The legendary Polo coat
The legend among coats started its life as a covering for exhausted Polo players. Today its traditional, ample stance graces the figures of elegant men the world over.
Learn what makes the Polo so special in this video.
Learn to put a shine on your shoes
The first of a series of articles on maintenance includes segments on how to clean, wax and polish your favorite shoes.
“Maintenance is the sine qua non of elegance”, according to Honore de Balzac, and this is especially true for goods made of leather. So whether you wear bespoke, fashion, or good old fashioned work shoes, they need special attention and regular care to look their best.
Along with Mr. Pierre-Paul-Marie Hofflin of the Talon Rouge salon in Paris, we will also learn how to prepare and execute a glacage or spit polish. This much sought after effect takes a bit of time to learn, but with the instructions contained in this video, you will be able to give your shoes a dandified air.
Many thanks to Pierre-Paul-Marie. Stay tuned for part two of the series where you will learn how to “antique” your shoes.
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London Landmarks: The future of Fedoras at Bates hats (Part 1)
An elegant mainstay on Jermyn Street will be closing its doors at the end of February. Bates, who has supplied elegant Fedoras and caps since 1920 at 21 Jermyn Street will try to relocate to shared space elsewhere on the famous street that is being vacuumed of all its intrinsic charms.
We receive the bad news direct from the proprietor in this sequence. Stay tuned for video shot as a historical record of the shop coming up in part 2 of this series.
Men’s hats: The Fedora and other classic styles
The fundamental rule of chic informs that if no one is doing it, then it must be a good thing to do! So wear a Fedora. Firstly for practicality, to protect yourself from the elements, be it rain or sun. Secondly, for the chic factor mentioned above.
In the following series of exchanges, with bespoke hat maker Fernand Sebbah of Paris, we will learn how to choose, style, fit, and wear one of the most misunderstood elements of dress. In Part one of the series we will take a look at fundamental hat models.
I admit to being a hat wearer most of my life, for better or for worse. And what seemed like a good way to keep warm and dry grew into a passion for sculpted felt. Clearly, you won’t remain inconspicuous wearing a hat, but if you have the right stuff inside and the presence, you can remain dry in style.
Bespoke suits: Informal fabrics for weekends
Bespoke clothing: A Neapolitan trouser maker
In Naples, independent trouser makers, working often in the hidden corners of the Spanish quarter, work to fulfill orders for bespoke tailors’ customers. These pantalonaio are generally considered “outworkers” and few have their own customers but simply complete the orders of others.
A decade or so ago, I went on a search through the Spanish quarter to find the atelier of one, Antonio Ambrosi. I went to find a craftsman, but wound up finding a family working together to make beautiful custom clothing, trousers for the best tailors in Naples. At the time, they had no direct customers and that seemed a shame given the quality of the work, so I suggested they develop their own client base.
A few posts on the London Lounge did the trick and the word spread quickly on the net. Today, the Ambrosi family is making bespoke trousers for men throughout the United States via trunk shows in New York but, as we shall hear in the following video, young Salvatore Ambrosi is planning a trip to London and San Francisco in 2010.