “soft”. That included getting rid of the tightly fitting waistcoat. A double breasted jacket was the solution.

Blue Double Breasted jacket

A blue double breasted suit jacket with a bold scarf

In the second photo I try to smarten up the attire consisting of a blue double breasted suit jacket and grayers with a plaid scarf. To me a bold scarf is much better solution than funny socks or a funny tie, if you want to inject energy into your clothing style.

Photography: Sartorial Notes

Bespoke Tailors have become Travelling Tailors

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Bespoke Tailors have become Travelling Tailors

Travelling tailors can make a well-crafted suit too, but the product is different, invariably.

New and old travelling tailors

We’ve seen travelling tailors for decades. Savile Row started their American trunk shows in the inter-war period. Bargain tailors and made-to-measure firms from the East have been going to Europe since the 1980s.

Low fair airlines and the web haven’t changed the tradition, structurally. However, cross-border acitivity has increased a lot. Both tailors and clients travel a lot more to meet each other.

Supply and demand are forces behind the development as well. Italy still has a huge amount of bespoke tailors. I suppose you can find 200-300 bespoke tailors from south to north. No other European country can level that. Big countries like France, Spain, England and Germany are far behind in numbers.

The bespoke tailors in Italy today are only a fraction of the amount tailors in the past, though. The reality is that Italy’s tailors have been under pressure for many years. Although Italian men dress more formally than most European men, casualization has been sweeping through the Southern European country too. Bespoke Tailors have become Travelling Tailors

More than 50 Florentine tailors

I found a leaflet from 1980 about Florentine tailors. It lists more than 50 bespoke tailors in and around Florence. Today you can muster 9 or 10 tailors in and around the Tuscan capital at a maximum.

Bespoke Tailors have become Travelling Tailors

The decrease in tailors has lowered the output of bespoke suits and garments. It hasn’t been enough, though. The demand for bespoke suits among Italian men has been going down even more.

So, many Italian tailors have been forced to create “an outlet”, a business with foreign clients. Like their counterparts on Savile Row they have become travelling tailors. And, many of their clients have become travelling clients. Clients go abroad to meet their tailor.

A different product

If you love bespoke clothing this is a great development. This is the only way bespoke can survive. Gradually, it costs more than ready-to-wear, since you cannot streamline bespoke. A good bespoke suit still takes +50 hours to craft.

But you can make bespoke more accessible by becoming efficient at travelling.

As clients we just have to adjust our expectations. Invariably, a bespoke suit by a travelling tailor (or for a travelling client) is a more standardized product. Wise tailors and wise clients don’t opt for complicated, very personalized tailoring, when they only meet each other twice a year. Risks of failure are too big.

It is of course different, if you you’ve been a client for years. Little by little you can make an order more advanced, because you know each other.

Photos: Sartorial Notes

Vienna Menswear Shopping – The Best

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netousek vienna menswear

Vienna menswear shopping includes more bespoke tailors.

Vienna is rich on tradition 

Vienna is charming, I must say. Trams, old-fashioned cafes and wienerschnitzel make you in good mood.

Architecture and museums also impress.

And then you have a large amount of classic men’s clothing stores and bespoke shoemakers. The latter hand-welt shoes to your feet’s measurements.

In short, Vienna menswear shopping is firstclass.

Tailors and shirtmakers in Vienna

I have previously written about Knize and Scheer. They are the top stores in Vienna within classic clothing and classic shoes.

Today, I look at lesser known menswear stores in Vienna at a slightly more accessible level, although the following stores (tailors and shirtmakers) are still in an exclusive category, by definition.

vienna menswear netousek tailor

Netousek

Netousek could be the most authentic bespoke tailor in Vienna. It is not the best necessarily but it is an old family-owned shop specializing in bespoke suits, and it is situated in central Vienna.

vienna menswear netousek tailor

As in the case of Knize Netousek’s suits have a low-sitting gorge and a fairly lightly padded structure. Apart from that there is nothing distinctive about the cut. If you want a traditional, conservative Vienna suit Netousek is the place to go to.

vienna menswear netousek tailor

The price is about 3.000 euros for a two-piece suit, half price of Knize.

More bespoke tailors in Vienna

I located a bunch of bespoke tailors in Vienna. I didn’t have time to visit them but here they are:

Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe in Vienna

Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe vienna menswear

Moreover, you have a travelling tailor (1.800 euros) coming to Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe, a charming old menswear store in central Vienna full of classic ties, neckerchiefs and other fine accessories.

Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe vienna menswear

Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe is no Charvet but it has a bit of the same feel to it. They offer made-to-measure suits as well.

Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe vienna menswear

Bespoke shirtmakers in Vienna

I did expect to find fine menswear accessories and good shoemakers in Vienna but I was a bit surprised about the selection of bespoke shirtmakers. I didn’t look much but nonetheless I easily found three genuine shirtmakers downtown.

bespoke shirts gino venturini vienna menswear

Gini Venturini is a small menswear store with a core business consisting of bespoke shirtmaking. Prices start at about 200 euro for a shirt.

zum jockey club alfred muller vienna menswear

Alfred Müller, also known as Zum Jockey Club, is somewhat similar to Gino Venturini with hand-picked classic menswear items and bespoke shirts. Alfred Müller’s price for a bespoke shirt is slightly lower that Gino Venturini’s. Mind you I didn’t inspect shirts from the two stores, so Venturini might be better. You can also order a bespoke suit from a travelling tailor at Alfred Müller’s shop.

bespoke shirts wäscheflott vienna menswear

In a more modern and less nostalgic shop I found Wäscheflott. Despite of it’s contemporary look the business dates back to 1948. I didn’t check out their shirts either but I suppose they know what they doing as well. Price was 250 euros for shirt number one and hereafter 180 euros for a shirt.

Vienna menswear to be continued

I will return with a post on shoemakers in Vienna. Stay tuned.

Photography: Torsten Grunwald

Espadrilles – How to Wear Them

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espadrilles

Espadrilles in the city center of Copenhagen.

Transforming espadrilles

Jeppe makes a daring choice paring “espadrillos”, as they say in Spain, with a bespoke light grey fresco suit and a tie. My conclusion is it’s a home run, though.

Most men, who would ever wear this summer footwear, would see them as accessories to bermudas and a summer shirt. Think of the old Esquire drawings.

Jeppe transforms his espadrilles to substitutes for loafers. To help the tranformation he has chosen a model in a city blue shade. Moreover they match the knit tie. Indeed they stand out but not much, really. They blend in.

Wisely, Jeppe has bought a pair with ankle straps. My experience is they start to slip at the heel, if they don’t have straps.

This pair comes from Diegos.

The shirt is made from a jersey fabric. It’s another way to meet the informality of the nostalgic Spanish footwear.

Photography: Torsten Grunwald

 

An Example of a Bespoke Picnic Attire for Men

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picnic attire

Picnic attire. Perhaps.

I didn’t think of it as picnic attire beforehand. I just wanted to create a bold, yet classic and pleasing look for summer.

Now it seems to be a sort of picnic attire. The corn white trousers, the Panama hat and the blazer like jacket all connect to that story.

picnic attire

I try to balance the contrast between the cold blue shade and the warm cream white and brown shades through making pairs. The jacket relates to the socks. The brown hat band relates to the tie and the loafers. The cream white Panama hat relates to the trousers. Shirt and handkerchief are alike in shades.

picnic attire

Everything is bespoke: the unlined jacket made from vintage cloth, the shirt (Frank Foster), the unlined tie, the trousers, the penny loafers (Warsaw), and even the handkerchief in silk crepe.

Photography: Torsten Grunwald

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