The most important critic is judging you from your mirror.
What looks right, what feels right, what works in a tailored garment is subjective - it is the privilege of the wearer to commission the garments that they envision, and the obligation of the person doing the fitting to steer that commission in a direction that best suits the person. Every rule has an exception, and there is true value to be had in building an aesthetic that suits you.
Over the past two and a half decades, from my very small seat at the very large table that is menswear, I have seen the sublime and the sacrilegious. Microfibre in the 90’s, capital F fashion, Sack Suits, Ivy, Italianate pomp and English austerity. Ive been lucky enough to touch or wear all of it in some way, and I can say that every ill advised venture has held a kernel of truth, and even the most universally approved trends have had their misses. Where I have found the most satisfaction has almost universally come down to one truth - if it represents the wearer, it succeeds in its job. No matter how pretty a name tag might be, it doesn’t work if it has the wrong name written on it.
From a studio in London, the perennially elegant André Larnyoh exemplifies some of the ways we like to wear tailoring. Whether it is sublime or sacrilegious is up to individual interpretation.
The Double Breasted Charcoal Flannel
In a long ago correspondence with the great G.Bruce Boyer, he landed on something I had written as an opinion holding a lot of truth - That to look good, a man must embody elegance, and to be elegant we must be comfortable. This idea holds fast with how we approach tailoring - drape and comfort in a garment can do much a strict diet can achieve, but with a lot less sacrifice.
André wears our house double breasted model in Harrison’s Flannel. Extended in the shoulder, long in the skirt with waist suppression high enough to suggest legs long enough to step over any sartorial ire.
"What looks right, what feels right, what works in a tailored garment is subjective ."
The same proportions can give the elegance of the coat an almost industrial appeal - worn over our 933 denims, a salt & pepper half zip shirt and boots, the coat can almost stand in for a pea coat or an old Hercules half-belt coat. Repurposed formality tempered by drape and an unpretentious cloth.
The Three-Roll-Two Harris Tweed
You don’t often associate sponginess with drape, unless you are an aficionado of tweed. Woven in Scotland for Holland & Sherry, this Harris tweed assures me no bramble, park bench or airport lounge could present any real threat. Paired with an oily denim and shaggy Shetland, it has all the appeal, and many of the properties of an old blanket. Matched with dark colours give it a sobriety, and with worn and faded denim and chambray it lends dignity to workwear. Sweats and chinos give it a collegiate air, while the right tie and button down can make it professorial. Suede elbow patches not required.
The Single Breasted Shepard's Check
There is a scene from the 1957 comedy ‘Funny Face’ that has stuck in my mind like an infectious melody - Fred Astaire as a lauded fashion photographer chasing an errant book store clerk, played by Audrey Hepburn, to an underground beat party in a Montmartre cellar. The costumes are a jab at the existentialists espousing “empathicalism”, too cool to applaud as they click their fingers for the hep cats and daddy-o’s.
"To look good, a man must embody elegance, and to be elegant we must be comfortable."
But the misguided rebellion of 70 years ago can feel nostalgic - berets and dark jackets, tailoring made casual and contrarian by the standards of the day. The subversiveness of a 50’s beatnik railing against the bourgeoisie became the gold standard of mid-century cool. In a Porter & Harding check from the Glenroyal bunch, the brown and black lend a sophistication to black denim, while cashmere cable knit and velvet slippers suggest that rebellion need not be devoid of luxury.
The Navy Blazer
Garments are the tool, not being naked is the job. A hammer might build a house, but it could also break a window - which job the wearer chooses is the space where uniform can become self-expression.
Few garments are as steeped in cultural uniformity as the blue blazer - the Naval Officer, the Ivy Undergrad and the elder statesman in well worn bespoke can all lay claim. It is a Swiss Army knife, capable of handling just about any job. In a Flannel from the Dugdale English Classics bunch, it has a surfeit of elegance for the most high-brow of jobs - precisely why it sits so comfortably over sweats. It lends dignity to denim, and a devil-may-care aloofness to white canvas and a tee. Lapel pulls up against the wind and hands stuffed deep into pockets, it is as utilitarian as issued kit.
"Garments are the tool, not being naked is the job. A hammer might build a house, but it could also break a window - which job the wearer chooses is the space where uniform can become self-expression"
How you wear the garment and how you choose to interpret its cultural meaning is yours - an old blanket can be your top coat should you choose, a pair of opera pumps your Sunday afternoon loafer. The tool is yours to wield for whichever job you find it useful for, that makes the work yours.And who knows? Maybe one day our rebellion will be the standard bearer of classic elegance.