by Mansel Fletcher | Nov 29, 2013 | Bespoke Suit
The design commonplace “less is more” has a relevance when it comes to clothes. For a man first overcoming his natural reluctance to draw attention to himself the discovery that it’s possible for a peacock to extend his wings without the sky falling in is an exciting one. To a man who’s only ever worn navy or charcoal coloured suits the range of expression offered by loud tweeds is tempting and exhilarating. However, there is a respectable viewpoint that holds that expanding one’s sartorial boundaries is subject to the law of diminishing returns. (more…)
by Mansel Fletcher | Nov 25, 2013 | Bespoke Suit, Fabric
Warm, fuzzy, soft, comfortable, rumpled, cosy and timeless. It’s no wonder that flannel is now highly sought after by the new generation of ‘iGents’, those men with a passionate interest in relatively clothes who’ve developed their taste and knowledge using blogs and forums, rather than the glossy men’s fashion magazines. (more…)
by Mansel Fletcher | Nov 15, 2013 | Bespoke Suit, Fabric
If you’re prepared to take part in a style experiment please put on a navy blue jacket, and a pale blue shirt. Now put on a burgundy-coloured satin silk tie, and take a moment to consider the impression this makes. Next, remove the satin-silk tie and replace it with a burgundy-coloured woolen tie. Have a look at the image the outfit now projects. An even simpler test could involve switching between a silk pocket square, and similarly coloured linen one. (more…)
by Mansel Fletcher | Nov 8, 2013 | Bespoke Suit, Style Icons, The History of Bespoke Tailoring
The famous London shoemaker GJ Cleverley offers a beautiful slip-on shoe named after the legendary man of style Baron Alexis de Redé (1922 – 2004). The Baron, a banker and a minor Austrian aristocrat, lead one of the most stylish lives of the second half of the twentieth century, based in a majestic apartment in the Hotel Lambert on Paris’s Ile Saint Louis. He was also such a prolific customer of GJ Cleverley that the company’s managing director, George Glasgow, remembers being told by its late founder, George Cleverley, that he simply couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t making shoes for the Baron. (more…)
by Mansel Fletcher | Sep 25, 2013 | Bespoke Suit, Overcoats
If a man sets himself apart from the crowd when he first wears a bespoke suit he puts himself in another category entirely when he pulls on a bespoke overcoat.
With that single act all the compromises inherent in wearing ready-to-wear coats (the poor cloth, the fit across the shoulders, the short length and the fact that most simply hang straight from the arm pits to the hem, rather than having any shape through the waist) are revealed, and simultaneously dispatched. However, it can be hard to know where to start – cashmere, tweed, double-breasted, single-breasted, camel hair, Donegal or Harris tweed? (more…)
by Mansel Fletcher | Sep 18, 2013 | Bespoke Suit, Sports Jackets
Do you regularly shoot pheasants? Spend much time in vast, draughty country houses?
Unless the answer to at least one of these questions is yes then you don’t need to dress as if you’re off for a weekend at Downton Abbey. Tweed jackets are traditionally made from wonderful thick and slightly abrasive fabric built to keep out the cold and the rain. (more…)
