For those that are interested, I was recently asked to appear on BBC World for a piece on the growth of menswear. Part of the Business Edition, the interview was shown just after a vox pop of men in Mayfair and how they buy clothes – hence the reference at the beginning.
I have to say, that's pretty much the opposite of everything I love about the Rifugio one. It's so showy and overdetailed. Much better with the nubuck finish, and it's all about the skin
Rifugio’s old villa
Read the commentsThank you
Introducing: The PS Shorts
Read the commentsI'd suggest Rubato, Orslow, Blackhorse Lane
What makes quality jeans – and should you care?
Read the commentsA lightweight raincoat essentially. Probably a synthetic - my Coherence one does that pretty well
The olive PS Trench is back
Read the comments
Haha, surreal to see you on the BBC after following you online for a few years. Congratulations.
Nice work. Is that your Langa suit?
Yep
Congrats Simon, great interview. The BBC will start to use you regularly now if they see you as a safe media option. Which sports coat are you wearing by the way?
It’s the Langa suit from a few weeks ago. Thanks Rob
Simon,
Saw a photo of Luke Carby in The Rake…would you two be twins if he had a thicker beard?!
Scary thought!
Dear Simon,
What do you mean by “vox [?] pop [?] of men in Mayfair and how they buy clothes” – does this refer to the store employed buyers?
No, a quick survey of men about Mayfair – guys on the street being interviewed about their buying choices. Voice of the people, to a certain extent….
Your jacket sleeve and back are quite wrinkled (a remedy were to simply pull them flat?) but the brown blue contrast refreshing, although not on the edge.
That’s lightweight linen for you. Have a look at the Langa suit post for more details
You replied to a question if you steam your linen, no. Mr Tattersall at Regent recommended to me SuperSteamer – do you know any of this manufacture? When you say you don’t steam, you refer to linen. What about other cloths? I suppose your wrinkling tolerance is in fact a secret pleasure, licensed by linen? Do you have a favourite mixture of another cloth, wool, cotton, silk with linen for jacket or suit?
Hi
I do steam other suits apart from linen, yes, although this is only to fix small problems – being lucky enough to be close to enough tailors, I can get them pressed fairly easily.
I don’t have much of a tolerance for wrinkling outside linen, although I do like suits and cloths that look lived in, rather than too perfect and fussy.
Not sure on your final question – materials for a suit to be made out of, mixed with linen, or materials to wear with linen?
Dear Simon,
I don’t know any tailors in the jungle I roam who offer pressing. Those who do exist dislike British tailoring and deplore losing government subsidy for tailor school. Here any request for pressing a jacket at the dry cleaner means paying at least CHF18 for cleaning, regardless. You don’t reveal your means of steaming, so I suspect your spouse has a super iron, not SuperSteamer. Yes, I knew there are two souls in your breast, so linen is an excellent excuse. My final question is what you think of linen mixes out of which a suit could be made. Perhaps you are a purist, compromising when cashmere is added, and observing kosher guidelines reject and wool linen mix as unkosher. I have my eyes on a RTW jacket of 50% wool 50% linen, but unfortunately don’t have the least experience with any such mixtures of linen.
I’d certainly consider such mixes. Many of the nice Caccioppoli summer options are linen/silk/wool mixes.
Dear Simon,
I just read elsewhere that blends of wool and linen wrinkle. Unfortunately, there wasn’t mention to what extent the proportion of mix is a factor. Is it true a Yorkshire blend 50% wool 50% linen wrinkles as if it were pure linen? I couldn’t find this question by blog search here.
It won’t wrinkle as much, no. You should certainly expect wrinkles, however
Hi Simon,
I was looking at your shirt in this interview and noticed that you appear to not be wearing collar stiffeners. What is your advice with regard to collar stiffeners? To wear or not wear? Plastic or silver? etc.
I generally do wear them with my Italian shirts when wearing a tie, actually. They often need a little support. Without a tie, however, I take them out so that the collar has that nice curl around the jacket collar.
I have some silver ones but I can’t really recommend spending money on nice collar stiffeners, given they make no practical difference and will never be seen.
Would be great to see more videos from yourself.
The tobacco linen looks superb.
Nice gig, Simon. Congrats.
On the subject of steaming, a useful article in future would be care and cleaning for bespoke clothing; what you can do yourself to remove stains, reshape, etc, or what to avoid. Sponge and press is pretty elusive outside the capital, and ‘a decent dry cleaners’ is hard to know.
Thanks Christo, and good tip
Obviously you commented that your Langa was closer to bespoke. Would this be because they offer such a good quality service, or because they know you are v influential and so they up the service for a better review?
Hi. Could you clarify the question? The Langa suit was entirely bespoke.
Thanks
Sorry! Meant Lasa.
It was closer to bespoke in the make (hand-padded chest, eg) and the cut (all cut to an individual paper pattern, by hand). Not so much the service – that’s what made it less bespoke
I love the interview, I love the suit and I love how the blue tie suits with the suit and shirt, congratulations
I also thought that it was a great interview. Very well done indeed. Your staff and family should be really proud of your achievements in getting on a programme like this. Cheers, Greg.