Camps de Luca

Parisian tailors differ in some interesting ways from English tailors. An apprentice cutter has to learn tailoring to the same level as his cutting, for example. Most of the tailors are full-time employees, not freelance. And they are all situated on the first floor of their buildings, rather than the ground.

At Camps de Luca, this is a particular benefit, as the corner location on Place de la Madeleine affords a beautiful view across the square. Full length windows frame the trees and traffic outside, and natural light floods in.

The only disadvantage is heat – on particularly steamy days the tailors are apparently instructed to work at home, rather than slowly boil inside. Although on the day I visited, and took advantage of the lovely position to browse through some cloth books (below), it was 32 degrees and still pretty comfortable inside.

Another thing that differentiates Parisian tailors is ready-to-wear clothes. Most introduced them at the end of the last century as a defence against the swamping of designer brands, and while the scale varies considerably between Stark’s suits and Smalto’s multiple luxury collections, they still retain them.

Camps de Luca is an exception; it has no ready-to-wear. But its bespoke casual wear still sets it clearly apart from its English peers. Our friend Wei Koh at The Rake has exhibited casual pieces made for him by Camps de Luca in that magazine, including a beautiful navy pea coat. And shown here are two examples from the current rails in Paris.

First is a safari jacket, of which multiple examples have been made for a longstanding client. In a high-twist wool, it is light but substantial – and the leather-backed belt was made strong enough to support ammunition and other hunting requisites. Camps de Luca, like many Parisian tailors (particularly Smalto) has many clients from French-speaking Africa and the Middle East, so safari shirts/jackets and lightweight suits are a common order.

Indeed, Julien de Luca commented that the light weight of some of the suitings is becoming ridiculous. “We can only reduce the weight of the canvas so far, after all,” he says. “And with pocket bags on the hips and chest, the weight of the cloth really only makes a difference to the back of the jacket.” One cloth merchant in particular was apparently keen to push a very lightweight suiting, only to admit that it couldn’t use it in its own suits because it couldn’t find an appropriate canvas.

Julien, grandson of co-founder Mario de Luca, has spent the past few years going through an apprenticeship at the firm. Although 32, he has only recently returned to the family firm after an education in England and working in the City in London for 10 years. “My grandfather encouraged me to leave the business and find something some stable,” says Julien. “Tailoring in France was not in a good way back then.” Julien’s consequently perfect English makes conversing on the finer points of tailoring very easy; though the English accent feels slightly anomalous.

The second example here is not a finished piece but a basted fitting. The blue leather was scrap material, used to get the right fit before moving onto the desired brown crocodile. Apparently the final piece required 23 different skins.

Interestingly, another difference between French and English tailors is the use of scrap material for initial fittings. Cifonelli does it on occasions, Camps does a fitting with a canvas and then one with a scrap cloth, and Smalto has a regimented system of sized plastic patterns, used to create a rough first fitting that it then alters to create a paper pattern (which Francesco Smalto created while at Camps). More on that another time.

Many thanks to Julien and Marc.

Stefano Bemer, farewell

Stefano Bemer, a great man and shoemaker, died yesterday.

I had the privilege of knowing and working with Stefano earlier this year. He was, as is probably obvious from the tributes that have followed his death, a wonderfully warm and welcoming man. He was particularly known for his honesty, his dedication to the craft and his inspiration in training  young shoemakers. When I visited in January he was in the last stages of training three recruits, and among his graduates are Saskia Wittmer in Florence, Norman Vilalta in Mallorca, The Shoe Snob’s Justin Fitzpatrick and most famously actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

Stefano had struggled with kidney problems for several years and had been on dialysis for months. When I saw him in January he was weak but still his effervescent self. It is sad to know that the world will be denied his charm and his beautiful creations.

The atelier will continue, with his brother – who had been looking after the ready-to-wear and made-to-measure lines – presumably taking a larger role. Although small, it produced hand-sewn footwear for other brands as well as under the Bemer label, and of course bespoke. Let’s hope some of his magic lives on. 

Postcard from Paris

In Paris this week visiting all the big tailors, interviewing Jean Grimbert of Arnys and looking at slightly odd watch straps. Look out for posts over the next few weeks.

Below, my Wilfrids from Pierre Corthay (slightly dusty from the Tuileries Gardens) sit below cream Bresciani cotton socks and cream linen trousers. And beside my trusty Alfred Dunhill briefcase. It's amazing how much you can get in there. 

Jeans with a shirt and tie

Dear Simon,

In a recent post (The modern man needs a good blazer) you explained  how versatile a blazer or odd jacket can be, and how to wear one. The image, however, showed a jacket with a shirt and tie, and jeans. Do you think this works well? Or is a tie too formal with jeans? I like the look but don't know whether I could 'pull it off' as they say.

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

It absolutely can work, but it is one of the hardest things for a man to get his head around because there are so many moving pieces. The contrast with a navy suit and black shoes is pretty stark.

The keys are colour and texture. More subdued colours and rougher textures are more casual. Match these to the casualness of the jacket, trousers and shoes.

As jeans are pretty much the most casual trousers you can wear with a shirt and tie, both should be as casual as possible. A blue shirt is more casual than a white shirt. A wool tie is more casual than a silk tie. A knitted tie is more casual than a printed tie. An oxford-weave shirt is usually more casual than a smooth twill.

That extends to design elements as well. Single cuffs are more casual than double cuffs; plackets are more casual than plain fronts; button-downs are more casual than spread collars.

Hopefully you get the idea by now.

The image from Brunello Cucinelli that you refer to (reproduced below) includes a white shirt with a spread collar and single cuffs, and a woven, cashmere grey tie. Personally I would have gone with a button-down shirt rather than a spread collar, or a blue shirt, but you can see how casual elements have been included to make the shirt/tie fit better with the jeans and brown jacket.

The image at top, taken from The Armoury's wonderful Tumblr account, also uses a white shirt but you can see how the knitted silk tie adds a casual element. Suede in the belt helps too - more texture.

Good luck with your combinations.

Simon

Hype luggage: Review

Hype iPad cover, £150

There is a surprising lack of good, mid-market leather products and bags out there. By mid-market I mean those stitched by machine rather than by hand (which adds considerably to the price) but otherwise using the highest quality leathers and manufacturing. Bown Bags is a tiny operator I have written about before; there’s The Merchant Fox bags recently featured on The Rake; Bill Amberg, of course; and I’ve written about a few others, including Lotuff & Clegg in the US.

Added to the list of those I have personal experience of – and therefore where I feel I can offer a first-hand review – is Hype luggage, started recently by Paul Holmes following many years working in Asia on large-scale production. Sick of the cutting of corners, and some industrial-level theft, Paul returned to England to found a company producing a higher grade of bag.

Hype bags feature: machine stitching, as I said, though with some handwork at points; a mix of veg-tanned and chrome-tanned leathers, though I have to say I prefer the former; RiRi zips; suede linings throughout, except on pieces like the iPad cover above, which uses a lovely sheep’s wool; nice attention to detail around stress points like handles.

Overall, the production standard is very high. All end threads are pulled through to the inside of the bag, knotted off and secured with adhesive; some producers just leave those hanging, and they will eventually work through. As with the difference between a suede and fabric lining, you won’t notice the difference for 10 years, but you will notice.

Hastings dowel-top bag from Hype

I liked the iPad case I saw, which is pictured above. The leather is nice, with a pleasing grain and natural variegation. My only quibble is with the finishing at the point the edges split for the opening (below). The inking is rather rough, varies in thickness and the edge waves slightly. It will make no practical difference to the longevity of the case, but it could be neater.

Mid-market bags like those from Hype tend to be in the £500-£1000 range. Hype’s leather holdall is £890 and the iPad cover is £150. Top-end bags (Hermès, Alfred Dunhill, Asprey etc) are in the thousands. 

You can buy Hype bags through its site or the handful of retailers in the UK and US.

Kent Haste & Lachter linen suit

Trying to look natural while eating. Which is impossible

The linen suit shown here is my most recent commission, from the sterling outfit that is now Kent Haste & Lachter. There is a blog; there is a group photo on the wall; there is a real spirit of enterprise. I have to say I'm very pleased for them (if that's not too condescending).

Interestingly the linen suit (13oz from W Bill) was made to the pattern that John Kent created for me, but was entirely fitted by Terry Haste. This is purely coincidence, and was a result of John not being around when I went in for fittings, but has led to a slightly different result to my first suit (which John fitted).

John, for example, tends to fit a very close back. It looks beautiful, but allows less room for movement – particularly for me, as I like to wear my jacket while at my desk, arms outstretched at the computer. John also likes a slightly slimmer trouser, which is not tight but again allows that little bit less movement.

With Simon Cundey of Henry Poole

The suit is half lined in the traditional English manner, that is a buggy lining with the foreparts lined and the back half lined in the same material. So not as much air flow as the Caliendo jacket last week, which is more like a quarter lining.

But the linen is wonderfully cooling. My only other linen is a brown 9oz from Scabal which, while still nice, wrinkles very quickly and loses its shape too. It looks pleasantly rumpled, but its light weight means there is less linen to feel coolly against the skin. This heavier W Bill has been a revelation in that regard.

Beautiful make, as you’d expect from KH&L (as the hangers now proclaim), and a three-patch pocket configuration that will make it easy to wear with lightweight grey trousers. I expect to do that as much as wear the suit in its entirety.

The photos are from the MTBA dinner again, and no, I don't have any shots when I am not leaning comically forward so that the collar is standing away from my neck.

Shirt, as with the Caliendo shots, by Kiton and tie from Church’s. Glasses by EB Meyrowitz. 

With Claire from Hawthorne & Heaney (embroidery) and Russell from Graham Browne

Edward Green and Drake's sale

A pop-up sale by two of my favourite brands - Drake's and Edward Green - is taking place this week, starting yesterday and lasting until Sunday. Up at 12 Needham Road in Notting Hill, there were queues around the block when it opened, as you can see.

Don't worry though, stock is being replenished every day and with savings up to 80% (all Drake's ties are £45, handkerchiefs £20), I'm sure plenty more people will be flooding in over the next few days. It's  a small shop but you will get in, don't worry! It's open until 8 during the week, 7 on Saturday and 6 on Sunday.

Blue and brown suit combinations

Talking to Alan Flusser in New York recently got me thinking about all the old colour combinations he describes in Dressing the Man. And the leaflets he had scattered about the shop expanded on a few of those – in particular, and close to my heart, the mutually beneficial relationship between blue and brown.

I have included here some scans of the mannequin set-ups he uses as illustration. They look a little dated now, I’m not a big fan of the ‘fancy dobbie stripe’, and both outfits use a little too much brown in one and blue in the other, doubtless to underline the point. But that point remains valid – that the two work wonderfully well together yet are rarely considered, except with brown as the leather accessory to blue suiting. 

Alan’s introduction also deserves quoting:

“Perhaps it was my first sighting of Brooks’ No.1 Navy suit astride brown Peal cap toes or a blue oxford tucked into a brown crocodile belt…the mating of dark blue and brown has always struck me as one of the most uniquely masculine, no less patrician, of all color alliances. And given the liaison’s current anonymity within today’s nouveau-brow power corridors, its arrival is sure to trumpet the wearer’s custom-looking style and taste.”

Pettegola shirts

Gianni Cleopazzo of Sartoria Vergallo was talking to me recently about an old-fashioned style of shirt he makes for a couple of customers – the ‘pettegola’. This is a strip of shirt cloth that is attached to the back tail of the shirt and fastens, under the legs, to the front of the shirt.

The pettegola’s purpose is to keep the tail tucked in securely, without having to resort to horrendous things like shirt stays (elastic straps that run from the bottom of the shirt to the top of the socks). The shirt body has to be cut a little longer, perhaps 2cm or 3cm, to accommodate the pettegola, and then adds two buttons to the front hem of the shirt to allow a couple of options for fastening.

Gianni gave me an old one to try and it worked well. The problem, of course, is that it is very fussy. Fuss is the sole reason I don’t have button flies on my trousers and one reason I dislike braces. With the pettegola, you have the particularly fussy prospect in the bathroom of unbuttoning your shirt to sit down, and having to fish between the shirt’s buttons when standing up.

As with long socks, it was probably also more suited to a time when one rarely undressed in front of one’s wife or girlfriend. Although, having said that, Gianni says he has a particularly vivid memory of seeing his father (who would be 74 today, were he alive) undress out of a bright pink shirt, and noting its strange tail.

A pettegola is certainly rarely made these days. Gianni has two customers who wear them, but the shirtmaker he uses only has a total of three – so one other in the region. It is not necessarily a northern Italian tradition, however (Vergallo is based in Varese), as Gianni’s memory of his father would have been when the family was in Puglia, in the south.

A good bespoke shirt, with the armhole, body and length correct, should not need much help staying tucked in. Although I noticed a difference, that was on a shirt that had not been made for me. So the irony of the pettegola is that it is most use on an ill-fitting shirt, but you can really only get them bespoke.

‘Pettegola’ is used to mean a gossipy woman in Italian, I am told. Why that is also the name given to this shirt appendage, I don’t know, but I’m sure you can come up with your own reasons.

Elia Caliendo jacket

Pictured at the MTBA party last week, this is the finished jacket from Neapolitan tailor Elia Caliendo. Readers of The Rake online will have read previous posts on Elia, looking at both the man himself and an analysis of the inside of the jacket.

Although not as well as known as some of the Neapolitans, he is up there with the best in my relatively limited experience (visited perhaps a dozen, jackets from three). The fit is spot on, the experience was easy and the work inside is sumptuous. Although much of this is a matter of taste (and how much you want to spend on impractical details), it is always interesting to see how impressed English cutters are with internal finishing. The Cifonelli double breasted was another example.

The Caliendo jacket is quarter lined, with the jacket cloth at the front and a little silk across the back. I like the double stitching around the edges, but only because it is subtle, being an almost identical colour to the cloth. Contrast stitching I don’t like.

Elia, the son of founder Biagi Caliendo, is a little cheaper than other Neapolitans at £2800, but there are certainly cheaper tailors there too. My favourite shot from the visit is below – of one of the tailors working on a basted jacket outside a side door at the atelier. If only I could find an excuse to go back.

Photography: Luke Carbyhttp://www.sartoriacaliendo.com/

Peak-lapel single breasted suits

I don’t generally like peak lapels on single-breasted suits. They aren’t necessarily wrong – although notch lapels are far more common, only the relatively inexperienced will tell you it is a ‘rule’ that SBs must have notch lapels (or indeed black tie have peak lapels). Have a look back through some 1930s stills or films and you will find plenty of evidence to the contrary.

But peak lapels, for me, often look short and stubby on a single-breasted jacket. More like little bat wings than long, elegant fins. On a double-breasted, the crossover allows the lapel a crucial few inches more, echoing the smart military style of a sash or cross-belt.

The image of Gary Cooper above I think illustrates the point. Part of the problem is that these old suits had a higher buttoning point – where the waist button, the top of a two-button suit, fastens. They were cut with that point on the natural waist, just below the ribs, where the trousers also sat. That leaves less room for lapel.

The only way to save a peak-lapel SB design, then, is to lower that buttoning point as much as possible. They tend to be a good couple of inches lower on high-street suits today, but bespoke tailors will often retain a high waist button, even if the trousers are cut rather lower. The proportions of the jacket, after all, are still mostly derived from the same system of cutting that was developed for the hunting coat, which buttoned high and cut away sharply to allow it to be worn closed while mounted.

High-street retailers still retain a high buttoning point sometimes, as shown in the Reiss suit opposite. But below, you can see the difference of just an inch or so, in an Armani suit being worn by Kobe Bryant. And it’s no coincidence that peak lapels were often cut for more formal, three-piece suits like the grey Bryant wears. As these may have been worn open more often, the lapel has rather more freedom.

Finally Gianluca Bocache, of the shop Sartoria Ripense in Rome, shows how the buttoning point can work well in a custom-made suit. I repeat that I don’t like peak lapels and I still think this would look better as a notch, but if you’re going to do it, then give the lapel a little more length.

Bryant images: GQ. Bocache image: The Sartorialist

The tailors' summer party

Last Friday was the Master Tailors' Benevolent Association (MTBA) summer party, although the food has been rather upgraded on last year and we were treated to a barbeque and tables inside. So perhaps it counts as a dinner.

It was also the last MTBA party, because the MTBA was officially merged with the Tailors' Benevolent Institute (TBI), to create the Bespoke Tailors' Bespoke Association (BTBA).

The MTBA was the charity of the owners of the tailoring companies, and only they could benefit. The TBI, founded by Brummell's tailor Joseph Stultz, was the organisation of the tailors themselves. Together the BTBA is a welcome update.

Photography: Luke Carby

Reader question: What should I buy in London?

A typical ensemble at Trunk Clothiers

Dear Simon,

My name is David and I have been a fan of your work for quite a while now. As an undergraduate business student at Northeastern University (Boston, MA), I have gradually realised a passion for good style and writing – it should be no surprise that I am a dedicated reader!

I wanted to introduce myself because in less than a month, I will be in London to spend a summer studying at the London School of Economics. Originally from Los Angeles, I have never had the privilege of relatives or friends to visit in London. Surprisingly, I grew up influenced by a lot of the culture in the UK – nearly all the music and literature I enjoy come from your side of the pond. I was really hoping you could provide some advice when it comes to prioritizing my shopping. I realise this will probably be one of the only chances that I will have to spend a prolonged period in Europe and want to visit all the places that will have pieces I may not be able to get anywhere else. I am always willing to spend on quality pieces but I am still limited to some extent by a student budget (albeit backed by full-time work in industry).

For example, would you prioritize getting bespoke shirts or go with MTM? Would Crockett and Jones be a good place to pick up shoes? I think my budget will be around $1,000 for a suit and maybe another $1,000 for everything else.

Thanks in advance and I really do appreciate any tips you may have for me so I can build a wardrobe, one with permanent style! J

David

-

Hi David,

There are very few things available in London that you can’t get in the US, or order to be shipped over, but I think your priority should be experiencing as many of the English brands you like as possible, and perhaps have some tailoring done.

For example, I would certainly recommend Crockett & Jones shoes – my favourite is Edward Green, but I think that might eat up nearly all of your budget for ‘everything else’. So go visit the new C&J store on Jermyn Street, try on the various models of shoes and the sizes, until you get an idea of what you like. Then go to other stores of comparable brands – Cheaney, Tricker’s, Grenson.

By the time you leave, you want to feel that you know all the Northampton producers better than you ever could from the US, and perhaps walk away with a single pair from one of them, knowing you can order your second or third pairs in years to come given your experience of the models and sizes.

The next thing is to have a suit made, as this takes so much longer from the US. As always, I would recommend Graham Browne, as the best value bespoke tailor I know. A suit may be just over your $1000, but will be worth it, and you should be able to get two fittings in, with the final suit being sent to you in the US.

Beyond that, visit every storied London menswear store – Jobb Lobb on St James’s, Cleverley in the Royal Arcade, Turnbull & Asser, Lock’s, the whole of the Burlington Arcade, and any Savile Row tailor you feel you can go into and chat to. Other favourites of mine I would recommend are Trunk Clothiers (good for European brands you won’t get in the US), Albam (great British, casualwear brand), Drake’s and Liberty’s (it’s just beautiful, particularly if you like Art Nouveau).

I hope that is in some way helpful. Most of all, enjoy!

Simon 

Brent Pankhurst: how to maintain my beard

I’ve written occasionally about ‘maintenance’ in the past, but avoid anything because frankly there isn’t much to say. There are about five important tips about shaving well, but advertising requires men’s magazines to trot them out in new ways every other issue.

I write about Pankhurst now for two reasons. One, he taught me some genuinely new things recently about how to look after my beard. And two, I think it’s worth recommending his videos on maintenance and style, because while they say the same things, they look very cool doing it.

I spend no time at all on my beard at the moment. That’s largely because I dislike beards that look too pruned, fussy or sharp. Mine extends slightly further down the neck than most and is only trimmed when it gets out of hand. It is not meant to be a comic-book outline to my face.

But application of a little oil or conditioner, it seems, can make a big difference to the softness of the hairs, which can’t be bad. Of the two, oil takes a lot longer to be absorbed into the hairs and therefore remains greasy for a good while. Brent sells a styling conditioner that is better for this purpose. Apparently it is enriched with wheat protein.

More immediately, it is scented with Brent’s house perfume, which achieves that rare feat of being intensely masculine yet rather unusual. Rum, citrus and leaves from bay trees in the West Indies contribute to its singular swing and warm, luxurious atmosphere. Again, apparently, mixing oil from bay leaves with rum to use as a fragrance was common practice among 16th-century sailors in the Caribbean. 

Brent's only other tip on the beard was to regularly comb it, which you can do with most regular combs that have a fine gauge at least somewhere along their length.

As to the videos, they are worth watching rather than describing in detail. Go to Brent’s site and have a look at both the instructional videos and the films.

It is also worth mentioning that I’ve had cutthroat-razor shaves at several London barbers such as Murdock and they left my neck feeling rather raw. Brent, though not perfect, was the best of the lot. 

Panta clothing: new trousers and site

Trousers are easier to tailor than a jacket. They’re not straightforward, as everyone’s waist to seat ratio varies, but the problems are at least largely in two dimensions.

Because trousers are simpler, you can spend less money on them. You can have a jacket made bespoke, but get trousers made to measure or alter them off the peg. Or have them made by a cheaper tailor overseas.

Will at A Suitable Wardrobe has said he uses WW Chan in Hong Kong for this purpose. I think I will always continue having trousers made at Graham Browne, even if my jackets are increasingly made by Savile Row or Neapolitan tailors whose make is better.

I have also found the off-the-peg trousers of Ed Morel at Panta in New York very good for this purpose. I usually have them altered in the waist, and they come unfinished in the leg, but the fit elsewhere is good.

Ed’s materials are very good: he is constantly seeking new, interesting cloths and our tastes are similar. The pair shown here are a cotton that is milled to feel like a silk or wool mix. More importantly, these are cloths that are usually only available to bespoke customers – the volumes are not big enough and are too expensive to be on the high street. (The trousers start at $329 by the way.)

Some of the finishing inside the trousers could be neater and it would be nice to have options with side adjustors rather than just belt loops. But these are ready-to-wear after all, and elsewhere I cannot fault them. The buttons are horn, the waistband and buttonholes are all done by hand and there is nice pick stitching on the seams too. They are made by the Rocco Cicarelli factory in New York, which makes for several large fashion brands though rarely to this level.

Ed’s website is now much fuller and fully functioning, at pantaclothing.com, which is great – for years I have been recommending the trousers but there was no central site to see the stock.

Check it out.

(Lord Willy’s in New York is an interesting exception to the rule that trousers are easier. All its suit trousers are made bespoke while the jackets are made to measure, because they consider it so difficult to make a universal trouser pattern for very slim trousers.)