The Sartorialist

I think there is something wonderfully subversive about wearing a suit that fits so wonderfully and is so well-made that even as it begins to crumple you cannot bear to throw it out, it’s like a sartorial version of faded jeans.

Actually this suit was made for his father and Carlo estimates it is about 35 years old.

Style and sentiment are a hard combination to beat.

Chris Mitchell of Details magazine wears a Thom Browne suit the way ,I would guess, most of Thom’s customers wear his suits.
I think I’m starting to look forward to this Brooks Brothers collaboration

He looks really great!
- casual but still just enough design
- i really like the extra wide cuff on the more casual pants
- double-monk strap worn casually
- sleeves pushed not rolled
- shirt is open two buttons but still very closed at the neck
- his look is all Thom Browne, it is great to see Thom worn in a more casual way.
- love the smaller aviators

A well cut suit can help a man go from “stocky” to “powerful” – I can just hear him telling his tailor “I want a suit that make me look strong like bull”

Also notice his collar and the collar of our friend in the recent post of June 20th “Does It Get Much Better” – they both have a very soft spread collar which is a very Neapolitan styling detail.

This gentleman also has his collar artfully askew – believe me, if you tried to fix is collar he would be pretty pissed.

this is the same guy that had the bandanna as a pocket square last summer.

Notice another Sartorialist wearing dark brown suede loafer

I took two shots because both are equally important.
- The jacket fits great – nice twist with the single breasted peak label.
- Cuff perfect, drop perfect
- Americans should not be afraid of linen suits, just bad quality linen suits. It was two in the afternoon by the time I took this shot and he looks no worse for wear.
- Love the dramatic spread of the shirt collar.

Perfect pant cuff and perfect slimness to the pant bottom

I was wearing brown suede loafers ,very much like his, today and they were so comfortable in the brutal Florence heat.

Next Summer I’m buying them in several colors.

Tomorrow Pitti Uomo starts, then on to Milan and Paris for mens collections.
The last two days have been the quiet before the storm so if everything goes well I should have my first post up tomorrow by 4pm and will start posting twice a day (morning & evening) until early July.

I read that Gianfranco Ferre died.
He was one of the designers I always wanted to shoot because he had such great personal style.
I hope his company is able to keep his name and work alive for a long time to come.

So I just spent the late afternoon in Rome but unfortunately this is the best dressed guy I found. I expected some tourists but Rome is all tourists right now.

Tomorrow i will be in Florence for the beginning of Pitti Uomo , the big menswear trade show, which is like the Super Bowl of style for men.

When I was there in January I got some of my favorite shots during Pitti.

So I’m making my way through the Marais toward the Left Bank for the Zucca fashion show when I come across this very elegant gentleman, Avner Gruzow, 83 years young.

I ask to take his photo and he agrees on one condition: I sit and have a coffee with him, and tell him about New York (although I knew I would really be the one asking the questions).

Now, I wanted to go to the Zucca show, but how do you pass up a chance to sit and hear a little about the life of a gentleman like this?

Guess what he did? Deep-sea diving! “I was mad for diving,” he said, more than once.

The years have not been so kind to Avner’s ablity to communicate and he had trouble remembering certain words, but from what I could make out, he spent some time living in the Middle East with the bedouins, he owned a camel, he and his wife own a country house in the South of France but currently live on the Left Bank. He travels every year to Antwerp to visit the area where he grew up.

Before we said good-bye, he gave me his address and promised that when I return to Paris he will show me photos of when he was young in the Middle East riding camels and of his diving adventures.

His handshake is still strong (stronger than I expected) so my guess is that although he is 83, we will still have quite a few more coffees together, hopefully soon.

Love the wide, clear plastic belt.

the patent leather shoes are the perfect finish

In January when I was working on the initial SartoriaList and Shopping Guide I had no idea so many new projects would be right around the corner. I didn’t think I would be gone for most of the month of April visiting Germany, Sweden etc.

Fortunately/Unfortunately those projects provide the money to keep The Sartorialist going while also giving me the opportunity to shoot in new locations.

Luckily, July should be a perfect time to get caught up on the Shopping Guide and SartoriaList.

I’m really glad you like these new additions and I’m happy that The Sartorialist can serve as both inspiration and resource.

Just click on the Bicycles link below if you want to see more stylish men and women from around the world on bikes.

Just for the record, I do wear my helmet when I ride a bike
If I lived on the quite streets of Park Slope, Brooklyn I might not but the traffic in the city is just too crazy.

Instead of trying to copy the very chic Europeans bikers I think we (Americans) should do what we are good at – and that is Sporty/Tech.

I would love to see a sleek young lady in a little black jersey dressed tied-up on one leg, on an equally sleek black mountain bike wearing some kinda of silver reflective sash or form fitted vest (but really well-designed) and reflective wristbands, Raybans, and some sleek, form-fit mountain climbing shoes (those really tiny ones with the nubby soles) or even heels (like that lady I shot in Paris) and a cool racing helmet.

Imagine mixing Polo Sport with Comme Des Gar

I finally found the business card for the Barbiere

Luigi & Gaetano
Via Moscova, 9

This is just a preview of what you will see over the next few days

I love that big full shirt back to the skinny jeans

All in the way she wears the hat

Throw on a great dress and a good sandal and you’re done – I guess the trick is finding those few “right dresses” of the season but still.

Do guys ever look as “put-together” in shorts and a shirt as women do in a little summer dress?….sometimes, maybe, rarely…but not nearly as often and as easily as women.

..when the German Tour photos were published in the German Vanity Fair they included a lot of your comments from my blog.

I didn’t want to sway opinion or have more or less comments than usual so I didn’t mention it but I do think it is really cool.

The story is four pages and so wonderfully done (as you can see)

Remember these guys and dolls from the Easter Parade.
They are hosting the “Governor’s Island Roaring ’20s Dance and Hot Jazz Picnic” this weekend that I am really going to try and make (my Europe trip got pushed back a week)

I will have the photos up Monday

Most of you know Bruce is just about my favorite photographer so I am really excited top see him re-releasing “Let’s Get Lost” at the Film Forum in Manhattan

links to more info

“Let’s Get Lost” at the Film Forum

Bruce Weber website

I have walked by this little barber shop in Milan about a hundred times but I have never had a moment to go in and get a trim.

Finally, the last time I was there, I had a few minutes to pop in and see these guys in action.

Actually I have been growing my hair out a little and I wanted it to grow out a little more before getting it cut but I could not pass up this opportunity.

I don’t know if these guys are the best barbers in Milan – they could be very average- but there was something about the quiet, neighborhood-barber-shop quality that I thought was so endearing.

So can you tell what they are doing with the towels here?

No velcro-tabbed big plastic sheets for these guys.

They place one very clean, very well-pressed white sheet across my lap, then one sheet front-to-back over my shoulders, then another sheet back-to-front over my shoulders.

In the little gaps around my neck where the towels don’t meet my neck they stuff long strips of cotton that they keep in a glass jar.

That’s three sheets for one customer. As a New Yorker I kept thinking to myself “their laundry bill must be HUGE”

Again, I don’t know if these guys are the best but I love unreasonably charming old-school techniques like this.

No Aveda
No Paul Mitchell
Plenty of atomizers

I looks like they did their sign with a Sharpie marker – I really think they did.

If you get a chance I would love to hear about any other funny little techniques that your barbers uses.

ps I have to admit the cut did grow out very well

Marni, like Dries, is one of those designers that looks great on a wide range of body types.

Guess who might make a special appearance

if you are going to shoot New York street – then you need New York street props

Remember this young lady from last month?
When Elle told me they wanted to cast some non-models, I immediately thought of this young lady.
Of course shooting “non-models” is tricky because they still have to fit the clothes but I love the fact that a girl I just ran into on the street one day ,and thought was cool, will now have her style celebrated in a major fashion magazine.

I called Kelly yesterday and told her about the project and asked if she could pop down for a quick shot that I could show Stacey from Elle. As usual (without any prior warning) Kelly showed up looking stunning – love the hat, the sophistication, the charm – she seems to have a very mature way about her considering she is 23 years old.

Someone mentioned in one of the comments yesterday that the girls looked like typical model “androids”
That will be my challenge to get them to drop the “modelishness” and shoot them exactly the same way I shoot any girl.
During the casting I kept asking goofy questions (who is your favorite baseball player) just to get them to relax and show some (any?) personality. We are using around 8 girls so we really tried to find a good mix of types

I remember when I got the email to do this shoot my first instinct was to go and get some lighting, and rent a big camera, find an assistant- but really they are hiring me to just do what I do.
“Do what you do” can be a little nerve racking sometimes. The big difference is I work alone and feel like what i do is under the radar in a lot of ways. Today I will have alot of people around so I will just have to keep centered and focused. Luckily the weather is good today so I don’t think we will need a lot of people standing around doing touch-up makeup and such.
It is really a compliment that they are giving me such freedom and so much say in the styling, models, location – especially the styling part.
This is an accessories story for them but they wanted to capture that quirky Hi-Lo mix I like so we have pieces from Chloe to H&M.

If everything goes well this story will look like a series of cool girls not a bunch of models.
I guess we will have to revisit this in October

I will try to post today around the same schedule as yesterday but I will also probably do a late post as a wrap-up.

Lunch at Pastis with Courtney, Nat, and Stacey

going over the model cards with Stacy

I’m casting today for an editorial I’ll be shooting tomorrow for British Elle and I’m taking you with me.

I thought it might be fun to do a few updates today from the casting, location hunting, style-out, etc.

I would think the first few images might be ready by 11am, then around 2pm (after lunch) and around 6pm for the wrap-up.

Tomorrow I will be updating from the shoot with a similar schedule, if not even more updates.

How to dress up an inexpensive dress
-H&M dress
-Bottega Veneta Belt
-Lanvin shoes

I love the crinkly summer elegance of a linen suit.

I find it is hard for a shorter guy ,like both Robert and myself, to wear light colored pants.
The fact that his pants are cut pretty slim (or at least more slim than most khakis) really helps keep a good overall balance for him.

For some reason I have had a tough time the last few days finding great guys to shoot (except yesterday).
Instead of shooting something I don’t really love I would rather wait.

With that said, June will be a huge mens month because Pitti Uomo is like the Sartorialist Super Bowl.