HRH Prince Charles and his patched grey suit

HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and the Duke of Rothesay (Scotland) and Duke of Cornwall (South West England), was recently spotted wearing the same grey suit over several occasions. We are all aware that The Prince of Wales is a man who recycles his shoes, now we can add the grey suiting to the recycling process. Here it shows that the Duke of Cornwall does care for his clothing, which are bespoke by Anderson & Sheppard. Wonder why the Prince Of Wales has been selected best dress gent over time. Well done your Royal Highness we can learn a thing or two from you.

The Prince of Wales in his grey double breasted suiting from Anderson and Sheppard, which has been patched after a mishap.

Same double breasted suiting worn on another occasion

The patching on the grey suiting. Well done. 

Same suit in different occasions

The Prince of Wales and Mr Hitchcock (AS) sort through a box of offcuts from the Prince's suits. Photo: John Spinks from Fashion-Telegraph-UK

Photos sourced from Benpentreath, Telegraph and Daily Mail

Putting it together like the Ambrosi's from Naples

I have often asked myself the question, how do the artisans (of clothing, shoes, ties etc) pull their sartorial look together? For the day, I went no further than looking into what the "worlds ultimate bespoke trouser maker" wear, not just wear but how do they pull the ultimate timeless, classical and very stylish impression. So to come with an answer I sampled the "Ambrosi look", father and son, how they do it.   

Mr. Antonio Ambrosi (Ambrosi Sr) in a blue single breasted suiting, shirt, stripped tie and oxblood Oxfords. Note no shirting showing between the trousers and the belt. The trousers drapes perfectly well even when Mr. Ambrosi is in movement.

Mr. Salvatore Ambrosi (Ambrosi Jr) in a double breasted suit with large peaked lapels, white shirt, white pocket square and a tie, paired with an Adelaide Oxford from Master Bestetti. Further down we will look at the details. 

Closer look at the details of the tailoring of the jacket. The the tie maybe a Passagio Cravatte not sure, but could be

 Oh yes, blue sox and an Adelaide Oxford from Master Bestetti. Cool. 

Photos sourced from Ambrosi of Napoli

How to pull the Summer look elegantly and look aristocratic

I have sampled pictures of the late HRH The Duke Of Windsor and of HRH Prince Charles the Duke of Cornwall in Summer outfits. Both Royalties look very good, stunning, elegant and timeless in their Summer outfits. No need to look sloppy, just because it is Summer. Follow the legends and look sharp, timeless and classical.

HRH Prince Charles The Duke of Cornwall in a white silk double breasted suit, crisp white shirt, tie and a darker pocket square. Nicely done as always. 

HRH Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall. HRH Prince Charles in a double breasted light coloured jacket, light trousers, purplish shirt, pocket square a Panama hat. Oh the sun glasses. Nice touch

The Duke of Windsor in a double breasted white suit, crisp shirt, tie, a pocket square and white buck shoes.

The Duke of Windsor in what looks like a Seersucker single breasted suiting with patch pockets, a bow tie, a Summer hat and co-respondant loafers.

The Duke of Windsor in the same suit as above, shoes changed to buckskin shoes

All photos courtesy of different Internet sources

Yukio Akamine - a well dressed gent

I have noted that older gents have a way of assembling their attire with such ease and confidence that their appearance looks very well and appealing to the eye, and keeping a classic majestic posture. Not sure if it has to do with age or wisdom of dressing acquired over years to keep things simple, elegant and classic. One such gent is Yukio Akamine.

For the day I have sampled pictures of Mr. Akamine a Japanese gent, who pulls it off all the time and keeping a very classical, elegant and timeless look. What is your view?

Mr. Yukio Akamine in shades of blue, note the blue pocket square, socks and tie. Lovely shades of blue.

Mr. Akamine in tweed suit, three button, roll two and a pocket square - naturally.

 Mr. Akamine casual dress, odd jacket, pullover, casual cord trousers and an orange scarf, yes a pocket square.

 Mr. Akamine in converse shoes

Mr. Akamine in a brown chalked stripped double breasted suit, tie, pocket square.

 Mr. Akamine in a grey flannel double breasted suit, tie and pocket square, standing with Mr. Michael Alden(left)

 Mr. Akamine in another double breasted suit, tie and a white pocket square

Photos sourced from the Sartorialist and For The Discerning Few

Max Of Malmo - Colours and patterns in harmony

I have earlier used photos of Mr. Max Söderberg (of Malmö) sourced from other places. 
I have earlier mentioned Mr. Söderberg here and here. Now I have to admit that I am intrigued each time I have an encounter with Mr. Max Söderberg (a makeup artist) by the way he sets the stage for his clothing and his overall look is always very pleasing to the eye. Well ....... to my eye. 
Mr. Max Söderberg is always very well dressed and he has a touch of paying attention to the little details of his set of clothing and accessories.

Yesterday, I took my Nikon D600 for it's virgin voyage and ended up at the shop where Mr. Max Söderberg spends some hours helping and attending to customers from time to time. Unfortunately Mr. Söderberg was closing the shop and about to catch a train heading Northwards towards Stockholm, so I had little than three to four seconds to catch the below frames of Mr. Max of Malmö. I hope you (Mr. Söderberg) will approve and consent  with the below. Until next we meet again.

Below Mr. Max Söderberg of Malmö, in a double breasted mid grey with a large brown overcheck flannel suiting, checked shirting in light very light blue, a brownish rusty coloured tie, with hint of golden pattern, a paisley pocket square and horn glasses. The outfit is sober and perfect. Please take note of the little details such as colour of the suit jacket buttons complimenting the gold in the tie and in harmony with the hand held horn glasses. The basic colour of the tie harmonising with the paisley pocket square. Less talk enjoy the photo.

Below Mr. Max Söderburgh sideways, one can see that his hair has a hint of the same colour as the buttons on the jacket, horned glasses and bracelets on the hand. Very well done. So sober, the whole set is also appropriate even in the worst conservative environments. 

The last details of the attire the trouser length and the double monks paired with grey socks in a darker shade than the grey in the trousers but not darker than the brown monks.

All photos sourced from myself.

HRH Prince Charles at Crockett and Jones 2013

Earlier in the year His Royal Highness Prince Charles paid a royal visit to Northampton, England the heart of English shoe industry and visited the Crockett and Jones shoe company. 
What I understand from the press is that HRH Prince Charles was fitted on the Belgrave (pictured below) which is on the 337 Last, however modified to fit his taste and liking. 
If I have correctly observed HRH Prince Charles prefers the more rounded toe for his Oxford shoes, probably the reason for the modification. The Belgrave is on the 337 last which is soft squared and chiseled, perhaps it was a bit too fashion forward for HRH. 
My favourite last from C and J as a matter of fact.

 The Belgrave on the 337 last after a good treatment. Two below pictures sourced from Ethandesu blog. Nice shine done by Ethan.

HRH Prince Charles exchanging a word or two with Northampton dignitaries. Note that HRH Prince Charles is wearing a double breasted POW (Prince of Wales suit) paired with a pocket square and the obligatory tie.  The colour combination of the suit, shirt and pocket square are in perfect harmony. No wonder HRH has been several times nominated England's best dressed man.

 HRH Prince Charles chatting with the shoemakers at Crockett and Jones.

Photos sourced from Crockett and Jones, and Ethandesu blog

Max from Malmö - how a big man should dress

I just blogged about Pitti 2013 (Italy) and that reminded me of a photo I sourced from the Internet (The Journal Of Style) of Max from Malmö (Sweden) whilst he was attending Pitti last year (2012). I know Max from Malmö, a big guy about 180-185 cm's in height or more. It is very seldom you see big guys dressed gracefully, elegantly and classical. Now Max is one of the few who really looks fabulous and gracious each time I see him. I blogged shortly about Max here on this blog.

Max from Malmö at Pitti in 2012, camel coloured double breasted coat, I think it is a pea coat, light blue flannel double breasted suit (4 -2) buttons, paisley tie and a double monk. Well done Max.

Photo sourced from the Internet, I just recalled where I got the photo from, The Journal of Style from Denmark. Probably Torsten was not aware that he took a picture of a fellow Nordic neighbour.

Cary Grant - impeccable as always

Mr. Cary Grant looking very elegant, stylish and so classical not to mention impeccably dressed as always. Mr. Grant below depicted wearing a navy flannel chalk stripped double breasted suit, paired with a tie and a pocket square. It is season for warmer suiting cloth, so flannel is appropriate for the season to keep a gent warm. Shoes are of suede. Wonder for whom is he carrying the glass of milk? A lady perhaps..hmm will never know. An update: a reader made me aware that the photo is from a the movie "Suspicion" and the milk is for Joan Fontaine. Now we have that in place. (thanks) 

 Mr. Grant in a grey three piece suiting, a double breasted navy blue overcoat, holding a Homborg hat. Classical, stylish and timeless attire. The shoes are suede oxfords. 

Photo sourced from The culture concept and Pauw Mannen

Mr. Beppe Modenese - Italian style icon

Each time I see a photo of Mr. Beppe Modenese, I am astounded by the way he assembles his clothing, the suit, tie, shirt, pocket square and the colour combinations. The more photos I saw of Mr. Modenese, I wondered what his occupation is / was ?  From the outfits and assembling of the clothing, he could not just be another well dressed senior citizen. And guess what......? I found out that Mr. Modenese is the founder of the Milan fashion week. So in short he has learned the bread and butter craft of style, elegant dressing from the core.
I simply adore the way Mr. Modenese gets the whole attire functioning with such ease, coolness as if no special attention is paid to the little details that makes the whole look complete and satisfactory to the viewer.

I found the below article from RoGallery about Mr. Modenese

Beppe Modenese began his working life with Giovanni Batitista Giorgini's Store "Ridotto" at the same time with a fashion and furnishings televsion program, for ten year.s. He became a leader in fashion shows organization than PR for th American cosmetic concern, Estee Lauder (1960-1966) and then for Coco Chanel cosmetics. He created and organized "Moda Parma" (1968 - 191). He has been PR and Press Office of "IdeaComo" since 1977 and of "Ideabiella". In 1978 he created the cfashion show "Modit" then he became the head of the Press Office of Milano Collezioni. He created many other important fashion shows. From 1985 to 1990, he was a consultant for Rinascente, member of the Presidential team at the Milan Fair and qualified as an ainternational judge for the Fashion Foundation of Tokyo. In 1986, he designed a collection of jewelry for Faraone, Milan. Artistic director PR for the five star hotel chain Four Season, Bugatti, the Girombelli Group, Etro, and Aneta.

Below are pictures of Mr. Modenese dressed as always very elegantly, classic style, impeccable and very timeless. I simply adore the use of the safety pin to hold the tie. A sartorial dna for Mr. Modenese. Very cool.

Photos sourced from The Sartorialist and Zimbio