My top 10 books

Below is a list of my favourite books on menswear, just in time for Christmas, in rough order. There are some noble exclusions, including Eric Musgrave, Bernard Roetzel and Nicholas Storey, but my aim was to list the 10 books that I have enjoyed the most and found the most consistently useful over the years.

I have not been immodest enough to put my own first book, Le Snob: Tailoring, on the list. Although without the scope of most works here, I like to think others would recommend it as a useful pocket-sized guide to tailoring.

Not all of the books below are in print, but most can be found second hand.

1 Dressing the Man - Alan Flusser

The original and still the best. It is what inspired me to explore tailoring, and its guides to suiting and the basics of bespoke are unparalleled. If it lacks anything, it is in the treatment of casual clothing, but it is still always my first recommendation.

2 Elegance - Bruce Boyer

Bruce is my favourite writer on menswear. He has an irritating habit of anticipating my thoughts and putting them onto paper with more wit and eloquence than I can ever hope for. Elegance is structured as a series of chapters on classic items of menswear, from the trench coat to polyester, and concentrates on the origins and development of the various pieces.

3 Savile Row - James Sherwood

With Savile Row, James produced the book that the street and its inhabitants have always deserved. Meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated, it is a must for any fan of English tailoring. Again, it is mostly about history and the historical clients of the firms, rather than aspects of style.

4 Bespoke, Savile Row Ripped and Smoothed - Richard Anderson

The only book that gives an insight into what it is like to work on Savile Row. Richard’s autobiography is very personal and consistently entertaining, but most importantly gives a unique insight into the Row behind closed doors.

5 The Englishman’s Suit - Hardy Amies

Perhaps Bruce is my favourite living writer. Hardy Amies wrote some wonderful things on menswear, and despite the popularity of ‘ABC of Men’s Fashion’, which I also recommend, this is my favourite work of his. His style is peripatetic, passionate and personal - as if you were enjoying a rambling talk in front of a fire.

6 Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashions - OE Schoeffler and William Gale

A comprehensive reference manual, only published once I believe and ever since then much-borrowed from libraries and hunted down by menswear enthusiasts. Its focus is historical, but it remains a unique source for anyone involved in the industry.

7 Eminently Suitable - Bruce Boyer

As with Elegance, this is a collection of articles written for Town and Country while Bruce was its men's fashion editor. It is more practical than the earlier work, including an explanation of what clothing suits which body type (though lacking illustrations) and the best chapter on sprezzatura, or nonchalance, you will find anywhere.

8 A History of Men’s Fashion - Farid Chenoune

This is particularly good for its French perspective. Every other history of menswear seems to be written by an American or an Englishman, so the discussions here of how fashions evolved on the streets of Paris are insightful. Its only disadvantage is a tendency to wander off into social history.

9 Handmade Shoes for Men - Lazlo Vass

Although not extensive, this is the best book available on how welted shoes are made and the intricacies of the various techniques. Well illustrated, with a little potted history of footwear as well.

10 The Handbook of Style - Esquire

The Handbook is as much about casual wear as tailoring, but it is the best of the populist guides put out by magazines in the US and UK. If you like the practical sections (grey paper, lots of sketches) in the Esquire Big Black Book, this is the book for you.  

House of Billiam - bespoke varsity jackets

There is another side to the fashion industry that is more interesting than catwalks and cheap manufacture. Small designers usually begin by learning to sew and pattern cut, and then making their clothes individually by hand. The results can be bespoke, original and extremely well-made.

Tom Bird (above) has deliberately kept his production at this level. Under his brand House of Billiam, Tom makes bespoke varsity and biker jackets in his east London studio. Customers select wool, leather or suede in a range of colours for the body and arms of the jackets, and then specify the colour of the ribbing on the cuffs and neck, and the lining.  

For someone who is used to commissioning bespoke suits, but is also interested in casual wear, this is a wonderful extension of that passion. You can even play with some basic colours here. Tom also makes in tweeds and suitings, with one particularly nice tweed shown below. If you kept all the other style details to a minimum, you could essentially have a blouson-type jacket made in your favourite tweed – the perfect weekend accompaniment to weekday suits.

Tom cuts everything by hand. The paper patterns are standard sizes, not bespoke, but he adjusts each one to the customer as he cuts. Mostly this is adjustment to the length of the jacket, the arms and the size through the waist (although most are cut pretty trim to start with). He then makes each one individually on the sewing machine next to his bench, and add the poppers etc.

The most popular style is black wool with black leather arms. But there are also some pretty outlandish requests. He sells a lot in Japan, and they like bright, mismatched colours. When I visited, a group of friends were signing the inside of the panels of a jacket for a friend’s birthday. And he is also working on a limited-edition jacket that was given to the production team on the film Space Jam; the owner wants the body cut out, slimmed down and sewn back in again.

Tom uses high-quality materials, with nappa leather, good suedes and ribbing that is a step above anything on the high street. “It took a long time for me to get the right ribbing. It’s hideously expensive but it’s so much nicer,” he says. Tom also has a cable-knit option on the collar, which you can see above in a high-neck style. I was very enthusiastic about that higher collar, since varsity jackets are often unflattering because of their low collar and bloated body shapes.

Another selling point has to be the price – a bespoke jacket with a wool body and leather arms is around £350. A suede body pushes it up to £450 – though I would recommend wool or tweed having seen both.

Since Tom started in January 2009 he has had collaborations with United Arrows, Liberty and 10 Corso Como. He has also made for a range of stars including Tinie Tempah. Yet his studio, with just Radio 4 and a teetering stack of leathers for company, could not be less pretentious.

I recommend a visit. Or, wait a week or two to see the one I’m having made. There’s also a good piece on Tom with some examples of jackets on Steve’s site Style Salvage.

Photos: Luke Carby

Double-breasted smoking jacket: Reader question

Simon,

Firstly, please accept my apologies if this email address is not appropriate for you to receive and reply to individual questions.

My apology offered, if you are still reading then I thank you and pose my question...

I am a heavyset man that has reached that stage in life where I consider it no longer acceptable to wear surfing-inspired casualwear (although that does beg the question, was it ever acceptable?) and who no longer finds fulfilment in the fashion offerings of the usual high street outlets – gents my size do not exist if their stock is to be used as an indicator or if we do, then we must be at least 6'3'' tall..!

I am re-discovering my love of clothes by adopting a traditional approach to style and as such have devoured Alan Flusser's books and your Permanent Style site.

To come to my increasingly laboured question, I would like to acquire a smoking jacket and wonder whether a double-breasted (DB) style would be acceptable, given my bulk, or whether I should stick with the established suit dogma and consider only a SB style as befits my build.

My query arises from the consideration that, as it will be worn predominantly indoors, at home, would it be acceptable to ignore the usual jacketing advice and go for the more striking and warmer, DB style?

I hope you can advise.

Kind Regards

Russ

-

Dear Russ,

There seem to be a few distinct aspects to this question. First, whether a DB would be unflattering, given your relative bulk; second, whether velvet would not be complimentary; and third, whether a smoking jacket itself is a good idea.

On DBs generally, it is fair to say that most ready-to-wear DB jackets will be less flattering than a single-breasted, given the extra flap of cloth across the belly. However, there is no reason why a bespoke version shouldn’t have the opposite effect – or indeed a RTW one if you search long enough and find exactly the right style.

That style should have a relatively small overlap, so that the extra cloth is reduced and the resulting sweep of the lapel is a touch more vertical. The jacket should have two or six buttons, or if four then cut to button at the bottom set – so those above are slightly further apart and you avoid creating a square. And that buttoning point should be relatively low, to increase the length of the lapel.

The long diagonal line that results will draw the eye away from the belly and up to the shoulders, which is flattering on any man.

Velvet is not the sleekest of materials, given the light-sucking effect of its nap. So if flattery were all that you were after then I would recommend another cloth. But I sense that it isn’t, given your description of wearing it. There is clearly an image here you wish to create.

So go with the velvet. But as to a smoking jacket as a style choice, I would suggest caution. If you don’t have a tuxedo already, have that made first. Velvet is a nice alternative to formal events (perhaps the slightly less formal, and certainly when you are not the host), but a tuxedo will be far more versatile.

If you indeed intend to wear it around the house at home, you must have run a long way into a “traditional approach to style”. I applaud your commitment in that case, and fully endorse the making of a DB smoking jacket. It will certainly have style; it is a style I had mine made in too, though I confess I don’t wear it at home. (Fitting on the jacket at Timothy Everest, pictured top.)

I hope it’s a rewarding process

Simon

Alexander Boyd: London city tailor

City tailors in London are a rare breed. They used to serve a community of businessmen and financiers that wanted hand-cut but partly machine-made suits that they could wear the hell out of. Graham Browne is one of the few left. Alexander Boyd is another.

Both Boyd and Browne are very snappy dressers, though neither do the cutting at their establishments. Boyd still owns his, but works in an office upstairs of the premises on Artillery Lane, near to Liverpool Street. Browne sold the business recently to the cutters, Russell and Dan. Another difference is that Alexander Boyd, the brand, started using more West End tailors a while ago, and this is reflected in the make and the price - £2250 as opposed to £900 at Graham Browne.

The head cutter at Boyd is Clive Phythian, ex-Gieves & Hawkes and Timothy Everest. He is a typical tailor – lovely man, honest trader, can’t stop talking. “I’ve worked as both a City tailor and a West End tailor, and when you go to the West End the first thing to say to you is ‘slow down, slow down'. It’s a different way of life,” he says.

“I’ve moved around quite a bit in my career but I’ve never taken my customer list with me,” he adds. “I can count on two fingers the number of private jobs I’ve ever done. I like to get to the end of the day and just switch off. I suppose I’m old fashioned that way.”

His son, Steven Phythian, is rather quieter. He only started with his father a couple of years ago, after various careers including working in Argos and delivering pizzas. But fortunately he can use a computer – where Clive swears he never touches the things. So Clive has never seen this nice piece in Spitalfields Life, which goes into much more detail on his tailoring career. 

Clive and Steven are fortunate in that there is an alterations business downstairs, and the tailors there are usually happy to help out with any quick tailoring work. They also have an intern working on some patterns and basting.

The house style is a pretty straightforward English cut – padded shoulders, strong chest and a high buttoning point. On style Clive emphasises that they are very flexible though – another attribute of City tailors: “If people come in and they want a one-button, peak-lapel jacket we can work with them. Tailoring has to be something you enjoy and are involved with, not something that is forced upon you.” 

Some shots of suits provided by Steven (click to enlarge):

Shoe shoot for Free and Easy

 

Photo shoot yesterday for Free and Easy magazine in Japan. They're doing a special on English shoes, so shots of four pairs of my shoes from four different English shoemakers, and an interview/shoot with me. Photos of that next month when the magazine's out.

From bottom to top: Gaziano & Girling bespoke slip-ons, John Lobb (Paris) blue Oxfords, Edward Green Top Drawer monks, Cleverley black imitation brogues.

Review: The Perfect Gentleman, James Sherwood

James Sherwood’s latest book, The Perfect Gentleman, is almost as lavish as his definitive work on Savile Row. It begins with spread after spread of shops and products, giving the reader a feel for every aspect of London’s luxury retailers. It is illustrated throughout by great archive shots and original photography by AndyBarnham.

The focus is very much on history, as it was with Savile Row. This is about the provenance and traditions of Floris, Garrard and Asprey, and the gentlemen that frequented them over the years. This is a particular love of James’s, as reflected in his work as an archivist, and indeed he is at his best in the introductions to each section (as again was the case with Savile Row) where he can use a broader brush to paint the social background to the coming chapters.

For my part, I would have liked to know more about the craft itself – why Garrard is such a good jeweller, rather than who it has served – but that is a personal preference.

The selection of companies in the book is broad, from jewellery to wines to guns, but includes some very new brands among the old, such as Emma Willis shirts and jeweller Shaun Leane. It was lovely to see Gaziano & Girling included too, though Fox Brothers sits a little oddly in a list of Mayfair retailers.

The Perfect Gentleman should and will be popular amongst all fans of London’s luxury houses, particularly those abroad.

Ollie Trenchard: Style and the Tailor

Where do you work?

I work at Anderson and Sheppard as an apprentice coat cutter. I've been there for just under two and a half years.

How did you get into bespoke?

From a young age I developed a strong interest in the details that come together to make true style. As a child I was fascinated by watching my dad tie a particular tie knot, and the way he dressed for work.

What do you like about Savile Row?

I love the sense of history – the knowledge that the world's most stylish men have graced these pavements.

Describe your style

My style is fairly reserved and conservative. I prefer my cut to be typical Anderson and Sheppard: a fuller chest and gentle shape, though with a slightly slimmer leg. I like simplicity; a single-breasted grey or blue suit with a white shirt and a dark tie is what you will find me in most of the time.

What's your favourite style aspect of a suit?

Its a combination of all the small details that create a final look. Balance and proportion are key. Lapel width, gorge and coat length should all compliment the wearer.

What's your favourite cloth and why?

The mid-grey flannel from Fox Flannels. I think every man should own a grey flannel suit and experience its effortless charm.

What's your favourite piece of tailoring you own?

My grey flannel suit.

What tailoring are you going to make yourself next?

This is a tough one, but probably a single-breasted navy hopsack in a 12/13oz weight. The detail of the weave has more interest than a typical serge and it hangs beautifully.  

Ollie, third from left, with John Hitchcock and other A&S apprentices

What's your favourite accessory?

I have a beautiful pair of Trickers penny loafers that come out on special occasions. The colour is described as espresso and is a wonderful shade.

What do you wear at the weekend?

I lead a pretty active lifestyle outside of work and I tend to be fairly casual: a pair of vintage Levi's, some Superga 1705’s, a plain t-shirt and my wool baseball jacket from House of Billiam.

Levi's are made well and get better as they age, and the Supergas are such a clean shape. The tee and the baseball jacket are my nods to 50s Americana, which is my favourite era for its simplicity of style.

What designer brands do you like?

I particularly like brands such as APC and Our Legacy who work with elements such as design and cloth, found in traditional tailoring, for a modern audience.

What high street brands do you like?

I think Uniqlo is good, particularly for knitwear. There is a really good choice of colours, and the prices are very accessible.

What's top of your clothing wish list?

A classic Burberry trench coat for Spring and a WM J Mills cargo bag.

What blogs or websites do you read?

Permanent Style, The Selby and The Sartorialist. 

Read about Ollie's work at Anderson & Sheppard on The Notebook. 

Pictures: Anderson & Sheppard/Andy Barnham

Trunk Clothiers launches online retail

A lot of readers ask what I wear at the weekend - ie things apart from tailoring. As mentioned, the Style and the Tailor series was one attempt to highlight some inspiration in get from people I know. But another way to illustrate this is to pick out items from Trunk Clothiers. 

Almost everything they stock I would say falls into my ideal casual wear - classically designed, high-quality materials and with fit a constant consideration. Most of the pieces I show here are expensive (the Camoshita cardigan above is £800, the Nigel Cabourne Cameraman jacket below, £1100). But think of these things in the same way you do tailored suits. Buy them to last in terms of style and the construction will reward you in the same way. 

There are of course much cheaper things too, such as the North Sea Clothing jumper at the bottom, which has a fantastic fit not quite apparent from a straight-on shot. And I include a pair of Common Projects trainers in grey suede, as favoured by myself and recent interviewee Michael Browne.

Perhaps most excitingly, Trunk now has its own online retail - the site launched last month. I know this was a complaint of readers on previous Trunk posts. There is even a good Facebook and Twitter feed. 

Nigel Cabourne cameraman jacket in military green

Common Projects Tournament Low in grey suede

North Sea Clothing Explorer shawl neck sweater

Smalto, Paris - more pictures

Following popular request - that is, one request - here are some more pics from Smalto, the Parisian bespoke tailor.

See the full post on Smalto here.

Marking the cloth - the second in Smalto's three-step cutting process

Basting the lapel together

A four-button jacket that will fasten all the way up

Quite an array of thread. It's not just navy and grey suits here.

A bundle ready to go off to the tailor

The Smalto measuring sheet that bundle was wrapped in

A Safari jacket in rather lurid orange

Shirt cuff and bellows pocket on the Safari jacket

Pleated back

All the trimmings

Smalto: bespoke tailor, Paris

French tailor Smalto is not talked about much by the bespoke enthusiasts of the world. Yet it is the second-biggest bespoke operation in France (after Cifonelli), has a great history – having been established by Francesco Smalto in 1962 when he left Camps de Luca – and a very strong style.

That style is most clearly identified in the Smalto lapel: a smaller notch, known as a fish mouth among English tailors, in which the lapel angles upwards from the point it meets the collar. It can be seen as half way between a notch and a peak lapel.

The jacket style is also characterised by a well-padded shoulder and close waist. While still being lighter in construction than any of its Savile Row cousins, the Smalto suit is cut and made in a strong, masculine style – similar to how Camps de Luca suits used to be, when the house style was driven more by Joseph Camps than the de Luca family, as currently.

There are other similarities with Camps de Luca such as the teardrop-shaped ticket point on the inside of the jacket (see picture, top) and – like all French tailors – Smalto the fineness of finishing on the linings and buttonholes.

One thing that sets Smalto apart from everyone else, however, is its method of cutting. It works from a series of plastic patterns for set chest sizes and styles. These are used to make a very rough, basted fitting using waste cloth, which is substantially altered to cut the actual cloth. One advantage of this system is speed – a first fitting can be done the same day as no cloth is required and the cutting is very simple.

Other French tailors often use waste cloth to do a fitting. Cifonelli, for example, has done so with me when I’ve been in Paris for just a day, and Lorenzo Cifonelli particularly likes to do so with female customers and with trousers for a first-time customer – as both can be tricky in the re-cutting.

But no one works off plastic in the same way that Smalto does (though it should be pointed out that this is by no means the same as just adjusting blocks, as some cheaper bespoke tailors or made-to-measure systems do). Smalto also uses a three-part cutting process, in which the most important person is the measurer and fitter. He does no cutting himself, but passes on changes to someone else who creates and uses the paper pattern, who in turn passes it to someone else to do the cutting.

Most large tailors use an undercutter to the do the striking of the actual cloth, but I’m a little sceptical about the virtues of not having the measurer/cutter have any connection with the cloth itself. Then again, I have not tried the Smalto process so I do not pretend to pass judgment.

Smalto is not just a tailor. It has two full fashion lines, with ready-to-wear suits retailing at around €1000 and €3000 (bespoke is around €6000), housed in a glamorous corner house. The styling is fairly brash, redolent of Zilli. All the bespoke appointments are taken upstairs, rather than in the same building as the tailoring itself. This does have the advantage that all the RTW can be quickly altered, and to a very high standard.

As mentioned in my piece on Camps de Luca, French tailors have lot of African clients, and around Smalto you see a lot of lightweight, unlined and Safari jackets/shirt jackets. This does have its downsides in terms of style – one African leader who will remain nameless had ordered a suit in a Scabal cloth that is woven with the client’s name as the pinstripes.

But overall, Francesco Smalto’s reputation for quality and innovation seems to be intact. As an example of the latter, one room we visited was covered in print-outs of suit styles and cloths – the working drafts for a Smalto app that will allow bespoke customers to go through the hundreds of options available in cloth and cut, so they can design everything before they even arrive at the shop. 

Photography: Luke Carby

Permanent Style on Twitter

Following a few requests from readers, I've been tweeting far more actively recently, and will keep it up. It has already proved to be a good forum to chat about Weston vs Berluti shoes, the merits of belts and much more.

And does anyone agree on denim shirt-jacket would work?
Twitter handle @PermanentStyle