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Online made-to-measure tailoring has come a long way in the last ten years. No longer just a specialty for office clothes, companies like Proper Cloth offer casual weekend shirts, all custom made to your specifications. Their melange Beacon flannels, which come in solid colors and classic plaids, can be worn with jeans, chinos, fatigues, or five-pocket cords. You can layer them underneath tailored topcoats or Proper Cloth’s citified puffer vests. All the fabrics are from Canclini, one of Italy’s most prestigious shirting mills. Founded in 1925 near Como, Italy, the family-owned mill has produced textiles for some of the world’s best brands, including Zegna, Giorgio Armani, Prada, and Dolce & Gabbana.
Also not to be missed are Proper Cloth’s new Biella flight jackets, pictured above, which are made from rich dark wools and generously sized, pressed shearling collars. Like much of Proper Cloth’s outerwear range, it’s designed so you can wear it with jeans or tailored trousers.
Chipp is an old Ivy-era clothier who’s dressed the likes of JFK and Andy Warhol, and since they’ve been around the New York garment trade forever, they also have access to some of the city’s best tailors. If you’re in NYC, they can make you a custom garment, but for shoppers online, they also have both ready-made and custom-order accessories. Their standard ties, for example, measure 3.25″ x 58″, but they can also shorten, lengthen, widen, or narrow ties for just $10. To place an order, go to their site and order one of the 60″ or 62″ ties. Then in the comment section, specify exactly what you want (say, a 3″ x 60″ tie). Turnaround time for custom orders is two weeks. And like everything Chipp sells, these are fully made in NYC.
Dapper Classics’ trousers sit in that sweet spot between mass-produced pants from mall brands and uber-expensive tailoring from Italy. Made in the United States at the Hertling factory, these trousers have a slim-straight leg, medium rise, and a split-rear waistband for comfort. They also come unfinished, which means you can get them hemmed however you need.
For fall/ winter, you’ll want something warm and textured, such as Dapper Classics’ trousers in lambswool Donegal or Super 120s flannel. Get them in staple colors such as tan and gray. Darker colors such as charcoal and navy are good if you have lighter-colored sport coats or intend to wear these with casualwear. A few of their trousers are also on sale right now, with pairs starting around $125.
As a style, prep has always revolved around sport. So when Rowing Blazers founder Jack Carlson landed his collaboration with one of the greatest sportswear brands, FILA, he was over the moon. “FILA has always been one of my favorite brands, so this is a dream collab for me,” says Carlson. “While rowing was always my primary sport, tennis was a close second — and more often than not, I’d play decked in head-to-toe FILA. I loved living in Oxford because almost all the courts there is grass. Being out there on a grass court, wearing FILA, surrounded by spires, hitting that green felt ball — there’s nothing better.”
Following on the success of their tennis-themed collaboration last year, Rowing Blazers and FILA teamed up again this week to introduce a new line of ski-inspired designs. The collection pays homage to FILA’s history in winter sports and Reinhold Messner, one of the greatest mountaineers of all time. The 13-piece capsule consists of ski jackets, rugby shirts, classic tees, a puffer vest, a fleece pullover, joggers, and accessories including a fanny pack and a beanie. Pieces are offered in electric blue, yellow, pink, and teal hues, with Rowing Blazers written in italics across the FILA logo, a design element that mimics FILA’s original “Magic Line” branding. You can find the collection now at Rowing Blazers.
Every Thursday, LuxeSwap throws up a new round of menswear auctions on eBay. Their selection is massive, currently towering at over 1,000 items this week. Since LuxeSwap lists almost everything at a mere $9.99, the ending price is often a fraction of what you’d pay at full retail.
It can be daunting to wade through the entire selection. If you want a shortcut, you can search for “#1 Menswear,” which will get you the best-of-the-best. Included this week are Ralph Lauren polo coats, Monitaly parkas, Inis Meain knitwear, Camoshita polos, and Engineered Garments shirts. Matthew at LuxeSwap also tells us that he’s prepping for a big round of auctions this Black Friday, where he’ll be posting some of the best things he’s come across this year.
