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#menswear, let me introduce you to textile science

September 8, 2013, 4:47 am
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When it comes to assessing fabrics, the world of #menswear has been hindered by a kind of "folk reasoning" which tends to oversimplify things in assessing quality. Let me give you a couple of examples I've observed. The first is an erroneous tendency to assess fabric quality and performance through a single variable such as hand feel. The other is the almost exclusive use of subjective opinion to assess quality and performance without any data (or very limited data).

The first tendency rests on the belief that one can discern fabric performance through hand feel or hand manipulation of fabric. A common "test" described on forums is grabbing or pinching part of the fabric and observing if wrinkling occurs. Another test I recall reading on a discussion forum thread also involved pinching a fabric and observing the ability of the pinched portion to maintain its stiffness. There are quite a few flaws in these "tests" although they are weakly related to legitimate tests for wrinkle recovery and drape.

Standardized industry tests do exist but the ones described above sadly do not qualify. If only it were that easy! In textiles, there are two governing industry bodies. The one most relevant for this discussion is ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials). More specifically, the standard performance spec for menswear is D3780-02 aka "Standard Performance Specification for Men's and Boys' Woven Dress Suit Fabrics and Woven Sportswear Jacket, Slack and Trouser Fabrics".

I would hypothesize that men's suitings and jacketing produced by most reputable mills would pass ASTM D3780-02 in the two most common tests of textile durability - breaking strength and abrasion strength. If true, there are clear implications for #menswear. For instance, stop speculating or fixating on whether Harrisons or Lesser 11oz worsted or Drapers or Halstead mohair is more durable. I think the likely answer is that both will probably meet or exceed established quality standards. I think the more nuanced question is which fabric best meets the aesthetic requirements of your end use.

I say this because most end-users are not properly equipped or trained to test for quality or performance. But they can assess the aesthetic qualities like hand feel. Of course, the danger is that #menswear aficionados extrapolate quality and performance characteristics from the aesthetic features of a fabric.

So who is qualified and incentivized to test for textile quality and performance? That would be the industry itself, specifically internal textile quality management groups at large vertically integrated textile manufacturers or third party testing labs commonly utilized for such purposes.

The textile industry has been steadily consolidating into fewer and larger producers, which has its pros and cons. One could argue smaller mills and weavers wouldn't be able to afford the costs of quality testing and management. Either way, the industry views a performance category like durability from a minimum threshold perspective - i.e. whether its fabrics can meet the ASTM performance spec in certain areas like breaking strength or abrasion strength - rather than from a comparative perspective (i.e. does my mohair perform better than my competitor's mohair?).

Yet #menswear enthusiasts love to argue whether English mill X produces more "durable" fabric than mill Y, often with no data on hand. Therein lies the dilemma. Even without real data, this doesn't stop enthusiasts from filling pages of discussions threads with speculation based on personal experiences and anecdotes.

At best, these end-users rely on a very loose application of what is known formally as "wear testing". While it has advantages, wear testing has a key weakness - lack of comparability of results. Since every wearer will treat and use the product differently, wear testing has low precision (i.e. poor reproducibility of results in a larger sample) despite high accuracy in the individual case.

What works better is materials testing or end-use performance testing as exemplified by ASTM D3780-02. It's better because it's based on data collected under more controlled conditions. So let me present some data based on five fabrics on which I conducted breaking strength and fabric weight tests to see (a) whether the ASTM minimum threshold for strength was met (b) the fabric weighed close to the advertised weight.

As I mentioned before, strength and abrasion are the two most common tests in durability testing. The testing involves a grab test in which a sample fabric strip is held on both ends and stretched until it fails (see demonstration video below). If I had enough time, I would have conducted the standard Martindale or Taber abrasion test on my samples. I also would have had run three sets of test strips. In other words, for each fabric, I would have cut three strips each in the warp and fill direction instead of just one warp and one fill test strip for each fabric.



The five fabrics tested were: Zegna 15 milmil 15 moss glenplaid wool jacketing (15 micron fibers), Drapers Super 150s gunclub jacketing, Scabal Vivaldi Four Seasons Super 120s 10oz glenplaid suiting, Minnis 2-ply fresco and a (likely Italian) dogtooth linen suiting or jacketing. Below is a photo of the sample test fabrics.

Breaking strength test samples

So how did these fabrics do? I've ordered the results based on their breaking strength. For worsted and cotton fabrics, the ASTM D3780-02 spec establishes a tensile requirement of 40 lbf for suits and trousers and 30 lbf for jackets. All the fabrics passed the breaking strength test for suits, trousers and jackets except for one fabric (Scabal for suit/trouser use):

Test results - maximum loads in warp and fill directions (lbf) and fabric weight (per linear yard)
  1. Minnis : 59.7 lbf, 80.5 lbf, 9.5 oz
  2. Drapers: 67.1 lbf, 60.3 lbf, 8.2 oz
  3. Zegna: 57.4 lbf, 55.2 lbf, 9.7 oz
  4. Linen: 56.1 lbf, 48.8 lbf, 7.8 oz
  5. Scabal: 61.0 lbf, 36.8 lbf, 7.5 oz
As an example, I've included a photo of the print out for the Minnis test results.

Minnis fresco breaking strength test results

The data reveals a few interesting things (although I would of course caution against excessive generalization based on one test sample from each fabric):
  • The tested fabrics, which are from well-known Italian and English mills, generally met or exceeded the breaking strength for the most common applications for these fabrics (suits, trousers, jackets).
  • The only possible exception is the Scabal which came in just under the 40 lbf minimum at 36.8lbf in the fill direction, which is also generally the weaker direction of most fabrics. As this is a single test strip on one section of a fabric length the result is not conclusive but intriguing and suggestive. More test samples would be needed to determine if this is indeed an issue. But among other things, the Scabal length I purchased from a local fabric shop could have been a variation from their final production run as I noticed the selvedge seemed a bit unusual.
  • A Super 150s fabric in the right weave, finish and yarn quality (i.e. Drapers) can easily exceed the ASTM strength test for suits, jackets and trousers, even as a lightweight fabric. So much for the anti-Supers bias that many (including formerly myself) adhere to.
  • The top performer was the Minnis 2-ply fresco which bested the breaking standard by 49% and 101% respectively in the warp and fill direction. Clearly, the 2-ply yarns (as well as twist) play a key role in enhancing fabric strength, although they appear to be used just in the fill direction. 
  • In terms of weight, the only advertised weights I have are for the Minnis and Scabal. The Minnis measured very close to its published weight of 280-310g. The Scabal fell a bit short of its advertised 10 oz, which, as described above, may or may not indicate a defect.
Now, in fairness to the #menswear enthusiasts, the breaking strength tests do show relative differences. However, in order to know whether those differences exist and/or matter, you would need to buy a $30,000 piece of testing equipment. I would suggest your money would be better spent on great tailors and equally great fabrics from the handful of menswear textile manufacturers left in the world. And I think we all know who they are.
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Fabric quality: A test is not a test is not a test

September 22, 2013, 4:44 am
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In my previous posting, what I described was intended to convey a taste of what textile quality management professionals actually do. A key implication is that there is simply no way an end-user or consumer can hope to replicate what professionals do. The training, equipment and knowledge are all lacking.

Clearly, the term "testing" has different meanings to an end user, a tailor or a bona fide textile testing lab. A "pinch test" is widely used and accepted by tailors and some users as a quick and dirty test for quality. As Chicago tailor Despos notes, tailors can use this informal test to infer other properties of a cloth such as its ability to be tailored and constructed. In this qualified context, I tend to agree. An experienced tailor's assessment of a fabric, based on years of tacit and explicit knowledge making up garments, probably correlates pretty well with more objective tests of a fabric's quality.

Now, can we extend that logic to include the average #menswear enthusiast who typically has never sewn, constructed or finished a garment, let alone understand the construction of said fabric from fiber to yarn to cloth? I'm afraid not.

In the end, the gold standard for assessing quality and performance is a formal scientific test, not an informal, less scientific one. In fact, the irony is that the end user is probably in the worst position, from a knowledge and experience standpoint, to make informed assessments about fabric quality.

My advice to most enthusiasts is to play primarily in the aesthetic sandbox - namely, color, pattern, weave and hand feel. Of course, it's very helpful to understand the general properties of the major natural and synthetic yarns and optimize against your expected end use. But for most consumers, the process is as simple as selecting a fabric from the known mills that meets your aesthetic and functional needs, listen to your highly experienced tailor, have the fabric made up and then enjoy!

A more cynical reading of my advice would be the following - if you're an end user, it's a waste of time to compare relative quality of fabrics, particularly if you're choosing from a known universe of quality mills. Instead, the cynic would say to choose a fabric based on the aesthetics and end use but don't bother poking a finger, literally and figuratively, into parameters that you simply cannot measure properly.

However, since this will hardly satisfy some of my readers, I am planning to offer a few practical tips if you are serious about assessing quality in a common sensical way. Look out for a posting in the near future.
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The one travel shoe

September 29, 2013, 5:45 am
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I've been on the hunt for the ideal pair of travel shoes that can meet my particular needs - namely, I prefer to wear a single pair of shoes to carry me through a short business trip (usually 3-4 days or less) for either domestic or international travel. The reason for this 'one pair of shoes' philosophy is that I like to travel with just a carry-on shoulder bag and a laptop briefcase.

This puts special demands on that single pair of travel shoes including: being reasonably priced (i.e. repair cost in case of damage), comfortable, airport security-friendly (i.e. easily taken on or off), wet weather capable and versatile (i.e. able to be paired with suits, sports coats and casual clothes such as jeans).

Another requirement for me is absence of significant metallic components. For instance, many Alden shoes are built with a steel shank that tends to trigger the metal detector and an additional pat-down. I also would rather look at RTW or MTO shoes due to ease and cost of repair in case of damage during travel.

I have concluded that the two types of shoes that best suit my needs are monk straps and dress loafers outfitted with rubber soles (Dainite or equivalent), preferably finished in dark brown calfskin. Another option is the gusseted side elastic oxford (such as the Crockett & Jones Petersham and Edward Green Kibworth) but these are generally harder to find with fewer models to choose from.

For quite some time, the Allen Edmonds Thayer monkstrap (in burgundy) served me well but I have had to find a replacement after several years of useful service (the strap attached to the vamp gave out).

Crockett & Jones Monkton monkstrap

My new travel shoe is the Crockett & Jones Monkton monk strap in dark Cotswold grain and the elegant 348 last. I will also probably add the C&J Sydney dress loafer (again with Dainite rubber sole) to my travel shoe rotation since I believe my constant wear of the Thayers contributed to their somewhat early demise.

In terms of repairability, Crockett & Jones has very good retail coverage in the US, UK, continental Europe and Japan - five stores in London alone, three in Paris, one in Brussels and the major department stores in Tokyo. The NYC store offers factory refurbishing ($210 as of August 2013) which takes about 10-12 weeks.

Additional link
- Quality and affordability in men's shoes
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Vass Norweger shoes

October 14, 2013, 5:49 am
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Ivy League style: Kamakura Shirts

November 2, 2013, 4:35 am
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Fabric quality: A call to visualize and quantify

November 17, 2013, 3:48 am
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I have good news and bad news. The good news is that fabric quality can be measured. The bad news is that a fully fledged quality testing protocol is simply beyond the means of the average end user. Ultimately, quality testing should be done in the textile industry starting upstream from the fiber supplier and the yarn manufacturer and going downstream to the retailer.

But all is not lost. If you are an end-user who is seriously interested in understanding textile quality, then chances are you'll need to unlearn what you have read online. Above all, you will have to make a fundamental sensory change from touch to vision. Unfortunately, conventional wisdom in #menswear seems to rely almost exclusively on touch (esp. hand feel) to assess fabric quality.

But think about this for a moment. If you could save only one of your five senses, which one would it be? I suspect most people would choose to keep their vision or hearing. Why is that? Because those two senses provide the greatest volume and quality of sensory data to your brain.

Put another way, there is an enormous signal (or information) gain going from touch to vision. You may think you can divine reams of useful data using your finger or hand as an instrument, but that is simply not the case. When used in isolation, one's sense of touch is more likely a slippery slope to confirmation bias.

Consider the list of key fabric characteristics you can measure with a finger in a precise way. It's not much except rough texture and surface feel. Compare that with what you can ascertain visually from a fabric sample - fiber identification, yarn identification, yarn type, yarn count, fabric count, fabric dimensions, color, texture, pattern, weave type, and more.

I would submit that the single best quality assessment that #menswear enthusiasts can perform is visual, not tactile. If you agree, then I'd also argue that the single most useful tool to assess fabric quality is something called a pick glass or linen tester. You can easily find this pocket-sized tool for a few dollars online or at a local photo equipment store.

Photo credit: Halcyon Yarns
Armed with a pick glass, you can visually confirm a mill's top-level claims about any given fabric. Not only can you directly measure critical characteristics of the fabric, but after assaying a number of fabrics from a mill you also can develop a feel for the quality of the mill itself and the consistency of its quality management process. The former is perhaps more immediately important when choosing a specific fabric, but the latter can be useful when deciding between two seemingly equivalent choices or choosing between mills.

In particular, the three tests below focus on yarn since it is the basic building block of apparel fabrics (apart from the constituent fibers, of course, which are more difficult to measure and assess).

Using your pick glass, you can:
  1. Confirm yarn construction (single v. ply), number of plies if applicable and whether the yarn is spun. These obviously should match up to the advertised yarn construction. If the mill claims the fabric is made of 2-ply yarn, then you can verify if that is the case and in which direction (both warp and fill, or just one direction). If strength and abrasion resistance is your sine qua non, then find a fabric with plied yarns in both directions.
  2. Measure and compare yarn count. Ends per inch (EPI) and picks per inch (PPI) should be generally close to each other. Most fabrics normally have a higher EPI than PPI (i.e. higher yarn count in the warp direction as opposed to the fill direction). If they're drastically different, that might indicate an anomaly or a defect.
  3. Calculate and compare fabric count or density. Computing yarns per inch (YPI) is useful if you are comparing two fabrics marketed in the same weight and weave. All other things being equal, the fabric with a higher YPI generally should be more expensive because it uses more yarns. Also, the higher the yarn count, the better drape and hand feel, generally speaking.
These two tests are more "advanced" simply because they require either additional knowledge or tools beyond a pick glass:
  1. Determine linear weight. Weight measurement is foundational and important but unfortunately beyond the reach of most enthusiasts as it requires a fabric scale, which tend to be electronic these days and fairly expensive. But if you have access to one (or can find a used, manual scale with a fabric sample cutter designed for it), then you can measure the actual v. claimed weight of the fabric. This is obviously useful if you are comparing two fabrics in the same marketed weight and weave.
  2. Verify weave. This requires more familiarity with types of weaves but it is helpful to verify the weave of a fabric and gauge that against its end use.
Let me go back to our sense of touch for a minute. I am not advocating that we abandon this extraordinarily visceral sense of ours but its principal use should be clear by now. It is well suited for the hand feel of fabrics, which is about aesthetics and skin comfort. To assess textile quality, you'll need to augment your hands with your eyes.

One final thing - all of the preceding presupposes some textile knowledge such as knowing how to use a pick glass, identifying ply yarns, and understanding the difference between EPI and PPI. Find a way to get up to speed on these basics (i.e. enroll in an introductory textiles class at a local university), and you will know how to perform the tests I describe above and why they matter.

Additional links
- Sleevehead posts on textile quality
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Neapolitan tailoring revisited - Rubinacci

December 1, 2013, 1:38 pm
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Five years is an eternity in modern fashion, especially women's fashion. Yet half a decade is but a diversionary song in the longer, still evolving epic (or is it myth?) of men's clothing.





It was roughly five years ago that Rubinacci and Neapolitan tailoring made its dramatic appearance on the internet and the world of #menswear changed forever.

Well, actually not. Hindsight tells us that Neapolitan tailoring is less revolutionary than it seemed. It's simply the other primal option in modern men's bespoke tailoring. The original option was of course Savile Row. But back in 2008 without the benefit of history what a novelty it seemed.
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English buttons - James Grove & Sons

December 9, 2013, 3:23 am
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After more than 150 years in business, James Grove & Sons closed for business in 2012. Below is a video describing their history as the largest manufacturer of horn and synthetic buttons in the UK. If it is still intact, I would love to spend a day looking through their button archives.



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Accessory round-up

January 12, 2014, 5:06 pm
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Happy new year, I recently received a few accessories which I thought I would share. They are a very elegant pair of Vass austerity brogue shoes, a bespoke Yellow Hook cashmere tie made in Brooklyn and an Equus leather belt crafted using highly durable English bridle leather and brass hardware.







In addition, I note that this month - January 2014 - marks the ninth (!) anniversary of this blog. It's been an enjoyable journey so far and I look forward to see how the next chapter unfolds.
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The decline and fall of hat wearing

February 3, 2014, 4:05 pm
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The English historian Edward Gibbon attributed the decline and fall of the once ubiquitous Roman Empire to the gradual, enervating loss of martial dedication and civic discipline among its citizenry. In a way, the Romans did not keep up the appearances required of an enduring civilization. Put simply, the slipping of standards led to the sinking of an empire.

One could argue much the same about the rise and fall of another once ubiquitous phenomenon of Western civilization, namely, hat wearing. A number of speculative theories have been posited attempting to explain the decline of hat wearing ranging from the rise of automobiles to the social fissures created in the 1960s by the Vietnam War and the baby boomer generation. The author of Hatless Jackaddresses the popular notion that a young, dynamic and hatless JFK hammered in the final nail in the coffin of hat wearing. These are certainly plausible explanations but they all suffer from a severe lack of data, evidence and supporting material.

This article attempts to fill this evidentiary gap and may be the first application of "culturomics" (i.e. computational analysis of digitized texts) to menswear or fashion generally speaking. N-grams are sequences of text or speech, which, when combined with Google's digitization of millions of books between 1500 and 2008, provide a unique historical record over 500 years of human history across several different languages.

When the Google Ngram Viewer was released in 2010, the first n-gram analyses I generated were for my book, currently in progress, combining a practical guide and intellectual history of men's style (which I will likely split into two separate works).

I think the Ngram Viewer offers some very suggestive insights on the gradual but almost complete collapse of hat wearing. Analysis of n-grams are unlikely to establish causality in the scientific sense but it can help make sense of why something happened and the social and cultural context around the specific practice and concept behind the n-gram. In this case, I'm proposing to analyze the word "hat" as a means to explore, starting with the linguistic record, linkages to the social practice of hat wearing.

Hypothesis #1: Hat wearing can be correlated to specific historical periods.

I interpret the n-gram plot below to indicate three phases - bubble or boom years (1860-1900), a "golden age" (1900-1940) and a "golden decline" of hats (1940-1960). These correlate respectively to the Victorian-Edwardian era, World War I/Roaring Twenties and postwar US and Europe.



The question then becomes a matter of building a plausible theory of the social, cultural and economic drivers in each period which can explain why the word-stock of hats grew, peaked and declined in the three eras identified above.

Hypothesis #2: The decline of hat wearing may be correlated with the decline of the social concept and practice of being a gentleman.

At first blush, there doesn't appear to be any correlation between "hat" and "gentleman" in the n-gram plot below. But it is interesting to note the peaks and valleys in the usage of "gentleman" circa 1800-1820 and 1900-1920, suggesting again underlying linkages to historical events during those time periods. The fact that the word hat persists at a consistent rate over 200 years is also noteworthy, at least compared to the steady and absolute decline of gentleman in the digitized corpus.



Hypothesis #3: Events in popular culture reported by mass media can influence linguistic usage and the actual practice of hat wearing.

Below we see an interesting fluctuation in the frequency of texts mentioning Stetson hats. I surmise the peaks are generated by specific films, tv shows, celebrities or other events covered by media outlets during those time periods.



In order to make progress on this hypothesis, the n-gram analysis above needs to be augmented with actual hat production numbers.

Additional links
- Erez Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel, Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture
- Sleevehead on the rise and fall of hats - Stetson Whippet advertisement
- Sleevehead on musicians, rules, weather and God or 4 reasons to wear a hat


Copyright © 2014 by Juhn Maing. All rights reserved. 
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Is a $300 canvas tote bag a #firstworld luxury?

May 3, 2014, 7:11 am
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Well, yes. A $300 canvas tote bag is a #firstworld luxury and the ability to buy one is a nice option to have. On the other hand, it is perhaps the only ethical thing to do assuming you have the means to afford a $300 tote. Let me explain.

I happen to live in NYC which requires a carryall tote bag for everyday use and shopping. Most NYC dwellers, including myself, make do without a personal car which means that we shop more frequently and in smaller amounts. Unlike our suburban counterparts who can drive to a supermarket, Costco, Walmart, etc. and load up their cars or SUVs, we rely on bipedal motion and the homely tote bag to re-stock on essential items.

My old canvas tote was beginning to show its age and thus I was on the hunt for a decently made replacement. After some reflection, I decided this meant I needed to find a functional carryall that was assembled and manufactured in a country with robust health and safety regulations.  These days it is standard practice to manufacture in the lowest cost locations. Low cost often means lax standards regarding worker safety. You may have heard about the Bangladesh garment factory collapse in 2013 which killed more than 1,000 workers.

I realize there is no easy solution here. By buying a bag made in a low-cost overseas factory, you are, at least in the short term, actually helping a worker who is supporting her family and may otherwise be unemployed (or perhaps working under even worse conditions).

However, it strikes me that there are more defensible choices for a #firstworld consumer. If you can afford it, why not support minimum worker standards and purchase products made under those conditions? Or if you wish to genuinely improve the economic livelihood and self-sufficiency of Third World workers, look into co-operative products. Links to both options can be found below.



In the meantime, I was prepared to pay more for a new tote bag but though I didn't realize how much more I would have to pay. I ended up going for a canvas tote by Chapman Bags whose workshop is located in England (Cumbria to be more precise).



I also had some specific functional requirements which the Chapman bag provided that I couldn't find anywhere else. These were:
  • Water resistant interior for easy cleaning
  • Dual-purpose handles that can be carried by hand or slipped over the shoulder
  • Sufficient interior width and volume to store liter sized bottles
The bag I decided to buy was their tan fishing tote bag, which retails for 115 GBP (incl. 20% VAT). The fishing tote also has an optional, removable rubberized liner that is water resistant. Funnily enough, it's also on sale now at 25% off (85 GBP) although I bought mine at full price. Even #firstworld consumers can appreciate a sale.

Below are additional canvas/leather tote bag options I came across. And the last option, of course, is to make your own tote bag as a DIY project.

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Mastered.com - the theory and practice of making things

June 20, 2014, 4:59 am
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I'm not terribly fond of the well-worn adage "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach". Indeed I think it is very wrong-headed in assuming the separation of theory from practice and privileging the latter in all instances. Perhaps I'm overlooking something but I've found the individual parts rarely exceed the sum of both.

This seems especially true in a discipline such as tailoring, where theory in concert with practice seems the better approach. Recently I was pleased to learn of the launch of Mastered, which embodies this approach. Mastered is a new online venture offering creative arts education focused on fashion and jewelry taught by highly experienced practitioners.



Moreover, I learned that the esteemed Savile Row tailor Andrew Ramroop will be offering a Mastered online course on making a coat. As far as I'm aware, this will be the first time Savile Row-specific content and training will be offered online.

Savile Row Trailer from Mastered on Vimeo.


Mr. Ramroop is also conducting a free live lesson on June 24th. Unfortunately, I'm not able to attend due to work but I look forward to seeing the archived version.
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Trimmings merchant: Bernstein & Banleys

August 9, 2014, 8:52 am
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I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Jonathan Bernstein of Bernstein & Banleys, one of the few remaining independent trimmings merchants left in the trade. I was interested in meeting for a simple reason. Although I had found a French source for silk facings used in dinner jackets and formalwear, I had not yet found a source for the old-fashioned silk trouser braid used in formal trousers.

I inquired with at least half a dozen trimmings and fabric merchants in NYC but to no avail. I did manage to locate a source for regular silk cord (Botani Trimmings). However, with no sign of the old fashioned trouser braid (see third braid from top in photo below), I feared it was no longer being made.



As it turns out, that fear was altogether premature. Jonathan confirmed that the English mill that used to make this quintessential trimming is no longer in business (and undoubtedly supplied much of Savile Row). But the good news is that after some investigation B&B identified an Italian mill who is able to produce an equivalent braid with similar specifications to the English-made variety.

You might be wondering why I'm putting so much stock in sourcing and understanding the provenance of a trimming a mere 5/8 inch in width? You might also point out that trouser braid is perhaps one percent of the bill of materials for a bespoke dinner jacket and trousers. My reason (or conceit) is fairly simple - modern men's formalwear was originally an English invention.



At least for me, it's heartening to see an active UK manufacture and trade around a dress code that is quintessentially English. Today, of course, quality textile and fabric merchants live in a multi-sourced commercial environment and work with a spectrum of Italian and English suppliers. But from the standpoint of "heritage aesthetics", I like the fact that B&B currently work with a factory in East Anglia for their silk facings. The factory is located in a town whose history with textile manufacture dates back to the Middle Ages.



But set aside the aesthetics of authenticity for a moment. Based on what I saw, I think B&B has the widest and most complete offering of formalwear trimmings in the market. Specifically, I'm speaking about their new silk facings and linings books which offers both traditional options (check out their viscose rayon or ermazine linings) and new trends such as digital print silk linings.



If you're a tailor or designer, I'd encourage you to inquire into B&B (no minimums) and they have a NY-based agent to facilitate orders.

Additional links
- James Grove & Sons buttons - B&B acquired the button inventory of James Grove
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Scissormaking: Ernest Wright and Sons

August 15, 2014, 3:58 am
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The Putter from shaun bloodworth on Vimeo.




I enjoyed coming across this story on the state of the scissor making trade in England and a mini-revival of what appears to be the country's last remaining maker.

I'm learning how to cut and sew a men's shirt later this year and will put in a order for one of the tailoring shears.
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Old World textiles: Antico Setificio Fiorentino

September 6, 2014, 6:30 am
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The Privilege of Luxury - Short movie from Antico Setificio Fiorentino on Vimeo.


This is an informative albeit promotional video of Antico Setificio Fiorentino, Florence's last silk-making factory. It was established in 1786 and bought by the Stefano Ricci group in 2010. The factory specializes in silk and silk-linen damask, brocade and Ermisino taffeta woven on hand looms. Ermisino taffeta is perhaps its most well-known silk.

The video provides a glimpse of the 1,800 mechanical and 1,700 hand looms used in the factory. The equipment includes original 18th century looms - some of which are based on a Leonardo da Vinci design for a warping machine.

Production is 40-80 centimeters per worker per day. This is an astonishingly low rate compared to modern, high speed looms. In contrast, the fastest looms today (air jets and multiphase looms) can achieve weft insertion rates of 5,000 meters per minute. Simply put, this shows why very few products are handmade these days.

It also implies that if you appreciate such artisanship you'll have to be prepared to pay for such handmade luxury. The same applies here since ASF fabrics start at $435 per yard. As you might imagine, the factory's customers, such as Versailles and the Kremlin, tend to have deep pockets.
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A Messina tailor's worktable

October 19, 2014, 11:47 am
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This summer I visited one of the tailors I reviewed in my e-book on Sicilian tailors - Pippo Arrigo in Messina. Here are a few photos of his workspace and table:








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A video history of the necktie

November 2, 2014, 3:50 am
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I came across this useful history of the necktie by Fashion Institute of Technology professor Chloe Chapin:


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Sleevehead's first dress shirt

January 1, 2015, 12:11 pm
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Happy new year! I recently took my first menswear sewing class which focused on cutting, sewing and finishing a men's dress shirt. The class ended last month and here's the result - a shirt made from inexpensive cotton shirting sourced in NYC's Garment District ($2/yard) and constructed after many hours in front of a cutting table and sewing machine:





Overall, it is a decent first attempt but the shirt could certainly stand to improve in a few areas in terms of the collar, cuffs and plackets.

The process of making a shirt was a fascinating, humbling and often frustrating experience but enormously insightful. The frustration lay almost entirely in the mechanical realm (i.e. using manual, industrial sewing machines) as well as the proper order and placement of key pieces before sewing.

The specific insight I gained is entirely a function of the process and struggle to produce a finished product. I learned the maker knows something the consumer lacks. In other words, if you haven't constructed a garment (or product) from start to finish, you may know less about quality or value in clothing than you think you do. Put another way, as long there is a person involved in the manufacturing process, there will always be someone else who knows more about quality than the consumer.
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Exhibition: Savile Row and America

May 17, 2015, 12:12 pm
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Last week Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott hosted a preview of the "Savile Row and America" exhibition at the British Embassy in Washington, DC. After kindly receiving a media invite, I booked my train ticket and was looking forward to attending but unfortunately my train got cancelled due to the tragic Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia the night before.

Nevertheless, I'm including photos taken at the event courtesy of the embassy. The Savile Row Bespoke association organized the event which featured historical and contemporary pieces as well as recreations made by the leading Savile Row tailoring houses. Nick Foulkes curated the exhibition and wrote a fine essay for the exhibition catalog.

Ten Savile Row Bespoke Association members took part in the exhibition, as well as several associates and guests. Some of the notable garments displayed were: Churchill's chalk stripe flannel suit (Henry Poole), Pierpont Morgan's court dress uniform (Henry Poole) and Gregory Peck's suits (Huntsman).

As you can see below, it looked like a perfect spring day for the event and I do regret missing this special occasion.

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Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship

Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship

Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship

Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship

Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship

Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship

Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship

Henry Poole Bespoke Driving Jacket

Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship

Savile Row and America: a Sartorial Special Relationship
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Fit, tailoring and menswear 2.0

August 27, 2015, 6:45 pm
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I headed over to Brooklyn today and chatted with Joseph Genuardi who is featured in the recent documentary Men of the Cloth. Joseph is currently head tailor at Martin Greenfield Clothiers, a leading US manufacturer of hand-tailored men’s clothing. Not only did Joseph show me the different workshop areas of the nearly century old building, we also had a great conversation on his interesting journey in the industry and the state of menswear today.

Joseph Genuardi

The enthusiastic interest in the documentary speaks to the noteworthy rise and prominence of menswear in the last five years or so. Tailoring matters because fit matters. And fit matters because younger men are more aware of how they look in clothes, value their appearance and wish to incorporate well-fitting clothes in their lifestyle. Hence the (re)emergence of slim fitting suits, jackets and shirts in the early 2000s with Band of Outsiders, Thom Browne, and Hedi Slimane. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

History also tells us that the last word on fit is found in the realm of bespoke menswear, which takes us full circle to Joseph and the craft of tailoring. The question nowadays is whether the renewed prominence of menswear has staying power. Both Joseph and I believe that it does. The current generation of menswear customers is fully bought into the core idea of fit, which encourages more choice and better quality in menswear. At some point in their journey, they will come across custom tailoring or aspire to it.

In the meantime, the next stage in RTW menswear - menswear 2.0 if you will - will be very interesting. My sense is that menswear has probably changed more rapidly in the last five years than in the last fifty. Put simply, I think today’s menswear brands are a way to access more fitted clothing without going the traditional bespoke route.

Hence, the menswear entrepreneur of 2015 is asking questions such as: How might a smartphone improve the menswear experience? (As an aside, the smartphone is now the single most important fashion and lifestyle accessory for both men and women much like the brimmed hat was de rigueur decades ago.) Alternatively, is there an Uber equivalent for menswear to help me get to my sartorial destination?

We already see glimpses of the future in startups like Mtailor (custom shirts with improved fit assurance through a smartphone app), zTailors (on-demand alterations) or Woodies (algorithmic custom sizing of shirts using big data). Today’s menswear startups are an interesting blend of the old and the new - low tech and high tech.

Yet there is a common denominator - fit and how to improve it. As long as men continue to concern themselves with fit, I believe the menswear space will develop and evolve in interesting ways. I look forward to exploring these opportunities in the upcoming year from a new operating base in Paris.
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