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 Cabourn cameraman jacket in military green
Common Projects Tournament Low in grey suede
North Sea Clothing Explorer shawl neck sweater
simon do you wear any of the tailoring they sell?
the italian jackets look like bumfreezers lol really really fashion forward, short blazers?!
Yeah, they are a little too fashion-forward for me. The casual jackets are good though – Boglioli is the best washed cotton jacket out there for me, and I like Barena too. Have a lovely wool jersey jacket.
£800 casual wear. Gets the unsubscribe. We are clearly living on different planets. Rich kids, if you are having so much trouble figuring out what to do with all of your extra money, remember, there’s always charity.
I take your point, but it entirely depends on how much you value and wear it.
If you’d rather have a quality jacket that you appreciate every time you wear it, and cut down on say, going out, then great. And there’s no reason you should ever buy another one either.
It’s just a question of escaping the modern consumerist ethic – which, I’d take a guess, you would support?
Hi Simon
I have mixed feelings about ‘value’ at Trunk. I have a Piombo jacket from there and whilst i agree that i absolutely love it, i did not pay the £800 tag that most of their cloths have on them. I will not pay prices like that for something which is off the shelf and mass produced, even though they will assure you it is not – it is.
Why buy something off the shelf, that never fits than have something bespoke? I have mine done at GB and although i pay in that region, it is at least made for me, made locally and i always choose an english cloth.
Nevertheless my comment was not going to be on that matter. I was going to speak of something much more serious – and in the words of some American tennis pro – ‘you cannot be serious’. Those shoes are nothing short of chavvy and one only has to read the makers name ‘Common Projects’ and all is revealed! The last jersey shown is nothing short of horrendous. The one jacket looks like a box whilst the other, on very closer inspection, is not only a coarse material, but coarse in all other matters. Actually, if anyone wishes to spend this silly amount on such a horrible cardigan, i would suggest a visit to Ralph Lauren where they sell and cashmere navy blue, double breasted blazer type cardigan that simply tales your breath away.
I am very surprised at your choice of such items, and whilst i appreciate that you do not wear all of these shown, you do mention them.
For me, as i was told and taught by a friend of my father many years ago, a true gentleman is a gentleman even in his own company. Relating that to clothes, i would say that as you purchase hand made shoes and other items for week day wear, why stoop so low and wear such horrors at the weekend even if it is in the privacy of your own home.
I hold you in high esteem but, having seen those shoes i shall have to reflect ( i jest) but seriously, do not wear them – please.
With regards
Bradley
Hi Bradley,
On Piombo and tailoring – I would of course never buy anything off the peg if it approached tailoring, but the chunky, wool jersey jacket I have from Piombo is more sweater than jacket, and it would be pointless to have anything of the sort tailored.
Your comments about the Camoshita cardigan reveal how little can be judged from such pictures. It is in fact the slimmest cut DB cardigan I have ever tried – more than any RL jumper.
The North Sea sweater could not be more different. It is a coarse wool as you say, and indeed retains a lot of the oil that others wash out, which makes it water resistant. The ribbing at the waist and cuffs is also interesting. They are an original naval design and their length ensures that they do not let in the cold sea air no matter how far you stretch. I find this type of vintage design as interesting as that of action backs and Norfolk jackets.
As to Common Projects, if you don’t like trainers that’s purely a question of taste. I am passionate about casual wear such as good denim and leather jackets just as I am about flannel and brogues.
But if you do ever wear trainers, you couldn’t do much better than Common Projects. They use the highest grade of leather of anyone out there – something you must have an empathy with if you like good shoes – and their designs are simple, classic and refined.
Personally, I think you should have more faith in me. No less thought goes into any aspect of dress.
Simon
Some interesting opinions above. I think that regular readers are a little surprised given the emphasis on classic sartorial style, that Simon dresses in a trendier, more modern way on weekends (I don’t mean, and I hope you don’t interpret that, in a condescending way, Simon).
I like the pieces shown above, bar perhaps the North Sea cardigan. And I’d like that jacket without a hood, as I’m not sure hoods can ever be particularly elegant. Overall though, they give some great opportunities for stylish self-expression. The prices are astronomical and I’d never spend anything approaching that sort of money for them, but that is a personal choice.
I think more readers are asking for advice on casual/weekend wear because, much as enthusiasts of classic clothing hate to admit it, clothing is getting more casual all of the time, and even at work, people dress ‘office casual’. The lack of any formula in composing casual ensembles also makes casual dressing trickier than formal dressing (IMO). I personally enjoy these posts on the more casual end of the spectrum.
I find it strange that people are so shocked at the prices of these items. This is a site where people discuss the merits of Crockett and Jones against Edward Green and Lobb – and are interested to discuss the latest from Cleverleys, costing hundreds and thousands of pounds.
Any kind of bespoke blazer like those so regularly praised and discussed on the site will cost four figures, and for some of the tailors Simon visits, multiples of that. Yet an £800 wool cardigan / jacket which is of just as much utility and is in its way a beautiful thing is ‘astronomical’ etc. I understand that its expensive, but any ‘outsider’ looking at the items of this blog could say that about almost anything featured on it. The premise of the blog is that clothes are something to which we allocate a (dis)proportionate amount of our incomes because it’s a priority and a hobby.
Why a fine cardigan should be seen to cost so much less than a fine blazer, I don’t understand – they are different items with different uses – you wouldnt expect bespoke knitwear (and don’t pay bespoke prices). To spend 1500 on a suit and 600 on some handgrade shoes or 800 on a cardigan and 200/300 on some trainers (or handgrade loafers etc) seem to me to be different sides of the same coin. You might say “I don’t like cardigans”, but to attack the price alone seems odd in this context.
Thanks, you make a good point. The difficult thing is often getting to the source of value in RTW clothing – even if it’s cashmere, there is now a huge difference in the quality of cashmere available.
Without the hand cutting, sewing etc of bespoke, value is a hard thing to quantify.