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Archive for November, 2009

Nov 16

2 Comments

Why Your Tailor Is Your Friend

tailor

I really am blessed to have found a great tailor like Matt from Imparali. Some of you who read this blog and live in the New York area have contacted or worked with him through my recommendation and have probably found him as friendly and personable as I do.

But say you don’t live in the NYC area and are looking for a tailor. First off you have to start with someone who deals in CUSTOM clothing and tailoring. This means that they not only do alterations but they create custom pieces for specific body types that require way more knowledge than just hiking up a hem or taking in the torso of a jacket. They will look at your shoulders and explain exactly WHY your jacket sits the way it does on your body. You see a great tailor takes the time to show you how to conceal certain natural flaws our bodies possess through the art of a great cut set of trousers or shirt.

This all came about after a meeting I had with Matt at Imparali for my very first custom made suit by them. I was amazed at how far we have come in terms of our Tailor/Customer relationship. We can almost read each other’s minds at this point and since we have built such a strong relationship through the work we have already done together, putting together my first suit was much faster than both of us could have imagined.

So what I am urging you all to do in this post is shop around for your tailor. Call a few up and ask questions. Research as if you were for a wise investment.

Yet the strongest and best advice I can ultimately offer is to find the most skilled person who you also wouldn’t mind grabbing a beer with.

Nov 12

9 Comments

Mixing Vintage And Modern

When you buy a vintage piece you want to make sure to offset it with some modern pieces so you don’t look like you are wearing a costume. Take, for example, the Harris Tweed jacket I found on e-bay. I have worn it with wool slacks and a shirt and I find I look a little too much like a 1920′s shoe shine boy. Albeit not a BAD look, I personally do not want to walk out of my apartment feeling like I am on my way to a dress rehearsal for Oliver.

So last week I decided to wear this jacket with a great zip up sweater I found at H&M. The combination, as you can see, really works well at offsetting the costume vibe for a more modern meets vintage approach. This is something we all have to be aware of when putting our outfits together.

Know what I mean, guvner?

VintageAndModern

Nov 11

7 Comments

Via Spiga Boots: They Go With Everything

There are many reasons why I love a good Chelsea boot. To name just a few:

They go with jeans

They go with suits

They even go with a Tux (if you wear them right)

While checking out some of the shoe choices at Daffy’s I stumbled upon an excellent pair of Via Spiga boots that I decided to wait a week on (the old if you can’t stop thinking about it after a week buy it method).

Lo and behold after a week with the itch, I new I had to have these bad boys in my arsenal. They are slowly becoming my shoe of choice beyond any other and I am loving the way they look with my jeans. They also look KILLER with my $150 H&M suit and the Merona outfit from yesterdays post.

For only $69.99 I don’t think you can go wrong with a pair of these in your wardrobe:

BestBootsEver

Via Spiga Boots: $69.99

Nov 10

4 Comments

Why Merona By Target Wins Big

I threw a Beatles Rock Band party on Halloween and since I don’t really do the whole costume thing I decided to just put on a nice outfit. This was a good excuse as any to get out of the apartment and head down to Target where I saw a nice vest/slacks combination that I could not get out of my mind from the previous week.

I found that the suit jacket was cut too poorly and did not feel like having another off the rack taken in so I picked up just the vest and slacks and found they fit rather well. I feel a bit Jeeves and Wooster in this combination but damn does it work. To bring it back to my David Bowie post a few weeks back, Target may well be our generation’s very own Sears Roebuck.

I also picked up a great pair of Chelsea boots that I will be showcasing in tomorrows post.

Merona Vest: $39.99, Merona Pants: $49.99, Shirt: Indochino

Nov 9

6 Comments

Putting It All Together – My Favorite Outfit (At The Moment)

Yeah, I’ve been slow on updates but only because I have been writing and recording massive rock songs:

www.denniscahlo.com

And now, back to menswear:

DennisFavoriteOutfit

Shirt and Blazer: Indochino, Vest: Merona for Target, Jeans: Levis, Belt: H&M, Boots: Via Spiga

Nov 4

8 Comments

Harris Tweed – Well Worth The Restoration

Sometimes when one shops on e-bay it could result in the most epic failure of smelly, over-sized, not quite as described purchase that you are lucky you even get an answer back if trying to return.

But once in a blue, a great seller comes along who measures correctly, takes great photos, and offers a fail proof description plus great return policy. Such was the case when I purchased two tweed jackets a few months ago. My favorite of the two is a beautiful herringbone tweed.

Upon arrival, it was a tad too large but Matt at IMPARALI got it fitted perfectly. What I really enjoyed about this restoration was that this is a REALLY quality brand of tweed rich in history. In fact, this is a much better jacket than most retailers can offer at a fraction of the cost. The jacket was made by Harris Tweed which happens to be hand woven and will most likely last a lifetime plus one or two more.

The total for the jacket was about $90 after tailoring.

HarrisTweed1

HarrisTweed3

HarrisTweed2

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