When looking for something sartorial to buy from Rome, I opted for something new (vs. going vintage in Athens with a second-hand tie). When looking for great local artisans for neckties, my AI bot shared that pocket squares from Rome are maybe even more interesting and precious. It found me a store that makes both of these with their designs via local artisans: Cruciani & Bella. They are in the sartorial district near the Spanish Steps, but are not a fashion merchant. Co—Pilot nailed this selection. Given the heat and being shortly after siesta, I was the only customer. Once I asked about shantung and noted my salesman’s tie was grenadine, both staff were very engaging. The only limit is that they are just about to shut down for summer break and will receive their autumn collection upon their return. Their current coffers were limited for more interesting designs, including their typical extensive collection of madder silk. They even walked me through their bespoke tie process, but this was about something custom to Rome and Italy for me. About half way into my visit, I realized that the two staff were actually Cruciani and Bella! They started the store 30 years ago and still run it. They were endlessly patient, proud of their work, and are sending me one of their autumnal madder ties, which I was able to try, once they get their delivery. Photos of the store and the two items I took away are below. The tie, go figure, is a Glenn check, but in a fresco wool weave. The pocket square is madder silk and two sided.

Last Monday Morning I arrived in London. After checking into the hotel my buddy and I decided to get started on looking around. 1 of our first stops was John Lobb. We did not have an appointment and did not plan on commissioning a pair of shoes from them as we had already started the process with another company. When we walker in we were met by Neil. He is a 41 yr employee. He is a fitter and a last maker. He could not have been any more gracious and kind. He spent a ton of time explaining to us the history of John Lobb and how the process works. I can only upload 10 photos here, but trust me there are a lot more. The pictures of the shelves full of wooden lasts are only a fraction of what is there. All of these lasts are for current customers (within 15yrs). They are currently a Royal Warrant holders of 2 separate Royal Warrants, they have had up to 3 going at any point in time. The Gentleman in the picture does all the Shoe Polishing. That is his sole job! There is another room where the "closers" sit. They sew the welt to the upper and the upend welt to the sole. They each make their own thread, and each closer has their own style in thread so the shoes can be distinguished by who's thread is used to make it as well as who made your last. They all have their own style. The still do everything very much the sale as they have done for 150yrs. Same tools all by hand. You can see Queen Victoria's last, HM King George's Last as well as Jackie Onasis last. When all was said and done my buddy and I couldn't help ourselves and we commissioned another pair of shoes. The history and the pride of the entire process was too much for us and we had to do it. Neil has now become our Last Maker! The process is such that he will be our last maker forever, or until he leaves or we leave. All of our orders will go through and be made and supervised by him. It will take 5-6 months for the last to be made, then we pick Style & Color, toe shape, heel hight etc. Then another 5-6 months for them to be ready for a fitting. Assuming no major changes we will have the shoes shortly after. The entire process will take at least a year.

I’ve harped for a couple of years in this community about the difference between fashion and style and the importance of longevity with regard to elements in clothing. Oddly I get questioned a lot now if not wearing a sportcoat or suit. But weather dictated something different. On another sticky high 90 degree Fahrenheit summer day I grabbed some cooler items and so was inspired to share some thoughts about these elements. [While this post isn’t necessarily about brands-certain brands can be used to express this design concept]. The classic polo shirt was originally a tennis shirt introduced exactly 100 years ago by Rene Lacoste. (I have attached the story behind the “tennis shirt” and the legacy of the alligator and polo-rider logo. The original “polo” shirt had more in common with what we call an OCBD today). Irrespective- this “polo” design is now over 100 years old (Lacoste version 1926, Ralph Lauren version 1972). https://www.heddels.com/2019/04/history-polo-shirt-rene-lacoste-ralph-lauren/ Paired with this I am wearing a Ralph Lauren black double front pleated linen trouser (RL makes a quality pleat). In speaking with my friend Steve Giles recently, he gave me the history of the double forward pleat. About 100 years ago there was more of a distinction in clothing between white and blue collar workers. The trouser for the blue collar worker was a durable pair of affordable plain front trousers. Conversely double pleats required more tailoring and consequently exacted a higher price and thus became the standard for a gentleman’s trouser, be that casual or dress. Per Steve, the reverse pleat was a more economical cut to make and because of the fickleness of women’s fashion, it was the common version of women’s pants 90 - 100 years ago as women more rapidly consumed fashion. While I am not sure about all of this, I found his explanation quite interesting. When Steve and I worked together at Harold’s ALL of our trousers were a deep double forward pleat, be that a casual or dress pant and I have worn that cut for nearly 50 years, irrespective of the prevalent fashion noise. This design of pant is a garment to which I do not skimp. A crap pair of poorly fitting pleats are much worse than no pleats at all. Probable 80% of my trousers are the double front pleat. I also have worn cuffed trousers for that same period of time-if wearing a true slack cut- about 90% of my trousers have cuffs. My philosophy of clothing is that a picture should never expose my age, at least from a clothing perspective (can’t do a damn thing about the haggard old face🙄in the photo). This to me is the essence of Classic Timeless Menswear. Questionably I grabbed my black cloth- white soled derby Clarke’s again with this outfit. The verdict is still out in mind as to these surviving as a modern classic. This is how I reason the validity of its possible classic standard: Derby? YES! the derby (or Blucher is a staple design); white soles? YES, but limit that to a casual “deck wear” function (not with a suit at a formal event or worn professionally such as one sees TV anchormen wearing👎); Mixing the two ???? I simply don’t know-I keep telling myself that even the pink gum soled dirty buck or suede saddle shoe or the two tone Weejun each of which was “style forward”once upon a time. Regarding the shoes-Ask me again in 100 years😎