Pocket Squares

President Obama upgraded his formal wear style during a recent state dinner with one piece of white silk, and the first lady... no room for improvement.

Samuelsohn Made to Measure

Samuelsohn made-to-measure 3-piece suit in super 100's wool (code B326721) from Clusier

Details:

Jacket - 2 button, double vents, surgeon cuff, navy blue silk lining, red monogram

Vest - 6 button (1 false), navy blue silk backing
Pants - flat front, no belt loops, no cuff.
Shirt - Mario Albini (Giorgio Napoli, Montreal)
Tie - Brown silk knit (vintage)

Sartorial Summer Etiquette from Daniel Hartley-Allen on Vimeo.

LessGentleMen + Phineas Cole from paniwocreative! on Vimeo.

Made to Measure at Clusier

Thanks to Pierre, and the rest of the team at Clusier in Montreal, who fitted me for a made-to-measure suit by Samuelsohn earlier this week. I can't (yet) afford going full bespoke, but the MTM experience definitely beats off the rack numbers. More details to come...

Clusier Habilleur

432 Rue McGill

Montreal

H2Y 4B5

Shia LaBeouf in my suit

OK, I'm back after a short hiatus. It is great to see that GQ doesn't only feature $3,000 Tom Ford suits on their cover models. GQ's latest cover boy, Shia LaBeouf, is wearing a great pinstripe Club Monaco number...one that I bought a couple of weeks ago. I am always happy to see something that I own in the pages of GQ, but it surely doesn't happen often, given my limited budget for clothing!

Club Monaco Suits

Recently acquired Club Monaco Howe Suit (Wright Fit).

Conceived by former Thom Brown designer Timothy Farah, Club Monaco's line of suits pack a serious sartorial punch, at an affordable price. They feature a shorter jacket, high arm holes, working buttonholes and narrow lapels; so you get the look of a Brooks Brothers Black Fleece suit, without needing to take out a bank loan.

The suits come in two styles, the Kennedy fit (traditional) and the Wright fit (slim), and are sold as separates (jacket and pants). I bought the Wright model today in a pinstripe grey, and it fits great. One word of advice: try on one size bigger than you are used to wearing, the suits may be made a little bit 'snug' for some tastes.

Three Piece Suits

Courtesy of gq.com

Brooks Brothers and Mad Men

Brooks Brothers has followed Banana Republic's lead and is introducing a Mad Men suit. See the GQ Blog for details.

Daniel Craig and the three piece suit

I will soon be in the market for a three-piece-suit and I thought that Daniel Craig would be the perfect inspiration. The one thing that he seems to get right, when many other men get wrong, is the height of the top button on the waistcoat: low enough to show a healthy portion of his shirt and tie, but high enough above the top button of his jacket (one or two buttons preferably) so that things don't get too crowded around his midsection.

Tom Ford is responsible for Mr. Bond's impeccable three-piece look, and can also hold his own wearing a vest:

Domenico Vacca

Some great looks from Domenico Vacca, who incidentally does the wardrobe for HBO's Entourage. Oh, if you haven't tried wearing a pocket square with a topcoat you don't know what you are missing.

The English Cut

This is Thomas Mahon...


... he is a Tailor (more precisely, a cutter) in England. He used to work for them...


..but now owns his own Bespoke Tailor shop run out of Cumbria, called The English Cut. He now makes suits for guys like this...


I have never been a fan of the Royals, but the prince has serious style. Here is a great short documentary about Thomas and his shop in Cumbria:

The $300 T-Shirt

It is always discouraging to me when I see simple cotton T-shirts that are sold for $200 and $300 dollars by labels like Tom Ford and Michael Bastian. Unfortunately, it looks like the venerable Italian suit maker Brioni is going down that same road. I discovered this disappointing news through an article from the New York Times entitled, Brioni, Suitmaker to Presidents, Adpats to Crisis. Obviously, it has become very difficult for people to justify spending $4,000 of their hard earned cash on anything material, let alone a suit. However, does buying a T-shirt for $250, that will last a year or three, make more or less sense than buying a suit that will last you a life time? One thing that I did enjoy seeing in the piece were the accompanying pictures of Brioni's factory and tailoring school in Penne.





Courtesy of the New York Times

If I am ever in need of a mid-life career change, I know where to look.