In my initial post “A Start,” I mentioned I was starting a blog at the encouragement of a lot of people who enjoy my style, but that I would fund it difficult because I don’t like being the center of attention and, for that reason, don’t like selfies. So…how to deal with that? I had the idea of having others model my clothes. But planning and executing that would be an imposition on all involved, to say nothing of time consuming. It’s been fun when I’ve had people try on a jacket and/or scarf of mine, but doing a whole outfit? Nope, not for me. I have a human-size, iron sculpture of a human form, which would have been fun, but he weighs at least a couple hundred pounds, and there’s no way to get pants on him. As an aside, his name is James, after the artist—James Garvey of the Rochester Folk Art Guild—who created him. For now, he’ll remain unemployed.
My solution (or a solution) for now? A mannequin. Unfortunately, a local clothing store was going out of business, and selling everything. I landed their last male mannequin. Have you ever dressed a mannequin? It’s an interesting proposition. By design, it has to be smaller than the clothes you’re trying to get on it, which means there’s a lot of adjusting to be done, and gathering and holding in the back. Buttoning a shirt is akin to what I would think it would be like to button a blouse, with the buttons on the “wrong” side. And tying a tie is a trick. I suppose I could tie it around my neck, take it off, and put it on the mannequin. It reminds me of when I was younger and wasn’t at all proficient at tying a bow tie. My mom would sit on the couch and I’d sit on the floor in front of her. She’d tie my tie from behind.
So the better part of a month after buying it, I figured it was time to give it a try. I thought I’d feature a new sport jacket. I got the shirt on, and then realized the jeans had to go on before putting the mannequin on the stand, so off came the shirt and apart came the mannequin. I looked at my watch. I thought “I’m going to devote an hour to this, and that’s it.” Fortunately, it didn’t take that long. This is first crude attempt. Hopefully the process and presentation will improve with time.
The jacket and shirt are from J. Hilburn (www.jhilburn.com). The jacket is a midnight blue windowpane mouliné, with purple highlights (very subtle and next to impossible to see in the photo). It’s a wool, silk and linen blend, with a beautiful, soft hand. The fabric is from Vitale Barberis Canonico, an Italian mill founded in 1663. Lightweight and unlined, it’s a perfect weight for all but the winter. It’s made-to-measure, two-button, working buttonholes with contrast stitching on the last buttonhole, distressed navy buttons, hacking pockets with flaps, regular notch lapel.
The shirt is a medium weight cotton twill, blue/lavender box check from Tessatura Monti , another well-known Italian mill. It’s custom made, and I had it done with navy contrast stitching for the buttonholes and buttons, with real shell buttons.
The tie is a vintage Liberty cotton floral, going back to my days on Wall Street. I’ve always loved Liberty florals for the summertime. Liberty had a lot of iconic prints—paisley, floral and others—that aficionados easily recognize. I have several ties and several shirts in Liberty fabrics. I’ve recently purchased three of their fabrics which I’m going to have made into shirts. I’ll report on those when they’re done. (www.libertylondon.com)
On a styling note, I like the larger windowpane with the smaller box check, both with colors at the cool end of the spectrum. When wearing two similar patterns, you always want the larger layer on top of the smaller. A linear print or pattern on the tie would have been too much, whereas the floral print does a nice job pulling the two checks together with its similar blues and purples.
I highly recommend checking out J. Hilburn. Based in Dallas, they have reps all over the country who come to your house or office with tape measure and swatches in hand. They take something like 13 measurements for a shirt. You choose the fit, the collar, the cuffs, the buttons, contrast stitching, contrast fabric, etc. They feature Italian fabrics from the finest mills. The shirts aren’t inexpensive—from roughly one to two hundred dollars—but are well worth it for the quality and the fit. I will say, though, that their selection isn’t as appealing to me now as it was, say, five years ago. I think their taste has changed more than mine. It doesn’t mean I can’t find interesting fabrics. There just don’t seem to be as many. They used to offer wonderful fall flannels and lightweight Liberty fabrics in the spring, but these all seem to have disappeared.
Suits and sportscoats are well worth checking out, particularly if there is a sale. Again, they are made to measure, with lots of options, such as lapel width, front button stance (single, 2, 3 button), fully lined to unlined (with choice of lining), working buttonholes, contrast stitching, etc. When ordering a jacket, I like to have it made a bit shorter, so it doesn’t look like I’ve pulled it from a suit. It also makes my legs look longer. J. Hilburn offers fabrics from some of the top Italian mills, along with the occasional choice from Zegna or Loro Piana. I would guess that a jacket made from either of those would run a maximum of 2/3 what you might pay at a place such as Nordstrom’s for an off-the-rack piece, vs. the made to measure with all the options from J. Hilburn. Once you’ve been measured by J. Hilburn and your fit’s been established, you can simply go online to customize and order your clothing.