Separates: The New Order
Every cloud has a silver lining and the global pandemic has been no exception. While many have gratefully retired their city suits to the back of the wardrobe - the sartorial coat of arms being of little or no use to those working from home - a great many more have discovered tailoring for the first time: having outmoded their wardrobes, whether metaphorically or indeed literally - dressing-up becoming the occasion, a break from the new-norm of working from home.
The Old Rear Guard
And where suits used to rule the roost, separates are now king of the hill. But this new modus operandi takes a little more consideration and forethought than simply wearing your navy suit jacket with your grey suit trousers. This is not to say that this tried and tested colour assemblage no longer cuts the mustard, but there are a few nuances which must be considered.
To the aristocracy, the notion of separates stretched as far as a pair of flannels: historically trousers made of a grey marl flannel cloth such Fox Brothers Classic flannel #22 and a blue blazer - often double breasted and made of a worsted twill cloth and sporting brass buttons. Whilst this has seen something of a renaissance among celebrities of late, for most it is either too trad’, or too iconic to be ironic (and vice versa). However, these staple colours are a safe place to start and need not be limited to the examples described above; indeed we have seen examples of them worn in reverse i.e. blue trousers worn with a grey blazer or jacket - very natty.
A Question of Cloth
The type of cloth used for jackets and trousers is still as relevant today and continues to distinguish the garment as one intended to be worn as separates: as opposed two halves of a suit. With few exceptions, a city suit need only be made from a hardwearing navy or grey worsted cloth that takes us from home-to-office and back again. However, the blazer or jacket has to work a little harder for it’s money: not only is it expected to be appropriate dress to meet one’s clients in a restaurant, bar or café without drawing too much attention to the meeting at hand, but it must also take us out for dinner in a fabulous restaurant, attend a dinner party or perhaps a wedding.
Jacketings (cloth woven for use as a jacket or blazer as opposed trousers) such as those from Italian cloth merchant Caccioppoli which range from plain basketweave’s in navy merino and patterned checks in muted hues in silk/linen and wool make for an incredibly versatile cloth to match with jeans, chinos and trousers, are not inexpensive but the value is in it’s quality, and it’s versatility.
Fatto-in-Italia
Our range of fatto-in-Italia jackets rather lend themselves to this mode of dress, not to mention this type of jacketing given their deconstructed construction i.e. no shoulder pads, no sleeve-head and a soft-full or half canvas which make for an incredibly relaxed fit, and which is much less formal than it’s English Cut counterpart.
League of it’s own
Whilst stylists and devotees have long since taken their inspiration from the Ivy League (informal attire worn by students of Ivy League universities most notably during the 1960’s), this ode to preppy dressing has been enjoying something of a renaissance. Wardrobe staples such as khaki coloured chinos, or khaki’s as they are known stateside, white or indigo denim jeans, penny loafers and button-down collar shirts in Oxford cloth (ocbd) are recogniseable to most if not already wardrobe staples and are a good place to start. Continental If this sounds too preppy for your sartorial sensibilities, then you might consider the informal approach of our Italian counterparts whose sprezzatura i.e. a considered carelessness in their approach to style ensures that they are always dressed appropriately without looking as though they are trying too hard: they also have a great command of colour and are not predisposed to the litany of blue and grey often found staring back at us from our wardrobes .
So, whether you are well read, well versed or well aware or indeed have had your epiphany moment during the pandemic, as always we are on hand to wax sartorial and embark upon your sartorial journey with you - if you can tear yourselves away from the home office..
Steady as she goes,
David.